Merrill De Maris (February 26, 1898,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

– December 31, 1948,

Escondido, California Escondido (Spanish language, Spanish for "Hidden") is a city in San Diego County, California, United States. Located in the North County (San Diego area), North County region, it was incorporated in 1888, and is one of the oldest cities in San ...

) was an American writer who worked on Disney comic strips for King Features Syndicate. De Maris helped

Floyd Gottfredson Arthur Floyd Gottfredson (May 5, 1905July 22, 1986) was an American cartoonist best known for his defining work on the Mickey Mouse (comic strip), ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strip, which he worked on from 1930 until his retirement in 1975. His contri ...

with many of his early ''Mickey Mouse'' comic strips; they co-created famous characters like Phantom Blot, Chief O'Hara and Detective Casey. In 1942, they gave

Minnie Mouse Minerva "Minnie" Mouse is an American cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. The longtime sweetheart of Mickey Mouse, she is an anthropomorphic mouse with white gloves, a red or pink bow, blue (or pink or red) polka-dotted dress, w ...

a full name as Minerva Mouse, for the four-month comic strip story "The Gleam". De Maris also wrote for the '' Silly Symphony'' comic strip from December 1937 to October 1942, writing the comic strip adaptations of the feature films '' Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''

Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel, ''The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a poor man named Geppetto in a Tuscan vil ...

'' and ''

Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American Animated film, animated Coming of age, coming-of-age drama film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. Loosely based on Felix Salten's 1923 novel ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'', the ...

''. In 1943, De Maris abandoned a half-finished outline for a

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

comic book story. The publisher gave the outline to Carl Barks, who polished it, made it longer, and published it as "Too Many Pets", in '' Donald Duck Four Color'' #29 (Sept 1943).

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* * American comics artists Disney comics writers 1898 births 1948 deaths People from Escondido, California {{Disney-comics-stub