Della Duck, space explorer and intrepid amputee, comes on TV

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Della Duck is a brave and resourceful hen, a species that refuses to be defeated by a crash in a solitary landing on the moon, even if it costs her one leg.

Della, an elusive and less known member of the Donald Duck family, played a pivotal role in Saturday's episode and quickly became a pioneer, one of the few television characters with a disability to be part of children's series.

"Pretty cool robot leg!" Della happily said of the prosthesis that she had fashioned with the debris of her ship, shot down during a space storm.

The loss is processed off-screen: it is shown the left limb stuck under the wreckage of the spacecraft, and then shortly after with the replacement.

Della, who had a minor and changing role in her venerable flock, is described in "DuckTales" as Donald's twin sister and a long lost mother to Huey, Dewey and Louie. In making her an amputee, it was essential to demonstrate that this is only one aspect of her life and her, said the producers of the Disney Channel series.

"We are really excited to be able to show an ambitious version of a character with a prosthesis and who is not fully defined by his prosthesis," said Francisco (Frank ) Angones, co-producer and story writer.

A brave adventurer in the spirit of her family, she has a powerful slogan: "Nothing can stop Della Duck!" In the story, this season, Della is focusing on returning to her kids but must also deal with the unexpected business that she has on the moon.

Expressed by Paget Brewster, Della made an appearance in the season 1 finale and was seen as a young woman at last year's holiday special. Della's story is second to none: she was mentioned for the first time in a comic book and an animated short of the Donald Duck newspaper in the late 1930s, according to Disney.

It is the latest example of the inclusive "DuckTales" approach, said executive producer Matt Youngberg. The series debuted in 2017 during the restart of the "DuckTales" show from 1987-1990.

"We are trying to ensure that unique and interesting voices are heard and that we take into account differences in all types of people," Youngberg said.

Jack Richmond, president of the Amputee Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy and advocacy group, helped found Della. He advised the series on elements including an authentic approach to Della and his voluntary attitude, which, he says, reflects that of a determined friend who quickly adapted to become amputee.

He is optimistic about how children will receive Della with a prosthetic leg.

"Children are usually the first to adjust and move on. They tend to accept things and say, "OK, that's cool." As adults, we struggle a little harder, "said Richmond. Even the portrayal of a comic character can impose itself on the lives of young viewers, allowing them to accept the differences between the people they meet.

There is more room on TV than characters like Della. She and Julia, an autistic muppet that is part of "Sesame Street," are rarities, said Jay Ruderman, president of the Ruderman Family Foundation, which advocates the inclusion of people with disabilities.

"If you're a disabled child, you almost never see yourself (represented) in a popular entertainment," Ruderman said. "That's why seeing a disabled character gives so much power."

The absence of such characters also affects how people perceive themselves, he said.

"There is so much stigma that people with disabilities are different," Ruderman said. But positive representations on television and cinema "can really change mentalities".

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Lynn Elber can be contacted at [email protected] and on Twitter at @lynnelber

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