Ever heard of the character ZiZ? I hadn't until I read some old British Disney comics, but there the name is used for Gyro's helper. I haven't seen it used anywhere else and guess it was invented for this occasion.
The name is used in a series of text stories in Walt Disney's Weekly, first appearing in, and announced on the cover of #6/1961
Walt Disney's Weekly #6/1961 |
Here you can read the full first story:
(click to enlarge) |
If you know your Barks, then you can probably tell that this is an adaptation of the story That Small Feeling.
Panel from "That Small Feeling" by Carl Barks |
And we get similar text stories in the following numbers of Walt Disney's Weekly with the last one in #14/1961.
More stories with ZiZ |
All comics containing text stories with ZiZ |
Seeing the name ZiZ in these comics got me wondering if Gyro's helper really has an official name? The robot is usually referred to as Little Helper, but I don't think Carl Barks ever used that as a name – and I'm not sure when it was first used. I tried to do a quick read of some of Barks' Gyro stories and only found the helper referred to as Gyro's helper or just Helper in the comics.
But in a plot idea the name Bulby is used.
I think Egmont's official name for the character is Little Helper.
Original art for D 4480, The Missing Screw |
And that name was also used as the title character in IDW's Disney's Comics and Stories #754
But is it really a name or just something the robot is referred to as being?