Magica De Spell

Magica De Spell (magica being Italian for 'magical') is a cartoon character created in 1961 by Carl Barks for the Duck universe. An Italian sorceress, she constantly attempts to steal Scrooge McDuck's Number One Dime, which she believes will play a vital role in magically obtaining the same fabulous wealth of its owner.

Magica is an anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. She has black hair, purple eye shadow and typically wears a black dress. In the 2017 reboot of DuckTales, her feathers are green instead of white and she wears a cape with a hood. After Magica loses her magic powers at the end of the first season, her feathers became white. She later returns to her original appearance after regaining her magic in the third-season episode "The Phantom and the Sorceress!".

De Spell first appeared in "The Midas Touch", first published in Uncle Scrooge #36 (December 1961). According to Barks, he intended to create her as another recurring antagonist for Scrooge in addition to the Beagle Boys and Flintheart Glomgold. In contrast to Witch Hazel from Trick or Treat — first released on October 10, 1952 — or Madam Mim, she would not be in the image of the ugly old hag usually associated with witches. Barks instead decided to create a witch who was young and beautiful, so he took inspiration for her look from Italian actresses Gina Lollobrigida and Sophia Loren. He also wanted her to be seductive, amoral, and somewhat threatening. In a later interview, Barks identified a similar figure from the comic strips of Charles Addams as another source of inspiration for Magica, namely Morticia Addams of The Addams Family.

All in all, Barks drew nine stories with Magica: The Midas Touch in 1961; Ten-Cent Valentine, The Unsafe Safe, and Raven Mad in 1962; Oddball Odyssey, For Old Dime's Sake, and Isle of Golden Geese in 1963; The Many Faces of Magica de Spell, and lastly Rug Riders in the Sky in 1964. In the latter, Barks tried to increase the usability of the character by having plots turn on other magic artifacts – here, a flying carpet – not always having to repeat the joke about Scrooge's first coin.^{[citation needed]} Magica also appeared as an antagonist in the Wizards of Mickey comic series as part of a trio of sorceresses who all had rivalries with each other.

According to Barks and his successors, Magica lives on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, next to Naples, Italy. Her primary motivation is to steal Scrooge's Number One Dime and melt it in the fires of the volcano, so she can turn it into a powerful magical amulet capable of granting the Midas Touch.

While she has worked with criminals – the Beagle Boys, for example – to get Scrooge's Dime, Magica typically works with individuals such as a raven named Ratface in the comics and apprentices like Samson Hex, a bungling no-hoper. Magica's family members have also appeared in the comics; her grandmother Granny De Spell, who has been no more successful in obtaining the Number One Dime despite claiming to be one of the most powerful witches; her sister, the Wicked Witch of the West; the Wicked Witch's mischievous daughter Witch Child and son Warlock, who Magica is sometimes tasked with babysitting; another niece, Minima De Spell; and a cousin named Witch Matilda, who has served under Magica as an apprentice. Another character connected to Magica is Rosolio, a dim-witted goose who claims to be her fiancé despite always being rejected. He is supported in this by another grandmother of Magica's, Caraldina (original Italian name), created in the Italian comics. In crossover comics, one of her most frequent companions is Mad Madam Mim.

Magica has an odd relationship with Scrooge. For example, in the 1987 DuckTales episode "Till Nephews Do Us Part", she and Poe are invited to and attend Scrooge's wedding. However, she has maintained an antagonistic relationship with him and his family, including Donald Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Gyro Gearloose, Gladstone Gander, as well as Daisy Duck and her nieces.

Magica appears as a recurring villain on the animated television show DuckTales, where she was voiced by June Foray (using a similar Eastern European accent to that of Natasha Fatale from Rocky & Bullwinkle; in the Italian version, Magica's voice actress, Sonia Scotti, depicted her with a heavy Neapolitan accent). Magica appears mostly in first-season episodes of the show. Although she appears as one of the series' major villains, she is frequently a source of comic relief; for example, in Magica's final scene in the series, she attempts to send Scrooge's "tin man back to Oz", but instead sent herself elsewhere in a whirlwind when a Quackenyeeken Yeeker bird yeeks in fear, causing her jar of magic dust to break open and carry her away. On more than one occasion, her plan to obtain Scrooge's dime backfires so spectacularly that she is forced to work with Scrooge to prevent a greater disaster. According to the show, her brother is Poe De Spell, who was transformed into a raven and serves as her magical familiar – in reference to Edgar Allan Poe's poem "The Raven" – replacing Ratface from the comics. A similar reference had already been established in the German versions of Magica comics, where her raven is called "Nimmermehr" ("Nevermore"), referring to the recurring keyword from Poe's poem.