Carl Barks was born on March 27, 1901, near Merrill, Oregon, as part of a farming family. At the age of 10, he became interested in art for the first time. When he was 15, his mother died, and he began to help his father on the family's farm. In 1935, he took a contract with Disney and started as one of the studio's artists. Some months later, he become a part of Ted Sears "Story Department" at the Disney studios, where he wrote more than two dozen stories for short films with Donald Duck and other characters until 1942.