Duck family (Disney) strip, Della writes to Donald that the boys had placed a firecracker under their father's chair as a prank and that their father had been sent to the hospital. This was the reason why the boys first showed up at Donald's house. Thereafter the father is generally assumed to have disappeared. In "The Richest Duck in the World", when Scrooge mentions that the few family members he had had disappeared, the boys respond "We know how "that" feels!" Donald's cousin Fethry Duck was created for the Disney Studio Program by Dick Kinney and Al Hubbard and was first used in
Donald Duck "Donald Duck Finds Pirate Gold". The new publisher meant new illustrators, however, Carl Barks and Jack Hannah would later repeat the treasure-hunting theme in many more stories. Barks soon took over the major development of the duck as both writer and illustrator. Under his pen, Donald became more adventurous, less temperamental and more eloquent. Pete was the only other major character from the "Mickey Mouse" comic strip to feature in Barks' new Donald Duck universe. Barks placed Donald in the city of Duckburg, which he populated with a host of supporting players, including Neighbor Jones (1944), Uncle Scrooge McDuck (1947),