The most natural place to start when analysing Don Rosa's work via qualitative methods, is to analyse his productivity over time. This is done by sorting the collected data after the production year. The methods used to estimate the production years are presented here. In this part of this section Don Rosa's annual production has been analyzed following two perspectives - the number of pages, and the number of panels. Finally these perspectives are seen in relation.
Analysis 1.a - Don Rosa's productivity in story-pages per year
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| Years |
Pages |
| 1986 |
56 |
| 1987 |
80 |
| 1988 |
65 |
| 1989 |
84 |
| 1990 |
111 |
| 1991 |
110 |
| 1992 |
124 |
| 1993 |
101 |
| 1994 |
107 |
| 1995 |
77 |
| 1996 |
123 |
| 1997 |
54 |
| 1998 |
72 |
| 1999 |
46 |
| 2000 |
57 |
| 2001 |
87 |
| 2002 |
25 |
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Graph 1: Don Rosa's productivity measured in pages
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The numbers shows that Don Rosa's productivity raised slowly before 1990. This was a period when he was still pretty much unknown, and he had to work for various publishers as Gladstone couldn't afford to buy as much stuff as he could produce.
From 1989 to 1990 his productivity appears to have been raised by more than 30%. This is explained by the fact that Egmont, whom he joined in 1990, could pay him better and more steadily than could Gladstone and the Dutch Oberon. The production seems to have remained at a 100+ pages a year until 1997 (The lower level in 1995 and higher level in 1996 can easily be explained by a story being accepted by Egmont early in 1996 in stead of late 1995).
From 1997 there is a considerable drop in Don Rosa's stories production. Don Rosa gave an explanation for this in an interview done by F. A. Elliott in AUGUST 2000:
"I don't turn out as much as I used too; partly, because the longer I do this, the more I recognize how, well... inadequate the way I draw is compared to the people who have been trained to do this. And the only answer I have for that is just to go slower and slower, and be more perfectionist in trying to get the stuff the way I really want it to look.
But, the main thing that hurting me I guess is the popularity of my work! I'm being called on to do pin-ups for publications... for instance in a French addition of Uncle Scrooge, every month I have the inside front cover. It's called [les inédits de Don Rosa]; I can't read the French words, but I got my name on it. And, it's like my position in each issue, I do a pin-up page for them.
I'm called on by other publishers than the one I work for. When they reprint one of my stories, in their editions, they'll contact me, and hire me to do... a special cover for them. Or they'll hire me to write a text, or annotate the story for their older readers, cause some of these other publishers work for an older... they're not aiming at an older audience, but they recognize that they can put additional material in the issue for the older readers…
But the more I'm called upon to do these extra things, the less time I have for doing the actual stories. And, I see myself as a storyteller. I like to do these pin-ups, and these covers, and these texts because they pay better... than the writing and drawing of these stories. But, still, these people wouldn't be asking me to do this if it weren't for those stories. So, I worry about that I'm producing fewer and fewer stories. And, that's what I enjoy doing the most. So, I just have to keep maximizing my time and making sure it all works best."
But there are also other factors slowing Don Rosa's working speed. Due to his increased popularity he travels more than ever, and has been visiting Europe at least once every year for many years now. He also gets a lot of e-mails from fans, and always tries to answer it all in a proper way. Then he follows the Disney Comics Mailing List, and from time to time also other relevant news-groups on the internet.
During these years he also started to do some stories for French Picsou and his productivity again raised slowly until his strike in 2002. Don Rosa's increased productivity in 2001 may, at least partly, be seen in connection with the fact that French Picsou stopped asking for new pin-ups after the one which was published in PM #349 in February that year.
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Analysis 1.b - Don Rosa's productivity in story-panels per year
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Analysis 1.c - Don Rosa's productivity - pages vs panels
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| Periodes |
Pages |
Panels |
| 1986-1989 |
82,8 |
74,7 |
| 1987-1990 |
98,8 |
88,1 |
| 1988-1991 |
107,5 |
96,3 |
| 1989-1992 |
124,7 |
113,9 |
| 1990-1993 |
129,6 |
121,6 |
| 1991-1994 |
128,5 |
124,3 |
| 1992-1995 |
118,9 |
118,5 |
| 1993-1996 |
118,6 |
122,1 |
| 1994-1997 |
104,9 |
110,4 |
| 1995-1998 |
94,7 |
101,4 |
| 1996-1999 |
85,7 |
94,9 |
| 1997-2000 |
66,6 |
74,8 |
| 1998-2001 |
76,1 |
86,5 |
| 1999-2002 |
62,5 |
72,6 |
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Graph 3: Don Rosa's productivity - pages vs panels
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When comparing Don Rosa's productivity measured in story-pages and the same productivity measured in story-panels, I have chosen the "moving average" principle as presented here.
The graph shows my previous findings. First an increasing production as Don Rosa starts to work for Egmont, then a decaying production from the mid-1990's as s result of a slower working style and an increased burden of other tasks for Don Rosa. From ca. 2000 we can se the beginning of a new rise in the Don Rosa's productivity, and finally a drop due to his 2002 "strike".
The curves also shows that it took longer time before Don Rosa first reached his average production of panels, than before he reached his average production of story-pages. Later on the drop in his production has been less dramatic when measured in panels rather than in story-pages. This is due to an increased number of panels in each page.
Art: Don Rosa. Text and graphics: Sigvald Grøsfjeld jr. Layout: Sigvald Grøsfjeld jr..
Note: The copyrights to all art in these pages are held by Walt Disney Co.
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