"The Dream of a Lifetime" is a 2002

Donald Duck Donald Fauntleroy Duck is a cartoon character created by the Walt Disney Company. Donald is an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic white duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He typically wears a sailor suit, sailor shirt and cap with ...

comic by

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his comics about Scrooge McDuck and other Disney comics, Disney characters. Many of his stories are built on characters an ...

. The story was first published in the Danish '' Anders And & Co.'' #2002-49; the first American publication was in ''

Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...

'' #329, in May 2004. It is famous for sharing many similarities with the blockbuster

Christopher Nolan Sir Christopher Edward Nolan (born 30 July 1970) is a British and American filmmaker. Known for his Cinema of the United States, Hollywood Blockbuster (entertainment), blockbusters with complex storytelling, he is considered a leading filmma ...

film ''

Inception ''Inception'' is a 2010 science fiction action heist film written and directed by Christopher Nolan, who also produced it with Emma Thomas, his wife. The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who steals information by inf ...

'', which was released eight years later in 2010. In February 2023 The Walt Disney Company banned this story from all future reprints, because it utilizes the

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...

-created character

Bombie the Zombie The following Disney cartoon and comics characters in the Donald Duck universe typically appear with Donald Duck and Scrooge McDuck, but are not related to them. For relatives of Donald and Scrooge, see Duck family (Disney) or Clan McDuck. For c ...

, who is now considered culturally insensitive.

Plot

While

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

is having a dream, the

Beagle Boys The Beagle Boys are a group of cartoon characters created in 1951 by Carl Barks for the Donald Duck universe. They are a family clan of Organized crime, organized criminals who constantly try to rob Scrooge McDuck. Their introduction and first a ...

invade his dream, via a device stolen from

Gyro Gearloose Gyro Gearloose ( ) is a cartoon character created in 1952 by Carl Barks for Disney comics. An anthropomorphic chicken, he is part of the Donald Duck universe, appearing in comic book stories as a friend of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, and any ...

, in order to steal the combination to his money bin. Since it is extremely difficult for a dreamer to stop themselves from correctly answering questions posed to them in dreams (according to the in-story dream science),

must enter his uncle Scrooge's dream to prevent Uncle Scrooge from blabbing the combination to the Beagle Boys.

Similarities with ''Inception''

Several similarities have been noted to

's film ''

'', including the plot similarities of entering dreams to steal secrets and falling to exit dreams. The idea of ''Inception'', however, was allegedly pitched to Warner Bros. by Nolan in 2001, while Rosa's comic was first published in 2002. Rosa himself mentions that ''Inception '' was already being worked on by the time the comic was published, and credits the story idea to a fan from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

who wrote him a pitch, but refused to be credited (Rosa states that he has hidden the fan's initials in the comic). Rosa also notes similarities between the comic and the plot of '' The Cell'', and observes that the movie was released two weeks before the fan sent his pitch to him.

References

External links

* Disney comics stories Donald Duck comics by Don Rosa 2002 in comics Comics about dreams {{Disney-Comics-stub