Following on from its release of Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse: The Ultimate History, Taschen has taken yet another deep dive into the history of a Walt Disney cartoon character – this time, Donald Duck.

Often viewed as Mickey Mouse’s main rival for the coveted title of Disney’s most popular creation, Donald Duck has enjoyed extraordinary success since his 1934 debut in the short film The Wise Little Hen. In fact, excluding the superhero genre, the loveable duck is the most frequently printed figure in the history of comics, and has actually appeared on screen more often than any other Disney character.

All of which makes this latest book an exciting and worthwhile addition to Taschen’s Disney collection. Edited by journalist, curator and lecturer Daniel Kothenschulte, and featuring texts by authors David Gerstein and JB Kaufman, Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: The Ultimate History is a fitting tribute to Donald’s enduring legacy in popular culture.

In the book, readers can explore the nine decades Donald Duck has spent on pages and screens across the world, including more than 170 of his beloved cartoons, his appearances in comics, TV shows and theme parks, and even little-known Donald Duck films that never made the cut.

Readers are also introduced to Donald Duck’s many artists across the years, who helped to establish his reputation as one of the world’s most iconic cartoon characters.

These include a significant study on the work of Carl Barks, the writer and artist behind the first Donald Duck stories who worked anonymously for most of his career and was frequently dubbed ‘The Duck Man’ and ‘The Good Duck Artist’. Through these profiles, we get a sense of the immense amount of time and effort that went into rendering Donald Duck’s image across film and comics, as well as the love he received from both the people behind his creation and the fans that followed his journey.

“Since 1934, many generations have taken a shine to Donald, and in some European countries he is even more popular than Mickey Mouse,” writes Kothenschulte in the book’s introductory text. “The candidness with which Donald reveals his weaknesses wins our hearts and stays with us forever – no matter which comic or cartoon it was that first inspired this feeling when we were children.”

Indeed, for many fans it is Donald Duck’s relatability, even more so than his silliness, that has made him such a favourite over the years. Harvard lecturer and early Disney scholar Robert D Feild is quoted in the book as saying: “We have been obliged to overlook his precocity and to accept him as one of us because we recognise, particularly in his moments of despair, a gentle heroism that we could wish to emulate.”

For those familiar with Donald Duck’s adventures, this statement will likely ring true, and the book serves to build on this legacy, showing how an angry yet endearing duck has captured the hearts of children and adults alike for so many decades. For those less familiar, the book also serves as a brilliant introduction to the character’s world, revealing the many stories and shows in which he has been a focus, and the artistry behind his creation and longevity.

“Just like the great artists of the Renaissance left behind images of perfection in human form, Michelangelo’s David or the Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Donald Duck, no less perfect himself, is the embodiment of all our own imperfection,” writes Kothenschulte. “To this day the humanity of his failure, often articulated in utterly justified outbursts of rage, inspires artists and audiences alike.”

Walt Disney’s Donald Duck: The Ultimate History is published by Taschen; taschen.com