Merrill De Maris

Merrill De Maris was born on February 26, 1898, in New Jersey and died on December 31, 1948, in Escondido, California. He is best known as an American writer for Disney comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate. De Maris entered comics by assisting Floyd Gottfredson on the early *Mickey Mouse* daily strip, where the two co-created enduring characters such as the Phantom Blot, Chief O'Hara, and Detective Casey. In 1942, they gave Minnie Mouse the full name Minerva Mouse during the four-month serial "The Gleam." De Maris also wrote the *Silly Symphony* strip from December 1937 to October 1942, adapting Disney feature films *Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs*, *Pinocchio*, and *Bambi* into comic form. In 1943, he left an unfinished outline for a Donald Duck comic book story; the publisher passed it to Carl Barks, who expanded it into "Too Many Pets" for *Donald Duck Four Color* #29. De Maris is credited as a writer on over 100 issues, with his work appearing in titles such as *Margriet*, *Il Topolino d'oro*, *Topolino*, *Kalle Anka & C:o*, *Mickey*, and *Walt Disney's Comics and Stories*. His contributions helped shape the tone and cast of the Disney comic universe, though he received no major awards during his lifetime.