Granny De Spell, whose real name may be Caraldina De Spell, is a female anthropomorphic duck and a witch.
Description[]
Once said to be the greatest witch in the world (dwarfing even Madam Mim, both in age and in power), the unspeakably old Granny De Spell is Magica De Spell's grandmother and taught her sorcery when she was a child. By the 1960's, however, De Spell had retired to a lonely and cobwebby old castle, where she spent most of her time sitting in a rocking chair, knitting. But her mind (and curses) are still sharp as flints, and she casts a usually-disapproving eye at her granddaughter's frequent attempts to get Scrooge McDuck's Dime, though she can also be persuaded to help her descendant once in a while. She and Magica love each other dearly, but Granny tends to get on Magica's nerves in her attempt to fix her up with clumsy magician Rosolio, for whom Magica really couldn't care less.
Family[]
- Grandpa De Spell (husband)
- Magnolia De Spell (daughter, presumably)
- Donata De Spell (daughter, presumably)
- Leone (son-in-law, presumably)
- Gino (son-in-law, presumably)
- Magica De Spell (granddaughter)
- Poe De Spell (grandson)
- Minima De Spell (great-granddaughter, presumably)
Gallery[]
Behind the scenes[]
Granny De Spell first appeared in a 1966 comic story entitled A Lesson from Granny.
Starting with the 1995 story Magica De Spell and the Great Rock of Power-Plus, Giorgio Cavazzano introduced a redesigned, more active Granny De Spell, now sporting long blond hair, who has made several subsequent appearances. Writer Francisco Artibani later claimed he did not intend for his version of Magica's grandmother to be the same as any preexisting versions, from which he drew no inspiration; however, both characters have been referred to as "Granny De Spell" in English printings, casting doubts as to whether they really can be considered distinct.
According to "Once Upon a Sorceress" by Maya Åstrup and Giorgio Cavazzano, "De Spell" appears to be Magica's mother's maiden name rather than one of her father. The comics states that Magica's mother Magnolia and aunt Donata originally learned magic from their own mother, likely intended to be Caraldina.
Granny De Spell's first name has not been used in English publication. However, her Italian name gives it as Caraldina, which considering the fact that the character is, in-universe, Italian, is a perfectly plausible suggestion. Further strengthening it is the fact that she bears similar first names in the German (Karoline) and French (Caroline) versions.
Granny De Spell's precise age is also unknown, but she states in her debut that she was already the queen of sorcery before Madam Mim was even born, making her at least over 1500 years old.