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Ten years later, Gunnar received an unexpected invitation to join Disney from its then-head of merchandising, O.B. Johnston. He became manager of Disney’s Stockholm office, and was promoted to managing director when it moved to Copenhagen a year later.

In that position, Gunnar juggled many areas of responsibility. These included merchandising, promotions, character licensing, music, educational materials, and publishing in all five Nordic countries. Among his contributions, he oversaw publication of a popular 32-page Donald Duck magazine (known as Anders And & Co. in Danish and Kalle Anka in Swedish), which was published by

124 Walt’s People: Volume 26

Gutenberghus beginning in the late 1960s. The magazine, which featured Disney comics as well as promotions for the Company’s films, toys, records, and other products, quickly grew to a combined circulation of one million readers per week. Gunnar recalled, “The magazine was directed toward children, but many adults read it, too. I guess you could say it was really aimed at families and, as a result, was a tremendous success."

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