Huey, Dewey, and Louie celebrate their 83rd on screen anniversary today (April 15th), and DuckTales 2017’s version of the characters celebrate what is assumed their in-universe birthday(week)!

Way back in 2018 Scrooge McDuck fans were treated to the first appearance of Fergus McDuck, Downy McDuck, and Castle McDuck. The episode was particularly interesting to me because I had only recently begun reading Don Rosa’s stories building on Carl Barks’s stories about these characters and Scrooge’s ancestors.

But in that story were clues to Della Duck’s mysterious disappearance and the boy’s in-universe birthday! While tracking clues to the castle’s hidden treasure, the nephews find clues to what happened to their mother. One of those clues has a hidden secret. When Huey rubs a pencil on the back of the clue he discovers a drawing of the Spear of Selene. Louie first noticed dates on the page, and one was circled… 4/15/20-.

Huey declares that it was from the week they were born. Which is both intriguing and confusing. The date is notable because it marks Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s first on-screen appearance in 1938. “Donald’s Nephews” first released on April 15th, 1938. Although it is not the nephews first appearance, it was their first appearance on screen.

Check out this blog from the DuckTalks Archive! Our Favorite Nephews Celebrate Their 82nd Anniversary Online!

What is odd about this date is Huey’s statement that it was the week they were born. Is April 15th their birthday? Is it the day they were laid? Or the day they hatched? We know that Donald had the boy’s eggs after Della disappeared. So it cannot be the day they hatched. This clue must mean that Della laid the triplets egg’s the week of April 15th, but not on that date!? Was this the date the Spear was completed?

In “Donald’s Nephews” the boys were left with Donald with only a note from their mother. Does this date represent the day Della left to n the newly completed ship only days after she laid the boy’s eggs? And do they count the eggs being laid as the birth? Or is it the day they hatched?

Whatever is the answer, this week we celebrate the Anniversary of classic Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s first on-screen appearance, and DuckTales 2017’s boy’s birthweight!

So what do you think? Did Huey miss speak? Were the boys “born” on April 15th? Were they born a few days before or after?