Ducktales: My Favorite Stories

Ducktales

When it was announced last year that Ducktales was coming back in 2017 I admit I was both excited and skeptical. Excited that my all time favorite franchise is coming back to Disney but skeptical if it would come back with the anywhere near the same taste. I personally felt that season's three and four were not as good as the first two, though that is not to say those episodes was bad. Ducktales at the end of it was always about adventure and this is true about most of the shows that came from Disney at this time, with only shows like "Gargoyles" every pushing the action aspect.  The episodes usually came in a few types:

Scrooge Story: Usually the strongest episodes in my opinion and it makes a lot of sense since Scrooge is the main character. These episodes usually involved Scrooge vs the entirety of this universe like Glomgold, Magica, the Beagle Boys, and had more adventures. Scrooge was the driving force of the series so a lot of episodes either had him or involved him and most of my favorite episodes were Scrooge focused. 

Nephew Story: Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the nephews and had the second largest amount of episodes. While the boys almost always accompanied Scrooge there were episodes that they either started or ended up saving the day. One thing the show was always good at was giving the boys something to do though they never seemed to flesh them out exactly but that was a bigger issue in the comics. Huey was the leader, Dewey was the brains, and Louie was the jokester. I often felt they had the second best episodes.

Launchpad story: I like to think that the Launchpad stories were created to answer the question of what Launchpad did when he wasn't working for Scrooge. He had one or two episodes where he was with the nephews and his best friend Doofus. Launchpad was very much the Action Hero people think of when they hear about an Adventure series.

Gizmo Duck: Gizmo Duck honestly wasn't my favorite character and he ultimately felt like a way to boost rating. I haven't seen him in the comics that the series was based off of. His episodes were often superhero stories where Fenton has to keep his secret identity while saving the day. Throughout the series you could kind of see that Fenton and Gizmo Duck were stand-ins for Donald and Launchpad, the latter of which would later be the side kick in DarkWing Duck

Webby Stories: Webby had decent episodes but they usually rode on the back of another story and she wondered off and finds something to help solve the problem. Though she had one or two episodes to herself, I've never heard a lot of good things about them though I just found out that a lot of people didn't like her. I think it was all the pink and how she came off as just a girly girl which I felt made sense she was younger than the nephews who were ten.

Other: These stories usually involved characters that were largely in the background. Gyro Gearloose, Bubba the Cave Duck, Misses Beakley, and Duckworth each had episodes where they themselves were key or took center stage.

With Alan Young's death on the 20th of May 2016 I decided to talk about my favorite stories to just kind of get my feelings together and I felt a bit of variety would help with my mission statement to talk about a lot of different things. When it comes to me, before Batman, The Doctor, Bugs Bunny, L, Kenshin Himura, and any other character I like, Scrooge Mcduck was and always will be my favorite character and "Ducktales" will be my favorite franchise. 

Treasure of the Golden Suns

The first major story of the series, it also serves as the first adventure of Scrooge and the boys as well as introducing Webby, Misses Beakley, Flintheart Glomgold, Launchpad, and the Beagle Boys. Seeing Scrooge and the boys not hitting it off right away made a deal of sense but it also kind of hurt when it came to tying the comic and animated universes together. Scrooge and the boys seek out the treasure of the Golden Suns which leads to a wager with Flintheart Glomgold and a clash with the elusive and mysterious El Captain. What makes this episode work is seeing how the boys and Scrooge work together. When Donald left to join the navy, both Scrooge and the boys didn't see eye to eye and it's through adventure that they bond. It does show something that Scrooge believes in most incarnations; that the boys are a lot like him. This also sets the tone for exactly what the was and always will be about: adventure. Scrooge and company go to the mountains, the ice caps, and the jungle in search of gold and adventure.

Raiders of the Lost Harp

A lot of people don'tknow that Uncle Scrooge Adventures (a comic series starring Scrooge) inspired the Indiana Jones movies, the legendary boulder from Temple of Doom was inspired by one of their stories so this title is a nod to that. This story involves Scrooge and the boys coming across the lost city of Troy and among other things, they find the harp of Helen of Troy, which can tell when someone is lying. Scrooge uses this to primarily save money on business deals but trouble esnues when not only Magica De Spell wants the harp but the Minotaru gaurdian wants it back as well. What makes this episode fun is how tight a story it is and I think that is something to be said about most of the cartoons of the late 80's to 90's. It doesn't get itself lost in the story nor does it try to make the idea of the harp wrong, it doesn't force you to spill out the truth but instead tells when you are lying. Another thing that makes it AWESOME and one of my favorites is the chase scene through Duckbrug between Scrooge and Magica on Scrooge's desk as well as the climax at the end. 

Duck to the Future

Time travel episodes are always weird and this one is an homage to Back to the Future, specifically the second one. Scrooge is worried that Mcduck Enterprises (which spans a lot of companies) may not be in safe hands when the boys take over. A fortune teller sends him into the future and things look good but everything is extremely expensive along with the boys having become greedy cutthroat businessmen under the guise of the fortune teller who is actually Magica De Spell. With the help of a grown up Webby and Doffus as well as aged Launchpad and Gyro Scrooge must find a way to get his Lucky Dime back and get back to the past to stop this future from happening. What's interesting about this episode is that in addition to a fun tribute to the Wizard of Oz, it also shows a bit of Scrooge's business practices. When the boys aren't making a profit of lemonade, Scrooge gives them advice such as cutting down on waste and using smaller glasses but Scrooge draws the line when they water down the lemonade and charge Doofus money to work with them. In the comics, Scrooge notes that the boys are very industrious and hard working and we find out that Scrooge intends to leave his fortune to them when he dies as opposed to Donald or Gladstone Gander. Scrooge and Magica's battle through time is also noticeably fun since not only do they have to use magic time sand but they also have say where they want to go and if how they say it determines where they end up. A good example is when Scrooge tells the Sands of Time to send him back to his nephew's lemonade stand they end up at Custard's Last Stand!

Sir Gyro de Gearloose

Gyro has always been a rather fun character and a lot of show fans don't know this but Scrooge met Gyro's father Ratchet when he was a teenager on the Mississippi. But this episode is about Gyro not feeling appreciated by a lot of the people he helps, and them only seeing him as a "Gadget Man". In an attempt to get away to be something more, Gyro builds a time machine out of a bath tub and goes back to the time of King Artie of Quackalot and through his gadget's Gyro ends up replacing the wizard Morloon. I honestly always find myself liking this "Scrooge Light" episode. It gives the boys room to show off and Gyro honestly was and still is in later episodes just a "Gadget Man". This was something the Smurfs did with Greedy Smurf who didn't feel appreciated either. Gyro and Morloon are both people who feel like they are being taken for granted but Morloon feels both taken for granted and betrayed to the point where he goes to King Artie's enemy Lesdred to stop Gyro but Morloon ends up getting tricked. Gyro and Morloon to appreciate themselves for their talents (science and magic) and use a combination of the two to win. Gyro accepts that his a "Gadget Man" and upon his return gets an apology and possibly a date from one of the people who were upset with him.

Catch as Cash Can

As old as this makes me sound, kids today don't understand actually what a multi part story meant in the 80's and 90's. When, there is no DVR or full season releases for much of anything let alone cartoons or the internet, a missed epiosde in a multi part story was a big deal. This story is contest between Scrooge and Glomgold to see who has the most money and the winner will be the businessman for venture that promises to double their fortune. While not covering the same array of locations as "Golden Suns" or "Super Ducktales (the multi part story that was supposed to be a movie) it does keep a focus better than the other multi part stories. Other stories introduced more characters like Misses Beakley, Bubba, and Fenton/Gizmo Duck and they were given plenty of time to shine but that isn't the case here. Instead of new characters we have episodes that show almost every character in the series save Magica De Spell and Ma Beagle. It's all a race for Scrooge, keeping his money from the Beagle Boys, Glomgold, getting it out of Atlantis and then to the Scales of Macaroon for the weighing. This may be the story that pushes him to his limit in that it will make or break his career, to lose means he will fall too far back in the race for the richest man in the world. 

Masked Mallard

Scrooge is Batman and nothing else matters about the episode. In an attempt to boost his popularity with people, Scrooge becomes a vigilante in Duckburg, fitted out with a suite and gear from Gyro. It's a really fun adventure, especially when ANOTHER Masked Mallard shows up committing crimes before Scrooge can reveal himself.

The Money Vanishes

This may be my favorite "Nephew Story" because it is them actually saving the day overall with Scrooge just serving as the "Damsel in Distress" in his own way. The Beagle Boys steal Gyro's new invention which he had created just to move furniture to steal Scrooge's money. It's a really good but stupid idea; tricking Scrooge into spraying his money with the Preparation Spray and then blasting it with the Furniture Mover Ray to steal it. The stupid part was putting the money in their hideout which was too small to hold all that money. But this really becomes a chase through Duckburg as a cloud of Preparation Spray keeps moving throughout the city as the boys and the Beagle Boys play keep away with the Ray. It leads to some fun chases and a fun conclusion 

Launchpad's Civil War

Another "Scrooge Light" episode and one  of the more hilarious episodes. and that mean sof course it stars Launchpad. In this episode Launchpad is called to join a re-enactment of of the Battle of Duck Ridge, which his great grandfather was a hero of at least to him. When Launchpad finds out the truth, that his ancestor General Rhubarb  Mcquack is the reason the union lost the battle, Launchpad is upset but even more so when he finds out that the soldiers from the battle are still alive and hiding. In an attempt to make up for his ancestor's failure, Launchpad, the boys, and Doofus help the soldiers win the re-enactment. What makes this episode funny is of course Launchpad's dialogue, the character is really good at crashing not just vehicles but himself and the soldiers are nothing if not wells of comedy. The ending is also rather poignant in that it teaches you to respect people in history regardless of what side their on though I am paraphrasing a bit. The union soldiers felt too ashamed to show their face and they were essentially a laughingstock to history. This could have very easily been about the confederacy but that would have made it too hard or even too awkward to care about them. So we make then union guys.

Robot Robbers

Robot Robbers is a small episode that features Scrooge, Launchpad, and Glomgold as they try to stop Ma Beagle and her sons from using Glomgold's robots to wreak havoc on Duckburg. What I like about this episode and episodes like it is that it really is about the money race between Scrooge and Glomgold and it's one of the more realistic stories/clashes though "realistic" is used with a grain or two of salt. The fact that the idea started as a way for Glomgold to get all the construction jobs in Duckburg using mechs and then it being an attack on Scrooge's Money bin is kind of interesting. It should be noted that Scrooge and Glomgold seem the most similar here and the dialogue the two have is really great, the back and forth they have is worth watching alone. To be a bit pretentious and overthinking it's kind of a metaphor. Scrooge is an old time businessman like Glomgold and the mechs are essentially the future of businesses and that technology attacks Scrooge's money bin, a.k.a his empire. Scrooge's failure to use this technology threatens his business and then Glomgold's casual lack of it threatens both his and Scrooges' fortune.

Earth Quack

Earth Quack is actually an adaptation of an "Uncle Scrooge Adventures" comic called "Land Beneath the Ground". The story is somewhat similar in that Scrooge is afraid of an earthquake destroying his money bin and by default his fortune (It's never consistent exactly where Scrooge's money is as a whole). Scrooge and company (in the cartoon it's just the boy but the comic has Donald) end up discovering a group of creatures called Terry Fermians (get it?) and they are responsible for the Earthquakes. There isn't too much of a difference between the two though the comic goes more depth with the Terry Fermians and most notably that in the comic they are aware of what they are doing and the impact they have where the cartoon made them come off as unaware. It's relatively the same but it is a rather fun and grand adventure that I would have loved to have seen upped with a bigger budget and more like the comic. 

Home Sweet Homer

This is a "Nephew Story" in that while Scrooge is leading the party it ultimately falls to the boys to solve it. In a letter from Donald, Scrooge discovers the entrance the Ithaquack, a city built by Ulysses so this is another Greek/Roman adventure. Meanwhile in the past, Circe seeks to stop Ulysses' nephew Homer from getting home to stop her reign of terror and decides to send Homer back through an accident of her cat, she ends up bringing Scrooge and the boys to her time and they help Homer. It's all very much in the style of the Odyssey, Scrooge and the boys battle a siren, a monster on the seas while trying to avoid a whirlpool. There is also this underlying plot of heroes. Homer wants to be like his uncle and at the same time the boys argue which of them will grow up to be like Scrooge, someone super brave, super smart, or rich. While it is never answered, the boys do end up saving the day and Scrooge tells the boys that people grow up to be themselves. It's not a deep complex lesson or even resolution but rather the truth of the situation; you will grow up to be you. Maybe the lesson could have been handled better but since the boys ended up saving the day where Scrooge and Homer failed (which was a let down) by being themselves I think it evened itself out. An interesting note is that Scrooge finishes reading Treasure Island at the beginning and then looks at the shelf of his library to read something by a "Great Adventurer" before he sets off on an Odyssey with Homer.

Duckman of Aquatraz

This episode is one of the more fun episodes in the series as opposed to just being an adventure. Scrooge is accused of stealing a valuable painting from Flintheart Glomgold and is sent to Aquatraz prison where he is forced to adjust to a new life as a criminal while the boys try to find a way to prove his innocence. It's more of a "fish out of water" story though but Scrooge doesn't seem to have any trouble adjusting. If anything it reinforced the idea that Scrooge is no stranger to bullies and is more than willing to fight back. This episode is really great for the scenes of Scrooge in prison, not just when he fights back against inmates and when he arm wrestles a bunch of them. Like the "Masked Mallard" it's more of a fun story as opposed to a big amazing story and more of mystery than anything else.

Back to the Klondike

Another hold over from the comics and one of the most popular, this is about Scrooge's love life before he became rich and EU fans know this to be his romance with Glittering Goldie. Webby and the boys finds Scrooge staring at a Valentine and hear the story of how Scrooge met Goldie and how he had planned to marry her but she had betrayed him. Hoping to find Gold, Scrooge takes the kids to the Klondike where they meet an older Goldie and we go from there. This story is only slightly like the stories in the EU. In the original comic and the episode, Goldie cheats/steals from Scrooge and Scrooge takes her to his claim to show her how hard prospectors work for the gold she swindles from them. The true difference is what causes their romance to end. The cartoon has them being told a lie by an enemy that one of them took their shared gold and left town while the comic is a bit more complicated. The two of them learn more about each other and open up but neithe rof them are able to really communicate how they feel directly, especially Scrooge. The story expanded more over the years fleshing their relationship out. The cartoon does stay true to the complexity of their relationship; they want to be together but have very different lives that they can't leave; Scrooge's business in a more modern world and Goldie preferring the mountain life. A big difference is the openness the cartoon has with the relationship between the two of them. In the comic all across the board, Scrooge isn't willing to be as open as his cartoon counterpart and Goldie often has to take initiative but it should be noted that Scrooge is usually very nervous around her. Goldie is Scrooge's Irene Alder and Selina Kyle, a woman who Scrooge sees as not only an equal but as the one woman he feels could understand him.

Treasure of the Lost Lamp

The Ducktales movie is a rather impressive though lacking movie and I say that as someone who loved it. Make by DisneyToon Studios it saw the return of the main Duck cast on an adventure to find the treasure of Cali Baba and unknown to them the wizard Merlock is using them to find a magic lamp. The boys and Webby discover the genie and the lamp and try to keep it a secret but with Merlock and his minion Dijon trying to get it, how long will they be able to keep it a secret and what will Scrooge do when he finds out?

This movie does what any movie version of a series should do on the surface which is remain true to it's source material and the Ducktales tv show was always based off the comics of the same name more than the other titles. The animation is a huge step above and the sheer magnitude of the action is bigger than anything the series had shown and it plays itself safe, perhaps too safe. The movie doesn't try to up the story or stakes, and it keeps it's main cast small and does not use any of it's other villains like the Beagle Boys. As good as it is, it doesn't feel that special from a story standpoint. The Ducktales comic had a much bigger range of multi part stories that would have made for a better, bigger story like when Magica kidnaps Webby and Scrooge ends up losing her and his #1 dime and has to battle Magica, Glomgold, and the Beagle Boys. That story took the pre-existing characters save a few newer ones and brought them together for a big epic. While Merlock and Genie were great (the character of Genie would later inspire the design for the character Genie in "Aladdin"), they never really upped the movie in a way that felt that different until the end. It never feels like it's that different from a multi-part special save the production values.

The movie also wasn't that big a hit critically, Siskel and Ebert refused to review the movie after seeing it and I kind of want to blame the low turn out on a lack of advertising. DisneyToon Studios only had one movie that received a preview in theaters and that was "Rescuers Down Under". I've only seen one advertisement for the movie and it was a special for the series. The movie succeeds in being a good Ducktales episode but not a movie and Disney higher ups treated it as such.

So that's it. What were your favorite episodes? Rest in peace Alan Young, you brought to life a great, memorable character the same way Kevin Conroy did for Batman.