Creator
Tad Stones
Cast
Jim Cummings Darkwing Duck/Drake Mallard (voice)
Terence McGovern Launchpad McQuack (voice)
Christine Cavanaugh Gosalyn Waddlemeyer-Mallard (voice)
Katie Leigh Honker Muddlefoot (voice)
DVD Release Date: August 7, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 612 Minutes on 3 discs
The Show
Right down the road from Duckberg where Scrooge McDuck lived with his billions was a big city known as St. Canard. And while Duckberg usually suffered from the wrath of the huge family of Beagle Boys trying to get at Scrooge’s money, St. Canard seemed to have its share of so many more villains. Bushroot, Negaduck, Quackerjack, Steelbeak, and Megavolt are just a few of the bad guys that would terrorize the citizens and get what they wanted at any cost. But their evil ways were always met with the resistance of Darkwing Duck.
Darkwing Duck was a crime fighter in the way of Batman as he had an alter-ego of common everyday Drake Mallard. Drake lived with his daughter Gosalyn in St. Canard and lived a normal life by keeping his crime-fighting identity secret. They would go about their lives as normal, but any time criminals showed their faces, Darkwing was ready to spring into action with his bungling sidekick Launchpad McQuack (which many may remember as Scrooge’s pilot). Gosalyn and her best friend Honker usually went along as well since they always ended up being the most level-headed ones of the group.
Darkwing Duck was Disney’s way of showing that superheroes didn’t always have to be serious. They gave Darkwing the alter-ego thing like Batman and even somewhat modeled his entire character after the Green Hornet. One of my favorite episodes in this volume also plays up to the man of steel Superman. “The Secret Origins Of Darkwing Duck” takes us on a journey back in time to his home planet and how he escaped and made it to Earth much like Kal-El/Superman did. Being the Superman nut that I am, this episode surely caught my attention.
Another thing that makes this series so enjoyable was the characters. Of course we’ve all seen Launchpad before and even a few cameos from other Disney shows make appearances, but mostly the entire cast was made up of new characters all together. The villains are done with sheer genius with the likes of Megavolt who goes around with a giant plug on top his head and can control electricity. Then take Negaduck who is the opposite version of Darkwing even down to the same clothes but in different colors. Superman fans could probably look at Negaduck as Darkwing’s Bizarro.
The show seemed to have a mind all its own while also bringing in things that people would recognize. For instance the episode “Dry Hard” is obviously a play on the Die Hard franchise, but the episode’s story had nothing even similar to that of the film. Another fantastic episode is “Life, The Negaverse, And Everything” because the character of Negaduck quickly became a favorite of mine.
Darkwing Duck was a cartoon series I watched religiously as a child and young teenager. The mysterious aura about the show kept my interest and made things interesting while still keeping things light with some comedy. It was a really nice alternative to the happy and cheery cartoons that usually graced the airwaves. Even after all these years the episodes hold up really well and are enjoyable to watch. Being so long since I last viewed them, it’s almost like seeing them for the first time and that’s okay with me because they are time well spent.
Episodes
Disc One:
All’s Fahrenheit In Love And War
Whiffle While You Work
Ghoul Of My Dreams
Adopt-A-Con
Toys Czar Us
The Secret Origins Of Darkwing Duck
Up, Up And Awry
Life, The Negaverse, And Everything
Dry Hard
Disc Two:
Heavy Mental
Disguise The Limit
Planet Of The Capes
Darkwing Doubloon
It’s A Wonderful Leaf
Twitching Channels
Dances With Bigfoot
Twin Beaks
The Incredible Bulk
Disc Three:
My Valentine Ghoul
Dead Duck
A Duck By Any Other Name
Let’s Get Respectable
In Like Blunt
Quack Of Ages
Time And Punishment
Stressed To Kill
The Darkwing Squad
The Video
The episodes are shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen Format and it doesn’t look as though much was done to really bring it up to modern day appearance. It is a nice transfer to DVD, but the episodes still look rather aged instead of touched up or anything. Yet nothing really much to complain about because if it was fine fifteen years ago, it still is now.
The Audio
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital Stereo Sound and for the material being seen, it sounds fine. The sound is kind of weak at times and it doesn’t seem as if it has really been remastered either or anything, but it still sounds good.
Special Features
None
The Inside Pulse
As with most TV on DVD box sets, the lack of special features is going to hurt the overall score. Nonetheless, Darkwing Duck has withstood the test of time. The episodes are incredibly enjoyable and with a whopping twenty-seven of them to go through; well, it isn’t like you’ll be whining for something to watch without any special features. Sure there is a good bit of corniness and oddball comedy. Of course the animation is not computer generated or top notch, but let’s remember that is how things used to be. If you are a longtime fan of the series as I am, then you definitely need to make this a part of your collection. For those who have never experience the masked web-footed crime fighter, try a rental first but I’m sure you’ll want more when you take it back. Let’s get dangerous folks!
