Creators
Carl Banks, Jymn Magon, & Fred Wolf
Cast
Alan Young Scrooge McDuck
Terence McGovern Launchpad McQuack
Russi Taylor Huey, Dewey, & Louie/Webby Vanderquack
Joan Gerber Mrs. Bentina Beakley
Chuck McCann Duckworth/Beagle Boys/Various
DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 546 Minutes on 3 discs
The Show
The town of Duckburg is just like any other in the world except for the fact that it is totally populated by ducks. There’s also the occasional dog or other animal, but you get the picture. Scrooge McDuck is by the far the richest duck not only in town, but the world. Almost every business is owned by him and he has more money then he knows what to do with. That also leads to big problems for him as the villainous Beagle family, Magica DiSpell, and every other rat-nosed crook in the world is after his money. To be perfectly honest, they are after Scrooge’s lucky dime (the first one he ever earned) for they know possessing it will inherit them a king’s ransom.
Lucky for Scrooge, he has a lot of friends that are always around to help him thwart anyone trying to steal his number one dime. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the famed nephews of Donald Duck, are living with Scrooge in his mansion and are much smarter then the average grade schooler-ducks. Launchpad McQuack (the same one as Darkwing Duck’s sidekick) is Scrooge’s personal pilot and can always somehow bungle up some help. It’s a constant battle to keep Scrooge’s money safe and never let his enemies take over the world or his dime.
DuckTales is a timeless series that almost anyone can associate with. I’m willing to bet that if you go anywhere and start singing, “Life is like a hurricane ” that someone will finish up the lyric with ” here in Duckburg.” It’s just one of those cartoons that you never quite forget or are able to get the theme song out of your head. The characters are fantastic and seen everywhere else you look. Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been around for decades and always will be. Scrooge has also been around a long time and can be seen in Mickey’s Christmas Carol. As for Launchpad, well he’s shown up just about in any place that an animated plane can be found.
This volume contains the episodes that really sent DuckTales into the upper echelon of the “Disney Afternoon” block every weekday. So many of them have the same old enjoyable qualities of every other episode like laughter, a good story, and some adventure. But the two five-parters are what set this volume apart from the first two. They bring about the introduction of GizmoDuck, the robotic duck that could take on any villain and overcome any obstacle, but damn if he wasn’t clumsy as all living hell. Still, he was a superhero and loved by everyone and also brought about two great characters in one. Fenton Crackshell was a mild-mannered genius that was shy as can be, but he was everything he always dreamed of when he’d put on the GizmoDuck suit. He was Duckburg’s version of Clark Kent and Superman, and he was awesome.
After all is said and done, this is one of the shows that will always be enjoyable no matter how far into the future you may look. It was one of the last really good hand-drawn animated shows that Disney produced before turning over to the CGI-laced shows that are boring as can be. The films are really good, but not so much the cartoon series. DuckTales has awesome characters, really cool villains, and just keeps getting better the more you watch it. Go back to being young again or introduce your children to what cartoons were really like before commercialization ruined everything.
Episodes
Disc One:
Duck To The Future
Jungle Duck
Launchpad’s First Crash
Dime Enough For Luck
Duck In The Iron Mask
The Uncrashable Hindentanic
The Status Seekers
Nothing To Fear
Disc Two:
Dr. Jekyll And Mr. McDuck
Once Upon A Dime
Spies In Their Eyes
All Ducks On Deck
Ducky Horror Picture Show
Till Nephews Do Us Part
Time Is Money, Part 1
Time Is Money, Part 2
Disc Three:
Time Is Money, Part 3
Time Is Money, Part 4
Time Is Money, Part 5
Super DuckTales, Part 1
Super DuckTales, Part 2
Super DuckTales, Part 3
Super DuckTales, Part 4
Super DuckTales, Part 5
The Video
The episodes are shown in 1.33:1 Full Screen format and my goodness do they look great. Every single color is as bright as they always have been and the transfer to DVD seems almost flawless. Once in a while you’ll see a bit of discoloration or grainy look, but not often.
The Audio
The episodes are heard in Dolby Digital Stereo Sound and they all sound as they did back when I’d watch them after school. Don’t expect much in the way of extra sound because it is a children’s cartoon show and there wasn’t really much needed in the way of sound but to simply hear it.
Special Features
None
The Inside Pulse
It’s quite the shame that none of the volumes of DuckTales have any special features. Perhaps some audio commentaries, interviews with the vocal talents, or even a few featurettes teaching us how to draw the characters would have been nice but nothing. Still, it’s the episodes that you really will buy this set for because they are absolutely perfect and can be enjoyed for years to come. This is a great volume to have to especially for the big five-part episodes that were made from DuckTales full-length films and broken down to show during the series. I’m going to go on record to say that there is no possible way anyone could not like this show. If I’m wrong, then what is this world coming to? Blathering blatherskite.
