DuckTales (1987 TV series)
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (June 2007) |
| DuckTales | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Carl Barks Jymn Magon Fred Wolf |
| Voices of | Alan Young Hamilton Camp Peter Cullen Brian Cummings Miriam Flynn June Foray Kathleen Freeman Joan Gerber Chuck McCann Terry McGovern Hal Smith Russi Taylor Frank Welker |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 100 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Disney Channel/Syndication |
| Release | September 18, 1987 – May 6, 1990 |
| Related | |
| Darkwing Duck (1991) | |
- This article is on the animated series. For the NES game, see DuckTales (video game).
DuckTales is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company starring characters from the Scrooge McDuck universe as largely created by Carl Barks. The series is notable for being the first Disney cartoon to be produced for syndication, and for paving the way for future Disney cartoons, such as Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin. It also spawned a spinoff series – Darkwing Duck. A world broadcast premiere television movie (entitled "The Treasures of the Golden Suns") first aired on September 18, 1987. Afterwards, it was later turned into a five-part pilot serial. The 100th and final episode aired on March 11, 1990. A feature-length movie was released in theatres on August 3, 1990.
Characters
The main characters of the series, who appear in almost every episode, are Scrooge McDuck and his grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie. Scrooge McDuck is a very serious businessman, often shown to be a tightwad, who managed to earn a fortune so vast that he became the richest duck in the world. He claims to have succeeded by being "smarter than the smarties, and tougher than the toughies". Despite his harsh business ethics, Scrooge has shown that he is also a caring man to his family. Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Scrooge's great-nephews, who are left in his care throughout the series. Although the boys are fairly hyperactive, they have also shown that they can be rather clever and intelligent.
The series also features a mix of established characters carried over from the comics, as well as new ones created for the show. Scrooge's household also consists of his butler, Duckworth; Mrs. Beakley, a nanny hired to look after Huey, Dewey and Louie; and Webby Vanderquack, the granddaughter of Mrs. Beakley.
Initially, other characters include the absent-minded inventor Gyro Gearloose, the heroic but not too bright pilot Launchpad McQuack, the loyal but somewhat foolish Doofus Drake. During the second season, a caveduck from the past Bubba, and accountant Fenton Crackshell, who had the dual identity of Gizmoduck were added to the cast.
The show's primary villains consist of characters Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold and the Beagle Boys. Although they are all financial threats to Scrooge in one way or another, they each have different motives. Magica wants Scrooge's Number One Dime so she can take over the world, Glomgold wants to have more money than Scrooge, and the Beagle Boys want Scrooge's fortune. New villains created for the show include Ma Beagle, mother to the Beagle Boys, and Poe De Spell, Magica's brother who has been transformed into a raven.
Other minor, but notable characters include Donald Duck, who left Huey, Dewey and Louie in Scrooge's care at the start of the series; Gladstone Gander, Scrooge's inexplicably lucky nephew, Scrooge's old flame, Glittering Goldie O'Gilt; Merlock, a powerful magician who served as the movie's main villain; and Dijon, a thief who worked for either Merlock or himself.
Setting
DuckTales is set primarily in the fictitious American city of Duckburg, Calisota, where most of the main cast resides. Duckburg is a port town, but, keeping true to the comics, the city's geographical location is never mentioned. Duckburg is not a huge city by any means, but it is a notable one, as it is the home of Scrooge's many industries, in addition to his Money Bin which houses his fortune. However, it should be noted that DuckTales is not limited to Duckburg, as it features many globetrotting episodes. Supposedly, the city of St. Canard from Darkwing Duck is a neighboring town, but this detail is never fully explained on either show.
Premise
The general premise of the show was about the adventures experienced by Scrooge and his nephews. The nephews, who were originally living with their uncle Donald, were left in Scrooge's care when he went off to join the Navy.
During its initial release, Ducktales was praised by American critics as "Disney's answer to Romancing the Stone and Raiders of the Lost Ark", [citation needed] which is amusingly cyclical, considering that George Lucas stated the scene where Indiana Jones tries to outrun a giant boulder was directly inspired by the cover of a 1950's issue of Uncle Scrooge. [citation needed]
Although already the richest duck in the world with no want for anything, Scrooge constantly came up with ways to try and increase his wealth. Other plots involved protecting his wealth from villains who wanted it for their own greed. In general, there were several different recurring plotlines that were used with specific variations throughout many of the episodes. Some of these recurring plotlines included:
- Scrooge learns about an ancient treasure or civilization, and sets out to find it, only to end up with more than he bargained for. (Home Sweet Homer, Master of the Djinni)
- A variation on the above plotline: Scrooge is having trouble with one of his businesses, and when he goes to inspect the problem, he gets involved in an adventure of some sort. (Where No Duck Has Gone Before, Bermuda Triangle Tangle)
- Gyro comes up with a fantastic new invention, only for a fault to occur, such as a malfunction. Other plots involved the inventions functioning properly but being stolen and used for evil. (Armstrong, Bubba's Big Brainstorm, Time Teasers)
- Scrooge losing his entire fortune, often to the Beagle Boys, and trying to get it back. Sometimes done in conjunction with the above plotline. (The Money Vanishes, Scrooge's Last Adventure)
- Flintheart Glomgold trying to one-up Scrooge, if only so that he can become the richest duck in the world. (Duckman of Aquatraz, The Uncrashable Hindentanic)
- Magica trying to get a hold of the first money that Scrooge ever earned (his first dime, which he calls his "Number One Dime". (Send in the Clones, Magica's Shadow War). Her plans involve using the special dime in order to create a magic spell that will grant her great wealth.
There were numerous other episodes with completely independent plots.
The show's second season saw the addition of characters Fenton Crackshell and Bubba Duck. Along with them came stories that generally shifted away from the globetrotting plots of the first season, and revolved primarily in the contemporary setting of Duckburg. Interestingly, episodes would feature either Bubba or Fenton and rarely featured both. This season had significantly less appeal with the viewers than the first season.
Although Scrooge and his nephews were the show's main characters, some episodes focused on other characters like Launchpad or Gyro, and there were even some in which Scrooge or his nephews didn't appear in at all. (Sir Gyro de Gearloose, Robot Robbers)
Some episodes are based on Carl Barks stories or simply have elements from such stories. (The Unbreakable Bin is based on Barks' The Unsafe Safe)
Episodes
Impact
DuckTales was the most successful of Disney's early attempts to create high-quality animation for a TV animated series (earlier shows included The Wuzzles and The Gummi Bears in 1985). Disney invested a far greater amount of money into the TV series than had previously been spent on animated shows of the time. This was considered a risky move, because animated TV series were generally considered low-budget, throwaway investments for most of the history of TV cartoons up through the 1980s. Most DuckTales episodes were animated in Asia by companies such as Cuckoo's Nest Studios, Wang Film Productions of Taiwan, and Tokyo Movie Shinsha of Japan.
Many critics say that Disney's own animation studio had lost most of its luster during the period from Walt Disney's passing through the 1980s. However, the studio took a number of risks that paid off handsomely, and DuckTales was one of those risks that won big. The studio gambled on the idea that a larger investment into quality animation could be made back through syndication — a concept that worked well with live-action TV reruns, but which had only been used with inexpensive cartoon series that either recycled theatrical shorts from decades past or only featured limited, low-budget animation.
The 1987-1988 season of DuckTales consisted of 65 episodes (the standard length for a Disney TV show). The next season (1989-1990) included an additional 35 episodes, bringing the total to 100 episodes — making DuckTales one of the longest-running Disney shows episode-wise. (The longest-running Disney show is Dumbo's Circus). In the second season, Bubba the Caveduck and his pet triceratops, Tootsie, and Fenton Crackshell and his alter ego Gizmo Duck appeared.
The show was successful enough to spawn a feature film, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, and two spinoff series: Darkwing Duck and Quack Pack. The success of DuckTales also paved the way for a new wave of high-quality animated TV series, including Disney's own The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in 1988.
The new-for-1989 series Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers was paired with DuckTales in an hour-long syndicated show through the 1989-1990 television season. In the 1990-1991 season, Disney expanded the idea even further, to create The Disney Afternoon, a two-hour long syndicated block of half-hour cartoons. DuckTales was one of the early flagship cartoons in the series.
DuckTales inspired competing studios such as Warner Bros. to make their own investments in animation with Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs. The show was referenced in Animaniacs in a Pinky and the Brain cartoon where Pinky likens Fort Knox to Scrooges' money-bin.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie all appeared in the drug prevention video Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue. Scrooge and Launchpad appeared in Disney's short-lived animated series Raw Toonage (originally aired on CBS in 1992 and 1993).
DuckTales was last seen on Toon Disney, a Disney-owned network that airs mostly animated cartoons. After the addition of Jetix in February 2004, the show left circulation along with a number of other shows, and as of 2006, it is currently being syndicated on the United Kingdom channel Disney Cinemagic and will be on BBC2 in 2007. It is unknown if the show will ever return to other networks, although DVD sets are currently in the midst of being released. The Disney Channel reran the series in the late-1990s until their pre-teen lineup took over.
Additionally, Gemstone Publishing will be publishing two trade paperbacks printing the Barks stories that were later adaptated into DuckTales episodes. These books are to be titled Carl Barks' Greatest DuckTales Adventures.
Inspiration
DuckTales was largely based on Carl Barks' classic Scrooge McDuck stories which ran in various Disney Comic publications. Scrooge was originally introduced as a supporting character in Donald Duck's stories but soon became so popular that he was given his own spinoff series, and soon became the center of what was eventually dubbed "The Scrooge McDuck Universe" by fans. Many DuckTales episodes, especially in the first season, are directly adapted from comic stories by Barks. Other major elements, such as Scrooge's money bin, the Junior Woodchuck organization, the city of Duckburg and many of its inhabitants, are culled directly from the comics.
However, there were a number of changes made to adapt the stories for television. Scrooge, while still miserly, is generally more soft-hearted and less ruthless in the cartoon. The initial pilot movie depicts him as closer to the comics version, but later episodes imply that his rough edges have been softened by having the nephews, Mrs. Beakley, and Webby around, thus making Scrooge much more jovial. As he himself puts it in an early episode, "For the first time since I left Scotland, I have a family." While Scrooge is far from heartless in the comics, he is rarely so openly sentimental.
Other changes from the comics include:
- The general premise of the nephews living with Scrooge. In the comics, they are typically still under Donald's care.
- New characters such as Mrs. Beakley, Webby, Duckworth (oddly named since he is not a duck), and Launchpad. Webby is loosely based on April, May and June, the three female counterparts to Donald's nephews (they would later appear in animation on an episode of House of Mouse). Rather than crowd the series with three additional characters, the girls were combined into a single new character.
- Donald Duck is almost entirely absent in DuckTales. At the beginning of the series, he leaves Huey, Dewey, and Louie with Scrooge, and goes off to join the Navy to see the world. Afterwards, he makes a few sparse guest appearances but is generally not a part of the show. This is perhaps the starkest departure from the comics, where Donald was always a major player. The reasons for excluding Donald are unknown, but it is thought that perhaps the producers feared that the presence of Donald, one of the most well-known cartoon characters of all time, would inevitably overshadow that of Scrooge, who was, after all, supposed to be the star. Launchpad McQuack was created largely to fill Donald's role, taking his place on many adventures. Fenton Crackshell has also filled this role on numerous occasions. Another reason for Donald's absence is probably due to his distinct voice and difficulty understanding what he says half the time
- Scrooge is given a stronger moral compass in the cartoon. He is still preoccupied with money, but he (with some exceptions) does not exploit his friends and family to get it, and never uses dirty tricks or underhanded business practices (or, in the few instances where he does, he sees the error of his ways by the end of the episode). DuckTales' Scrooge is adamant that the only legitimate way to acquire wealth is to "earn it square" (i.e. through hard work and honesty) and becomes livid when he hears of someone becoming rich by cheating others. This often puts him at odds with Glomgold (who is more than happy to lie, cheat, and steal to achieve his goals) and countless other enemies throughout the course of the series.
- Scrooge's enemies, the Beagle Boys, were originally a gang of interchangeable crooks who referred to each other only by their prison numbers, and had virtually identical appearances and personalities. DuckTales gave the Beagles names (all beginning with "B", save for their leader, Ma Beagle), personalities, and distinct appearances.
- Scrooge's nemesis, Flintheart Glomgold, the second richest duck in the world, was generally unchanged, with one notable exception. In the comics he is of South African origin, but in DuckTales his ethnicity is changed so he is a Scotsman like Scrooge (by way of emphasis, he is also given a kilt, and bagpipe music often plays when he is around.) South Africa was still a global hotspot at the time the series originally aired, so it is thought that Glomgold was made Scottish in order to avoid any potential controversy. Another difference is that in the series, Flintheart enlists help from the Beagle Boys on a regular basis, while in the comics, he usually works alone.
- Huey, Dewey and Louie no longer finish each other's sentences and thoughts as they did in the comics (with rare exceptions). Nevertheless, they still display inherently self-same dispositions.
- The Number One Dime actually works as a lucky dime, as seen in "Dime Enough for Luck" while in the comics it never became certain whether the coin brought luck to Scrooge, or not. In the comics, it's stated that Magica believes the first coin earned by the world's richest person, if melted into an amulet, could grant the Midas touch, while in the series, it's a necessary component for Magica's desire to rule the world, since it contains all of Scrooge's aspirations and success.
Movie
Merchandise
DuckTales had two series of comic books. The first series was from Gladstone and ran for 13 issues from 1988 to 1990, and the second series was from Disney Comics and ran for 18 issues from 1990 to 1991. Disney also published a children's magazine based on the show, which also featured comic stories, one of which was the only story Don Rosa wrote without also illustrating. Subsequent comic stories were printed in the magazine Disney Adventures from 1990 to 1996. In the UK a series of comics were printed by Fleetway Editions during spring/summer of 1992.
VHS and DVD releases
In the early 1990s, select episodes of the series were released on VHS, with two episodes per tape. Starting in 2005, Disney has been releasing episodes onto DVD sets, with two sets released so far.
Video and computer games
The series also spawned two video games for the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy, DuckTales and DuckTales 2, both by Capcom, as well as a computer game for the PC, Amiga and Commodore 64, called Duck Tales – The Quest for Gold. The first Ducktales game for NES is considered by many to be the best of all the Disney Afternoon themed games by Capcom, as the programming team that developed it was the same as the design team for the original Megaman series.
Foreign translations
The success of DuckTales led to the translation of the show into many languages.
DuckTales was the first American animated TV series to be officially broadcast in syndication in the former USSR. Featured together with Chip ‘n Dale’s Rescue Rangers in a Sunday evening program simply called Walt Disney Presents, the show premiered for millions of excited Soviet children in 1991. Some of the show’s characters were dubbed by popular veteran voice actors of Soviet animation.
The show’s theme song (written by Mark Mueller and originally sung by Jeff Pescetto) however remained in English for a number of episodes. The first Russian version of the song was inexplicably replaced mid-way through the series with an alternate rendition that contained completely different lyrics. Similarly, the Swedish version changed the lyrics to the theme halfway through the series.
Spinoffs
The success of DuckTales was great enough to lead to the character of Launchpad landing a role on the spin-off show, Darkwing Duck in 1991, one year after DuckTales had ended. Although Darkwing Duck was clearly set in the same world as DuckTales, with a few characters making cameos here and there, many artistic licenses were taken. On the more cartoonish Darkwing Duck, the artwork was not as realistic as on DuckTales, and much of the humor was based on slapstick gags. Also shown were Tex Avery-esque stunts that would be either fatal or impossible on DuckTales, such as Darkwing shattering into a thousand pieces, falling to the ground from drastic heights, or getting blasted in the face by an explosion. Despite the wide contrast between the two shows, many people are fans of both. Additionally, the episode Double-O-Duck served as a loose prototype for Darkwing Duck, and certain factors of the episode were later integrated into Darkwing's show.
In 1996, Disney came out with Quack Pack, a show which placed Huey, Dewey and Louie back with their uncle Donald, and aged them into teenagers. On Quack Pack, the nephews dressed differently, and developed different personalities. As with Darkwing Duck, Quack Pack also had a more slapstick feel than DuckTales. However, despite the inclusion of the nephews, the premise of the show was entirely different from DuckTales, as it tried to make itself more "hip". The show was met with criticism from some Disney fans, and was nowhere near as successful as its predecessor.
There is also some controversy as to whether or not the series takes place in the same universe as DuckTales, due to the presence of human characters on Quack Pack. While no humans ever appeared on DuckTales, a few humans did appear on Darkwing Duck, but they were portrayed as beings from another world/dimension. By contrast, on Quack Pack, Donald, Daisy, and the nephews are often the only non-humans to appear in many episodes.
External links
- Official web page at the Toon Disney Channel
- DuckTales at IMDb
- DuckTales: Volume 1 DVD Review at UltimateDisney.com
- DuckTales on TV.com
- DuckTales on The Big Cartoon Database
- DuckTales on Retro Junk
- All about DuckTales (Russian) In English
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- DuckTales
- Television series by Disney
- Donald Duck television series
- 1987 television program debuts
- 1990 television program series endings
- 1980s American animated television series
- 1990s American television series
- Disney Channel shows
- Animated television series
- Gladstone Comics titles
- Disney Comics titles
- Television programs featuring anthropomorphic characters
- First-run syndicated television programs