Donald Duck leaves his nephews--Huey, Dewey, & Louie---in the care of his estranged Uncle Scrooge while he goes on a job interview that he'll soon regret. That's just the beginning of the adventure as Disney marks the 30th anniversary of DuckTales by rebooting the series so that Scrooge (David Tennant, ex-Jessica Jones, Doctor Who) meets his nephews for the first time.
You see, Donald (Tony Anselmo) and Scrooge haven't spoken in a decade, so Huey (Danny Pudi, ex-Powerless), Dewey (Ben Schwartz), and Louie (Bobby Moynihan, ex-Saturday Night Live) have never met their other uncle. The family reunion comes sooner than planned, however, thanks to a traffic jam trapping them on the road.
Once at McDuck Mansion, the boys meet Webigail (Webby) Vanderquack (Kate Micucci, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo), whose design is radically different from the original series, and who is under the care of her grandmother, Mrs. Beakly. A few mishaps lead to the release of several odd creatures that are quickly recaptured by Scrooge and his chauffeur/pilot, Launchpad McQuack (Beck Bennett, Saturday Night Live).
The series opener, "Woo-oo", is being replayed continuously until midnight (ET) tonight, while new episodes resume in a hour-long block starting September 23, as this version will be weekly instead of a daily series. Keep an ear open for a reference to Launchpad's other series, Darkwing Duck, and I can tell you that Disney's Batman send-up will meet Donald and the gang this season.
Here's the intro. Felicia Barton sings the iconic title song.
The animation isn't quite as fluid as the original series, but I think that if this clicks, it'll get better with time. Nice opening story, but I'm not digging that we have to wait 6 weeks for the next episode.
Rating: B+.
6 comments:
Fans of the original series as well as the Disney Afternoon will already appreciate some of the many Easter eggs dropped in this episode. The opener references Cape Suzette, St. Canard and Spoonerville, the home bases of TailSpin, Darkwing Duck and Goof Troop, respectively. Hints at a Disney Afternoon shared universe, perhaps?
One new angle I'm particularly curious to see how it plays out is how this time around, Donald Duck will be sticking around for the adventures. That, in addition to his checkered past with Scrooge, should add an interesting element to the show.
I referenced the prospect of a "shared universe", and admittedly didn't catch the references to Goof Troop & TaleSpin's home bases. I think they realize that they could've done something like this back in the day, and now they're making up for lost time.
The triplets new voices will take some getting used to. Huey, Dewey and Louie are supposed to be 10-years-old boys, but they all sound like guys in their 20s. This new version of Webigail is like a completely different character with the same name. However, I think that I like this version of Webby a little more (at least based on what I've seen of her so far). I have nothing but respect for Russi Taylor, but the 1980s Webby was a little too cloyingly cute.
Also, hate to nitpick, but it's Mrs. Beakly, not Mrs. Beazly.
I'll fix that little oversight shortly.
They should give Gargoyles a reboot one day.
Be patient. Maybe they will.
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