A trilogy of Disney films where a bunch of misfit kids play hockey.In the first movie (released 1992; called Champions in some countries), Jerk Ass hot-shot attorney Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) is sentenced to community service after driving while intoxicated. His duty is to coach a rowdy pee-wee hockey team simply called "District 5." As the cold Bombay softens up, his bond with the kids grows and the team is renamed "The Ducks" after Bombay's employer Mr. Ducksworth. The Ducks eventually make it to the finals, where they face the Hawks, the team Bombay once played for as a kid; in fact, the coach of the Hawks is still the same man, Jack Reilly. Bombay was disillusioned by the sport when he cost the Hawks the championship with a missed penalty shot.In the second movie (released 1994), a year after the Ducks defeat the Hawks to win the championship, Gordon, with a renewed passion for hockey, tries out for the minor leagues but his dream is shot down by a knee injury (from a cheap shot by a frustrated opponent no less). He is then approached to coach Team USA in the Junior Goodwill Games. Unsurprisingly, Gordon recruits his Ducks, along with a couple of other players to represent Team USA. Team USA proves to be a force to be reckoned with, but fame and fortune get to the team, especially Bombay, as they are pummeled in a game against Team Iceland. Soon after Bombay learns that the game is not about celebrity but about having fun, he is able to put the team back on track, and they compete as the Ducks in a re-match against Team Iceland that will decide the championship.In the third movie (released 1996), the Ducks are accepted scholarships to the famed Eden Hall Academy, the high school Bombay attended. They also get a new coach in the form of Ted Orion. Orion irritates Captain Charlie Conway with his less-lenient teaching methods ("Your little duck tricks won't work anymore!" Orion remarks), switching of the teammates' positions, and by renaming them the Warriors. The team also faces adversity from the varsity team, as the former Ducks were accepted into the Academy instead of their younger siblings. After Conway becomes more accepting of his new coach following some self-reflection and a pep talk by Bombay, Orion also softens up a little, and re-renames the team the Ducks, and the stage is set for a game against the varsity team.
Advertised Extra: Emilio Estevez gets top billing in the third movie, but Bombay barely appears at all.
Amoral Attorney: Bombay becomes one, but in a subversion of the trope, his boss doesn't like it.
Artistic License - Physics: The knucklepuck simply wouldn't work. The sheer lack of any aerodynamics would result in the puck harmlessly fluttering at the goal rather than improbably flying through the air, as many hockey playing viewers likely discovered in the early 1990's. Which makes sense, because the movie describes it as "hard to do". In real life, it's impossible.
There's also Fulton's slapshot. It moves fast enough to ricochet around the arena and STILL knock out Mr. Tibbles, and yet in the tracking shots from behind it appears to be moving all of three miles an hour.
Blocking Stops All Damage: Sports subversion from the second film. The opposing team's goalie manages to stop a slap shot from the power hitter. The film spends a few seconds showing the goalie take off his glove showing a massive puck shaped bruise.
Broken Aesop: The movie sort of blows its "Have fun and don't take youth sports too seriously" moral when Gordon Rules Lawyers away the Hawks' best player (jerking around an 11-year-old) just to get back at his old coach.
The other Aesop, "it doesn't matter whether you win or lose, it only matters if you tried hard and had fun," is kind of broken with the way the Ducks always win in the end.
Hell, the tagline includes, "They'll learn everything about winning!"
Brother Chuck: Some of the players from the first movie are suddenly gone with no explanation in the sequels. It's particularly noteworthy in the case of one of the players - Jesse's brother.
Butt Monkey: Adam Banks. Injured in the first two movies, and pulled away from his friends and assigned to a new team in the first and third (and taking all the derision that implies). Sorry, cake eater!
Confusion Fu: What the Ducks rely on. Nobody notices the figure skater has a shot at an empty net, because no one can figure out what she's doing. Fridge Logic dictates that this is the only way the Flying-V can work, either, because by all rights it should succumb to a trap at the blue line: the way to counter it is to have everybody cover the lead man, because the V will go offside if they don't pass to him before reaching the blue line.
Continuity Nod: In the Goldbergs' family deli in D2, There's a picture of Greg with the caption "OUR SON, THE GOALIE".
Crippling The Competition: In D2: The Mighty Ducks, Wolf "The Dentist" Stanson whacks Gordon Bombay his bad leg, keeping Bombay from winning a game of three bar against him.
Also how Gordon's comeback is derailed in the first place.
Crack! Oh My Back!: Goldberg displays some inflexibility by the second flim. This convinces Bombay to embrace Julie as a backup goalie.
Defictionalization: The NHL franchise. Though when they ditched the uniforms from D2 and the "Mighty" part, they became a respectable franchise and even won the Stanley Cup.
Amusingly, given the theme of the movies, the cup-winning Ducks team was known for being relentlessly physical. They led the league in fighting majors that season.
Disappeared Dad: Charlie (divorce) and Gordon (death) bond over theirs.
Exact Eavesdropping: Some of the kids overhear Bombay and Reilly having an argument in a hallway but mistake Gordon's "[The Ducks] didn't even deserve to live" as truth instead of sarcasm.
Fanservice: In 3, Dean is sent to the penalty box and immediately starts stripping off his clothes and equipment (likely a Shout Out to Slap Shot). The announcer immediately lampshades it.
Golden Snitch: A standard playoff structure (albeit with an unusually low bar for qualification) is made to look like this when the Ducks are able to overcome an 0-11 start and a later forfeit because of an opponents' illness-forfeited season, a win and a draw. They then run through the playoffs and win the state title.
Greek Chorus: The commentators, especially in the last two films.
Gretzky Has the Ball: A lot of illegal hits by both teams. Also, no youth league anywhere would let kids play without face cages. And if the Ducks really snuck into the playoffs as the final seed, they should play the league-leading Hawks first, not last.
The most egregious illegal hit in the first movie is the checking from behind that a Duck suffered in the first game, though a whistle was blown right afterward, indicating it may have been called. Still, checking from behind is something that in addition to being a match penalty, deserves a long suspension at Pee-Wee level, if not a season-long disqualification.
The worst example, though, may be in the third film. One of the players levels another (it may have been a Duck on a varsity player) well after the puck has been passed (a hit that would definitely draw a major penalty and likely a suspension), but on seeing it the dean turns to the man next to him and says "A legal check..." It most certainly was not.
Hollywood California: The better part of D2 takes place in Los Angeles; Russ Tyler is recruited from South Central. Ken Wu comes from San Francisco.
Hollywood Heart Attack: One of the kids relates to Gordon what happened to their previous coach: A long rant, followed by a sudden clutch at his left arm. Gordon concludes, "Heart attack."
Money, Dear Boy: Emilio Estevez agreed to reprise his role in the third film in exchange for a directorial job he had been angling for.
Non Sequitur Thud: Mr. Tibbles is knocked out by Fulton's slapshot in D2 and when he comes to he orders a cheeseburger, fries and a chocolate shake.
Once an Episode: Each film features a scene in the Mall of America and at least one scene where the Ducks are in roller blades.
Oh Crap: In the second movie, when the returning characters practice against the new recruits, Fulton readies his slapshot. The returning characters immediately panic and rush out of the way. The new characters wonder why until Fulton takes his shot.
Bombay: Rancher Dwayne! Dwayne: Yes, sir? Bombay: Round me up some stray cattle, there! *Hands over rope* (Beat) Dwayne: My pleasure! Team: Ohhhhhhhh! *All scatter*
Fulton does this again later to Iceland's goalie, when its his turn at the shoot out. The goalie had previously blocked one of his shots but messed up his hand doing so, so he's shaking nervously, and ends up failing the save.
Parental Substitute: Gordon for Charlie who doesn't have a father. Gordon lost his own father when he was about Charlie's age so he knows how he feels. Gordon even falls in love with Charlie's mother but their relationship has ended by the time the second film begins. Hans is implied to have been one for Gordon in a similar way.
Put on a Bus: Half the kids from the first film, presumably to make way for the newcomers. Also, Charlie's mom, said to have re-married during Gordon's comeback attempt.
Putting the Band Back Together: Charlie goes around town gathering his teammates at the start of the second film. Along the way, an Almost Kiss between Connie and Guy is broken up, upsetting the latter (even though he already kissed her in the previous movie).
Sarcasm-Blind: The team mutinies against Bombay when some of them overhear him bad-mouthing the team, although Bombay was actually being sarcastic and defending them against Coach Reilly. When Bombay tells Karp he was being sarcastic and asks if he knows what that is, Karp sarcastically replies, "Nooooo!"
Serious Business: Apparently children's hockey games are this in the team's hometown: The local paper covers them, complete with large headers and dramatic photographs.
No American state is more crazy about hockey than Minnesota, but the films definitely take it Up to Eleven.
Take Five:In the first film, Timmy and Tammy Duncan are spotted on a hockey rink before a game. Bombay tells his team to get ready for the game, then recruits the Duncans.
Technician Vs Performer: Adam Banks is a gifted hockey player, but Charlie is picked to be Captain because he is an emotional leader.
Title Confusion: The Mighty Ducks was called Champions in the UK and Commonwealth countries. D2: The Mighty Ducks was simply called The Mighty Ducks, the same as the international name for the first film. Ultimately the third film was called D3: The Mighty Ducks everywhere.
Took a Level in Jerkass: Pretty much the ENTIRE team in D3. Though the rival varsity players are pretty huge jerks too, the protaganists match them prank for prank through the first half of the movie, and also act very disrespectful towards their new coach, mostly just for the "crime" of shaking up their status quo and holding them to higher standards. A large part of the plot is focused on Charlie in particular getting over his new Jerkassery.
Very High Velocity Rounds: Russ's "knucklepuck." Oxymoronic as a knuckler is effective because it's slow.
What the Hell, Hero?: Gordon gets three of them in D2 after he falls prey to the fame and loses what everyone liked about him; one by his team, one by Ms. McKay, and one by Jan.
The Worf Barrage: Fulton's slapshot subverts this twice in D2. The first time, it's blocked by Team Iceland's goalie...but the goalie's intense pain (as well as a puck shaped bruise) suggests that it was mainly sheer luck that his glove was in the right spot. Subverted completely near the end, when the shot unexpectedly works perfectly during the tie-breaker shootout.
You notice the goalie (same one as before) visibly shaking nervously when Fulton steps up, presumably having the pain fresh in his head from last time, which likely caused him to mess up the save the second time around.
The Worf Effect: Adam Banks is considered the best player on the team, but cheap shots knocked him out of the final in the first film and had him injured for most of D2.
Writing Lines: After a display of insubordination, most of the team has to write "I will not quack at the principal" in detention.
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