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Western Animation: The Mighty Ducks

Left to right: Grin, Duke L'Orange, Wildwing, Nosedive, Mallory and Tanya.

"See if you can keep up with this string of complete illogical nonsense: In 1992, Disney released a slobs vs. snobs comedy about a pee wee hockey league called The Mighty Ducks, in which a group of rag-tag kids came together under the guidance of Emilio Estevez.

"Then in 1993, Disney founded an actual professional hockey team that they also named the Mighty Ducks, and while you'd think they would've filled out the roster with a team of good-hearted but clumsy and disadvantaged youths, they went with the usual professional athletes.

"Then — and this is where any kind of logic breaks down — they made an animated series in 1996 called The Mighty Ducks, and despite the fact that they were still making live-action movies, the animated series was about a group of hockey-playing, crime-fighting anthropomorphic ducks that were led by a duck named WILDWING FLASHBLADE. Wildwing. F—-ing. Flashblade. And for bonus points, he was voiced by Ian Zeiring."

—Comics Alliance, in a review of a totally different series about hockey-playing superheroes

The Mighty Ducks animated series was, to put it gently, rather a surprise for viewers expecting a comedy series about misfit kids playing hockey. This animated series lasted from September, 1996 to January, 1997.

It was instead about (sit down for this) a team of super-powered anthropomorphic ducks who fight aliens with hockey-themed gadgets. Yes, somewhere in space there were two dinosaur-derived races. Interestingly, the race descended from Ceratopsians, led by Lord Dragaunus, were evil and the Therapod (well, more specifically, duck) descended race was good. By an incredible coincidence, the Ducks' entire culture was based upon hockey. When Lord Dragaunus pursues the Ducks to Earth, the Ducks form an NHL team where they can hide in plain sight.

Compare Dinosaucers.

Despite being ducks created by Disney, they are not part of the Disney Duck Canon. One would be intrigued to see Scrooge's reaction to these guys...

The Mighty Ducks contains examples of:

Abnormal Ammo: Explosive hockey pucks.
The Ace: The Ducks' original leader, Canard, to some extent- though even he can't get a puck past Wildwing the goalie.
All There in the Manual: Save for Mallory and Duke, none of the Ducks' last names are ever mentioned in the show itself. So how are they all around and 100% canon? They were provided by the writer, David Wise, specifically for the fanbase to use.
Animal Superheroes
Animated Adaptation: Though it seems to be more an adaptation of the name, with the only other tie to the original movies being the hockey theme.
Annoying Younger Sibling: Nosedive definitely has his moments, to both Wildwing and the rest of the team.
- A lot of fans have noted similarities between 'Dive and Michelangelo from TMNT, which is Fridge Brilliance when you consider the fact that both series were penned by the same writer.
Another Dimension: The Heroic Fantasy-ish version of Anaheim seen in "Dungeons and Ducks" and "The Return of Astroth".
- Technically, the ducks and the bad guys and such also came from another dimension. Another another dimension.
Badass Bookworm: Tanya. How many tech experts do you know that can also hold their own in a hockey ring and on the battlefield?
Bad Future: In "Beak to the Future".
Big Brother Worship: Nosedive displays this on occasion towards his older brother, Wildwing.
Bilingual Bonus: "Klang" being German for "sound".
Conspicuous CG
Travel Cool: As the demands:
- Cool Car: The Migrator, borderline Base on Wheels.
- Cool Plane: The last of the military's Aerowings.
- Cool Bike: Enough for each Duck.
Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Writ large (look at the Big Bad's name), at least for all the dinosaurs who aren't hockey playing ducks.
Elaborate Underground Base: The Ducks' contract allowed them to build a headquarters under the hockey rink. You shoulda seen the fine print on that one.
Fake Defector: Duke in "To Catch A Duck"
Family Friendly Firearms: For some reason, the local donut-loving Cowboy Cop Klegghorn also has a blaster pistol.
Femme Fatale: Lucretia DeCoy in "A Traitor Among Us".
Fiery Redhead: Mallory.
The Final Temptation: Dragaunus eventually gets tired of the Ducks constantly thwarting his schemes and offers them the means to go back to Puckworld, leaving Earth to him. Subverted slightly since his henchmen were ready with a bazooka in case they refused the offer. The Bad Future seen in that episode is the result of the Ducks accepting the offer.
Four Bad Band: The villains.
Five-Man Band: In this case, a Six Anthropomorphic Duck Band.
- The Hero: Wildwing
- The Lancer: Duke
- The Smart Guy: Tanya
- The Big Guy: Grin
- The Chick/Action Girl: Mallory
- Kid Appeal Character: Nosedive
Gadgeteer Genius: Tanya.
The Genie Knows Jack Nicholson: One of Dragaunus's minions frequently makes references to Earth pop culture.
Gentle Giant: Grin.
Gretzky Has the Ball: Although hockey is accurately portrayed, the Ducks don't respect a few prerequisites for a team...
- Almost Lampshaded in an episode when Wildwing temporarily leaves the team, and their manager hires a professional hockey player in a mascot costume.
Hard Head: Nosedive in "Phil in the Blank". Guy gets a concussion but wakes up and proceeds to drive to the rocket and then later jumps out of it to land in Wildwing's borrowed jet, all with no side effects.
Heel Face Turn: Duke L'Orange started out as a Gentleman Thief before using his skills for good.
Hello Nurse: This was pretty much the reaction Lucretia DeCoy got when she showed up. Even Phil seemed to think she was hot (of course, he also planned on making money off said hotness).
- Mallory also got this same reaction at the end of the same episode.
Heroic Sacrifice: In the pilot, the Ducks' original leader throws himself into an interdimensional vortex to save the rest of the team.
- The fact that it was a Disney Death is relevant in at least one episode, where the idea of said leader returning was toyed with.
Hunting the Most Dangerous Game: "The Most Dangerous Duck Hunt"
In Name Only: This series might be called The Mighty Ducks, but don't expect any connection at all to the live action films.
I Know Madden Kombat: The ducks and their hockey based combat.
Ice Cream Koan:
Grin: Pain is an illusion... an illusion that really hurts!
Incredible Shrinking Man: "Microducks"
Jerkass: Phil Palmfeather, the Ducks' money-grubbing manager.
- Not the worst guy in the world, mind. He also has terrible fashion sense.
Magic Versus Science: Wraith the warlock doesn't think too highly of the technology that Dragaunus has embraced, even if it did free them from the dimensional limbo and allow them to conquer Puckworld.
Mind Control: "Phil in the Blank"
No Fourth Wall
Non-Mammal Mammaries: One of the most ridiculous examples yet.
Off Model: This is a mid-Nineties Disney Cartoon after all. And five of the animation studios
Animal Ya, Sunwoo, Walt Disney Animation Japan, Wang Film Productions and Koko Enterprises
used worked on Gargoyles too. This was also Plus One Animation's first Disney series as well.
Petting Zoo People: The Ducks are basically bulky humans - complete with hair and breasts - with variants of Donald Duck's face slapped on.
Punny Name: "Duke L'Orange".
La Résistance: The Mighty Ducks, after Dragaunus took over Puckworld and before everyone came to Earth.
Sacrificial Lion: Canard Thunderbeak
Serious Business: Puckworld's entire culture is based around hockey, if it wasn't obvious from the name. Though the Ducks don't have much trouble fitting in on Earth after a while.
- Just in case any of the viewers missed it from the premise and name, there is a field of puck-shaped asteroids near it, along with a nebula shaped like a hockey mask.
- Apparently it is in our universe too; one episode has the Ducks captured to participate in an intergalactic bloodsport version of hockey.
Shout Out: "Puck Fiction" is an Affectionate Parody of Pulp Fiction.
- Puckworld... Duckworld..?
- When a disillusioned Wildwing temporarily leaves the team, Nosedive gets to wear the leader's mask and tells his worried comrades "Hakuna Matata" (which, as you know, means no worries for the rest of your days).
Speech Impediment: Tanya stutters pretty badly, and tries to switch from Technobabble to Layman's Terms mid-sentence. It's said she does so because her brain moves faster than she speaks.
Squishy Wizard: One of Dragaunus' two Squishy minions is a conventional version of this. The other is a tiny Shapeshifting creature who, of course, turns into a big scary guy during combat. Rounding out the Four Bad Band is... another Big Scary Guy.
Take Up My Sword: Right before he lets himself fall into dimensional Limbo, Canard tells Wildwing to take the mask of Drake Dukane and with it the position of resistance leader. Wildwing only does so at the end of the pilot after overcoming his feelings of guilt and inadequacy.
Teenage Mutant Samurai Wombats
They Fight Crime
Toothy Bird: Comes with the Petting Zoo People territory. It's not that noticeable, but it briefly shows up on a few episodes. Dungeons and Ducks, however, goes totally nuts with it; throughout the episode, many characters' facial expressions pretty much explode, giving us more than a couple clear views at the Ducks' teeth.
Town with a Dark Secret ("The Human Factor")
Toyless Toyline Character: Here's another cartoon that was affected by The Smurfette Principle. There were 5 lines of action figures. How many lines did Mallory make it into? Just two. Also, her action figures are extremely rare. Why? There was only one of her per case. And Tanya? She never had an action figure at all.
- In a case that doesn't involve the principle, Canard and Wraith were never made into action figures either.
Villain Teleportation: The villains tend to teleport away when things go bad.
Weapon of Choice: Each Duck (and each of the villains) has their own personal weapon. Wildwing has his explosive puck launcher (essentially a grenade launcher), Duke L'Orange uses a laser sword, Tanya has various gadgets on her wrist device including a small chainsaw, and the rest of the ducks mostly use pistols.
- As for the villains, Dragaunus prefers his fireballs, Wraith has a Flaming Sword in the pilot and uses various Functional Magic, shapeshifter Chameleon likes to go One-Winged Angel and Siege likes the heavy weapons.