Marvel's editors made Howard start wearing pants to prevent Disney from suing on the grounds of him looking too similar to Donald Duck. Now that Disney owns Marvel, that's probably not an issue.
There's actually a character named Scrounge McDrake, a parody of Disney character, Scrooge McDuck, long before Disney bought Marvel.
Also, Ludwig von Cluck is a parody of Ludwig von Drake, another Disney character.
Jerkass Woobie: As Howard himself is quick to point out, he was plucked from his home and thrown into a world where he does not belong, doesn't understand, and more often than not, isn't wanted. Anyone would be cranky in that situation.
Tear Jerker: Issue #26 of the original run, which ends with Paul Same getting hit by a stray bullet after a convoluted sequence of events put him in the wrong place at the wrong time. At the same time, Winda Wester is badly beaten by a violent drunk, and both are hospitalized with Howard sitting in the waiting room, not knowing when (or if) they'll get better.
In the original comic series, it's highly unlikely that anyone expected that the people that helped out Howard with his mental breakdown would be KISS!
Unintentional Period Piece: The MAX miniseries includes a whole-issue parody of Witchblade, another whole issue devoted to poking fun at Vertigo Comics, and another issue involving Howard and Beverly fighting a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of Oprah. With Witchblade having been rebooted a few times, Vertigo's classic lineup having largely vanished, and Oprah having retired from daytime TV, the MAX miniseries has been largely forgotten.
The Woobie: All Howard has ever wanted was to go home only to be constantly denied. In his later series he starts to realize that even if he were to get home at this point, it wouldn't be home anymore.
Adaptation Displacement: Would Howard the Duck be as famous if it wasn't for this bomb of a movie? It's quite possible that the comics made after the movie wouldn't still be around if people didn't read them to...see them mock the movie regularly!
Audience-Coloring Adaptation: A negative example. This film has caused many people who have never read the comics to swear off of them under the belief that they are just as poor as the movie.
Awesome Music: Though the film is unpopular, the Thomas Dolby-produced soundtrack is well-regarded by his fans, especially the song "Don't Turn Away." Also John Barry's score and Sylvester Levay's music for the scene with Howard's flying the Utralight. Intrada issued a 3-CD set in 2019 (with Barry's complete score, Levay's additional music, Thomas Dolby's songs and MCA soundtrack album in its CD debut). A Cult Soundtrack if ever there was one. He's a funky little feather-bearing water fowl indeed...
Complete Monster: The Dark Overlord is a genuinely threatening, serious villain despite the zany premise of the story. Part of a race of intergalactic conquerors who were once sealed away, the Dark Overlord escapes by possessing the body of Dr. Jennings, immediately revealing his intentions to bring about the extinction of all life that isn't his kind. Demolishing a diner and brutalizing the patrons before kidnapping Howard's girlfriend Beverly, the Dark Overlord later bombs an entire street of car and vaporizes a cop for calling him the wrong name. Intending to transplant more of his kind into the bodies of select humans before wiping out the rest of mankind, the Dark Overlord assumes his true form before viciously torturing Beverly and Howard's friend, boasting once more that all life will fall before him.
Fandom VIP: George Lucas's love of the source material was the genesis for wanting to make a film adaptation. How the final product turned out is another matter entirely.
Fridge Horror: Howard willingly decided to leave DuckWorld behind. What will happen to his family and friends, those who don't know what happened?
Ham and Cheese: Once Dr. Jenning has his body taken over by the Dark Overlord, Jeffrey Jones starts playing the villain way over the top. Amusingly enough, Howard and Beverly don't take him seriously, even having a Face Palm at some point. On the other hand, they are trying their hardest not to be scared and try to lighten the situation, especially with a murdering sociopathic alien for company.
The film was produced by Lucasfilm, who would later go on to be bought out by Disney, who also owns Marvel. In addition, Howard would go on to cameo in the Marvel Studios film Guardians of the Galaxy (2014).
"Jeffery Jones and a device to teleport people, but accidentally brings an evil creature from another world instead? That's the plot to Howard the Duck! Lucas rips himself off!"
Memetic Mutation: The Super Scientist!Explanation The commentary/dub of the movie by Jaboody Dubs portrays the Dark Overlord as his scientist host body having become so scientifically experienced that he became the Anthropomorphic Personification of science itself, eventually gaining levels of power as his appearance changes like a Super Saiyan, and with the sole motivation to understand what love means
Mis-blamed: Exactly how much blame George Lucas can get for the film's production and overal failure varies from person to person, even among those who worked on the movie itself. The few absolutes that everyone can agree on are that he wanted to make an adaptation of the film, his hiring of Huyck and Katz in their respective positions, and the recommendation of his own effects studio to work on the film's visual effects.
So Bad, It's Good: When the film isn't awkwardly uncomfortable to watch, it is this.
Special Effect Failure: This trope was a huge factor in the film's poor critical reception, as critics couldn't believe the combination of a then-huge $37 million production budget, Lucasfilm backing, and Industrial Light & Magic's involvement could look so poor. It didn't help that rival films at the August 1986 box office served up staggering effects on substantially lower budgets — in particular, the combined production budgets of Aliens and The Fly (1986) are less than this film's, but their effects more than hold up now.
Howard is a duck? No way, he is a small person in a suit! Ironically, in the movie (and a few times in the comics), he is actually mistaken several times for a small person in a suit! It was one of the first animatronics to be remotely controlled in the head, which was a new innovation at that time, having followed in the footsteps of Labyrinth a few months prior. But it seems that Universal's marketing department was apparently aware of how bad Howard looked in practice, as the suit suffered a lot of issues during both pre-production and while filming (including several incidents where the suits exploded or lost their feathers), because the trailers, posters, etc. made a concerted effort not to show much of Howard beyond his hands and feet. As a result, this movie, along with Jaws: The Revenge a year later, would be a recipient of the short-lived "Worst Visual Effects" award at the Razzies.
And the reason for the duck suit in the first place? It's because the fully animatronic Howards didn't work right and having to make them match up with the suits (which were originally meant for the wide shots) was a nightmare on set. While several shots do utilize these puppets, it's mostly the suit and the difference is obvious. Mainly in how they look nothing alike with the head and neck of the puppet looking thinner than that of the costume while sporting different facial proportions.
All of this is intensified during the opening scene on Howard's homeworld, where all the other duck suits look as lifeless as Howard himself. And when he is pulled to Earth in his chair, it is glaringly obvious it is being pulled by wires despite their best efforts in erasing them from the scene. One of the very first instances of digital wire removal.
Mostly averted with the Dark Overlord, considered to be the best effect in the film by a few critics who otherwise bashed the film — but there are a couple of shots where the stop-motion puppet is poorly composited into the live-action footage, particularly when Howard zaps it with the laser. That said, the makeup and prosthetic effects used on Jeffery Jones look extremely low-budget and like they're about to break in half.
Spiritual Successor: Some would say the 2012 movie Ted showed how to do the basic urban fantasy concept of the property right on film.
The near-sex scene between Howard and Beverly. Thankfully, it's interrupted. Lea Thompson, who is the one person who didn't disown the movie, admitted her daughters never finished the movie because "After the love scene with the duck, they turned it off. They will not turn it back on."
Also, the infamous "Duck Tits" at the beginning of the film.
Took the Bad Film Seriously: As mentioned elsewhere, Lea Thompson owned her role and makes no apologies for it. During the finale, she very effectively transitions from grief at Howard's apparent death, to fear when it seems that he's survived but become the new host of the Dark Overlord, to relief and happiness when that's clearly not the case.
Uncertain Audience: Despite being rated "PG", and having lots of childish humor that wouldn't automatically appeal to adults, the movie also contains lots of sexual humor and innuendo, including references to zoophilia; which made the film rather inappropriate for kids at the same time. Further making matters difficult are how fans of the original comic book (and even the comic's own co-creator) widely disliked the creative liberties and deviations taken from the source material, whereas casual audiences were left confused by various references to said source material that they didn't understand.
What Do You Mean, It's for Kids?: The concept certainly sounds family-friendly enough, but the film itself, with its scenes of implicit violence, dark shots, explicit sexual sequences and horror movie twists and turns in the final act, clearly isn't. The Nostalgia Critic called out the MPAA for this, starting with the "duck tits", baffled by how the MPAA allowed "Daisy's knockers" into the film but barred human breasts. (It's a good thing Beverly's profession was changed from the comic book — where she's a nude model).
, a parody of Disney character, Scrooge McDuck, long before Disney bought Marvel.