BonsaiForest
Since: Jan, 2001
11/22/2017 00:00:00
You bring up many great points. I too was disappointed by the show\'s refusal to take the adventure seriously. The original cartoon mixed humor and adventure as well, but the adventure was still the focus. Here, we get pretty much just another 2010s cartoon, with a 2010s art style (though Scrooge does look really cool) and 2010s humor and 2010s music.
Obviously it shouldn\'t be a carbon copy of the original, but it should at least understand what made the original good, and try to build off that in its own unique direction. It didn\'t. I\'m disappointed, but not too surprised.
BrightLight
Since: May, 2014
11/22/2019 00:00:00
It just got worse during the second season.
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Satisfying, but not perfect
While I would have preferred a continuation of the original taking place in the classic universe, the pilot quickly sold me onto this reboot with top acting, really great traditional animation (though I'm not crazy about the angular style), and an exciting plot. Unfaithful though they may be to the originals, I rather like the new Glomgold and Webby, and David Tennant as Scrooge is simply GOLD. I, like most of the comic fandom, am less than pleased about the nephews being aged up and given separate personalities, but if they were going to do that either way, they pulled it off as well as they could have.
Unfortunately, the next episodes failed to fully live up to the excitement built up by the pilot. Scrooge seemingly takes a backseat to the nephews, which is probably a conscious decision, but, in my opinion, NOT a good one. Lena is all fine and good and I have no strong feelings about Mark Beaks, but what they did to Gyro is an *outrage*. The new HDL, Glomgold and arguably even Webby were all "taking classic characters into a different direction", but the only thing this new Gyro has in common with the old one is his general design and the things he invents. Jim Rash delivers a solid voice performance and the new character is written well, but he simply *isn't* Gyro, and, entertaining though he may be, this new guy they're passing off as Gyro is nowhere near as imaginative and endearing as the original.
As one other reviewer put it, the show's main flaw is certainly its approach to the "big adventure stories" that the credits and ads make the main selling points. It seems unable to take adventure *seriously*. Every adventure plot (and there have been surprisingly few so far) is self-conscious and second-degree, and while a gag or two of this sort is fine, things like the "burrito" plot point in "The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra" completely rob the plot of its gravitas and thus of most interest.
I am NOT a fan of the new theme song. This almost synthetic sound has none of the striking *character* of the original, though it still does get stuck in your head. The score as a whole is never BAD, but always a bit underwhelming — it pales in comparison to the John Williams-esque soundtrack of the original, with no memorable themes aside from the main one lifted from the original.
Let's not end on too negative a note, though. The Della Duck mystery (although it is very different from the comics' version) is a surprise addition and, I think it's fair to say even before the puzzle pieces have fully come together, a tasteful and welcome one. The frequent continuity references (including those cimenting that in this new continuity too, the Duckburg folks share a universe with St Canard, Spoonerville and Cape Suzette) are appreciated, even if some of them are a bit heavy-handed at times.
In conclusion, it could have been better, but it's still a very entertaining show with a great cast and animation and sharp, funny writing. Give it a watch.