WesternAnimation Duck Tales for a new generation
People say that reboots are frustrating, because you can never get anything new from them. To which I say, "Of course you can. You just need to be creative in how you use all your pieces."
DuckTales (2017) is a reboot that I actually enjoyed a bit more than the show that came before, though with perhaps a few bumps along the way.
Starting with the casting, there's a lot of fun choices to play around with. Having David Tennant as Scrooge allows for some fun Scottish voice acting, and he manages to nail bombast, snark, kindness, grumpiness and pride as needed. The triplets all have fun voice actors. Each bringing that distinctiveness that they were going for to give each one an Adaptational Personality Change. Make them more interesting for a new generation. Just like having a webby who's a total cut above where she was in the 80's with her joy, strength, enthusiasm and skill. In fact, thanks to some later revelations, she's actually one of the 3 central characters of the entire series.
Side characters can also go into some interesting places. Fenton is given the Lin-Manuel Miranda treatment as a fast talking, somewhat goofy but still highly earnest young scientist. New characters like Lena and Violet form new friend groups for Webby and also have some interesting arcs for who they were, are and could be. Gods, rivals, "tv mates" with the cast of the Disney Afternoon also being integrated into an Ultimate Universe for the show and for their journey.
There's so much fun personality for characters that's complimented by a crisp animation which combines a "comic" aesthetic like from the duck universe with the sharpness of modern animation.
And yet, my favorite aspect of the show is it embracing modern serialization. Where almost every episode will hold some significance down the line. Even if only to convey how important some things were later on. We have a villain rising. A mother returning home in THE moment of heartwarming for the series at the half way point, while still showing that a return is just the start of a new chapter for the whole family. A buried evil slowly making their way forward. And in each season, there's something different being threated by the Arc Villain. The patriarch and their home. Their world of adventure. Or even the ability to push boundaries and get in trouble.
And while some might groan that not every villain is "finished off", one important part of the series is the Arc Words that "Family is the greatest adventure of all." And a family is forever whether its blood or chosen. So that with every season, a great threat will be stopped, and the minor threats will always be around to give life the spice that the Duck clan will always rise to face. Smarter, Tougher, Sharper, and Earned Square.
Give it a watch when you have a chance. Because it's just a fun ride from episode to episode, and all along the way.
WesternAnimation Duck Tales by people who hate Duck Tales
You know that one Cracked internet article taking the piss out of that old Disney movie you like? That one satirical article that seems funny and clever as long as you've not actually watched the movie in ten years and only vaguely remember the plot details? That article that, if you've actually watched the subject matter as an adult, you know is just a smug, shallow, poorly researched attempt at transgression? That article that embodies what Lindsay Ellis called the "I am smarter than a 90s Disney cartoon!" trend?
That's this series in a nutshell. It's a reboot that's far more interested in trying to prove itself "smarter" than the comics and cartoons that inspired it than it is in trying to tap into the things that made those comics and cartoons work in the first place. The writers of this show may not "hate" the source material as such, but there's an inescapable feeling that they view it as quaint and passé, and that they think the only way to make it relevant today is to approach everything about it with heavy-lidded irony and sarcasm in the name of "deconstruction".
Much like those Cracked articles, this show likes to talk down its predecessors in order to make itself look smarter. Like, you know how in two or three episodes of the original show Gyro made robots who went haywire? Well, now he's squarely defined as the Guy Whose Robots Inevitably Turn Evil. Genius deconstruction.
It never gets any smarter than that. The overhauls for the other characters are very hit-and-miss at best. Glomgold, who was an interesting villain in the comics but not so much the eighties show, has been turned into a loud, shallow and unfunny parody of Bond villains. Launchpad's intelligence has been scaled so far back that I'd genuinely feel guilty for laughing at him. The nephews have been turned into smarmy kid protagonists distractingly voiced by thirty-something comedians. I'm not shedding any tears for the loss of the stereotypical classic versions of Webby and Mrs. Beakly, but I'd be lying if I said I thought their reboots were interesting characters. Webby in particular is very much a run-of-the-mill 2010s cartoon girl protagonist.
The only main characters I consistently like are Scrooge and Donald, but they (particularly Donald) very much feel like second bananas in what's supposed to be their show. The nephews and Webby take center stage most of the time, meaning we're forced to spend time with essentially completely unfamiliar and often unlikable characters.
It's an adventure show whose cynical approach to adventure leaves it devoid of any sense of wonder or excitement. I'm not a fan of the artstyle either. Once the novelty has worn off, it's just an ugly, angular drawing style with incredibly garish and bland colours. Legend of the Three Caballeros (this show's much better sister show that it ate in the womb) showed that you can still do a classic-looking show on a TV budget, so what's this show's excuse?
WesternAnimation Not a great reboot even for casual viewers
I'm not a Ducktales fan in general I find it decent at best but somehow this reboot managed to go lower than meh for me. From the pilot I could see the issues that were starting to form and make this a bad reboot 1) too many references done badly . A reference heavy show Can work (I love Scooby Do Mystery Inc after all) but it also has to not fall on my nostalgia/knowledge to intrigue me . Ducktales tries to shove in as many as it can to appeal to people when a good story was enough. 2) Disney's addiction to multiverse syndrome. I'm kind of tired of seeing shows/I Ps being blended into one to create a multi verse of sorts like not everything has to be The MCU. 3) Bad characters . Webby is what happens when you strip Mabel Pines of the flawed but interesting aspects of her personality. Huey Dewey and Louie are self important Douchebags, Scrooge comes off as toothless and watered down. Launchpad is just an idiot
WesternAnimation Opinions are opinions, you know.
And it is my opinion is that the revival is an absolute disgrace to the original. The animation is dumbed down to Adobe Flash, the ducklings no longer speak like the other ducks and instead speak like everyday humans do which is just so lifeless and unimaginative when compared to how they sounded in the 1987 classic.
I may have been born in 2002, but I used to watch the original all the time as a young boy, and I will forever reject this disgusting impostor as a part of the "Duck Tales" franchise.
It is an awful waste of what could have been a brilliant continuation to one of the most iconic programs in all of animation. And I hate it with a passion.
WesternAnimation 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.
WesternAnimation We watched the same show?!
I'm pretty shocked by some of the reviews here, to the point I'm genuinely wondering if they either missed the point of several things about the series or just had Nostalgia Goggles on. You're allowed to dislike the show obviously but some of the reviews here are BAFFLING.
Anyway, time for the actual review; I technically grew up with this show since I remember watching a bunch of clips of it on youtube since I was like, 8 years old when the show was new, and eventually I decided to watch the whole series a year after it ended, and I'm rewatching it right now.
I know some people don't like the art style and admittedly it can look a bit weird when it comes to the kid's faces but I like it. I like the comic-booky feel of the backgrounds and the character designs look appealing and pleasant to look at. Then there's the characters - hoo boy, the characters are my personal favorite part of the show. The triplets, Dewey, Louie, and Huey, are all likable and have endearing personalities that makes them entertaining and fun to watch. I especially love Louie's arc in Season 2 where he learns about humility and how his get-rich-quick schemes can negatively affect the people he cares about and put them in danger. Webby is also great too, working very well off of the triplets especially Dewey and having a fun chaotic personality.
The adults are also great characters as well. Scrooge in Season 1 starts out as a grumpy old man who pushed his family and the people he cared about away due to the loss of Della, but he ends up rediscovering the value of family after the triplets come in and he's able to reconnect. It's by far one of my favorite arcs in the whole show. Donald and Della are great as well with Donald being the caring uncle to the boys who while may have anger issues channels does anger issues into a protective instinct to protect his nephews and Della basically being a grown-up female version of Dewey who has a great bond with each of the triplets and even Webby.
Beakly is the caring but badass spy grandma (or so we thought) to Webby and Launchpad is a pretty funny comic relief. Even a lot of the side characters like Lena and Fenton are well-written as well with Lena having a great arc over the course of the series involving her friendship Webby and her ties to Magica.
I really like the villains in the show too. Magica is a fun, hammy antagonist for the first season with a very entertaining personality, Lunaris is a cold, calculating dictator who's able to use charisma and fear to get the moon landers to fight, and Bradford is the show's most interesting villain for essentially being a Foil to Scrooge. Other villains like Glomgold and Ma Beagle are decent as well with Glomgold having a surprising amount of depth towards his pettiness and childishness towards Scrooge.
The show's also pretty funny as well. Overall, as a teenager who grew up with cartoons in The New '10s, this is probably one of my personal favorite cartoons. 9/10