History YMMV / HowardTheDuck

** 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, which was a new innovation at that time. 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.

** 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, which was a new innovation at that time. Universal's marketing department was apparently aware of how bad Howard looked in practice, as the suit suffered a lot of issues while filming (including an incident where the head caught on fire), because the trailers, posters, etc. made a concerted effort not to show much of Howard beyond his hands and feet.

** 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, which was a new innovation at that time. Universal's marketing department was apparently aware of how bad Howard looked in practice, as the suit suffered a lot of issues while filming (including an incident where the head caught on '''''fire'''''), because the trailers, posters, etc. made a concerted effort not to show much of Howard beyond his hands and feet.

** 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 however, which was a new innovation at that time. Universal's marketing department was apparently aware of how bad Howard looked in practice, because the trailers, posters, etc. made a concerted effort not to show much of Howard beyond his hands and feet.

* AdaptationDisplacement: 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.

* CultClassic: The film does have some defenders. Not many, but some. The most notable of these are [[Webvideo/GoodBadFlicks Cecil Trachenburg]] and Creator/MarkKermode of all people.

* HamAndCheese: Once Dr. Jenning has his body taken over by the "dark overlord," Jeffrey Jones starts playing the villain [[EvilIsHammy way over the top]]. Amusingly enough, Howard and Beverly don't take him seriously, even having a FacePalm 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.

* SpecialEffectFailure: This trope was a particular factor in the film's poor critical reception, as critics couldn't believe the then-huge $37 million production budget and Lucasfilm backing couldn't buy topflight effects work. (It didn't help that some of the rival films at the August 1986 box office served up stunning effects on substantially lower budgets -- the ''combined'' production budgets of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and ''Film/TheFly1986'' tallied up to less than this film's.)
** 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 however, which was a new innovation at that time.

* RealitySubtext: During a guest appearance in ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,'' we learn that Disney (the version in the Marvel Universe) has demanded that Howard wear pants.
--> '''Mrs. Sugarbaker:''' You're a duck, so '''legally''' you don't even need to wear pants, and yet -\\
'''Howard:''' Uh, actually, Disn -\\
'''Mrs. Sugarbaker:''' - and yet, you still dress up!

* TooGoodToLast: The 2015 run; will run 16 issues total (5 from the pre-Secret Wars volume 0, 11 from post-Secret Wars volume.)

* HilariousInHindsight: 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 [[spoiler:cameo in the Marvel Studios film ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'']].

* TookTheBadFilmSeriously: As mentioned elsewhere, Lea Thompson owned her role and makes no apologies for it.

* SpecialEffectFailure: This trope was a particular factor in the film's poor critical reception, as critics couldn't believe the then-huge $37 million production budget and Lucasfilm backing couldn't buy topflight effects work. (It didn't help that some of the rival films at the August 1986 box office served up VisualEffectsOfAwesome on substantially lower budgets -- the ''combined'' production budgets of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and ''Film/TheFly1986'' tallied up to less than this film's.)

* SpecialEffectFailure:

** Mostly averted with the Dark Overlord, who is considered to be the best effect in the film by a few critics who bashed the film, though 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.

* VindicatedByHistory: As of TheNewTens, Howard's surprising appearance in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' dethroned ''Howard'' as the nadir of all Marvel movies helped redeem it in the eyes of a few. Undoubtedly helped by the failure of multiple ''Film/FantasticFour'' films.

* AwesomeMusic: Though the film is unpopular, the Thomas Dolby-produced soundtrack is well-regarded by his fans, especially the song "Don't Turn Away." Also Music/JohnBarry's score and [[Series/{{Airwolf}} Sylvester Levay]]'s music for the scene with Howard's flying the Utralight.

* TheScrappy: All three of the lead characters to some extent: Howard for his constant lame puns and the ridiculous-looking duck suit, Beverly for having no depth to her character beyond being an airhead, and Phil for trying ''way'' too hard to be the quirky comic relief.

* AwesomeMusic: Though the film is unpopular, the Thomas Dolby-produced soundtrack is well regarded by his fans, especially the song Don't Turn Away. Also Music/JohnBarry's score and [[Series/{{Airwolf}} Sylvester Levay]]'s music for the scene with Howard's flying the Utralight.

* AwesomeMusic: Though the film is unpopular, the Thomas Dolby produced soundtrack is well regarded by his fans, especially the song Don't Turn Away. Also Music/JohnBarry's score and [[Series/{{Airwolf}} Sylvester Levay]]'s music for the scene with Howard's flying the Utralight.

* JustHereForGodzilla: Clive Barker has mentioned that he sat through this movie to see the Dark Overlord's true self.

* WhatDoYouMeanItsForKids: An arguable case; 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. WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic called out the MPAA for this, starting with the "duck tits", baffled by how the MPAA allowed "[[WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck Daisy's]] knockers" into the film but barred human breasts. This movie helped lead to the enforcement of the PG-13 rating.

* AwesomeMusic: Though the film is unpopular, the Thomas Dolby produced soundtrack is well regarded by his fans, especially the song Don't Turn Away.

* {{Tearjerker}}: 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.

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: A lot of the classic styles, fashions, hairstyles, and trends of the 1980s are shown in all their laughable glory here.

* VindicatedByHistory: As of TheNewTens, Howard's surprising appearance in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' dethroned ''Howard'' as the nadir of all Marvel movies helped redeem it in the eyes of a few. Undoubtedly helped by the failure of multiple ''FantasticFour'' films.

** There's actually a character named [[http://marvel.wikia.com/wiki/Scrounge_McDrake_%28Earth-791021%29 Scrounge McDrake]], a parody of Disney character, Scrouge [=McDuck=], long before Disney bought Marvel.

* FridgeHorror: Howard willingly decided to leave [-DuckWorld=] behind. What will happen to his family and friends, those who don't know what happened?

* VindicatedByHistory: As of TheNewTens, Howard's surprising appearance in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' dethroned ''Howard'' as the nadir of all Marvel movies helped redeem it in the eyes of a few.

* VindicatedByHistory: As of TheNewTens, Howard's surprising appearance in ''Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'' and ''Film/FantasticFour2015'' dethroning ''Howard'' as the nadir of all Marvel movies helped redeem it in the eyes of a few.

* RealitySubtext: During a guest appearance in ''The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,'' we learn that Disney (the version in the Marvel Universe) has demanded that Howard wear pants.
--> '''Mrs. Sugarbaker:''' You're a duck, so '''legally''' you don't even need to wear pants, and yet -\\
'''Howard:''' Uh, actually, Disn -\\
'''Mrs. Sugarbaker:''' - and yet, you still dress up!