Disney/Pixar In General

It's important to remember that in the original Darkwing Duck you don't even see Drake Mallard until he adopts Gosalyn. It's like he saw no reason to put any energy or attention into that part of his life before he met her; it's almost as if he created that identity just so he could adopt her.

Touche, fair enough.

Fair enough. But if the show really wanted to do a "dysfunctional parent who redeems themselves" route with Della, it really should have given the topic the proper respect and seriousness it deserves, instead of what it actually did.

It really feels like fiction struggles with role reversals where the mom is the wacky flawed parent. Like even in cases they bother not to make them 100% Women Are Wiser they usually have the father still MORE dysfunctional or a bigger target for the "loser"/comeuppance role to buffer it (hell even adult shows like Family Guy and Rick and Morty where everyone's an abusive tool, the mother's asshole nature is usually kept in the background or left as a Karma Houdini).

Some fictions really dither making female characters inherently flawed troublemaking Butt Monkeys that have to be called out or suffer repercussions for their bad behaviour and think they work better in the "winner's" circle being the overlooking (and kinda boring) competent one of the group. I think it's why a lot of this gender role boosting in fiction currently doesn't work because main characters generally have to be flawed. "Empowering" only goes so far into developing a protagonist, and in some circumstances can even feel toxic to their role.

Disney tends to get props for TRYING for a long while however, since about the late 80s even they've made attempts at indiscriminate development where both sides can be flawed and suffer for it (eg. Baloo and Rebecca in Talespin with Rebecca being the official parent character). I think it's why stuff like the Mulan remake is considered a new low for them, usually they at least knew better than that (as the original film shows).

Edited by Psi001 on May 10th 2021 at 12:57:53 PM

I'd say Big City Greens does a good job with showing Bill as a slightly goofy, but still well meaning and down to earth dad, and Nancy being the more rebellious, free spirited yet also well meaning mother. Granted, they are divorced and have disagreements, but they do still get along well.

Yeah, like I said Disney in later years tends to put up more effort.

A shame they never manage to live down old infamous cliches like the early princesses really.

Okay I wouldn't say the show's that mean to Donald. He usually does get happy endings or some form of victory in most episodes. Just taking the ones where he's in a major role in account:

• Woo-oo has Donald learning to have more faith in the boys and putting aside his grudge with Scrooge to move in with him.
• Daytrip of Doom has him resolve his differences with Beakley and proving to her he can take care of himself and also him learning to accept her help.
• House of Lucky Gander has Donald being more respected than Gladstone in the end.
• Spear of Selene has Donald reconnect with Storkules (an old friend)
• Shadow War has Donald officially hearing the boys compliment him on the great job he did raising them, showing how badass he is to them, and burying the hatchet with Scrooge
• Town Where Everyone Was Nice also has Donald reconnecting with old friends Jose and Panchito and learning to appreciate what he's done in life (raising his kids which Huey even compliments him for in the episode).
• Last Christmas: Donald gets to spend Christmas with his family in present and in the past reconciles with Della after rudely ignoring her.
• Golden Spear: Okay I'll admit it wasn't much a happy ending for him but him being sent to the moon was needed to help Della learn to be a parent without his help in episodes like Timephoon and at least his family tried to do something nice for him as gratitude.
• Whatever Happened to Donald Duck: Okay so he didn't stop Lunaris and failed to get a message through but at least we got a cool scene of learning about his anger management with Dewey and Penumbra even praising him for how brave and loving he is
• Quack Pack: Learned to appreciate his family's adventuring lifestyle thanks to Goofy (gotta admit, his appearance was well done too)'s advice and got a cute scene in the end with the boys hanging out in the houseboat with him and looking at the picture he wished for
• Louie's Eleven: Got a new love interest in the form of Daisy who is in one of her best incarnations to date and got to sing in front of her
• The Trickening: Got to hand out candy to trick or treaters like he wanted
• New Gods on the Block: Shared his first kiss with Daisy and got to hear her call him her boyfriend
• The First Adventure: Bonded with Scrooge on his very first adventure and was happy getting to go on more
• The Last Adventure: Got to go on his own adventure with Daisy (and even gained two new kids along the way with May and June), had that heartwarming talk with Della where she learns to accept Donald has his own life and adventures now, and we even get the sweet revelation that Scrooge considers Donald his most trusted ally over Della and Beakley.

Besides it's not like the writers are trying to do him dirty. They have said many times they wanted Ducktales to be for Donald what Goofy Movie was to Goofy in terms of more human side and parent side which to the show's credit, it does show more of Donald's human and parental side than any other animated cartoons or series

Edited by SpongeGuy11 on May 10th 2021 at 8:53:50 AM

He actually seemed to get a better track record than Disney usually gives him.

Maybe the key was that those damn chipmunks only made a cameo in this series.

In the cartoons, mind you. The comics are a different story entirely.

I disagree on the Bunny mom from Zootopia I really dont like her.

Also, Goofy got way more screen time on Goof Troop than Donald does on Ducktales. Goofy is more comparable to Scrooge in how central he is to that show.

Yeah, Donald in the shorts is a different character than in the comics (or at least, looking at it another way, the shorts reflect different aspects of his personality). In stories where it was just Donald and the boys, Donald was actually allowed to be competent (there's one story where they're all trapped in a forest fire, and Donald actually knew exactly how you go about surviving that). When Scrooge is present, Donald usually serves as the only one willing to stand up to Scrooge and point out how his foibles and obsessions are screwing everyone.

The narrative goals are different, of course. The shorts were gag-based, rather than high-adventure stories, and it was funnier to see him as the Butt-Monkey of the world around him, and to see him losing his mind in true Donald Duck fashion.

The forest fire comic was amazing. One of the best Donald stories, really.

The comics also downplay his bad luck. There are plenty of stories where Donald isn't particularly unlucky, or his bad luck is purely financial and job-related, rather than slapstick.

Funnily enough, in a lot of Barks comics, it is Scrooge who gets all the bad luck when he shows up.

TBF, Goof Troop is about Goofy and Max from the get-go with their inner social circle playing more the role of secondary protagonists, whereas Ducktales is more about the whole Duck clan in the spotlight.

This is kinda fun (click on the little "I" button at the top to find the hidden videos):

They've done a few little promos and such for park attractions with the muppets, but I believe this is the first time they are doing anything official.

Edited by megaeliz on May 10th 2021 at 8:25:29 AM

Ducktales was supposed to be about Scrooge and Donald and the boys and Webby. That was the marketing angle they were going for. Donald even got top billing for a lot of it. But then the show started, and they just systematically ignored Donald and pushed him out of the plot.

The story I mentioned earlier was "Vacation time" by Barks, by the way. It is one of his most memorable stories.

And a quote on why comics Donald is best Donald:

Edited by Redmess on May 10th 2021 at 7:12:39 PM

So apparently, this is a thing:

It was mentioned a few days ago on The Muppets thread.

Which is why I think Caballeros is a superior fowl cartoon and that it sucks it only has one season

Given how Legend Of The Three Caballeros was treated (first released onto an obscure streaming app in the Philippines, dumped all 13 episodes at once, its relative lack of attention from the mainstream public compared to Duck Tales, many of the creative team moving to Muppet Babies), it's no surprise it wasn't renewed for a season 2. I mean, has anyone ever heard of the Disney Digital Network before this show came out? Though it would kind of interesting that, if the show were revived, it would be like The Proud Family in how it wasn't originally produced by Disney Television Animation but then became produced by DTVA when revived (the first two seasons were not made by Disney Television Animation, but the 2005 TV movie and upcoming revival series are).

Since we’re talking about them, I just had an idea for an Muppet attraction overlay:

What if Sam the Eagle hosted the Hall of Presidents? Magic Kingdom already has “Great Moments in History” with the muppets, so it wouldn’t be too much of a stretch to extend that theming, I don’t think.

Edited by megaeliz on May 11th 2021 at 12:14:16 PM

I found this promo that came out before season 2 of American Dragon: Jake Long , where they're animated actors, and it's hilarious. Special highlight goes to the Huntsman acting like a wimp.

Edited by jessicadicicco610 on May 11th 2021 at 8:17:16 AM

It is at least fun that Disney's animation units are investing more into developing their classic era cast in recent years, what with Donald gaining some his comic book facets, Minnie getting her own show, and Mickey...having ANY personality.

Not to mention getting his own ride.

Hey he has had personality in the comics. Say what you may about him but Donald is not much better off either.