New DuckTales Animated Series

... I totalyl missed the boat on Rockerduck so I don't know the novelty.

Anyone catch the Quack Pack reference, of all things in the family photo?

It's actually surprisingly subtle and actually rather adorable.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 21st 2018 at 10:27:47 AM

Wasn't Quack Pack the first time the triplets had different personalities? What were they?

Allegedly. Apparently, you couldn't tell them apart anyway.

It's not a good show. The animation is nice, I guess, but that's really the only thing you could say about it.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 21st 2018 at 11:02:02 AM

The Other Bin of Scrooge Mc Duck

Hey, another Magica episode. That should be fun.

While Magica's giddy laughter is amusing, its yet another symptom of Villain Decay. I hope they don't overdo the slapstick goofball thing like with Glomgold.

So how does this work? Is Lena breaking in, as the open window suggests, or sleeping over, or does she live there now? I don't think the show has ever suggested she lives anywhere in particular, but she seems to be quite at home in the mansion, as when she was hanging out with Donald waiting for Webby to return in a recent episode.

Oh, I see, this IS a sleepover. The question remains, though, where DOES she live?

How does Scrooge not wake up while these two bicker at a high volume right in front of him? Someone like Scrooge would be a very light sleeper, I imagine. Something about being a multizillionaire threatened on all sides by enemies every day of the week would do that to a guy.

"I can't loose Scrooge's number one dime without him waking up while you yell at me the whole time!" Yeah, what she said. But simply lampshading it does not make the situation any less improbable.

"I miss carnage..." Yep, this is definitely a darker incarnation of Magica. The traditional Magica isn't really much for physical violence, but this one seems to be quite... hands on.

Of course, Lena is caught by Webby before she can get the dime.

"Definitely not collecting drool samples while he sleeps." Uh... ok, we are continuing with this characterization of Webby being creepily obsessed with Scrooge from their last adventure together. I’m not sure if the Creepy Child approach is the best direction for her.

Lena takes advantage by pretending to be obsessed with Scrooge as well, and of course Webby falls for it. If we are going to stick with the creepy characterization, this is a pretty clever use of it, and maybe it will even pay off later.

“A fan club should start a blood oath. Oh! Let’s take a blood oath!” Anyone this enthusiastic about spilling their friends’ blood should probably not be trusted. I think Webby would get along great with Magica if they were on the same side. This version of Magica strikes me as the kind of sorceress who is into blood oaths as well. Carnage indeed.

Webby starts reading the Life and Times of Scrooge Mc Dcuck (which SHE wrote, apparently), and both Lena and Magica react with resigned exasperation, as if they’ve heard this story a hundred times and are getting sick of it. I’m not quite sure who this joke is aimed at, or what exactly it is making fun of. I’ll give the writers the benefit of the doubt.

Meanwhile, Louie is tricking Dewey into trying to break fake world records. And yes, he is totally taking advantage of Dewey here, as Huey’s pointed look shows.

“Do you realize that Dewey ruined my favourite hoodie in the wash?” That hoodie looks like it wouldn’t even fit Donald or Scrooge, it’s so huge. You can tell its not remotely Louie’s size because he is holding the sleeves halfway with outstretched arms. Maybe Launchpad would fit it, which might explain why the shoulders are ripped in exactly the same way on each side, which is really odd for a washing accident.

Huey himself is acting odd, and misunderstands Scrooge’s misgivings about his dime being tampered with. I sense more misunderstandings and shenanigans coming up.

Scrooge has another bin, and its where he keeps the “bad things”. This cannot be good. The guy kept dangerous enchanted crap in his GARAGE, for crying out loud.

Which begs the question, really: why WASN’T that stuff from the first episode stored in that other bin, if Scrooge has it for just such dangerous stuff? Honestly, it never made much sense even in that pilot episode, and makes even less sense now.

“Where Scrooge puts all his most dangerous finds and artifacts to keep them from prying hands.” Case in point: like I said, he clearly did NOT do this in the pilot.

Also, the chart clearly shows Webby has been searching for that other bin already, and narrowed down its location. For all her fearfulness in this scene, she Cl EARLY wants to go there.

I’m not sure what Lena’s plan is, here. She apparently expects Webby to just go along with whatever she comes up with, even though this should clearly be setting off alarm bells by now. Webby seems a bit too gullible here for her general level of intelligence.

Huey found Bigfoot. And brought it home as a pet. And it likes to wear Louie’s hoodie. Hey, I was right, someone DID overstretch it.

“The last thing I need is Scrooge snooping around and finding any number of my devious yet delightful schemes.” Well, that sounds a bit sinister. One of those schemes is making Donald donate to a fake charity for the past three years, which strikes me as going a bit too far into despicable behaviour territory. I know Louie’s thing is greed, but outright swindling his uncle, who is perpetually poor and jobless as it is, seems really despicable to me. This is a whole new shade of jerkass to Louie’s characterization. And the other nephews are FINE with this, apparently, even though they really should know better.

This whole B-plot of bringing some large animal into the house as a pet and hiding it from the parents is also hardly original. I guess they had to pad out the running time with something.

“Don’t worry, it’s just some assorted zombie parts.” Why does Scrooge have a crate with zombie body parts? This joke is random and disturbing.

The puzzle solving is fun, of course, but suffers from the same problem “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” had with Hermione’s office puzzle: it really doesn’t make much sense to hide something so dangerous behind a set of puzzles, especially when the clues to said puzzles are readily available to the curious, and can be solved by a child. This, remember, from the duck who wears his dime around his neck on an indestructible cord.

Just for starters, the key to the secret room is right there in the same room, and inserting it into the painting automatically just opens the lock for them, without any further effort.

Which, by the way, raises another question: why did Lena have to cut the cord in the first place, when it was clearly big enough to slip over Scrooge’s head? And why cut the CORD and not the case around the dime itself?

“For a forbidden danger chamber, this has been pretty easy.” Once again, just because you lampshade it does not make it go away.

The first door they open hides… a really frilly unicorn. With a rainbow and floating hearts and stars. And it was just… standing there. This raises so many questions. This thing is SO out of place for this show. The death ponies were one thing, but this is pushing it a bit. And of course they “subvert” it by calling it a sword horse and making it a dangerous threat, but… it just feels like we’ve seen this joke before with the murder ponies. We’ve seen this sort of subversion of cutesy girly stuff in cartoons quite a lot in cartoons, actually. And each new cartoon that comes along thinks it is doing something original by having this little bit of subversive humour.

Tenderfoot making his own sandwich using kitchen appliances made me laugh, though.

It also amuses me that in this American cartoon, Scrooge is hunting around his house with a crossbow, instead of a blunderbuss or shotgun as you might expect.

“Someone’s wearing her crazy pants today.” You said it, Magica!

Man, that unicorn looks SHOCKED after Webby dropkicks it back into its room.

Ok, so the doors are numbered, and the numbers are dates. Fair enough… but the numbers are given as Month/Day/Year, and the numbers are apparently ordered in numerical order, meaning the doors are ordered by month, then by day, and THEN by year. This seems a really impractical way of sorting rooms, jumping through dates almost at random. And even then, it doesn’t quite work: 8 January 1877 is given as 1877. This would mean that 11 January would be… 11177. Which is the same as 1 November 1877. Then there’s the problem of the year being given as two numbers, which is a problem when you realize that Scrooge was born in the 19th century, so, for instance, the door ending in 77 (in which he earned his first dime) could refer to either the 19th or 20th century. This means that there are either a whole bunch of doors with identical numbers on them, or doors which share content from two dates a century apart. And THEN there’s the craziness of apparently having a separate room for each day of the year, which, if consistent, would amount to roughly 55.000 doors. Even if he numbers only one percent of that, assuming one dangerous adventure about every three or four months, that would amount to hundreds of doors. This system of storing secrets is just preposterous. It doesn’t hold up AT ALL.

Also, labelling dangerous objects by the date you found them, rather than by any sort of identifier, seems like a REALLY good way to lose track of these objects, or to stumble into the wrong room by mistake.

Tenderfoot is not an animal at all, but an intelligent Bigfoot who is conning the nephews for food and shelter. That’s a pretty good joke. This B-plot has redeemed itself. Well played.

For a seasoned adventurer, Scrooge is really unobservant, by the way. He doesn’t notice people sneaking out of the kitchen, nor does he notice how nervous Louie is saying “no” here.

Of course Bigfoot threatens Louie into silence, but Louie is willing to fight back. I’m not sure if we are supposed to sympathize with Louie, here. I’ve lost a lot of sympathy for him with that scam he’s pulling on Donald. I hope the ungrateful little twerp gets what’s coming to him.

And here we see again why this weird dating system for the doors doesn’t hold up: they started at number 6456, and are now at number 1877. That would be thousands of doors apart, yet they seem to have barely headed down that corridor they started at. And the fact that the door number also matches the year suggests that THAT was supposed to be the numbering system: by year, rather than that convoluted dating system discussed earlier. Having a door for each year would make a lot more sense, why they didn’t just stick with that, I have no idea.

Also, these stupid doors aren’t even locked. There seems to be ZERO security system about this secret “bin”: solve an easy riddle, and you’re in. Why Scrooge thinks his dime is safer here than around his own neck, I have no clue. And I mean, he’s AWAKE, now. The safest place for that dime is around Scrooge’s neck.

The obvious solution to someone trying to steal that dime is NOT to put it into his not-so-secret, not-so-secure second bin. It is to lock his goddamn bedroom door, and put some sort of alarm on it.

“Hey Lena! I think you’ve locked me out!” How? HOW? There isn’t a keyhole or even a regular door handle. You can literally open the door by simply pushing against it without even TOUCHING the handle. HOW did Lena lock her out?

Magica’s release from Lena is really creepy and well done. An odd little detail though: as Lena is engulfed inside Magi Shadow, Lena’s beak completely disappears. It looks really Off-Model.

So Magica is freed, and boy, does she turn up the creepiness towards Lena, who is suddenly absolutely TERRIFIED here.

Its kinda odd that Magica is still a shadow person here. I’m not sure how this freeing is supposed to work. Presumably, there’s another step next. Also, she now has telekinesis powers, which she immediately uses on Lena to give her a creepy hug.

Magica also turns Webby into her old doll once the latter finds out about Lena working for Magica. And it looks exactly like the Old Webby from Old Ducktales. And then Magica uses her like a marionet, and there’s no indication that the Webby-doll is even still alive. And the creaking sounds it makes as Magica manipulates it. This is some creepy shit.

Oddly, the same amulet Lena used to summon Magica now seems to protect Lena from her.

And then Magica fights Lena… with the Webby doll. Which seems to scream in anger at her while doing it. And then the amulet burns the doll to shreds. Wow.

And… it was all a dream. Boo. Boo, I say. What a fakeout. That would have been a great cliffhanger, but no. And that was the part from the trailer, by the way, so yeah, that was a fakeout as well.

“I got the code wrong. This was 1 8 77, we need 18 77.” That. Doesn’t. Make. Sense. Exclamation mark.

Magica is screaming and struggling as Lena decides they have seen enough tonight. How is Webby not hearing this? And if she can’t, then why does Magica even bother to hide?

Meanwhile, in the B-plot, Louie gives Tenderfoot a shave, and they drag him back to the woods because he is “dying”. And then Scrooge catches them, and Louie gets his revenge on Tenderfoot. No comeuppance for Louie though, it seems.

“What the blazes are you two doing in here?” I don’t know, Scrooge, ask your non-existent security system.

“Oh, of course. The number one dime was in the number one chamber.” Which is labelled 0001. So… there’s thousands of rooms again now? The dates are not dates at all? What is even going on? This episode is just yanking our chain with this stupid secret bin.

Well, the just-a-dream part was a bit of a fakeout, but at least it leads to Lena betraying her aunt at last. Or at least, trying to, as Magica seems to be able to stop her from saying her name.

And then Magica just up and takes over Lena’s body completely. That’s a good twist. It will make the next Magica episode very interesting, I’m sure.

This episode was… ok. The A-plot had some weak points, but it continues the most interesting plot of this season, which salvages it to a large degree. The B-plot is unremarkable, and only serves to highlight the unlikability of at least one main character (Louie), which is a shame, really.

Optimism is a duty.

On characters being "banned" from the Dutch magazine, this happens when the guy having final say over what does and doesn't go into the comic hates certain characters (like Ludwig, Fethry, and Rockerduck), and vetoes them from appearing in the magazine, effectively banning them.

Optimism is a duty.

Personally, while this episode was a bit all over the place, the emotional arc with Lena is really well done.

The abusive relationship between her and Magica is disturbingly realistic. She's manipulative, disdainful, and does all the things actual abusers do to control the people they are abusing, and Lena is terrified of her.

I don't even think she realized the full extent of just how messed up her relationship with her aunt is. Webby was probably the first person to be genuinely nice to her, giving her something to compare with how Magica treats her, and seeing her healthy and affectionate familial relationship with Scrooge, gave her the courage to try to disobey Magica, making it even more heartbreaking when Magica forcibly stops, and possesses her.

It's especially powerful, because Magica kept telling Lena that Scrooge would turn on her in an instant if he knew who he was. She's the niece of, presumably, his worst enemy, and likely has very little reason to think that help her if he knew who she was.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 22nd 2018 at 2:58:21 PM

You do have to note though that horns are used for stabbing And Unicorns aren't peaceful in mythology, they are wild beast tameable only by virgin maidens for some reason. And wild horses ARE really dangerous

That's true, in that sense it was a good plot line. Its just that the episode pulls somewhat of a copout with its dream sequence by having Lena's actions be consequence free for now. And it is yanking the audience's chain because it seems like something huge is happening, but it really is just incremental progress. I think that also has to do with how little setup the dreamcatcher got. Or if there was some clearer indication that there was something else going on.

True, of course, but I feel the kelpies did that joke before, and better integrated it into the actual story. Here, it is like the door opens to another show altogether for a minute. The visuals for that unicorn room clashes with the visuals (and realism level) of Ducktales, which breaks immersion, because the show is effectively making it into a meta joke about viewers liking ponies. Compare that to the kelpies, who are visually and contextually integrated into the story. The meta humor is there, as well, but it is a lot subtler with using voice actors from MLP, while still being their own characters within THIS show.

And that whole "other bin" concept was done really lazily. It was just a basement with like a dozen doors. The numbering suggests that it is a huge place, but we NEVER get that impression visually. All the hallway scenes basically take place in the same hallway. And like I said before, that numbering is completely random and nonsensical.

Another inconsistency I noticed: why is Scrooge hunting around his own house? He has a security system all set up. We've SEEN his security system before. It would take a simple trip to the camera room to find out what's going on.

And where are Donald, Beakley, and Duckworth? Maybe the first two are asleep, but the latter is a GHOST, and on top of that, would be particularly helpful in such a situation. This is the problem with such a random crazy reveal as Duckworth being a ghost now: you saddle yourself with story breaking characters who you then have to quietly ignore if you are not willing to actually integrate them into your stories.

Duckworth is a real waste of a character, really. If they had kept him alive, it would have been much easier to use his character without immediately breaking the story, and quietly ignoring him would have been much easier to explain. Now he is a ghost that could easily resolve much of the plot, heck, he could even be guarding Scrooge day and night, without even needing to sleep. And now you can't really explain him away as being asleep or on unpaid vacation or something, either.

Edited by Redmess on Jul 22nd 2018 at 1:56:29 PM

Optimism is a duty.

So anyone have any ideas for who they would like to see voicing feathry and Rockeduck?

I hope Rockeduck actually eats his hat, since he does the a lot.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 22nd 2018 at 10:37:02 AM

Lena's actions aren't consequence free. They directly lead to her being possessed, which itself strengthens both the danger the other characters are in and accelerates the plot faster towards its climax.

This episode actually has a very good use of the dream sequence concept. The dream sequence isn't, itself, attempting to conclude the plot, and so it being a dream isn't a copout - it's a character exploration. Rather, it explicitly moves Lena's character forward towards a more important place in the plot.

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

It's not, especially since she still hasn't been freed. In fact, she's becoming more menacing as of this episode.

Edited by Cortez on Jul 22nd 2018 at 11:29:38 AM

Hmm, I suppose you may be right. This would probably play Better on DVD, since then you wouldn't feel so much like you're just kept waiting.

My problem isn't so much with the dream sequence itself, mind you, that was great stuff. Its just how it comes out of nowhere that makes it feel like a cop out. Like I said, this would probably have played better if they just came out right away with it being a dream. I've seen lots of examples of dream sequences where the dream aspect isn't immediately clear, but seems obvious in hindsight. All the clues were there to pick up, like a character having a short faint, or stumbling, or a sudden break in the scene. You don't really have that here.

Optimism is a duty.

We did have that Chekovs Lesson during the lecture on the Life and Times of Scrooge Mc Duck to give the clue it was a dream episode.

So did everyone see the character designs for Josè and Panchito yet?

Josè in particular, is very reminicent of his design in the Mickey shorts, I think.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 22nd 2018 at 11:45:08 AM

Hey, you're right, she DID mention it. It just goes past really quick.

Also, Beakley DOES appear, but she mysteriously dissapears from the story afterwards.

Jose and Panchito look just like their regular selves, I think? They kinda clash with the modern art style of Donald now. Honestly, when put side to side, I prefer the classic style, especially when it comes to colors.

Edited by Redmess on Jul 22nd 2018 at 5:57:03 PM

Optimism is a duty.

Yep. They more or less had the personalities in this show, but shuffled around a bit. Huey was the adventurous glory hound. Dewey was the chill Smart Guy. Louie was the moral one, typically The Chick or The Heart.

Funnily enough, the B-Plot in the The Other Bin kind of reminded me of Quack Pack. There's an episode there with more or less that exact plot, but with ghosts instead of Bigfoot.

Edited by KnownUnknown on Jul 22nd 2018 at 9:35:03 AM

"The difference between reality and fiction is that fiction has to make sense." - Tom Clancy, paraphrasing Mark Twain.

Lena's definitely getting the best character arc in this show. Too bad it's on a canon newcomer instead of one of the older ones.

both of them look definitely look very different than they did in Legends though.

Edited by megaeliz on Jul 22nd 2018 at 12:30:50 PM

Have you ever noticed how these kinds of names, like Panchito's, always end in "the third"? Its never the second, or fourth, or eigth. Always the third.

Optimism is a duty.

I say even thought Magica has her laughable qualities, she is still straight up scarier than her earlier animated version.

Does anyone else get the feeling that the writers are downplaying the Della storyline in favor of the Magica one? When this season started, it seemed inevitable that the season would close with Della's story. But Della's story has gotten little attention, while Magica's has gotten the lion's share, and to great effect. By now, I don't really care so much about the Della story anymore, and just want it to be over with, and feel much more invested in Lena's story.

Unless, of course Della and Magica are somehow connected.

Optimism is a duty.

The trailer certainly paints it like Magica is going to be what the season finale will concern, with the mystery of Della Duck being this entire show's story.

...

Tell me the writers aren't crazy enough to write this!

Edited by kyun on Jul 22nd 2018 at 11:51:45 AM

I was saying that ever since the first ep.