New DuckTales Animated Series

Well put, I think it's just a disconnect with a running gag that has gone on for a while now.

I still wish that they'd do a bit more with it, though. This seems like low-hanging comedy fruit.

Edited by Redmess on Mar 2nd 2021 at 5:13:41 PM

I'm talking about tv shows in general. Yes, Disney XD does do big marathons of shows leading up to series finales, but not all networks follow this idea.

Edited by jessicadicicco610 on Mar 2nd 2021 at 8:21:34 AM

Regarding why you should care for Gizmoduck: his story arc is all about being a kind-hearted and bright, but naive, dorky and clumsy guy who accidentally becomes a superhero and has to learn to live up to it, while earning the respect of his mean and rude boss and his overbearing mother. The whole schtick about him trying and failing to keep his identity a secret is to emphasize his "dorky and clumsy" side - he's trying to act like a proper superhero, but he keeps botching this aspect up.

Gizmoduck was a superhero parody even in the 1987 show - a super-armor that rolls on a single wheel and throws custard pies is hard to take seriously. But just because he's a parody, it doesn't mean you shouldn't care for him - you should care for him succeeding in defeating the villains he encounters and earning the respect of others.

Of course, but the secret identity used to be part of that.

I think the examples given above are rather telling, in that they are single episode/issue parodies, rather than a sustained series of episodes. I think that also points to how they could have done a much cleverer send-up of the secret identity thing by doing it in just one episode. Now the parody/comedy feels rather diluted and disconnected. A series of call-backs is not the same as sustained comedy.

For example, they could have one episode where everyone finds out about who Gizmoduck is, maybe after Beaks posts it on Waddles (or whatever the Twitter equivalent was named). Have it trend for a day, making Fenton freak out and go in hiding... then nothing happens as everyone moves on to the next flash in the pan, and have Louie explain how in the age of Duck Twitter, this doesn't really matter any more because everyone has a short attention span and is too busy chasing the next big trend to care for long enough for it to affect Fenton. There you go, sustained parody, sustained comedy, and biting commentary of Twitter for free.

And then they can have a follow up episode about Fenton dealing with suddenly being famous as a superhero, which would be a fresh new direction for his character that we haven't seen before.

Edit: Rude of me.

Redmass can you take the MST3K Mantra for a bit, you nitpick every single detail.

Edited by Envyus on Mar 2nd 2021 at 10:58:47 AM

They could but then they're never have anything to post!

Hey, no need to be rude. But yeah, we're beating a dead (headless man-) horse here. Redmess didn't like the "Fenton's bad at hiding his secret identity" gag, the others did, let's leave it at that. :)

I'm not being nitpicky, but I think it's an interesting discussion whether or not the show makes for a good parody of superheroes.

Yeah, but nitpicking a gag you don't like yourself isn't exactly the best way to discuss it. There are other things such as if Gizmoduck does enough of the other parts, a secret identity being played for laughs consistently isn't exactly something I'd say it's bad parody, considering how other series have to throw hoops and stuff to justify why secret identities can be kept even when at times it gets ridiculous

But shouldn't a parody be more than what they do with it here, which is basically just subverting it and turning it into a running gag where no one cares? What does the parody say about secret identities, exactly?

Maybe expanding it would help, but I kind of like what they're doing in regards to non-secret identity gag issues.

That said, your idea of an episode with him dealing with newfound fame would definitely have been cool

Yeah, a mild-mannered and dorky guy like Fenton suddenly becoming a celebrity due to being outed as Gizmoduck would have been a nice plot for an episode.

This conversation is reminding me of something in the Red Panda Adventures

The podcast as a whole is more homage with some comedy than parody. They treat the whole secret identity thing more seriously than Ducktales, with a whole mini arc dedicated to tracking down and replacing files the government had on them and even using different replacements to track who got info from where.

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 2nd 2021 at 11:11:16 AM

Whenever the multi part episodes air as separate episodes, they get individual episode titles and have their own descriptions. Here are the descriptions and titles for what will make up the series finale. Spoilers are ahead. Thanks to Ducktalks for the information.

https://ducktalks.com/2021/03/02/ducktales-finale-episode-synopsis-are-online/amp/?__twitter_impression=true

http://www.showbuzzdaily.com/articles/showbuzzdailys-top-150-monday-cable-originals-network-finals-3-1-2021.html

Yesterday's ratings came out. Duck Tales got 128,000 views. It was beaten out by Gigantosaurus, which got 201,000 views.

Edited by jessicadicicco610 on Mar 3rd 2021 at 12:31:33 PM

Next episode sounds very familiar. Wasn't there a Batman animated series episode where all the villains put Batman on trial for turning them evil?

That's the one. The tv tropes page for the upcoming Duck Tales episode says it's essentially the show's take on that Batman: The Animated Series episode.

Red Panda did it, too, since I've already brought it up. I think the idea is covered under Joker Jury

Edited by sgamer82 on Mar 2nd 2021 at 1:32:23 AM

I kinda like what they are doing with Fenton secret identity in that its plainly obvious to literally everyone. Except drake mallard who considers gizmoduck a glory hog jerk and Fenton his good friend who made all his stuff.

While not as bad as the last episode, Ducktales really didn't do all that great in ratings here. Disney XD really is becoming dead if their highest rated show of the previous year can't break 0.15 million in 2021.

So what secret do you all think Fethry's gonna be spilling in the series finale (since that's his only appearance in season 3)?

No idea. What secrets does he have to spill at the moment?

I haven't looked at the Ducktalks threads jesiccadicicco610 posted because I want to go into "The Last Adventure!" relatively spoiler-free, but I saw that the first part of the three-parter, when separately, will be called "The Tale of Three Webbys!". This, combined with the fact that we have voice actors for May and June, but not for April, makes me think it is pretty likely that Webby is April, and she's one of a set of triplets that got separated at birth because of spy shenanigans. This can potentially lead to the classic family by blood vs. family of choice drama, which, of course, leads to Webby realizing that Huey, Dewey and Louie are her true family despite not being related by blood. Please don't tell me if my prediction is true or not according to the leaks - I'm just speculating, and will revisit this post after the episode airs.

On a different note: I just realized that one scene in "Last Christmas!" is now put in a very different light, knowing that the Buzzards are F.O.W.L. High Command. A time-travelling Scrooge shows up from the future and chats casually with the Buzzards, who are, at that point, not working for McDuck Enterprises yet, but they already founded F.O.W.L. (as F.O.W.L. already existed when Scrooge first met Beakley). Imagine what would have happened if Scrooge went back in time to this Christmas party after finding out that Bradford is the head of F.O.W.L.; would he have been able to hold himself back and not attack the Buzzards and/or warn his past self about the danger?

So where does season 3 stand for you all? It does seem to be considered the weakest season by some due to too much on Disney Afternoon and not enough on Huey, Beakley, or the rest of the family and not focusing enough on FOWL being a threat.

I agree, it is not a very strong season, though it has its moments.

I'm waiting for the full series to drop on Disney+ before I check it out, but am probably gonna be lost with all the Disney Afternoon nods. When I was a kid in the 90's/early 2000s we had Nick and Kids WB and sometimes Fox Kids, no Disney in my house. I did see one episode of Gargoyles at my brother's friend's house. (It terrified me. It's the one with the doctor mutating people into gargoyles, then dying gruesomely on screen, ruining the chances of an antidote being made so the mutations are permanent.)