After giving us three seasons of pure joy and enjoyment, Disney’s 2017 remake of “Ducktales” left us yearning for more episodes of the loveable cast. The premise of the show is similar to that of the 1998 version: When Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo) is no longer able to adequately take care of his triplet nephews, he reconnects with his great uncle Scrooge McDuck (David Tennant), the richest duck in Duckburg and the world’s greatest adventurer. Along with Mrs. Beakley (Toks Olagundoye) and her granddaughter Webby Vanderquack (Kate Micucci), they go on numerous adventures while defeating various villains. With episodes a little over 20 minutes long, it is the perfect show to watch every day before going to bed. Not only is it the perfect length, but you can’t help but wipe away any bad feelings from the day when you watch these episodes.
The show also has similar vibes to its inspiration show: Donald is an angry mess, Scrooge is cheap as ever, Mrs. Beakley is the only adult on the show, Dewey (Ben Schwartz) keeps getting himself into trouble, Louie (Bobby Moynihan) keeps trying to get rich quickly and Huey (Danny Pudi) never breaks the rules and always keeps the junior woodchuck guidebook in his trusty cap. Add the dynamics of Launchpad McQuack (Beck Bennett), their mess of a pilot, Flintheart Glomgold (Keith Ferguson), Scrooge’s nemesis and a bunch of other amazing characters, and you get an amazing show.
The 2017 version also added Della Duck (Paget Brewster), the boys’ long-lost mother, in the middle of the second season. In adding Della Duck, Disney did not miss any opportunity to use this as a chance for character development for almost all of the characters in the show. As perfect as Scrooge may be to the audience and to the characters in the show, Della’s storyline showcases one of Scrooge’s biggest mistakes of the show. In addition, the triplets grow together as they find their long-lost mom whom they have been attempting to find for over two seasons of the show.
Glomgold deserves a particularly special mention. He stole Sasha’s heart and quickly replaced Donald Duck as her favorite character (though Donald remains a close second). He is an absolute idiot, who keeps trying to one-up Scrooge with his “evil schemes” and miserably fails every time. Their dynamic reminds us of that of Perry the Platypus and Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz from “Phineas and Ferb”: They may be nemeses, but they still deeply care for each other. There has not been a single scene with Glomgold that has not made us laugh. He truly is the perfect comic relief. He even defeated the moon invaders with his master plan: It made so little sense that they couldn’t successfully predict it nor counter it. His intro-takeover is a whole masterpiece in itself.
We think that Launchpad also deserves a special mention. John had no idea who he was before watching this show but quickly fell in love. We feel he takes on a similar role to Glomgold. He is a loveable idiot who basically has no idea what’s going on at any point in the show. He is a pilot, and the amount of times he crashes—a plane, train, car or whatever it is he is driving at that point—is way too many to count. There are even multiple times throughout the show where the other characters suggest that he tries to LAND the plane instead of crashing into something, and he gets confused, as if this is simply not even within the realm of reality. The writers even joke about his stupidity so much that there was also an episode where he got hit with a “smart” gun that temporarily turned him into a genius.
One of the things that we can really appreciate about the show is the overall cohesiveness and overarching plots that build upon each other. Each episode is not independent of the next; instead, each season follows a trajectory that builds on each character and keeps the audience roped in for its entirety. From the space invasion to an inside job featuring Bradford Buzzard (Marc Evan Jackson), we guarantee that each season will have you glued to your seat rooting for the loveable Scrooge McDuck clan.
The fact that the show was cancelled after three seasons absolutely broke our hearts. It was such a feel-good, funny show. What broke our hearts even more was the finale of the show: It did not do the show any justice. There were so many unnecessary plot twists that just ruined it for us and did not make sense. The finale also did not pay enough attention to some crucial characters on the show (like Glomgold or John’s favorite character Launchpad). Overall, watch the show, ignore the finale and petition Disney to bring the show back.
