DUCKTALES AT 25: "Intro-DuckTion"

Don't want to say it... HAVE to say it...

My ducks are finally in a row (eeeshhh!) to begin my version of the DuckTales 25th anniversary retrospective.

I've spent a fair amount of time thinking over exactly how I am going to approach this daunting project.  I mean, this IS a pretty hard act to follow...

... and I'm not indulging in baseless chest-thumping when I say that.  Joe Torcivia and I labored mightily to lick that thing into shape, and getting the FULL, 100-episode-version of the project into print required even more effort.  Judging by the continuing interest in the DUCKTALES INDEX -- I received an e-mail request for information about the full INDEX just a few weeks ago! -- I think it is safe to say that Joe's and my efforts have stood the test of time reasonably well.  When the whole project wrapped, I couldn't imagine that I'd have anything further to say about the series.  20-plus years, four Disney comics publishers, a more extensive immersion in Duck fan-culture, the decline and disappearance of the "Silver Age of TV Animation" that DT arguably birthed, and the invention of the Internet (thanks, Al -- I think) tend to give one a slightly different perspective, however.

One of the first decisions that I made was to try to revisit the episodes in production, rather than broadcast, order.  This information simply wasn't available in the early 1990s, unless you happened to be one of the fortunate few who were privy to DT "bible" material.  It's still quite difficult to find today, with folks either (1) mistaking the original broadcast order for the original production order or (2) claiming that the DVD releases had the "true" production order, partially because the multi-part pilot adventure "Treasure of the Golden Suns" didn't appear until Volume 2.  Neither claim is correct, and, in retrospective, Joe and I should probably have done a better job of relating what we originally saw as differences in directorial style (e.g., the "restrained" approach of Alan Zaslove, Steve Clark, and David Block vs. the "rubberier" style of Terence Harrison) to the simple fact that the series took a while to settle on a more or less "standard" visual approach during its first season.  The fact that most of the adaptations of Carl Barks stories displayed a "restrained" look had less to do with the fact that the directors were consciously using a more conventional style to mount these "classic" stories and more to do with the fact that the writers -- naturally enough, given the series' origins -- were working on (most of) the Barks adaptations at the very beginning, when the kinks of the show's visual style were still being worked out.

Thankfully, I've been able to mine several reference sources and compile a production-order list that, while it is not completely accurate (for reasons described below), is certainly very close to the truth, given the evidence provided by the series itself.  Many of you may not have seen this list, so I'll reproduce it here... both as a public service and as a heads-up to let you know the order in which I'll be tackling the eps.

SEASON ONE (1987-88):  1.  Back to the Klondike, 2. Earth Quack, 3. Sweet Duck of Youth, 4. Micro Ducks from Outer Space, 5. Scrooge's Pet, 6. Dinosaur Ducks, 7. The Money Vanishes, 8. Lost Crown of Genghis Khan, 9. Pearl of Wisdom, 10. Master of the Djinni, 11. Magica's Magic Mirror/Take Me Out of the Ball Game, 12. Maid of the Myth, 13. Hero for Hire, 14. Armstrong, 15. Sir Gyro de Gearloose, 16. Merit-Time Adventure, 17.  Bermuda Triangle Tangle, 18. Horse Scents, 19.  The Curse of Castle McDuck, 20. Send in the Clones, 21. Superdoo!, 22. Hotel Strangeduck, 23. Launchpad's Civil War, 24. Don't Give Up the Ship (part one of Treasure of the Golden Suns), 25.  Wrongway in Ronguay (part two of Golden Suns), 26. Three Ducks of the Condor (part three of Golden Suns), 27. Cold Duck (part four of Golden Suns), 28. Too Much of a Gold Thing (part five of Golden Suns), 29. Duckman of Aquatraz*, 30. Home Sweet Homer*, 31. Much Ado About Scrooge, 32. Top Duck, 33. Where No Duck Has Gone Before, 34. Robot Robbers, 35. Magica's Shadow War, 36. A Drain on the Economy (part one of Catch as Cash Can, aka The Firefly Fruit Contest), 37. A Whale of a Bad Time (part two of Catch as Cash Can), 38. Aqua Ducks (part three of Catch as Cash Can), 39. Working for Scales (part four of Catch as Cash Can), 40. Ducks of the West*, 41. Sphinx for the Memories*, 42. Time Teasers*, 43. Back Out in the Outback*, 44. Raiders of the Lost Harp, 45. Luck O' the Ducks, 46. The Golden Fleecing, 47. Down and Out in Duckburg, 48. The Right Duck, 49. Scroogerello, 50. Double-O-Duck, 51. Jungle Duck, 52. Duck to the Future, 53. Duckworth's Revolt, 54. Spies in Their Eyes, 55. Launchpad's First Crash, 56. The Uncrashable Hindentanic, 57. Dime Enough for Luck, 58. Duck in the Iron Mask, 59. The Status Seekers, 60. Nothing to Fear, 61. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck, 62. Once Upon a Dime, 63. All Ducks on Deck, 64. Ducky Horror Picture Show, 65. Till Nephews Do Us Part

SEASON TWO, PART ONE (1988-1989):  66.  Marking Time (part one of Time is Money), 67. The Duck Who Would Be King (part two of Time is Money), 68. Bubba Trubba (part three of Time is Money), 69. Ducks on the Lam (part four of Time is Money), 70. Ali Bubba's Cave (part five of Time is Money), 71. Liquid Assets (part one of Super DuckTales), 72. Frozen Assets (part two of Super DuckTales), 73. Full Metal Duck (part three of Super DuckTales), 74. The Billionaire Beagle Boys Club (part four of Super DuckTales), 75. Money to Burn (part five of Super DuckTales)

SEASON TWO, PART TWO (Fall 1989) and SEASON THREE (Fall 1990):  76.  The Land of Trala [sic] La, 77. My Mother the Psychic, 78. Allowance Day, 79. Bubbeo & Juliet, 80. The Good Muddahs, 81. Yuppy Ducks, 82. Blue Collar Scrooge, 83. Metal Attraction, 84. Bubba's Big Brainstorm, 85. Dough Ray Me, 86. Beaglemania, 87. The Big Flub, 88. A Case of Mistaken Secret Identity, 89. The Bride Wore Stripes, 90. The Unbreakable Bin, 91. Attack of the Fifty-Foot Webby, 92. Ducky Mountain High, 93. The Masked Mallard, 94. The Duck Who Knew Too Much, 95. Scrooge's Last Adventure, 96. A DuckTales Valentine, 97. Attack of the Metal Mites, 98. New Gizmo-Kids on the Block, 99. The Golden Goose Part 1, 100. The Golden Goose Part 2

For reasons of convenience, I combined the second part of Season Two (by which I mean, the Fall 1989 episodes that followed the debuts of Bubba Duck and Gizmoduck, which were originally broadcast in "two-hour movie form" during the Fall of 1988 and the Spring of 1989, respectively) and Season Three (which included both Season Two episodes held back for the launching of the Disney Afternoon block and eps produced post-DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp).  I also admit to chiseling just a wee bit regarding the placements of the episodes marked * in Season One.  My production order information indicates that the individual episodes making up "Treasure of the Golden Suns" and "Catch as Cash Can" were NOT produced in sequence.  Rather than split up the chapters, I simply shifted the intervening eps to appropriate positions after the conclusions of the serials.  Got all that?

An early (1985) version of the "DT" logo, before the creation of the "back-atcha" homage to 

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" that we all know and love 

As for my planned approach to the discussions of the individual episodes... well, I would guess that most people who will be reading this are at least tangentially familiar with the series, so I'll try to make plot recaps as succinct as possible.  Then, I'll move on to my own reassessments of the eps and -- this is where the fun really begins (see what I did there?) -- tackle the expressed opinions of others.  Thanks to GeoX, Greg Weagle, and Pete Fernbaugh (when his broadcast-order approach and my production-order approach get into phase, that is!), such opinions are now readily available out in the ether, where, in all honesty, DT has been woefully underserved over the years.

My current hope is to do one of these entries per week.  I wish I could maintain a more sprightly pace, but I am more than aware that the demands on my time during the academic year (and the period of time leading up to it) will be considerable.  Plus, just as with my earlier Kimba project, I want to give these entries the care and consideration they deserve, and that will require a fair amount of spadework... especially since I'll be doing cross-referencing to other folks' postings.

One thing that you will NOT see during the course of this project is any attempt to do postings of YouTube versions of the episodes.  I was barely able to make it through Kimba using "secondary sources" and am all too aware that YouTubes of Disney TV episodes, pop up though they do on regular occasions, are an open invitation for the Disney lawyers to indulge in their favorite pastime of "Whac-a-Mole."  As Pete Fernbaugh appears to be doing at present, I'll generally use still pics from the eps (augmented by any other visuals of interest that I've accumulated and digitized over the years) and let it go at that.  I will, however, unbend myself to the extent of posting a couple of video reviews of the series.  What the hey, to get you in the right mood for what's to come, why not conclude with those, right here and right now?

First, we have a two-part review of "Treasure of the Golden Suns" by someone styling himself "graphicnovelguy." The presentation isn't up to Nostalgia Critic standards, to be sure, but you really have to love the way in which this guy becomes... um... stimulated as the dramatic events of "Too Much of a Gold Thing" come to a head.  I can remember being greatly excited by the two-hour version of "Golden Suns," as well, but I was already frothing away long before the golden temple went down the tubes.

And let's give TNC his due props -- not to mention many thanks for those kind comments at the end -- by posting his take on "Golden Suns":

Hope you all enjoy what's to come... and, needless to say, I more than welcome any comments and suggestions.

So, is Scrooge Bankrolling This?

If all goes well, I should finally be able to get rolling on my DuckTales 25th anniversary retrospective with an introductory post either tomorrow or Monday.  In the meantime, to wet your whistles -- literally -- here's a banner from an Internet ad with an unexpected DT connection.  Don't let those generic duck-mugs fool you -- once I saw how the proprietors of this establishment spelled "DuckTales," the game was up.

Movie Review: BRAVE (Disney/Pixar, 2012)

I suppose that the best complement that I can give to Brave is that it turned out to be the perfect 90-minute time-killer for a pair of weary, sweat-saturated adults (Nicky and myself) who needed to get out of our dark and airless house and into some air-conditioned comfort.  Certainly, no movie, least of all a Summer release, should be completely ashamed of that bite-sized blurb... but, then again, we've come to expect far more from a Pixar movie, haven't we?  That's the trouble with excellence... once it's established, it's expected.  There are some powerful moments in Brave, to be sure, and Pixar is to be applauded for arresting the seductive slide into sequelitis (which, alas, will resume next Summer) and challenging audiences with a setting (medieval Scotland) that would probably not be on the "short list" of promising locations for animated features.  But I don't think that this one is ultimately going to leave behind very many lasting memories.

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Several folks have already remarked on the similarities between the plot of Brave (especially in its latter stages)  and that of the Disney 2-D feature Brother Bear (2003).  I'm not able to comment directly on that, since I haven't seen the latter film.  Disney TV Animation devotee that I am, however, I immediately made with the "Seen it!" routine when I saw the headstrong Princess Merida enter -- and defeat -- her would-be suitors in the archery contest. Watch Gummi Bears' Princess Calla strut her stuff in the 1988 episode "Girl's Knight Out."

The story that was so nice, writers Katye Kuch and Sheryl Scarborough used it twice (even stretching it out to book length in the latter version!  And I thought haggis was an efficient use of available resources).

Now, it must be admitted that Merida's willingness to forego an elaborate disguise and face down the trio of bunglers (not to mention her imperious mother, Queen Elinor) herself was a sterner immediate test of her courage.  This was only to be expected, since failure or acquiescence would have left her locked into a potentially loveless betrothal, as opposed to merely being annoyed by an unnecessary guardian.  But you can't deny that Calla got there, or somewhere near there, first... and her dilemma was given a little extra poignancy by the fact that she was defying a much less abrasive parental figure than Elinor.  The dynamics of the Merida-Elinor relationship -- young would-be ruler wants to defy convention and go her own way, well-meaning but over-controlling mother gets in the way, leading to a violent and potentially permanent break -- somehow seem much more pat.  Pixar has made its reputation by a willingness to challenge such overly conventional narrative setups and dish up such atypical notions as rats wanting to become French chefs, grumpy old men yearning for adventure, or superheroes shackled by lawsuits.   The only real novelty involved in the core conflict of Brave is the fact that both of the main characters are women, and, in this era of "more-manly-than-most-men" female action heroes, this wasn't a particularly daring leap into the unknown.

A lot of people seem to have fallen out of love with Brave once the witch's spell caused Elinor to don her new "ursona."  At this point, I think that the movie actually picked up a bit.  Granted, there's a lot of drawn-out slapstick in the castle and a lot of gags involving Elinor's struggle to maintain at least a shred of dignity in her new form, but I was really taken by how effectively the animators switched between the "Elinor-possessed" bear and the more savage, feral version of same.  I could see this juxtaposition being very frightening to children.  The climactic scene in which Elinor-bear's eyes appear to turn blank and "non-human" for good and all was simply marvelous.  Indeed, I believe that the totality of Brave's animation -- from the beautiful aerial scenes of the medieval landscape to the terrors of the final (and, of course, storm-tossed) chase sequences -- may be the "x-factor," if any such exists, that keep Brave from falling into the (hitherto, rather thinly populated) category of "just an OK Pixar film."

The end of the movie, and the resolution of the quarrel between Merida and Elinor, seemed a bit lopsided insofar as "give and take" was concerned.  Granted, it wasn't a complete "sweep-the-board" vindication of Merida's independence; she will still have to marry one of the suitors, she will simply have more of a say in the choice.  (Left unexplored is the question of what Merida will do if NONE of the young lads measure up to the appropriate standards of a potential mate.  Och!  Hae we the hook for a possible sequel here??)  But, for all of Merida's new-found wisdom concerning the dangers inherent in changing one's fate, it still seems to me that Merida ultimately had far more of an influence on Elinor's general outlook than Elinor did on Merida's, what with Elinor, her hair symbolically unkempt (all the better to contrast with the queen's earlier, tightly-bound look -- not to mention her amusing attempt to lock an unwilling Merida into the same bone-cracking raiment), now happily riding with her daughter over hill and dale.  Does this mean that Elinor will now wave off obligations for Merida to "act like a lady"?  Those aren't limited to courting sessions, after all.

I've had very little to say about the male characters in Brave, and for good reason -- by and large, they're mainly just a bluff, blustering backdrop to the distaff battle of wills.  The gargantuan, meat-scarfing King Fergus (Billy Connolly) perpetually hovers on the verge of being a buffoon, though his legitimate concern for Elinor and Merida is a big plus.  The leaders and loin-products of the different "Clans" only really come to life when they're participating in melees or showing off what is (or isn't) under their kilts.  And as for Merida's three identical, hell-raising brothers... Huey, Dewey, and Louie just called, and they want their original personalities back, if only for nostalgic purposes.  (Speaking of calling, I really could have done without the "phone menu" gag involving Merida and the absent witch.  Brave had already taken a fair number of liberties with history by including a large number of anachronistic elements that wouldn't become associated with Scottish culture until much later.  All well and good, given the vaguely "mythical" aspects of the setting and story, but such "yank-you-out-of-the-milieu" anachronisms in animated films have become a little stale by now (don't even get me started on the Ice Age movies -- especially this new one, with its use of pirate shtick in deep antiquity!).

La Luna, this release's pre-feature Pixar short, is very appealing and, intriguingly enough, is also fairly strongly tied to some of the themes of the movie which it precedes, dealing as it does with the importance of maintaining family traditions (and, sometimes, going beyond them when necessary).  The only complaint I would make concerns the decision to let the characters grunt, "ooh" and "aah" rather than speak.  Why not simply allow them to speak Italian, which would have been quite charming and would still have gotten the point across, thanks to Pixar's outstanding animation?  Or was Pixar worried that releasing such a version of the short in Italy would have caused confusion?  Still, I respect Pixar's consistency in (generally) eschewing dialogue in these palate-cleansers and allowing the animation to tell the story. Such an approach has paid dividends in terms of allowing the studio to stretch the limits of computer-generated animation... with end products like the splendidly mounted, albeit thematically problematic, Brave.

Fighting the (Lack of) Power

After the better part of six days, Nicky and I have finally gotten our power back.  We've spent most of the week of the Fourth sitting in our (relatively) cool basement and trying to keep poor, ailing Shasty hydrated.  Last Friday's "hit and run" storm took everyone around here by surprise, but we never thought that we'd have to wait until today to get back online.

I'm pretty pooped at the moment, because I couldn't use my CPAP device to help with my sleep apnea during the outage, and Breathe Right strips are not the most ideal substitute.  I was hoping to get started on the DuckTales 25th anniversary retrospective at midweek, but now I'm going to have to push everything back a week or two.  In the meantime, enjoy the initial installment of Pete Fernbaugh's retro, here.

Here's Looking at You, Min

A neat collectible, created by Italian Disney comics legend Giorgio Cavazzano:

See Papersera.net -- in my links list at right -- for more information (if you can read Italian, that is).

Pete as "The Fat Man"... Goofy as the police chief, perhaps played as the bumbling Inspector Goofeau from Disney Comics' MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES story "The Case of the Foxy Felon"... Might do!

Shasta Update

Shasty has been doing reasonably well since her return home from the vet.  Not that things are back to "normal" by a long stretch; in fact, Nicky and I are acclimatizing ourselves to a "new normal" insofar as Shasty-care is concerned.  We now have to give Shasty subcutaneous fluid injections every 36 to 48 hours.  She is taking some new medications as well.  Most troublesome of all, she has become an ultra-picky eater.  Apparently, one side effect of a dog's kidney issues is that they develop nausea and are less interested in eating in general.  We're giving Shasty antacids and otherwise trying to find some combination of foods that she consistently likes.  We've done fairly well with Life cereal, chicken fat, egg whites, and turkey (not mixed together, mind you), but even those are not a sure thing, depending on her mood.

We're also trying to take Shasty out for regular walks.  She tires pretty quickly (even when the weather is relatively cool), and so we've dug the Houndabout out of storage and are using it to help her get around the block.