Quick Summary: Woo-oo, the pilot episode of Disney's new DuckTales reboot is fun and fast and not at all what I expected. There are Carl Barks references! There are Darkwing Duck, Goof Troop, and Tale Spin references! There is Fun! There is Adventure! . . . So, um, why isn't Flintheard Glomgold South African?!

Title: Woo-oo: DuckTales Ep. 1

Release: 2017

Story Editor: Francisco Angones

Starring:

David Tennant (Scrooge McDuck ... look, I'm not going to spell it "$crooge" for this whole, long review, so get the idea out of your head right now! Er, if this is a review and not an essay . . . I'm not really sure ...)

Danny Pudi (Huey)

Ben Schwartz (Dewey)

Bobby Moynihan (Louie)

Kate Micucci (Webby)

Tony Anselmo (Donald Duck)

Now, before you go any further, listen to the catchy theme song. It'll put you in the right mood.

https://youtu.be/YKSU82afy1w

You all know I have trouble reviewing things I love - and I'm a duck fan from way back. As a child, I loved the original 80's incarnation of DuckTales, and I've always enjoyed Donald Duck's theatrical shorts. But what really turned me into a fan was discovering the comics, particularly Don Rosa's magnum opus, The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck (including the 'companion' volume). Being a fan of Don Rosa, I naturally had to seek out his source material, the comics of Carl Barks. Carl Barks is the man who invented Scrooge McDuck, as well as most of Donald's other relatives. Barks in turn lead me to a wider world, with scores of different writers and artists from dozens of countries. At the end of the day, though, I'm a Rosa sort of girl - I love Rosa's flawed, sometimes dark, but honourable and oddly kind take on Uncle Scrooge with all the depths of my soul.

When I heard that Disney was planning to reboot DuckTales in a closer-to-the-comics version, I was delighted. When the pilot aired last week, I searched it out immediately. After several rewatchings, I can conclude that what we've ended up with is really enjoyable - but not at all what I expected.

Woo-oo starts with Donald Duck on his way to a job interview. When his nephews' usual babysitter fails to show up, Donald has to beg his Uncle Scrooge, the richest duck in the world, for help. There's some unexplained tension between Scrooge and Donald, but in the end, Scrooge agrees to keep an eye on Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The three boys soon befriend Webby Vanderquack, the housekeeper's granddaughter, and the four children explore McDuck Manor - accidentally awakening several ancient, supernatural evils, which Scrooge has to put to rest. Finding the children's mischief delightful, Scrooge offers to take them on a treasure-hunting expedition to Atlantis - and we find out that Donald's new job is with Scrooge's arch-rival, Flintheart Glomgold. The rest of the episode deals with the implications of these two developments. This Atlantis-Glomgold plotline is a lot of fun, with adventure aplenty, and I did end the show feeling basically satisfied, even though it wasn't at all what I expected.

See, this isn't Rosa's Scrooge, and this isn't Barks' Scrooge either, at least not quite. This take on Scrooge is annoyed by his relations, yes, but not absolutely estranged from them, and is a crabby, but not bitter, old man. Compare that to the first appearance of Scrooge in Carl Barks' Christmas on Bear Mountain:

This change in Scrooge's relationship with his family also changes the basic contours of Scrooge's story. Explicitly in Rosa, and implicitly in Barks, Scrooge's story is basically the same as the story in Citizen Kane - except that there is a happy ending. Like Kane, Scrooge has humble origins and sublimates a need for love and stability into an inexorable drive to obtain wealth. Both start off with the best of intentions, a desire to do things "square", and both eventually lose sight of their noble ambitions, thanks to greed.

(Lookit that cute, little Scrooge McDuck! From The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck part 1: The Last of the Clan McDuck)

(And then he had to go and become too greedy, and break his sisters' hearts. From The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck part 11: The Empire Builder from Calisota)

Kane dies a broken man, unloved and isolated. The comic-book version of Scrooge, on the other hand, ultimately returns to his noble, true self - but he only achieves his redemption thanks to the love and acceptance of his family, specifically Donald and the triplets. This character arc, despite being essential to the comic version of Scrooge, appears to have been abandoned in the current series.

Not that I don't like the 2017 DuckTales version of Scrooge. He's funny, he's smart, he's adventurous, and he takes his young nephews and Webby under his wing (I was hoping not to make any duck puns, but maybe it's inevitable . . .) with an alacrity that is absolutely endearing. He's a lot more open about his feelings than Rosa's Scrooge in particular, and there's something refreshing about that.

Other things I liked? Well, for one, the attempt to differentiate the nephews. Compare the usual treatment of the three nephews:

(from Rosa's An Eye for Detail)

With this publicity image for the new series:

(with Webby! Also, Disney, where are the publicity images without media logos on them? I googled and googled and googled . . . )

Notice how they dress differently and have different, um, hairstyles, now. They also appear to have different personalities, though there wasn't enough time in the pilot episode to flesh those personalities out.

I also really liked all the references. Aside from dialogue reminding us that Darkwing Duck's St. Canard, Tale Spin's Cape Suzette, and Goof Troop's Spoonerville all exist in the same universe as Duckburg, the opening episode is full of Carl Barks artwork. When Huey, Dewey, and Louie walk into McDuck Manor, the very first thing the audience sees is a rendition of Barks' Always Another Rainbow:

(this is the only thing I feel guilty about posting here, as it is an image of the whole work in question and not just a panel or two out of a multi-page comic book)

There are numerous other pieces of Barks artwork throughout Scrooge's home, and further references in the opening credits - all of which warms my nerdy little heart.

What didn't I like? Ahem. I don't like that Flintheart Glomgold is wearing a kilt and insisting that he's Scottish. Everyone knows Flintheart Glomgold is South African. Heck, the first time he and Scrooge met, Flintheart had been tied to a water buffalo:

(From The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck part 6: The Terror of the Transvaal)

It also bothers me that the money bin is out in the middle of the bay. C'mon Scrooge, you don't think the Beagle Boys know how to operate a submarine?

As for things I'm hoping to see happen? The episode ended with the implication we'll get to see Huey, Dewey, and Louie's mother, which would be a treat. I'd also like to see Scrooge's sisters, Hortense (Donald's mother) and Matilda. And most of you know that I'm of the Matilda-McDuck-married-Ludwig-von-Drake school of thought. It's confirmed that von Drake will be in the show, so here's hoping for Matilda as well!

And naturally, I'm hoping to see a lot of one Goldie O'Glit because, come on, aren't she and Scrooge perfect for one another?

(From The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck part 8B: The Prisoner of White Agony Creek)

I'm told that for those of you who live in a long list of countries which does not include my own, you can watch the whole thing here, courtesy of Disney itself: https://youtu.be/gP0Neif7Y4E .

All I get is the standard error message, sigh:

Anyhow, the show is definitely recommended; if you can, check it out!