So, as of writing this I have just finished the 2017 DuckTales reboot series. The date is Wednesday, November tenth of 2021. For a family activity, my family and I watch some episodes of a TV show or a movie every Wednesday, something I want to watch. We started with Fraggle Rock after I got the complete series on DVD, then we watched a couple movies, and then we began the 2017 DuckTales series, as I started watching it as it was airing, but never got around to finishing it. Now, that it is all on Disney+, I have to ask, is this series any good? And more than that, is it a worthy reboot to a series as iconic, beloved and important as DuckTales?
YES!!!!
Okay, before I get ahead of myself, let's break it down into both questions. Starting with the easy one, is it good on its own? To which I have to say that yes, it is spectacular on its own.
Being a cartoon in the 2010s, DuckTales is a much more serialized show than the original was, and depending on your taste in cartoons, this can be a good or bad thing. Personally, I do lean towards the more episodic cartoons, because it is nice to have something to put on and not have to worry about continuity or call-backs, let's face it, some of us just don't have the time or energy to commit to a serialized show. However, I think the serializing was done rather well here. For the most part, the serialization is really only to tie in to a greater story arc towards the end of the third season, and aside from a few callbacks and minor characters that comeback, you can watch almost any random episode and follow it pretty well. I think Season 3 is the only time you can't do that, but even then it's mostly for the final twelve or so episodes. Still, I would say you got to start from the beginning of this show, and you might as well, you're most likely not watching it as it airs anymore, right? Right?
Still, story is useless if the characters are bad, and these characters are so lovable, so interesting and so amusing to watch. The triplets all have their own personality traits now, each a trait that can be represented in both their Uncle Scrooge and their Uncle Donald. Huey, like Scrooge, loves adventure, but also cataloguing the unknown and finding the truth, but like Donald is very prone to emotional outbursts and wishes for a more orderly schedule. Dewey, admires his Great Uncle Scrooge's fame and notoriety, and wishes for something similar, but like Donald can be a bit of a cheesy showoff. Louie admires Scrooge's wealth and fortune, but like Donald would rather take things easier, thought for Donald it is mostly because of stress rather than laziness. Speaking of which, Donald actually features in this show. Donald is probably my second favourite parental figure in animation, second only to Iroh from Avatar. Still, the list of characters keeps on going, Scrooge is just as fun as he was in the original show, Mrs. Beakley is a no-nonsense but loving person, Launchpad is still the big hearted dimwitted goofball we know and love, and with a bunch of extra Himbo energy. Plus, we get a bunch of more obscure characters from the comics like Gladstone Gander, Cousin Feathry, The Phantom Blot, and returning characters with new twists on their personalities like Fenton who is an eager young scientist at work, Gyro Gearloose who is cranky and foul-tempered (no puns), but a genuinely good person, and Magica DeSpell, who is just that perfect amount of vile that you just love to see. Glomgold is also a total man-child in this show, and I absolutely love it, he's just so fun to watch.
I think the only character that doesn't work for me is Doofus Drake, who is a very creepy and really uncomfortable to watch, most episodes that focused on him were usually my least favourites. However, they more than make up for that with the addition of plenty of new characters, like Lena, Violet, B.O.Y.D., Mark Beaks (Who is also just deliciously vile), and the introduction of a character very important to the duck family. (Yes, you probably know who it is, but I don't want to spoil it). However, my favourite character of the show has to be Webby, who is very excitable, eager to try new things, and also really kicks ass! She is a specially trained fighter, but they also don't forget that she's a little kid, and kids are excitable and emotional, which she is as well.
On top of all of that, there are a lot of callbacks to not just the Disney Duck Comics, and the original show, but also to other Disney properties, and let's just say, for a Dis-nerd like myself, spotting them all became an adventure in and of itself.
To top it all off, we have some absolutely amazing animation. One of the defenses I've heard for the Rise of the TMNT artstyle is that it emulates the comic style that the Turtles originated from, which is true, from the first few episodes I saw, it looked like a comic book brought into animation... Done badly. DuckTales also tries to emulate the comic book style of its origins, but does so successfully. You can see the comic style in the way the buildings are drawn and colouring and shading, but also with the title and how it's stippled to mimic the way a lot of old comics would be coloured. On top of that, I didn't notice any serious or awkward animation flubs, which is not to say there are none, but just that they weren't noticable.
So yeah, as a show on its own merits, it's fantastic, hands down one of my all time favourites. Yet, as with any reboot, sequel or spin-off, we aren't just looking at it on its own, we are looking at it as a reboot, sequel or spin-off, and how does this fare as a reboot?
Honestly, I think it's a lot better than the original series. Sure, the original isn't bad, and having watched a few episodes myself between episodes of this show, I can say it holds up a lot better than most eighties cartoons, but let's be real here, the show has aged. Now, aging is fine, it is a natural part of life for humans, most animals as a matter of fact, as well as wine, cider and cheese, and DuckTales, for the most part has aged fairly well, not exactly a fine wine, but still very well. A lot of the original shows short comings can be attributed to the original comics, as the triplets were still thought of as one entity to many of the people working on the show, in fact, in the comics they were thought of as one entity so much, that when they had to draw one of the three on a chair and the other two on the floor, they would draw one triplet on the chair, and three on the floor, an artist flub that fans have taken to calling, Phooey Duck!
However, in other places the original show has aged rather poorly. These is a lot of stuff that would not be rather PC by todays standards, not that the depictions of natives are all negative, but even the more neutral ones are very "of their time".
Even still, comparing the two shows is just sad. The Reboot is better in almost every way, and it really is not fair to the original. It's like comparing the original 1966 Grinch special to the 2018 Grinch movie. Like, yeah, on its own the 2018 movie isn't awful, but when you compare it to the original, it's just lesser in almost every way. Back to DuckTales, the artstyle is better, the characters are better, the writing and adventures are better, it really is no comparison. By all means, watch the original, but if you start with this series, lower your expectations a bit.
Really, I think that is all there is to say, on its own it is a fantastic show, and as a reboot it improves on the original in every way. So, really what else is there to say? High Recommendation!
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