Favorite DuckTales eps

[kimba1962@comcast.net]

Here's my take on the best DT eps:

You absolutely, positively have to put "Treasure of the Golden Suns" first on your list.  It set the standard for the series to come and simply blew me away the first time I saw it.  (Luckily, thanks to competing stations in the Providence RI TV market, I was able to watch the two-hour premiere movie twice in two days -- a welcome luxury in my VCR-less days.)

In original broadcast order, here are what I would consider to be the best of the half-hour eps:

1) Where no Duck has Gone Before -- Established Launchpad's character for good and all.

2) Master of the Djinni -- A great Scrooge-Glomgold duel, spiced with time travel.

3) Sir Gyro de Gearloose -- I still contend that this is the single best Gyro story ever done in ANY medium.

4) Hero for Hire -- Another key ep in the development of Launchpad, and technically just about perfect, despite a certain slowness owing to its early production date.

5) Much Ado about Scrooge -- Great Shakespeare pastiche, good one-shot supporting player (Filler Brushbill the super salesman), and a rare chance for a single nephew (Louie) to shine.

6) Top Duck -- The third entry in the trilogy that fully defined Launchpad for all time; just as good as the other two.

7) Pearl of Wisdom -- Scrooge vs. Black Pete in a warm homage to the Fallberg-Murry "Mickey Mouse seafaring adventures."

8) Home Sweet Homer -- Spectacular Duck-version of ancient Greek mythology.

9) Bermuda Triangle Tangle -- I always thought that Captain Bounty was one of the best one-shot antagonists in the series, and the basic premise is quite ingenious.

10) Scrooge's Pet -- Really good adaptation of "The Lemming with the Locket."

11) Time Teasers -- Barks-quality time-travel tale that compares well to Don Rosa's "On Stolen Time."

12) Raiders of the Lost Harp -- Another unforgettable Duck-take on Greek (well, Cretan) myth and legend, and a great role for Magica as well.

13) Double-0-Duck -- Among the funniest and most visually appealing eps of the first season, and when you factor in the debt that the later series "Darkwing Duck" owes to it...

14) Duck in the Iron Mask -- Until Pat Block ("Widow's Gap") and Kori Kerhonen came along, this was definitely the best example I'd ever seen of a great story that focused on a single nephew... and it still ranks right up there with those later pen-and-ink efforts.

15) The Uncrashable Hindentanic -- I defy anyone to sit through this one with a straight face.

16) All Ducks on Deck -- Beats out "Spies in their Eyes" as the best ep with Donald, in large part due to the wholly unexpected appearance by the Phantom Blot.

17) Till Nephews do us Part -- Everyone seems to love this first-season clincher.

18) The Land of Trala La -- Best of the Barks adaptations, along with "The Unbreakable Bin" and "Scrooge's Pet."  I think that the changes and the addition of Fenton/Gizmoduck actually IMPROVED on Barks' original.

19) Allowance Day -- A grandly absurd "escalation" plot in the best Barks tradition.

20) The Good Muddahs -- Noncanonical they may be, but I loved The Beagle Babes, and Webby as a would-be "young moll" is the comic highlight of her (frequently painfully earnest) career. 

21) A Case of Mistaken Secret Identity -- Fenton's version of the "Launchpad trilogy", this ep firmly established his frequently aggravating relationship with his alter-ego, Gizmoduck.

22) Beaglemania -- Utterly ridiculous, but a GOOD kind of ridiculous.  I once described my initial reaction to this episode as "slack-jawed shock", but unlike the later series "Bonkers" and "Goof Troop," "DT" knew how to put across such absurdity and make it seem almost believable.

23) The Unbreakable Bin -- Gizmoduck adds something extra to this excellent adaptation of "The Unsafe Safe."

24) The Masked Mallard -- Once you see Scrooge in superhero duds, you'll NEVER forget it!

25) The Golden Goose -- Talk about going out with a bang. The sole highlight of the generally mediocre handful of new final-season eps.

Comments and disagreements welcome, of course!

Happy American Thanksgiving,
Chris Barat