DuckTales: Love It or Hate It?

[Jonathan H. Gray]

I've noticed that a lot of people - primarily the older hats that grew up 
solely on Barks dont tend to like Duck Tales because it changes several key 
elements - primarily no Donald Duck among getting a few other things wrong 
(Scrooge's mad dependence on the luck of the #1 Dime) but I cannot lie. I 
grew up on Duck Tales. Duck Tales was what introduced me to the world of 
Disney comics in generald and I had no earthly clue WHO Carl Barks, Don 
Rosa, or William Van Horn were until many years after it started.

Being a 6-7 year old getting home in time to see the latest episode of 
Ducktales overruled EVERYTHING. ^__^ And I know MANY peers my age who don't 
even read Disney comics who will argue with you vehemently if you say that 
it wasnt one of the great cartoons of the 80's. Of course, after I DID 
discover Barks I thought that it suddenly put the whole thing into a lot 
more perspective. The adaptations of the Bark stories were vastly inferior 
upon comparison, but when Duck tales did a good job on an original set of 
stories it did a DARN GOOD JOB unlike most of the crap that we get from 
Disney cartoons today.

I think that there are a LOT of people that will agree that they'd never 
have discovered the superior Barks world had they not seen the show.

Going on a tangent that you stated - I have to admit that the one character 
that I miss TREMENDOUSLY would be Launchpad. Scrooge does not have someone 
who takes him on Flights in the comics and it would be interesting once in a 
while to see how the younger Launchpad (pre Darkwing Duck) would interact as 
a regular in the Barks universe WOULD someone be daring to give him a 
chance. The only person who tried this to some extent was William Van Horn 
in his early DT stories - minus Donald.

I think the CRUCIAL reason Launchpad didnt work as well as a sidekick was 
primarily NO DONALD. Its kind of the equivalent of making Gyro Gearloose 
Scrooge's preimary assistant. It wouldnt work. I think that if someone had 
the courage to bring Launchpad into the Duck universe PROPERLY and make a 
"side charcter" much Gyro or Grandma Duck or Gus Goose or the Junior 
Woodchucks, etc etc instead of his PRIMARY sidekick (Donald's role) then he 
could provide a good character foil for Scrooge and the rest of the cast. 
He's a doofus, he means well, he cant fly worth beans, he's extremely cheap 
(^___^)and he could be the one who would fly Scrooge around on adventures. 
It makes sense. What doesnt is putting him in Donalds role and thats where 
IMO mistakes were made with him.


On an off note, I always thought that the earlier episodes that had both 
Scrooge, Donald, and Launchpad in them were hilarious and some of the best 
of the lot. :) (Launchpad to Donald - "WHAT'D HE SAY?!?!?The interaction 
between the two or three characters at the same time was golden. And had 
that stayed in it would have been awesome. ^_^


I liked Gizmo Duck as well but I feel he worked best as a rival for 
Darkwing. As a guard for Scrooge's money bin it was ok, but when he was 
Fenton Crackshell - Scrooge's accountant and an even BIGGER Donald clone, 
thats where I felt he completely feel apart. I'd leave him alone.

.and the less said about Bubba Duck the better. Many people fans and 
non-fans alike agree that he marked the downfall of the show. Bubba Duck and 
Tootsie were - without a doubt - a travesty. :P

At any rate - I do agree that if there is one salvageable concept from Duck 
Tales that would be the younger Launchpad McQuack as a side character in the 
Duck Universe. He has so much potential and its a shame to see a character 
such as his wasted just because people were unhappy with the Barks treatment 
(or non treatment) of the show. Its just a matter of taking a rather good, 
albeit a bit mishandled idea for a character and finding the best way to 
incorporate and make it work. I'd be THRILLED BEYOND BELIEF if just one of 
the modern day Duck artists/writers took it upon themselves to remedy that 
situation and "officially" introduce him. He's funny, he's charming, he's 
lighthearted and IMO he's several stories just waiting to happen.


Jonathan H. Gray
The Dubba Dubba WB!!!
Now With "Amazing College Graduate" Action!

CNW & Time Trouble: My Daily Comic Strips - 
http://diversions.toonzone.net/chipandwalter
The CKC Message Board - 
http://diversions.toonzone.net/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi
Dub's Daily Journal - http://www.deadjournal.com/users/wb/

_________________________________________________________________
Frustrated with dial-up? Get high-speed for as low as $29.95/month 
(depending on the local service providers in your area).  
https://broadband.msn.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/attachments/20030927/f9a77180/attachment.html