DuckTales

[Jonathan H. Gray]

>Jonathan Gray seriously overstates things when he says that "DT" featured 
>too
>much reliance upon the "magical" powers of Scrooge's #1 Dime.  "DT" used 
>the
>dime in this manner MUCH LESS than did Barks (in his later years, at 
>least).


You are correct. Its not so much the cartoon but moreso the comic stories 
that resulted BECAUSE of the cartoon. I think the best example would be the 
7 part "Scrooge's Quest" saga - the one where Magica De Spell kidnaps Webby 
in exchange for Scrooge's number one dime. While some people who did DT 
comic stories made Scrooge's dependence on the thing absolutely silly, 
theres one part (in the very beginning of the story no less) where Scrooge 
just hands it over casually saying "Oh well, I've got a money bin full of 
em." Just seemed so...wrong :P The sole DT episode where Gladstone Gander 
played a role was cool and all, but Scrooge's dependency on the dime in a 
few DT epsidoes just felt more forced than most other people defined his 
relationship to it.

.if that made any sense at all... :P


>I wouldn't agree with him that Bubba and Tootsie marked the "downfall" of 
>the
>show, but in hindsight, it was a mistake to allow Bubba to remain a part of
>the cast after the "Time is Money" serial.

I liked "Time Is Money". I just didnt like the fact that Bubba and Tootsie 
stuck around afterwards because they didnt really DO anything afterwards to 
warrant them staying - and like you pointed out, it showed. The episode 
where Bubba's brain gets enhanced was really cool. But I honestly cant name 
more episodes than that where he played a major role. Unlike Launchpad or 
Gizmoduck/Fenton - B&T filled absolutely no niche at all except for being a 
"4th nephew". Something I think Webby filled decently when she wasnt being 
all uber cute and sugary sweet and 
"cuddly-wuddly-doodly-woodly-I-wanna-kiss-you-on-the-head-Unca-Scwooge!!!" 
:)


And thanks,
>J., for sticking up for Launchpad.  There's no earthly reason why LP 
>couldn't
>continue to appear in modern Duck stories as a supporting character.  He
>brings a different set of motivations and a different "attitude" to the 
>table
>than Donald, so it'd make perfect sense to let him participate in an 
>adventure
>with Scrooge, Donald, and the boys.

I'm glad to know that I'm not the only person who sees that. :)

Unfortunately, I suspect that it would
>take some sort of "revival" of "DT" (perhaps in the form of a reissue of 
>the
>series on DVD -- hint hint) to reignite LP's comics career, and that 
>probably
>ain't happening anytime soon.

Not necessarily. All it would take is some creativity on one of the 
creatives part. You'd be surprised at the amount of people who remember Duck 
Tales and specifically Launchpad. And the key thing is - Launchpad in Duck 
Tales was established as being much younger than he was in Darkwing Duck, 
probably a year or so right out of college if you wanna be all "Don Rosa 
technical about it". ^__^ His build wasn't as broad, he crashed planes left 
and right instead of being a competent flyer, etc etc. I still believe that 
he could fill a niche in the Barksian world without taking anything away 
from Donald. Not to mention that while he'd be "new" to the Barks universe, 
he wouldnt be "new" to so many people who remember him fondly and know what 
he was about. That'd be a plus.

It would be VERY interesting to see Mr. Rosa or Mr. Van Horn take a 
"barksian spin" on Launchpad and make him "official" so to speak though I 
dunno how much interest either have in the character. I miss William Van 
Horns short gags on him trememndously. ^__^ And as another plus, you wouldnt 
even have to go in the direction that Duck Tales took him. After all - if I 
remember the way DT started, didnt he know who Donald was already? Maybe if 
Mr. Rosa does do his DT story he could introduce him that way: As a 
certified pilot playing an actors role for extra money and Scrooge takes him 
on payroll after its all over since he's cheap or something blah dee blah.

I dunno - I think its just a matter of finding the right way to bring him in 
properly.

I don't happen to agree with his
>specific interpretation of "DT" as an "unauthorized and fanciful" take on 
>the
>Barks world, but I do appreciate the words of praise.

Same here. I was always under the impression that he hated it entirely for 
some reason....I dunno why. ^_^;;

Jonathan H. Gray

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