DCML Digest, Vol 52, Issue 8 (Scrooge's Quest)

[kimba1962 at comcast.net]

Jonathan Gray wrote:

> "Scrooge's Quest" was the first of the 3 major Duck Tales serials. The 
> second one being "The Gold Odyssey" and the last being "A Dime in Time". The 
> final one was condensed into two parts (probably due to the implosion) but 
> the latter two reflected Disney's attempts to try and interject on-going 
> continuity into the Disney series while maintaining standalone stories. 
> UNLIKE Chip and Dale Rescue Rangers (which I think mastered this to SOME 
> extent), the two major Duck Tales stories were each 7 parts long and had a 
> definitive beginning and ending. 
> Think of them like...remember how the TV show had "Treasure of the Golden 
> Suns", "Super Ducktales", and "Time Is Money" as large multipart storylines? 
> Think of "Scrooge's Quest" and "The Gold Odyssey" as comic book style 
> stories of that. 

"TGO", I think, was far more in the spirit of the TV series' multi-part stories than "Scrooge's Quest".  In particular, it mimicked the first season's serials ("Treasure of the Golden Suns" and "The Firefly Fruit Contest" / "Catch as Cash Can") in that it bounced from location to location and mini-crisis to mini-crisis while maintaining a consistent "throughline."  The cliffhangers didn't hurt, either.

> On the opposite end of the spectrum, "Scrooge's 
> Quest" felt isjointed and "patched together" in spots - namely because two 
> of the subchapters - "Shipwrecked" and "Down But Not Out in Duckburg" felt 
> very tacked on and out of place. Kinda like they were inserted into the 
> story as filler. Furthermore Magica seems out of character in spots (even 
> for Ducktales) and Scrooge's incessant obsession over Webby after her 
> kidnapping (which serves as the first major climax/focus of the story) feels 
> very out of place. 

Right on the nose...  either Wolfman legitimately wasn't comfortable with the characterizations or simply didn't take the necessary time and trouble to get them right.  For those Disney fans who are relatively unfamiliar with DuckTales -- and, notwithstanding the availability of DVD's and Toon Disney, such folks undoubtedly exist, particularly among the younger set -- Wolfman's version of the series will give a somewhat misleading impression. The only positive good that can come from the reprinting of "Quest" is that, if enough copies are sold, Gemstone just might feel comfortable enough to issue "TGO" and "A Dime in Time" -- perhaps in the same volume.

Chris Barat

PS:  Jonathan: Another thumbs up for your work on "Gawrsh-Durn Champion".  It was great.  (I especially liked the subtle reference to MouseWorks!)



--
The Barat's Home Page -- watch for weekly updates!http://home.comcast.net/~kimba1962
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://nafsk.se/pipermail/dcml/attachments/20070614/e4f5d0e9/attachment.html