TV DuckTales (2017)

[Riku]

Spoiler

Yeah, Webby is almost like a Mabel with lonely child/outsider "people issues".. still love this character though. Second episode was a good way to further instate her character in this reboot, and strengthen her bond as "one of the nephews" rather than the tag-along she was in the original.



You know what, I was thinking along the same lines. So it must be true. That magical defense line definitely got me thinking of Magica De Spell, and I didn't recognize Mrs. Quackfaster as a character so I thought at first it might be Magica disguised as some archivist Scrooge employed. But in the end it really did seem like she's just a strange librarian who takes her job a bit too seriously (and the fifty years she's spent there might have slightly turned her hella crazy), especially since it seemed the whole chase/cipher stuff was indeed meant to lead Dewey and Webby to the Della-chamber.

Had to look up Mrs. Quackfaster (don't recognize all these English names) and was pretty surprised that's supposed to be who I know as "Fröken Näbblund", Scrooge's personal secretary in a lot of the comics.

Spoiler

While I was at the wiki, I read that she was introduced in the same comic story as Magica De Spell. Which, in crackpot theory land, can be a hint/proof of your theory. DUN DUN DUN

Even though I think Quackfaster is just a quirky character, the "Magica bewitching someone" theory got me thinking that she has something to do with Della's disappearance. Like, either Della was bewitched by Magica to take the Spear of Selene, or she took it to stop one of Magica's plots, or something...

OR, while we're in crackpot land.... the Spear of Selene turned Della INTO Magica De Spell.

Okay, I haven't thought it through yet. But the fact that they're keeping Magica so under wraps, and Della is the "big mystery" of the show, they should be connected somehow. I think.

Spoiler

Wait whaat? The archivist is an iteration of Neiti Näpsä? (Her finnish name). Honestly I would have most likely never made that connection, she is such a different personality in the comics. Diligent and timid. Not bat shit insane and obsessed. But yeah, that makes it feel even less that she might be Magica.

There definetly is an air of mystery around Magica de Spell. And Della. So I kinda understand your feeling about them being connected somehow.

Oh, and I have such fond memories of Midas Touch. Magica was one of my favorite villains as a child, and lot of that is due to her introduction story.

 

[Organizized]

Spoiler

Had to take a screenshot of this because I feel it has so many hints in it which I can't quite piece together yet. But that's definitely Della on the horse at the top there, right? And that's Selene the Moon Goddess at the bottom with the Spear?

The rest of the room we see later is pretty lacking in hints it seems, except there are a lot of horse-related items (a flag/picture of a horse head; a saddle; a shield with a bewinged horse-motive).

I love that I can re-watch these episodes right away, over and over, and still find new things to love.

Also, how did I miss this?
They did not just casually announce the voice of Darkwing Duck in the middle of a super-cut video?
Oh wait, they did. (1:29)

I mean, I grew up with a Swedish voice actor, but when I've rewatched episodes from the show I've watched it in English (because Swedish is impossible to find) and I kinda love the original Darkwing voice. So glad he's returning.

--- Double Post Merged, Sep 25, 2017, Original Post Date: Sep 25, 2017 ---

Haha, "Evil: Cogs, Armstrong, Timetub (gained sentience), Robotica". Had to look up Cogs (haven't played ToonTown) but remember Armstrong, Robotica and the Time Tub from the original. The little note that the Time Tub gained sentience cracked me up.

I wonder if Gizmoduck will kinda walk the tightrope between good/evil as well since Gyro seems to be set on that path. With the way they're doing complete 180s with some of these characters I wouldn't really be surprised if they changed a good character into a straight-up antagonist.

 

[Riku]

4th episode was okay. Not too exciting or funny imho, but not bad. They really are focusing a lot on Webby.

Spoiler

That last scenee though. MAGICA HYPE!

Thats talisman was a very clever setup. And the shadow was clearly a reference to the og DuckTales episode where Magica unleashes her shadow to steel the dime, but it backfires as the shadow gains it's free will. That was cool.

Poor Webby though, once the betrayal come clear, she'll be so broken.

I wonder though how and what storylines are gonna progress next. I mean we already have the Gizmosuit setup and now Magica.

 

[Organizized]

A few good laughs. Felt a lot longer than the previous episodes, slower. So far first and third episodes were brilliant imo, second and fourth were just good. So basically the Webby-focused ones. And it's not like I don't like Webby; I enjoy her as much as or more than the triplets, but idk... in hindsight it kinda feels like they said "we need two full episodes about Webby to establish her damaged, lonely character before we reveal she got swindled", but didn't have two full episodes worth of interesting things to happen so they had to drag it out.

I also got a quick flashback to the Magica shadow episode of the original! I'd completely forgotten about that until now. Didn't remember until I read your post if it was in Ducktales or in the comics though.

Really feels like they're just setting things up with these first episodes. As far as I know, there will be

Spoiler: SPOILER for characters in coming episodes

a new tech billionaire rival of Scrooge (Mark Beaks); Darkwing; Ludwig van Drake; Gladstone Gander; Goldie and Scrooge's father. And that's just mentioning the ones who haven't even been implied (like Gizmo) yet. Plus I'm betting there'll be a whole bunch of one-episode-only ventures with their own villains with no announced voice cast.

With Goldie and Fergus McDuck in there, at least one flashback episode seems highly possible. Maybe it's just wishful thinking, but I'm getting Life and Times hyped, even if they just do 'something like it'. Could be a chance to give some background on the new Della as well (she was first shown in Life and Times too, albeit as a kid).

I mean, there's still like 16 episodes left of this season including another double one like the opening, so they can set up as many pins as they like for all I care, as long as they throw a strike towards the end and preferably give us a bonanza of story lines all joining up.

 

[Riku]

Wow, I really liked the 5th episode. It was seriously smart writing. I might need to write a more proper analysis some time (if I get the time) but essentially it was screenwriting meta-humor all the way thorough. They used a standard 3 part plot structure with and b plot which further emphasized the same theme and tied it together. All the while subtly breaking the 4th wall with Louie basically telling out which part it is and how the viewer is theoretically supposed to react. (As the final third act being the obvious one, were he directly breaks the fall and weeps a little). Kinda it was a plot, within a plot, within a plot, with one overarching theme of trust and prejudice. Told with a self aware ironic style.

Spoiler

Nice of them to use the Terrafirmians again. Not my Barks/Ducktales favorite stories, but certainly among the most memorable ones for all the whimsicality of the concept.

Aand Magica hype keeps growing. She is seriously sinister and vicious. It's more and more obvious though that Lina isn't a bad guy. Gal. Duckling - whatever. Classic traitor who never meant anything bad, but was in forced circumstances. It's gonna be so sad when things eventually escalate and both her and Webby will be heartbroken.

She seems surprisingly powerful for a witch that young. Though we have no context yet how this take tacks magic. And it did seem like she might have tapped into Magicas magic power. Pretty certain that she will take Magica down to redeem herself in the end.

Not sure if like this Launchpad. Okay, his moments were funny. But they did make him seriously dumb, even dumber than the original. But he hasn't shown the originals redeeming qualities yet - the loyalty and the bravery. If Webby is Mabel, this Launchpad faintly remind me of Soos.In the end Soos was like my favorite character in Gravity Falls though, so we'll see.

Bit lamer couple of last episodes, but this again was damn good. Funny, smart, yet entertaining in a very nice simple old school way.

 

[Organizized]

Oh man... I may have to lay off watching the new episodes as they come out since I just found out they're being aired out of order. That's something I am NOT a fan of. I feel the TV industry should have learned from shows like Firefly and Freaks and Geeks which were cancelled because viewers couldn't follow the story, or thought the story and character development were super off.

Apparently the Unannounced Huey Episode has snow in it so Disney wants to air it as a holiday episode. Terror of the Terra-Firmians was pushed forward because it's a little spooky so it became a Halloween episode (even though it aired in the beginning of October...?)

This is what's wrong with the TV industry, they think more people will like the show if they pull stunts like these than if people actually get to see the story the writers spent a lot of time planning out and perfecting.

It might not be as devastating to DuckTales as it was to others since it's such an episodic show, but a story arc is still a story arc even if it's episodic from week to week. I always want the story the way it goes in the writers heads, so I might have to bite the bullet and just wait until they're all released, then hope they'll announce the correct order.

Ugh.

 

[Riku]

Yeah, read about this too. It is not as bad for Ducktales as it was for shows like Firefly, but it still has an negative effect. I mean, just look a bit into episode discussions, and a lot of people are whining about quitting watching 'Webbytales'.

 

[Riku]

The Pyramid of Tothra was the best episode so far

Fun adventure stuff. The spirit of the original series was strong in this one.

Though the comic Scrooge

Spoiler

would never have paid for the burritos. And original DT Scrooge would have at least taken the sword for covering them

 

[Organizized]

The Pyramid of Tothra was the best episode so far

Fun adventure stuff. The spirit of the original series was strong in this one.

Though the comic Scrooge

Spoiler

would never have paid for the burritos. And original DT Scrooge would have at least taken the sword for covering them

Aw man, me and the wifey haven’t watched since we found out about the release order but now I got mad abstinence... i mean, if I hadn’t known about it I might have gone the whole series without finding any inconsistencies or anything, after all.

But still.

 

[Riku]

Haven’t been in a Duck blur for months. Now that I started reading around about it I’m being Woo-oo’d all over again. This tweet got me hyper-psyched:

But maybe it’s time to revive the DT2017 thread or people will get sick of Duck talk here..

Ooh, I wonder what the big news could be. Date for season 2? Darkwing Duck reboot confirmed? Official full reveal of Magica with VA? Or just that the season 1 is fully ready and will have steady airing schedule? Feature film? Or is he maybe hyping Spear of Selene / Della? So much possibilities worth hyping.

 

[Organizized]

So Frank Angones said “hey the internet, let’s talk more tomorrow.” But then apparently he found out there’d be even more stuff to talk about soon.


It seems some people caught a Tweet before it was deleted where they said the show is being moved from XD to Disney Channel. So hopefully it’ll get a wider audience now and the ratings will go up even further. (Apparently there was also a pop-up on Disney Channel saying “DuckTales - Every day in May”)

 

[Riku]

If the every day thing is true, I hope it really is the whole season in may and not just the usual of airing the same episodi everyday of the week as they usually do

 

[Organizized]

If the every day thing is true, I hope it really is the whole season in may and not just the usual of airing the same episodi everyday of the week as they usually do

Wonder if they even have that many episodes. Maybe if they air it from the beginning it could be, I guess.

 

[Riku]

Wonder if they even have that many episodes. Maybe if they air it from the beginning it could be, I guess.

22 episodes and 2 specials. Almost a month. But I doubt all the episodes are actually ready yet.

 

[Organizized]

Wanna talk about this awesome promo?

Robot Robbers! Goldie! Darkwing! DON KARNAGE!!! O-hee-ay, Tailspin reboot!

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 23, 2018, Original Post Date: Apr 23, 2018 ---

Sorry, this is the one with the Darkwing reference (other than that pretty much the same).


@Elusia if you feel like discussing the show you should join us here!

 

[Riku]

Let's get dangerous

So awesome. We'l mostly stuff we knew already to be coming, except Don Karnage. That's a real surpise. Disney Animated Universe doesn't seem so farfetched the more we see. It would be killer, if we actually get to see Baloo.

Still, that is ebin trailer.

--- Double Post Merged, Apr 23, 2018, Original Post Date: Apr 23, 2018 ---

How Darkwing was shown as a bobblehead figure, made me think that I might have been right about Darkwing Duck being a fictional superhero series within the new Ducktales universe. Well, they do make figurines of real people too, but still feels more like that could be the case. Seems like Launchpad is a fan, and it was already established he has difficulties of telling apart reality from fiction, so I could see the possibilities there about a very wacky take on Darkwing.

 

[Elusia]

Hype af!
I'm mostly excited for the Selene episode and more info about the triplet's mom but all of them are good too.

 

[Organizized]

Okay.. I can safely say The Spear of Selene is the second best episode so far, after “Woo-oo!”.

Not just the fact that we it more development on the “underlying story” (Della), but the emotional display and scenes from the characters (Donald and Dewey especially) concerning this was fantastic. Really felt for Donald.

And it had a lot of the funniest moments of he series so far. Storkules was hilarious, and the way he swooned over Donald (whom he seemed to view as his muse, dressing it up as “friend”) cracked me up.

Donald might just be my favorite character of the show, and that’s saying a lot.

Spoiler

The question is, what is the Spear of Selene, then, if not a legendary artifact? And does Donald’s line “Somebody always gets hurt” imply she was indeed hurt or killed? I rather doubt it, and it probably refers to others being hurt by her absense. I’m gonna discuss theories with my wife until we fall asleep now.

--- Double Post Merged, May 13, 2018, Original Post Date: May 10, 2018 ---

Okay, it’s almost embarrassing how hyped I am for the new (Gizmoduck) episode. Watching it in an hour or so. Dunno if I’ll go straight into the leaked ones or if I’ll spread those out a bit to have a new episode every week.

Anyway... let’s get dangerous! (I hope.)

 

[Riku]

Loved Spear of Selene. It had the fun and the adventure and the plot just right. Omg I laughed my ass off with the sea monster.

BUDDY system was the ultimate nostalgia hype episode. Bit of Darkwing lot of Gizmo. And in a episode that was essentially a direct redux of an episode from the original. Surprisingly warm emotional ending. Loved it, not as much Selene, But still.

This series is so lit.

 

[Organizized]

Yup, was a great episode. As you say, not as great as Selene, but still heaps of fun and nostalgia. Loved the little Darkwing bit, and Lin-Manuel was so great as Fenton my wife didn’t even realize it was him). And you were 100% correct on the way Darkwing would be incorporated, @Ustegius!

Spoiler

Darkwing being “played” by an aging actor who messes up stunts but doesn’t yell “cut!” is a fun way to explain Darkwing’s clumsiness amidst his heroism.

Also this tweet has me all the more psyched about that part:

Spoiler

Spoiler

I wonder if the Darkwing reboot (which I’m sure is happening) will be about the actor playing Darkwing then, rather than a straight-up reboot. Maybe he is fired to don the cloak for real and truly become Darkwing, or something.

--- Double Post Merged, May 29, 2018, Original Post Date: May 13, 2018 ---

The Missing Links of Moorshire is probably my least favorite episode so far. There were some fun bits, but it all felt a little lackluster. The jokes were okay but not as on point as usual. The kelpies were sort of fun for one scene. The whole Scrooge-Louey interaction was kind of a reprise on what they went through in Episode 1, but more rushed and with a meh golf montage. Flintheart is pretty hilarious though, and Huey/Launchpad’s commentary was pretty hilarious.

McMystery at McDuck McManor was much more enjoyable to me, even though the outcome was a tad predictable.

Spoiler

Still, when at first they said Duckworth was dead I was like “noooooo”, and then when he reappeared I was like “oh, he’s a ghost, but nooo he’s only appearing in one episode”... and then I was like “wait, so he’s staying on the show as a recurring character, but still a ghost?”

That’s pretty funny.

And I’ve seen a lot of Mark Beaks hate online, but I gotta say I love to hate this character. His voice actor is so perfectly cast.

Also, and update from the showrunner:


Makes me think we’ll see more Darkwing sooner than I thought.