Jun 9 2012
SATURDAY MORNING CARTOONS: DUCK TALES
Every Saturday on d20crit.com, we journey back in time for some 80s nostalgia and remember a cartoons of old. So grab some Fruity Pebbles and come take a trip down memory lane – this week: Duck Tales!
The Dickens inspired story turned into an everyday cartoon with Scrooge McDuck. This is one of the few Disney cartoons I can handle (sorry, Mickey, you drive me crazy). Donald joins the Navy and the nephews he had taken care of – Huey, Dewey and Louie – go to live with their Scottish uncle, Scrooge McDuck, who is a tight-fisted tight-webfooted business tycoon. No racial profiling of the Scots then, eh?
Hyperactive yet smart, the nephews do their duckling thing and involve themselves in all sorts of capers while crooks, thieves and villains attempt to nab the wealth old Scroogy-pants. Och-aye. There are several antagonists who appear several times throughout the life of the show including the Beagle Boys and Magica De Spell – who has a sort of Vampiristic-Nazi feel – though I’m fairly certain she is neither. The heavy-bearded bad guy was Flintheart Glomgold, Scrooge’s nemesis, who wants to claim McDuck’s title “Richest Duck in the World.”
Heavily superstitious (what self-respecting duck isn’t) his lucky coin, The Number One Dime, stored safely inside a glass jar in a vault with the rest of his gold, is, in McDuck’s mind, the key to his wealth. With a clear distrust for banks, the original Gold Guy of Duckberg is all heart, despite his love of money which blinds him from time-to-time.
The show had a strong run during the 1980′s and even stronger during reruns in the 90′s. It inspired feature a length movie, three video games and comic books. It even won an a Daytime Emmy in 1990 for Outstanding Film Sound Editing. Ranked at number 18 in IGN’s Top 100 Best Animated Shows, it really is a decent family cartoon to enjoy. Besides, you have to love the catchy theme song:
