REVIEW: DuckTales (2017)
If you grew up watching cartoons in the late ’80s-early 2000s, you may have watched a Disney cartoon called DuckTales. Inspired by the Donald Duck comics by Carl Barks, DuckTales is a 1987 cartoon about billionaire Scrooge McDuck and his grandnephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie going on adventures together. 30 years later, DuckTales is back and out to solve mysteries and rewrite history.
When Donald Duck, who’s late for his job interview, can’t find a babysitter for his nephews, he’s forced to drop them off at his estranged Uncle Scrooge’s mansion. However, since Scrooge and Donald have a bitter relationship with each other, Scrooge grudgingly agrees to look after them. During their stay, the nephews discover more about their family while Scrooge realizes that maybe family isn’t so bad after all…
The new DuckTales is a perfect example of a reboot done well. The writers saw the opportunity to expand the two source materials (the Donald Duck comics & the 1987 cartoon), and they did. They gave the characters establishing moments and separate personalities which flesh out their characters more…which is already a plus considering the nephews barely had any personalities of their own and were lumped together in the original.
The show is filled with references to the comics, original show, and reference to the other Disney cartoons which ran around the same time as the original show ran, without alienating new viewers. The show also included a very interesting and important character. A character who has never been mentioned and seen in animation. A character who answers the question “Why is Donald taking care of his nephews?” And it’s very intriguing.
Overall, DuckTales (2017) is an amazing and fun reboot. The characters have been established really well and the season’s story arc is set. There are so many things to explore in this universe the writers are creating and so many questions & mysteries that need answering. This is the reimagining of a classic cartoon that would make an old fan and a new viewer go “woo-ooo!”
