Ducktales, Season One: We’ve All Missed Trouble
Ducktales as a reboot makes many promises. Rather than replace the classic 1990s show that has become an icon in its own right, they would tell their own story, drawing on the various comics lore. The creators would give us a series of rollicking adventures, with a few overarching storylines. They have certainly delivered on that in season one.
We all got excited when the cast released a song video of singing the classic theme. It helped that DAVID TENNANT, one of the actors who played the Doctor in Doctor Who, would play Scrooge McDuck. Tennant owns the role in the show, and he makes Scrooge his own character.
In case you haven’t seen every episode, we should say one thing:
SPOILERS
The Legacy of Della Duck
Much of season one focuses on the impact of Della Duck’s disappearance. She is the triplets’ mother and Donald’s twin sister. Scrooge and Donald won’t talk about her, and Webby mentions that she can’t find a single thing about Della in the news, in books, or anywhere. Dewey Duck becomes frustrated by this because he and his brothers know nothing about thier mother. He decides to start researching her disappearance, with Webby’s help, and learning more about her. When his brothers learn, they first call him out for keeping his quest a secret, and say if they’re going to find out about their mom together.
The overarching conflict for this becomes twofold: was Della Duck a bad person, and why won’t Scrooge or Donald talk about her? Dewey starts having doubts after seeing Della’s apology note to Scrooge about taking the Spear of Selene, worrying that she stole from their uncle; the goddess Selene reassures him that, while she doesn’t have a spear, Della was a good person whom everyone loved. Scrooge when pressed for answers finally admits what happened: Della “borrowed” a test rocket that was meant for family trips into space, and Scrooge attempted to guide her through a cosmic storm. The storm caused her to disappear, however, and Donald walked out with the boys still in their eggs as Scrooge desperately searched for Della and nearly bankrupted all his funds. While Della wasn’t a bad person, her recklessness and impulsiveness caused tragedy for everyone, robbing the Duck family of a niece, a sister and a mother. Donald hasn’t forgiven Scrooge for enabling Della, and the boys follow suit as soon as they find out.
Eventually, however, Beakley tells them that Della meant a lot to Scrooge, and that family also means a lot to him. She also chides them for blaming Scrooge solely for the Spear of Selene, when Della made her choice to go and Scrooge would have sacrificed his fortune to get her back. Donald takes her words to heart and decides to reconcile with Scrooge, to cheer up the boys and make their family whole. Scrooge in turn forgives them when they come to rescue him from Magica. While a lot of time and hope was lost thanks to Della’s actions, everyone decides to make up for lost time. They won’t focus on the bitter past; they have a wonderful present, and a future.
Family isn’t perfect. Sometimes the people you love will hurt you the most. But you have to decide if someone you love who’s made a huge mistake can be forgiven, especially when their mistake has haunted them for a decade, then that can build more than it destroys. The big factor lies in that Scrooge blames himself heavily for the Spear of Selene, and he will protect his family to the bitter end.
Who Is Your Family
We get Lena DeSpell as a contrast to Webby. Lena becomes Webby’s new friend, who leads her to dangerous escapades, and encourages her to rebel. It’s revealed that Lena is working for her aunt Magica, to steal Scrooge’s Number One Dime, the first he earned. Magica eventually reveals that Scrooge sealed her inside the dime, and she wanted her freedom. As soon as she gets what she wants, she destroys Lena’s body and absorbs her.
Of course, then we learn that Lena isn’t even a real person; she’s a shadow that Magica cast out into the world after Scrooge sealed Magica in her dime. Lena over fifteen years looked the same: as a bored, aloof teenager looking to make trouble and reluctantly help her “aunt”. Unlike Webby, who had her grandmother, and the boys, who had their Uncle Donald, Lena had no one looking after her. With this in mind, it makes her reckless behavior and attitude more understandable. Lena also, to Magica’s surprise, gained free will and a desire to not remain a shadow. She wants her freedom, and humanity. She also has nightmares about what will happen if Magica regains her power.
Webby is the first person truly kind to Lena. She believes in Lena’s friendship, even as Lena plots recklessly with her and plans to steal Scrooge’s dime. At first, Lena doesn’t understand kindness, and self-sacrifice. She can’t ignore her growing conscience, her desire for a family like the Duck family. or her fears that Webby will see her true nature. When Webby does find out, she is crushed and betrayed, but understands that Magica is the one to blame. Lena fights her aunt’s overpowering will long enough to land a few blows and protect Webby, she’s not able to come back to life but restores Webby’s faith in her, becoming part of her shadow. That nugget of kindness made a difference.
As for Webby, she desperately wants Scrooge to acknowledge her as part of the family. She’s not related, but growing up in Scrooge’s manor and studying his life makes her appreciate his heart and thirst for adventure. One problem is her lack of social skills, whose absence make her stand out in a bad way, as well as her lack of real-world experience. The boys readily accept her as an honorary sibling, telling her she is one of them, and Donald eventually treats her like one of his kids. Eventually Scrooge acknowledges her as part of his family, and lets her join in on the hug with the boys.
Webby and Lena are two sides of the same coin. Unlike Lena, who never had a chance to truly escape her aunt, Webby is allowed to show what she can do and what she wants. Lena manages to be a part of Webby’s shadow thanks to her kindness, but that is a far cry from her corporeal existence.
What Makes A Hero
Ducktales 2017 asks what defines heroism in cartoon land. We see the answers through Donald Duck, Launchpad McQuack, and Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera. Quite ironically, Fenton and Launchpad were created to replace Donald in the original Ducktales, but here they can provide different approaches, The question isn’t straightforward, and so we get a spectrum of answers.
Donald doesn’t want to be a hero. He only wants his kids’ respect, which he can get when they see him in action. He says as much in “The Spear of Selene” when Storkules confronts him, and proclaims that adventure gets people hurt. Note that Donald isn’t referring to himself getting injured, though he gets hurt a lot; he’s thinking of his kids, and what they lost thanks to adventure. Donald also lost his sister, but he refuses to acknowledge that pain while onscreen. Della left without thinking of the boys, all to satisfy her need of adventure. He leaves Scrooge when Scrooge seemingly let his desire for adventure overrule common sense and build the Spear of Selene. He only embraces his hero role when Magica reappears, and he mobilizes everyone to fight and defeat her. It pays off, with Magica receiving a humiliating defeat.
Launchpad, unlike Donald, always stays with Scrooge, and his desire for heroics is to protect the people he likes. Scrooge is his boss and friend, and Launchpad wants to make him happy and proud. So Launchpad will protect Scrooge, and help him out. The episodes vary on how effective Launchpad’s genial approach works. Most stories have gullibility and his good heart causing others to deceive him. We see this in “The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!” where he accidentally starts a rebellion by sharing his burritos with oppressed citizens, or in “Beware the Buddy System” where he manages to out-drive a robot turned evil and save Gizmoduck from a perilous fall. His favorite hero is Darkwing Duck, who will always jump into the fray, and Launchpad in the season one finale emulates the Duck Knight when he gets out of his trapped plane to fight shadows, while singing Darkwing’s theme song. He uses fiction as a powerful motivator. That fiction soon becomes his reality.
Fenton undoubtedly wants to be a hero. Namely, he wants to prove that he is a worthy person, and that he can do good with the technology and the brains that he has. The only problem is that he tends to believe in the best of people, and that overrides common sense. When we see his first episode, for example, he accepts Gyro’s terrible boss attitude, and puts the blueprints for Li’l Bulb on the Internet without getting an okay from Gyro. He only avoids getting fired due to piloting the Gizmoduck suit, and proving he can use it in a time of crisis. Even so, the suit requires a lot of training, and Fenton is unsure how to control it when it keeps firing missiles everywhere. He reaches a compromise when Huey convinces him to use his own brain, the greatest weapon he has. In the finale, Fenton proves he doesn’t need the suit to be a hero, when he uses a laser gun and his brain to fight Magica’s shadows.
it seems that trying to be a hero without knowing what you’re doing will lead to good intentions backfiring. For this reason, Donald and Fenton are more competent. Donald has decades of experience under his belt, while Fenton has his brains. Willpower is also a factor, where the willingness to fight for people you like or love factors into your decision making. Donald by choice refuses to be a hero unless the situation demands it, while Fenton and Launchpad will happily dive into any situation to prove themselves and save lives. Regardless, Scrooge needs all of them to succeed.
Overall
This was a remarkable start to Ducktales. We got a fairly solid story arc that showed mappable character development, adventure, genuinely heartbreaking moments about the loss of time spent with the people with we love, and a realistic portrayal of emotional abuse contrasting with genuine affection. We saw characters pay the price for their victory, or redeem themselves.
The creators also show remarkable respect for their fanbase. Frank Aragones’s trolling of people by mentioning the answers to their questions are spoilers, or that he has a rarepair ship, roots its humor in love and appreciation for people’s devotion to the original Ducktales. The writers want people to enjoy the ride, and reassure their fears that different isn’t always bad.
I strongly hope that season two doesn’t start any of the nonsense that Star Vs. the Forces of Evil have, or where the story quality starts to plateau. The creators have about eighty years of comics lore, plenty of plot threads that they could grab. We have a great series here, and the promise of more adventures that “might solve a mystery or rewrite history”. I for one want to know more about Della, and what it will mean for her to reenter her family’s lives.