# D3: The Mighty Ducks

D3: The Mighty Ducks (also known as The Mighty Ducks 3) is a 1996 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Robert Lieberman and sequel to the 1994 film D2: The Mighty Ducks. It is the third and final installment in The Mighty Ducks trilogy and was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and distributed by Buena Vista Pictures Distribution. The film stars Emilio Estevez, Jeffrey Nordling, Heidi Kling, and Joss Ackland. Estevez, Kling, Ackland, Joshua Jackson, Elden Henson, Shaun Weiss, Matt Doherty, Garette Ratliff Henson, Marguerite Moreau, Vincent Larusso, Aaron Lohr, Ty O'Neal, Kenan Thompson, Mike Vitar, Colombe Jacobsen, and Justin Wong reprise their roles from the previous films in the series with Scott Whyte, who played Gunnar in the second film, returning in a different role. Brandon Adams who played Jesse Hall in the first two films was the only one who did not return for the third installment.

## Plot

After their victory at the Junior Goodwill Games, youth ice-hockey team The Mighty Ducks and their captain Charlie Conway are awarded junior varsity hockey scholarships to Eden Hall Academy, a prestigious Minneapolis-area prep school that Coach Bombay attended. Charlie struggles with his transition from childhood to adolescence; he's outraged at Bombay, who is leaving the Ducks to take a job with the Junior Goodwill Games. In addition, Dean Portman and Jesse Hall have not accepted the scholarships, and thus will not be joining the team. Bombay informs Charlie prior to the start of classes that the team will be in good hands under the coaching of former NHL player Ted Orion.
The Ducks' start at the school begins unfavorably. The team faces new challenges, including bullying from the championship-winning Varsity team, the Warriors. Coach Orion is much sterner than Bombay, and insists on learning a new "two-way hockey" defensive style that abandons several Duck traditions and old in-game "trick" plays. These changes lead to Charlie and Orion butting heads, and Orion later strips Charlie of his team captaincy. The team loses Adam Banks when he qualifies to play for Varsity. The Ducks struggle in their opening game of the season, giving up a large lead to the other school. Later, Varsity challenges the Ducks to an unsanctioned early morning match to settle their differences; the Ducks are decisively routed. Witnessing this, Orion revokes the Ducks jerseys, declaring "The Ducks are dead". This causes Charlie and Fulton to quit the team, the former planning return to public school and seek a hockey career, but the latter backs out due to disinterest in continuing hockey.
Charlie's acting out alienates him from his mother, teammates, and an ailing Hans. Hans suddenly dies, and Bombay comes to Charlie's house the day after the funeral to take him back to Eden Hall. He tells Charlie that Orion's career with the Minnesota North Stars ended when the team moved to Dallas and he stayed to care for his paraplegic daughter. Bombay tells Charlie the background story on how he first came to coach the Ducks and says he told Orion that Charlie was the heart and soul of the team, and he hoped that both Orion and Charlie would learn something from each other. Emotionally touched by his words and feeling remorse over his behavior towards Orion and his fellow Ducks (including Fulton, who decided to play it by ear regarding hockey and rejoin), Charlie agrees to rejoin the team.
Arriving at the team bus for the next game, Charlie tells Orion he wants to play "two-way hockey". Surprised but pleased, Coach Orion welcomes him back. Before they depart, Dean Buckley, the school's headmaster, informs the team that its board of trustees wants to revoke the Ducks' scholarships and offers Orion a chance to start anew with a team of his choice. Satisfied with the team, Orion balks at the news, threatening resignation. At a board meeting the following day, Bombay, who was a practicing lawyer before coaching the Ducks, acts as the Ducks' attorney and fights successfully for their case, threatening the board with an injunction and promising to win the resulting lawsuit if the board expels the Ducks. The board reluctantly reinstates the Duck's scholarships due to Bombay putting them in a no-win situation. Banks subsequently returns to the Ducks.
Following Charlie's lead, the team starts following Orion's two-way strategy, and prior to the JV-Varsity game, Orion brings back the Duck jerseys, giving the team a renewed vigor. Throughout the game, the Varsity dominates on offense. However, the Ducks play good defense and manage to keep the game scoreless after two periods. During the second intermission, Dean Portman returns to the team, giving them a much-needed spark. Late in the game, the Ducks get two penalties and must play 5-vs.-3. With seconds left in the match, Charlie gets a breakaway and beats all the defensemen and goalie; he passes the puck back to Goldberg, now a defenseman, who scores into a wide-open net as time expires, securing a 1–0 victory for the Ducks.
Following the victory, Charlie embraces Orion and spots Bombay in the crowds, and they both look across the rink to a newly presented Eden Hall banner with the Ducks' logo. Bombay then departs the rink with a smile amid a sea of cheering fans.

## Cast

* Emilio Estevez as Gordon Bombay (Coach)
* Jeffrey Nordling as Coach Ted Orion (Eden Hall Warriors Coach for the Ducks)
* David Selby as Dean Buckley (Eden Hall Warriors Dean)
* Heidi Kling as Casey Conway (Charlie Conway's Mom)
* Joshua Jackson as Charlie Conway #96 (Player and 2nd Coach in Mighty Ducks 2)
* Joss Ackland as Hans (Gordon Bombay's friend and Sponsor)
* Elden Henson (credited as Elden Ryan Ratliff) as Fulton Reed #44 (1st Bash Brother and Player)
* Shaun Weiss as Greg "The Goalie" Goldberg #33 (The Goalie)
* Vincent Larusso (credited as Vincent A. Larusso) as Adam Banks #99 (The Top Mighty Ducks Player)
* Matt Doherty as Lester Averman #4 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Garette Ratliff Henson as Guy Germaine #00 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Marguerite Moreau as Connie Moreau #18 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Michael Cudlitz as Cole (Eden Hall Warriors Player and Bully)
* Christopher Orr as Rick Riley (Eden Hall Warriors Player and Bully)
* Aaron Lohr as Dean Portman #21 (Bash Brother 2 and Player)
* Ty O'Neal as Dwayne Robertson #7 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Kenan Thompson as Russ Tyler #56 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Mike Vitar as Luis Mendoza #22 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Colombe Jacobsen as Julie "The Cat" Gaffney #6 (The Goalie)
* Justin Wong as Ken Wu #16 (Mighty Ducks Player)
* Scott Whyte as Scott "Scooter" Holland (Eden Hall Warriors Player)
* Margot Finley as Linda (Charlie Conway's love interest)
* Benjamin Salisbury as Josh, the sports announcer (Announcer)
Paul Kariya, then-captain of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (now Anaheim Ducks) when the film was released, makes a cameo appearance during the second intermission of the Ducks/Varsity Warriors game. The film's co-writer Steven Brill was an attendant at an arcade.

## Production

The third movie was originally going to be darker in tone, with the main antagonists written to be Bulgarians. Brandon Adams, who portrayed the character of Jesse Hall in the previous films, is the only actor to not reprise his role as a Duck. His absence in the film is explained as his character having moved away. Jesse appeared in the original script for the third film, but with minimal lines and screen time compared to the first two films.
Parts of the movie were filmed at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

## Reception
### Box office

The movie debuted at No.4 in the box office and ended up grossing $22,936,273 in the US. It is the lowest-grossing film of the trilogy.

### Critical

Like its predecessor, the film received negative reviews, and holds a 20% rating based on 15 reviews with an average rating of 3.8/10 on review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes.
John Anderson of the Los Angeles Times called the film "a self-reverential salute to Ducks" while also saying that the film was "lazier" than its predecessors. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times described the film as predictable, saying that the "third version [is] more or less the same story: Evil, petty, vindictive, mean-spirited, cheating, lying snobs try to stop them, but the Ducks, after first dealing with cockiness, infighting, pride, anger and a new coach, redeem themselves in the big match." Peter Stack of the San Francisco Chronicle said the film "struggles for laughs. Even its familiar, heavily orchestrated showdown-on-ice between the Ducks and a rude rival is little more than a tedious rehash of puckish mayhem".

## Home media

The film was released on VHS on January 21, 1997, on DVD on September 2, 2002 and on Blu-ray as a Disney Movie Club exclusive on May 23, 2017. It was also released on the Disney+ streaming platform on September 4, 2020.