DuckTales - Volume 1
Ducktales(1987) marked the Walt Disney Studio's entry into the afternoon syndicated-cartoon market. The series was loosely based on the imaginative adventure stories Carl Barks created for the Disney comic books, featuring Donald Duck, his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Uncle Scrooge McDuck, a miser who possessed "five cubic acres of money." This three-disc set begins with episode #6, "Send in the Clones." (The series started with "Ducktales: Treasure of the Golden Suns," a two-hour TV movie in which Donald joins the Navy and sends Huey, Dewey, and Louie to live with their great-uncle Scrooge. This adventure was recut into the first five episodes, which are not included in this set.)Ducktalesnever matched the panache of Barks's inspired original. The TV series added the whiny Webbigail and her grandmother, Mrs. Beakly, who resembled a feather pillow with a beak. Launchpad McQuack supplied mock-heroic comedy, although his prominent cleft chin made him look like a pelican. When Uncle Scrooge and his relatives scaled the Himalayas in search of the crown of Genghis Kahn in the comic book, Barks ended the story with typical irony: people weren't interested in the gold and jewels Scrooge coveted, they only wanted to hear about Gu, the abominable snowman he encountered. In the animated version, the big joke is an amorous, ugly female snowman chasing Launchpad. But these shortcomings never bothered the Gen-Y viewers who grew up watchingDucktales. (Rated TV-Y, suitable for ages 6 and older: cartoon violence)--Charles Solomon