Darkwing Duck

Darkwing Duck is an American animated superhero television series produced by The Walt Disney Company and created by Tad Stones that ran during 1991 and 1992 on both the syndicated programming block, The Disney Afternoon, and on Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured the eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck, with the alter ego of Drake Mallard (voiced by Jim Cummings). It is also a part of The Disney Afternoon.
Though it was believed to be spin-off of DuckTales (and Launchpad even directly mentioning Scrooge McDuck in one episode), Stones has stated that these two shows were to take place in separate universes, while sharing the characters Launchpad McQuack and Gizmoduck on a regular basis, as well as Carl Barks' villain characters appearing in one of the episodes. Despite this statement, at least three later crossover comics actually would have the two shows existing in the same universe.
On November 13, 2020, it was announced that a Darkwing Duck reboot is in the works at Disney+.‘Darkwing Duck’ Reboot In Works At Disney+
==Premise==
Darkwing Duck is about the adventures of the titular superhero, aided by his sidekick and pilot straight from DuckTales, Launchpad McQuack. In his secret identity of Drake Mallard, he lives in an unassuming suburban house with his adopted tomboyish daughter Gosalyn, next door to the bafflingly dim-witted Muddlefoot family. Darkwing struggles to balance his egotistical craving for fame and attention, against his desire to be a good father to Gosalyn and help do good in St. Canard. Most episodes put these two aspects of Darkwing's character in direct conflict, though Darkwing's better nature usually prevails.
==Production==
Darkwing Duck was initially developed as a last-minute replacement for a proposed reboot of The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show when the management team realized that Disney did not actually own the rights to the characters, but only the home video rights. The series was originally a spin-off of DuckTales, entering production roughly one year after the series ended. It was mainly inspired by the episodes "Double-O-Duck" and "The Masked Mallard". The original concept had Launchpad McQuack as the star. Instead, Launchpad appeared as Darkwing's sidekick in the finished product. Gizmoduck, a character from the final season of DuckTales, also appeared in a handful of crossover-themed episodes. The name "The Masked Mallard" became an epithet often used to refer to Darkwing himself.
Though loosely connected to the Mickey Mouse mythos, Darkwing Duck was unique in that it featured no characters from classic Disney animation (save for the Beagle Boys), instead introducing an original cast. It was also the first Disney Afternoon cartoon to emphasize action rather than adventure, with Darkwing routinely engaging in slapstick battles with both supervillains and street criminals. While conflict with villains was routine in earlier Disney Afternoon, actual fight scenes were relatively rare.
Darkwing Duck was also the first Disney Afternoon property that was produced completely as a genre parody. Prior shows would contain elements of parody in certain episodes, but would otherwise be straight-faced adventure concepts in the tradition of Carl Barks's work in the Disney comics. By contrast, every episode of Darkwing Duck is laden with references to superhero, pulp adventure, or super-spy fiction.
Darkwing Duck himself is a satirical character. His costume, gas gun, and flashy introductions are all reminiscent of pulp heroes, such as the Sandman, , Crimson Avenger, , , the , and most especially, . The fictional city of St. Canard is a direct parody of , the fictional city in which Batman resides and operates.
==Cast and characters==
===Heroes and allies===
*Darkwing Duck (voiced by Jim Cummings) - Drake Mallard, average citizen by day and St. Canard's masked superhero by night.
*Gosalyn Mallard (voiced by Christine Cavanaugh) - Drake "Darkwing Duck" Mallard's nine-year-old adopted tomboyish daughter. Occasional crime fighter as "Crimson Quackette" and later as "Quiverwing Quack."
*Launchpad McQuack (voiced by Terry McGovern) - Darkwing Duck's sidekick, originally from DuckTales. He often crosses over to St. Canard and refers to Darkwing as "DW" and Darkwing often calls him "LP".
*Honker Muddlefoot (voiced by Katie Leigh) - The Mallards' next-door neighbor and Gosalyn's best friend.
*Herb Muddlefoot (voiced by Jim Cummings impersonating Andy Devine) - Father of Honker Muddlefoot, next door neighbor of Drake Mallard (Darkwing Duck). Drake finds him very irritating, but they do work together well in at least one episode. Herb sells Quakerware (the Darkwing Duck universe's version of ) as a salesman for a living.
*Binkie Muddlefoot (voiced by Susan Tolsky) - A beautiful yellow chicken housewife who is invariably overbearing yet ditzy. Competent in housework and doing her chores she is often the foil to Herb's fun.
*Tank Muddlefoot (voiced by Dana Hill) - The eldest Muddlefoot son, Tank is a bully who often makes life difficult for his younger brother, Honker. His full name, Tankard H. Muddlefoot, is revealed in the episode "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything".
===Villains===
*Negaduck (voiced by Jim Cummings) - An evil version of Darkwing from a parallel reality called the "Negaverse" which is a nightmarish reverse version of St. Canard. Negaduck is virtually identical to Darkwing except that the colors of his costume are red, black, and yellow. Negaduck has no special powers or abilities but can disguise himself as Darkwing to make the hero look like a criminal. He is very ruthless and has no problem with hurting people to get what he wants: great wealth and authority over both worlds. He is the leader of the Fearsome Five; a group he formed with Quackerjack, The Liquidator, Bushroot, and Megavolt.
*Megavolt (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) - A former high school classmate of Drake Mallard, Megavolt gained the power to control electricity after a bully sabotaged one of his science experiments. Megavolt is quite psychotic and uses his control over electricity as his main weapon. His costume consists of his original jumpsuit, gloves, boots, and safety goggles from the power company as well as a giant battery worn on his back to keep his power flowing on the go and a headpiece that resembles a big plug. Megavolt was the most popular villain on the show and therefore the most recurring. Megavolt often referred to Darkwing as either "Darkwing Dork" or "Dorkwing." He shorts out when hit with water, a weakness that Darkwing often uses when defeating him.
*Bushroot (voiced by Tino Insana) - Dr. Reginald Bushoot was a scientist who tried to fuse animal DNA with that of plants in an attempt to give people the ability to feed themselves through . The experiment was a success but with a price. Bushroot was turned into a half duck/half plant creature who now desperately seeks a friend. Bushroot uses his newfound control over plants as his main weapon.
*The Liquidator (voiced by Jack Angel) - A slimy salesman who was in the bottled water business, Liquidator was mutated into his present state (a water-based monstrosity) after falling into a vat of a competitor's water which was revealed to be laced with a corrosive chemical during a battle with Darkwing and Launchpad. Since he is made of water, he and Megavolt do not interact well but is good friends with Bushroot.
*Quackerjack (voiced by Michael Bell) - A toy maker gone insane and wearing a harlequin style jester costume, Quackerjack uses his arsenal of dangerous playthings as weaponry while he robs banks or just causes chaos for the fun of it. He is almost never without his trademark doll, Mr. Banana Brain, which can be used as an explosive. His most common toys are mechanical toy chattering teeth of various sizes. He has been known to team up with Megavolt at times.
*Steelbeak (voiced by Rob Paulsen) - Acting like a 1920s gangster, Steelbeak is the top agent of F.O.W.L. (short for Fiendish Organization for World Larceny). He gets his name from the metal beak he wears in place of his original one, which was apparently lost sometime before the events of the show, though it is not revealed how. This trademark beak also serves as a weapon, because it can bite through almost anything.
*Tuskernini (voiced by Kenneth Mars) - A walrus and an ego-driven but failed Hollywood film director, whose schemes are built around films, and travels with a cadre of silent yet efficient penguin sidekicks. His name is a reference to famed conductor , though the resemblance ends there.
*Lilliput (voiced by Frank Welker) - The owner of Goony Golf and inventor, Lilliput made a helmet to control ants and a ray gun to shrink and grow things. Using these, Lilliput's crime involve shrink buildings and using them in his golf course.
==Distribution==
===Episodes===
Over two seasons, there were a total of 91 episodes.
====Hot Spells controversy====
In the second season of the show, the creators were developing a Halloween-themed episode. In the episode "Hot Spells", Gosalyn makes a deal with the devil that costs Darkwing his soul. The episode was never replayed on Toon Disney or Disney Channel after its initial 1992-93 airings on ABC, nor is it available on Disney+. This is despite the fact that Disney+ does have The Simpsons episode "Treehouse of Horror IV", which includes a segment with a very similar plot.
==Theme Song==
===Title Sequence===
There are seven different versions of the Darkwing Duck introduction. The first two were aired on the Disney Channel when Darkwing Duck first premiered and featured alternate animation and a different version of the familiar theme song. The third version was used on the "Darkly Dawns the Duck" VHS. The fourth version was used in syndication, and is actually the one they currently use today. The fifth is the version used on The Disney Afternoon, and is the same as the fourth version, only cut for time. The sixth and seventh introductions were used on the ABC Saturday Morning airings, and contained mostly scenes from those episodes, starting with Darkwing tiptoeing up the Audubon Bay Bridge.
==Broadcast history==
The two-part episode "Darkly Dawns the Duck" originally aired as an hour-length TV special on September 7, 1991 as part of a larger TV special, "The Darkwing Duck Premiere and Back to School With the Mickey Mouse Club". The film served as the show's pilot. Seasons 1 and 2 were aired simultaneously in the Autumn of 1991. Season 1 on syndication as part of The Disney Afternoon block of shows. Seasons 2 and 3 aired on Saturday mornings on ABC. All episodes remained in syndicated reruns on The Disney Afternoon until 1995 and then returned to the line up from 1996 to 1997.
The series was last seen in the U.S. on Toon Disney, but due to the addition of Jetix and other Disney shows to the channel, it later vanished completely from the network. Along with a number of other shows, it was removed from schedule in November 2004. Toon Disney aired the Christmas episode featuring Bushroot on December 25, 2004. The show was last seen on Toon Disney in the United States on January 19, 2007 as part of the Toon Disney Wild Card Stack. Certain episodes from the show's original run rarely re-aired while the show was on Toon Disney. These episodes appear to have been removed for content reasons. The most prominent of the rarely-seen episodes is "Hot Spells", which features a Satan-like character called Beelzebub.
This show is currently airing on:
*Disney XD: Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Flanders, Scandinavia, Turkey, and Serbia
*Disney Channel: Russia and Serbia
*Sky Movies Disney: United Kingdom
*Toon Disney: Finland
==Home Media==
===VHS releases===
Four VHS tapes, each containing two episodes of Darkwing Duck, were released under the title Darkwing Duck: His Favorite Adventures in the United States in 1993: Darkly Dawns the Duck, Justice Ducks Unite!, Comic Book Capers, and The Birth of Negaduck! However, most countries around the world only received releases of Darkly Dawns the Duck and Justice Ducks Unite! Each video came with two glow-in-the-dark trading cards. Featured on the cards were: Darkwing, Launchpad, Gosalyn, Honker, Negaduck, Bushroot, Megavolt, and Taurus Bulba.
===DVD releases===
Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment released a 3-disc DVD box set entitled Darkwing Duck: Volume 1 on August 29, 2006. It includes the first 27 episodes aired in syndication, including the 2-part pilot "Darkly Dawns the Duck", which was presented in edited form as opposed to the uncut version's release on VHS and Laserdisc. The second volume, containing the next 27 syndicated episodes, was released on August 7, 2007. Unlike DuckTales and Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, the episodes on the DVDs are presented in the order they aired. The sets do not contain any special features.
One volume was released to Region 2 DVD, which contains all 65 of the syndicated episodes.
===Digital releases===
In the United States, the entire series (except for the episode "Hot Spells") was made available for purchase on digital through iTunes and Google Play on September 24, 2019 in the SD format. The entire series, including "Hot Spells", was released in Germany through Amazon Video in 2017.
==Video games==
There was a Darkwing Duck video game released by Capcom on the and the . Another game was also made for the TurboGrafx-16.
==Comic books==
Disney Comics published a four-issue Darkwing Duck comic book mini-series in late 1991, right around the time of the show's syndicated premiere. This mini-series was an adaptation of a draft of the script for "Darkly Dawns the Duck". Like the TaleSpin comic before it, it was meant to spin off a regular comic series, but the Disney Comics implosion happening at the time prevented that plan. However, Darkwing Duck stories were regularly printed in Disney Adventures magazine between the November 1991 and January 1996 issues. Additionally, Darkwing Duck stories were also regularly featured in Marvel Comics' short-lived Disney Afternoon comic book.
On March 13, 2010, Boom! Studios announced that they would be releasing a four-issue Darkwing Duck miniseries, titled "The Duck Knight Returns", starting in June of that year. The series was written by Aaron Sparrow (uncredited), Ian Brill, and drawn by James Silvani, and was set some time after the end of the show. Boom! later announced that due to positive fan reaction, the comic series would be extended indefinitely as an ongoing. After Disney's purchase of Marvel Comics however, the series ended at issue 18.
In October 2014, artist James Silvani announced that the first sixteen issues of the comic would be revised and collected in an Omnibus-styled book titled Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition, to be published by Joe Books. It was also announced that the omnibus would lead in to a new monthly series written by Sparrow and drawn by Silvani. The new series began in April 2016, less than a month after the show's 25th anniversary, but was cancelled after only eight issues, despite positive reception and a number of plot threads left unresolved.
In July 2018, it was announced that the Boom! Studios series would be reprinted in Disney Afternoon Giant from IDW Publishing.https://www.bleedingcool.com/2018/07/25/idw-october-solicitations-2018-disney-afternoon-giant-darth-vader-castle-star-wars/ However, Disney Afternoon Giant used the original versions of the stories rather than the revised versions from Darkwing Duck: The Definitively Dangerous Edition.
The "Just Us Justice Ducks" comic adaptation and "The Legend of the Chaos God" were reprinted in Darkwing Duck: Just Us Justice Ducks – Disney Afternoon Adventures Vol. 1 published by Fantagraphics which was released on July 27, 2021.https://www.animationmagazine.net/licensing/first-look-fantagraphics-gets-dangerous-for-darkwing-duck-just-us-justice-ducks/ More Darkwing Duck stories are set to appear in future volumes.
On July 22, 2022, it was announced that Dynamite Entertainment would begin publishing a new Darkwing Duck comic in 2023.https://www.cbr.com/disney-darkwing-duck-series-dynamite-entertainment/ However, it unfortunately does not continue from where the Joe Books title left off.Tweet by Aaron Sparrow While it uses the same art style as the original show, it does not appear to be set in the same canon, due to Dr. NoGood (a one-shot DuckTales villain who died at the end of the episode he appeared in) reappearing as F.O.W.L.'s leader in the fifth issue. The comic stopped after its tenth issue and is set to be restarted in February 2025, this time being written by Daniel Kibblesmith and drawn by Ted Brandt and Ro Stein.
==Reception==
Darkwing Duck was named the 93rd best animated series by IGN, calling it "one of the many reasons why after-school cartoons rule."https://www.ign.com/lists/top-100-animated-series/93
==Television reboot==
On November 13, 2020, following the success of the 2017 DuckTales reboot and announcing its third season being being the final in December, a Darkwing Duck reboot was announced. The series will be produced by Disney Television Animation and Point Grey Pictures, with executive producers for the series including Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, James Weaver, and Alex McAtee, known for their R-rated works from Sausage Party and their upcoming animated film, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, by Gravity Falls alumni Jeff Rowe.https://thedisinsider.com/2020/11/13/darkwing-duck-reboot-in-the-works/ Tad Stones revealed that he is involved in the reboot series as a creative consultant. The show will be released on Disney+.
During a Disney+ Day announcement for the live-action/animated Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers movie, a script for Darkwing Duck could be spotted in the background that read, "Production Draft 2022." Darkwing himself has a cameo at the very end of the movie, with Jim Cummings reprising the role.
==Videos==
Jim Cummings Talks 25 Years of Darkwing Duck
==Gallery==
==Trivia==
*This show originally was going to spoof the series, with the working title Double O Duck; in the end, however, the Darkwing Duck character is closer to ' in style, who is also known as the "Dark Knight".
*Jim Cummings has said that Darkwing Duck is one of his favorite roles.
*In the show's Latin American Spanish dub, Arturo Mercado voiced Darkwing and Negaduck.
===References in other Disney media===
*In the Bonkers episode "Do Toons Dream of Animated Sheep?", Darkwing was the announcer for Bonkers' award show dream.
*Genie transforms into Darkwing Duck in the Aladdin episode "My Fair Aladdin".
*In the Mickey Mouse Works episode "Pluto's Magic Paws", Pluto can be seen watching a television program called "Darkwing Dog".
*In the Italian dub of Recess, T.J. Detweiler mentions Darkwing Duck to be one of his favorite shows. This does not occur in the original version of the series.
*Darkwing and his cast of characters, such as Gosalyn and a few villains have been integrated into the rebooted series DuckTales, with Chris Diamantopoulos voicing Drake Mallard and Jim Cummings reprising his role of Negaduck.
==References==
==External links==
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