The Trickening!

"The Trickening!" is the fifty-ninth episode of DuckTales. It premiered on October 5, 2020 and is the tenth episode of the third season.
==Plot==
It is Halloween night, as Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby get ready to go out and collect candy for the night. Scrooge says that they have to leave the mansion as he never hands out candy. Instead, he leaves an empty bowl that says "take one" on it; implying to treaters that they have already run out. Scrooge will head out to collect candy for himself, much to Donald and Della's dismay. Della is further annoyed when Donald tells her that they will head over to Launchpad's house instead, as she wanted to scare trick or treaters and thinks that Launchpad is too soft.
Despite Huey's intricate planning on where to go for the night, Louie insists that they head to Hazel House instead, a haunted house that rests outside Duckburg. Louie believes that it holds a lifetime supply of candy so that they will not have to trick or treat ever again. While Huey is against this, the kids all agree to head there. Donald and Della arrive at Launchpad's house and discover it is heavily fortified. Not only that, but Launchpad is convinced that he is being attacked by little monsters (trick or treaters). Donald and Della are confused by his behavior and ask for an explanation.
At the Hazel House, the kids enter and find a trail of candy wrappers. They go deeper and find a room full of creepy toys, four of which resemble wooden dummy versions of themselves. The kids are attacked by a larger dummy and flee where they encounter a clown and tentacles and arms coming out of doors. The kids make it to the door at the end of a hall, but end up outside in a graveyard. Louie insists on going back inside for the candy, but gets into a fight with Huey. When Louie looks at the map, he learns that Huey knew about the house in advance, but did not want to go there, angering him.
Dewey spots a creepy well girl coming out and the monsters quickly approach them, during which, the kids yell out that they do not have any candy. The monsters suddenly stop and reveal themselves as classic monsters (the clown is a Wereduck, the puppet is Nosferatu, the well girl is Witch Hazel and the limbs belong to Frankenstein's Monster). The monsters reveal that they just wanted candy and dress up as "modern monsters" which they find humiliating and offensive. They have been scaring kids into dropping their candy so that they can claim it for themselves. When Huey learns that Halloween has ended already, Louie realizes that he messed up trying to take Huey's time away from him and putting his brothers in danger, and apologizes for not listening to him.
Launchpad claims that when he was a boy, he found a creepy house (Hazel House) and that he entered it and discovered a "piece of parchment" (candy wrapper). Upon reading the "inscription" (the ingredients), he noticed the little monsters and believed that he cursed Duckburg so that every October 31st monsters come out and he has to protect himself. Della is excited that Launchpad is taking the holiday seriously in a scary way, but Donald feels that they need to explain it to him. Scrooge then makes Launchpad's house as his next stop for trick-or-treating, but Launchpad fights him, thinking he's a monster, and then runs down the street with a saw blade to "finish" what he started. Donald and Della give chase with Scrooge also following behind.
Since, the kids do not have any candy, the monster plan to devour them. Just as the monsters gang up on the kids, Launchpad arrives and ends up scaring the monsters. They soon spot Donald and Della in their outfits and believe they are "creepy twins' and flee. Launchpad catches up with them and sees a dummy looks like Dewey. Believing him to be real and was killed by the monsters, Launchpad flies into a rage and starts furiously chasing monsters around the house. Scrooge catches up and scares the monsters. Launchpad finds the candy wrapper and reads from it to "end the curse", but the monsters find it amusing and congratulate him on scaring them. Launchpad is confused by the events and Huey and Louie decide to explain Halloween to him.
Scrooge opens his mansion for the trick or treaters, though he charges them. He further decides to leave it open all through the night like a "24 hour candy store", based on a pitch Dewey made throughout the episode. The monsters themselves also learn that the kids love their "costumes" and everyone finds a newfound appreciation for Halloween while Launchpad happily embraces the holiday. The final shot is of a black and white photo in the Hazel House that depicts everyone happily posing for Halloween.
==Cast==
*David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck
*Danny Pudi as Huey Duck
*Ben Schwartz as Dewey Duck
*Bobby Moynihan as Louie Duck
*Kate Micucci as Webby Vanderquack
*Beck Bennett as Launchpad McQuack
*Paget Brewster as Della Duck
*Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
*Toks Olagundoye as Mrs. Beakley
*Doug Jones as Wereduck
*Clancy Brown as Frankenstein's Monster
*Selma Blair as Witch Hazel
*James Marsters as Dracula
*Abby Ryder Fortson as Kid
*Noah Baird as Kid
==Trivia==
*The title is a reference to the horror film The Shining.
*The intro features a Halloween themed version of the theme song.
*The monsters are initially introduced dressed up as Pennywise (the clown from Stephen King's 1988 novel It and its subsequent adaptations), Sadako Yamamura (aka Samara Morgan, the "well girl" from the 2002 movie The Ring), and Billy the Puppet (the main antagonist of the Saw movies).
*On Twitter, Francisco Angones stated that this episode was inspired by "Ducky Horror Picture Show".
*Though credited, Mrs. Beakley has no lines (she only appears at the end of the episode in a small cameo).
*During Launchpad's flashback, kids wearing costumes of Quasimodo, Mickey Mouse's The Sorcerer's Apprentice outfit, and Captain Hook can be seen.
*The characters' costumes:
**Huey - Gizmoduck
***This was based on the 1990 episode "New Gizmo-Kids on the Block".
**Dewey - "A pirate on vacation"
**Louie - Huey
**Webby - Balor, Demon King of the Evil Eye
**Scrooge - Skeleton
***His mask is similar in design to Jack Skellington's head, which like Scrooge's costume is also skeleton-themed.
**Donald - Angel
***Based on the Donald Duck shorts "Donald's Better Self" and "Soup's On".
**Della - Devil
***Based on the Donald Duck short "Donald's Better Self".
**Launchpad - "Evil mechanic"
**Mrs. Beakley - Darkwing Duck
***She previously wore this costume in the episode "Friendship Hates Magic!"
*In one shot, a female duck in the background is dressed in what is clearly meant to resemble the Bride of Frankenstein. However, the coloring of her outfit makes her look more like Morgana Macawber.
*This episode has a couple of references to the Donald Duck short, Trick or Treat by featuring a 2017 version of the character of Witch Hazel and having the haunted house of the episode being named after her.
*Launchpad's costume resembles Jason Voorhees. In one scene, he sacks Scrooge McDuck and bashes him around similarly to when Jason killed a camper in her sleeping bag in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood.
**His duck-themed mask however, is more similar in design to the one used as the team logo in the film The Mighty Ducks and its sequels, as well as its animated series spin-off, most notably Wildwing Flashblade.
**His saw seems to be based on Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
*Scrooge breaks through the front door of the house similarly to Jack Torrance in The Shining.
*The final scene also references The Shining when the characters are seen in a gray photo in the haunted house.
*Selma Blair and Doug Jones starred together in the Hellboy movies from the 2000s.
*James Marsters voicing Dracula is a reference to his role as the vampire Spike in the TV series Buffy: The Vampire Slayer and its spinoff, Angel.
*Clancy Brown previously played Frankenstein's Monster in the movie The Bride.
*The dance Scrooge makes while leaving his mansion is the same dance from the Silly Symphonies short "The Skeleton Dance".
*This episode features the Universal Monsters (Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster and the Wolf Man). Doug Jones played the Creature from the Black Lagoon, a Universal Monster, in the movie The Shape of Water.
*Wereduck is an unusual name for the character, as he is meant to be the Wolf Man. His name should be Duckwolf or Wolf Duck as "Were" means "Man".
*Launchpad not knowing what Halloween makes no sense. Surely even his parents would have told him about the holiday. On the other hand, he is oblivious enough to have never noticed holiday decorations as a kid.
*Dewey's complaint about a 24-hour candy store has little logic, as even if general stores aren't open late, pharmacies and gas stations typically stay open 24/7.
==International Premieres==
*March 19, 2021 (United Kingdom) (Premiere on Disney+)
*October 2, 2021 (Japan)
*October 13, 2021 (Italy) (Premiere on Disney+)
*October 26, 2021 (Portugal)
==Gallery==
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==References==
Category:Halloween episodes
Category:DuckTales (2017 series) episodes