DuckTales

DuckTales is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation and distributed by Buena Vista Television. The cartoon series premiered on September 18, 1987, and ran for a total of 100 episodes over four seasons, with its final episode airing on November 28, 1990. Based upon Uncle Scrooge and other Duck universe comic books created by Carl Barks, the show follows Scrooge McDuck, his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and close friends of the group, on various adventures, most of which either involve seeking out treasure or thwarting the efforts of villains seeking to steal Scrooge's fortune or his Number One Dime.

DuckTales has inspired merchandise, including video games, merchandise, and comic books, along with an animated theatrical spin-off film entitled DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, that was released to theaters across the United States on August 3, 1990. The series is notable for being the first Disney cartoon to be produced for weekday syndication, with its success paving the way for future Disney cartoons, such as Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin. The show's popular theme song was written by Mark Mueller. Also, Launchpad McQuack later returned to appear in another Disney animated series, becoming a main character in Darkwing Duck.

In February 2015, Disney XD announced the revival of the show, with the intention of rebooting the series. The rebooted series premiered on August 12, 2017.

## Premise

When Donald Duck decides to join the US Navy, he enlists his uncle Scrooge McDuck to look after his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Although reluctant to do so due to their hyperactivity, along with his continual pursuit of increasing his wealth and maintaining harsh business ethics, he eventually warms up to them upon seeing how smart and resourceful they are and takes them into his manor as well as several adventures. Scrooge McDuck is well known for his characteristic Scottish accent, spats, and top hat. We later learn in the series his family comes from Castle McDuck, and he came to America when younger learning how to “work smarter not harder”. In addition to them, the show features frequent appearances by Gyro Gearloose, an established comic book character, as well as guest appearances by Donald in the first season – this was either a full appearance, or in a cameo scene when Scrooge and his nephews read letters he sends to them, and a few minor appearances by Scrooge's old flame, Glittering Goldie, whose character was adapted from the comic books. The show introduced new characters to the Duck universe; while some were minor including the nanny Mrs. Beakley, whom Scrooge hires to babysit the nephews; Mrs. Beakley's granddaughter Webby; Scrooge's pilot Launchpad McQuack; Doofus Drake, an admirer of Launchpad and a close friend of the nephews; and the McDuck Manor butler, Duckworth. The second season later introduced three new additional characters as part of the show's stories: "caveduck" Bubba Duck and his pet triceratops Tootsie; and Fenton Crackshell, Scrooge's personal accountant who secretly works as a superhero named Gizmoduck.

The show's primary villains consist of those from the comics: Flintheart Glomgold, who seeks to replace Scrooge as the "richest duck in the world"; the Beagle Boys, who seek to rob Scrooge of his fortune and often target his money bin; and Magica De Spell, who seeks to steal his Number One Dime. A few changes were made to these villains – unlike the comics, Flintheart is of Scottish descent and wears a couple of pieces of Scottish attire, including a kilt; Magica, who is Italian in the comics, has an Eastern European accent, always saying “darling” (which shocks Scrooge in an episode when Magica changes into the form of Mrs. Beakly). She has a brother named Poe, who was transformed into a raven; the Beagle Boys have individual personalities and are headed by their mother, Ma Beagle, who sometimes springs them from jail to conduct schemes with her, but always avoids being caught by the police. The animated series also featured a list of minor villains, most of whom sought to either claim Scrooge's wealth or beat him to treasure.

Most of the stories used in the show revolve around one of three common themes – the first focuses on the group's efforts to thwart attempts by various villains to steal Scrooge's fortune or his Number One Dime; the second focuses on a race for treasure; the third focused on specific characters within the show. Although some stories are original or based on Barks' comic book series, others are pastiches on classical stories or legends, including characters based on either fictional or historical persons. *DuckTales* is well noted for its many references to popular culture, including Shakespeare, Jack the Ripper, Greek mythology, James Bond, Indiana Jones, and Sherlock Holmes. After its first season, the show moved away from globe-trotting stories, with adventures focused mainly within Duckburg.

## Cast

* Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck
* Russi Taylor as Huey, Dewey, and Louie Duck and Webby Vanderquack
* Chuck McCann as Duckworth the Butler, Burger Beagle, and Bouncer Beagle
* Terry McGovern as Launchpad McQuack (entire series) and Babyface Beagle (season 1)
* Frank Welker as Bigtime Beagle (entire series), Baggy Beagle (entire series), Poe (season 1), and Bubba (seasons 2–4)
* Hal Smith as Gyro Gearloose and Flintheart Glomgold
* Joan Gerber as Mrs. Bentina Beakley, Glittering Goldie and Additional voices
* Hamilton Camp as Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck (seasons 2–4). Additional voices in season 1
* June Foray as Ma Beagle and Magica De Spell
* Peter Cullen as Bankjob Beagle and Admiral Grimitz (season 1)
* Brian Cummings as Doofus Drake and Bugle Beagle (season 1). Additional voices in season 3
* Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck (season 1)

The show also featured a range of additional voice actors who voiced several minor characters, most frequently including the following:
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* Susan Blu
* Corey Burton
* Jim Cummings
* Miriam Flynn
* Kathleen Freeman
* Linda Gary

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* Richard Libertini
* Tress MacNeille
* Howard Morris
* Alan Oppenheimer
* Rob Paulsen
* Will Ryan

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## Music

The series theme song was written by Mark Mueller, an ASCAP award-winning pop music songwriter who also wrote the theme song to *Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers*; Mueller was paid a little over $1000 to write the tune.

Episode musical scores and background cues were written by at least four musicians. The primary and most known composer was Ron Jones, who wrote and conducted orchestral themes for the program. In contrast to how the other composers were creating a "patronizing" and "cute" score for the show, Jones says he composed the music with regard to the audience and its intelligence. "I would not play the score like a kid's show at all. If they went on an adventure I would play it serious like *Raiders of the Lost Ark*. Jones' score for *DuckTales* has been praised by fans of the show.

Three other musicians worked on creating incidental music cues for *DuckTales*. One musician, Stephen Rucker, also was in charge of conducting and composing tracks, much like Jones. The two other musicians, Steve Zuckerman, and Thomas Chase Jones, composed only synthetic cues for the show, and generally kept the tone lighter, as opposed to Jones and Rucker.

In total, there were approximately 85(?) incidental music cues composed for *DuckTales*. A track was played on different occasions on an episode, appropriate with the current ongoing situation. As of 2019, there has never been an official release of any of the background music on *DuckTales*.

The *DuckTales* Theme was sung by Jeff Pescetto. There are four different versions of the theme song. The original version, serving as the show's opening theme, contained one verse, chorus, bridge, and then a chorus. A shorter version of the opening theme was used in The Disney Afternoon lineup with the line, "Everyday they're out there making Duck Tales, woo-ooh," taken out.

A full-length version of the theme song was released on the Disney Afternoon soundtrack, the third volume (which was released in a set with the other two volumes) in *The Music of Disney: a Legacy in Song* along with the full *TaleSpin* theme and in the November 2013 release of the *Disney Classics* collection. Also, it is heard in the end credits of *DuckTales: Remastered* and is also released on its official soundtrack.

The full version contains a second verse, and it includes a guitar solo, which is performed with a wah-wah pedal to make it sound like duck-like noises. It also has a fadeout ending, unlike the other versions. There is also a rare extended version that was used in the read-along cassettes in 1987. It has a sequence order of verse-chorus-bridge-chorus-instrumental break-chorus.

According to an interview conducted with Jeff Pescetto in 2009, he was originally approached by Mark Mueller to cut a demo version of the theme song for Disney's approval. Although they were impressed with Pescetto's demo, Disney had decided at first to hire pop group The Jets to perform the theme song for broadcast. However, after recording a version with the group, Disney felt that the theme song needed a different vocal style, and instead commissioned Pescetto to perform the theme. After performing on *DuckTales*, Pescetto would later be asked to sing the vocal themes for *Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers* (composed by Mueller and produced by Alf Clausen), *Darkwing Duck* (composed by Steve Nelson and Thom Sharp and produced by Steve Tyrell), and for *The Disney Afternoon* itself. The Jets, meanwhile, later performed a full-length version of the *Rescue Rangers* theme song in a music video aired on The Disney Channel in 1989.

## Theatrical film

*DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp* was released nationwide in the United States on August 3, 1990 by Walt Disney Pictures and Disney MovieToons, Disney TV Animation division and Disney France. The film follows Scrooge McDuck and his nephews as they try to defeat the evil warlock Merlock from taking over the legendary magic lamp.

The film was well-received by critics and audiences, but was considered a box office disappointment by Disney and several planned sequels were abandoned as a result.

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