DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

Theatrical release poster by Drew Struzan

***DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp*** (also known as ***DuckTales: The Movie***) is a 1990 American animated adventure fantasy film based on the animated television series *DuckTales*. Directed by Bob Hathcock and Jean-Pierre Quenet from a screenplay by Alan Burnett, the film features the series' cast of Alan Young, Terrence McGovern, Russi Taylor, and Chuck McCann, with Richard Libertini and Christopher Lloyd voicing new characters. The events of the film take place between the third and fourth seasons of *DuckTales*.

The film was released to theatres by Walt Disney Pictures on August 3, 1990. It marked the first time Disney distributed an animated movie not produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation. The first Disney animated film to be made by Walt Disney Television Animation under the banner of Disney MovieToons and animated by Walt Disney Animation France S.A. The film was paired with the 1951 Donald Duck short *Dude Duck* for its theatrical release. Disney released a comic book adaptation simultaneously, with a cover identical to the theatrical poster.

## Plot

Scrooge McDuck travels to the Middle East to inspect a recently discovered treasure chest he is certain contains the great thief Collie Baba, accompanied by Huey, Dewey and Louie, Webby Vanderquack, and Launchpad McQuack. Although initially disappointed when the chest seems to contain only old clothes, Scrooge is excited when an ancient treasure map is found in an old robe's pocket. Guided by the thief Dijon, they set out to find the lost treasure, unaware that Dijon works for the evil sorcerer Merlock, who desires something Collie Baba owned. The group discovers Collie Baba's treasure in a sand-covered pyramid. Webby sees a lamp in the treasure, which Scrooge lets her keep since it does not retain any value.

After packing up the treasure for transport, Scrooge and his group are trapped in a room full of monstrous scorpions by Merlock and Dijon, who steal the treasure. However, Merlock discovers that the lamp has been stolen; he drags Dijon to locate it. Scrooge and his friends manage to escape from the pyramid and, with nothing more than Webby's lamp, depart for Duckburg.

Days later, the children discover the lamp holds a Genie. Ecstatic about his freedom, the Genie grants the four children three wishes each; to trick Scrooge, he poses as the boys' Woodchuck scout friend Gene. Their wishes include a baby elephant (which runs amok through Scrooge's mansion) and a giant ice cream sundae, among other things. Fearful of a bird flying by at night, Genie tells them about Merlock, who used his wishes for eternal life and the destruction of Atlantis and Pompeii, which were both popular vacation spots. Merlock's magic talisman, which allows him to take various animal forms, also overrides the lamp's rules, granting him unlimited wishes. Collie Baba stole the lamp from Merlock and hid it away with his treasure, and Merlock has spent the centuries since searching for it. The children suggest that they wish for the talisman, but Genie says that this is the only wish he cannot grant. They must prevent Merlock from obtaining the lamp, or the world will suffer.

The next day, Webby uses her last wish to bring all her toys to life, which forces the children to reveal the Genie's true identity to Scrooge. Wishing to impress the Archeological Society at their annual ball, Scrooge wishes for Collie Baba's treasure and brings the lamp and the Genie with him to the ball. He is followed by Merlock and Dijon, who violently ambush Scrooge. In the ensuing struggle, Scrooge mistakes a gravy boat for the lamp and leaves the lamp and the Genie behind, after which they both fall into the hands of Dijon, who is convinced by the Genie to keep the lamp instead of giving it to Merlock.

Having wished for Scrooge's fortune, Dijon takes possession of the Money Bin and has Scrooge arrested for trespassing. However, Scrooge is immediately bailed out by Launchpad, his nephews, Webby, Mrs. Beakley and Duckworth, who agree to help Scrooge set things right. Scrooge, the nephews and Webby infiltrate the Money Bin in an attempt to steal the lamp but are stopped by Merlock, who recovers the lamp. With the Genie under his control again, Merlock wishes for Dijon to be turned into a pig for his disloyalty and then for the Money Bin to become a fortress, which flies into the air high above Duckburg. When an indignant Scrooge threatens him, Merlock wishes him "out of my house," and Genie reluctantly raises the wind to send Scrooge to the edge of the fortress, hanging on for dear life. The nephews use a slingshot to knock the lamp out of Merlock's hands, tossing it to Scrooge, who loses his grip and falls towards the earth. Merlock recovers his talisman and pursues as a griffin, grappling with Scrooge in the air, but Scrooge knocks off the talisman from Merlock's hand, causing the sorcerer to lose his power and fall to his death.

Recovering the lamp, Scrooge uses his second wish to return himself, his family, and his Money Bin back to Duckburg. Ago in the Money Bin, Scrooge declares that he has had "enough of all this wishing" and threatens to use his final wish to bury the lamp where nobody would find it again. After protestations from Genie and the children, he instead wishes for Genie to become a real boy. Without the Genie, the lamp crumbles to dust and thus removing its magic forever. While the children play with their newest friend, Scrooge discovers Dijon, recovered from Merlock's wish, stuffing his trousers with his money. Scrooge chases him outside, yelling, "Somebody stop those pants!"

## Voice cast

* Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck
* Russi Taylor as Huey, Dewey and Louie and Webby
* Terrence McGovern as Launchpad McQuack
* Richard Libertini as Dijon
* Christopher Lloyd as Merlock
* June Foray as Mrs. Featherby
* Chuck McCann as Duckworth
* Joan Gerber as Mrs. Beakley
* Rip Taylor as Genie

### Additional voices

* Charlie Adler
* Jack Angel
* Steve Bulen
* Sherry Lynn
* Mickie T. McGowan
* Patrick Pinney
* Frank Welker

## Production

Animator Larry Ruppel shared his experience during the film's production:

> I was the sole American working at the Paris studio during this production, the other creative artists hailing mostly from France, Denmark, Australia and Italy. As the only American on staff, there were many occasions when I had to explain to supervisors or other animators the exact meaning of some American slang phrases used in the dialogue of the script. I'd like to add that this little movie ended up being quite important because of the many notable animation professionals who got their start on this project. Besides myself (I've animated numerous Disney projects, also Classic Warner Bros. shorts), there are, among others, DreamWorks animators Sylvain Deboissy and Nicholas Marlet, French animation director Pierre Lyphoudt, and ILM's James Baker and Daniel Jeannette. For all the Europeans working on this Disney feature, it was a dream come true, and because most of us were working on a feature for the first time in our lives, in a way it was our *Snow White*.
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Director/producer Bob Hathcock revealed in an interview that the film began as a five-part episode for the TV series, adding: "Our first idea was to see if there was a way to release that as a feature." Disney later dropped the initial treatment for the film centred on the Philosopher's stone. Due to *Who Framed Roger Rabbit**'s success*, Disney stationed several animators who worked on the movie at Disney's newly founded London studio. Another location was established in Paris (under the supervision of Paul and Gaëtan Brizzi). The Disney studio in Burbank designed the characters and storyboards, and then they sent the materials to Europe. Hathcock spent most of his time between London and Paris, while Chinese animators did ink/paint/camera work and additional work in Spain. The film was the last Disney feature to use cel-animation.

The initial voice-overs took one year, and animators spent another six months on retakes, and although Alan Young had never worked with Christopher Lloyd or Rip Taylor before, he said he would "'sit there in awe' watching them at work." In addition to working with Alan Young and Russi Taylor, Rip Taylor spent three six-hour stints by himself to record new lines. At one point even phoned in some of his lines: "I was in Atlantic City ... when they called me and said they needed to change some dialogue ... I found a phone in a radio studio and phoned in six or seven pages of dialogue. I had to do it seven times ... because they kept changing the dialogue."

During the film's opening credits, the title's typeface is similar to that of the *Indiana Jones* films. Another homage to the *Indiana Jones* films comes later when someone looking like Indiana Jones can be seen briefly when Scrooge and Genie visit the Explorer's Club. These references to Indiana Jones were thanks to Gary Kriesel, then president of Disney Television Animation, who had an "obsessive fascination" with the series.

## Release

### Box office

The film was not the financial success Disney was supposedly hoping for, having to face competition from other summer releases such as *Jetsons: The Movie*. The studio incurred a loss of $2 million with *The Rescuers Down Under* not doing much better.

### Critical reception

The film received generally positive reviews since its original release. Common Sense Media rated the movie a 3 out of 5 stars. Chris Hicks of *Deseret News* claimed he went in "with very low expectations ... I was pleasantly surprised at how clever and funny the film is." Reviewing it for TV, ABC's Joel Siegel said: "Here is a movie you can take the kids to you'll all enjoy." *Variety* called the film a "lushly animated, smartly scripted, wise-quacking adventure." Detractors included Richard Harrington of *The Washington Post*, who criticized the movie for its predictable plot twists. At the same time, Dave Kehr of *The Chicago Tribune* noted the lack of credit for Carl Barks, adding: "'DuckTales' is not a movie that the founding father would have been proud to put his name on." Charles Solomon of *The LA Times* faulted the lack of backstory and regarded the character Dijon as a "cringing stereotype." The film holds an 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on eight reviews.

### Home media

Main article: DuckTales: The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp/Home media

The movie was released on VHS on March 15, 1991, followed by a Laserdisc release on April 26, 1991. On January 16, 2006, Disney released the region 1 DVD of *DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp* as an exclusive to the Disney Movie Club and the Disney Movie Rewards program. Disney announced the first release of the DVD to the general public on January 13, 2015. Ahead of this, DVDs were available in Canada in October 2014, apparently as a Wal-Mart Exclusive. A DVD release was also ahead of the general release date issued in the United States as a Walmart Exclusive on October 14, 2014. Disney has given the DVD wide release in Europe and other parts of the world. The DVD release is in widescreen presentation (1.66:1) in region 1.

The film is available to rent and purchase (including in HD) on iTunes.

The HD version of *DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp* is available on Movies Anywhere and Disney+.

## Soundtrack

Main article: DuckTales: The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp/Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released by Intrada Records in 2017, including David Newman's score, but not the film's end title version of the TV series theme.

## Cancelled sequels

*Treasure of the Lost Lamp* was initially supposed to be the first in a series of *DuckTales* films. However, after the film performed below expectations, all sequels were scrapped. When asked about the possibility of a sequel, Bob Hathcock answered:

> I don't know about 'DuckTales' movies ... but I'd like to do another feature ... I'm proud of it. It's just a straight little adventure story.
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