DuckTales (2017 Series)

**DuckTales** is an American television series created by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones. It is a remake of the 1987 series of the same name.

It focuses on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engage in a variety of adventures around the world, as well as in the fictional city of Duckburg.

The series premiered on Disney XD on August 12, 2017 and aired for three seasons on Disney Channel until March 15, 2021.

## Plot

After not speaking to each other for ten years, Donald Duck reunites with his estranged uncle, business mogul and former adventurer Scrooge McDuck, when he asks him to babysit his three triplet nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, for the day. After accidentally releasing and defeating a few ancient evils, Scrooge regains his sense of adventure and invites Donald and the triplets to live at McDuck Manor with him, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter Webby Vanderquack. Together, along with Scrooge's chauffeur and pilot Launchpad McQuack, the Ducks go on many new treasure-hunting expeditions and globetrotting adventures while contending with villains like Flintheart Glomgold, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, and Mark Beaks.

In the first season, Dewey and Webby search for the truth about Scrooge and Donald's strained relationship and the unexplained disappearance of the triplets' mother and Donald's twin sister Della Duck while Magica manipulates events to facilitate her return and exact revenge on Scrooge for imprisoning her in his Number One Dime for fifteen years.

In the second season, Scrooge and Glomgold compete to become the richest duck in the world by the end of the year, Louie tries to start up his own multi-million dollar business in hopes of following in Scrooge's footsteps, and Della reunites with her family following her escape from the Moon and adapts to her newfound motherhood, unaware that the Moonlanders, led by General Lunaris, are planning to invade Earth.

In the third season, the Ducks discover the journal of the legendary explorer Isabella Finch and set out to find all the lost artefacts detailed inside while the criminal organization F.O.W.L. attempt to eliminate Scrooge and his family and obtain the artefacts first as part of their plot to rid the world of adventuring.

## Cast and Characters

* 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
* Toks Olagundoye as Mrs. Beakley
* Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
* Paget Brewster as Della Duck

## Episodes

See Also: List of DuckTales (2017 Series) Episodes

 2 | 24
 3 | 22

## Production

Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones grew up watching the original series and had always wanted to develop an updated version for a newer generation. Youngberg said, "We're hoping that in thirty years, the kids who watch our show will then be bringing back the next version of DuckTales because they loved what we did so much."

In May 2015, Terry McGovern, the original voice of Launchpad McQuack, stated in an interview that the entire voice cast from the original series would not be returning for the reboot, which made him "heartsick" at the news. The new voice cast for the series was revealed on December 16, 2016, in a video where they sing an a cappella version of the original theme song in promotion of the news. The following May, Lin-Manuel Miranda was announced as the voice of Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera / Gizmoduck. The character was changed to being Latino due to Lin-Manuel's heritage and because Angones felt that there were not enough positive Latino superheroes. In June, more cast members, including Tony Anselmo reprising his role as Donald Duck, were announced, and during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Disney announced that Darkwing Duck would also make an appearance in the TV series. At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, several characters from other Disney Television Animation cartoons were revealed to appear in the show's third season: Chip 'n Dale and the Rescue Rangers from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers; Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham from TaleSpin; Rhinokey and Butterbear from The Wuzzles; and Gosalyn Mallard and Taurus Bulba from Darkwing Duck; as well as Goofy (based on his Goof Troop incarnation), and Daisy Duck.

The art style of the show is heavily influenced not just by Carl Barks' original Uncle Scrooge comics, but also some of Barks' paintings. The theme song, written by Mark Mueller for the 1987 series, was re-recorded for the 2017 reboot. It was arranged by Michael "Smidi" Smithand and TJ Stafford and sung by Felicia Barton.

Donald Duck has a larger role in this version compared to the 1980s version. The earlier version had been restricted by an edict from The Walt Disney Company stating that the television studio could not use Donald or any of the other stars from Disney's Golden Age shorts, only allowing Donald to make short cameos to set up storylines; this restriction was lifted shortly after the original version of DuckTales ended.

## Release

The 44-minute pilot, titled Woo-oo!, premiered on August 12, 2017 at 12:00 AM and was repeated consecutively for the next 24 hours. Two days later on August 14, 2017 the pilot was also released on YouTube, though it has since been set to private. The pilot also aired on Disney Channel on September 17, 2017. The series officially premiered on September 23, 2017, coinciding with the original show's 30th anniversary. On May 1, 2018, the show moved to the Disney Channel, with new episodes airing on Fridays beginning May 4, 2018. With season three, the series returned to Disney XD.

On October 20, 2020, "Let's Get Dangerous!", the 44-minute Darkwing Duck-themed episode from season 3, was made available for free on Disney XD's YouTube channel. Between September 26 and October 6, 2022, the entirety of Season 1 was uploaded as well.

In Canada, the pilot premiered on Disney XD on August 12 and the full series started on September 23, 2017. In Australia and New Zealand, the show premiered on Disney Channel on October 13, 2017. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the pilot premiered on Disney Channel on November 4, 2017. The full series debuted on March 1, 2018, on Disney XD.

### Marketing

On December 7, 2016, a teaser trailer was released for the series. The first season was announced to consist of 21 half-hour episodes and two hour-long specials. On March 10, 2017, a trailer for the series aired on Disney Channel during the premiere of Tangled: Before Ever After, and on June 14, 2017, the title sequence for the series, featuring a re-recording of the theme song written by Mark Mueller and performed by Felicia Barton, was released.

### Home Media

A DVD titled Woo-oo! was released on December 19, 2017, in the US and on July 9, 2018, in the UK and Ireland. The DVD contains the pilot episode and all 6 Welcome to Duckburg shorts. A second DVD titled Destination Adventure! was released on June 5, 2018. It contains the episodes The Beagle Birthday Massacre!, The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!, The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!, The Spear of Selene!, The Missing Links of Moorshire!, and Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!, as well as 2 episodes of the original 1987 series previously unreleased on DVD (New Gizmo Kids on the Block and Ducky Mountain High).

## Reception

### Critical Response

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 9 out of 10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Highly energetic, distinctively designed, and attuned to its nostalgia, this update to a Disney animated classic is far bolder than its predecessor."

IGN's Chris Hayner gave the series premiere, "Woo-oo!", a score of 8.5 out of 10, stating that the reboot "may be aimed at modern young audiences but there's no denying the heart and adventurous spirit it gets from the original series." IndieWire complimented the series premiere, claiming that "the reboot of the series keeps all of those important original hallmarks. American Idol alum Felicia Barton re-recorded the signature theme song but keeps its sense of fun and excitement intact." Collider rated the last season 5 out of 5, indicating that "Season 3 is really where the new vision of the fan-favorite series takes off." Den of Geek reviewed the last episode of the show positively, stating, "DuckTales has power; it'll keep having power. Now that the show’s ended I have no doubt more people will check it out on Disney+ and realize how special it was. How great it was. How even if it still had more stories to tell it still gave all it had." ComicsBeat praised the series, saying, "With an unimpeachable cast, a clever sense of humor, and a commitment to the underlying thematic concerns of the story, these three seasons represent the best-case scenario for the reboot of a beloved TV show: a sensationally self-aware series that takes its characters seriously while still delivering side-splitting slapstick." CinemaBlend.com gave a positive review of the series, praising the humour of the show, alongside the performance of the voice actors.

Disney comics creator Don Rosa, primarily known for his Uncle Scrooge comic sub-series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, has stated that the DuckTales reboot series bears "virtually no similarity whatsoever" to Barks' original comics.