DuckTales (2017 TV series)
DuckTales is an American animated television series, developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, and produced by Disney Television Animation. The series is a reboot of the original 1987 series of the same name, which focused on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engaged in a variety of adventures around the world, as well as in the fictional city of Duckburg. The reboot itself focuses on newer elements and deeper character stories, including a greater involvement of Donald Duck. The series premiered on August 12, 2017, with a 44-minute long pilot  episode on Disney XD, before the first season was green-lit for broadcast from September 23 that year on Disney XD; between May 2018 to September 2019, the series was moved to Disney Channel for the rest of the first season starting with the 10th episode and all of the second season, then back on Disney XD for its third season, and concluded with a 67-minute finale on March 15, 2021. Since its release, the reboot has generated positive reviews from critics and audiences, as well as a comic book series, a scripted podcast, and several online shorts. Premise . After not speaking to each other for ten years, Donald Duck reunites with his estranged uncle Scrooge McDuck when he asks him to babysit his three triplet nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie for the day. 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 season one, Dewey and Webby set out to find 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 seek revenge on Scrooge for imprisoning her in his Number One Dime for fifteen years. In season two, Scrooge and Glomgold compete to become the richest duck in the world by the end of the year while Louie tries to start up his own multi-million dollar business in hopes of  following in Scrooge's footsteps. Della reunites with her family after she escapes from the Moon and adjusts to her newfound motherhood, unaware that the Moonlanders, led by General Lunaris, are planning to invade Earth. In season three, the Ducks discover the journal of the legendary explorer Isabella Finch, which details several lost treasures, and set out to find them all while the criminal organization F.O.W.L. plots to eliminate the Ducks and obtain the treasures first in order to rid the world of adventuring. Voice cast. The show's main voice cast includes: 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 ""; 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. Theme song . The popular theme song, written by pop songwriter Mark Mueller (both words and music), was the subject of a "Vanity Fair" magazine article in 2017, which called the song "History's Catchiest Single Minute of Music". Release. Broadcast. The 44-minute pilot, titled "Woo-oo!", premiered on August 12 at 12:00 AM and was repeated consecutively for the next 24 hours. Two days later on August 14, 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 will once again air on 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. 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 "", 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"). Video on demand. iTunes and Amazon Prime Video in the United States offer the first and second season, split into four volumes. The first and second season have been released on Disney+ since its launch, but users have noted episodes being out of order. The series had its episodes arranged in the proper order on June 26, 2020. The entire third season was released on Disney+ on April 30, 2021. Reception. Critical reception. The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval  rating of 94% based on 50 reviews, with an average rating of 4.6/5. 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. Printed media. Prose books. In 2018, Disney Press published "DuckTales: Solving Mysteries and Rewriting History!", a companion book covering the majority of season one, as seen from the perspective of Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby. It is written by Rob Renzetti and show writer Rachel Vine. Comics. An ongoing comic book series based on the show is being published by IDW Publishing, with Joe Caramagna, Joey Cavalieri and Steve  Behling sharing writing duties, and Luca Usai, Gianfranco Florio and others providing the art. "Ducktales" #0 was released on July 19, 2017, and #1 of the monthly series followed on September 27. The individual issues are also collected in trade paperbacks: List of comic book stories Podcast. On March 10, 2021, it was announced that a seven-episode scripted podcast spinoff of the series would be launching via the Disney XD YouTube channel on March 29, two weeks after the series finale. The podcast is called "This Duckburg Life" (a parody of the popular public radio program/podcast "This American  Life") and is hosted by Huey Duck for "Duckburg Public Radio" and focuses on slice-of-life occurrences in Duckburg. Many of the cast from the series reprise their roles, including Tennant, Pudi, Schwartz, Moynihan, Micucci, Bennett, Olagundoye, Rash, Brener, Martindale, and Anselmo.