DuckTales Review - Season 1 Episode 1: Woo-oo! (SPOILERS)
MegaSoulhero Time to solve a mystery and rewrite history! Here is my review of the series premiere of the new DuckTales show! It premiered on Saturday, August 12th, and was shown literally all day. So hopefully you watched it. Keep in mind, this review will contain spoilers. So if you haven't seen the episode yet and are planning on doing so, you might not want to read this yet.This is a one hour episode and each half has its own story. In the first half, Donald Duck has to go to a job interview but has no one to watch his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. So he takes them to their uncle Scrooge McDuck, played by David Tennant. Basically, this first half is a way to set up the series and introduce us to these characters. Which is great because the show doesn't want to rely on people watching the original show so they could watch the new one. This show is made to introduce DuckTales to a new generation. While also having references that fans of the original show will understand. There's even references to other Disney Afternoon shows. At one point they mention Cape Suzette which is a TaleSpin reference. Let me discuss David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck. Of course he's best know for playing the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who, but his performance as Scrooge McDuck is great! He was the perfect choice to play Scrooge! Huey, Dewey, and Louie all have deeper voices now since they're voiced by grown men. Normally I would be bothered by this if it wasn't perfect. And it definitely was! The voice acting from the actors really help with believing that these are kids! Also, each of them actually have different personalities this time! They're not just one character in three bodies anymore! Donald Duck, a character that everyone is already familiar with, is very overprotective of the triplets. He makes sure that they're always safe. It was pretty hard to understand him at times though. Wendy is a character who a lot of people like to say is similar to Mabel from Gravity Falls. But I really like her and I don't think she too much like Mabel. As for Lauchpad, he's probably my favorite character so far. Every time he's on screen, I laugh! I just like how he keeps telling Scrooge he's a pilot but Scrooge is oblivious to it.
Later on in the episode, Webby takes the triplets into a room full of mysterious ancient things. Which is later revealed to be the garage. The triplets think it's all fake after seeing a picture of Scrooge and Donald on an adventure. They claim that Donald has never done anything cool. And while Webby tries to prove that everything in there is real, they accidentally come across a ghost pirate who wants the head of Scrooge McDuck. This leads to the first action sequence in the show. And it's done very well! The animation is smooth and it shows how smart Scrooge is in certain situations! He gives the ghost the head from a Scrooge statue which causes the ghost to disappear. Which is pretty clever. After Scrooge scolds the kids, he bangs a gong which causes a stone dragon to come alive. Because banging the gong three times will cause it to wake up and the kids already accidentally hit it two times during the fight with the ghost pirate. This leads to the next awesome action sequence in which Scrooge goes after the dragon and the kids help out by flying in a plane piloted by Launchpad. And it's still very funny how Scrooge didn't know he was a pilot. They turn the dragon back to stone by using a gauntlet. So this entire first half was definitely a great way to give us a taste of what's to come.
The second half is where things REALLY start to get interesting! Scrooge, along with Launchpad, Webby, and the triplets, go on an adventure in a submarine to find the Lost Jewel of Atlantis. So this is something that we'll see more of in the rest of the series. These characters going on adventures. Oh and you know that job interview that Donald had in the first half? It was to become a sailor for Scrooge's nemisis, Flintheart Glomgold. I absolutely love this villain! He's very determined and doesn't let anything or anyone get in his way! Another thing about him is that he claims to be more Scottish that Scrooge. Basically, Glomgold also seeks the jewel and attempts to get it before Scrooge does. In this second half, we get some more development from one of the triplets. The whole place they go to is full of death traps. And while Glomgold and his crew are following them, Donald tries to make sure that Scrooge and the others don't get killed. Which again, shows his overprotectiveness. There's also some more development in this second half. Dewey is upset because he wants more recognition from his uncle. He feels like Scrooge doesn't care about him that much since he can't even remember his name. So it's nice to see this side of him. Because again, each of the triplets have their own personalities in this reboot.
Scrooge and Dewey eventually find Donald who they think got captured by Glomgold. Then they find out that Donald his working for him. After finding out Donald is related to Scrooge, Glomgold decides to drown them and take the jewel. But in a clever twist, that actually wasn't the jewel. The real jewel was hanging from the ceiling. But since the whole place is upside down, the jewel was originally on the ceiling. Dewey was the one who figured this out. And this was enough to impress Scrooge and get the recognition that he deserves. They eventually escape, and Scrooge tells the world that he found the real jewel. And then at the very end, the picture that we saw in Scrooge's garage is shown again. Since it was ripped, we didn't see the whole thing. But one of the triplets lifts up part of the torn part and then it's revealed that there's a lady in it and that lady just so happens to be their mom! This got me very excited! Because we're finally gonna get to find out what happened to their mom! From my knowledge, it was never said what happened to her in the original show. So it will be interesting to find out more. This was a pretty great second half! The main thing I love about it is that we get to see the characters actually going on an adventure together as a family! And they work very great together! This is something to look forward to in the rest of the series!
Overall, this was a very strong way to start the show! It does an excellent job as introducing these characters to a new generation! I also really enjoyed the humor! Most of the jokes were absolutely hilarious! And the voice acting is great as well! So is the animation! The episode definitely doesn't feel rushed. The pacing of it is very well done. It introduces us to the characters while still focusing on the story. You can tell that the writers of this show care a lot about the original source material and actually want to do it justice! Unlike the Cartoon Network reboots. Do I think the show will be better than Star vs the Forces of Evil? Probably not. But what I know right now is that this is so far an excellent show! I'm looking forward to watching more episodes! Unfortunately, we have to wait until September 23rd. Looking forward to seeing more!
Score: 9/10
Comments
Thank the lord it was good - visitor
It was very good and way better than Powerpuff Girls (2016) - visitor
Another good reboot by Disney.
Um, hey, have you heard Danger Mouse 2015 reboot? - visitor
When you ask everyone on TTT about that... - visitor
I love the reboot and the original, Ducktales as a whole is my favourite cartoon ever made - iliekpiez
I watched the reboot since Christmas 2018 and I would say they’ve made a good show after years of garbage.
And it’s a reboot that’s good for once.
I noticed 2 of the episodes, such as the one with the rock men and the creepy plants disguised as nice people reminded me of those of a modern classic.
Gravity Falls.
Sorry for spoiling if I did. - Gregory