Deep Dive Ducktales: Wes Looks at Woo-Oo!

About a month ago, I put a poll up on my twitter to determine my next Disney retrospective and while Gravity Falls came close, ultimately the 2017 reboot of Ducktales won out. So, with that in mind, welcome one and all to the very first installment of Deep Dive Ducktales. I’m extremely excited for this retrospective. You see, I didn’t really grow up with the original 1987 Ducktales series. I was aware of it of course and caught an episode here and there, but as a kid I gravitated more towards shows like Gargoyles and Darkwing Duck. However, when I learned that Disney channel was going to be rebooting the classic series, I was quite curious and the more I learned about the show, the more my excitement grew. A modern day version of Ducktales with serialized storytelling like we’ve seen in shows like Avatar or Steven Universe? Sign me up! Even more exciting was the fact that one of my favorite actors, David Tennant, best known for his role as the 10th Doctor on Doctor Who, would be stepping into the role of the iconic Scrooge McDuck. Then, just as I thought I couldn’t get more hyped, rumors began that Darkwing Duck would have a part to play in the series. In the words of Leonardo DiCaprio playing a southern slave owner, “You had my curiosity. Now you have my attention.” In the years that followed, I watched the entire series, and my God, this show is something truly special. Great writing, great storytelling and a real love for fans young and old, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Today, we’re going to be looking at the first episode of the series. Or, half of it at any rate. Technically the first two episodes form a double sized pilot movie of sorts that was released for free on YouTube to drum up interest in the show, but Disney+ splits them up and twenty minute episodes are easier to cover than forty minute episodes so I guess we’re doing it like this. Let’s take a look at out first episode, simply entitled: Woo-oo!

We open on a beautiful scenic coast as a seagull lands on a houseboat, only to be frightened off by the chaos going on within. This houseboat is the home of Donald Duck who is the guardian of his three nephews, Huey, voiced by Danny Pudi, known for his role as Abed Nadir on Community, Dewey, voiced by Ben Schwartz, known for playing Jean Ralphio on Parks and Rec, and more recently, Sonic The Hedgehog in the recent film series, and Louie, voiced by Bobby Moynihan, known for his time on Saturday Night Live. At the moment, Donald is getting ready for a job interview and the boys are trying to help out but are ultimately doing more harm than good and, as per usual, Donald takes a beating because of it. We also quickly get a sense that the boys have a tendency for mischief and Donald is a little overprotective. Donald calls the babysitter he hired, but it turns out the boys gave her the wrong address and she’s now out somewhere in the middle of the desert, miles from civilization and probably horrified. With no time to hire a replacement, the boys insist that they’ll be fine on their own for a couple hours. Donald almost buys it until he hears Dewey hotwiring the boat in order to take a pleasure cruise. Clearly, Donald can’t leave these kids alone for one minute, and with so little time, Donald has to reluctantly call in an old favor in order to make sure the boys stay out of trouble. Donald puts the boys in the car and sets his GPS for McDuck manor. Learning their destination, The boys are excited since Scrooge is apparently one of the coolest people who ever lived, having had many daring adventures, battled chupacabras and rock giants and even possesses the ability to swim around in money without cracking his skull!

However, when we finally meet Scrooge, he’s not quite as exciting as described as he attends a rather uneventful business with a look on his face that’s a blend of disinterest on and frustration. Clearly, Scrooge’s adventuring days are now long behind him. Shortly after, we see Scrooge being driven home by his chauffeur, Launchpad McQuack, voiced by Beck Bennett. While I’ll always be partial to the great Terry McGovern, Bennett actually does a really great job with the iconic character of Launchpad and actually gets some of the best lines in the show. Anywho, for those of you who know anything about Launchpad, let’s just say that he drives about as well as we flies, swerving every which way and causing all sorts of chaos in his wake. Launchpad tries to make conversation, and alludes to the fact that he’s a pilot as well as a freak snowstorm on the Drake Barrier Reef, but Scrooge isn’t interested and puts up the divider in his limo.

Scrooge arrives at his mansion to find Donald waiting at the gate. Things between the two are incredibly tense, although we’re not quite sure why just yet. We’re too busy watching the boys lose their shit upon learning that Scrooge is actually their great uncle. Scrooge demands that Donald jettison his jalopy from his driveway this instant, but Donald says that Scrooge he needs Scrooge to watch the boys, asking if he can do it without losing them. After a bit of browbeating, Scrooge reluctantly agrees.

Inside McDuck Manor, we’re introduced to Mrs. Beakley, Scrooge’s housekeeper who’s apparently built like Brock Lesnar in this incarnation. Beakley insists that Scrooge attempt to make a connection with his nephews, but after the boys hit him with rapid fire question, each more uncomfortable than the last, Scrooge finds he just can’t take it and just locks the boys in an empty room and gives them some marbles to play with. It would seem that one particular comment from the boys seems to have struck a nerve with Scrooge. That being: “You Used to be a Big Deal.”

Dewey it seems has a plan to get them out of the marble room and go touch some expensive stuff, and it involves marbles. The plan is… hit the doorknob with the marble bag until it falls off. Okay… it is my understanding that this is a goof on how Marbles were kind of the solution to everything in the original show. If so, that’s very clever. However, no sooner do the boys bust out of the marble room, than they are captured by a shadowy figure who ties them up upside down in a dark room. The figure demands to know who sent them, but once she learns that the boys are Scrooge’s nephews, she reveals herself to be Webby, voiced by Kate Micucci of various voice and live action roles, most notably for me being the current voice of Velma from Scooby-Doo. Webby here is Beakley’s granddaughter and a bit of a Scrooge McDuck fangirl, obsessed, and I do mean, OBSESSED, with researching him and his various adventures. Webby asks the boys all kinds of invasive questions, much to their utter horror. Though there is this one bit where Webby asks who the evil triplet is and Huey and Dewey point the finger at Louie with zero hesitation, the third triplet simply shrugging in nonchalant acceptance. It’s also very clear that Webby has lived a very sheltered life, lacking any sort of real social skills. She automatically assumes that she’s now best friends with the boys and the boys just roll with it because they’re still not entirely sure that Webby won’t kill them. It’s also hinted that Beakley has spent much of Webby’s life preparing her for everything, so she’s super well trained at combat and tactics and such, despite never having left Scrooge’s house for as long as she can remember. In any case, Louie asks Webby what she does for fun, prompting Webby to lead them on a crawl through the vents.

Elsewhere, Scrooge, having let the whole “Used to be a Big Deal” thing get to him, is now struggling to fit back into his old Jacques Cousteau style scuba suit. Apparently that earlier comment about snow on the Drake Barrier Reef is actually a weather anomaly that only happens once every fifty years that opens up a pathway to the lost city of Atlantis. Beakley sees right through Scrooge and knows that he’s only doing this because some small children made fun of him. Scrooge denies it and starts making a list of provisions, including a pilot, prompting Launchpad to poke his head in and remind everyone that he’s a pilot. Where the hell did Launchpad even come from? Who cares! It’s Launchpad and he’s hilarious. Beakley gets angry with Scrooge and violently reminds him that she is not his secretary. Also, apparently Beakley is strong enough to throw a pencil so hard that it ends up embedded in a stone wall. Jesus Christ! Beakley insists that Scrooge abandon this ridiculous mission and spend some time with the family that he’s spent the past ten years avoiding. Scrooge insists that he doesn’t need anyone. He’s Scrooge McDuck! He made his name being tougher than the toughies and smarter than the smarties, and he made it all on his own. Family, as far as Scrooge is concerned, is nothing but trouble. Just as Scrooge makes this declaration, the boys just so happen to be crawling through the vents and Dewey overhears, bummed out about the revelation that the guy he thought was the coolest ten minutes ago is nothing but a big jerk.

As Webby and the boys reach the end of their vent crawl, Webby reveals her dream of being a great explorer like Scrooge once was. Webby leads the boys into a room she calls “The Wing of Secrets.” Huey and Louie are enthralled, but Dewey is less than enthused after hearing Scrooge’s words from earlier. Webby shows the boys all the cool artifacts that Scrooge has acquired over the years, including the gong of Pixiu. Legend says that if you hit it three times, you unleash an unspeakable evil and The Medusa Gauntlet, a magical glove that can turn anything organic to stone. While the boys are initially in awe of all the cool stuff, a painting depicting Donald adventuring alongside Scrooge cause them to call bullshit. The boring, overprotective Uncle Donald they know has probably never done anything adventurous in his life. Webby is appauled by the insinuation and insists that the Donald Duck she’s heard about, Scrooge’s former sidekick, is one of the bravest and most daring adventurers who ever lived.

We then cut to Donald waiting for his job interview and getting his ass kicked by a stapler. I love this show.

The boys are pretty much ready to declare Scrooge a total fraud until Webby opens a mysterious treasure chest that unleashes a horrifying ghost pirate named Captain Peghook, scourge of the River Styx. Dewey grabs a sword to defend himself, but the sword turns out to be the Deus Excalibur (God, what a fantastic name), a cursed blade that will not stop wreaking havoc until its target is slain. Since Peghook is already dead, that constitutes quite a problem, especially when the deadly sword hits the gong of Pixiu for the first time. Louie decides to sit this insanity out and ends up activating a cursed addle that unleashes the Headless Man-Horse, that one’s pretty self-explanatory. To make things worse, The Man-Horse rings the gong for a second time, and to make things even worse than that, Scrooge catches the children messing with his stuff.

By the way, even someone who’s seen as much shit as Scrooge probably has still has this hilarious WTF look on his face upon seeing the Headless Man-Horse. The three monsters eventually join forces and Scrooge walks up to confront the threat. Peghook says he will not rest until he has the head of Scrooge McDuck. At this, Scrooge leaps in to action and shows that he has some impressive moves for someone at least one hundred and fifty years old. Scrooge tricks the ghost pirate into decapitating the head of a statue, thus technically fulfilling its purpose and forcing it back to the afterlife and disabling the cursed sword. As for the Man-Horse, he puts on the statue head and, happy to no longer be a horrible headless freak, politely thanks Scrooge and quietly leaves. By the way, this is not the last we’ll see of The Headless Man-Horse. He actually remains a recurring character right up to the series finale and the ultimate payoff of his character is so incredible I wish I could fast forward to that episode right now.

Webby and the boys celebrate, but Scrooge is understandably pissed that these kids were going through his stuff and unleashed a bunch of monsters. Also, it turns out this “Wing of Secrets” is actually just Scrooge’s garage where he keeps all his junk. There’s something about that I find amusing. Scrooge chews out the boys and Dewey throws the whole “Family is Nothing But Trouble” line back in his face. Enraged, Scrooge demands the boys leave his home at once, accidentally banging the gong in the process. This unleashes Pixiu, the Evil Gold Eating Dragon! Since Scrooge has more gold than anyone on Earth, the monster makes a b-line for Scrooge’s money bin on the other side of town with Scrooge himself on its back. Webby and the boys agree that they need to do something to help, but they have no idea who to catch a flying dragon. Once again, Launchpad comes out of nowhere to remind everyone that he’s a pilot. Okay, seriously, does Launchpad just spend his every moment lurking around corners waiting for an opportunity to remind people he’s a pilot? I mean, it is Launchpad so that is a very real possibility.

In the air, Scrooge does his best to battle the eighty-foot dragon, ending up with a bruised spine before getting launched off the monster’s back. Fortunately, Launchpad’s plane swoops in allowing the boys to save Scrooge from falling to his death. Our try to formulate a plan, Webby stating that since the dragon is mystical, then they would need a mystical object to defeat it. Fortunately for everyone, Louie swiped the Medusa Gauntlet from earlier. As the Dragon enters the Money bin, Scrooge, wielding the gauntlet, dives onto the Dragon’s back, turning the beast to stone and landing safely in the money bin which we all know he can swim in.

Our heroes celebrate their victory, including Launchpad who, in true Launchpad fashion, crashes the plane in the process. At first it looks like Scrooge is going to be angry with Webby and the boys, but in actuality, Scrooge is positively exhilarated. That thirst for adventure that Scrooge believed was long behind him now fully restored. Scrooge reiterates his statement that family is nothing but trouble, and Scrooge has desperately missed having trouble in his life, and it seems that old Scrooge is going to have to keep an eye on these four wee ones to show them how to get into trouble properly. To that end, Scrooge declares the children will accompany him on a expedition to find the lost city of Atlantis!

Our episode ends with Donald, now completely stapled to the wall, meeting his new employer who offers him a job as a professional sailor on the spot. And so our episode ends with the reveal that Donald’s new boss is none other than classic Ducktales villain, Flintheart Glomgold, who it seems is planning an Atlantis expedition of his own.

The series is off to a very promising start. We’ve established all our major players and gotten a taste of what they’re all about while still leaving plenty of unanswered questions such as, why did Scrooge give up his life of adventure, why is there so much animosity between he and Donald, and are the two things connected? Aside from that, we’re treated to an a fun adventure where Scrooge shows off his incredible skills against various monsters both with and without the help of his newfound family. Top that all off with some great humor, beautiful animated and the promise of the reintroduction of a classic foe for the next episode, and this was the perfect way to entice both new fans and old. Will they continue the momentum? Find out when Deep Dive Ducktales returns with: Escape To/From Atlantis.