Too-oo!ny Tuesday: Woo-oo! (DuckTales Reboot | Special One-Hour Premiere Episode!)

If there’s a reboot everyone needed (but wasn’t asking for)...it’s this. And if there was a new show everyone who hasn't watched the original for should watch, it's this.

Woo-oo! It's the 2017 reboot/remake/re-imaging(/re-whatever) of DuckTales.

This reboot on Disney XD features the same old characters we knew, loved and grew up with all these years--just with new voices, traits and personalities and even outfits. This hour-long episode aired on August 12 in a very surprising marathon stunt. This episode aired literally all day--as in 24 times for 24 hours

There are also changes between the two versions:
In the original, Donald Duck has left for the Army, and gave guardianship to Scrooge MCDuck.
In the reboot, Donald is having a hard time with the “Eweys” and has to go to a job interview, and asks Scrooge to watch them.

And back to the Characters changing in personalities:

-Scrooge was indifferent, pretty stingy and a little grumpy yet more upbeat; now, he’s just super stingy and grumpy--he’s no longer as excited about his adventures as he used to be, and is even super glum as well, as his company has to cut back on the works on such, and sell the artifact he’s found to keep it going. It’s really sad that this guy is really down after all these years of being one of the best and most jovial explorers in the world.
Although I definitely believe he’ll mellow more and become more upbeat as the series progresses.

-The Duck Trips have always had their own personalities, as it seems (even though most of the times I’ve seen them on TV they were pretty much, the same boy with three different shirts and rhyming names), but this version takes it another way:
-Huey is smart and sensible if not a
-Louie is more laidback and jerkish (or--as the other triplets even call him--“the evil one”)
-Dewey is more reckless, stubborn and headstrong
And to top it off, they get their own outfits too.
Also, in the original, they already knew that Scrooge was their great uncle, and were pretty unexcited about living with him (more than seemingly because of his grumpy attitude and skinflint behavior) while uncle Donald had set off for the Navy. Here, they never knew Scrooge was their great uncle and was a little off the wall when they learned of it, unfortunately under the consequence of of his and Scrooge's years-long beef. Fortunately, it can only get better (and worse?) from here.

I love this change, because while I don’t think too much about the triplets when I see them, I just feel they have too much of the same personality. So I’m glad they all have a different personality; it’ll be great to see them be foils to one another (and to Webby as well) instead of being the same boy three times over.

-Webby has become more excitable, observant, confident, strong and brave--unlike the original, which many viewers and critics claimed as “boring” and “uninteresting” (with the OG Duck Trips even not liking her from the start) from what I’ve heard. Also from what I’ve heard, the writers wanted to give her a more positive, likable and flesh-out personality--which is what they’ve succeeded with her here. (It's fair to say that she's become one of my favorite characters of the series because of that...and more.)

-Donald is still his ill-tempered, down-on-his-luck self; but here it takes a more painful turn: he and Uncle Scrooge had a falling out years ago and haven’t spoken or have been kind to each other since. Their strained relationship doesn’t get any better when the triplets inadvertently tag along on their first adventure with Grunkle--ahem, I mean Uncle Sta--I mean Scrooge. Then there’s his fears that his nephews would get hurt or even killed while on treks with Scrooge (which are understandable).
And there’s this I love about him: while he will get screwed over a lot, he’s still not giving up on what he wants to do, His determination is limitless and he won’t let his unlucky disposition get him down. While he’ll still get into unlucky predicaments (some of which I’m sure will annoy me), he’ll actually join the rest of the Duck/McDuck Family on their crazy, dangerous world treks this time around. I have a feeling he’ll be one of my top favorites in this series. (well, it makes sense, as he’s been one of my all-time favorite Disney characters)
Orginal-wise, he went off to the Navy...and was nothing more than a glorified cameo from then on out. He did make more appearances, but he wasn't really important to the series unlike his nephews. Here, he's just as important as the rest of the family, and will take

-Instead of servant Duckworth from the original, he's replaced by Betina Beakly, Scrooge's sweet, motherly and sensible yet brawny and badass maid

-And then there's Glomgold .
In the original, he was pretty much a mirror image of Scrooge (maybe funhouse mirror, because of his square glasses and kilt). But here, the producers decided to give him his own design and nationality change. making him heavyset and a South African feigning a Scottish accent and look. (You see, in the comic series, he was South African; but in the original, he was as much a Scot as Scrooge. Here, he's back as a South African, complete with a lie that he's a Scotsman to get a leg up on Scrooge's empire in the worldwide artifact scouting industry. *phew* Oh yeah, and he's so devious he'll resort to murdering people to get what he wants. Yep, he's/they're going there.)

As for Launchpad McQuack, he’s still his lovable yet dimwitted self. You can’t change that.
These characters are real likable, well-made at the start and perfect for development later on.


And don’t get me started with the voice acting. (Well, actually please don’t; I already mentioned that in an episode of Maroon Mondays Live back in May, and I was already pretty pleased/excited/overwhelmed by the actors chosen. )

(so )

The animation looks like a hybrid of both the original and a comic book; it’s crisp, smooth, and rich (like Scrooge’s bank account), yet wide-reaching and perfectly colorful. I’ve watched a lot of cartoons with a shockingly expansive palette yet this one still manages to surprise me with its ink and paint use.

And before you mock me about it (and I’m being very generous, because that would mean people are actually talking to me), look at the establishing shots and backgrounds instead of the characters’ clothes, and you’ve got great eye-candy of a series.

And that extends to the Title Sequence, with a new spin on that theme song everybody loves and wants implanted into their brains until the end of time.

Everything just shines here.
The animation is beautiful, and everything you need to know about the series is shown in full view here.
-Our heroes going on a typical adventure, and Our villains chasing them;
-Scrooge reaching for his iconic (I assume) #1 Dime.
-Launchpad getting distracted from piloting a plane by giving us (or the air? can't really tell) a saluted greeting (Maybe if you look from a certain angle).
-And (something I haven't known about before), some righteous recreations of the works of comic book genius (and creator of the comic series that these shows are based on) Carl Barks

Then there’s the change in story:

The original was cartoon deep in action and adventure. This series continues aspects of both, but also includes bits and pieces of mystery and takes a slightly more darker tone.
AND BEFORE YOU ALL HAWK UP GRAVITY FALLS, lemme tell you this: yes, it does involve a story grounded in mystery...AND THAT’S IT. Before you all make any more comparisons: How Louie wears a hat like Dipper, how Webby is sweet, hyper and waaaaay into something like Mabel (along with both wearing similar outfits--including to a sweater and s), how Scrooge is grumpy yet mischievous like Stan (along with both carrying canes and wearing fancy hats), or how Launchpad is a kind yet dimwitted adult like Soos--oop, oh wait, I’m doing it. Well, anyway, just because they both have mystery aspects embedded in that, it doesn’t mean they’re one and their same. In fact, it’s becoming a thing now that annoys me-- people comparing newer shows to Gravity Falls just because they all share a genre and barely similar characters. It’s happened before with Welcome to the Wayne, and now it’s happening with this series. While they’re all fair, it’s the fact that they JUST. KEEP. COMING. that irritates me. While I won’t tell you all to stop it, I will say this: GF IS a brilliant cartoon, but ISN’T something everyone should look at or refer to for one genre over others. It just muddies the waters for other potential viewers/fans.
But as a fan of both shows (and that a lot of people from the former are now working on the latter), it's true that I love this development and I can't wait to see how far (and how dark) the crew will take the story from here and where they'll go for a great memorable moment. I'm sure they'll do just fine.

As for the origin story itself, it’s a great, well-written and refreshing retake on the original’s origin story. It adds some (barely) more backstory for the characters (Donald getting a job interview; the “Eweys” living with him and being a nuisance--uhh, yeah; Launchpad being a chauffeur [and being predictably bad at it], ) and begins some more interesting, salacious and definitely entertaining adventures to come.
And then there’s the short cliffhanger at the end when Dewey looks at the painting again and see a surprise behind its ripped flap as a stowaway on Scrooge and Donald’s shipside adventure: [SPOILER ALERT] his, Huey and Louie’s mom Della Duck. With this reveal, it’s definitely setting a domino effect of storylines, new locations, and character interactions and developments that’ll leave you hanging and hungry for more. And honestly, I can’t wait for to rack my brain for it all.

This pilot was fantastic . Everything a fan or stan of the original ever wanted in a re-imagining, and everything a new fan or casual watcher would begin to love. Fantastic casting and performances, superb animation, amazing new development for the characters and a brilliant start to an equally-brilliant, fresh, new story to unravel (and for us to sit back and ).