Well, I finally did it. I watched every episode of Ducktales - the original and the reboot.
The reboot is by far superior to the original. Hands down, it’s great. Go watch it with your kids or without your kids (like I did because I don’t have kids).
They took the best park of the original series, mixed them with elements from the series spin-offs like Dark Wing Duck, and finally accented the series with what was learned from more modern shows like Gravity Falls. Add in an excellent voice cast and a superb finale that leads to an entertaining and meaningful show.
It’s not perfect - nothing is - but this version of Ducktales grew with the original audience and will allow the next generation to grow with it.
But the ending message is what’s most important: “family is the greatest adventure.”
This version of Ducktales heavily emphasizes the importance of family throughout the series. It’s the focal point of the first season while the Dewey tries to figure out who his mom is. The concept of what a person will do for family has multiple dedicated episodes in seasons 2 and 3. And the show challenges the idea of who gets to be a part of a family throughout season 3.
Obviously the main family featured are the Ducks: Donald, Della, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They have their uncle through the mother/grandmother Scrooge MacDuck. Then there are their cousins that pop up every now and again. Heck, we even get to meet Scrooge’s mom, dad, and sister Matilda in a very funny episode about how families can feud with one another (poor Webby thinks it’s her fault for destroying clan MacDuck).
There are a lot of “side” families that are in this version of Ducktales. This includes Fenton and his mom, the gods of Ithaquack, all of the Beagle Boys and their beloved ma, the running gag TV show brothers from Ottoman Empire, Lena and her evil aunt Magica (who has an equally evil brother that was turned into a raven named Poe), and the found family Darkwing Duck creates with Launchpad and Gosalyn. Heck, one character (Violet Sabrewing) has two dads and no attention is ever brought to it (this is good for a couple of reasons but mainly because it means that it’s normal and no big deal!).
Speaking of found families, I haven’t yet talked about Webby and her grandmother Mrs. Beakley. We first meet Webby in the first episode, already living in Scrooge MacDuck’s mansion, and trained in the art of espionage, self defense, and general mayhem. She’s obsessed with the Duck family and solving the mystery of who Della Duck is. She’s awesome, intense, and super different from the annoying tag-a-long character from the original.
I can’t say that Webby is my favorite character (it’s just too hard to have a favorite in this series), it she’s one that I am super emotionally invested in.
She’s also the one who creates her own found family. Despite her obsession with the Duck family, Webby doesn’t spare much thought to her own family. She lives with her grandmother at the manor and she’s happy with that story (until season 3, but I refuse to spoil the finale - go watch it). She starts to create her found family through the Duck nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie). They recognize that she wants to be a part of their family and decide that she is. Scrooge also directly tells Webby that she is part of his family. Donald doesn’t really explicitly say anything, but doesn’t treat her any different than how he treats his nephews. I don’t think Della ever questioned Webby’s inclusion in the family (she doesn’t question Mrs. Beakley’s place despite constantly butting heads with her over how to parent).
Webby is also the first to reach out to and never give up on Lena. She even tells Lena that she doesn’t care that her aunt is the evil Magica De Spell. In many ways Lena is the older sister figure to Webby. Lena is also later adopted by Violet’s family - further showing how found families are just as important as blood families in this series.
Webby’s story is how she finds a family and the series finale brings it all together in a way that makes sense. (No spoilers!)
The reboot Ducktales is awesome and I totally recommend it. I’m sure in another 20 to 30 years we’ll get another reboot that will (hopefully) knock this reboot out of the park. Until that time we have the original and this version to watch.
Oh and David Tennant is the voice of Scrooge MacDuck. I want his autograph with that picture. (Actually I want all of the voice actors’ autographs on a poster size photo of the series - it’s been added to my wish list that includes the alligator Loki plushie).
Until next week.
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