'Toon Reviews 5: DuckTales Vol 1 Part 13

Dinosaur Ducks

As the title implies, this episode tackles the subject of dinosaurs which is another good way to exploit the adventure aspect of this show.  It opens with an immensely entertaining sequence of Launchpad trying to bring a rare bird to Scrooge’s zoo while running from a dinosaur, accidentally letting the bird go, and literally crawling all the way back to Duckburg showing off a lot of comedy and appeal.  The potential for greatness is really laid down when Launchpad giving an account of what he got up to gives Scrooge an idea to go to a place called the Lost World where the only surviving dinosaurs live, and bring them back for his zoo.  The idea of there being a world of dinosaurs in the modern world is pretty creative and you’re led to expect a great display of character interactions from great characters like Scrooge and Launchpad.  However, we also have Huey, Dewey, and Louie stowing away to get in on the action, and while this greatly shows off their mischievous sides akin to their portrayal in the classic Disney shorts, this moment does lead to them kind of hijacking the focus of the episode following an entertaining crash landing that separates them from Scrooge and Launchpad.  While these two characters still have some highly entertaining interactions as they try to find the boys in the Lost World, what we watch for the majority of the episode’s remainder is the boys coming across a baby dinosaur and try to catch it for their Uncle Scrooge, and each of their plans backfiring.  The moments are fine and good for a bit of a laugh, but they’re not as interesting of what could’ve been the main plot.  This is mostly because the dinosaur-catching attempts slowly start to feel repetitive for how they all end up backfiring, and also, despite showing great problem-solving skills in many previous episodes, Huey, Dewey, and Louie don’t approach the situation differently from how any kid would, meaning they’re not very interesting characters to follow.  Then, wouldn’t you know it, the very character who saves the day is Webby, who also stowed away on the trip.  Through her cutesy nature, she convinces the boys, and later Scrooge and Launchpad, that the baby dinosaur should stay in the Lost World with his family instead of being forced to be part of a zoo exhibit.  I find Webby establishing the ultimate conclusion of this plot to be sweet, but also disappointing since it further lessens the potential for an epic scope appropriate for this kind of subject.  Still, it’s nice that Scrooge still finds a way to use the dinosaurs to make money despite this decision.  This episode may not be as interesting, grand, or epic as it could be, but it’s still good for what it is thanks to its creativity in spots and most of its character moments. 8/10

The Ranking

1. Hotel Strangeduck
2. Robot Robbers
3. Magica’s Shadow War
4. Duckman of Aquatraz
5. Armstrong
6. Sir Gyro de Gearloose
7. Master of the Djinni
8. Sphinx for the Memories
9. Send in the Clones
10. The Lost Crown of Genghis Kahn
11. The Money Vanishes
12. Where No Duck Has Gone Before
13. Dinosaur Ducks

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Launchpad gets up to even more awesome moments as a supposed movie star in "Hero for Hire."

If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.