Friday, August 18, 2017

'Toon Reviews 5: DuckTales Vol 1 Part 3

Where No Duck Has Gone Before


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Considering this show’s adventure aesthetic, it only figures that we’d eventually get an outer space-focused episode.  The premise for the episode is that Scrooge buys the studio where Courage of the Cosmos, the favorite show of Huey, Dewey, Louie, and their friend from their Junior Woodchucks scout troop Doofus Drake, is made, and Scrooge has big plans to overhaul the show to boost the ratings.  This includes having his on-hand inventor, Gyro Gearloose, create a lifelike spaceship for Major Courage to use.  Then in a rather humorous turn of events, Gyro makes the spaceship a little too lifelike and it actually launches Courage, Scrooge’s nephews, and Doofus into space.  The comedy factor only builds when you consider that no one knows right away that they’re actually in space, calling space itself a set or seeing an asteroid field as really good special effects although I will say that this scenario is stretched a little too long which kind of makes you wish everyone would just find out the truth.  The standout character in this whole episode just happens to be the fan-favorite character original to this show, Launchpad McQuack.  He proves to be highly entertaining with his light-hearted and level-headed personality, but what really sells him as a character is how much he values Scrooge and his nephews despite not being the brightest individual, seeing that he is Scrooge’s personal pilot.  While Launchpad does show some jealousy towards Courage, he still manages to successfully keep everyone safe while out in space.  He’s the quickest to find out they’re actually in space, guides the ship through the asteroids, and even uses his scatterbrain nature to help everyone escape aliens and eventually lead them off course.  Basically, what I see of Launchpad here gets me excited to see more of him in the series.  That said, I do tend to get a bit annoyed by Major Courage here.  He’s way too full of himself, takes Scrooge’s nephews and Doofus along for filming the show for his own gain, takes the longest to find out they’re actually in space, and leaves the kids to the aliens to save himself.  These factors do not make him a good character to get behind.  At least he’s just here for this one episode and he gets what he deserves in the end.  Plus, Doofus doesn’t really make a good first impression since all he does is follow Huey, Dewey, and Louie around and comments on what happens, meaning that he’s not very interesting or appealing.  The moments with those two characters aside, this is an all-around good space-centered adventure that’s big on laughs, and features a nice performance by Launchpad McQuack. 8/10
The Ranking
1.      Sphinx for the Memories
2.      Send in the Clones
3.      Where No Duck Has Gone Before
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where everything is made better by robots, or not, when Scrooge and his team are introduced to "Armstrong."
If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.

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