Saturday, August 19, 2017

'Toon Reviews 5: DuckTales Vol 1 Part 4

Armstrong


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Here’s an episode that looks at an idea that people see as either a blessing or a curse.  To put it clearly, the plot centers around a robot named Armstrong who has a computer for a brain and can do everything it’s commanded to do.  At first, it’s easy to see why Armstrong is such a winner with Scrooge and the nephews.  It completes tasks and chores that would normally take all day to accomplish, and seems to act like a good loyal friend.  As the episode advances though, we slowly start to look at the downsides of advanced machines.  Because Armstrong can do just about anything, it leaves very little work to do for others like Duckworth the butler.  However, the most sympathetic in this situation is Launchpad McQuack.  He’s further shown to be a great hero despite his clear ineptness as well as loyal to Scrooge and his family, but Armstrong beats him at everything.  It’s not until we get to a helicopter race when you really start to feel the emotional impact of machines taking jobs from men when Armstrong wins and Launchpad suffers a humiliating defeat.  On the other hand though, the race is really fun to watch, and some of the flying angles are some of the best bits of animation I’ve seen on the show so far.  Anyway, the downsides of how great Armstrong is really come to a head in the second half of the episode when Scrooge decides to use the robot for his business, and eventually, it turns evil.  What I really like about the third act of this episode is how Armstrong sets up a lot of creative scenarios for our heroes to get across.  It holds its inventor, Gyro Gearloose, and Scrooge hostage with an electric force field, and uses all satellites to gain control of anything that runs on electricity.  The latter point goes on to make for an entertaining climax where Huey, Dewey, and Louie rush to rescue Scrooge and Gyro, and Armstrong tries to stop them through means like literally closing the garage door on them or attacking them with toys and the trio cleverly finds a way around the obstacles.  Then we have the great redeeming moment for Launchpad where he both cuts off Armstrong’s connection to the electronics and shuts him down through his amusing fashion, further showing off the appeal of his character.  This whole second half makes this whole episode great, though I do wish there was a clearer answer for why Armstrong went evil.  It’s implied that it’s because being told to do so much made the robot go haywire which is a believable reason that connects to the man vs. machine conflict, but still not completely convincing in the context of the episode, especially since it got up to many genuine friendly moments before.  Other than that, I consider this episode a great fun watch. 9.5/10
The Ranking
1.      Armstrong
2.      Sphinx for the Memories
3.      Send in the Clones
4.      Where No Duck Has Gone Before
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the rampaging robot excitement continues with "Robot Robbers."
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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