'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 1: Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don't Give Up the Ship

Life is once again like a hurricane as we return to a previously reviewed show via its second DVD set:

DuckTales (Vol 2)

 

Basic Premise

Despite never growing up with this show, DuckTales turned out to be an exceptional animated series when I reviewed its first DVD volume a while back.  With creative story ideas, likable and interesting characters at the center, and the perfect pace to take in what happened, this series is pretty much everything great about the classic works of Disney brought to life in a TV series.  Of course, being so impressed by the first released set of episodes, I was incredibly motivated to track down the rest of the original series to get a complete feel of it.  It’s especially appropriate to start looking more into it now with the reboot of the series getting the attention of many animation fans.  That’s why, we are now going to devote time to looking into the episodes of the second DVD volume.

As was the case with the first volume, the focus of the series is on the adventures of the richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck, and his many adventures to maintain his wealth and keep up his family bonds with his grand-nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  Along the way, they’re joined by the cute little girl companion, Webby, the crash-happy pilot, Launchpad McQuack, Duckworth the butler, Mrs. Beakley the adventurous maid, and even the occasional drop-in on the one and only Donald Duck serving in the navy.  There’s also no shortage of run-ins with rivals after various parts of Scrooge’s wealth with Flintheart Glomgold targeting the “richest duck in the world” title, the bank robber team, the Beagle Boys, targeting his prized money bin, and Magica de Spell the witch targeting Scrooge’s number one dime.  In addition to the usual standalone episodes, we’re also going to be getting a grander feel in the adventures combined into multi-episode story arcs.  Among the arcs included on this DVD, is the one that started the whole dang series, “Treasure of the Golden Suns.”  Why it wasn’t included on the first volume I’ll never understand, but it’ll still be great to start off with the origins of the show’s core elements.  So, let’s pop in the first disc in the set, and get the reviews started.

Now on with the reviews:

The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give Up the Ship

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here’s the episode that really begins the show despite not being released on DVD first, and it’s a great introduction to both many of the core parts of the series and what this particular story arc will offer.  Scrooge McDuck’s first scenes demonstrate his appeal as a character where he may be full of greed as he relishes in literally swimming in all his money and finding a way to back out of spending any, but does so with a special charm you can’t help but find entertaining.  The charm doesn’t always work as you’ll soon see though.  We also get a lot of Huey, Dewey, and Louie struggling to adjust to their new life with Scrooge when their Uncle Donald enlists in the navy for the series.  If their first heartwarming scene of them saying good-bye to their uncle isn’t enough to sell how hard the adjustment is, then plenty of scenes of Scrooge, the boys, and even Duckworth the butler having problems with this new lifestyle surely will.  The boys want to have fun and take advantage of living with their millionaire great-uncle, but Scrooge clearly doesn’t want anything to do with them by keeping them in the attic, getting offended when they play with his money, and harshly punishing them when they get their hands on a model ship in his museum.  All these scenes bring sympathy for the boys, but don’t do justice for Scrooge as a character.  As for the ship, it becomes one of many plot-driving objects in the arc when the ever-humorous Beagle Boys are enlisted by a mysterious figure who gets amusingly over-dramatic about gold, El Capitan, to steal it from the museum. It’s supposed to help find a huge abundance of gold, which makes Scrooge’s feelings about the boys touching it make sense.  Still, it’s hard to tolerate him when he threatens to send Huey, Dewey, and Louie to boarding school when they explain they were trying to stop the Beagle Boys from stealing the ship.  Thankfully, even with Scrooge’s mean moments, the end of the episode shows he does have a heart and fondness to the boys when he expresses sadness of never really having a family before during an interview at his candy factory.  The moment’s power is proven genuine when he and the boys finally see eye-to-eye and work together to get the ship back from the Beagle Boys in a climax made more appealing by the candy-themed antics.  The last moment of them all growing closer as a family perfectly gets you excited for what they’ll get up to for the rest of the arc.  Aside from a few questionable character moments, this premiere episode nicely kicks off the show and is a solid starting point for what promises to be a treasure hunt unlike any other. 9.5/10

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode, this story arc's thrilling continuation and introduction to Scrooge's rival, Flintheart Glomgold, "Wronguay in Ronguay."

If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.