This episode has a lot of creative ideas present and in turn
makes for a humorous dilemma for Launchpad McQuack at its center. It’s not the
best told story this show has had to offer, but it’s pretty good as it is. For one thing, when Launchpad first meets his
dilemma through catching sight of strange creatures with the heads of women and
bodies of birds called harpies, he goes to therapy sessions from, of all
characters, a rare original Disney character, Professor Ludwig von Drake. His moments of doing a seemingly complex
investigation of Launchpad’s problem only to go off on a tangent as he
concludes that Launchpad is going “cuckoo” not only demonstrate how fun and
appealing he is as a character but also gives an interesting setup to the
unfolding plot. It all happens when
Scrooge decides to venture to the Black Sea in Greece to find an object called
the golden fleecing so he can make himself a coat of gold. While flying them there, Launchpad is fixated
on the idea that the harpies don’t actually exist that he performs his
anti-cuckoo practice he learned while flying everyone which ultimately causes
them to crash and get himself taken by the harpies which do indeed exist. From there, the story starts to lull and lack
in excitement. This is mostly because
it’s hard to make out the motives of the harpies. At first it sounds like they want to eat
Launchpad, then it seems like they have genuine hearts as they make him their
guest of honor at a feast, but then it turns out that they actually DO want him
eaten as they plan to sacrifice him to a dragon who never sleeps as he guards
the golden fleecing, disregarding the creatures' potential good sides. There’s at least one good side of the harpies
when a large one takes an interest in Launchpad and practically falls in love
with him, but even then it’s questionable if this is ok because while it can be
good for a laugh, her behavior can get unsettling and viewed as sexually
harassing. A lot of time is also devoted
to Scrooge and the boys trying to find a way to get airborne after the plane
crash so they can save Launchpad and find the golden fleecing. Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s problem solving and
creative thinking continues to astound, but Scrooge isn’t exactly at his best
performance here through mostly making harsh comments about how dumb Launchpad
is. I know this is nothing new from him,
but here there’s just too much of it to tolerate. Plus, when they eventually do find the golden
fleecing in the dragon’s cave and make an exciting escape, Scrooge practically
admits that he’s fine with stealing the fleece that doesn’t belong to him. Since he’s constantly stressed playing fair
and smart before, for Scrooge to want to do something this wrong really isn’t
like him. Thankfully, he comes to his
senses and returns the fleecing which puts the dragon down for a long awaited
nap and allows the harpies to set Launchpad free. Then to give the episode an enjoyable finish,
we have one last humorous moment of Launchpad and Professor von Drake getting
roped into the professor’s own mind process as they both claim to go
cuckoo. The episode may lag a lot and
not have the best characterizations, but the creativity of the harpies’ culture
and good bits of humor make it a good one to check out. 8/10
The Ranking:
1. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing
2. Catch as Cash Can Part 2: A Whale of a Bad Time
3. Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy
4. Back to the Klondike
5. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay
6. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck
7. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
8. Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales
9. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
10. Merit-Time Adventure
11. Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks
12. Scrooge’s Pet
13. Horse Scents
14. The Golden Fleecing
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the adventure subject turns to cowboys and oil fields in "Ducks of the West."
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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