Tuesday, January 23, 2018

'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 17: Back Out in the Outback

Back Out in the Outback
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
For this episode, the story takes us to Australia, and it turns out to be well-constructed, if too cute for its own good.  Scrooge and the gang are called down to Australia when it’s reported that his sheep ranch down there is being attacked by strange glowing UFOs called willywisps.  With this setup, you’d think that the focus would be on everyone trying to figure out how to fight back against the willywisps.  It’s not just that they ruin the sheep’s wool threatening the existence of the ranch.  They’re also powerful enough to take out planes.  It just opens up so many mysteries to the troublesome anomalies.  However, playing with the audience’s expectations, the plot is not what one would expect.  The most focus is on Webby of all characters, especially relating to her feminine quality of loving animals.  Since Australia is known for being home to many unusual animals like kangaroos, koalas, and warthogs, that opens up many possibilities for new friends for Webby.  Her befriending moments would be fine if they were in small scenes that don’t get too many focus, but these moments go on for a very long time which gives the episode an overly cute tone that doesn’t really fit the series.  It starts taking up the space when Huey, Dewey, and Louie are assigned to look after Webby even though she’s usually treated as one of the kids and doesn’t need them looking after her, and she wanders off to chase after a kangaroo before the boys even have a chance to keep an eye on her.  From there, Webby and her cutesy girlish ways are suddenly the most important thing in the episode.  We have her chase the kangaroo through the Australian woods, talking with it along with a koala and baby warthog, and a whole forest of animals tending to her after she gets chased by warthogs.  It just makes what happens less interesting than it could have been which isn’t what one would want to see going into an adventure series, especially since it’s separate from the main mission, for the most part, and Scrooge has to call it off to find her.  Even if Webby taking up the focus isn’t that interesting, the episode is still admirable for what it is.  The warthog chase is exciting and intense enough to engage the audience, putting Webby’s love for animals against her.  However, when the animals comfort her at night and later rescue her prized Quacky Patch doll, it’s a nice moment that helps her regain her love for something since it honestly would’ve been sad for Webby to give up a part of herself because of one bad experience.  Plus, all her cutesy moments with the animals lead her to play a significant role in the willywisp plot.  While it’s Huey, Dewey, Louie and Launchpad who ultimately find out that they’re really special glowing boomerangs and take them out with real boomerangs followed up with a humorous one-liner relating to how boomerangs always come back, Webby and her Australian animal friends take care of the man who set them up.  They find out one of the ranch’s employees was working behind Scrooge’s back and used the willywisps to scare everyone away so he could get to the opal discovered in the ranch’s wells.  So, in the end, Webby taking up the focus for her cutesy ways turned out to be worth it.  For that, even if it’s not that interesting, it still stands as a noteworthy entry with likable qualities from the characters, creativity, and story, not to mention being a solid Disney Australian adventure three years before The Rescuers Down Under. 9/10
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.      Time Teasers
8.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
9.      Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales
10.  Ducks of the West
11.  The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
12.  Merit-Time Adventure
13.  Back Out in the Outback
14.  Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks
15.  Scrooge’s Pet
16.  Horse Scents
17.  The Golden Fleecing
 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode featuring a new treasure for Scrooge to uncover and the return of Magica de Spell, "Raiders of the Lost Harp."
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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