Sunday, February 4, 2018

'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 24: Magica's Magic Mirror/Take Me Out of the Ball Game + Final Thoughts


Magica’s Magic Mirror








For the last episode on the DVD, it’s interesting that instead of one full episode, we have two short cartoons, and this is the only episode in the entire series that’s like this.  Interesting background aside, this cartoon at the first half of the episode proves how well this show can work with storytelling even with half the runtime.  It once again has Magica de Spell as the primary antagonist and a highly entertaining one through her many spells at that.  In this case, she hands Scrooge a gold mirror and entices him to work a magic spell on it.  The way he just accepts the mirror without considering who he’s talking too is concerning since it’s hard to miss Magica’s distinct voice, but that point is too minor to invest a lot of thought in.  Now, the catch is that the mirror she gave him is a magical one that’s connected to a similar-looking gold mirror where Magica can project what goes on in front of it to be shown on the other mirror making those with the other mirror think it’s showing the future.  Much of the time Magica uses her magic mirrors is spent on playing harmless pranks on Scrooge and the nephews which not only supply a few good laughs, but also convince Scrooge that its prediction powers are for real.  That’s the motivation Magica needs for her ultimate “prediction” which convinces Scrooge that one major supplier of his fortune will be doomed unless he hands over his Number One Dime to her.  While Scrooge is an easy target of Magica’s tricks, it’s Huey, Dewey, and Louie who end up the wiser when their mischievous spying ways allow them to catch Magica in the act.  Then, we get the well-known cartoon convention of messing with the hero or enemy’s secret weapons to humiliate them, and while there’s some mild humor to Magica’s trick getting exposed through Scrooge seeing nothing but makeshift props when asking the mirror for the future, the final climax between them and Magica ends just as it starts.  Considering that she’s a powerful wizard with a vast knowledge of spells, you’d think that there would be a huge battle with creative spells thrown at the protagonists since we’ve seen her do stuff like that before.  Instead, Magica’s magic beam bounces around for a while before hitting her and sending her to the mountains.  This is no doubt a result of having this story be a short cartoon instead of a full episode.  If it was a full episode, the climax would probably be a lot different and more exciting.  As it is, even with its flaws, what we have is still a solid showing of character moments and humor. 9/10

Take Me Out of the Ball Game









The second cartoon of the last episode on the Vol. 2 DVD is far more down-to-earth than the last one, making it more beneficial of the shorter-than-usual length.  It follows the common slice-of-life activity of little league baseball games and struggling to win against the opposing team.  What sets this particular cartoon apart from others of the subject is the character in charge of the team of focus featuring Huey, Dewey, Louie and many prominent kid characters in the cast called the Junior Woodchucks, and he’s the last person you’d expect to be a baseball coach.  It’s the ever-proper butler Duckworth filling in for the championship game against the opposing team of young members of the Beagle family, the Beagle Brats, which when you think about it, doesn’t make sense for them to have a baseball team when the Beagle family consists of wanted criminals.  Anyway, regarding Duckworth and his coaching means, being a highly trained butler established to go this route by choice with no understanding of how baseball works, the entertainment factor comes from how he applies his butler mindset to the game.  He demands the players to clean themselves off when they slide into the bases, scolds them due to him not understanding what it means to steal a base, and he demands the players be on their best behavior even though they’re just trying to score runs and get the other team out.  The moments work because it’s funny to see an activity like baseball be approached with a completely different frame of mind, and it makes for an effective obstacle for the Junior Woodchucks team to get through so not to make them completely unstoppable against the Beagle Brats.  Still, the fact that they get thrashed by the opposing team so badly throughout the cartoon makes you wish that they’d just hurry up and let Duckworth know that getting dirty, stealing bases, and whatnot is what you’re supposed to do in baseball.  Thankfully, just when you think that these facts will never get through Duckworth’s high-class head, the Junior Woodchucks’ protests on their progress finally get him to think of the right strategy through treating baseball like golf or keeping your eye on the ball.  As it turns out, this is the moment that finally gets Duckworth to be seen as a credible coach with the Junior Woodchucks catching up to the Beagle Brats feeling like it’s worth praising after how poor they were coached to play before.  Duckworth even makes a star out of Doofus, the Junior Woodchuck struggling throughout the whole cartoon, by appealing to his interests resulting in Doofus hitting the winning homerun, and bringing in one last gag involving Scrooge, Launchpad, and Launchpad’s helicopter as the cartoon ends.  We do close the DVD with a basic show that takes a while to get going, but through priding on strong comedy and a commendable payoff, it’s a good finish to a nice set for a great series nonetheless. 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. Double-O-Duck
  6. Raiders of the Lost Harp
  7. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay
  8. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck
  9. Time Teasers
  10. Duckworth’s Revolt
  11. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship
  12. Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales
  13. Ducks of the West
  14. The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor
  15. Take Me Out of the Ball Game
  16. Merit-Time Adventure
  17. Back Out in the Outback
  18. Magica’s Magic Mirror
  19. Scroogerello
  20. Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks
  21. Luck O’ the Ducks
  22. Scrooge’s Pet
  23. Horse Scents
  24. The Golden Fleecing
  25. The Right Duck
Final Thoughts
Now that all three discs of DuckTales Vol. 2 have been successfully covered, I can proudly say that the series continues to impress, and I’m really glad that I decided to look into this show.  Just about everything great about the show established from the first batch of episodes from Vol. 1 is on full display here, thus remaining as engaging as ever. There’s still a lot of creativity with the adventures which broaden the scope of where Scrooge and others in the main cast go like the Andes Mountains, Antarctica, the Klondike, Atlantis, the Wild West, and Australia.  Each adventure location offers its own distinct form of excitement and charm from the chemistry of the characters embarking and almost always leaves you with a unique impression when it all wraps up.  While it is true that some adventures aren’t as exciting as others, most of the time, you still get the sense of a non-stop thrill ride filled with creativity, solid comedy, and likable and memorable characters going through them all. 
Speaking of characters, for the most part, all of the best ones such as Scrooge, Launchpad, Mrs. Beakley, and practically all the villains continue to delight whenever they’re on screen.  Even some of the weaker characters in the cast have their own standout moments that enhance their appeal.  A good example of this idea involves the starring roles of Webby in this set.  While her overly girlish mannerisms don’t make her the most interesting or enjoyable character, there were times when her character seemed compelling enough to carry an episode.  Her animal-loving traits showed a layer of firmness and determination in episodes like “Back Out in the Outback,” and “Horse Scents,” and her wanting to prove her worth as a Junior Woodchuck in “Merit Time Adventure” gave the audience something of substance to root for regarding her character.  These moments of greatness did not make Webby as good as the strongest characters by any means, but the fact that there were times where she was worth caring for is still worth noting.  There were even episodes giving more character to those who seemed to have very little prior, most notably Duckworth who at first came off as nothing more than Scrooge’s butler.  Episodes such as “Duckworth’s Revolt” and “Take Me Out of the Ball Game” allowed time for depth to his status as a butler and how much it means to him, as well as a way for him to apply his primary traits to something as rowdy and active as baseball.  While there are a lot of good character moments, they didn’t exactly have a flawless streak.  Huey, Dewey, and Louie continue to impress as problem solvers and smart for the mischievous kids they are, but they’re still the same character personality-wise, Doofus is still weak and slightly grating, and there are times where Scrooge’s frustration with his co-workers and family and Launchpad’s cluelessness can get too overbearing.  Even at that, the characters are still enjoyable enough to headline the show, and make it clear that it wouldn’t be as fun and exciting without them.
While this DVD volume is just about as good as the previous one, there’s one thing that makes it stand out from what came before, and that is the multi-part story arcs.  The two present on this particular volume bring together all the best parts of the series, allowing the adventure aspect to be bigger, grander, and more creative while the characters are given some of their best moments.  “The Treasure of the Golden Suns” serves as a solid introduction to the main players and their principle personalities while also building on little elements like the special ship, the unique coin, and the treasure map building up to an intense finale that proves precisely why family is more important than riches.  It’s a non-stop thrill after thrill that show off the appeal of all the characters involved and what to expect from them in the series to follow.  It really should’ve been the first in the set of episodes on Vol. 1 for continuity and order’s sake, but there’s not much we can do about that.  The other story arc, “Catch as Cash Can”, mostly builds itself on creative ideas to put Scrooge and his team through and they’re all filled with great imagination and appeal for how well they’re executed.  We have Scrooge and the boys chasing after Scrooge’s fortune in the sewers, a run-in with a robot whale which also ropes Donald along for the ride, and an engaging race of carrying the island of Atlantis with balloons to a finish line.  It’s practically the high point of the creativity aspect of the show that most likely can’t be topped.  It is bogged down by some frustrating moments like incredibly dense antagonists like the Atlantians who think all air-breathers are polluters, Scrooge saying the boys intended to making him lose harkening to his frustrations getting overbearing that I mentioned earlier, and the fact that one of the parts end up recycled into the plot of a later episode.  Nevertheless, I’ll always remember the story arc for the good points which are incredibly good.  In fact, the story arcs in general feature the show at its biggest potential.  It’s a potential so big that it helps support my belief that this show truly is one of the best.
DuckTales Vol. 2 greatly builds on everything that worked so well the first time around with all its strengths turning out as strong as ever, and made even better by the first two story arcs.  It helps support the belief that this is an animated TV series worth owning, so add it to your collection if you haven’t already, and be sure to stay tuned for the eventual look at Vol. 3, the unreleased remaining episodes, and even the reboot which looks to continue this show’s good streak.
Highly Recommended
That's it for this set of reviews.  For the next set, it's finally time to return to The Loud House to explore the episodes of its second season.  Until then:
Stay Animated Folks!

No comments:

Post a Comment