Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck (DuckTales Vol 3 Part 9) - 'Toon Reviews 25


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Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck


Something about Jekyll and Hyde stories has a winning quality that lends itself well to animation.  The idea of a man uncontrollably turning into a monster and back is very interesting in its own absurd way with many possibilities how each phase of the story works.  In a medium where anything a crew can think of can be drawn to life, takes on them can fit any creative vision.  This show, known for creative adventures, makes the Jekyll and Hyde formula stand as something all its own. 
The catalyst for the curse is a cologne bottle obtained in Dr. Jekyll’s mansion by Jack the Tripper who gets his way through various ways to make people to trip.  The cologne bottle and other items of Dr. Jekyll get sold to an auction in Duckburg, so Jack pursues it there.  Scrooge ends up with one of many trunks which has that cologne, and he sprays some on himself.  This is where the take on the Jekyll and Hyde formula becomes especially creative.
The cologne’s effects do more than just turn Scrooge into a crazy looking figure dubbed Uncle Moneybags.  He uncontrollably gives the wealth he has away.  It’s fitting for this show’s emphasis on the power of money, and has an interesting double standard. It can be seen as a positive that the cologne’s victims give their riches away, but also weird for how haphazardly they make themselves poor.  It’s both a light-hearted take on the formula and something that can be seen as a genuine threat. Even after being cured by getting doused by liquids, Scrooge turns into Moneybags at the mere sight of money.  Also, Jack the Tripper gets the cologne and uses it to turn several people into spending lunatics back in London which raises the stakes of the situation more than normal. 
Scrooge and the boys are in London too to look for an antidote to the effects of Dr. Jekyll’s cologne. It soon becomes a case where Huey, Dewey, and Louie are the only hopes when Scrooge quickly turns Moneybags again.  Since they’re in London and there’s a mystery, you’d be right to think they’d bring in this universe’s version of Sherlock Holmes in for the matter, only here he’s called Shedlock Jones.  He plays to what you’d expect from the famed detective. He uses elementary to deduce the boys’ problem before they explain it and being too egotistical to help them and write off their issue as unimportant. Shedlock also plays to the creative edge of the setup by turning out to be a Junior Woodchuck. 
Some could argue that him coming around and helping the boys anyway is forced with no scene of him changing his mind prior, but given what happens, the sudden feel works.  They find the cologne’s antidote and Jack trips them into stealing it to get the crown jewels from Duckingham Palace.  Then they give him a slip of their own and reveal that he was actually the more important criminal Shedlock was looking for.  It’s an impressive twist that satisfies both sides through the lesser criminal acting like a bigger criminal. 
The episode’s conflict wraps up with another take on its double-standard. Everyone cures Scrooge with the antidote, even if it means giving up the chance for him to buy everyone nice expensive stuff.  It’s a funny kind of bittersweet endingg since the only negative to curing Scrooge is actually quite petty.  This and other humorous takes on the tropes of the Jekyll and Hyde formula make this a greatly entertaining episode that intrigues and has fun with what it brings from start to finish. And that’s elementary.
A+


The Ranking
  1. Duck in the Iron Mask
  2. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
  3. Nothing to Fear
  4. The Uncrashable Hindentanic
  5. Dime Enough for Luck
  6. Duck to the Future
  7. Launchpad’s First Crash
  8. Jungle Duck
  9. The Status Seekers

The next DuckTales review documents Scrooge's past and the importance of his Number One Dime.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an Annie Award-winning Hilda episode, "The Tide Mice."
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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