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Once Upon a
Dime
Even when an episode is a flashback of the past as opposed a
present adventure, it can still be exciting and memorable. It also helps the audience can learn new
things about main characters, and that’s the case with this episode, the
ultimate backstory to Scrooge McDuck.
The catalyst for the flashback is an interesting question on what
exactly Scrooge sees in his Number One Dime.
It’s just a dime which most of the series has portrayed as a glorified coin,
so it wouldn’t feel out of place to ponder such a thing. Scrooge responds by telling the whole story
of how he became rich.
There are many
layers to what he put up with to reach any huge affluence starting with
expansion on his upbringing in Scotland.
The beginning portrays the young Scrooge as hopeful yet naïve with
relatable dreams of making it big. He can’t land a big business job due to
lack of experience and asking for too much from employers who don’t know
him.
As for his dime, it becomes
symbolic when it’s revealed that the only job Scrooge could land was shining
shoes at a barber shop who only allowed him to be paid in tips. The one dime a customer tossed him for
shining mud blocks of boots was the very first form of wealth Scrooge ever
received even if it was worthless in Scotland.
It inspired Scrooge to expand upon it resulting in many huge and
imaginative endeavors.
Backing Scrooge’s
journey is unique advice from his father, “work smarter, not harder” which is
an interesting take on the expected message of simply working hard. It advocates finding quicker and efficient
ways of getting work done which can be seen as inspirational, and from what
comes of the advice, is a good fit for Scrooge’s versatility. He’s shown to have made enough money to go to
America where he can spend his dime with a homemade contraption to shine a lot
of shoes faster.
The advice continued to help him in the
states. The flashback features many
obstacles Scrooge had to face over the years not only building his wealth, but
his other primary character trait of being ready for any adventure. He was riverboat racing for the right to a
plantation for his Uncle Catfish. He found a good gold claim in the Klondike when all
others are taken (expanding on another flashback). He faced the Beagle Boys as
train robbers. In addition, he struck oil by chance on a worthless patch of land, and used
elephants to turn coal into diamonds. Put
together, there’s never a dull moment in this flashback. Everything maintains the show’s
distinctive adventurous spirit all the way while also astounding with the smart
ways Scrooge had to work through all the obstacles. Constant remarks Scrooge got for dressing
like a woman with his kilt referred to as a skirt get old as if
to say all Americans are dense people who don’t understand other cultures. I personally just consider that nitpicking.
There’s also
legitimate heart to the story when Scrooge ends it by saying that for all the
money he got, the only time he truly felt rich was when he got a family to
share it with. That is to say, the boys and the mansion staff. As a result, everything great about Scrooge
is brought together in a story that shows how such a great character was
developed through one little dime. It
offers a flashback of memorable escapades, clever advice, and a reminder of what really made Scrooge feel rich. This leaves us with a great
episode to explore such a great character.
A+
The Ranking
- Once Upon a Dime
- Duck in the Iron Mask
- Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
- Nothing to Fear
- The Uncrashable Hindentanic
- Dime Enough for Luck
- Duck to the Future
- Launchpad’s First Crash
- Jungle Duck
- The Status Seekers
The next DuckTales review is on one of Donald's two major appearances in this stretch of episodes in which he gets involved in a hypnotic spy plot.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a ghost story from Hilda.
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