Super DuckTales Part 1: Liquid Assets (DuckTales Vol 3 Part 20) - 'Toon Reviews 25

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Super DuckTales Part 1: Liquid Assets

For the most part, the “Super DuckTales” story arc is more exciting, creative, and better put together than “Time is Money.”  That said, right at the start, there’s a good impression that while it leans more towards the positive side of mixed, it’s still a mixed bag. 

The catalyst for the arc is a fair one when a highway requires Scrooge to move his money bin from the usual hilltop.  The Beagle Boys are to blame for this as they secretly redirect the highway to steal the bin for Ma Beagle’s birthday.  Moving the money bin means that Scrooge needs to hire an accountant to make sure his fortune remains in place.  I’m guessing that when the accountant from “A Whale of a Bad Time” ran away during Scrooge’s tantrum, he took it to the extreme right out of that position. 

This is where the introductory character for the arc, Fenton Crackshell, comes in.  Right away, Fenton shows how he works and doesn’t work as a character all at once.  During his mundane bean counting job where we meet him, he’s constantly complaining about how much he dislikes it.  I mean, nobody likes listening to a whiner, so establishing a character as one is not a good idea.  It even continues when he keeps popping up to get the position of Scrooge’s accountant while he’s interviewing many applicants. 

Still, Fenton does have a few admirable qualities.  Him wanting to move on from bean counting for a better job as well as winning over a hot co-worker named Gandra Dee does make him relatable to many in the working class.  Humbling his background through revealing him to live in a trailer with his TV-watching couch potato mother helps too.  Fenton also has a noticeable talent of counting a bunch of little things, including money, with one glance.  That alone shows that for all his faults, he has what it takes to be the perfect accountant for Scrooge.  Plus, he can be pretty funny at times, even when he gets all whiny, especially when trying to land the position. 

The humor also comes from how literal-minded he can be.  When Scrooge says he likes to keep his assets liquid, he responds by throwing all of Scrooge’s fortune into the river which happens to be close to Ma Beagle’s house.  I often get a good laugh from a statement interpreted literally in a verbal or visual sense, and this outcome is no exception.  Scrooge and Fenton’s dynamic as they attempt to salvage the fortune is also a lot of fun, mainly through Scrooge’s growing frustration, at least for the most part.  Scrooge has to deal with even more unwanted hardships during the mission.  They include dealing with Huey, Dewey, and Louie stowing away and needing to leave to rescue his money bin which the Beagle Boys blow up into Ma Beagle’s backyard. 

The problem is that these events bring out the worst in Fenton’s lack of intelligence.  While being literal-minded is funny, for the rest of the episode he constantly messes up to idiotic degrees.  He falls for his own trap, falls for the Beagle Boys’ obvious lies that cause a dam holding the river back from Ma Beagle’s to break, and his antics just exacerbate the dam cracks.  On the whole, Fenton’s weak points outnumber his strong ones, leaving poor first impressions.  Heck, the Beagle Boys seem foolish to just do nothing when the dam is nearly broken, but given how much Fenton keeps messing up, they seem to have a point.  The first part ends just as the dam breaks, leaving it anyone’s guess how things go. 

I say that in spite of Fenton’s mixed first impressions, the interesting story directions and solid humor make it a pretty solid start.

B+

The Ranking

1. Once Upon a Dime
2. Duck in the Iron Mask
3. Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
4. Spies in Their Eyes
5. Nothing to Fear
6. The Uncrashable Hindentanic
7. Dime Enough for Luck
8. Duck to the Future
9. Launchpad’s First Crash
10. Jungle Duck
11. Ducky Horror Picture Show
12. Time is Money Part 4: Ducks on the Lam
13. Time is Money Part 1: Marking Time
14. Time is Money Part 2: The Duck Who Would Be King
15. All Ducks on Deck
16. Super DuckTales Part 1: Liquid Assets
17. Till Nephews Do Us Part
18. Time is Money Part 5: Ali Bubba’s Cave
19. The Status Seekers
20. Time is Money Part 3: Bubba Trubba

The next DuckTales review covers the salvage of Scrooge's money and brings the introduction of Gizmoduck.

Next time on MC Toon reviews from Hey Arnold is "Helga Sleepwalks" and "Fighting Families."

If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.