'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 12: Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales

Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This story arc concludes with another episode up to the creative standards of the first two parts.  In fact, the creative premise is the most appealing thing about this episode.  It relates to the way Scrooge brings his entire fortune to Macaroon to be measured with an actual scale against Flintheart Glomgold’s fortune to see who earns the selling rights of the Firefly Fruit.  Scrooge has the risen city of Atlantis fly every bit of his money while being carried by special huge unpoppable balloons invented by Gyro while covered by a cloud.  The reason for the creativity’s appeal is how one-of-a-kind Scrooge’s plan is, and the way it’s presented in the animation and executed in the story make what happens fun and engaging.  Plus, each of the characters involved get up to their own memorable sequences.  Scrooge and Gyro go from flying leisurely towards the scale to frantically steering Atlantis out of harm’s way when the cloud cover disappears and later have a comedic back and forward as they search for a gadget to keep them from falling.  Launchpad gets up to his brand of comedic antics while flying a flimsy plane made from a suitcase while making feeble attempts to stop the Beagle Boys from getting Atlantis away from the scale.  Speaking of which, on the antagonist’s side, the Beagle Boys get up to some exciting moments as their attempts to redirect Scrooge’s fortune backfire spectacularly while Flintheart has more comedic moments of trying to convince the simple-minded Grand Kishke, the holder of the Firefly Fruit, to give them to him before Scrooge arrives.  Huey, Dewey, and Louie are among the most compelling characters here.  They try to help Scrooge increase his fortune by finding some hidden treasure of Atlantis, but that’s what gets the cloud cover to disappear and allow Atlantis to be spotted.  They feel genuine remorse for their neglect, but they more than make up for it by doing what they can to slow the Beagle Boys down.  Their sadness of thinking Scrooge has fallen to his doom later on is a strong motivation for them continuing to win the contest, but it isn’t effective since we as an audience know that Scrooge is alive.  Still, it leads to a shining moment during the climax as Scrooge and Flintheart go back and forward from having the most money, and the boys trick the Beagle Boys into releasing the treasure of Atlantis, and granting contest victory to their Uncle Scrooge.  The character moments are certainly fun, exciting, and in some cases big on emotion.  There is one character moment that’s hard to stomach though, and that’s Scrooge lashing out at the boys for their neglect.  Yes, they’re in the wrong for abandoning their post for their own wants thus exposing Scrooge to his rivals, but Scrooge saying they INTENDED to expose him and that they’ll never follow in his footsteps, that’s really uncalled for.  Him lashing at incompetent teammates like in the last episode is one thing, but doing so to his own grand-nephews is unacceptable, especially since he’s believing something that isn’t even true which I never like seeing, and being desperate to win the contest is not a good excuse.  While Scrooge does praise them for increasing his fortune and saving the day in the end, it’s concerning that he never really apologizes for his way harsh words.  However, if you ignore that uncharacteristically mean-spirited moment for the show, you’re still left with an action-packed, hilarious, heartfelt, and especially creative experience to end this highly creative story arc. 9.5/10

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.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship

8.      Catch as Cash Can Part 4: Working for Scales

9.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor

10.  Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

11.  Scrooge’s Pet

12.  Horse Scents

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Webby proves her worth as a Junior Woodchuck...she somehow becomes a part of in a "Merit Time Adventure."

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

'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 11: Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this episode isn’t as exciting or creative as a part of the story arc, it still is a good continuation of what goes on with plenty of admirable qualities.  It features Scrooge man a salvage vehicle called a Gold Digger to reobtain his money trapped at the bottom of the Marinara Trench in the previous episode.  Much of his underwater voyage consists of him getting majorly annoyed by the shipmates coming along with him. They include the Gold Digger’s inventor Gyro Gearloose for praising his inventions and not pointing out their flaws until too late, Launchpad for his usual incompetence, and of all characters, Doofus Drake for constantly eating and being distracting while communicating with dolphins.  Scrooge’s annoyances make for some humorous interactions and reactions between this interesting set of characters, and how he views how they’re failing to cooperate with him is clearly identifiable.  With his fortune lost due to circumstances, it must be hard for him to work with such incompetence even if he can be harsh at times.  However, neither Scrooge nor his accomplices are as bad as the mermen they come across shortly after finding the money.  Throughout the episode, they’re constantly making the air-breathing visitors look bad as they explain how people constantly dump garbage and toxic waste into their kingdom of Atlantis.  They retaliate against the air-breathers with intense labor charges to clear away all garbage from their kingdom for 400 years, including Scrooge’s money.  In addition to the mermen’s behaviors fitting the human-vilifying traits of annoying, preachy environmental stories, they are some of the most unenjoyable antagonists this show has had.  It’s bad enough that they’re harsh to all air-breathers thinking that air-breathers actually enjoy throwing trash down to their city and that they're all like that.  Scrooge even says that some of the trash, his money, belongs to him and is going to take it anyway, but the mermen still won’t listen to reason. Sadly, we see a lot of this not just from them pushing the group to work, but also preventing their escape by taking away their air helmets and sending a sea monster after them when they head towards the surface making the viewing very frustrating.  Through the frustration though, Gyro, Launchpad, and Doofus get a good shot at redemption when Scrooge is imprisoned, and they come up with a plan to not only free him, but also raise his fortune and all of Atlantis.  Gyro’s intellect puts a fizz solution shown earlier to good use, Launchpad spreads it around Atlantis in exciting chase scene as he rides a dolphin with the mermen in hot pursuit, and even Doofus’s newfound way of talking to dolphins plays a significant role.  The conclusion is ultimately satisfying not just because Scrooge’s money is reobtained, but because he’s left learning that even people who seem incompetent can be useful at times.  The mermen are even grateful that their actions rids them of all the trash.  Too bad this is their only moment of decency here.  Also, doesn’t Atlantis being resurfaced defeat its established status as a lost city?  Well, it’s no matter because in spite of some annoying density from some of the characters, this comes off as a highly enjoyable rescue mission with a poignant message on trust. 8/10

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.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship

8.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor

9.      Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

10.  Scrooge’s Pet

11.  Horse Scents

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the conclusion of the "Catch as Cash Can" arc when the moment of truth comes with the weighing of Scrooge and Flintheart's fortunes for the firefly fruit in "Working for Scales."

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

'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 10: Catch as Cash Can Part 2: A Whale of a Bad Time

Catch as Cash Can Part 2: A Whale of a Bad Time

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Given all the exciting and creative moments that happened in the previous part of this story arc, this part more than continues to build upon what was set up.  It all happens when Scrooge is still worried about Flintheart getting to his fortune, so he comes up with a plan to move it out to sea to keep it out of reach with the aid of trucks carrying it disguised as ice cream trucks.  While this move does sound smart, circumstances don’t turn out as planned when a sea monster is reported to have eaten half of Scrooge’s money thought to be ice cream, which by the way, results in a comedic highlight of Scrooge throwing a violent temper tantrum over the news.  The episode then shifts its focus to a deep-sea adventure to track down the reported sea monster and retrieve Scrooge’s fortune.  While that goes on, the navy has a problem of their own when their top-secret submarine shaped like a whale goes missing, and become suspicious of Scrooge coming across it while he’s out in the ocean.  That’s where Donald Duck enters the episode as he goes along with Scrooge’s search while also making sure his uncle doesn’t find the submarine, and throughout the adventure, they both continue to come off as an entertaining pairing.  Scrooge is knowledgeable and level-headed when working through the task at hand while Donald is easily ticked off by whoever they come across which leads to his classic tempers including pushing various buttons without knowing what they do.  This pairing is eventually dragged into the sea-monster conflict when they, along with Scrooge’s other money ships, are swallowed by the whale sub.  It turns out that Flintheart has staged a deal with the sub’s inventor, Dr. Bluebottle, to use it to steal Scrooge’s money which will apparently get Dr. Bluebottle the fame and fortune he’s always dreamed of.  To say the least about him, it’s interesting that a short squeaky-sounding old man would turn out this diabolically evil, and he even fights back the navy really well when they start attacking with death charges making for an awesome action scene.  Also in this whole plot is an interesting moment where Scrooge, in the heat of the Firefly Fruit challenge, decides to just let his fortune reside in a really deep trench when the steering is shot and the sub is sinking.  The surprising thing about Scrooge needing to let his money go is that he’s not only willing to do it, but confident to just go get it back from the trench which is the focus of the arc’s next part, especially after how determined he was to keep it safe in the first part, not to mention the earlier temper tantrum.  Still, it does its part to get you excited to see what comes next, and the episode as a whole still ends up as one of the best of the show with strong comedy, great use of characters, and demonstrations of the show’s imaginative sense of adventure. 10/10

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.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship

8.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor

9.      Scrooge’s Pet

10.  Horse Scents

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we see Disney's interpretation of Atlantis long before Atlantis: The Last Empire in "Aqua Ducks."

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

'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 9: Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy

Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kicking off another multi-episode story arc presents this one with a highly creative premise made more appealing by humorous antics, moments that take you to places perceived as unreachable, and great character moments.  The setup that drives the whole arc is that Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold are challenged to prove who the true richest duck in the world is by gathering their riches together so they can purchase the rights to sell a special illuminating fruit called Firefly Fruit from the city of Macaroon.  It’s already established that Flintheart is willing to do anything to one-up Scrooge, and this episode has him do the ultimate scheme by calling upon the group who specializes in trying to rob Scrooge’s fortune, the Beagle Boys, for help.  As a result, much of what we get here consists of scenes of the Beagle Boys attempting to break into the money bin, first by bringing in the whole Beagle family to raid at a time when Scrooge and the boys are all alone to defend.  It’s interesting and cool to see that even with Scrooge completely nervous about losing to Flintheart in the challenge, he can still find creative ways to beat the whole family back.  However, Scrooge’s obsession also turns out to be his downfall when his own plan to take out anyone who dares come into the money bin to rob it rids the whole building of every cent of his fortune.  From there, there’s never a dull moment as Huey, Dewey, and Louie jump down to the sewers and chase after Scrooge’s money while Scrooge frantically tries to track where his money is going and the main Beagle Boys plot to flow the money into the reservoir so they can rob it easily.  We have many standout moments in the sequence like the boys riding the roaring sewer waters in a boat made from a common barrel, the Beagle Boys opening the floodgates on them when all seems well and later get scared off by an alligator, and Scrooge battling the Beagle Boys in using the water valves to redirect the cash flow.  All the excitement from the chase for the money even continues to the very end of the episode when Scrooge’s money winds up in a random penthouse.  We mostly get some humorous banter from Scrooge, the penthouse owner, and a random couple wanting to buy it as Scrooge haggles them into buying the penthouse and the whole building, and even a humorous meltdown from him as he hopelessly tries to hide his money with the Beagle Boys in very close pursuit.  The way he and the boys finally do outwit them is both really funny and highly clever which is then followed by the tone finally calming down, but given that this is the first part of an arc, you can tell the quest to protect Scrooge’s money is not over yet.  In the end, this episode offers a thrilling start to the story arc that fully delivers and gets you excited for what’s to come. 10/10

The Ranking:

1.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing

2.      Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy

3.      Back to the Klondike

4.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay

5.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck

6.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship

7.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor

8.      Scrooge’s Pet

9.      Horse Scents

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next part of this arc and make sure a sea monster doesn't eat your ice cream or else you'll be in for "A Whale of a Bad Time."

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