'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 2: Treasure of tue Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After getting the first taste of Scrooge McDuck and the nephews in the first part of this story arc, we move forward in the second part that not only has them progress towards a huge stash of gold, but also gives an introduction to Scrooge’s rivalry with Flintheart Glomgold.  As we’ve seen in the first DVD volume of the series, Flintheart’s main objective as an antagonist is to beat Scrooge as the richest duck in the world, and does so in some pretty dastardly moves sometimes going as far as to try and get Scrooge arrested.  Still, the rivalry is mostly comedic through how much banter the business rivals have during constant bets to see who can make the most money.  Such a bet is the major focus of this episode when Scrooge and Flintheart set out to see who can make the most money in two weeks, which Scrooge uses as an opportunity to hunt down the gold.  This also leads to the introduction of another prominent element in the series, Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s expert problem-solving skills, mostly relating to their Junior Woodchucks status achieved in the previous episode, which make them stand out from average kid characters.  It plays a huge role in Scrooge’s hunt for the gold since it’s them who uncover its location in Ronguay, South America, the meaning of the frequently repeated word, “monsapis,” and ways their ship works as a map.  The boys’ moments sell their appeal as competent adventurers especially when it encourages Scrooge to keep going when he’s briefly despondant, and also set up how they’d operate in the episodes to come.  We also get a good sense of the lengths Flintheart goes through just to one-up Scrooge such as rigging his plane to Ronguay with a bomb, leading him into quicksand caused by the torrential downpours that are monsapis, and laying low in the gold ship he eventually finds just to spring on him.  In addition to also giving an idea of what we’ll see of Flintheart for the rest of the show, we see more appeal to El Capitan.  Although he’s a standard greedy villain whose sole motivation is to get gold, his overdramatic tendencies on the subject make his single dimension something to laugh at don’t make this a huge issue.  It all leads up to an exciting climax on the ship of gold, which creatively includes gold planks and gold sails.  Even after apprehending Scrooge and the boys and taking the ship for himself, Flintheart shows some heart by leaving his rival with a single gold coin.  Giving even a bit of the treasure away infuriates the greedy El Capitan which sends him overboard and the treasure is sunk again.  In a clever turn of events though, Scrooge having the one coin Flintheart gave him has him win the bet and brings on a hilarious comeuppance point for Flintheart.  As an episode to set up the adventure norm of the series, this leaves us a lot to take away in terms of comedy, creativity, and character moments. 10/10

The Ranking:

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

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

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Scrooge's single coin brings on the next part of the story arc and we meet Launchpad McQuack for the first time in "Three Ducks of the Condor."

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 1: Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don't Give Up the Ship

Life is once again like a hurricane as we return to a previously reviewed show via its second DVD set:

DuckTales (Vol 2)

 

Basic Premise

Despite never growing up with this show, DuckTales turned out to be an exceptional animated series when I reviewed its first DVD volume a while back.  With creative story ideas, likable and interesting characters at the center, and the perfect pace to take in what happened, this series is pretty much everything great about the classic works of Disney brought to life in a TV series.  Of course, being so impressed by the first released set of episodes, I was incredibly motivated to track down the rest of the original series to get a complete feel of it.  It’s especially appropriate to start looking more into it now with the reboot of the series getting the attention of many animation fans.  That’s why, we are now going to devote time to looking into the episodes of the second DVD volume.

As was the case with the first volume, the focus of the series is on the adventures of the richest duck in the world, Scrooge McDuck, and his many adventures to maintain his wealth and keep up his family bonds with his grand-nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.  Along the way, they’re joined by the cute little girl companion, Webby, the crash-happy pilot, Launchpad McQuack, Duckworth the butler, Mrs. Beakley the adventurous maid, and even the occasional drop-in on the one and only Donald Duck serving in the navy.  There’s also no shortage of run-ins with rivals after various parts of Scrooge’s wealth with Flintheart Glomgold targeting the “richest duck in the world” title, the bank robber team, the Beagle Boys, targeting his prized money bin, and Magica de Spell the witch targeting Scrooge’s number one dime.  In addition to the usual standalone episodes, we’re also going to be getting a grander feel in the adventures combined into multi-episode story arcs.  Among the arcs included on this DVD, is the one that started the whole dang series, “Treasure of the Golden Suns.”  Why it wasn’t included on the first volume I’ll never understand, but it’ll still be great to start off with the origins of the show’s core elements.  So, let’s pop in the first disc in the set, and get the reviews started.

Now on with the reviews:

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, here’s the episode that really begins the show despite not being released on DVD first, and it’s a great introduction to both many of the core parts of the series and what this particular story arc will offer.  Scrooge McDuck’s first scenes demonstrate his appeal as a character where he may be full of greed as he relishes in literally swimming in all his money and finding a way to back out of spending any, but does so with a special charm you can’t help but find entertaining.  The charm doesn’t always work as you’ll soon see though.  We also get a lot of Huey, Dewey, and Louie struggling to adjust to their new life with Scrooge when their Uncle Donald enlists in the navy for the series.  If their first heartwarming scene of them saying good-bye to their uncle isn’t enough to sell how hard the adjustment is, then plenty of scenes of Scrooge, the boys, and even Duckworth the butler having problems with this new lifestyle surely will.  The boys want to have fun and take advantage of living with their millionaire great-uncle, but Scrooge clearly doesn’t want anything to do with them by keeping them in the attic, getting offended when they play with his money, and harshly punishing them when they get their hands on a model ship in his museum.  All these scenes bring sympathy for the boys, but don’t do justice for Scrooge as a character.  As for the ship, it becomes one of many plot-driving objects in the arc when the ever-humorous Beagle Boys are enlisted by a mysterious figure who gets amusingly over-dramatic about gold, El Capitan, to steal it from the museum. It’s supposed to help find a huge abundance of gold, which makes Scrooge’s feelings about the boys touching it make sense.  Still, it’s hard to tolerate him when he threatens to send Huey, Dewey, and Louie to boarding school when they explain they were trying to stop the Beagle Boys from stealing the ship.  Thankfully, even with Scrooge’s mean moments, the end of the episode shows he does have a heart and fondness to the boys when he expresses sadness of never really having a family before during an interview at his candy factory.  The moment’s power is proven genuine when he and the boys finally see eye-to-eye and work together to get the ship back from the Beagle Boys in a climax made more appealing by the candy-themed antics.  The last moment of them all growing closer as a family perfectly gets you excited for what they’ll get up to for the rest of the arc.  Aside from a few questionable character moments, this premiere episode nicely kicks off the show and is a solid starting point for what promises to be a treasure hunt unlike any other. 9.5/10

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode, this story arc's thrilling continuation and introduction to Scrooge's rival, Flintheart Glomgold, "Wronguay in Ronguay."

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