'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 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.