A Case of Mistaken Identity ( DuckTales Vol 4 Part 10) - 'Toon Reviews 50

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A Case of Mistaken Identity

When stories involve superheroes, a common thing for them to deal with is their secret identity, mainly making sure it stays secret for the protection of themselves and others.  Sometimes, the matter exists for the purposes of drama in their relationship with loved ones or to create a personal drama in simply how hard it is to keep it secret.  In the case of this episode, the matter of the secret identity of this featured superhero, Gizmoduck, is central to a story about jealousy of someone else mistaken to be him.  Ultimately, the execution is mixed. 

With how popular Gizmoduck has become at this point, Huey, Dewey, and Louie become curious as to who he really is.  Through an investigation, there's a chance encounter with Scrooge and Launchpad, the latter of whom they come to believe is definitely Gizmoduck.  Fenton Crackshell also happens to be there, and despite being cool with keeping his status as Gizmoduck secret before, he becomes visibly upset at this assumption.  Scrooge tries to assure him that it’s better the nephews think Launchpad is Gizmoduck to protect his identity, but to no avail.  

It’s at this point where the plot of the episode is established with Fenton setting out to prove that Launchpad is not Gizmoduck, and the results have a good deal of frustration and contrivance.  The frustration comes from how it’s already well established to the audience that Launchpad isn’t Gizmoduck. To have the world around Fenton stick to believing falsehoods doesn’t sit right.  

Following Fenton putting up with ridiculous reasons for the nephews’ claims such as a piece of metal at Launchpad’s allegedly being part of Gizmoduck, there’s a Gizmoduck party.  It seems like an easy place for Fenton to show up as Gizmoduck while Launchpad appears as himself, all set to disprove the theory.  However, as Gizmoduck, Fenton has to put up with all sorts of ineptness from people thinking that he’s wearing a costume.  Some fans who are also wearing a Gizmoduck costume even have quirks that seem to be more impressive than that of the real hero which is kind of sad.  Then there’s an incident with fireworks where Fenton rushes to dispatch a box of them when they’re accidentally lit while everyone else, including Launchpad, runs away.  Fenton finishes the job, but everyone still believes Launchpad is Gizmoduck when he comes back all banged up.  Is that really enough to be so sure? How do they know that this outcome is definitely what happened?  

Because of this setup, Launchpad is then constantly bombarded with people who are more convinced than ever that he’s Gizmoduck, something he’s desperate to deny.  In that regard, it’s interesting that both he and Fenton are on the same page to prove that’s not the case despite the latter’s jealousy.  It seems like they have a chance when Launchpad is captured by the Beagle Boys, and Fenton comes to rescue him as Gizmoduck.  However, since he and Launchpad weren’t both there when Gizmoduck got the Beagle Boys arrested, this does nothing to break the belief.  Also, since a lie detector used on the Beagle Boys says they’re telling the truth, now this false belief is 100% confirmed, dragging things out even more.  

It’s at this point where the episode becomes very monotonous with its story where just when it seems to be getting somewhere, something always keeps it going.  It would be appropriate for the audience to just want it to get to a resolution.  Thankfully, that turns out to be well-handled.  Launchpad, in an interview where the crowds expect official confirmation that he is Gizmoduck, ends up saying the password to get the Gizmoduck suit on himself.  His inexperience on how to actually work the suit leads into several mishaps and eventually a spectacle of a runaway through the series.  The most standout element though is Fenton’s role in this circumstance.  Even though he’s not the one with the power, it’s nice to see Fenton’s natural wits be what saves Launchpad from every mishap his mishandling of the suit causes.  Then, after much ineptness from the public, there’s something rewarding with them noticing Fenton’s heroic efforts in addition to finally realizing Launchpad can’t be Gizmoduck.  There’s even some solid humor with Huey, Dewey, and Louie now considering Fenton a likely candidate albeit shockingly placed below Mrs. Beakley of all characters.  While a good laugh to end the episode on, it’s perplexing to see how Fenton is upset about people not knowing his identity, a mark against this story as a whole.  

This secret identity story has a fair share of things to hold it back from the long time everyone believes a fallacy, and contrivances to keep it going.  Still, it’s entertaining, and a solid number of moments have good heart, humor, and character, so while it’s far from great, it’s certainly not bad.

B

The Ranking

1.     My Mother the Psychic

2.     Allowance Day

3.     The Big Flub

4.     The Land of Trala La

5.     The Good Muddahs

6.     Dough Ray Me

7.     A Case of Mistaken Identity

8.     Bubba’s Big Brainstorm

9.     Metal Attraction

10.  Bubbeo and Juliet

The next review steers us to the reboot where Scrooge goes missing during his birthday party.

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

Bubba's Big Brainstorm (DuckTales Vol 4 Part 8) - 'Toon Reviews 50

 If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

Bubba’s Big Brainstorm

It’s technically a break from the norm to have Bubba the caveduck in the spotlight again after a number of Gizmoduck and nephew starring roles.  However, his lack of real intrigue as a lead still persists as this episode features problems that arise regardless of whether or not something is done with his boisterous caveduck ways.  

The conflict starts with everyone wanting to do something about Bubba’s recent string of bad grades which already begs a lot of questions.  Since he’s from the Stone Age and not as evolved as people in modern times, it’s a given a school in this age wouldn’t be a good fit for him.  In fact, why is he even a classmate?  This is even brought up later on, but nothing comes of this claim.  

Anyway, Bubba is given an invention by Gyro Gearloose called a thinking cap, and it instantly works in making him smarter.  This makes his entire persona change, not only having a larger intellect for his studies, but also speaking with a more sophisticated tone and vocabulary.  It’s effective in lowering his more scrappy tendencies and guarantees him better grades, but there’s also a mixed perception on this new Bubba.  He easily fulfills his goal of better grades up to the point of getting the teacher to quit and go back to college.  However, Huey, Dewey, and Louie see Bubba’s lack of rambunctiousness as a problem despite the fact that he’s much less destructive to others now.  It’s hard to really agree with them that this is a problem.  At the same time, it seems that being smart inherently gives Bubba major attitude issues as he ends up majorly boastful with what he knows and talks down to everyone else.  Both personas of Bubba are clearly problematic, yet the setup presents one as good and one as bad with no mention of a compromise.  In some cases, it’s debatable which is seen as good or bad.  From Scrooge’s perspective, he thinks nothing of the old Bubba, but sees nothing but value in the new Bubba, particularly how his new intellect can help increase his fortune.  This mindset shows a lack of consideration, but it does at least get better later on.  

Anyway, Bubba’s newfound genius ways lead Scrooge and the nephews to a treasure that belonged to an ancient civilization of geniuses called the Ancient Thinkas.  The stereotypically depicted natives of this tribe ambush them and trap them in their temple for trespassing, but this actually poses as an opportunity to find the treasure.  Bubba deduces that the Ancient Thinkas stored their treasure in the temple, and the way to uncover it is to make their way through.  There are some close calls when getting through the temple’s obstacles, but Bubba continues to prove effective whether he’s decoding a rhythmic alarm on a door; using an equation to find a correct direction; or guessing simple riddles.  

His intellect is productive, but it shows a continuous lack of consideration for the well-being of others.  This is especially apparent when Huey, Dewey, and Louie are attacked by a monster and Bubba thinks nothing of it.  This marks a welcome turning point to Scrooge’s way of thinking where after seeing merit in the new Bubba, he claims the caveduck is now all brain and no heart.  In other words, he’d rather have the old Bubba back, which ultimately proves that the appeal of his character is still present.  For that, Bubba gives up the thinking cap, allowing his old intelligence and caveduck mannerisms to return and save the boys with a simple whack with a club and brute force to the monster.  

After this productive example of the old Bubba, the treasure of the Ancient Thinkas is revealed to be a collection of books on the natives’ history.  As a notable yet not too subtle tie to Bubba, they became so smart that they forgot their survival skills, though that seems hard to believe for the current generation of Thinkas.  Amidst the confusion of how all this works, everything is resolved with Scrooge aiming to profit off the treasure by selling the books, and the boys happy to have the old Bubba back.  

That said, the story could have been stronger if the conclusion involved Bubba finding a balance between his old caveduck ways, and his useful knowledge.  They both clearly have good and bad points, but painting one side as all good and the other as all bad, the appeal is noticeably weakened.  This means the episode doesn’t go all out with its concept, but for the good points it still makes and moral value winning out, it’s overall a work with enough brain and heart.

B

The Ranking

1.     My Mother the Psychic

2.     Allowance Day

3.     The Land of Trala La

4.     The Good Muddahs

5.     Dough Ray Me

6.     Bubba’s Big Brainstorm

7.     Metal Attraction

8.     Bubbeo and Juliet

The next review returns us to Fenton who comes up with a new business idea full of Pep.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, we turn to the reboot to look into "The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra."

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

The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks (DuckTales 2017 Season 1 Episode 7) - 'Toon Reviews 51

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks

This episode continues the reboot’s trend of adding its own elements alongside putting its own spin on the familiar.  While it did a very commendable job with Lena a while back, the reboot-exclusive elements here is kind of mixed. 

At a club made for billionaires comes a sudden appearance of a tech developer called Mark Beaks.  His main trait is being up to date with the latest trends, innovating with new technology and staying relevant on social media.  As a character, these qualities can be seen as fairly enjoyable or somewhat excessive and dated, so that puts his entertainment value in a conflicting place.  Looking at the main plot, Huey and Dewey, taking a keen interest in Mark’s ways, learn that the tech developer is looking for an intern and they’re inspired to apply for the job.  Even as they say they’ll approach competing for the position fairly, it’s very easy to tell that this position will come between them.  

Within this standard plot though, there’s solid entertainment coming from exploring his company, Waddle.  For such a major business said to have made millions, the whole place is practically one big playground from an abundance of trampolines and slides to everything made of candy.  In addition to the fun environment, the main conflict does a solid job of demonstrating a point of favor to this entire reboot.  It highlights the newly formed individuality of the nephews that other incarnations of the characters never touched upon.  Competing for the internship shows off Huey’s specific trait of being obsessively detail oriented with Dewey’s more laid back approach of taking the easy way through the job.  While the former certainly has a serious and more responsible approach to business, the latter treats the job offer as something cool and develops a good rapport with the staff.  In Mark’s eyes, they both seem to show good potential, though his thought process is very random.  After a random stint of the boys bringing him coffee for certain times, he declares Huey the intern but out of nowhere decides to make young Dewey a vice president.  It does show off more good individuality in the characters with Huey suffering a breakdown over things going against everything he calculated.  

While Waddle certainly seems like a fun business place, one can’t help but feel there’s something phony about all this.  It’s like the episode is smart enough to point out that even the best seeming companies have a catch to them.  A lot of that is displayed in scenes featuring Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold contemplating Mark Beaks and how untrustworthy he is.  The two rival billionaires even consider teaming up to take him down, though Flintheart is much more demented in his scheme that goes to ridiculous lengths.  

A big factor to his plan is that he’s at least clear that he plans on betraying everyone when all is said and done, unlike Mark himself.  This is especially notable with his constant mentions of an amazing sounding plan called Project Ta-Dah, especially to a threatening looking agent, Falcon Graves.  For all Mark’s talk, the nature of the project is very vague and just a cover for its truth later on; that being that the project doesn’t exist.  It’s nothing more than a big empty room whose sole purpose is to build up hype from the name alone.  Because Graves is the one who invested in Mark becoming rich, it’s way too easy to side with him when he attacks him.  While Huey and Dewey reconciling and appreciating each other’s virtues is nice after learning the truth, it’s concerning that they still feel like Mark is the one who needs help.  Even so, while their strengths do save Mark, they do give him some karma by posting an embarrassing picture of him on social media.  Plus, it seems like Mark does get some comeuppance when he’s suddenly roped into Flintheart’s convoluted scheme of going to a fake yacht party.  It’s never seen, so whatever happens is up to audience interpretation.  

In spite of a questionable character and basic plot, the execution brings enough solid fun and chemistry from those involved.

B+

Series Ranking

1.      The House of the Lucky Gander

2.      The Beagle Birthday Breakout

3.      The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest

4.      Daytrip of Doom

5.      The Great Dime Chase

6.      Escape To/From Atlantis

7.      Woo-oo

8.      The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks

The next episode takes Scrooge and the team to Egypt where they find a group of mummies with limited knowledge of the outside world and worship their own fabricated god.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Your Ed Here" and "The Good Ol' Ed" from Ed Edd n Eddy.

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

 

Dough Ray Me - (DuckTales Vol 4 Part 7) - 'Toon Reviews 50

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

Dough Ray Me

Focus is back on Huey, Dewey, and Louie with this episode and continues the trend of them wanting to get money the easy way only for their plans to majorly backfire.  With this in mind, it’s fitting to expect a lot of familiarity with the concept, though it’s not without some interesting insight on exactly how money works.  

As usual, the boys are keen to a summer of all their favorite activities, but their excitability causes them to burn through the allowance they have, so they can’t afford to do them all.  Since Scrooge won’t raise their allowance, they try to settle for a summer job acting as the “dust busters” utilizing the best skill kids their age have, cleaning.  That said, even attempts at that job don’t go as planned.  While on their job, they try selling their services to Gyro Gearloose who has another invention on hand for them to use to solve their problem the easy way as usual.  This time, the invention is a duplicator ray with a name the boys noticeably have trouble pronouncing throughout the episode.  Seeing that it can make a copy of anything, including money, that’s enough to convince the boys that their money problems are through. However, they end up proving very impatient and brash as they take the duplicator and use it to double their money without getting all the details.  

The consequences of this are soon known as Gyro notices everything he duplicated starting to double at the sound of a bell.  Since Huey, Dewey, and Louie used the duplicator on their money, that means it doubles too at the sound of a bell, and that holds true for everyone who’s paid their money.  On the surface, it seems good that everyone gets a lot of money, but all of this means a very believable effect on the entire economy, inflation.  Since everyone keeps getting tons of money, there are skyrocketing increases on even the smallest of things (though things like the cost of dental insurance remain the same).  The depiction of inflation has a comedic exaggerated edge to it, but the main point of what all this means is still very clear.  In a way, the episode is both a fun comedy of errors but also teaches a very valuable lesson on managing money, one of the most essential tools of life.  

In finding a way around the doubling money situation, admittedly, there is some confusion and a bit of needless complexities.  At one point, the money doubles so much that a warning from Gyro makes it seem like it and everything that was duplicated will explode.  Fenton Crackshell, who throughout the episode was trying to come up with a good way to help Scrooge in hopes for a raise, comes up with a solution.  By calling a few favors, he makes it very easy for the Beagle Boys to break out of prison and steal all the money complete with storing it in their own money bin.  They think they hit it rich, unaware that they’re storing away an impending explosion.  Then it turns out Gyro never meant to imply the duplicated items would explode causing some drama between characters.  A bell goes off shortly after and then all the duplicated items including the money disappears or “implodes.”  That takes care of the issue, but why couldn’t the clarification have been made sooner?  There was honestly nothing to gain from that brief moment of panic.  At least the point of inflation was made as is Huey, Dewey, and Louie learning to be more reasonable with making money…again.  

On the whole, this episode is a mix of clever ideas and interactions along with repeated tropes and confusing stakes, but it’s a positive experience more or less.

B

The Ranking

1.      My Mother the Psychic

2.      Allowance Day

3.      The Land of Trala La

4.      The Good Muddahs

5.      Dough Ray Me

6.      Metal Attraction

7.      Bubbeo and Juliet

The next review shows what happens when a rambunctious cave duck gets a moment of genius.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an episode from the reboot, "The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks."

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

The House of the Lucky Gander - (DuckTales 2017 Season 1 Episode 6) - 'Toon Reviews 51

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

The House of the Lucky Gander

With the nature of this reboot established where it uses elements of the original series and shapes it into its own appealing adventure, this episode’s potential for fun is made clear.  The final result more than lives up to that potential, coming off as a creative experience with a strong use of character.  

One of the Duck family’s adventures leads them to a lavish expensive hotel located in the exotic city of Macaw.  It’s here where a tie to an element of the original series is made when another uncle, Gladstone Gander, approaches the family for help.  He turns out to be an interesting center for the adventure making good use of what the world of DuckTales has to offer considering his sparse appearances in the original series.  

One advantage Gladstone’s appearance in this reboot has over the original is a look at his dynamic with other characters.  Being an uncle, one can’t help but wonder what his relationship with Donald was like.  Since Donald is featured more prominently in this reboot, this is the place to get that answer.  There’s a major contrast with luck between the two with Gladstone always getting lucky enough, particularly through always finding $20, while Donald is always stuck with bad luck.  For that it’s easy to see some tension between the two, and it seems unbelievable that Gladstone is the one who needs help.  

As the family explores the hotel, it becomes even harder to believe with the many cool things it has to offer.  There’s an enticing floor show with elaborate water effects; Dewey bonds with a jade tiger; the buffet temple is tempting and sumptuous; and Louie gets high class bonding time with his uncle Gladstone.  Even Scrooge, who constantly belittles the amenities is partially swayed to stay at the hotel.  

Then there’s consideration of Donald, the one Gladstone actually needs the help of.  Apparently, Gladstone’s luck is so good, he can’t lose at any game or offer, and by extension, it means he can’t leave the hotel.  This is further proven by mystical shackle holding him to the hotel.  Naturally, if Donald is unlucky, this should mean he can actually allow Gladstone to lose and be able to leave.  In other words, Gladstone’s good luck is actually more of a curse than a blessing, and it’s all a work of a seemingly friendly hotel manager, Liu Hai.  In reality, Liu Hai is actually an ancient spirit who takes advantage of Gladstone’s luck by using his good fortune for his own gain.  

To free Gladstone, someone must beat him in the ultimate challenge, an obstacle course made from the material that makes up the hotel (which creatively turns out to be playing cards).  Scrooge offers to do it, but ultimately Donald is chosen because he is a sure loser.  Though it seems like all hope is lost, a point is made by the nephews that Donald’s biggest strength is that he never gives up no matter what’s against him.  As it turns out, this accurate statement is what’s needed for Donald to win the course.  However, Gladstone still turns out lucky because while he’s ultimately set free, Donald must stay in his place.  Even so, Donald being unlucky is actually the better outcome because his bad luck ends up getting the casino destroyed, and he’s set free by default.  

By the end, this whole escapade is more or less something that just happens, especially since Gladstone rarely shows up again (still more than in the original series though).  Still, with great atmosphere, creative challenges, memorable character moments, and interesting twists on concepts, it all comes together as a strong adventure.

A+

Series Ranking

1.      The House of the Lucky Gander

2.      The Beagle Birthday Breakout

3.      The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest

4.      Daytrip of Doom

5.      The Great Dime Chase

6.      Escape To/From Atlantis

7.      Woo-oo

The next review shows the boys compete for the position of an internship with tech wizard Mark Beaks.

Next time, all reviews are on hold so this blog can cover the series finale of The Owl House.

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