'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 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.