Considered by many to be Disney’s greatest cartoon, Ducktales was one of the crowning shows in the 80s and 90s for kids. The show’s premise is Donald Duck has to go back to service so he can’t look after Huey, Dewey, and Louie anymore. Thus he hands them over to his uncle the multi-billionaire duck Scrooge McDuck (would that technically make him Huey, Dewey, and Louie’s great uncle?). From there the show just focuses on the adventures and misadventures of Scrooge McDuck and his nephews search for gold and legendary treasure.
Where do I begin with this show? First off let me start by saying this show was great from beginning to end. Hands down one of the greatest shows ever and for a number of reasons. First off the characters. Scrooge was that one of kind rich duck who despite being the 1% you still liked the guy. He was always interested in money and getting more of it but he still cared for those around him and when he saw what he was doing was bad he would always compromise to work something out where both sides won. He also had that Scottish accent which made everything he said sound funny. Huey, Dewie, and Louie maintain their personalities from the Donald Duck shorts but they do add a little more character and personality to them to make them seem more interesting. They also added in a girl character named Wendy who as a kid I found annoying and even as an adult I still find her annoying but I have to admit she did add a female perspective to the story which often did save the day. Launchpad McQuack was hands down the best character in the show with his bumbling piloting and funny lines. We also had a few good side characters like Gizmoduck (who was awesome), Bubba, Gyro, and many more. We also had a good list of villains like Glomgold Scrooge’s archrival, the Beagle Boys who are your classic robbers, and Magica de Spell a powerful witch who was always after Scrooge’s number one dime to complete a spell which would allow her to take over the world (don’t question it it works in context). The adventures were all great, inspired from the original comics, and feeling like a miniseries of Indiana Jones only with ducks. Another thing that made the series so great was that it didn’t rely on pop culture reference to make itself stand out because the show didn’t need it. Ducktales knew that all they needed was a good batch of characters, fun adventures and stories, and good themes to keep the viewers happy and coming back. It also had that catchy theme song that will never leave your head. In short Ducktales was hands down one of Disney’s greatest shows, one of the best shows I remember watching as a child, and is a milestone in cartoons that everyone should watch.