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mattiasflgrtll6
08-23-17, 02:00 PM
Hey, folks! Do you like DuckTales? Then this is the thread for you!

I'm reviewing them in the order of how they appear on the box sets (mostly). This is why I'm not going with the pilot at first, since it oddly enough is included in Volume 2.


Send In The Clones

http://i.imgur.com/ItGsUjC.jpg

A reporter is on the way to get an exclusive interview with Scrooge McDuck, wanting to know the surface of this famous greedy zillionaire (possibly even more). At the same time, Magina De Spell (in her first appearance in the series) has a devious plan to steal his Number One Dime: transforming the Beagle Boys to the nephews! Of course, this creates a whole deal of complications...

Damn! What a splendid start!
Storywise it's pure genius. I'm sure you know the good ol' comedy trope of an eager reporter really wanting to get upclose on someone, with the person interviewed trying to make a good impression. But there's a twist: neither she nor Scrooge knows about the clone mishaps! Allowing them to go to a movie before the reporter arrives (although she arrives a lot earlier, but this is a nitpick), he hasn't gotten any worry in the world. To his surprise though, they get home after just maybe 20 minutes. No sweat for Scrooge though, they are obedient charming little boys! Except they are not his boys, they are the disguised Beagle Boys! I freaking love the scene where he sees the real boys come home and they're confused over why they're grounded (being sent upstairs), but then he sees his boys run back down, except it's the clones. And so it goes on a few times. I was in laughter over how he's so unsuspect over how they keep "coming back" at practically the speed of light. And Mrs. Beakley's cluelessness is equally entertaining. She doesn't question how the boys have suddenly much deeper voices, or why they keep talking to her in such a cocky manner. And from this moment comes one of the funniest and best delivered lines of the episode:

"Hey, Babyface! Get this crazy dame offa' me!"

But, since the side effect is the real Beagle Boys show in a mirror, she sees that it's them and faints. But the entertainment doesn't end there, it only becomes better! We then see Magica De Spell herself stepping in, now disguised as Mrs. Beakley, also with a voice so noticeably different only a fool wouldn't question it. But once again, Scrooge does not suspect a thing! Speaking of Magica by the way, I think it's an interesting character choice to give her a Russian accent. It's something I never imagined her with when reading the comics, but it fits like a charm.
The real Mrs. Beakley does wake up, but even when she's trying to warn Mr. Scrooge, he thinks she's talking about his real boys, embarrassing him in front of the interviewer. Which results in my favorite scene, where Scrooge uselessly comes up with excuses to show another part of his life in order to persuade her. Even when he just wants to show her his study, when he opens the door it looks like a war zone!

The final scene is where Scrooge and Beakley finally find out what's really going on, and we get a showdown with the heroes and villains against each other. I really love the animation here, with the burning hot red color of lava and the darkly lit cave. It's very atmospheric and conveys how much tension is at stake. Notable is also how many of the shots were used for the opening intro (up until season 3, where they started inserting newer footage as well), including the iconic image of Huey trying to latch onto a cliff edge with a Beagle Boy behind him. The twist with Scrooge seemingly "giving" Magica his Number One Dime but actually switching it with a lesser worth coin is not a surprising one. In fact, it's kind of been a recurring incident (I refrain to say gag, since it's not really just played as a joke) in Scrooge & Magica stories. Even so, you gotta love the ending with everyone laughing how carried away she always gets with her rants of taking over the world.

I gotta say it's a very strong output from the series. It's considered a fan favorite by many, and for good reasons.

4.5

mattiasflgrtll6
08-29-17, 03:33 PM
Sphinx For The Memories

http://i.imgur.com/W5VEEV5.jpg

Scrooge and his nephews are supposed to meet Donald in Bughazi, but he seems to be a little late. But just as Don is about to meet them up he gets mistaken for an ancient Middle-Eastern ruler, due to looking exactly alike... and gets kidnapped! As if that wasn't bad enough, a devious want-to-be-king Sarkus has some plans of his own...

This was a pretty cool episode. The locations are very well-drawn, especially when Scrooge and the boys get trapped inside a temple. And this is one of only 8 episodes to feature Donald (and in some of them he's not even in it that much), so enjoy it while you can. Most of the humor came from his sheer innocence and being confused over what's going on. At first he's terrified, but when he's shown what the good life is like, he shows his lazy side as well. As usual, Tony Anselmo is absolutely spot-on as Donald, and conveys his different emotions with excellence. Marilyn Lightstone and Larry Moss are also pretty good in their guest roles. Sarkus is probably not my favorite villain of the series, but there's a lot of fun when he initiates his final stage of the plan: opening up the mummy's tomb to scare Donald out of there. It (hilariously enough) fails however when he manages to hide from the mummy, and believes it all to be a dream.

Scrooge and the boys (after going through some unfortunate trouble) manage to find him, but now he also has to be possessed by the ghost of the ancient ruler he looks like. And when that happens, he becomes evil! There's a good joke where Donald rejects the punishment it's suggested he give them, only to come up with a different one instead. It then gets more suspenseful as they manage to untie themselves, but has to face a mummy hungry for vengeance. Or is he really? I like how when they break Donald free from the curse, he starts to act completely like in the navy instead, at the worst possible timing. The resolution where the mummy turns out to be an old friend of the ancient ghost spirit is really nice.

So Donald is saved, and Scrooge safely flies home with the boys. Poor Donald however has to go back to swabbing the deck, as ordered by his stern boss Admiral Grimitz, who is a small but entertaining character.

It's not quite as memorable as Clones, and notably doesn't have a lot of humor. But the adventurous feel and the well-written plot still earns it very high marks. Not to mention it stars Donald Duck.
Scrooge has his charming little moments of dry wit as well.

4