DuckTales returns with some armchair psychoanalysis of Donald Duck’s perpetual anger
"What Ever Happened To Donald Duck?!" is mostly a showcase for the strongest and surprisingly resonant, classic character: Donald.
TV Reviews DuckTales
We’re back! After another long-term hiatus, DuckTales returns with another eight-episode bomb to close out the season. This has been an exciting, stronger season overall, and it looks like there’s going to be way more “stuff” on the horizon, if this poster is any indication. A ton of references to the Disney Afternoon will be coming this way through the rest of this season and the next! But as the show begins its venture into the “Disney Afternoon Animated Universe” (or whatever people plan to call it), we can’t ever forget about the show’s strongest and surprisingly resonant, classic character: Donald.
It often felt like DuckTales originally meant for Donald to have a more significant role early on. He had the funniest bits, sure, but he also had the most emotional attachment to the nephews, the most trenchant insights in adventuring, and a certain verve that came to the surface when the people he loved were in danger. But it seemed as if the creative team couldn’t figure out how to write around his voice. Literally. It proved tricky to put so much dramatic weight on someone that many people can’t understand, so he was put on the backburner, relegated to elaborately (still funny) comedy bits and self-aware gags about how no one can really understand him. There’s been discussion in the comments here on how to write around this particular obstacle, but it hasn’t quite been explored on this show, at least not yet. “What Ever Happened To Donald Duck?!” transforms all of that subtext into literal text, which plays well in the episode climax, but struggles in a lot of other ways that hinders some of the action and development.
I think that a big issue is that this upcoming Moon invasion of Earth feels weirdly alien (pun intended). Della’s whole dilemma was tied to the introduction and motivations of the Moonlanders, but now that she’s home, this story line is coming across rather perfunctory. It has the requisite twists and turns–a softened Penumbra working with Donald to stop the invasion, the revelation that Lunaris has been working on an Earth invasion for a while–but beyond that, the Moonlanders aren’t all that interesting.
The Moonlanders overall are easily manipulated and kind of lame, and even though they have a massive fleet of ships, this is DuckTales we’re talking about, so even that doesn’t seem like it’ll be much of a threat. Donald falls into the soldiers’ barracks and takes out every guard (in a funny, if overly long, sequence involving a scorpion-creature crawling in his clothing). Are we really worried that these people will become fearsome adversaries when the time comes? (Looking back at the last episode the show dealt with the Moonlanders, which included the poorly conceived theme of a Donald/Penumbra parallel that doesn’t even come up in this episode, I’m almost tempted to say that this Moonlander invasion plot isn’t really working at all.)
It makes sense, then, to bring in Donald to bring another connection/exploration to the developing invasion plans, if to provide this story a familiar spark, and someone to push this narrative further. Donald is, as usual, a lot of fun, but, as usual, the show contrives a reason to prevent him from talking (as opposed to handcuffing him). DuckTales puts Donald through the ringer for optimum hilarity (although there are some nit-picky issues I had with some of the blocking/timing), but the episode reaches its dark climax when he confronts Lunaris on top of his failed spaceship-launcher… thing. Lunaris boldly taunts Donald with the direct threat of destroying his nephews, a cold warning that forces Donald to his breaking point.
We’ve seen Donald reach this point before, especially when his loved ones’ lives are on the line. It’s part of this iteration of Donald’s appeal. Yet DuckTales plays it safe by explaining it in terms of anger management. During an investigation into Donald’s disappearance by Dewey and Webby (a B-story that honestly pushes the limits of a pretty strong pairing of characters), they run into Jones, an anger management counselor who verbalizes something we already knew. Donald feels beat up by the world, and unheard, and the only way to channel that anger and frustration is through his protective instincts, lashing out when his family is in danger.
This isn’t particularly healthy, especially in this family that’s defined by danger, but it’s probably the best thing someone in Donald’s position will get. It does provide Donald a temporary one up on Lunaris, allows him to get off a (failed) warning transmission, and take that spaceship launcher device back to earth, at the threat to his survive. Donald’s absolute force of will to protect his family will allow him to survive that fatal flight, showing how much Donald can save himself and the episode at large. But outside of him, “What Ever Happened to Donald Duck?!” functions mostly to begin this season’s Moonvasion endgame.
Stray observations
- These next eight new episodes of DuckTales will have a very weird schedule. They will air on Disney XD first, then later in the day on the Disney Channel proper. They’re also on the app and On Demand the day they air. I’ll try to get reviews up around 4-5pm EST daily.
- I find it weird that Lunaris tracked down the biggest threats to his invasion plans, but ended up focusing on Scrooge and his family. Which, in the DuckTales world, makes a degree of sense, but that he didn’t have any research of military personnel or equipment was bizarre.
- When Jones is explaining himself to Dewey and Webby, he makes himself what appears to be an antacid drink. It’s a unique detail that feels like a bit of animation created just cause they could.
27 Comments
Donald Fuckyouup Duck
the bit where donald is flying towards earth and begins to see a tunnel of colors like from the end of ‘2001′ made me laugh out loud. it was a very cute bit.
Wait no mention of Shawshank? Dewtective? Space Odyssey?
Pretty solid episode. Don’t know how I’m a grown ass man and enjoying this show so much.
I had to rewind Dewtective. Highlight of the episode for me.
The 2001: A Space Odyssey part killed in our house. We loved it.
This “fight” was a total letdown and hardly what I spent my summer waiting for. Can they please stop diminishing Donald’s fighting prowess to jumping on people and pulling their faces?! He fights by punches and headbutts! This better not be the “finest moment” Frank was talking about because this episode did NOT deliver. 😑
I don’t think Donald was meant to be an ineffective fighter here but that moon captain guy is just meant to be incredibly strong. I agree though that it would be great to see Donald deliver a comics-style headbutt.
I kinda agree: the writers seem to make it seem like Donald is a big part of the show when he isn’t and the speech must be the reason why. But, I mean like, Donald is still intelligible – watch any House of Mouse or Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He’s not speaking like Cousin It or anything.
Amazing how dozens of Disney cartoons before this were able to write Donald Duck without worrying about his voice but this show can’t.I was very, VERY worried that the clamp around Donald’s beak was going to last the whole season, but seeing him still able to talk a bit calmed me down a bit and thankfully it was broken by episode’s end. Dewey and Webby’s little adventure was amusing, which is about the highest compliment I can pay to the kids.
I find it weird that this show is so afraid of Donald ruining the drama by speaking when Disney produces Kingdom Hearts – a series that leans into the hilarity of Disney characters being involved in end-of-the-world shenanigans that it often manages to cross the line back into full-on pathos. Like, it’s all really stupid, but after playing the first game I’m desentisized to the stupidity of it and I can just heartily laugh or admire some of the dumb, awesome stuff that’s happening.I mean, in this year’s game Donald Duck has a “Captain America holding Mjolnir”-level Badass Moment(tm) and it fucking works. And I’d argue it works precisely because it’s Donald Duck speaking in his Donald Duck voice.
Looks like there might be some ingredients around here.
The chief problem is that while Ducktales is based on the old Barks/Rosa stories where Donald was a major role, the chief nostalgia market for Ducktales are the people who remember the original Ducktales show where Donald was demoted to rare cameo due to Eisner’s embargo on the main Disney cast.
Ducktales 2.0 clearly wants “to course correct” things by pushing Donald heavily (even though they also don’t care about actually respecting the lore; IE completely missing the point of Webby to the point of rendering her a show killing radioactive turd no one likes) but the people who they need to watch find Donald (like Webby) one of the most damaging elements of the revival. And while they’ve completely salted the earth with Webby (who’s entire character is that she’s a shy, innocent, helpless Pollyanna who’s role on the show is to be Scrooge’s conscience when he’s at his darkest but was turned into Mabel from Gravity Falls, but with twice as more unlikable)? They CAN marginalize Donald so he doesn’t hijack the entire show.
I agree that the series has this awkward balancing act between the old stories, and the popular cartoon. But how do you feel about Webby, though? 😉
I feel similar to the way the show makes him to be a good parent, but after the pilot those supposed moments of him being a parent are really few and far between.
That Badass Moment(tm) made the game for me. It’s one of the most glorious moments in the KH series.
Does it still have the same opening theme music?
It’s the same song, but obviously rerecorded. It no longer sounds like it is trying to be a J. Geils Band song.
The OG one is my favorite cartoon theme ever (possibly just TV in general), but I’m lukewarm on the new version.
I loved this episode. Best use of Donald since the 50s. You’re right that the show struggles to use Donald effectively but it’s because this show is more mature than House of Mouse and the dialogue relies on more clever lines ad wordplay than “Oh boy oh boy” or “Oh yeah!!?” can acheive. That said, I thought this episode completely pulled it off. It was like a love letter to Donald. Great animation too. Loved the shoutouts to Phooey Duck and Neighbor Jones from the comics.
Phooey foreshadowing?
I tried to watch one episode, but I couldn’t get past the voices. No offense to the cast, I’m just used to the original and my brain wouldn’t work right.
I loved the time travel Christmas episode where they got the OG voice actor for the triplets to voice young Donald.
Is there a place/service to catch up on DuckTales? I saw the first couple episodes a week ago and it looks great.
It’s on Disney Now. Probably will be on Disney +.
After the awesomeness of “The Duck Knight Returns” this was a bit of a letdown but still fun.
Another comics reference here: Jones appeared in print as Neighbor Jones (hence the name of his business on the show). He was one of Donald’s domestic foils, and as I recall he had a bit of a temper himself.
Is it confirmed anywhere by the producers that Donald was scaled back due to the audience not understanding him? I had heard it was due to the strain on Tony Anselmo’s voice. Given the main cast all understand Donald, it wouldn’t be hard for him to be understood contextually through facial expressions, hand gestures, and the dialogue of those around him. I like this one, though I admit it does feel by the numbers at times to setup the season finale. And even though we all generally know the source of Donald’s anger, it doesn’t hurt to have it said out loud (and it nicely frames Donald’s fight with Lunaris on the moon).