DuckTales reboot coming to Disney XD in 2017
- Thread starter Chris3123
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Well, as I've said, DuckTales and Darkwing were extremely different in style and attitude. The former was a fairly close adaptation of Carl Barks's Scrooge McDuck comics, while the latter was Disney trying to emulate Chuck Jones and Tex Avery. Darkwing's own creator has confirmed it wasn't actually set in the DuckTales universe, more a sort of alternative take on it (like Teen Titans vis-a-vis Batman: The Animated Series). So it stands to reason that a fan of one wouldn't automatically like the other.
Watching the premiere... Good grief, either Tony Anselmo's voice has changed or my hearing has, because I needed to turn on closed captioning to understand most of Donald Duck's dialogue. This is part of why I hate Donald Duck. That's one of the worst cartoon character voices ever devised.
The rest is pretty cool, though. It's pretty funny and clever writing, and the animation isn't bad, though it's not on a par with the Tokyo Movie Shinsha work in the original show. The music's okay, trying to sound similar to Ron Jones's work on the original, though again, not on the same level. And there are tons of in-jokes to the original DuckTales and other Disney Afternoon shows -- the first act contained references to Cape Suzette (TaleSpin) and Spoonerville (Goof Troop). Scrooge'sWing of Mysteries garage had glimpses of a number of artifacts from the original series, including the head of the robot Armstrong (actually from a Carl Barks comic) and Aladdin's lamp from the DuckTales movie.
I appreciate the effort to make the nephews more individual and Webby less passive, but I'm afraid I find all their voices a bit annoying (though nowhere near Donald levels of annoyingness). I also find Glomgold's new voice actor a lot less effective than Hal Smith was. (Also, I note they're keeping the original show's choice to make Glomgold Scottish. He was a South African Boer in the original comics. The original show changed that because of tensions over apartheid at the time, but I'd think the need for that would've passed now.) Of course, David Tennant is terrific as Scrooge, but so far he's the only voice actor who impresses me here. Although the new Launchpad has potential, I guess. Pretty good comic delivery/timing.
The rest is pretty cool, though. It's pretty funny and clever writing, and the animation isn't bad, though it's not on a par with the Tokyo Movie Shinsha work in the original show. The music's okay, trying to sound similar to Ron Jones's work on the original, though again, not on the same level. And there are tons of in-jokes to the original DuckTales and other Disney Afternoon shows -- the first act contained references to Cape Suzette (TaleSpin) and Spoonerville (Goof Troop). Scrooge's
I appreciate the effort to make the nephews more individual and Webby less passive, but I'm afraid I find all their voices a bit annoying (though nowhere near Donald levels of annoyingness). I also find Glomgold's new voice actor a lot less effective than Hal Smith was. (Also, I note they're keeping the original show's choice to make Glomgold Scottish. He was a South African Boer in the original comics. The original show changed that because of tensions over apartheid at the time, but I'd think the need for that would've passed now.) Of course, David Tennant is terrific as Scrooge, but so far he's the only voice actor who impresses me here. Although the new Launchpad has potential, I guess. Pretty good comic delivery/timing.
I'm in love with this series. Honestly, the VAs have grown in me. And was that news reporter at the end of the episode supposed to be a girl version of Plucky Duck or Count Duckula?
Err, no, since neither is a Disney character. (Warner Bros. and Cosgrove Hall, respectively.) I'd assume they just want a more ethnically diverse cast and are using different duck feather colors like brown and green analogously with human skin tone variations. (For instance, GizmoDuck is now Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera, played by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and has brown feathers instead of white.)
Speaking of diversity, did we see any dog characters in these first two episodes? There's no sign of Duckworth the butler, and I didn't notice any other non-duck characters (maybe the two male mercenaries working for Glomgold? I didn't notice). I know we will see the Beagle Boys at some point, though.
I am well aware that Plucky and Duckula aren't Disney properties, but it's fun to think the animators put in references to other duck-related cartoons! 
I mean, look at Darkwing Duck and give him black feathers. He looks like Daffy!
I also noticed in the garage that there was a coin from the Valley of the Golden Suns.
I mean, look at Darkwing Duck and give him black feathers. He looks like Daffy!I also noticed in the garage that there was a coin from the Valley of the Golden Suns.
Well, of course. As I've probably said earlier in the thread, Darkwing Duck was basically Disney's imitation of Chuck Jones's Daffy-as-inept-hero cartoons (e.g. The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Stupor Duck, Duck Dodgers, etc.). Still, I think a green duck is probably just a green duck. If they'd wanted to homage either of the characters you mentioned, why do it with a female character?
Less likelihood of lawsuits?
Yeah, same here.
Also St. Canard (Darkwing Duck), though it's probably not so much a mere in-joke seeing as we are actually going to see DW on the show.
I agree. The fact they are voiced by adults is way to obvious.
Oh, absolutely! The downside though is that it's hard to focus on him as Scrooge when he talks; my mind is too focused on the fact that it's David Tennant talking (I had a similar problem with his Fugitoid on TMNT).
"I'm a pilot!"
Yeah, that's why I didn't count it -- because it's actually part of the setting rather than just an Easter egg.
Somehow, in this case, I had an easier time looking past the Tennant-ness of his voice (Tennancy?) and just accepting it as Scrooge. Perhaps because he was really ramping up his Scottish accent, when I'm more used to hearing him play English-accented characters (although he does use a Scottish accent as Spitelout on Dreamworks Dragons).
I have two huge issues with the show. One, I still hate the children's designs. Their heads are so awful I can't think of anythign else besides how bad they are. It's a shame because the other art styles are so amazing.
Second, I love Donald Duck. The LEGO minifigure of him is one of my favorites. But dear god I have amazing hearing and he might as well be speaking Klingon. That's so they need to fix it.
Second, I love Donald Duck. The LEGO minifigure of him is one of my favorites. But dear god I have amazing hearing and he might as well be speaking Klingon. That's so they need to fix it.
I think I remember an episode of the original DuckTales where the fact that most characters couldn't understand a word Donald was saying was a running gag. I think I wondered why it was only in that one episode that they acknowledged the issue.
Fix Donald Duck's voice? Are you insane?
I'm imagining an episode where Donald has to attend a speech therapy class with other cartoon characters with speech impediments. Actually this would be pretty funny. Does Disney own the Looney Tunes characters yet? If they don't then parodies of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck would be easy enough to pull off. Seems like he's already attended a successful anger management class.
I'm imagining an episode where Donald has to attend a speech therapy class with other cartoon characters with speech impediments. Actually this would be pretty funny. Does Disney own the Looney Tunes characters yet? If they don't then parodies of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck would be easy enough to pull off. Seems like he's already attended a successful anger management class.
Donald's voice is part of his.. charm.Fix Donald Duck's voice? Are you insane?
I'm imagining an episode where Donald has to attend a speech therapy class with other cartoon characters with speech impediments. Actually this would be pretty funny. Does Disney own the Looney Tunes characters yet? If they don't then parodies of Porky Pig and Daffy Duck would be easy enough to pull off. Seems like he's already attended a successful anger management class.
The point is, there have been times in the past when Donald's voice -- even when performed by this same actor, Tony Anselmo, who's been playing Donald Duck since 1985 -- has been more comprehensible than it was here. I hate it either way, but if I have to listen to it, I at least want to be able to understand what he's saying.
I dunno, maybe the problem isn't that Anselmo (or my hearing) has gotten older -- maybe it's that today's cartoons demand faster-paced, peppier dialogue, and the greater speed makes Donald's speech harder to decipher.
Anyway, Donald's voice is conceptually problematical in the DuckTales universe. I mean, Clarence Nash decided to use that unusual vocal trick for Donald because it sounds like a duck's quacks. There's some logic to the idea that if an animal with an anatid vocal tract were capable of producing human speech, it would sound something like that. And that fits in the classic Disney cartoons where Donald and his nephews all sound like that. But in the DT universe, Donald is the only duck who has that voice while every other duck has a normal human voice. That's even more pronounced now, with even the nephews sounding normal, than it was in the original show, where Russi Taylor gave the nephews a vocal quality that was similar to Donald's though more toned down and comprehensible. So it raises the question, why does Donald's voice, and only his voice, sound like that?
I never had a problem with Donald Duck's voice, as a child I found his character in the early animated cartoons unlikeable due to his bad temper and cruelty to small animals. The cruelty to small animals was his least endearing quality and I'm glad they dropped that that aspect of the character. But changing his voice would be too much IMO. If you don't understand him you can just turn on subtitles on your telly, that's what I do when I watch a movie with Sylvester Stallone in it. 
What turned me off of him (aside from his voice) was a theatrical short where Donald basically spent the whole cartoon physically abusing his nephews, who are small children. Okay, we expect cartoon violence to be exaggerated, but that crosses a line. At least Bugs Bunny punches up.
I think there must be a way to tone it down a bit while retaining its recognizable quality -- some middle ground between the traditional Donald voice and clear speech. As I said, Russi Taylor did something kind of like that for the nephews in the original DT.
They could keep Donald and still make it somewhat make sense. I have great hearing and never have issues understanding him before, or anyone else, but it's horrible. Might just as well save the money and do a Peanuts / Muppets Baby and just have him not actually speaking.