| Genre: | Adventure Comedy[1] |
| Based On: | |
| Voices: | |
| Theme Music Composer: | Mark Mueller |
| Opentheme: | "DuckTales Theme" by Felicia Barton |
| Endtheme: | "DuckTales Theme" (instrumental) |
| Composer: | Dominic Lewis |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 3 |
| Num Episodes: | 69 |
| List Episodes: | List of DuckTales (2017 TV series) episodes |
| Executive Producer: | Matt Youngberg |
| Producer: | Suzanna Olson |
| Editor: |
|
| Runtime: | 22 minutes 44 minutes (special episodes only) 67 minutes (series finale) |
| Company: | Disney Television Animation |
| Image Alt: | Title card, featuring the show's protagonists and Launchpad's crashed airplane. |
| Channel: | Disney XD (2017, 2020–21) Disney Channel (2018–19) |
| Related: | DuckTales (original series) |
DuckTales is an American animated television series, developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, and produced by Disney Television Animation. The series is a reboot of the original 1987 series of the same name, itself an adaptation of Uncle Scrooge and other Duck universe comic books created by Carl Barks, which focused on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engaged in a variety of adventures around the world, as well as in the fictional city of Duckburg. The reboot itself focuses on newer elements and deeper character stories, including a greater involvement of Donald Duck.
The series premiered on August 12, 2017, with a 44-minute long pilot episode on Disney XD, before the first season was green-lit for broadcast from September 23 that year on Disney XD.[2] From May 2018 to September 2019, the series was moved to Disney Channel for the previously not broadcast part of the first season and all of the second season. DuckTales was then moved back to Disney XD for its third season,[3] and concluded with a 67-minute finale on March 15, 2021. Since its release, the reboot has generated positive reviews from critics and audiences, as well as a comic book series, a scripted podcast, and several online shorts.
After not speaking to each other for ten years, Donald Duck reunites with his estranged uncle, business mogul and former adventurer Scrooge McDuck, when he asks him to babysit his triplet nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, for the day. Shortly after accidentally releasing and defeating a few ancient evils, Scrooge regains his sense of adventure and invites Donald and the boys to live at McDuck Manor with him, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter Webby Vanderquack. Together, along with Scrooge's chauffeur and pilot Launchpad McQuack, the Ducks go on many new treasure-hunting expeditions and globetrotting adventures while contending with villains like Flintheart Glomgold, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys, and Mark Beaks.
In the first season, Dewey and Webby search for the truth about Scrooge and Donald's strained relationship and the unexplained disappearance of the boys' mother and Donald's twin sister Della Duck while the sorceress Magica De Spell manipulates events to facilitate her return and exact revenge on Scrooge for imprisoning her in his Number One Dime.
In the second season, Scrooge and Glomgold compete to become the richest duck in the world by the end of the year, Louie tries to start up his own multi-million dollar business in hopes of following in Scrooge's footsteps, and Della reunites with her family following her escape from the Moon and adapts to her newfound motherhood, unaware that the Moonlanders, led by General Lunaris, are planning to invade Earth.
In the third season, the Ducks set out to find several lost artifacts detailed in the journal of the legendary explorer Isabella Finch, while the criminal organization F.O.W.L. attempt to eliminate Scrooge and his family and obtain the artifacts first as part of their plan to rid the world of adventuring.
See main article: List of DuckTales (2017 TV series) episodes. Note: Each colour represents which one of the triplets get the main focus.
See main article: List of DuckTales characters. The show's main voice cast includes:[4] [5]
Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones grew up watching the original series and had always wanted to develop an updated version for a newer generation. Youngberg said, "We're hoping that in thirty years, the kids who watch our show will then be bringing back the next version of DuckTales because they loved what we did so much."[6]
In May 2015, Terry McGovern, the original voice of Launchpad McQuack, stated in an interview that the entire voice cast from the original series would not be returning for the reboot, which made him "heartsick" at the news.[7] The new voice cast for the series was revealed on December 16, 2016, in a video where they sing an a cappella version of the original theme song in promotion of the news.[8] [9] The following May, Lin-Manuel Miranda was announced as the voice of Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera / Gizmoduck.[10] The character was changed to being Latino due to Lin-Manuel's heritage and because Angones felt that there were not enough positive Latino superheroes. In June, more cast members, including Tony Anselmo reprising his role as Donald Duck, were announced,[11] and during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Disney announced that Darkwing Duck would also make an appearance in the TV series.[12] At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, several characters from other Disney Television Animation cartoons were revealed to appear in the show's third season: Chip 'n Dale and the Rescue Rangers from Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers; Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham from TaleSpin; Rhinokey and Butterbear from The Wuzzles; and Gosalyn Mallard and Taurus Bulba from Darkwing Duck; as well as Goofy (based on his Goof Troop incarnation), and Daisy Duck.[13]
The art style of the show is heavily influenced not just by Carl Barks' original Uncle Scrooge comics, but also some of Barks' paintings.[14] [15] The theme song, written by Mark Mueller for the 1987 series, was re-recorded for the 2017 reboot.[16] It was arranged by Michael "Smidi" Smithand and TJ Stafford and sung by Felicia Barton.[17]
Donald Duck has a larger role in this version compared to the 1980s version, as the earlier version had been restricted by an edict from The Walt Disney Company – stating that the television studio could not use Donald or any of the other stars from Disney's Golden Age shorts, only allowing Donald to make short cameos to set up storylines;[18] this restriction was lifted shortly after the original version of DuckTales ended.
The popular theme song, written by pop songwriter Mark Mueller (both words and music), was the subject of a Vanity Fair magazine article in 2017, which called the song "History's Catchiest Single Minute of Music".[19] The actual song is sung by Felicia Barton, a notable children's singer.[20]
The 44-minute pilot, titled Woo-oo!, premiered on August 12, 2017 at 12:00 AM and was repeated consecutively for the next 24 hours. Two days later on August 14, 2017 the pilot was also released on YouTube,[21] though it has since been set to private. The pilot also aired on Disney Channel on September 17, 2017.[22] The series officially premiered on September 23, 2017, coinciding with the original show's 30th anniversary.[23] On May 1, 2018, the show moved to the Disney Channel, with new episodes airing on Fridays beginning May 4, 2018. With season three, the series returned to Disney XD.[24]
On October 20, 2020, "Let's Get Dangerous!", the 44-minute Darkwing Duck-themed episode from season 3, was made available for free on Disney XD's YouTube channel. Between September 26 and October 6, 2022, the entirety of season 1 was uploaded as well.[25]
In Canada, the pilot premiered on Disney XD on August 12 and the full series started on September 23, 2017.[26] [27] In Australia and New Zealand, the show premiered on Disney Channel on October 13, 2017.[28] In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the pilot premiered on Disney Channel on November 4, 2017. The full series debuted on March 1, 2018, on Disney XD.[29]
On December 7, 2016, a teaser trailer was released for the series. The first season was announced to consist of 21 half-hour episodes and two hour-long specials. On March 10, 2017, a trailer for the series aired on Disney Channel during the premiere of , and on June 14, 2017, the title sequence for the series, featuring a re-recording of the theme song written by Mark Mueller, performed by Felicia Barton and animated by Golden Wolf, was released.[30]
A DVD titled Woo-oo! was released on December 19, 2017, in the US[31] and on July 9, 2018, in the UK and Ireland.[32] The DVD contains the pilot episode and all 6 Welcome to Duckburg shorts. A second DVD titled Destination Adventure! was released on June 5, 2018. It contains the episodes The Beagle Birthday Massacre!, The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!, The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!, The Spear of Selene!, The Missing Links of Moorshire!, and Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!, as well as 2 episodes of the original 1987 series previously unreleased on DVD (New Gizmo Kids on the Block and Ducky Mountain High).[33]
| Region | Set title | Seasons | Aspect ratio | Episode count | Release date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 & 2 | Woo-oo! | " style="text-align:center;" rowspan="2" | 1 | 1.78:1 | 1 | December 19, 2017 (Region 1) July 9, 2018 (Region 2) |
| 1 | Destination Adventure! | 1.78:1, 1.33:1 (classic series) | 6 | June 5, 2018 |
In the United States, iTunes and Amazon Prime Video offer the first and second season, split into four volumes.[34]
The first and second season have been released on Disney+ since its launch, but users have noted episodes being out of order.[35] The series had its episodes arranged in the proper order on June 26, 2020.[36] The entire third season was released on Disney+ on April 30, 2021.
The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Highly energetic, distinctively designed, and attuned to its nostalgia, this update to a Disney animated classic is far bolder than its predecessor."[37]
IGN
Disney comics creator Don Rosa, primarily known for his Uncle Scrooge comic sub-series The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, has stated that the DuckTales reboot series bears "virtually no similarity whatsoever" to Barks' original comics.[44]
| 2018 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Special Class Animated Program | Matt Youngberg, Francisco Angones, Suzanna Olson (for "Woo-oo!") | [45] | |
| Behind the Voice Actors Awards | People's Choice Voice Acting Award in the Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series category | Ducktales cast | [46] | ||
| Davey Awards | Silver Award for Mobile Features-Integrated Mobile Experience | Walt Disney Studios (for "Ducktales: Treasure Hunt live!") | [47] | ||
| 2019 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Special Class Animated Program category | Matt Youngberg, Francisco Angones, Suzanna Olson (for "The Shadow War!") | [48] | |
| Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or Special | Aaron Drown, Julia Pleasants | [49] | ||
| Imagen Awards | Best Actor – Television | Lin-Manuel Miranda | [50] | ||
| Best Children's Programming | Ducktales | ||||
| 2020 | Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Writing for an Animated Program | Francisco Angones, Colleen Evanson, Madison Bateman, Christian Magalhaes, Robert Snow, Suzanna Olson, Matt Youngberg | ||
| Outstanding Editing for an Animated Program | Jasmine Bocz, Mike Williamson, Barbara Ann Duffy, Susan Odjakjian | ||||
| Outstanding Sound Editing for an Animated Program | Jeff Shiffman, Ian Howard, Katie Jackson, Carol Ma | ||||
| Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | Paget Brewster (for playing: "Della Duck") | ||||
| GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Children's Programming | Ducktales | |||
| 2021 | GLAAD Media Award | Outstanding Children's Programming | Ducktales | [51] | |
| Daytime Emmy Award | Outstanding Casting for an Animated Program | David Wright, Aaron Drown, and Julia Pleasants |
In 2018, Disney Press published "DuckTales: Solving Mysteries and Rewriting History!", a companion book covering the majority of season one, as seen from the perspective of Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby. It is written by Rob Renzetti and show writer Rachel Vine.[52]
In 2022, Ken Plume revealed he was working on a DuckTales art book. Titled "The Art of DuckTales", the book was published by Dark Horse Comics and released on October 24, 2022.[53]
An ongoing comic book series based on the show is being published by IDW Publishing, with Joe Caramagna, Joey Cavalieri and Steve Behling sharing writing duties, and Luca Usai, Gianfranco Florio and others providing the art.[54] Ducktales #0 was released on July 19, 2017, and #1 of the monthly series followed on September 27.[55]
The individual issues are also collected in trade paperbacks:
List of comic book stories
| Story code | US publication | Title | Written by | Artist(s) | Short summary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| XPW DTP CP 1-1[56] | DuckTales #1 | The Chilling Secret of the Lighthouse! | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | After Donald is hired to work in a lighthouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie decide to explore it.[57] |
| XPW DTP CP 1-2[58] | DuckTales #0 | The Repeating Revenge of the Screaming Duck! | Joe Caramagna | Gianfranco Florio | Huey, Dewey and Louie make a horror movie.[59] |
| XPW DTP CP 1-3[60] | Big Trouble at Little Lake! | Joe Caramagna | Andrea Greppi, Paolo Campinoti, Roberta Zanotta | Donald is stranded on an island with a tour group. | |
| XPW DTP CP 1-4[61] | DuckTales #1 | The Great Experiment of the Washing Machine! | Joe Caramagna | Gianfranco Florio | The nephews masquerade as researchers and manage to turn a washing machine into a potentially harmful electromagnet. |
| XPW DTP CP 2-1[62] | DuckTales #2 | A Viking at My Door! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Antonello Dalena, Roberta Zanotta | Scrooge, Donald and Della go in search of a Viking artifact.[63] |
| XPW DTP CP 2-2[64] | Old Monteplumage Had a Chicken! | Joey Cavalieri | Gianfranco Florio | Scrooge, Donald, and Della go to an Aztec ruin. | |
| XPW DTP CP 2-3[65] | DuckTales #3 | Cheating Like Nostradogmus! | Joey Cavalieri | Luca Usai | Scrooge goes looking for the time-travel jelly beans of Nostradogmus.[66] |
| XPW DTP CP 2-4[67] | Beware of the Phenomenal Pumpkin People! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Graziano Barbaro, Roberta Zanotta | After crash-landing in the Amazon, Scrooge and crew encounter pygmy pandas being terrorized by monsters for their pumpkin groves. | |
| XPW DTT CP 1-1[68] | DuckTales #5 | A Series of Unfortunate Substitutions! | Joe Caramagna | Antonello Dalena, Gianfranco Florio, Manuela Razzi, Roberta Zanotta | Scrooge hires a new pilot. |
| XPW DTT CP 1-2[69] | DuckTales #4 | Fight! | Joe Caramagna | Gianfranco Florio | Dewey holds a garage sale.[70] |
| XPW DTT CP 1-3[71] | DuckTales #5 | Go, Go Golden Years! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Cristina Stella, Emilio Urbano, Michela Frare | Scrooge takes youth serum.[72] |
| XPW DTT CP 1-4[73] | DuckTales #4 | Happy, Happy Valley! | Joey Cavalieri | Luca Usai | Scrooge lands on an island where everyone is always happy. |
| XPW DTT CP 2-1[74] | DuckTales #6 | The Giant Butterfly of Duckburg! | Joe Caramagna | Graziano Barbaro, Marco Ghiglione, Michela Frare | Scrooge goes on a Junior Woodchucks outing. |
| XPW DTT CP 2-2[75] | DuckTales #7 | There Is No Place Like a Ghost Town! | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | Scrooge buys an old western ghost town with the intent of building a resort. |
| XPW DTT CP 2-3[76] | DuckTales #6 | Welcome to Beagle Island! | Joey Cavalieri | Gianfranco Florio | The Beagle Boys lay a trap for Scrooge.[77] |
| XPW DTT CP 2-4[78] | DuckTales #7 | The Stone of Truth! | Joe Caramagna | Andrea Greppi, Antonello Dalena, Gianfranco Florio, Michela Frare | The mansion is hit with a surprise inspection by an insurance company while Scrooge is away.[79] |
| XPW DTT CP 3-1[80] | DuckTales #8 | Sleep (Walk) of Doom! | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | Dewey uses Scrooge's mystical coin. |
| XPW DTT CP 3-2[81] | The Beast in the Board Room! | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | Scrooge's stooge begins to take control of his company.[82] | |
| XPW DTT CP 3-3[83] | Unpublished in the US | Spies Like Us! | Joe Caramagna | Andrea Greppi, Danilo Loizedda, Emilio Urbano, Manuela Razzi, Cristina Stella | |
| XPW DTT CP 3-4[84] | DuckTales #9 | The Frightful Family Fishing Trip! | Alessandro Ferrari, Steve Behling | Ciro Cangialosi, Cristina Stella | Donald and Scrooge go on a fishing trip. |
| XPW DTT CP 4-1[85] | The Risk McDuck Refused! | Joey Cavalieri | Gianfranco Florio | Scrooge travels back in time so he can experience the Klondike.[86] | |
| XPW DTT CP 4-2[87] | DuckTales #10 | The Twisted Tale of the Two-Headed Horse! | Joe Caramagna | Emilio Urbano, Luca Usai | The nephews accompany Scrooge and Donald on a quest for a bust of a Two-Headed Horse. |
| XPW DTT CP 4-3[88] | The Hedge Enigma! | Steve Behling | Ciro Cangialosi, Cristina Giorgill | Hedges of wealthy people are being vandalized.[89] | |
| XPW DTT CP 4-4[90] | Unpublished in the US | On the Tail of the Run-Amok Raven! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Gianfranco Florio, Michela Frare | |
| XPW DTT CP 5-1[91] | DuckTales #12 | When Luck Ran Out! | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | Gladstone accompanies Scrooge on one of his adventures. |
| XPW DTT CP 5-2[92] | DuckTales #11 | Nightmare on Bear Mountain! | Steve Behling | Antonello Dalena, Danilo Loizedda, Cristina Stella | Scrooge pushes his family away to protect them from an ancient evil. |
| XPW DTT CP 5-3[93] | Horror in the Highlands! | Joey Cavalieri | Luca Usai | Scrooge attempts to build a museum in his hometown.[94] | |
| XPW DTT CP 5-4[95] | DuckTales #12 | The Greatest Adventure, the Greatest Price! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Emilio Urbano, Cristina Stella | Scrooge meets a duck claiming to be his unknown cousin. |
| XPW DTT CP 6-1[96] | DuckTales #13[97] | Countdown to Termination! | Joey Cavalieri | Andrea Greppi, Ciro Cangialosi, Cristina Stella | The board of directors for McDuck Enterprises gives Gyro a challenge: invent something useful in 24 hours or lose his job. |
| XPW DTT CP 6-2[98] | The Mighty Ducks of Duckburg! | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | Webby joins the nephews' hockey team.[99] | |
| XPW DTT CP 6-3[100] | DuckTales #14 [101] | The Monsters Are Due at McDuck Manor! Part 1 | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | The nephews and Webby use Gyro's new 4-D camera and end up trapping themselves in the television.[102] |
| XPW DTT CP 6-4[103] | The Monsters Are Due at McDuck Manor! Part 2 | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | ||
| XPW DTT CP 7-1[104] | DuckTales #16[105] | The Incredible Shrinking Webby! Part 1 | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | Dewey accidentally shrinks Webby.[106] |
| XPW DTT CP 7-2[107] | The Incredible Shrinking Webby! Part 2 | Steve Behling | Gianfranco Florio | ||
| XPW DTT CP 7-3[108] | DuckTales #15[109] | The Greatest Invention He's Never Had! Part 1 | Joe Caramagna | Ciro Cangialosi, Danilo Loizedda, Cristina Stella | One of Gyro's inventions gains sentience and rebels on a television show.[110] |
| XPW DTT CP 7-4[111] | The Greatest Invention He's Never Had! Part 2 | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | ||
| XPW DTT CP 8-1[112] | DuckTales #17[113] | Marooned in Mystery Mansion! Part 1 | Joe Caramagna | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | Mrs. Beakley relates a story to Scrooge that had been wiped from his memory by government forces.[114] |
| XPW DTT CP 8-2[115] | Marooned in Mystery Mansion! Part 2 | Joe Caramagna | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | ||
| XPW DTT CP 8-3[116] | DuckTales #18[117] | Money Grubbing Hooligans from the Deep! Part 1 | Joe Caramagna | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | A gigantic tsunami threatens to wipe out the Money Bin.[118] |
| XPW DTT CP 8-4[119] | Money Grubbing Hooligans from the Deep! Part 2 | Joe Caramagna | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | ||
| XPW DTT CP 9-1[120] | DuckTales #19[121] | Flintheart... McDuck?!? Part 1 | Steve Behling | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | Flintheart has Scrooge abducted.[122] |
| XPW DTT CP 9-2[123] | Flintheart... McDuck?!? Part 2 | Steve Behling | Emilio Urbano, Gianfranco Florio | ||
| XPW DTT CP 9-3[124] | DuckTales #20[125] | Saga of the Super-Intern! Part 1 | Joe Caramagna | Luca Usai | Gyro makes adjustments to one of Fenton's projects.[126] |
| XPW DTT CP 9-4[127] | Saga of the Super-Intern! Part 2 | Joe Caramagna | Ciro Cangialosi, Danilo Loizedda, Cristina Stella |
On March 10, 2021, it was announced that a seven-episode scripted podcast spinoff of the series would be launching via the Disney XD YouTube channel on March 29, two weeks after the series finale. The podcast is called This Duckburg Life (a parody of the popular public radio program/podcast This American Life) and is hosted by Huey Duck for "Duckburg Public Radio" and focuses on slice of life occurrences in Duckburg. Many of the cast from the series reprise their roles, including Tennant, Pudi, Schwartz, Moynihan, Micucci, Bennett, Olagundoye, Rash, Brener, Martindale, and Anselmo.[128]