What would you do if you ran the next Ducktales reboot?

[donalddisneyfan]

Now that the Ducktales reboot has been over for months, I feel it's safe enough to bring this topic up, if you guys got to run a Ducktales series in the future, how would you do it? Which characters would you use and how would their personalities be? What stories would you do if you had to do the whole overarching season storyline thing lots of modern cartoons have been doing? How would you adapt in a way that would entice modern audiences and fit in with modern sensibilities nowadays? Which VAs would you have in mind for certain characters? Would the VAs go for same race as character thing Ducktales 2017 did in light of the trend of recasting ethnicity characters with race accurate VAs in light of recent politics which Simpsons and Family Guy have also been doing (Rob Paulsen himself said he will never voice Jose ever again because he doesn't want to do characters of color)?

I know that compared to other sites, several here weren't fond of the 2017 Ducktales reboot series and I doubt the Seth Rogen Darkwing show or the live action Rescue Rangers movie will be any more well liked, I am sorta just wanting to see how you users would do a Ducktales show if you had the chance so it would be cool to see how it'd go.

[aldwayne]

Rather than discuss a new show I'd go over what I'd suggest should have been done/avoided to begin with. So:

A. Decide ahead of time if Donald is going to be part of the core cast or stay in the background. If the former, then you will need to make the necessary accomodations for the cast (like say, removing Launchpad and Fenton since the two were both stand-ins for Donald to begin with).

B. Building on that last one, decide ahead of time if you want the series to be about Scrooge and other adult characters, the boys with other kids, or some sort of ensemble.

[mousemaestro]

1. I would establish my core cast of characters right away.
2. I would mostly adapt Barks and Rosa stories.
3. None of the Disney Afternoon crossover stuff. Too many characters spoils the soup.
4. Focus on creating the timeless and sentimental Disney style. Unlike the ironic, mocking template of 2017 Ducktales.
5. I wouldn't worry about modern panic about representation. I am focusing on good characters first.

[Mesterius]

I would not call it "DuckTales". We don't need another adaptation of Barks characters and story elements with that name on it. Too many bad associations.

[Spectrus]

Continuing onward from Mesterius' point, wouldn't it be time to plough some less overworked ground? I know Casty once expressed how much he would love it if there were animated versions of Scarpa's classic Mickey tales. A series could be built around the Gottfredson, Scarpa and Casty line of thrillers and adventures (throw in a few Erickson ideas too).

Or what about Paperinik / Duck Avenger. Italian fans have been clamoring for an adaptation for years, and people like Artibani have animation history/experience too.

[mousemaestro]

Dec 24, 2021 10:36:45 GMT Spectrus said:

Continuing onward from Mesterius ' point, wouldn't it be time to plough some less overworked ground? I know Casty once expressed how much he would love it if there were animated versions of Scarpa's classic Mickey tales. A series could be built around the Gottfredson, Scarpa and Casty line of thrillers and adventures (throw in a few Erickson ideas too).

Or what about Paperinik / Duck Avenger. Italian fans have been clamoring for an adaptation for years, and people like Artibani have animation history/experience too.

Both of those series would be amazing in the right hands. I don't know if anyone currently would adapt them in the respectful manner that they deserve. 

[Mesterius]

Dec 24, 2021 18:48:52 GMT mousemaestro said:

Dec 24, 2021 10:36:45 GMT Spectrus said:

Continuing onward from Mesterius ' point, wouldn't it be time to plough some less overworked ground? I know Casty once expressed how much he would love it if there were animated versions of Scarpa's classic Mickey tales. A series could be built around the Gottfredson, Scarpa and Casty line of thrillers and adventures (throw in a few Erickson ideas too).

Or what about Paperinik / Duck Avenger. Italian fans have been clamoring for an adaptation for years, and people like Artibani have animation history/experience too.

Both of those series would be amazing in the right hands. I don't know if anyone currently would adapt them in the respectful manner that they deserve. 

An even better question would be if Disney would allow it. It would be amazing, of course, but think about it: even in DuckTales 2017, Mickey was the ONLY character the crew was not allowed to touch.

[The KKM]

I'm assuming disney execs would ask for a focus on the nephews since they're the young characters.

So I'd just make the cartoon focused on the Woodchucks and make it a daily life comedy cartoon about the three nephews and Webby being a troop in the Woodchucks and their weekly adventures. Occasional use of the adult characters, but never losing focus of who's the core cast. Fight against bloat as hard as possible.

Is that the cartoon I'd actively want? Maybe not. But it's a good enough premise that if done without trying too hard, you'd end up with a pretty good show.

[Matilda]

Dec 27, 2021 0:46:55 GMT The KKM said:

I'm assuming disney execs would ask for a focus on the nephews since they're the young characters.

So I'd just make the cartoon focused on the Woodchucks and make it a daily life comedy cartoon about the three nephews and Webby being a troop in the Woodchucks and their weekly adventures. Occasional use of the adult characters, but never losing focus of who's the core cast. Fight against bloat as hard as possible.

Is that the cartoon I'd actively want? Maybe not. But it's a good enough premise that if done without trying too hard, you'd end up with a pretty good show.

Ooh! I nominate Seppälä's Look for Life as the basis for an episode!

Actually, it would be fun to look through Barks' JW scripts and the stories in Italy's GM to see which might be adaptable. Or even some of the old non-Barks stories from HDL JW: "Look for Life" reminded me--in a good way--of Nofziger's Lost Horse Canyon.

[Mesterius]

Honestly, a Duck animated series that actively ignored EVERYTHING invented for DuckTales and went back to the basics of the comics - the way the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles show did - would probably be what I want most of all.

[That Duckfan]

I'm not very fond of either DuckTales, for different reasons, so I'd prefer to avoid the label entirely. My biggest wish of all is to create a series based on young Scrooge's globe-trotting years, but that idea may not be very likely to get picked up for yet other reasons.

If we're going for a contemporary series set in and around Duckburg, I'd love to see some modern Italian adventures animated, especially if they can preserve that Scarpa/Jippes bounciness. But that is even less likely, given current animation techniques.

Another one of my "dream animated series", that I think is actually viable now that Disney+ exists, is a prestige miniseries like HBO and Netflix make, or Disney's own Marvel series, but for animation. Real movie-level quality stuff, but as a TV series instead. Given that Disney+ is making Disney so much money they're willing to forsake the cinema for it, this seems like a natural progression. This series could also feature Ducks --- but that's not a necessity.

Other than that, it's too soon for another DuckTales. Culture hasn't changed much since March 2021. It would be too much of the same, too soon.

[erikweirdness]

I would stick pretty closely to the 2017 series TBH, I just want more of it. More comics-specific characters, branch out beyond the Barks/Rosa universe and finally bring Mickey Mouse, Pete, and Chief O'Hara into the universe. Duck Avenger for sure.

[bats]

Bring in an Italian creative team and minimize American involvement as much as possible. Aim the show at a general European audience, not a general American audience. While there are absolutely Americans out there that have the kind of respect for the Disney Duck property needed to do a series like this justice, the country isn't exactly flowing over with them.

[mousemaestro]

Dec 26, 2021 1:53:58 GMT Mesterius said:

Dec 24, 2021 18:48:52 GMT mousemaestro said:

Both of those series would be amazing in the right hands. I don't know if anyone currently would adapt them in the respectful manner that they deserve. 

An even better question would be if Disney would allow it. It would be amazing, of course, but think about it: even in DuckTales 2017, Mickey was the ONLY character the crew was not allowed to touch.

Probably not. For whatever reason, Mickey has largely been transferred to the domain of preschool shows and shorts. 

It is distressing. There is a goldmine of material to use. 

[Mesterius]

Jan 2, 2022 2:20:32 GMT mousemaestro said:

Dec 26, 2021 1:53:58 GMT Mesterius said:

An even better question would be if Disney would allow it. It would be amazing, of course, but think about it: even in DuckTales 2017, Mickey was the ONLY character the crew was not allowed to touch.

Probably not. For whatever reason, Mickey has largely been transferred to the domain of preschool shows and shorts. 

With the exception of the Paul Rudish shorts. They give me some hope there might also be possibilities for an adventure series starring Mickey. But it would of course be a very different thing than the Rudish shorts, so who knows.