Is that true, though? I don't recall it being mentioned or referenced on most recent shows (House of Mouse, Mickey Mouse Works, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, Mickey and theRoadster Racers, Mickey Mouse [2013]), and even Donald calls him "Professor Von Drake" rather than "Uncle Ludwig", if I'm not mistaken.
As I mentioned at least Mickey Mouse [2013] Christmas special had him appear with Scrooge and HD&L as "Donald's family" during christmas and I recall Mickey Mouse works/House of Mouse had at least one short where he refrence Donald as his nephew.
But true, him being Donald's "Uncle" wasn't never that big part of his character in recent incanrations.
Still, it's just odd for me that (especialy for THIS show which so much try to add as much "Duck lore" as possible) they would ignore this connection.
Last Edit: May 14, 2019 20:36:06 GMT by Pan Maciej
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
Along the same lines, why does Webby-17, who we are told was homeschooled by Beakley and never left McDuck Manor in her formative years, have an American accent?
The show itself raised the question back in Beagle Birthday Massacre. I believe the answer that was agreed upon in the fandom is that Beakley taught Webby how to put on an American accent as part of her all-purpose spy training, and Webby stuck to it, perhaps out of her willingness to integrate herself with normal American kids.
(which might be the reason why the showrunners of DT17 are unaware of it)
I once again dispute the continued assertion that the DT17 crew don't really know anything about the classic material. They clearly do — they have somewhat questionable taste and tactlessness in how they adapt it, but they do know it. One does not make an episode where the Money Tree is the macguffin without more-than-Wikipedia-based knowledge of Duck comic lore, to take but the most recent example.
A more likely culprit for the apparent non-relatedness of Ludwig and the Ducks in the 2017 Continuum is, to my mind, the fact that in the original DuckTales, they are not depicted as related. Ludwig is just Donald's psychiatrist.
Post by Baar Baar Jinx on May 14, 2019 21:33:07 GMT
Okay, apropos nothing we're actively discussing, I have to admit this made me laugh:
29holden asked: So, Does Gladstone ever get scam emails?
Angones:
Yes, but they all turn out to be true. He has aided several real Deposed Nigerian Princes and Stranded Russian Astronauts and been handsomely rewarded for it.
I will admit, I never really liked the Ludwig/Matilda connection that Rosa came up with. Not that a relationship couldn't have worked, but since the characters were not allowed to be featured in the same story, it just felt cheap -- much like the idea that Daisy's brother is HD&L's father, it's kind of like an unnecessary and unsatisfying solution to a problem that wasn't a problem in the first place.
Why do HD&L call Daisy "Aunt Daisy"? Because she's Donald's girlfriend and it used to be common for kids to address their parents' close friends as aunts and uncles. Why is Ludwig referred to as Donald's uncle if the original "he's Donald's father's brother" idea is no longer canon? He's a relative of Grandma's, and is called an uncle for simplicity's sake -- just like HD&L never call Scrooge "Great Uncle Scrooge."
In the Ducktales-verse, even Webby calls Scrooge "Uncle" even though they're not related at all -- in the original cartoon she mostly just fell into the habit, probably picking it up from HD&L, and in this version Scrooge told her to call him "Uncle" after their bonding trip. It's a simple enough explanation; we don't need an overcomplicated backstory on how she's really Gideon's daughter or whatever.
Why is Ludwig referred to as Donald's uncle if the original "he's Donald's father's brother" idea is no longer canon? He's a relative of Grandma's, and is called an uncle for simplicity's sake --
My problem with Ludwig being Donald's father brother is that his Donald last name then would be "Von Drake".
I like the Matilda conection and that's how I see it in Rosa's world but in other Ducks-stories I had no problem with a diffrent way to conect them. I have no problem with him being very far family to Donald like Cuthbert Coot in the Rosa version.
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
I enjoyed this one way more then the last few episodes... Maybe it's the lack of Della thing to distract and conflict my emotions...
It was very heart warming with some good spoky atmosphere, especialy the girls humming which was trully spooky, one of those things propably find it scary if I watch it being belowd 10 years old.
I realy liked Lena in this. For whatever reason I find her watching over Webby in the opening charming. It's one of those thing would be easy to make to creepy or depresing for kids, knowing she is trap like that for months and she can't do anything about it... However the fact she was more or less at peace with her situation made it work.
So, elephant in the room - I was the naive one who asume they are killing of Lena for good but I guess I was expecting way more from a kids show like this. Here return was handel great and I'm glad she is back... The question is was this episode made only so we can have some on Lena or we will now see more of her in the future. I hope it's the later. It do raises few question like where she will live now etc.
Launchpad and Mrs. Beakley bonding was very funny and in it's own way charming and had some very funny moments. I did enjoy her geeking out over Darwking on TV.
Half way I was thinking if this was better if they would not had Launchpad and Duckworth in in it and they would just made it an all-girl episode but there is no need for that.
Violet Sabrewing was ok character. It will take some time before I will form opinion about her but I must say, it's nice to get a new character that don't have any zany idiosyncrasies... or isn't hyperactive... or egomaniacal... or any other character trades this show like's to usualy give to characters. She is just very quite and smart which I like.
From the start I was sure they are making the "Lena thinkgs Violet is a Magica's spy but we learn she is a normal girl" twist... HOWEVER! One things that dosen't add-up for me is - HOW SHE KNOW WHO LENA IS??? Did Webby mention Lena's story in some post-Shadow War interview? Is there a Lena memorable squere in Duckburg? ("Lena she help stoped Magica during the Great Shadow War in Duckburg")
Mrs. Quackfaster cameo was Ok (I like her calling Webby and Violet "nerds")
I like ilustrations in the book (If there is one thing this show get's 100% art-wise is whenever they need a ilustrations to look pseudo-ancient or mistical).
Speaking of books - I like the Scarlet Pimpernel refrence, as he was in fact apperently inspiation for Batman (as well Zorro) Nice touch.
The groos make up girls made was funny.
Lena preteding to be a bed sheet ghost made me think of Tim Burton's "BeetleJuice" (one of my favorite movies of all time btw) In fact I woudn't be supprised if this movie was one of inspirations for the episode. Lena's situation in the episode is pretty much the same as Maitland's in that movie.
HUM! I wonder can Duckworth see Lena but it's one of the question's they didn't ask so we won't get awnser.
BTW - Realy grow to realy LOVE the "morning music" the show sometimes use (the one that played in the first scene after the theme song... which was cut in half again btw)
Also, I know it's all play for laughs and I don't mind it but as much Launchpad not being shock by seeing Lena again is in character... Mrs. Beakley would proaply had a bigger reaction (especialy since she actualy bond with Lena in the past) Oh, well. Maybe she simply not noticed her.
Don't know what to add. A very good episode, more like that please!
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
My problem with Ludwig being Donald's father brother is that his Donald last name then would be "Von Drake".
I like the Matilda conection and that's how I see it in Rosa's world but in other Ducks-stories I had no problem with a diffrent way to conect them. I have no problem with him being very far family to Donald like Cuthbert Coot in the Rosa version.
I think we all agree that the original presentation can't be counted as canon... though the different surnames could be explained by, say, Ludwig and Quackmore being half-brothers. Nut, as I said, I much prefer him being a more distant relative. Making him Donald's uncle-by-marriage, in my eyes, creates more problems than it solves.
As for the episode... Well, people have voiced their displeasure with the idea to kill Ludwig off for the show, but I'll be honest: This episode used him much better than that stupid "secret agent" episode did. The Ludwig we saw in the videos and as possible-AI was very much Ludwig as he should be; a kooky eccentric genius who got all the best dialogue in the episode. Huge step up from the anonymous could-have-been-literally-any-character head of SHIELD we got in the previous episode.
Dewey of course, was up to his old shenanigans in this episode. Now, I appreciate a Della/Dewey bonding episode, I totally think it's justified that Dewey is the first triplet to get a solo episode with (the adult) Della, and I really liked how they played off each other here; instead of "Dumb and Dumber," it was "Crazy and Crazier." But the episode also pretty effectively summed up the problems I have with Dewey.
Now, this show isn't the first time we see Dewey suffer from a bad case of middle-sibling syndrome and being so afraid of ending up overlooked that he goes to extremes to stand out. There were a couple of episodes in the old Ducktales cartoon that used this idea to good measure, most notably that Duck in the Iron Mask episode where Dewey was so frustrated that nobody could tell him apart from his brothers that he spent much of the episode dressing in ridiculous clothes and making sure everyone knew he was an individual. Quack Pack too had a couple of episodes where Dewey (who was more a computer geek in this series) resented always being lumped together with his brothers and sought individual successes and accomplishments.
It's not actually a bad bit of characterisation, and makes sense for the character. I even liked this trait in Dewey in those previous incarnations; it helped individualizing HD&L to some extent, and it was also tempered by the fact that Dewey was also the "smart guy" of the trio.
When it doesn't work as well for this Dewey, it's partly because he's lost the "smart guy" characterisation -- he's easily the least intelligent of the triplets -- but also because he takes his obsession with standing out and being "the best one" much too far. He's an utterly self-centred and selfish glory-hog who goes out of his mind the moment it looks like anyone gets more attention than him. It's not enough for him to stand out; he has to overshadow everyone and preferably be recognised as the best and as the only triplet with any real value.
In fact, Dewey in this show is pretty much an adrenaline junkie version of Alvin from Alvin and the Chipmunks. But where Alvin's self-centered glory-hog tendencies actually did make him the star of the show and managed to make him more entertaining, in the case of Dewey it just makes him tiresome. It means he's okay in small doses but actually turning him into the star of the show like he was in the first season means you get thoroughly sick of him. I think partly this is because Dewey comes across as a bit of a "creator's pet" here.
In Alvin's case, the scriptwriters never excused the egotism or self-centredness; Alvin did hog the spotlight, but the price was that he was also the one who got in trouble the most, he was always the one getting yelled or snarked at, and the one most likely to end up getting knocked down or learning a lesson. Part of the fun with Alvin's schemes and egotism was to see him suffer the consequences for it, and his desperate attempts to keep things together when everything came crashing down around him. Which made the times he did get away with his questionable behaviour a lot more tolerable or even fun. You knew you weren't meant to condone his actions but could still admire the spirit and sheer cheek he displayed.
But when it comes to Dewey, it feels more like he's being coddled by the showrunners. His glory-hogging isn't condoned per se, but he never really has to deal with any consequences for his behaviour. At most, one of the others snap at him and make him feel bad for a moment or two, or he comes to a brief realisation that maybe this was a bad idea -- but then he's always forgiven almost immediately, he's always bailed out by the others when things get too big for him to handle, and he's never forced to deal with the negative outcomes of his actions, even when they're directly atrocious. This was the guy who went off to join the sky pirates because he went five minutes without being the center of attention, and then at the end of the episode he gets the attention he wanted anyway. It's like he can do whatever he wants and he gets a slap on the wrist at most.
None of the other characters in this show get away with their flaws this easily. Della, who's probably the closest to Dewey in characterisation, is called out for her recklessness and actually does suffer consequences. Even in this episode, it's Della who learns the lesson, it's Della who gets the angry tirade from Scrooge, and it's Della who has to fix the problem in the end. Dewey really only has a couple of scares, and then he ends the episode once again being coddled and reassured and not having to face any real negative consequences.
Now, under the circumstances this is fair enough -- Dewey is a kid who doesn't know any better and Della is an adult who should know better, so the responsibility should fall on her. But it is indicative on how the show seems to go easier on Dewey than on any of the other characters (even Webby had a few moments where she had to face some pretty bad consequences), and this constant escape from consequences not only stifles him as a character but also makes him less likeable -- and if he's not allowed to suffer consequences he's never going to work as anything but a supporting character.
Since we are back on the Money Tree episode subject... Scrooge calls it "The money tree of Oramoras" (or something like that) Is the name of this land any specific comic refrence?
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
And now for an episode I've been looking forward to: Friendship Hates Magic!
Webby was of course the other "star of the show" character in season one, especially with the re-ordering of episodes giving her a lot of starring roles early on, leading to a lot of complaints that she was dominating the show and being a "Mary Sue." I've spoken of my feelings on this subject before, so I'll just repeat the basics: "Mary Sue" is a term that's become to broad and nowadays is used as a term for "female character I don't like" or even "female character who shows any form of competence," so I tend to ignore those complaints.
I think where Webby works for me in a way that Dewey does not, is that where Dewey pushes other characters away in order to get more attention for himself, Webby drags other characters into the spotlight with her in order to give more attention to them. "Look at you, you're so awesome" is a more endearing character basis than "look at me, I'm so awesome."
Webby's definitely the most Gravity Falls-esque character on the show; she's essentially an amalgamation of both the Pines twins, made into a duck; she has Dipper's bookishness, fanboyish/fangirlish nature and love/knowledge of anything supernatural, and Mabel's energy, hyper-cheerfulness, unaware social awkwardness, and grappling gun. On the surface she's definitely more Mabel, due to similar-sounding dialogue and mannerisms...
Interesting, Mabel was the one Gravity Falls character that I had the same problem with as I do Dewey in this show; she was the self-centered one who never had to face the consequences of her negative traits because she was coddled by the scriptwriters and got away with everything -- if anything, Mabel came off worse than Dewey here, because at least Dewey sometimes realises he's been a jerk and sincerely apologies for it... not to mention, he gets moments where the scripts make a little fun of him, or acknowledges that he's stepped over the line. Mabel's selfish and inconsiderate behaviour was nearly always excused and ignored -- and when it wasn't, it was presented in a "can you really blame her when" way. In my eyes, Webby's a huge step up from Mabel, because while she has the same comedic, random and sometimes obliviously insensitive personality type, it's never put in doubt that Webby cares about people. She has her insensitive moments, but she really wants everyone to be happy, and time and again she goes out of her way to help people in need.
The episode itself was really sweet. It was slightly predictable; I could see where it was headed from early on. I knew Lena would be brought back, and that Violet would turn out not to be evil. But the character interactions really made it work, particularly the interactions between Lena, Webby and Violet. Violet's fangirling moment over Webby was a nice callback to Webby's own fangirling over the Duck-McDuck family back in the first season. She's gone from being someone who studies the legend, to being part of the legend herself.
The subplot with Launchpad and Mrs. Beakley looked like it wasn't going to be all that interesting -- it's nice to see the two get their own subplot since they've been a little underutilised, but at first it didn't really seem like their interaction was going anywhere. Then Launchpad brought up Darkwing Duck, and we got another look at the in-universe Darkwing cartoon, and everything just turned glorious.
Also, I don't know if this was intentional or not, but the character roster of this episode had two very important distinctions. If we ignore the special case of Darkwing Duck, and look at all the rest of the characters with on-screen and/or speaking roles, there's two interesting things to note:
1: With the exception of Mrs. Quackfaster, they were all specifically created for the Ducktales universe and don't appear in the classic comics. 2: With the exception of Launchpad, they're all female.
(Of course, the original comics were a total dude-fest, but still.)
Yes, I notice two same things. If you remove Launchpad and Duckworth's cameo its an all female episode, which shows how much this show is an improvement in this regard. And aside refrences to Magica and Quackfaster cameo (who bearly resemble Barks version anyway) this is the most nobcomicbooky episode so far.
Last Edit: May 15, 2019 11:51:48 GMT by Pan Maciej
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
Well, it's a GOOD thing that Gandra Dee is on the list of characters most fans didn't care for slash dislike or other wise I would be upset that this is the character "in name only".
To be fair I did like that oryginal is much taller then Fenton but this is as far the list of things I was hope they keep about her goes. Oh, well...
Last Edit: May 15, 2019 20:14:19 GMT by Pan Maciej
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
I'm pretty sure his mom know as well but maybe she counts as "every one on my block". Interesting contrast with old DuckTales where as far I remember only Scrooge and Mrs. Crackshell known Fenton is Gizmoduck...
Hum! It's ironic but Beaks must be so far most effective villain on this show (at least reacurring one) He's tendency to dance for no reason can be annyoing but so far he proven to be clever with his plans and now an super master-haker. I wish The Beagle or... well, Glomgold where this competent bad guys here. I must say I'm not sure what his goal was other then I guess get revange on Gizmoduck. I do like that he is less Scrooge's villain in this show and more of Gizmoducks personal nemesis.
An Ok story (if not tad predictble what Gandra's arc will be) with some funny moments and a ok climax, which had a lot of action for sure but also a lot of elements I've seen many times before (seriously how many times they going to do a King-Kong parody in cartoons?)
I do hope kids watching know what nano-technology is or they will get lost in what's going on.
Fenton's mom gives him his DAD'S Suit was nice. I belive his father was mentioned only once in the oryginal show. I also like her telling him she will have brutal revange on his date if she will break his heart. Funy and somehow sweet in a dark way.
I did like that Fenton lost any intrest in Gandra the moment he discovered she is a villain - the oryginal one would propably try to rational this somehow.
So is the Gizmoduck code in this version only works when Fenton say it? I don't remeber but felt like racional upgrade - while in the oryginal anyone could just say it.
Some super hero movies homages in this "Hulk" being the obvious one but the thing Beaks has on the back of his neck is visualy inspired by Dock Ock in "Spider-man 2". Gandras powers and styles also felt very MCU-ish.
Gandra character was ok. Again she so has very little to do with the oryginal that I'm not even sure what's the point of calling her "Gandra" other then being Fenton's love intrest but then again the oryginal was so bland it's impossible to complain. Much like with Webby or Doofus any change is a welcome improvment. She works her but didn't left an impression of a character I hope to see again.
...So is Beaks going to jail after all this? I mean kidnaping childreen and treating their lives is a pretty serious crime. "Ha-ha! He lost his new powers" dosen't feel strong enough punishment.
Overall ok episode but have a feeling it will be among more forgetable ones of the season. The diffrent music during the end credits didn't felt earn in my opinion.
P.S.
HUM! Just realise we got two Scroogeless episodes in a row. Both of which waren't ment to air next to each other acording to the oryginal production codes, so the creators had good intentions at least.
Last Edit: May 16, 2019 10:13:53 GMT by Pan Maciej
Know as Maciej Kur, Mr. M., Maik, Maiki, Pan, Pan Miluś and many other names.
In the old show, Gizmoduck was so overused (and not always used that well either) that I got rather sick of him. Even if the old show's Fenton was a charming and engaging enough character, after his introduction he tended to dominate so completely that the show might as well have been renamed Gizmoduck And Friends, and superheroics became an increasingly large part of the show. I've always been of the opinion that superheroes should be used sparingly in the Duck-and-Mouse-verse... I can enjoy the occasional appearance of Super Goof, and there have been some really good Duck Avenger stories -- and of course Darkwing Duck was a great cartoon, and I'm looking forward to the Duck Knight Returns episode... but in general, superheroes here work best in small doses.
Thankfully, in this show Gizmoduck is used sparingly enough that it's a treat to see him star in the occasional episode (and I still really liked the Gizmoduck/Fethry team-up from the Ducktales comic!), because while this is a notably different version of Fenton he still hasn't lost any of his charm. I still like him better when he's not in the Gizmoduck suit, so allowing him some moments of glory as plain Fenton was nice.
Mark Beaks really works as a Gizmoduck villain... certainly he's a better foil to Fenton than he is to Scrooge. I know a lot of people find him annoying, but I kind of appreciate his demeanour... he's very much a "millennial" villain and probably will be the most dated thing about the show in some years, but I think he works as a totally self-centered, entitled antagonist who has enough charm and natural charisma to be popular on social media, but who quickly turns out to be insufferable when you meet him in person. That said, if we never see Megabeaks again I won't complain.
Gandra Dee! Well... the original Gandra had no personality and no role in the show outside of being Fenton's love interest, so this one is a big step up. Pretty much like Webby and Mrs. Beakley, she has a completely rehauled personality and updated looks for the show, and the result is (I don't think I'll get that many cries of protest here) a vastly superior character. Certainly she makes for a much better "villainous love interest" than Glittering Goldie does; in this episode she gets character. motivation and even a bit of depth: She's essentially a slightly gentler version of a mad scientist, who's all about pushing boundaries and making great new discoveries, who despises "sellout scientists" but doesn't have enough self-awareness to realise that she's being a "sellout scientist" herself. Still, she does have some moral standards and she did seem to come to appreciate Fenton... I wouldn't be averse to seeing her again.
I liked how Huey and Webby were trying to be matchmakers throughout -- except they're kids who really don't know the first thing about romance so they just rely on clichés and romance tropes they've seen in media, and neither Fenton nor Gandra react like the people in media do.
Random thoughts:
- Launchpad has a robust social life, doesn't he? While Mrs- Beakley in the previous episode was trying to socialize more, it doesn't seem like Launchpad has any problems here, even in the love interest department. He mentions a deadly ninja, a mermaid (whom we did get a glimpse at that one time), a wereduck, a clone of himself, a Viking shieldmaiden, "a cloud of energy that one time" -- and those are just the ones we hear him list.
- Hey, the universal solvent! Thankfully less doomsday-inducing than in Don Rosa's stories, but still. I hope this doesn't mean Arpin Lusene shows up in the show... I never liked him. Though, with the wildly different takes on the various characters in this show, maybe he'd actually be made tolerable.
OK, Lena's back, I should be happy, right? I am unmoved. In the first season, they did make me care about Webby and Lena, and I was not happy to find out that Lena wasn't, shall we say, a real person, by which I mean here: one who had grown up from infancy cared for by adults--a pretty basic component of human psychology. So, this episode: I'm glad Webby now has friends (in addition to Dewey). But I'm still bothered that Lena isn't a real person. And why is she still calling Magica "Aunt Magica"? Habit? Violet is OK. It's an improvement in my mind that Webby now has two friends, and they get along with each other, as that will make it slightly less likely that fans will turn Webby + X (Lena, Dewey, now Violet) into a proto-romantic couple, which I find annoying. Maybe I'll care more about Violet over time, and come to accept Lena as a person, even though she had no childhood. Perhaps I should try to think of her as an AI developing personhood--I'm OK with that, when it's well done in SF. For now, though, I watched the episode and just didn't care what was going to happen.
The payoff of the Beakley/Launchpad subplot with the Darkwing Duck stuff was very cute. (Do we know why Launchpad has videotapes rather than DVDs? To evoke the time period of the cartoon, in-universe as well as in real life? And why does Scrooge's mansion's living room have a working VCR?) But the set-up for it I found completely unconvincing. Does Beakley really have no friends? There's no reason to think that should be the case, and I find it unnecessarily sad. And I don't find it convincing that, having said "Name one person I don't get along with" only to have Launchpad show up, she would then decide to try to bond with Launchpad. I suppose I'm to think, she does it for the challenge? Or to prove that she's really open to being friendly with anybody? But what I thought was, she's just doing this so that the script-writers can set up a comedic situation. We could have gotten to the Darkwing Duck bonding by throwing the two of them together for some more believable reason. I did not need the episode's two plots to slot themselves into neat parallels of "friendless person finds a friend."
To clarify my thoughts a bit further: I don't think Beakley is close friends with any of the characters we know. But I would have assumed that she has friends we haven't seen, friends outside Scrooge's circle. She doesn't have character traits or circumstances in her previous life that would prevent her from making friends, as was the case with Webby.