Table of Contents

Premise
Episodes
Voice cast
Production
Theme song
Release
Broadcast
Marketing
Home media
Video on demand
Reception
Critical reception
Accolades
Printed media
Prose books
Art book
Comics
Podcast
References
External links

DuckTales (2017 TV series)

Image
Theme Music ComposerMark Mueller
Open Theme"DuckTales Theme"
by Felicia Barton
End Theme"DuckTales Theme" (instrumental)
ComposerDominic Lewis
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Num Seasons3
Num Episodes69
List EpisodesList of DuckTales (2017 TV series) episodes
Executive ProducerMatt Youngberg
ProducerSuzanna Olson
Runtime22 minutes
44 minutes (special episodes only)
67 minutes (series finale)
CompanyDisney Television Animation
First Aired2017-8-12
Last Aired2017-12-2
First Aired22020-4-4
Last Aired22021-3-15
Network3Disney Channel
First Aired32018-5-4
Last Aired32019-9-12
Image AltTitle card, featuring the show's protagonists and Launchpad's crashed airplane.
ChannelDisney XD
RelatedDuckTales (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. The show focuses on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engage in a variety of adventures in the fictional city of Duckburg and around world. The reboot itself adds new elements and deeper character stories, including a greater involvement of Donald Duck as well as the introduction of his twin sister, Della 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. 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, and concluded with a 67-minute finale on March 15, 2021. The series has received positive reviews from critics, with praise for its voice acting, humor, animation, and expanded depth from the original series. Since its release, it has also expanded to a comic book series, a scripted podcast, and several online shorts.

Premise

Left to right: Dewey, Huey, Donald Duck, Louie, and Scrooge McDuck, as they appear in the series.

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 and final 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. plan to eliminate Scrooge and his family and obtain the artifacts first in order to rid the world of adventuring.

Episodes

List of DuckTales (2017 TV series) episodes
Each color represents which one of the triplets gets the main focus.

Voice cast

List of DuckTales characters
The series' main voice cast includes:


Production

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."

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. 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. The following May, Lin-Manuel Miranda was announced as the voice of Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera / Gizmoduck. 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, and during the 2017 San Diego Comic-Con, Disney announced that Darkwing Duck would also make an appearance in the TV series.

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.

The art style of the show is heavily influenced not just by Carl Barks' original Uncle Scrooge comics, but also some of Barks' paintings. The theme song, written by Mark Mueller for the 1987 series, was re-recorded for the 2017 reboot. It was arranged by Michael "Smidi" Smithand and TJ Stafford and sung by Felicia Barton.

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; this restriction was lifted shortly after the original version of DuckTales ended.

Theme song

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". The actual song is sung by Felicia Barton, a notable children's singer.

Release

Broadcast

The 44-minute pilot, titled "Woo-oo!", premiered on August 12, 2017, at midnight and was repeated consecutively for the next 24 hours. Two days later on August 14, 2017, the pilot was also released on YouTube. The pilot also aired on Disney Channel on September 17, 2017. The series officially premiered on September 23, 2017, coinciding with the original show's 30th anniversary. 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.

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.

In Canada, the pilot premiered on Disney XD on August 12 and the full series started on September 23, 2017. In Australia and New Zealand, the show premiered on Disney Channel on October 13, 2017. 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.

Marketing

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 Tangled: Before Ever After, 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.

Home media

A DVD titled Woo-oo! was released on December 19, 2017, in the US and on July 9, 2018, in the UK and Ireland. 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").

RegionSet titleSeasonsAspect ratioEpisode countRelease date
1 & 2Woo-oo11.78:11December 19, 2017 (Region 1)
July 9, 2018 (Region 2)
1Destination Adventure1.78:1, 1.33:1 (classic series)6June 5, 2018

Video on demand

In the United States, iTunes and Amazon Prime Video offer the first and second seasons, split into four volumes.

The first and second seasons have been released on Disney+ since its launch, but users have noted episodes being out of order. The series had its episodes arranged in the proper order on June 26, 2020. The entire third season was released on Disney+ on April 30, 2021.

Reception

Critical reception

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."

IGNs Chris Hayner gave the series premiere, "Woo-oo!", a score of 8.5 out of 10, stating that the reboot "may be aimed at modern young audiences but there's no denying the heart and adventurous spirit it gets from the original series." IndieWire complimented the series premiere, claiming that "the reboot of the series keeps all of those important original hallmarks. American Idol alum Felicia Barton re-recorded the signature theme song but keeps its sense of fun and excitement intact." Collider rated the last season 5 out of 5, indicating that "Season 3 is really where the new vision of the fan-favorite series takes off." Den of Geek reviewed the last episode of the show positively, stating, "DuckTales has power; it'll keep having power. Now that the show's ended I have no doubt more people will check it out on Disney+ and realize how special it was. How great it was. How even if it still had more stories to tell it still gave all it had." ComicsBeat praised the series, saying, "With an unimpeachable cast, a clever sense of humor, and a commitment to the underlying thematic concerns of the story, these three seasons represent the best-case scenario for the reboot of a beloved TV show: a sensationally self-aware series that takes its characters seriously while still delivering side-splitting slapstick." CinemaBlend.com gave a positive review of the series, praising the humour of the show, alongside the performance of the voice actors.

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.

Accolades

2018Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Special Class Animated ProgramMatt Youngberg, Francisco Angones, Suzanna Olson (for "Woo-oo")
Behind the Voice Actors AwardsPeople's Choice Voice Acting Award in the Best Vocal Ensemble in a New Television Series categoryDuckTales cast
Davey AwardsSilver Award for Mobile Features-Integrated Mobile ExperienceWalt Disney Studios (for DuckTales: Treasure Hunt Live)
2019Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Special Class Animated ProgramMatt Youngberg, Francisco Angones, Suzanna Olson (for "The Shadow War")
Outstanding Casting for an Animated Series or SpecialAaron Drown, Julia Pleasants
Imagen AwardsBest Actor – TelevisionLin-Manuel Miranda
Best Children's ProgrammingDuckTales
2020Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Writing for an Animated ProgramFrancisco Angones, Colleen Evanson, Madison Bateman, Christian Magalhaes, Robert Snow, Suzanna Olson, Matt Youngberg
Outstanding Editing for an Animated ProgramJasmine Bocz, Mike Williamson, Barbara Ann Duffy, Susan Odjakjian
Outstanding Sound Editing for an Animated ProgramJeff Shiffman, Ian Howard, Katie Jackson, Carol Ma
Outstanding Performer in an Animated ProgramPaget Brewster (for playing: "Della Duck")
GLAAD Media AwardOutstanding Children's ProgrammingDuckTales
2021GLAAD Media AwardOutstanding Children's ProgrammingDuckTales
Daytime Emmy AwardOutstanding Casting for an Animated ProgramDavid Wright, Aaron Drown, and Julia Pleasants

Printed media

Prose books

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.

Art book

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.

Comics

A comic book series based on the show was published by IDW Publishing from 2017 until 2020, with Joe Caramagna, Joey Cavalieri and Steve Behling sharing writing duties, and Luca Usai, Gianfranco Florio and others providing the art. DuckTales #0 was released on July 19, 2017, and #1 of the monthly series followed on September 27.

The individual issues are also collected in trade paperbacks:


List of comic book stories

Story codeUS publicationTitleWritten byArtist(s)Short summary
XPW DTP CP 1-1DuckTales #1"The Chilling Secret of the Lighthouse"Joe CaramagnaLuca UsaiAfter Donald is hired to work in a lighthouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie decide to explore it.
XPW DTP CP 1-2DuckTales #0"The Repeating Revenge of the Screaming Duck"Joe CaramagnaGianfranco FlorioHuey, Dewey and Louie make a horror movie.
XPW DTP CP 1-3"Big Trouble at Little Lake"Joe CaramagnaAndrea Greppi,
Paolo Campinoti,
Roberta Zanotta
Donald is stranded on an island with a tour group.
XPW DTP CP 1-4DuckTales #1"The Great Experiment of the Washing Machine"Joe CaramagnaGianfranco FlorioThe nephews masquerade as researchers and manage to turn a washing machine into a potentially harmful electromagnet.
XPW DTP CP 2-1DuckTales #2"A Viking at My Door"Joey CavalieriAndrea Greppi,
Antonello Dalena,
Roberta Zanotta
Scrooge, Donald and Della go in search of a Viking artifact.
XPW DTP CP 2-2"Old Monteplumage Had a Chicken"Joey CavalieriGianfranco FlorioScrooge, Donald, and Della go to an Aztec ruin.
XPW DTP CP 2-3DuckTales #3"Cheating Like Nostradogmus"Joey CavalieriLuca UsaiScrooge goes looking for the time-travel jelly beans of Nostradogmus.
XPW DTP CP 2-4"Beware of the Phenomenal Pumpkin People"Joey CavalieriAndrea 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 1-1DuckTales #5"A Series of Unfortunate Substitutions"Joe CaramagnaAntonello Dalena,
Gianfranco Florio,
Manuela Razzi,
Roberta Zanotta
Scrooge hires a new pilot.
XPW DTT CP 1-2DuckTales #4"Fight"Joe CaramagnaGianfranco FlorioDewey holds a garage sale.
XPW DTT CP 1-3DuckTales #5"Go, Go Golden Years"Joey CavalieriAndrea Greppi,
Cristina Stella,
Emilio Urbano,
Michela Frare
Scrooge takes youth serum.
XPW DTT CP 1-4DuckTales #4"Happy, Happy Valley"Joey CavalieriLuca UsaiScrooge lands on an island where everyone is always happy.
XPW DTT CP 2-1DuckTales #6"The Giant Butterfly of Duckburg"Joe CaramagnaGraziano Barbaro,
Marco Ghiglione,
Michela Frare
Scrooge goes on a Junior Woodchucks outing.
XPW DTT CP 2-2DuckTales #7"There Is No Place Like a Ghost Town"Joe CaramagnaLuca UsaiScrooge buys an old western ghost town with the intent of building a resort.
XPW DTT CP 2-3DuckTales #6"Welcome to Beagle Island"Joey CavalieriGianfranco FlorioThe Beagle Boys lay a trap for Scrooge.
XPW DTT CP 2-4DuckTales #7"The Stone of Truth"Joe CaramagnaAndrea Greppi,
Antonello Dalena,
Gianfranco Florio,
Michela Frare
The mansion is hit with a surprise inspection by an insurance company while Scrooge is away.
XPW DTT CP 3-1DuckTales #8"Sleep (Walk) of Doom"Steve BehlingGianfranco FlorioDewey uses Scrooge's mystical coin.
XPW DTT CP 3-2"The Beast in the Board Room"Joe CaramagnaLuca UsaiScrooge's stooge begins to take control of his company.
XPW DTT CP 3-3Unpublished in the US"Spies Like Us"Joe CaramagnaAndrea Greppi,
Danilo Loizedda,
Emilio Urbano,
Manuela Razzi,
Cristina Stella
XPW DTT CP 3-4DuckTales #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"The Risk McDuck Refused"Joey CavalieriGianfranco FlorioScrooge travels back in time so he can experience the Klondike.
XPW DTT CP 4-2DuckTales #10"The Twisted Tale of the Two-Headed Horse"Joe CaramagnaEmilio 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"The Hedge Enigma"Steve BehlingCiro Cangialosi,
Cristina Giorgill
Hedges of wealthy people are being vandalized.
XPW DTT CP 4-4Unpublished in the US"On the Tail of the Run-Amok Raven"Joey CavalieriAndrea Greppi,
Gianfranco Florio,
Michela Frare
XPW DTT CP 5-1DuckTales #12"When Luck Ran Out"Steve BehlingGianfranco FlorioGladstone accompanies Scrooge on one of his adventures.
XPW DTT CP 5-2DuckTales #11"Nightmare on Bear Mountain"Steve BehlingAntonello Dalena,
Danilo Loizedda,
Cristina Stella
Scrooge pushes his family away to protect them from an ancient evil.
XPW DTT CP 5-3"Horror in the Highlands"Joey CavalieriLuca UsaiScrooge attempts to build a museum in his hometown.
XPW DTT CP 5-4DuckTales #12"The Greatest Adventure, the Greatest Price"Joey CavalieriAndrea Greppi,
Emilio Urbano,
Cristina Stella
Scrooge meets a duck claiming to be his unknown cousin.
XPW DTT CP 6-1DuckTales #13"Countdown to Termination"Joey CavalieriAndrea 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"The Mighty Ducks of Duckburg"Joe CaramagnaLuca UsaiWebby joins the nephews' hockey team.
XPW DTT CP 6-3DuckTales #14 "The Monsters Are Due at McDuck ManorPart 1"Steve BehlingGianfranco FlorioThe nephews and Webby use Gyro's new 4-D camera and end up trapping themselves in the television.
XPW DTT CP 6-4"The Monsters Are Due at McDuck ManorPart 2"Steve BehlingGianfranco Florio
XPW DTT CP 7-1DuckTales #16"The Incredible Shrinking WebbyPart 1"Steve BehlingGianfranco FlorioDewey accidentally shrinks Webby.
XPW DTT CP 7-2"The Incredible Shrinking WebbyPart 2"Steve BehlingGianfranco Florio
XPW DTT CP 7-3DuckTales #15"The Greatest Invention He's Never HadPart 1"Joe CaramagnaCiro Cangialosi,
Danilo Loizedda,
Cristina Stella
One of Gyro's inventions gains sentience and rebels on a television show.
XPW DTT CP 7-4"The Greatest Invention He's Never HadPart 2"Joe CaramagnaLuca Usai
XPW DTT CP 8-1DuckTales #17"Marooned in Mystery MansionPart 1"Joe CaramagnaEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
Mrs. Beakley relates a story to Scrooge that had been wiped from his memory by government forces.
XPW DTT CP 8-2"Marooned in Mystery MansionPart 2"Joe CaramagnaEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
XPW DTT CP 8-3DuckTales #18"Money Grubbing Hooligans from the DeepPart 1"Joe CaramagnaEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
A gigantic tsunami threatens to wipe out the Money Bin.
XPW DTT CP 8-4"Money Grubbing Hooligans from the DeepPart 2"Joe CaramagnaEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
XPW DTT CP 9-1DuckTales #19"Flintheart... McDuck?? Part 1"Steve BehlingEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
Flintheart has Scrooge abducted.
XPW DTT CP 9-2"Flintheart... McDuck?? Part 2"Steve BehlingEmilio Urbano,
Gianfranco Florio
XPW DTT CP 9-3DuckTales #20"Saga of the Super-InternPart 1"Joe CaramagnaLuca UsaiGyro makes adjustments to one of Fenton's projects.
XPW DTT CP 9-4"Saga of the Super-InternPart 2"Joe CaramagnaCiro Cangialosi,
Danilo Loizedda,
Cristina Stella


Podcast

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.

References

External links


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