Ducktales, Season One, Episode Forty-Eight: "Jungle Duck"

Yeah okay it's a kids' show and all, but still, it's pretty incredible how this episode telegraphs its intentions. Here are some of the actual notes I took while watching:

GEE WILL THEY MEET THE LOST PRINCE BEAKLEY MENTIONS IN THE JUNGLE?!?

"The Phantom's Territory"--GEE COULD THE PHANTOM BE THE LOST PRINCE???

WILL THE SMELL OF BEAKLEY'S FOOD ATTRACT THE PRINCE?!?

WILL HE KIDNAP BEAKLEY AND THEY HAVE TO RESCUE HER UNTIL THEY REALIZE HIS TRUE IDENTITY???

Really, now. And they really, really drag this revelation out, as if they hadn't made it super-obvious, and even if you didn't get the picture, the fact that his name is "Prince Greydrake" would be a pretty big giveaway. Not that interesting to watch when it's that dully predictable, I have to say!

Anyway, they discover the truth and they have to get back so the prince can be crowned king (this is all taking place TWO DAYS before the scheduled coronation, handily enough), and thwart his uncle, who they all decide is evil based on what I must say is pretty damned flimsy evidence. There's no addressing at all of the moral/philosophical question of whether entering civilization is the right thing for him under the circumstances.

Oh, also, there are savage natives, and I must say, it just completely fucking baffles me how Disney can ban or censor old comics and cartoons for things like this, but when it's Ducktales, it's A-okay. Not that we didn't already know that their philosophy vis-à-vis censorship was wildly inconsistent, but this seems even more absurd than usual.

I suppose it wasn't notably incompetent or anything, but I must say, I found this to be a pretty bland viewing experience overall. Sometimes it's easy to lose track of the fact that this show can actually be good at times.

Stray Observations

"This here's a genuine 1934 Douglas DC2 with Twin 9-Cylinder radio air-Cooled engines packing seven hundred ten horsepower each!" "How'd you know that?" "Lucky guess."

-Someone at the coronation who looks awfully like Gladstone, though he lacks the usual curls.

-The video quality is noticeably worse in this third DVD set. Extraordinarily lame, Disney.