I enjoyed the fact that the Mount
Rushmore business--which anyone would assume would take up the whole
episode--was dispensed with in four minutes. Good; I think that's
all the time it needed. I enjoyed the fact that George Washington
was so throughly invested in being a ghost, and I enjoyed the unusual
thing of actual historical figures being portrayed as ducks (see also
Francis Drake in Rosa's "His Majesty McDuck"), but I feel I
would have gotten pretty bored pretty quickly if that had gone on for
much longer than it did.
But no! Instead it gets all zany and
shambolic in a fun way. The bearskin rug coming to life feels a bit
arbitrary, but the bear is cute. I like it. I also like Sheldgoose
being concerned with civic maneuvering while Felldrake wants to focus
more on world-conquering activities ("You are the least
important president of anything ever"). I have no strong
feelings about Eugenia Ferdinand-Ferdinand (sp?), but it did make me
think, huh. Has there ever been a peacock character in the
duckiverse before? It seems like there should have been, but I can't think of one (okay, peahen, technically, and therefore shouldn't really have
the plumage, but hey--nitpicking is fun!). I liked Xandra destroying
the hors d'oeuvres at the party, even if it was a bit predictable. I
didn't so much love Daisy trying to make Donald jealous by dating the
unreliable Dapper Duck--"Love Trouble" was fine and
everything, but these days, that can't help but feel pretty dated. I
might be interested if Daisy becomes more involved with the main
plot, however. Oh, one thing: I didn't understand why the Caballeros were unable to enter Sheldgoose's house when everyone else could. Please explain.
Here are some other things that made me
laugh:
-Ari putting an ear of corn in a pot
and tossing in a grenade to make popcorn
-"Stop right there, bear!"
"We have chased you all over the square!" "In goblin
jaaaaail!"
-"Poppycock! There's no such thing
as The Moon!"
"Donald was Felldrake the whole
time?"
Very good episode. More like this,
please.
The Caballeros are unable to enter because Felldrake cast a spell to keep them out, specifically.
ReplyDeleteIt seems that you spelled Eugenia's name right.
Also, the classic cartoon featuring Dapper Duck was called "Donald's Double Trouble", not "Love Trouble".
I am not familiar with the cartoon in question. I was referring, natch, to the classic Gottfredson story.
DeleteAh, sorry about that. I had assumed you were referring to the cartoon due to that being where Dapper Duck first appeared, but I see now what you meant.
DeleteI shall watch it. Might not be a bad idea to write up some classic shorts here, come to that.
DeleteYou will love it! It's in technicolor (!!!)
DeleteThe bear is Humphrey—I'm amazed no one on this board seems to have noticed!
ReplyDeleteGotta admit--I am one hundred percent unfamiliar with this character.
DeleteOh, I did on the featherysociety forum but evryone else where like "No, no, no! It's no Humphrey!" Jim Cumming is voicing him for Bakrs sake! What more of a prove do you want?
DeleteIt's not really Humphrey, it's his identical ancestor from the time of the Three Caballeros. I mean, our Humphrey isn't an undead bear rug. And the characters call him (and he is credited as) Bear Rug. There's no doubt he's based on Humphrey, but they're officially different characters.
DeleteWhat if *THIS* is official Humphrey orgin story? ;)
DeleteIn my opinion one of the best episodes of this series! It's just quick funny gag after a quick funny gag, all characters had moments (I love Jose and Panchito telling Dappert they don't like him - felt like true firends there)
ReplyDeleteMy favorite joke (of all things) is when Panchito yells "There is a bear in your house" to which annoyed Sheldgoose yells back "Well, I can't bare your house either!"
Just the idea that Sheldgoose asumed that Panchito would just stand infront of people houses and yell how much he can't stand it cracks me up for some reaons.
Concerning the Presidents, it was, perhaps, a bit disappointing that they made Roosevelt a pig rather than bring Don Rosa's design to life, given Dognose-Teddy was such a memorable side-character in the L&T, but oh well.
ReplyDeleteI support your intention to watch some of the classic cartoons on here. The early-1930's stuff may irritate you for being pretty distant from Barksianism, but though Donald's character is never as nuanced, the late-1940's and 1950's stuff feels a lot like a cartoon translation of Barks's ten-pagers, at times.
Eugenia Ferdinand-Ferdinand (sp?)
Aaah, leave it to you to only finally ask if you got the spelling right the one goddamn time that you did get it devils-be-damned-right on your first try. >:)
This episode had *lots* of great jokes. I loved the callback to the goblin jail song. I also like the way Sheldgoose's character is developed and deepened, by giving him a goal at odds with Felldrake's goal.
ReplyDeleteOn Feathery Society the peahen/peacock thing came up, and one possibility is that she's trans. I like her looks, too.
Really the only disappointing aspect of this whole series to me is that they mostly stick with a classic-cartoons Daisy, which is a sexist and out-of-date and annoying portrayal. That's true here as in a couple of other episodes. Yes, Daisy's behavior here is obnoxious.
The other thing I didn't like about this episode is Ghost George Washington. He is full of himself, and that is so contrary to what made the real GW great that it turned me off. I mean, our country would be a different place if GW had let people make him president-for-life. His *lack* of narcissism was a great gift to the nation. Naturally, I feel this all the more acutely because we now have a president who *is* all about ME and would pretend to smile modestly but really welcome it if he were proclaimed president-for-life. But I guess this show was written before we were all endangered by rampant presidential narcissism.
I'm no specialsit on George Washington but maybe going agiasnt the type was part of the joke?
Delete(or maybe one of the writers was a big advocat for cherry tree preservation and that was his way to stick it to GW)
I assume that the point of the Ghost of George Washington was to embody the glorifying "national myth" of George Washington as it is solemnly repeated, with The Cherry Tree Episode and other such nigh-biblical stained-glass-picture — more than anything to do with the real Washington as a person.
DeleteWashington had good traits, but he was also pretty appalling. I see no reason to put him on a pedestal, although I don't believe that excessive deference to historical figures is mandated in any event.
Delete