Thursday, July 5, 2018

New Ducktales, Season One, Episode Sixteen: "Day of the Only Child"


I think if you're going to appreciate this series at all, you really need to accept the fact that most of the characters have basically nothing to do with their comics-equivalents. This is true of HDL more than anyone, I'd say. The show makes this harder to do by including the odd bit of inept comics-fan fan-service, but you gotta. I mean, the "completely different personalities" thing is...a thing. That is nothing whatsoever like older things. In a way I can't say I care for.

But! This episode, for what it was, actually was not bad. We have them trying to be autonomous people while also being part of a triad, which, okay, fine, the character-building could be worse. Huey helping Beagle Boys be better outdoorsmen was fun, for sure. As for Louie visiting Doofus...well, I do think it's funny that the writers apparently realized that nobody ever liked Doofus and so didn't even make a token effort to maintain the original character; all that's left is his name and, sort of, his looks. Now he's a deranged, spoiled billionaire. There seems to be the potential for horror here--hard not to think of the kid wishing people into the cornfield--but eh, it's amusing enough.

Inevitably, of course, we then come to Dewey's segment, and uh. This is the part of the episode that decidedly does not work; seeing him try to enact this fake talk show all by himself with cardboard cutouts as an audience makes him look as crazy as Doofus if not more so, and not in a fun way. More in a bemusing, why-the-hell-am-I-watching-this-and-what-does-this-have-to-do-with-Dewey's-established-personality-such-as-it-is way. Oh well. As a wise man once said: though it's cold and lonely in the deep dark night, I can see paradise by the dashboard light. Wait, am I thinking of something else? Whatever!

7 comments:

  1. I did enjoy the Huey-and-the-Beagles piece of this. In fact, I sympathized so much with the Beagles that I felt bad that they didn't get Woodchuck medals to keep. Louie's piece was OK--I liked the design of the treehouse/amusement-park dwelling, and the role of Doofus's parents. But the basic plot about enslavement--I don't know, I thought Louie should have seen it coming as soon as he was given the cuff bracelet. I agree that Dewey's segment did not work at all. Boring, annoying, and it didn't even express Dewey's supposed adventure-seeking personality. Now, if they'd had Dewey declare Only Child Day so that he could go off alone on some harebrained jaunt.... Pan had a good proposal along these lines on Feathery.

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    1. Thanks for the Mention Matilda ;)

      Yhe, a story where Dewie wants to do something crazy/dare devilish that his brothers usualy keeped kim from doing, he do it and it's get out of control - at least that would had a clear moral "You need family to say NO to you when you are doing stupd things". Maybe tad cliché but simple and it would be in line with Dewies personality...

      With first two stories at least it was clear what they are trying to say (Huey want's two brothers who do wathever he wants - it backfires, Louie think it's cool to be spoiled - he see the dark side of thigs) Here? It's boring/akward to play alone? And then it's get interupted by Webby and robot geting out of control for no reason, just so they have some sort of climax.

      I also mention this episode would be stronger eaither if they would drop the entire "Day of the only child" thing and just do a Simpson style antology episode when each of the boys is telling a story what he was doing today (then the Beagle story and Doofus story would had more clear punchline) or go full "It's a Wonderfull life" and have each boy would see a world where he has no brothers (some Gyro invented simulation?)

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  2. Glad to know we are more-or-less on the same boat with the new episode. ;)

    I liked first two stories and then the last third is just more annoying then amusing.

    As foor Doofus, yhe it almost felt like the writers seen all the jokes fans made over the years... I belive it was GeoX who one sugested he is some insane hobo who lives in the trash behind Scrooges mansion who pretend to be a Woodcuck... Heck, I'm guilty of maing a fan fiction where Doofus taking a bloody revange on Bully Beagles from "Nothing to Fear" after a disturbing scene when he is looking into a mirror in silence, while to puppets that say "My parents" sit in the background... So yhe, Doofus being psychotic was something I think most people watching the show joke about. It's hard not to get into that conclusion, especialy with all his wird Lunchpad worshiping...

    ...which would be interesting to bring element if the character ever return. Doofus in the episode actualy remind me one few kids I meet in my life who (while not as psychotic) had earily similiar "So spoiled he lacks any self awarness that he dosen't know how to socialy interact with other people beyond - You doing what I want to do right now" thing going on (and some waren't even rich).

    ---
    As for "the boys are nothing like the comics versions". I think Huey is what's a natural (tad exaggerated for sue) progression of what the boys where in the comics. Dewie much less and yhe, Louie is pretty much a new characters.

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  3. Considering Doofus, Angones did say on Tumblr that It's a Good Life! was a direct inspiration. So well-spotted!

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  4. By the way...do I take it from the references to Doofus' grandmother that she skipped over her child and made her grandson her heir? Thus giving him absolute financial power (as well as spoiled-child power) over his parents? This would then be a parallel to the apparent (comics-based) unstated assumption that Scrooge has made HDL his heirs, skipping over Donald. That justifies Louie's claim that (if he is an only child for the day) he is Scrooge's only heir...though not Scrooge's only nephew, which I believe he says at one point.

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    1. Donald shoudn't be to sad he got cut out of Scrooge's will. At least good ol' great grandpa Coot still left him a house and life of magical adventure... skiping his daughter and like four or five other grandsons. At least Scrooge made some sort of test and not picked at random.

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