I understand the series' justification for removing Donald from the picture except for occasional guest appearances, but I still think this was a dubious decision, as it substantially unbalances the show. It's not just out of random chance or inertia that Donald appears in every single one of Barks' Scrooge adventures (he did a few Donald-less Scrooge shorts, but aside from the one-pagers, that's all), as well as virtually every one of anyone's. Donald serves as a counterbalance to Scrooge, at various times raising objections to his uncle's pie-in-the-sky plans, complaining about his stinginess, plotting to slack off instead of doing his work, and, from time to time, rising to the occasion and getting things done, coerced or not. This is very nuanced stuff, and even a talented cartoonist can screw it up (witness the sadistic abuse that Don Rosa inflicted on him a little too often), but done right, all this comes together to make him into, essentially, the stories' viewpoint character--the Everyduck with whom we identify. Everyone likes Scrooge, but his concerns are far removed from those of readers (there's a Barks quote floating around out there acknowledging this), and he obviously is very specialized--all of which prevents him from really being universal. Likewise HDL: they have a better claim than Scrooge, but the fact remains, even at their most mature, they're kids with kids' concerns. Donald's the one who serves to keep the whole affair grounded; indeed, I would go so far as to argue that, aimed at children though they are, these comics aren't likely to be fully appreciated by kids themselves*, who aren't really in a position to be able to really understand Donald. I certainly liked him well enough as a young'un, but my real identification was, naturally enough, with the kids, which I think is slightly missing the point, awesome as they are.
*That's right: I appreciate duck comics on a much deeper level than you.
Of course, in Ducktales, Launchpad takes the place of Donald--indeed, there are a few comics which it's clear were hastily retooled to substitute Donald for Launchpad when Ducktales comics ceased to be a going affair. I like Launchpad; he can be a great character when well-written, and he's generally acquitted himself well in his occasional starring turn. But he's not a substitute for Donald: he's too broad and cartoonish, with his ostentatious dumbness and pride at his constant crashing, to play the same role.
All of which is only to make the point that Fenton is a great addition to the show because he plays that everyduck role, and plays it very well. Not that he and Donald are interchangeable, of course, and stories that focus on him are not stories that could very well have been written with Donald in mind. But he's a generally sympathetic character with strengths and weaknesses and relatable, real-world concerns (secret identity notwithstanding), and he really provides the show with an element that I didn't even realize it was missing until I saw it.
Thursday, September 15, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode Six: "Metal Attraction"
Gyro invents a robotic maid--"Robotica"--to cut down on Mrs. Beakley's workload. She's super-robotic and creepy and hilarious: "Oh you must be the children units shall we play a game good how about Simon Says good Simon Says spin your head" [head spins like Linda Blair in The Exorcist; kids run in terror] "Why are you not playing Simon Says is fun for the whole family ha ha ha ha ha;" then he reprograms her to be hyperemotional--either way, her animation and voice-acting are extremely memorable, and often hilarious--I laughed a lot, which is not that common in these things.
Anyway, Gyro also apparently programmed her for, um, concupiscence, as she falls extremely hard for Gizmoduck, and her language in describing her feelings is only very-barely veiled in that regard: "Why do you deny our love? Can't you see how you tickle my transformers? Inflame my insulators? Excite my engines?" It's the Ducktales version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
While this is going on, Fenton is being overbearing in his relationship with his girlfriend, Gandra Dee, making these constant, hugely-elaborate gestures of love; this shit was honestly incredibly painful to watch; that was the point, of course, so no points off there, but it's hard to overlook the fact that in real life, this stuff would be grounds for a restraining order, whereas here Gandra just sighs prettily and more or less accepts that there's nothing to be done.
The episode contrasts Fenton's obsessive behavior towards Gandra with Robotica's towards Gizmoduck, and Fenton ultimately finds himself in the untenable situation of having to be two people at once on a double date with the women, resulting in hijinks. Ultimately realizing that this isn't gonna work, he tries, as Gizmoduck, to break up with Robotica, which results in her going completely insane--she's really quite terrifying in Deranged Mode--and trying to kill Gandra. But she gets blown up and then rebuilt and reprogrammed and Fenton learns a valuable lesson.
Now, there's no denying that this episode's gender politics are incredibly dodgy: neither Gandra's passivity nor Robotica's derangement are exactly progressive portrayals of women (though admittedly, as far as the latter goes, given the episode's namesake, you wouldn't expect much else). And, insane though she may have been, I can't help but find the ending--in which she's been reprogrammed with dialed-down emotions, leaving her with this spacey, lobotomized demeanor--creepy as hell. Hello, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!
That said, none of that changes the fact that this is an absolutely brilliant episode. It's hilarious throughout, due to top-notch writing and acting, and you can't help but admire the sophistication of the comparison between the two relationships, even if it does get troubling when you put on your critical theorist hat; furthermore, the writers have a great, absurdist sensibility, resulting in Gandra and Robotica both frequenting an "econolube and perm boutique" and a version of the Teacups--that hoary old carnival ride--in which you're riding in teabag-chairs which giant hands dunk into giant teacups of water. A top-three episode, for sure.
Stray Observations
-I'm pretty sure Fenton only has to say "blatherskite" to summon the suit, yet he always appends "blatherin'" to the beginning. Is he unaware that the extra word is redundant, or did the writers just forget?
-And hey, creepy as I found the ending, it must be said, "that diagnostic machine has been making eyes at me" is edifyingly predictive-of-Futurama.
Anyway, Gyro also apparently programmed her for, um, concupiscence, as she falls extremely hard for Gizmoduck, and her language in describing her feelings is only very-barely veiled in that regard: "Why do you deny our love? Can't you see how you tickle my transformers? Inflame my insulators? Excite my engines?" It's the Ducktales version of "Paradise by the Dashboard Light."
While this is going on, Fenton is being overbearing in his relationship with his girlfriend, Gandra Dee, making these constant, hugely-elaborate gestures of love; this shit was honestly incredibly painful to watch; that was the point, of course, so no points off there, but it's hard to overlook the fact that in real life, this stuff would be grounds for a restraining order, whereas here Gandra just sighs prettily and more or less accepts that there's nothing to be done.
The episode contrasts Fenton's obsessive behavior towards Gandra with Robotica's towards Gizmoduck, and Fenton ultimately finds himself in the untenable situation of having to be two people at once on a double date with the women, resulting in hijinks. Ultimately realizing that this isn't gonna work, he tries, as Gizmoduck, to break up with Robotica, which results in her going completely insane--she's really quite terrifying in Deranged Mode--and trying to kill Gandra. But she gets blown up and then rebuilt and reprogrammed and Fenton learns a valuable lesson.
Now, there's no denying that this episode's gender politics are incredibly dodgy: neither Gandra's passivity nor Robotica's derangement are exactly progressive portrayals of women (though admittedly, as far as the latter goes, given the episode's namesake, you wouldn't expect much else). And, insane though she may have been, I can't help but find the ending--in which she's been reprogrammed with dialed-down emotions, leaving her with this spacey, lobotomized demeanor--creepy as hell. Hello, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest!
That said, none of that changes the fact that this is an absolutely brilliant episode. It's hilarious throughout, due to top-notch writing and acting, and you can't help but admire the sophistication of the comparison between the two relationships, even if it does get troubling when you put on your critical theorist hat; furthermore, the writers have a great, absurdist sensibility, resulting in Gandra and Robotica both frequenting an "econolube and perm boutique" and a version of the Teacups--that hoary old carnival ride--in which you're riding in teabag-chairs which giant hands dunk into giant teacups of water. A top-three episode, for sure.
Stray Observations
-I'm pretty sure Fenton only has to say "blatherskite" to summon the suit, yet he always appends "blatherin'" to the beginning. Is he unaware that the extra word is redundant, or did the writers just forget?
-And hey, creepy as I found the ending, it must be said, "that diagnostic machine has been making eyes at me" is edifyingly predictive-of-Futurama.
Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode Five: "My Mother the Psychic"
The episode opens with Fenton's mother (you'd think she'd get a first name if she's going to feature heavily) is watching All My Ducklings: "So what's the verdict, doctor?" "I'm afraid the tests are conclusive, Erica: you have only three hours to live. With proper care, maybe four." I know it's not exactly hard to make fun of soap operas, but that's still pretty awesome.
Anyway, thanks to an electrical shock, she gets precognitive powers, and Scrooge takes her on as a "financial consultant." This gets in the way of her relationship with Fenton, but when she gets captured by Glomgold (who lives in a Sinister Castle, of course--have we ever actually seen his house before? This is certainly the first time I noted it), and then it's Gizmoduck to the rescue. I must say, as far as Glomgold goes on this show, mostly I just sorta roll my eyes, whatever, he's a cartoon villain, yadda yadda--but with the sort of callous cruelty he displays her to Mrs. Crackshell, for the first time he struck me as a real asshole. Hey, if you're going to modify the original Barks character beyond all recognition, you might as well do a thorough job of it.
I feel like this episode doesn't do quite as much with the mother-son relationship as it could, but it's not at all bad, and there's a really sweet scene when Glomgold's about to launch Gizmoduck into space where they tell how much they'll miss each other without letting on that she knows Gizmoduck's true identity.
So far, Fenton's made every episode he appears in better, whereas the best Bubba can do is stay out of the way and not make things too much worse. The choice is clear.
Stray Observations
-"By the time they realize no one's home, we'll be on a boat to Bombay!" So Glomgold's great plan to not have to let Mrs. Crackshell go is to become a permanent fugitive? Hokay.
-Scrooge, mournfully, when she loses her psychic powers: "Back to making money the hard way--earning it." Uh huh. So does this mean, Ducktales, that you're never again going to have any of those risible lines where he gets all judgmental about other people having unearned money? Can I get that in writing, please?
-Not related to this episode, but how come no Fenton/Gizmoduck in Ducktales 2 on the NES? The first game was probably in development before the character had been introduced, but the sequel came out in 1993, and it seems like Gizmo would've offered some good gameplay possibilities.
Anyway, thanks to an electrical shock, she gets precognitive powers, and Scrooge takes her on as a "financial consultant." This gets in the way of her relationship with Fenton, but when she gets captured by Glomgold (who lives in a Sinister Castle, of course--have we ever actually seen his house before? This is certainly the first time I noted it), and then it's Gizmoduck to the rescue. I must say, as far as Glomgold goes on this show, mostly I just sorta roll my eyes, whatever, he's a cartoon villain, yadda yadda--but with the sort of callous cruelty he displays her to Mrs. Crackshell, for the first time he struck me as a real asshole. Hey, if you're going to modify the original Barks character beyond all recognition, you might as well do a thorough job of it.
I feel like this episode doesn't do quite as much with the mother-son relationship as it could, but it's not at all bad, and there's a really sweet scene when Glomgold's about to launch Gizmoduck into space where they tell how much they'll miss each other without letting on that she knows Gizmoduck's true identity.
So far, Fenton's made every episode he appears in better, whereas the best Bubba can do is stay out of the way and not make things too much worse. The choice is clear.
Stray Observations
-"By the time they realize no one's home, we'll be on a boat to Bombay!" So Glomgold's great plan to not have to let Mrs. Crackshell go is to become a permanent fugitive? Hokay.
-Scrooge, mournfully, when she loses her psychic powers: "Back to making money the hard way--earning it." Uh huh. So does this mean, Ducktales, that you're never again going to have any of those risible lines where he gets all judgmental about other people having unearned money? Can I get that in writing, please?
-Not related to this episode, but how come no Fenton/Gizmoduck in Ducktales 2 on the NES? The first game was probably in development before the character had been introduced, but the sequel came out in 1993, and it seems like Gizmo would've offered some good gameplay possibilities.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode Four: "The Good Muddahs"
Webby's feeling unappreciated at home, but then she's kidnapped and held for ransom by the "Beagle Babes," and what with all the Beagle Boys behind bars, the only cops available are incompetent trainees. What is to be done?!?
Let me first say what would have made this by far the best episode ever: if Webby had gone rogue and joined the Beagle Babes for keeps. Seriously, how awesome would that have been?
Yes, I must admit, they're pretty great characters: the matronly one, Bouffant; the hot, ditzy one, Boom Boom; and the childlike, slightly insane one, Babydoll (according to the internet, anyway--I missed her name in-episode). Yes, there are certain sorta-sexist assumptions that went behind making them "softer" than their male counterparts, but they're also way better, and the way they bond with Webby is super-cool (the bit where they're telling her their own versions of "Cinderella" is priceless). Though I'm not gonna lie (I'm fully aware that "I'm not gonna lie [to you]" is a writing (also vocal) tic of mine; where did that come from, I wonder?): the bit at the end where she starts acting like a crazy gangster (with HDL and Bubba's help) in order to alienate them so they won't feel bad about losing her is pretty painfully stupid.
Also, I feel like they should've gotten away at the end. It's good that they choose jail over Scrooge's insulting offer of work at the "McDuck Daycare Center," but I think avoiding jail altogether would've been better. But no…the show just can't quite get over its firmly entrenched, bourgeois value system enough to make that a possibility.
Still, strong characterizations make for a mostly-strong episode. The Babes badly need to make a repeat appearance or three.
Stray Observations
-Are Babydoll's odd vocal patterns based on someone specific? It sounds like they must be, but I'm insufficiently culturally attuned to be able to say whom.
-I like the call-back to I-forget-which-first-season-episode of Webby's faerie-tale mangling.
"You couldn't keep me here this like this if I wasn't a little girl!"
"Butcha are, Webigail. Yuh are a little girl."
Let me first say what would have made this by far the best episode ever: if Webby had gone rogue and joined the Beagle Babes for keeps. Seriously, how awesome would that have been?
Yes, I must admit, they're pretty great characters: the matronly one, Bouffant; the hot, ditzy one, Boom Boom; and the childlike, slightly insane one, Babydoll (according to the internet, anyway--I missed her name in-episode). Yes, there are certain sorta-sexist assumptions that went behind making them "softer" than their male counterparts, but they're also way better, and the way they bond with Webby is super-cool (the bit where they're telling her their own versions of "Cinderella" is priceless). Though I'm not gonna lie (I'm fully aware that "I'm not gonna lie [to you]" is a writing (also vocal) tic of mine; where did that come from, I wonder?): the bit at the end where she starts acting like a crazy gangster (with HDL and Bubba's help) in order to alienate them so they won't feel bad about losing her is pretty painfully stupid.
Also, I feel like they should've gotten away at the end. It's good that they choose jail over Scrooge's insulting offer of work at the "McDuck Daycare Center," but I think avoiding jail altogether would've been better. But no…the show just can't quite get over its firmly entrenched, bourgeois value system enough to make that a possibility.
Still, strong characterizations make for a mostly-strong episode. The Babes badly need to make a repeat appearance or three.
Stray Observations
-Are Babydoll's odd vocal patterns based on someone specific? It sounds like they must be, but I'm insufficiently culturally attuned to be able to say whom.
-I like the call-back to I-forget-which-first-season-episode of Webby's faerie-tale mangling.
"You couldn't keep me here this like this if I wasn't a little girl!"
"Butcha are, Webigail. Yuh are a little girl."
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode Three: "Bubbeo and Juliet"
Bubbeo was restless he was ready to kill
He jumped out the window 'cause he couldn't keep still
Juliet was waitin' with a safety net
Said "don't bury me 'cause I'm not dead yet"
So some white-trash lottery winners move in next to Scrooge, provoking an amazingly élitist reaction on Scrooge's part--natural, perhaps--and, it seems to me, also on the writers' part: although it's true that their feud is laid bare as childish and pointless at the end, the fact remains that we are pretty clearly meant to see the new neighbors' behavior as, at best, tasteless, and the restoration of the status quo (inevitable in a show like this, of course, but doesn't that in itself represent an embedded tendency towards a particular politics?) as the natural order re-asserting itself.
Blah, whatever. The other plot concerns Bubba having a crush on the daughter of these interlopers (hot duck-on-dogface action!), but when they realize how much their families hate each other and how untenable the whole thing is, they commit mutual suicide. Unless I hallucinated that last part, but really, what are the chances of that?
I suppose this episode really isn't terrible; the Scrooge-vs.-new-neighbors dueling thing is reminiscent of the Donald/Jones fights of old, and there's a cool part where Scrooge and HDL are imagining how they get get their revenge, and their fantasies take the form of highly stylized versions of the characters, showing a concern with aesthetics rarely seen on this show.
So yeah, okay, mostly painless.
Stray Observations
-"Now boys--you had a whole summer off; time to start fifth grade!" I know HDL's ages are a bit on the indeterminate side, but I can't resist trotting this Barks image out:
-"You won ten million dollars gambling?!? You didn't work for it?!?" Seriously, dude, give it a break. If that's a big problem you have, there are many, many people you should get pissed off at before lottery winners.
-"Wow! What a fastball! Nobody's ever gotten a strike against Bruiser before!" As in "Time Teasers," the show evinces a certain ignorance of how percentages work in baseball.
-"It cost me two hundred fifty dollars to get out of jail this time!" …and also, an ignorance of how bail works.
-To disrupt pigman's party (I didn't note the new neighbors' names--sorry!), Scrooge starts playing the bagpipes, which pigman counters with an accordion. Yeah, this is a particular bête noire of mine, but seriously, writers: FUCK. YOU.
He jumped out the window 'cause he couldn't keep still
Juliet was waitin' with a safety net
Said "don't bury me 'cause I'm not dead yet"
So some white-trash lottery winners move in next to Scrooge, provoking an amazingly élitist reaction on Scrooge's part--natural, perhaps--and, it seems to me, also on the writers' part: although it's true that their feud is laid bare as childish and pointless at the end, the fact remains that we are pretty clearly meant to see the new neighbors' behavior as, at best, tasteless, and the restoration of the status quo (inevitable in a show like this, of course, but doesn't that in itself represent an embedded tendency towards a particular politics?) as the natural order re-asserting itself.
Blah, whatever. The other plot concerns Bubba having a crush on the daughter of these interlopers (hot duck-on-dogface action!), but when they realize how much their families hate each other and how untenable the whole thing is, they commit mutual suicide. Unless I hallucinated that last part, but really, what are the chances of that?
I suppose this episode really isn't terrible; the Scrooge-vs.-new-neighbors dueling thing is reminiscent of the Donald/Jones fights of old, and there's a cool part where Scrooge and HDL are imagining how they get get their revenge, and their fantasies take the form of highly stylized versions of the characters, showing a concern with aesthetics rarely seen on this show.
So yeah, okay, mostly painless.
Stray Observations
-"Now boys--you had a whole summer off; time to start fifth grade!" I know HDL's ages are a bit on the indeterminate side, but I can't resist trotting this Barks image out:
-"You won ten million dollars gambling?!? You didn't work for it?!?" Seriously, dude, give it a break. If that's a big problem you have, there are many, many people you should get pissed off at before lottery winners.
-"Wow! What a fastball! Nobody's ever gotten a strike against Bruiser before!" As in "Time Teasers," the show evinces a certain ignorance of how percentages work in baseball.
-"It cost me two hundred fifty dollars to get out of jail this time!" …and also, an ignorance of how bail works.
-To disrupt pigman's party (I didn't note the new neighbors' names--sorry!), Scrooge starts playing the bagpipes, which pigman counters with an accordion. Yeah, this is a particular bête noire of mine, but seriously, writers: FUCK. YOU.
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode Two: "Allowance Day"
HDL want to buy a kickass new scooter, but they're short on cash, it's only on sale 'til Friday, and they don't get their allowance until Saturday, so they change all the clocks and calendars and whatnot to trick Scrooge into thinking it's already Saturday. This has cascading results.
Clever stuff--the absurdist premise is sold quite effectively, though it is on occasion contradictory: the idea is that nobody's quite sure what day it is, but the Walter-Cronkite-equivalent newscaster sez "Saddest of all are those people who missed their Friday birthdays--now they're not sure how old they are." It's a funny line, but it indicates an awareness that a day did indeed disappear, which seems contrary to the general consensus; ie, that Friday DID happen and everyone just somehow forgot about it.
The episode gets a bit less awesome in its second half--not that it's bad, but it becomes a sort of standard get-out-of-peril thing: Fenton's gone to sign a lease extension on a factory so that it doesn't revert to a Latin-American dictator (the depiction of whom is not wholly racially unproblematic), only now, what with it being "Saturday," it's too late, so Scrooge goes down to argue with the guy and gets himself and Fenton condemned to death. Not blindingly brilliant, though Fenton's frantic filibuster to delay the execution in time for the Gizmoduck suit (which can fly for THOUSANDS OF MILES to reach the guy who sez the keyword, it turns out) to get there.
Still, a generally fine episode. Fenton is a very definite asset to the show.
Stray Observations
-"Today the President assigned a special task force to determine what day it is."
-They can show generic Latin-American revolutionary types HERE, yet the Barks ten-pager "Cap'n Blight's Mystery Ship" was banned for just such a depiction. More contradictory Disney-censorship bullshit.
-Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can tell there's a solar eclipse on even if you can't actually see the Sun. And hey, per Wikipedia, there's a partial one due in November! Mark your calendars!
-"When a day on the week is sorely missed/Get back on track with a solar eclipse"--I like the idea that the Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook would have advice on how to handle missing days, but I find the idea that it would be written in doggerel form somewhat questionable.
-HDL need to rescue Scrooge and Fenton. They know this. But when Fenton is gone with no explanation and Gizmoduck appears in his place, does this set off any alarms? Of course not. I don't know; maybe this is just the nature of secret identities, but they seem to be pushing this goofiness a bit hard.
Clever stuff--the absurdist premise is sold quite effectively, though it is on occasion contradictory: the idea is that nobody's quite sure what day it is, but the Walter-Cronkite-equivalent newscaster sez "Saddest of all are those people who missed their Friday birthdays--now they're not sure how old they are." It's a funny line, but it indicates an awareness that a day did indeed disappear, which seems contrary to the general consensus; ie, that Friday DID happen and everyone just somehow forgot about it.
The episode gets a bit less awesome in its second half--not that it's bad, but it becomes a sort of standard get-out-of-peril thing: Fenton's gone to sign a lease extension on a factory so that it doesn't revert to a Latin-American dictator (the depiction of whom is not wholly racially unproblematic), only now, what with it being "Saturday," it's too late, so Scrooge goes down to argue with the guy and gets himself and Fenton condemned to death. Not blindingly brilliant, though Fenton's frantic filibuster to delay the execution in time for the Gizmoduck suit (which can fly for THOUSANDS OF MILES to reach the guy who sez the keyword, it turns out) to get there.
Still, a generally fine episode. Fenton is a very definite asset to the show.
Stray Observations
-"Today the President assigned a special task force to determine what day it is."
-They can show generic Latin-American revolutionary types HERE, yet the Barks ten-pager "Cap'n Blight's Mystery Ship" was banned for just such a depiction. More contradictory Disney-censorship bullshit.
-Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm pretty sure you can tell there's a solar eclipse on even if you can't actually see the Sun. And hey, per Wikipedia, there's a partial one due in November! Mark your calendars!
-"When a day on the week is sorely missed/Get back on track with a solar eclipse"--I like the idea that the Junior Woodchucks' Guidebook would have advice on how to handle missing days, but I find the idea that it would be written in doggerel form somewhat questionable.
-HDL need to rescue Scrooge and Fenton. They know this. But when Fenton is gone with no explanation and Gizmoduck appears in his place, does this set off any alarms? Of course not. I don't know; maybe this is just the nature of secret identities, but they seem to be pushing this goofiness a bit hard.
Ducktales, Season Three, Episode One: "The Land of Trala La"
So was there some particular REASON that the show strips one of the 'l's out of "Tralla La?" Did no one care that this would fuck up the pronunciation? Or did the writers just not understand how English pronunciation works? Or what?
This episode is relatively faithful to the Barks story (though, obviously, without Donald, and thus without the cool line above). Several of the issues that came up when I watched it were ones you could raise with the source material as well: Donald and HDL--or, here, Fenton, Launchpad and HDL--are REALLY good with staying in Trala La [sic] forever (given that Fenton is worried that we won't be able to find accounting work in a place with no concept of money, he sure seems to be planning on it)? Given that they've been living this way for thousands of years, the Tralla-La-ites sure do cotton pretty instantaneously to the concept of money, don't they? That latter issue is actually accentuated here: when Scrooge asks them about money after first arriving, they're completely uncomprehending, but when he asks if he's really getting this house for free, the leader answers that "the house is on the house," indicating that they do in fact have some notion of how a barter economy works. Another episode-specific gripe: they sure do find the place easily enough, given how isolated it's supposed to be. The cool bit in the Barks story where the kids figure out where it is through observational detective work is no more.
The other big difference is that here it's Fenton--with his somewhat nonsensical "oh noes! I won't be able to do accountancy any more!" worries--who instigates the Tralla-La-ites' greed. This works okay (though it doesn't paint him in a particularly good light), as does Scrooge's and Fenton's trek to stop Launchpad from delivering more caps--though the notion that the kids would still have no idea as to Gizmoduck's identity after all this seems highly questionable. I don't really think it was necessary or desirable for the Tralla-La-ites to get murderous, however.
Hey, whatever--in spite of my kvetching, I did think this was a good episode--although, pace Chris and Joe's opinion in the introduction to volume II of Carl Barks' Greatest Ducktales, I don't really agree that it's better than the Barks story, let alone "considerably better." I'd say the two are about on par, though, for different reasons--which is pretty good in itself.
-The Barks story's League to Abolish Billionaires becomes the League to Ban Billionaires--apparently, the show's writers imagined that polysyllabic words would be too much for their audience. In either case, though, I'd be happy to make a donation.
-I'm going to assume that Scrooge's "nerve medicine" is in fact laudanum, with no justification except that it amuses me to do so.
-Hint for Westerners: Avoid using phrases like "the natives are getting restless" in your stories about non-Western cultures. Kthnx.
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