Life is like a hurricane,
here in Duckburg.
Racecars, lasers, aeroplanes,
it’s a duck blur.
Might solve a mystery.
Or rewrite history…
“DuckTales,” the classic Disney half-hour afternoon cartoon that debuted in 1987 and ran for four seasons (though much longer in syndication), has shown a rare capacity for endurance that shows of its ilk rarely can even aspire to.
Don’t believe me? Sing the first couple of bars of that theme song in public and see if the people around you join in.
If they don’t, you’ll feel really silly, and that’s kind of funny.
But chances are, at least a few people will sing along (or at least crack a big goofy grin as you make a fool of yourself).
And with good reason, as the show, for a good number of Gen Xers, was a babysitter as they latch-keyed their way into their homes and killed time for the couple of hours until their parents got home from work.*
* Gen Xers are very proud of being latch-key and will bring that fact up on literally every occasion possible, in the same way that a vegetarian will always proudly tell you that they are vegetarian. How do you get a Gen Xer out of your house? Invite over their parents.
How good was DuckTales? Well, probably not as good as you remember. It leans heavily on other pieces of work and falls into simplistic tropes with dialogue that will mostly appeal to minors. And the animation itself isn’t ground-shaking either.
But that’s honestly okay, because a thing doesn’t have to be great to be important.
And DuckTales was absolutely an important piece of pop culture.
The show, itself a risk due to its heavy production demands for what might have been considered meager rewards in a traditionally low-viewed time slot, instead was immensely popular and paved the way for even more Disney afternoon animated shows like “Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers” and “Tailspin.”
In its own way, DuckTales can also be given some credit (or blame) for Disney’s ability to weather some lean years in the 1980s when the studio was having a difficult time finding success at the box office (prior to “The Little Mermaid,” that is).
The fondness and popularity for DuckTales eventually spawned a reboot of the show in 2017, once again for a few seasons, except this time it was objectively entertaining for adults. The test of time will likely be far kinder to the reboot in terms of actual repeat viewings, as the series, for any fans of the brand at all, is basically a must-watch, delightful and humorous and engaging. (It’s seriously THAT good … go watch it right now if you haven’t seen it yet.)
Of course, the reboot and all of the merchandise and crossovers and so forth and so on over all of the years … none of that tells the entire story, because the entire story wouldn’t be complete without an acknowledgement of the licensed video game that was developed and released alongside the cartoon in 1989.
That licensed video game, “DuckTales,” somehow became one of the greatest platformers of all time.
‘DuckTales’ at a glance:
Genre: Platformer
Released: 1989
Platform: NES
Nintendo Power’s No. 44 greatest game of all time