For years now we’ve been in the midst of the age of reboots and sequels. Every successful franchise from the eighties and nineties is finding its way back to the silver or small screens. Later this year we’ll see Power Rangers in theaters and yet another Transformers movie. These franchises owe their success to a combination of youthful naivety and adult nostalgia.
For my part, growing up I wasn’t really into your Transformers, Power Rangers, or He-men… I was a Disney kid. Give me DuckTales, Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers, or The Adventures of the Gummi Bears over G.I. Joe any day.
While resurrecting my favorite shows wasn’t the first stop leaving memory station in its way to nostalgia town, it was was inevitable really. Inspector Gadget has already seen a reboot, The Magic School Bus is on its way (helmed by the ineffable Kate McKinnon) and finally, we’re getting our first look at what will be Disney XD’s new DuckTales show.
Previously, we’d been treated to art design samples (pictured above) and an cast announcements couched within a love letter to the original theme song, but were only able to imagine what those elements might make when put together. Questions swirled. Would this be a complete reimagining, disregarding the events of the original series or would it pick up where the previous show left off? Would Scrooge be tailored to suit more modern sentiments, no longer the poster-duck for extravagant capitalism? Would the tapestry of interesting side characters like Magica De Spell, Flintheart Glomgold, Gyro Gearloose, and Launchpad McQuack be present? More importantly, will there be an abundance of the greatest DuckTales character, mother-quackin’ GizmoDuck?
Today, this most glorious of days, some of those questions have been answered. It appears that the new DuckTales will not reference any of the events of the previous series. It also appears, that at least to some extent, Donald Duck is present, not just an absentee parental figure who abandons his nephews with a curmudgeonly old man, never to be seen or heard from again. Some of the voice acting is spectacular. David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck is fresh while still paying homage to the original characterization and Launchpad sounds almost identical, while Huey, Dewey, and Louie have more distinct voices that will take a little getting used to but might help to differentiate them as individuals rather than clones of one another. It also appears that Scrooge is beyond his adventuring days and perhaps the addition of the boys into his life gives him a reason to wipe the literal dust from that part of his life once more.
Still, many questions remain unanswered. What is the nature of the adventures they’ll have? Will we ever find out who Huey, Dewy, and Louie’s real parents are? And seriously where is GizmoDuck??
DuckTales will air on Disney XD Summer 2017.