Holy shit, this one has been a long time coming. Yes, I got to experience the “DuckTales” reboot that everyone loves. It’s about high time I did so, eh?
To give you my exact history with this show, when it started airing new episodes at the start, I was watching alongside it for the first few episodes. But then at some point, I heard through the grapevine that they were airing episodes out of order, and when it comes to a show like this with story and character arcs going on, I’m kind of a stickler for episode order. At that point, I basically said “Okay, I’ll catch up with it when I have everything in the proper order, but this isn’t a high priority for me right now.”
And then I finally get to it five years later. I’m nothing if not timely.
But that’s not the whole story. “DuckTales 2017” had gotten a reputation as being one of the best reboots of all time, if not the best. With that in mind, I figured that if I was going to judge this show on the grounds of it being a reboot, I‘d have to see the original first. Part of that was also because…well, I’ve never heard any of my friends discuss the original in any meaningful capacity, which told me that either people in my circle just haven’t seen it or the reboot is just that much better.
So anyway, I stuck to my plan and saw the whole original show beforehand. To quickly sum up my thoughts on it, the original is good, but it‘s definitely a product of its time. Of course, it has the charm that you’d expect from these characters and the scenarios it presents are often creative and fun. Plus, you can’t go wrong with Launchpad McQuack and Magica De Spell. You just can’t. But that doesn’t mean it was perfect; there was room for improvement when it comes to certain characters, the writing wasn’t always consistent, and there are ethnic stereotypes that let you know it was made in the ‘80s. I’d still recommend it, but I wouldn’t blame you if you don’t quite get into it.
But once I got the original out of the way, I was officially ready to get to the reboot. The reception it got was, quite frankly, astounding to me. Not only is it considered one of, if not the best reboot of all time, but it’s held by many as one of the best cartoons in recent memory. I can safely say I wasn’t expecting that level of praise for it, but that did make me all the more curious to see it for myself.
And…shit. Yeah. Like everyone says, it’s terrific. Like, one of the best shows I’ve ever seen good. I’d go so far as to say it’s in my top 3 favorite shows of all time. Don’t get me wrong, I had a feeling I’d like it more than the original, but holy shit, I did not expect this to blow me away as much as it did. I could save you a bunch of time by saying that this show is incredible and you’re doing yourself a huge disservice by not watching it. But I don’t want to just end things there; I want to gush about this masterpiece.
Like I said, I wanted to judge this show as a reboot, but truth be told, doing so is relatively tricky, at least in a general sense. Each version is telling a different kind of story; whereas the original was largely episodic with the occasional multi-parter, the reboot has a much higher focus on story arcs, character development lasting throughout the show, and tons of continuity sprinkled all the way through. If we’re talking generally, it’s basically like comparing apples and oranges. But that doesn’t mean we can’t compare individual elements.
When I covered the original a while ago, I mentioned that one of my complaints was that Huey, Dewey and Louie were almost completely interchangeable. I remember an episode where Dewey was frustrated that no one could tell them apart, and so he tries to dress wacky to make it easier. That was a solid attempt, but then that plot essentially fizzled out halfway through, so meh. Their dynamic works for comedic shorts, not so much for a proper TV show.
With the reboot, it seems like the writers realized that and so made great effort to make each nephew distinct from each other. Huey is the leader of the trio that tries to keep the others in check, but also has his own anxieties to deal with. Dewey is an attention-seeker who will take any chance to be in the spotlight. Louie is the chill yet lazy opportunist who will often take the easiest route possible, oftentimes to his own detriment. In a story-focused show like this, the nephews are prime for their own interesting pieces of character development, and without giving away too much, the reboot delivers on that in spades. With the original, I’d have to struggle to tell you the differences between the nephews, but here, each one is so distinct and lovable in their own ways that I can say I have a definitive favorite between them(it’s Dewey, BTW).
Make no mistake, this reboot isn’t done out of hate for the original. The people behind it clearly had a great love for it, and oftentimes, it would emulate the feel that the original went for. But they also knew that there was room for improvement, and as a result, basically everything about the reboot is better.
Take Scrooge McDuck, for example. Now, I love the original Scrooge as much as everyone, but in terms of character development…he didn’t really get much. He’s the curmudgeonly and often greedy capitalist with a heart of gold, and for the original show, that was basically all he needed. But the reboot Scrooge has much more dimensions and pathos, helped along by David Tennant’s stellar performance. Alan Young’s Scrooge voice is iconic, don’t get me wrong, but Tennant’s softer and higher-pitched voice performance fits this Scrooge more. He has more emotional depth, and David Tennant gets across his softer and loving side just as powerfully as his curmudgeonly side.
I’m trying to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible for anyone who hasn’t seen it, so I won’t be going too much into detail here. This is a show that really benefits from the viewer just going into it knowing as little as possible. There’s tons of twists and turns, as well as legitimate tearjerker moments, that I don’t want to have ruined for you. But I can say that its effectiveness as a story-driven show is amazing, pulling off continuity nearly perfectly and making every character, both returning and newcomers, feel real and three-dimensional even if they don’t get that much screentime.
That leads me nicely onto another point. Let’s say you haven’t seen the original and are just experiencing this on its own. The reboot still works phenomenally as a show on its own. That’s the mark of a good reboot, I’d say; it gives fans of the original something unique and great, as well as giving the uninitiated reason to maybe check the original out.
As for the comedy, practically every joke knocks it out of the park, and the jokes are very frequent. You can definitely feel the “Gravity Falls” influence on the comedy, and as far as I’m concerned, it‘s some of the funniest writing I’ve heard in years. I haven’t laughed this hard this often since “The Amazing World of Gumball”. Even the weakest episode has at least a few jokes that practically had me rolling on the floor, and if you love the comedy of “Gravity Falls” like I do, I guarantee you’ll love this show based on the comedy alone.
That all being said, is the show perfect? Well…sadly, no. There are a couple lame things that hold it back a bit. Without giving away too much, there’s a season 2 episode that ends with a cliffhanger hinting that a certain character is going to become a recurring villain…and then you never see him again. You’ll know it when you see it, so best to just let you know ahead of time, lol. I’ll also say that the show was cancelled with 3 seasons, and as much as I adore the series finale, I would have loved to have at least another season. There are concepts introduced there that I would have loved to see explored more in a season 4. But that’s going into super nitpick territory.
But honestly, if those are the biggest complaints I have with the show, I think that really speaks to its quality. As a reboot, it uses the original as a launching point to tell a different story that is better in every way, IMO. As a show on its own, it’s filled to the brim with laughs, charm, heart, and of course, adventure, and you’ll love pretty much every second of it.
There’s so much more I can say about the show, and yeah, maybe at some point, I’ll do a more thorough breakdown of each episode, “A Fairly Odd Review Series” style, because it really deserves it. All I can say here is, I get it now. I get why people have been begging me to see this. I’m glad I got pushed into it. It was worth being bugged about all these years. Whether you’ve seen the original “DuckTales” or not, watch the 2017 version. It‘s worth all the hype.
コメント