I loved being a dad back in the 1980s. Life after school was immensely pleasurable and easy to do. I got the kids home (I worked at home, and still do) so that was my job. Got the snacks ready. The turned on the television and took a little break with the kids. After all, we all deserved it.
The familiar music came on, we saw the duck tails wiggling as they strode along, and we were all off on our latest adventure with Uncle Scrooge and the boys. Man, those were the days. Back then there was nothing like DuckTales on television. It was Disney’s first foray into the animated television market with a series like that, and it became a model for a lot of other Disney products as well as other cartoon companies.
The show ran from 1987 to 1990 and lasted 100 episodes. Besides Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, and Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the series also gave us other stalwarts from Carl Barker’s iconic comics such as Gyro Gearloose, Goldie O’Gilt, Flintheart Glomgold, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys, Magica DeSpell, and Black Pete.
New characters were also added as the television series progressed. Uncle Scrooge’s adopted grandniece Webbigail “Webby” Vanderquack, Launchpad McQuack, Mrs. Beakley, and Duckworth.
There was magic in those shows. In one episode, Uncle Scrooge and the boys could be off on an Indiana Jones-style adventure and in a science fiction story in the next. The barometer for their adventures swung from mythology-based (“The Golden Fleecing”) to literature-based (“Duck In The Iron Mask”) to movie-based with a twist (“Duck to the Future”) to history-based (“The Uncrashable Hindentanic”).
For thirty minutes, the kids and I would sit totally mesmerized by the story and our favorite characters. There was real drama, suspense, and laughs to die for. And Huey, Dewey, and Louie always triumphed over the bad guys even though Uncle Scrooge didn’t always get the treasure.
The Volume 3 DVD release is chock full of goodness. Thankfully, I have a 10-year-old who hasn’t seen them and can sit down with him and enjoy the episodes all over again. He’s still living his childhood, but I use him as the excuse to relive mine. And with this third volume out, there can be only one more volume to go before we have them all.
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