Search - DuckTales - Volume 3 on DVD

Best Cartoon Show Ever!

Mel Odom | Moore, OK USA | 12/17/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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 Season 3 DVD release is chockfull 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.

There are 24 episodes in this latest release, but that includes two five-part serials that were originally broadcast over a week of showing to keep everybody in suspense. And, yes, it worked.

This series is absolutely one of the best Disney or anyone else has ever conceived of or produced. If this is your first time through the cartoons, my congratulations because you've got hours of entertainment ahead of you. And if you, like me, love this show, make excuses to put yourself back in front of the television and get ready for some real entertainment and a return to greatness.
"

Happy to revisit a childhood favorite

D. Silver | 11/12/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I'm happy Disney has been releasing the old shows I used to watch as a kid. This review is for the DVD set and not the show. This set has three discs in slim cases with 8 episodes on each for a total of 24 episodes. There are no special features, just some sneak peaks of movies and the episodes have english and french subtitles.

The audio sounded great and the music is really good but the picture was somewhat deteriorated from what I've watched. There are noticeable white specks and lines that quickly appear and disappear through the course of an episode. I guess they didn't keep the original copies in a safe place. It makes the show look older than it actually is.

Still overall it is a great show that I would rate five stars and if you have young kids in elementary school I would definitely recommend buying this show for them to watch. It is much better than most of the stuff on TV for kids today. I also recommend DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.

Here's a list of the episodes:
Duck to the future
Jungle Duck
Lauchpad's First Crash
Dime Enough for Luck
Duck in the Iron Mask
The Uncrashable Hindentanic
The Status Seeker
Nothing to Fear
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. McDuck
Once Upon a Dime
Spies in there Eyes
All Ducks on Deck
Ducky Horror Picture Show
'Til Nephews do us Part
Time Is Money Part One
Time Is Money Part Two
Time Is Money Part Three
Time Is Money Part Four
Time Is Money Part Five
Super DuckTales Part One
Super DuckTales Part Two
Super DuckTales Part Three
Super DuckTales Part Four
Super DuckTales Part Five"

A magnificent show wrapped in cheap packaging

Christopher Barat | Owings Mills, MD USA | 12/17/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"My IQ (Irritation Quotient) has grown with each successive lackadaisical, unimaginative DDVD release of the classic "Disney Afternoon" series. With this particular release, it just about peaked. This is arguably the choicest slab of "DuckTales" episodes that could possibly be procured: the final dozen or so episodes of the first season -- by which time the slow pacing of some of the early eps had given way to slick, artful storytelling that married the best of the Carl Barks approach to the finest of contemporary humor scripting for animated cartoons -- and the two multipart epics (originally released in two-hour "movie" format as the only new material of the 1988-89 season) that introduced the new characters of Bubba Duck and Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck. Argue if you must about the merits of these additions to the cast -- especially the former -- and the somewhat looser, more sitcom-oriented style of dialogue and plot construction, but there's no denying that the series was at, or close to, its imaginative peak at this time. For DDVD to treat this as just another issuance of salable product -- still not even bothering to clean up the masters! -- is an extreme disappointment. The company's indifference to the quality of its TV-show releases has had the unfortunate effect of diminishing the reputation of the very series that triggered the "Silver Age" TV-animation boom of the 1990s, the tremors of which can still be felt (albeit in somewhat attenuated form) today. No series has suffered from this carelessness more than "DuckTales," the most entertaining of them all.

Of the 27 eps in this package, only "Once Upon a Dime," an ill-conceived and grossly inaccurate "biography" of Scrooge McDuck (where was Don Rosa when we REALLY needed him??), and a couple of chapters of the Bubba Duck serial "Time is Money" truly miss the mark. The full range of "DT" subject matter is on display, from the swashbuckling adventure of "Duck in the Iron Mask" (which also deserves praise as one of the few pre-"Quack Pack" Duck stories to build a legitimate character-based subtheme out of the identical nature of Huey, Dewey, and Louie) to the raucous parody of "The Uncrashable Hindentanic." The Phantom Blot makes a memorable (and wholly unexpected) animated debut in "All Ducks on Deck," which also rates as Donald Duck's most memorable role in the series. "Time is Money" is undercut by several egregious continuity goofs and a bit too much filler, but Bubba's bow-in is still entertaining in many spots; the decision to leave the caveduck marooned in contemporary Duckburg can legitimately be challenged, however. Fenton/Gizmoduck's curtain-raiser, "Super DuckTales" (the original title given to the adventure by NBC's "Magical World of Disney"), is far more consistently enjoyable and, along with the earlier episode "Double-O-Duck," clearly points the way towards the later series "Darkwing Duck" (in which Gizmoduck would make several appearances). Adding to the viewer's pleasure with "Super DT" is the restoration of several scenes involving guns (in "Liquid Assets," the first chapter of the serial) that had been pharisaically trimmed for broadcast on Toon Disney.

Will Volume 4, which will contain the episodes from the 1989-90 and 1990-91 seasons, finally do right by fans and provide extras -- as has been rumored of the long-delayed Volume 2 collection of "Gummi Bears"? One would like to think so, but we've been burned enough times to be leery of such optimistic projections. Thankfully, "DuckTales" is such a strong and hugely enjoyable production that there's no reason to warn you away from buying the DVDs just because of the skimpy production values.
"

DuckTales Volume 3 The Best of the Best!

Joseph Torcivia | Westbury, NY USA | 01/03/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Disney's DuckTales: Volume 3
(Released November 13, 2007 by Walt Disney Home Video) DVD Review by Joe Torcivia

This volume of DUCKTALES, the 1987 animated series based on the characters appearing in writer/artist Carl Barks' series of UNCLE SCROOGE comic books, covers the "tale" end of the initial season and the two prime time specials (both later carved into five-part episodes) "Time is Money" and "Super Ducktales". These last two introduce the soon-to-be-regular characters of "cave-kid" Bubba Duck and robotically armored super hero Gizmoduck, respectively. This would leave one, relatively short volume of the series left to go.

The series origin, "Treasure of the Golden Suns", (Volume 2) and a few other early episodes like "Sphinx for the Memories", "Where No Duck has Gone Before" and "Home Sweet Homer" (all Volume 1) excepted, I think that the best batch of shows were at this stage. After that, there was a slight decline, as the series moved further away from its comic-book foundation. Still, a number of episodes to come are more than worthwhile.

For me, standouts include the following:

"All Ducks on Deck". (Disc 2) How could this NOT be a favorite for me, as it featured the too-seldom seen Donald Duck and a surprise appearance by Mickey Mouse's greatest comics foe; The Phantom Blot! (Even though they never meet cloak to beak!) I will never forget the utter jaw-dropping experience of coming home from work in late 1987, turning on the VCR and seeing an animated version of The Phantom Blot!

Even if the Blot's design owed more to 1970s comic books (...complete with opening mouth and evil smile - This is a guy UNDER A CLOAK, remember?) than the more classic 1930s Floyd Gottfredson comic strip or 1960s Paul Murry comic book versions - it was A-OK with me! By this time in the run, I'd thought I'd seen ALL of DT's tricks (...and what wonderful tricks they were!), but THIS? And Donald's opening "tall sea-tale" sequence is just as unforgettable as the Blowhard Blot - especially for a show that almost (unjustly) ignored Donald completely!

If only Disney would release HOUSE OF MOUSE, so I could complete the Animated Blot Trilogy with the more Gottfredson-inspired (...but no less hammy) Blot seen on that series. And, Super Goof, Zeke (Big Bad) Wolf, and Pete. Disney, I want HOM too!

In "Ducky Horror Picture Show" (Disc 2), the Ducks take a backseat to the antics of a bunch of funny movie-style monsters, who have chosen Duckburg for their annual convention. There were so many nice little touches like the Greyhound Skeleton on the side of the Monsters' bus. My favorite is when the Creature from the Blue Lagoon receives his invitation to the Monsters Convention - stares at it for a beat, as the standard DUCKTALES dramatic music cue plays (...and we wonder what he's going to do) - and unexpectedly puts on a party hat and blows a horn full of bubbles! And, appealing to this Long Islander, a reference to "Great Neck, NY", to boot - or would that be "to BITE"! Sure, the monsters were clichéd. So what? It's not as if they were Filmation's The Groovy Ghoulies!

"The Uncrashable Hindentanic" (Disc 1) is simply one of the flat-out FUNNIEST Duck stories ever done! More jokes per square inch, than any other! There is so much wonderful verbal humor here that it is the kind of script that one day I could only hope to remotely approach, in my capacity as a freelance scripter for the Disney Duck comic books! It was all the more amazing to me then because, less than three years prior (1984), the UNCLE SCROOGE comic books were generally devoid of humor during the final years under Whitman Publishing. A new publisher for the comics, Gladstone, had just started up in 1986 and had shown considerable (nay, phenomenal) improvement, but there was nothing like this!

Our story begins with a wager between Scrooge Mc Duck and his rival Flintheart Glomgold, and transforms into a star-studded send-up of the type of disaster films that were the specialty of producer Irwin Allen in the 1970s. Indeed, producer Allen was HIMSELF parodied as a character in this wonderful episode. A winner all the way!

"Status Seekers" (Disc 1) As a comic book devotee, it's a thrill to see the name of Carl Barks (creator of Scrooge Mc Duck, Gyro Gearloose, Flintheart Golmgold, The Beagle Boys, etc.) in the credits, as the author of the original story upon which this episode is based. Yes, I freeze-framed to savor it. This was a case where the "variant material" did not drag Barks' original story down (...as it did for previous DUCKTALES episodes "Back to the Klondike" and "Down and Out in Duckburg"), but actually enhanced it.

As with past volumes of DUCKTALES, there are no extras or commentaries. What a pity, considering the creative talent involved! Yes, there was a feature on Carl Barks as part of "Walt Disney Treasures: The Chronological Donald Volume 2 (1942-1946)", but Barks, with his decades of comic book wonder, is the de-facto architect of DUCKTALES, and deserves mention in this context.

Actor Alan Young certainly merits a feature for so superbly bringing Scrooge to Scottish-accented life! Other fine performers who were DT regulars, such as Russi Taylor, Terrence Mc Govern, Chuck Mc Cann, and June Foray, are worthy of features as well!

If "money was an object", a sentiment Scrooge Mc Duck would ironically endorse, perhaps Disney could consider stringing together the vast number of existing DUCKTALES commercials and promos that were created during the life of the series (...some of which contained original animation, and most of which employed original vocals by the regular cast) to "manufacture" a feature. These would be fun to see.

That said, Disney's DuckTales: Volume 3, is a set so chock-full of good times that it gets my highest recommendation on the strength of the material found therein.


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