In 1987, Disney began airing a new animated television show based on the Duck Universe comics by Carl Barks, titled DuckTales. In the cartoon, Donald Duck had been raising his apparently-orphaned nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. In order to join the Navy, Donald needed to find them a new home, so he left the boys with their Great-Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Frequently accompanied by pilot Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge and his nephews went on a series of adventures to either protect Scrooge’s vast fortune or else add to it. The show ran for four seasons and a full-length movie as well.
This summer, a remake of DuckTales is coming to Disney XD. With 21 half hour episodes planned, a second season already ordered, and a fantastic voice cast which was announced with the actors singing the original theme song, all signs point to the new series being a huge smash. The announced actors include David Tennant (Doctor Who, Jessica Jones) as Scrooge, Danny Pudi (Community), Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation), and Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live) as Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Beck Bennett (Saturday Night Live) as Launchpad, Toks Olagundoye (Castle) as housekeeper Mrs. Beakley, and Kate Micucci (The LEGO Batman Movie) as her daughter Webby. Playing Donald Duck is actor Tony Anselmo, who has been voicing Donald since the 1980s and even played him in the original DuckTales series.
In the original series, Donald only showed up a handful of times. However, Disney released a new promo for DuckTales that is all about Donald, making it clear he will have much more of a role to play in the new show. The trailer makes it look as though Donald will be accompanying his family members on a number of adventures, whether he wants to or not.
Shown in a montage, the audience sees Donald attempting to relax on a boat, when his nephews show up and start a chain reaction of mayhem. Donald moves from a submarine to a yacht to underwater to a series of other locations in quick succession. Tied up in one moment, freezing in another, threatened by predators, walking inside a volcano, traipsing through the desert, Donald is clearly not having as much fun as his nephews are. The montage moves faster and faster, but the look of annoyance and fear never leaves Donald Duck’s eyes – until he finally collapses at the end of the promo, exhausted. All of this is naturally set to the original series’ popular theme song.
While there is no explanation yet as to how many episodes Donald will appear in or why he brings Huey, Dewey, and Louie to Scrooge if he is around and able to take care of them, this DuckTales promo makes one thing very clear: Donald is going to be much more present in this series than he was in the previous one. (Again, whether he wants to be or not.)
DuckTales premieres this summer on Disney XD.
