''DuckTales'' is an American animated television series, developed by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, and produced by

Disney Television Animation Disney Television Animation (DTVA), formerly known as Walt Disney Pictures Television Animation Group and Walt Disney Television Animation, is the television animation production arm of Disney Branded Television, a sub-division of the Disney G ...

. The series is a

reboot In computing, rebooting is the process by which a running computer system is restarted, either intentionally or unintentionally. Reboots can be either a cold reboot (alternatively known as a hard reboot) in which the power to the system is physi ...

of the original 1987 series of the same name, itself an adaptation of ''

Uncle Scrooge ''Uncle Scrooge'' (stylized as ''Uncle $crooge'') is a Disney comic book series starring Scrooge McDuck ("the richest duck in the world"), his nephew Donald Duck, and grandnephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and revolving around their adventures in ...

'' and other

Duck universe The Donald Duck universe is a fictional universe, fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Walt Disney Company, Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and ...

comic books created by Carl Barks, which focused on the lives of Scrooge McDuck and his family as they engaged in a variety of adventures around the world, as well as in the fictional city of

Duckburg The Donald Duck universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting of stories involving Disney cartoon character Donald Duck, as well as Daisy Duck, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, Scrooge McDuck, and many other characters. Life in the Donal ...

. The reboot itself focuses on newer elements and deeper character stories, including a greater involvement of Donald Duck. The series premiered on August 12, 2017, with a 44-minute long pilot episode on

Disney XD Disney XD is an American pay television channel owned by the Disney Branded Television and Disney Media and Entertainment Distribution units of The Walt Disney Company. The channel is aimed primarily at older children ages six to eleven yea ...

, before the first season was green-lit for broadcast from September 23 that year on

. From May 2018 to September 2019, the series was moved to Disney Channel for the previously not broadcast part of the first season and all of the second season. DuckTales was then moved back to Disney XD for its third season, and concluded with a 67-minute finale on March 15, 2021. Since its release, the reboot has generated positive reviews from critics and audiences, as well as a comic book series, a scripted podcast, and several online shorts.

Premise

After not speaking to each other for ten years, Donald Duck reunites with his estranged uncle, business mogul and former adventurer Scrooge McDuck, when he asks him to babysit his three triplet nephews,

Huey, Dewey, and Louie Huey, Dewey, and Louie are Multiple birth, triplet cartoon characters created by storyboard artist (screenwriter) Carl Barks for The Walt Disney Company from an idea proposed by cartoonist Al Taliaferro and are the nephews of Donald Duck and th ...

, for the day. After accidentally releasing and defeating a few ancient evils, Scrooge regains his sense of

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme ...

and invites Donald and the triplets to live at McDuck Manor with him, along with his housekeeper Mrs. Beakley and her granddaughter

Webby Vanderquack This article includes a list of characters from the Disney ''DuckTales'' animated franchise, including the original 1987 series and the 2017 reboot series, as well as one theatrical movie and a variety of additional spin-off media merchandise, ...

. Together, along with Scrooge's chauffeur and pilot

Launchpad McQuack This article includes a list of characters from the Disney ''DuckTales'' animated franchise, including the original 1987 series and the 2017 reboot series, as well as one theatrical movie and a variety of additional spin-off media merchandise, ...

, the Ducks go on many new treasure-hunting expeditions and globetrotting adventures while contending with villains like

Flintheart Glomgold Flintheart Glomgold is a cartoon character created in 1956 by Carl Barks. He is a South African American Pekin Duck and the business rival of Scrooge McDuck, usually portrayed as an ambitious, ruthless, and manipulative businessman who shar ...

, Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys, Magica De Spell, and

Mark Beaks This article includes a list of characters from the Disney ''DuckTales'' animated franchise, including the original 1987 series and the 2017 reboot series, as well as one theatrical movie and a variety of additional spin-off media merchandise, ...

. In the first season, Dewey and Webby search for the truth about Scrooge and Donald's strained relationship and the unexplained disappearance of the triplets' mother and Donald's twin sister

Della Duck Della Duck (sometimes named Dumbella Duck) is a fictional character created in 1937 by Al Taliaferro and Ted Osborne. She is a core member of the Disney Duck family, as the niece of Scrooge McDuck, the younger twin sister of Donald Duck and th ...

while Magica manipulates events to facilitate her return and seek revenge on Scrooge for imprisoning her in his Number One Dime for fifteen years. In the second season, Scrooge and Glomgold compete to become the richest duck in the world by the end of the year while Louie tries to start up his own multi-million dollar business in hopes of following in Scrooge's footsteps. Meanwhile, Della reunites with her family following her escape from the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

and adapts to her newfound motherhood, unaware that the Moonlanders, led by General Lunaris, are planning to invade Earth. In the third season, the Ducks discover the journal of the legendary explorer Isabella Finch and set out to find all the lost artifacts detailed inside while the criminal organization

F.O.W.L. This article includes a list of characters from the Disney series ''Darkwing Duck''. Main characters * Drake Mallard / Darkwing Duck (voiced by Jim Cummings, Chris Diamantopoulos in the 2017 ''DuckTales'' reboot) is an average citizen by day and ...

attempt to eliminate Scrooge and his family and obtain the artifacts first as part of their plot to rid the world of adventuring.

Episodes

Voice cast

The show's main voice cast includes: *

David Tennant David John Tennant (''né'' McDonald; born 18 April 1971) is a Scottish actor. He rose to fame for his role as the tenth incarnation of the Doctor (2005–2010 and 2013) in the BBC science-fiction TV show ''Doctor Who'', reprising the rol ...

as Scrooge McDuck *

Danny Pudi Daniel Mark Pudi (born March 10, 1979) is an American actor. His roles include Abed Nadir on the NBC sitcom ''Community'' (2009–2015), for which he received three nominations for the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor i ...

as Huey Duck * Ben Schwartz as Dewey Duck *

Bobby Moynihan Bobby Moynihan (born January 31, 1977) is an American actor, comedian and writer who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' from 2008 until 2017. He also voiced Louie Duck on Disney's ''DuckTales'' from 2017 to 2021, Panda in ''We Bare Be ...

as Louie Duck *

Kate Micucci Kate Micucci ( ; born March 31, 1980) is an American actress, comedian and musician who is half of the musical comedy duo Garfunkel and Oates. Some of her roles include Stephanie Gooch in '' Scrubs'', Ally in '' 'Til Death'', Shelley in '' Rai ...

Beck Bennett Christopher Beck Bennett (born October 1, 1984) is an American actor, comedian, and writer, who was a cast member on ''Saturday Night Live'' for eight seasons (2013–2021). Before then, he performed in AT&T "It's Not Complicated" commercials in ...

Toks Olagundoye Olatokunbo Susan Olasobunmi Abeke "Toks" Olagundoye (born 16 September 1975) is a Nigerian actress.Mrs. Beakley *

Tony Anselmo Tony Anselmo (born February 18, 1960) is an American voice actor and animator. He has been the official character voice of Donald Duck since 1985 following the death of the original voice actor, Clarence Nash. He has also provided voices for Do ...

as Donald Duck *

Paget Brewster Paget Valerie Brewster (, ; born March 10, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She was first recognized for her recurring role as Kathy on the fourth season of the NBC sitcom ''Friends''. Her breakthrough role came as FBI Supervisory Speci ...

(main season 3, recurring season 2, guest season 1)

Production

Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones grew up watching the original series and had always wanted to develop an updated version for a newer generation. Youngberg said, "We're hoping that in thirty years, the kids who watch our show will then be bringing back the next version of ''DuckTales'' because they loved what we did so much." In May 2015, Terry McGovern, the original voice of Launchpad McQuack, stated in an interview that the entire voice cast from the original series would not be returning for the reboot, which made him "heartsick" at the news. The new voice cast for the series was revealed on December 16, 2016, in a video where they sing an a cappella version of the original theme song in promotion of the news. The following May,

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and '' In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

was announced as the voice of Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera / Gizmoduck. The character was changed to being Latino due to Lin-Manuel's heritage and because Angones felt that there were not enough positive Latino superheroes. In June, more cast members, including

reprising his role as Donald Duck, were announced, and during the 2017

San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is ...

, Disney announced that

Darkwing Duck ''Darkwing Duck'' is an American animated superhero comedy television series produced by Disney Television Animation (formerly Walt Disney Television Animation) that first ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block ''The Disn ...

would also make an appearance in the TV series. At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, several characters from other

cartoons were revealed to appear in the show's third season:

Chip 'n Dale Chip and Dale (also spelled Chip 'n' Dale) is a cartoon duo of anthropomorphic chipmunks created in 1943 by The Walt Disney Company. Concept The characters were first drawn by Bill Justice and introduced in the 1943 Pluto short '' Private ...

and the Rescue Rangers from '' Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers''; Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham from ''

TaleSpin ''TaleSpin'' is an American animated television series first aired in 1990 as a preview on Disney Channel and later that year as part of '' The Disney Afternoon''. It features characters adapted from Disney's 1967 animated feature ''The Jungle Bo ...

''; Rhinokey and Butterbear from '' The Wuzzles''; and Gosalyn Mallard and Taurus Bulba from ''Darkwing Duck''; as well as Goofy (based on his ''

Goof Troop ''Goof Troop'' is an American animated sitcom television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation. The series focuses on the relationship between single father Goofy and his son, Max, as well as their neighbors Pete and his family. ...

'' incarnation), and Daisy Duck. The art style of the show is heavily influenced not just by Carl Barks' original ''

'' comics, but also some of Barks' paintings. The theme song, written by

Mark Mueller Mark Mueller (born July 11, 1957) is an American songwriter. A two-time winner of the ASCAP Pop Award for writing one of the Most Performed Songs of the year, he has had three ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Top Ten singles and one #1 Adult Contemporary ...

for the 1987 series, was re-recorded for the 2017 reboot. It was arranged by Michael "Smidi" Smithand and TJ Stafford and sung by Felicia Barton. Donald Duck has a larger role in this version compared to the 1980s version. The earlier version had been restricted by an edict from

The Walt Disney Company The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Stud ...

stating that the television studio could not use Donald or any of the other stars from Disney's Golden Age shorts, only allowing Donald to make short cameos to set up storylines; this restriction was lifted shortly after the original version of ''DuckTales'' ended.

Theme song

The popular theme song, written by pop songwriter

(both words and music), was the subject of a '' Vanity Fair'' magazine article in 2017, which called the song "History's Catchiest Single Minute of Music". The actual song is sung by Felica Barton, a notable children's singer.

Release

Broadcast

The 44-minute pilot, titled ''Woo-oo!'', premiered on August 12 at 12:00 AM and was repeated consecutively for the next 24 hours. Two days later on August 14, the pilot was also released on YouTube, though it has since been set to private. The pilot also aired on Disney Channel on September 17, 2017. The series officially premiered on September 23, 2017, coinciding with the original show's 30th anniversary. On May 1, 2018, the show moved to the Disney Channel, with new episodes airing on Fridays beginning May 4, 2018. With season three, the series will once again air on Disney XD. On October 20, 2020, "Let's Get Dangerous!", the 44-minute ''

''-themed episode from season 3, was made available for free on Disney XD's

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

channel. In Canada, the pilot premiered on

on August 12 and the full series started on September 23, 2017. In Australia and New Zealand, the show premiered on Disney Channel on October 13, 2017. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, the pilot premiered on Disney Channel on November 4, 2017. The full series debuted on March 1, 2018, on

Marketing

On December 7, 2016, a teaser trailer was released for the series. The first season was announced to consist of 21 half-hour episodes and two hour-long specials. On March 10, 2017, a trailer for the series aired on Disney Channel during the premiere of '' Tangled: Before Ever After'', and on June 14, 2017, the title sequence for the series, featuring a re-recording of the theme song written by

and performed by Felicia Barton, was released.

Home media

A DVD titled ''Woo-oo!'' was released on December 19, 2017, in the US and on July 9, 2018, in the UK and Ireland. The DVD contains the pilot episode and all 6 ''Welcome to Duckburg'' shorts. A second DVD titled ''Destination Adventure!'' was released on June 5, 2018. It contains the episodes ''The Beagle Birthday Massacre!'', ''The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!'', ''The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!'', ''The Spear of Selene!'', ''The Missing Links of Moorshire!'', and ''Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!'', as well as 2 episodes of the original 1987 series previously unreleased on DVD (''New Gizmo Kids on the Block'' and ''Ducky Mountain High'').

Video on demand

iTunes and Amazon Prime Video in the United States offer the first and second season, split into four volumes. The first and second season have been released on

Disney+ Disney+ is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned and operated by the Media and Entertainment Distribution division of The Walt Disney Company. The service primarily distributes films and television se ...

since its launch, but users have noted episodes being out of order. The series had its episodes arranged in the proper order on June 26, 2020. The entire third season was released on Disney+ on April 30, 2021.

Reception

Critical reception

The

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

reports an approval rating of 100% based on 12 reviews, with an average rating of 9/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Highly energetic, distinctively designed, and attuned to its nostalgia, this update to a Disney animated classic is far bolder than its predecessor." '' IGN'''s Chris Hayner gave the series premiere, "Woo-oo!", a score of 8.5 out of 10, stating that the reboot "may be aimed at modern young audiences but there's no denying the heart and adventurous spirit it gets from the original series." ''

IndieWire IndieWire (sometimes stylized as indieWIRE or Indiewire) is a film industry and review website that was established in 1996. The site's focus was predominantly independent film, although its coverage has grown to "to include all aspects of Holl ...

'' complimented the series premiere, claiming that "the reboot of the series keeps all of those important original hallmarks. “American Idol” alum Felicia Barton re-recorded the signature theme song but keeps its sense of fun and excitement intact." ''

Collider A collider is a type of particle accelerator which brings two opposing particle beams together such that the particles collide. Colliders may either be ring accelerators or linear accelerators. Colliders are used as a research tool in particl ...

'' rated the last season 5 out of 5, indicating that "Season 3 is really where the new vision of the fan-favorite series takes off." ''

Den of Geek ''Den of Geek'' is a US and UK-based website covering entertainment with a focus on pop culture. The website also issues a bi-annual magazine. History ''Den of Geek'' was founded in 2007 by Simon Brew in London. In 2012, DoG Tech LLC licensed ...

'' reviewed the last episode of the show positively, stating, "DuckTales has power; it’ll keep having power. Now that the show’s ended I have no doubt more people will check it out on Disney+ and realize how special it was. How great it was. How even if it still had more stories to tell it still gave all it had." ''ComicsBeat'' praised the series, saying, "With an unimpeachable cast, a clever sense of humor, and a commitment to the underlying thematic concerns of the story, these three seasons represent the best-case scenario for the reboot of a beloved TV show: a sensationally self-aware series that takes its characters seriously while still delivering side-splitting slapstick." ''CinemaBlend.com'' gave a positive review of the series, praising the humour of the show, alongside the performance of the voice actors. Disney comics creator

Don Rosa Keno Don Hugo Rosa (), known simply as Don Rosa (born June 29, 1951), is an American comic book writer and illustrator known for his Disney comics stories about Scrooge McDuck, Donald Duck, and other characters which Carl Barks created for Di ...

, primarily known for his Uncle Scrooge comic sub-series ''

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck ''The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck'' (''Lo'') is a serial of 12 comic book stories written and drawn by Don Rosa, lettered by Todd Klein (American editions), first published by the Danish publisher Egmont in the magazine ''Anders And & Co.'' ...

'', has stated that the ''DuckTales'' reboot series bears "virtually no similarity whatsoever" to Barks' original comics.

Accolades

Printed media

Prose books

In 2018,

Disney Press Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW), formerly known as The Disney Publishing Group and Buena Vista Publishing Group, is the publishing subsidiary of Disney Parks, Experiences and Products, a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. Its imprints inclu ...

published "DuckTales: Solving Mysteries and Rewriting History!", a companion book covering the majority of season one, as seen from the perspective of Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby. It is written by

Rob Renzetti Robert John Renzetti is an American animator and author. Renzetti is known for creating '' My Life as a Teenage Robot'' and the '' Oh Yeah! Cartoons'' series '' Mina and the Count'' for Nickelodeon, directing ''Dexter's Laboratory'', ''The Powerp ...

and show writer Rachel Vine.

Art book

In 2022, Ken Plume revealed he was working on a ''DuckTales'' art book. Titled "The Art of DuckTales", the book was published by

Dark Horse Comics Dark Horse Comics is an American comic book, graphic novel, and manga publisher founded in Milwaukie, Oregon by Mike Richardson in 1986. The company was created using funds earned from Richardson's chain of Portland, Oregon comic book shops know ...

and released on October 24, 2022.

Comics

An ongoing comic book series based on the show is being published by IDW Publishing, with Joe Caramagna,

Joey Cavalieri Joey Cavalieri is an American writer and editor of comic books. He is best known for his work on the characters Green Arrow and Huntress as well as the co-creation of Helena Bertinelli, the third Huntress, for DC Comics. Career Joey Cavalieri ...

and Steve Behling sharing writing duties, and Luca Usai, Gianfranco Florio and others providing the art. ''Ducktales'' #0 was released on July 19, 2017, and #1 of the monthly series followed on September 27. The individual issues are also collected in

trade paperbacks A paperback (softcover, softback) book is one with a thick paper or paperboard cover, and often held together with adhesive, glue rather than stitch (textile arts), stitches or Staple (fastener), staples. In contrast, hardcover (hardback) book ...

: *"Treasure Trove" (), collecting issues #0-2 *"Mysteries and Mallards" (), collecting issues #3-5 *"Quests and Quacks" (), collecting issues #6-8 *"Fowl Play" (), collecting issues #9-11 *"Monsters and Mayhem" (), collecting issues #12-14 *"Mischief and Miscreants" (), collecting issues #15-17 *"Imposters and Interns" (), collecting issues #18-20 List of comic book stories *

Podcast

On March 10, 2021, it was announced that a seven-episode scripted

podcast A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...

spinoff of the series would be launching via the Disney XD YouTube channel on March 29, two weeks after the series finale. The podcast is called ''This Duckburg Life'' (a parody of the popular public radio program/podcast ''

This American Life ''This American Life'' (''TAL'') is an American monthly hour-long radio program produced in collaboration with Chicago Public Media and hosted by Ira Glass. It is broadcast on numerous public radio stations in the United States and internatio ...

'') and is hosted by Huey Duck for "Duckburg Public Radio" and focuses on

slice of life Slice of life is a depiction of mundane experiences in art and entertainment. In theater, slice of life refers to naturalism, while in literary parlance it is a narrative technique in which a seemingly arbitrary sequence of events in a characte ...

occurrences in Duckburg. Many of the cast from the series reprise their roles, including Tennant, Pudi, Schwartz, Moynihan, Micucci, Bennett, Olagundoye, Rash, Brener, Martindale, and Anselmo.

Merchandise

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, cartoon, Disney, animation, Television, United States DuckTales 2010s American animated television series 2020s American animated television series 2017 American television series debuts 2017 animated television series debuts American animated adventure television series American animated comedy television series Amputees in fiction English-language television shows Disney Channel original programming Disney XD original programming Donald Duck television series Animated television series reboots Television series by Disney Television Animation Television shows based on comics Animated television series about ducks Animated television series about families 2021 American television series endings