Quack Pack

''Quack Pack'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, featuring Donald Duck and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The show debuted on September 3, 1996, as a part of the " Disney Afternoon" programming block, following the success of '' Goof Troop'', and ran for one season with 39 episodes.""

Plot

The show centers around Donald Duck, who works as a cameraman alongside his girlfriend Daisy, a reporter for the TV show ''What In the World''. The pair travels around the world with his now-adolescent nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, looking for noteworthy news stories.

Huey, Dewey, and Louie have more distinct personalities than their younger selves had. They usually resort to extreme measures to achieve their ambitions without being punished by their uncle, often by tricking him only to feel guilty about it afterwards. The brothers share similar passions such as listening to rock music, getting revenge on those who anger them, impressing girls, getting money, pulling pranks, playing games and reading comics, as well as a profound knowledge of cars and mechanics.

Characters

*Huey (voiced by Jeannie Elias), the oldest of Donald's nephews, usually acts as the leader of the three brothers and strongly believes that the concepts of fate and coincidence are somehow mysteriously linked together. This makes Huey possess a more persevering character than his brothers as he is usually the last to give up trying to get something when the trio want anything. Huey is also the lothario among the boys.
*Dewey (voiced by Pamela Adlon), the middle child of the trio, is usually the most level-headed out of the three boys. Even though the trio love practical jokes, Dewey is the main practical joker and considers himself a master prankster due to his good knowledge of technology, such as using projectors to create ghosts and fog machines for a more spooky atmosphere.
*Louie (voiced by E. G. Daily), the youngest of the siblings, is a huge fan of comic books and sports – more so than his brothers, with his favorite comic book hero being Mantis Boy. Unlike his brothers, Louie is a nature and animal lover, in addition to being the kindest of his siblings.
*Donald Duck (voiced by Tony Anselmo) is the uncle/guardian of the trio, who refer to him as "Uncle D" if not "Uncle Donald". All of them live together in Donald's house. He is also Daisy's boyfriend and cameraman for her TV show. As with previous depictions of the character, despite being quick-tempered, easily annoyed, impatient, and an especially notorious prankster, he has a good heart and tries to be a decent and protective paternal figure to his "boys" Huey, Dewey and Louie, whom he deeply cares about, even if he is sometimes less than willing to trust them due to their mischievous nature.
*Daisy Duck (voiced by Kath Soucie) is Donald's girlfriend and the reporter of a TV show called ''What In the World'', working for Kent Powers. She does everything she can to try to get a story, sometimes even to the extent of intentionally endangering others. She has a blue pet iguana named Knuckles who eats almost anything. Daisy is a mother figure to Huey, Dewey and Louie and is willing to trust them more than Donald does, as he usually believes they are up to no good, although he is often proven correct. She also puts up with Donald's equally dodgy and impulsive antics.
*Kent Powers (voiced by Roger Rose) is a narcissistic TV personality, and both Donald and Daisy's boss (as well as the latter's co-star). Although Donald is specifically employed as his cameraman, Kent specifically makes Donald his personal assistant without paying him any extra and frequently bullies him for little more than a cheap laugh. Despite his popular image, he is egocentric, selfish, untrustworthy, aloof, domineering, mean-spirited, and prioritizes his career, personal endeavors and safety over everyone else, but unlike Donald has no redeeming qualities. Kent hates Donald, and eagerly seizes every opportunity to fire him or make his job more difficult.
*Knuckles (voiced by Frank Welker) is Daisy's pet iguana.
*Ludwig Von Drake (voiced by Corey Burton) is Donald's uncle and Duckburg's resident genius and inventor, whom Donald and his nephews visit when they need his advice or gadgets, though they tend to make matters worse for those involved.

Villains

*Gwumpki (voiced by Pat Fraley), an immigrant from a country called Gladismorkia, is a good friend of the quintet and owner of the local restaurant where the boys loiter in. He is generally kind-hearted, though he often gets angry when the topic of the boys' unpaid tab is brought up.
*The Claw (voiced by Frank Welker) is an intimidating criminal named for the metal claw replacing his hand. The Claw first appears in "Ready, Aim... Duck!" when Donald claims that he was responsible for breaking the triplets' virtual reality helmet (in reality, Donald himself was the one who broke it). This causes The Claw to seek out Donald in anger. In his second appearance, "Long Arm of the Claw", the Claw reappears as a fully rehabilitated "good citizen". However, he relapses back into his violent nature whenever he sees gold and calms down only when he hears the sound of a ringing bell.
*Moltoc (voiced by Tim Curry) is a sneaky European villain who intends to take over the world by stealing a golden orb in "Recipe for Adventure" and finding a buried treasure in "Hit the Road, Backwater Jack".
*The Zalcrovian Overlord (ZO) is an alien overlord whose plans to take over Earth were accidentally foiled by Donald in "The Late Donald Duck"; thus, he returns in "The Return of the T-Squad" for revenge.
*Dr. Horton Letrek ( Jeff Bennett) is a mad scientist who in "Island of the Not So Nice" invented a ray that turns lifeforms into prehistoric versions of themselves and in "Heavy Dental" invented a mind-control device.

Episodes

Production

Co-producers Kevin Crosby Hopps and Toby Shelton turned to Donald Duck shorts for inspiration for ''Quack Pack''. Shelton noted that in the shorts, Donald mostly interacted with humans, and decided to incorporate humans into the world of ''Quack Pack''. This contrasted with '' DuckTales'', a previous Disney Afternoon series, where the world is inhabited by other anthropomorphic animals. Shelton considers ''Quack Pack'' as more of an extension of the original Donald Duck shorts than of ''DuckTales''.Toby Shelton: stuff i did: Louie, Huey & Dewey Model Sheets (Quack Pack) 1993
/ref> Because of this, many characters from the ''DuckTales'' cartoons and comics, including Disney characters, such as Scrooge McDuck, Launchpad McQuack, and Mickey Mouse don't appear in the series, although Ludwig Von Drake does make a couple of appearances.

In the show, the previously interchangeable nephews were given their own voices and personalities. Huey was the smooth-talker and schemer, Louie was the athlete and oddball, and Dewey was the intellectual and prankster.

The original title of the show was ''Duck Daze'', but was changed to ''Quack Pack'' before release. There are still references to ''Duck Daze'' in the theme song.

Release

After ''Quack Pack'' left the Disney Afternoon block and following the launch of Disney's One Saturday Morning on ABC, it eventually resurfaced in reruns on Disney Channel, and later on Toon Disney. The show was removed from the channel's line up along with several other Disney shows in November 2004.

This show was aired on Disney Junior in Turkey, Netherlands, Flanders, Japan, and Southern Africa, on Disney Channel in Germany, India, Mexico, Poland and Turkey, and Disney XD in Scandinavia and Latin America.

All episodes of the series are currently available on the Disney+ streaming service.

Home media

VHS releases

In the summer of 1997, three 45-minute VHS cassettes containing six episodes were released in the United States.

DVD releases

United States

The episodes "Transmission: Impossible", "Heavy Dental" and "Feats of Clay" were released as the first Region 1 volume ''Quack Pack: Volume 1'' in the United States on February 14, 2006.

International

A one-off Christmas special compilation DVD titled ''Disney's Christmas Favourites'' was released in Region 2 on October 31, 2005, and contains the ''Quack Pack'' episode "Snow Place to Hide", along with the '' Mickey Mouse Works'' short segment "Mickey's Mixed Nuts", the '' 101 Dalmatians: The Series'' episode "A Christmas Cruella", and the short '' Toy Tinkers''.

Reception

Critical reception

Zach Gass of ''Screen Rant'' called ''Quack Pack'' one of the "classic Disney cartoons," writing, "It's not the most original idea, but it's definitely an animated '90s time capsule. With its choice of design, dialogue, and certain plot devices, it's unarguably a product of its time, for better and for worse." Catherine Hug of '' CBR.com'' said, "While ''Quack Pack'' only had one season in 1996, it featured the hilarious antics of Donald Duck and his three nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie. While Donald tried working as a TV Cameraman, he also had to watch over his three rebellious nephews." Susana Polo of '' Polygon'' stated, "''Quack Pack'' wasn’t all bad ideas. Like our modern ''DuckTales'' reboot, it seized upon the idea of giving Huey, Dewey and Louie differentiated personalities."

Legacy

''Quack Pack'' served as inspiration for the 2017 '' DuckTales'' episode of the same name, wherein the main characters find themselves trapped in a 1990s sitcom and are forced to contend with the human studio audience, which they view as monsters since humans are not part of the series. Additionally, in the series finale 'The Last Adventure!', it was revealed that Donald kept a Hawaiian shirt similar to the one he wears in Quack Pack, and Della, sarcastically, asked if the year was 1996, which was the year the series released.

Notes

References

External links

Official Website
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at Don Markstein's Toonopedia
Archived
from the original on November 4, 2016
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{{Ludwig Von Drake in animation

1990s American animated comedy television series
1990s American children's comedy television series
1990s American sitcoms
1996 American animated television series debuts
1996 American television series endings
American animated sitcoms
American animated television spinoffs
American children's animated adventure television series
American children's animated comedy television series
American children's television sitcoms
Disney Channel original programming
Donald Duck television series
American English-language television shows
First-run syndicated animated television series
First-run syndicated sitcoms
Animated television series about brothers
Television series by Disney Television Animation
The Disney Afternoon
Animated television series set in the United States
Animated television series set in Europe
Television shows set in Russia
Television shows set in Canada
Television shows set in China
Television shows set in Mexico
Animated television series set in Africa