DuckTales The Movie: Collie Baba, You Old Dog!

 In DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990), Scrooge McDuck adds to his wealth by  finding the hidden treasure of the legendary thief, Collie Baba.  Here, Uncle Scrooge and Collie Baba are made from sea shells and shark teeth found on the beaches of Venice, Florida (in addition to paint and just a little bit of metal hardware--for Scrooge's spectacles and Collie Baba's mustache and goatee).

The movie was a spin-off of the 1987 syndicated series Disney's DuckTales.  Which itself was an adaptation of the Uncle Scrooge comic books series that really took off in 1952 (the character was first introduced in 1947).

Alan Young voiced Uncle Scrooge in the original DuckTales TV series and film.  He began playing Scrooge in a 1974 record album adaptation of A Christmas Carol which was later adapted into the famous 1983 film, Mickey's Christmas Carol.  1990s kids may also know Young from his role in the live action series Mister Ed (a 1961 sitcom about a man with a talking horse) that ran in reruns on Nick at Nite.

DuckTales The Movie was created by Disney TV Animation and animated by Walt Disney Animation France and Walt Disney Animation UK (the studios in France and the UK closed long ago).  The screenplay was written by Alan Burnett, who went on to guide the stories for Batman The Animated Series at Warner Brothers.  A real highlight of the movie for me is the adventurous soundtrack by David Newman.

The character of Collie Baba has a very interesting function in the film.  He is an important figure in the story, but the audience only gets brief hints of what he looks like in the form of statues and iconography.

Duckworth Is Not A Duck: Uncle Scrooge's Canine Butler

In 1987, Disney's DuckTales debuted, bringing the world of Uncle Scrooge comics to life on television.  One of the characters created for the show was Duckworth (voiced by Chuck McCann), Scrooge's butler, based on other butler characters from the comics.  One of the maddening things about the show for me was that Duckworth was clearly not a duck, but a dog.  Duckworth definitely carried a chip on his shoulder, and had some of the best lines of the show.  My favorite was this sassy line to Scrooge McDuck, who is famous for swimming in his money bin: "Swimming in water?  Oh dear, what will you ducks think of next?"

For the 2017 reboot of DuckTales, Duckworth became an obsession with Disney fans when the show first debuted.  It seemed that the character was not included in the series, but in fact he was always in the show's intro, but in disguise.  In this new version, Duckworth (now voiced by David Kaye) was Scrooge's deceased butler.  The ghost of Duckworth returned to the mansion and showed off a scary, sinister looking identity that has always been in the show's main title animation.

In the world of TV Tropes, Duckworth is a 1) Non-Indicative Name  2)Ghost Butler  3)Hellhound.

I decided to make Duckworth out of rocks and shells.  I also wanted to include his different identities.  So here's mortal Duckworth, ghost Duckworth, and demon Duckworth.

How To Train Your Disney Komodo Dragon

Komodo Dragons are cool, and it looks like Disney finally made one into a character on the new version of DuckTales.  At least, I think he is a Komodo Dragon.  The reptile in question is wrestler named Jormungandr and appears in the episode "The Rumble for Ragnarok."  It is fitting that I made a statue of him using rocks and shells.  This particular episode hasn't even debuted as I type this, but I thought the character was an impressive new addition to the world of DuckTales.

UPDATE: So the episode aired today and it turns out that Jormungandr is a snake with legs and arms.  So, not a Komodo Dragon, even though it looks like one.

Rockabilly Astro Boyd Biker Hog: Insane Anime Clown Piggy

Astro B.O.Y.D.!, the newest episode of Disney's DuckTales animated series, took place in Japan.  Among the new characters introduced in this episode was Clown, a biker pig with a giant pompadour.  Clown wears a scary clown helmet that somehow does not ruin his perfect hair.  I decided to build a figure of Clown using rocks and shells.

The Astro B.O.Y.D. episode features a ton of Anime Easter Eggs, including characters inspired by Lupin III and Sailor Moon.  I don't know if Clown is influenced by any particular Japanese character, or maybe just the popularity of Pompadours and Rockabilly in Japan.

Clown's helmet is a smooth, round rock that doubles as a support structure for the figure.

Clown is one bad hog.  It is hilarious to me that he is a pig with huge pectoral muscles.

Disney DuckTales Sea Treasure Lost and Damp: Fenton Crackshell Made of Cracked Shells

I live near the beach in Venice, Florida.  Before the age of Coronavirus sheltering in place, I was working on making sculptures out of seashells, rocks, and other stuff I found at the ocean.  Luckily, I stockpiled materials, because now the beaches are closed, and I have a lot of free time to make some really elaborate sculptures.  These include characters from Disney's DuckTales.  Specifically, I've been referencing the 2017 DuckTales reboot, which I think is actually way better than the original 1987 TV series.  One of the most recent episodes of DuckTales brought back Gene the Genie from the 1990 film, DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.  Oh my, that movie had some issues.  Thankfully, the reboot of DuckTales was definitely aware of these issues.

My main beef with the DuckTales movie is that it was a bit of a bait and switch.  I actually saw it in the movie theaters in August of 1990.  The beginning of the movie, up until the characters enter the pyramid, is really beautifully done.  I believe that this animation was done by Walt Disney Animation England/UK.  This was the same Disney unit that worked on Roger Rabbit.  Roger Rabbit's animation was directed by famous animator Richard Williams.  I'll get to Richard Williams again in just a minute.

After the characters enter the pyramid, there is a noticeable shift in the production quality in the movie.  I believe the rest of the film was animated by Walt Disney Animation France.  And it wasn't the same level of greatness, in my opinion.

The DuckTales movie wasn't bad, but I thought it could be a lot better than it was.  It was released as a "Disney Movietoon" which clearly was supposed to be a thing, but the problems with the film seemed to end the label.

We'll start with D'Jinn, a character based on the 1990 film's character, Dijon.  Dijon was a cowardly stereotype thief in the DuckTales movie.  Dijon could be seen by many as offensive.  However, I think Dijon has the best animation in the DuckTales movie.  And I think he is endearing.  Reboot DuckTales D'Jinn is an updated, badass version of Dijon.  D'Jinn even inherited some of the costuming style of his movie villain master, Merlock.

What's interesting to me is that both Dijon and D'Jinn remind me a lot of a character called the Thief from the decades-long-in-production Richard Williams animated movie, The Thief in the Cobbler.  Dijon has the Thief's goofiness, while D'Jinn has slightly cunning looking eyes, very similar to the Thief.

The Genie from the 1990 movie was voiced by Rip Torn.  At the end of the DuckTales Movie, the Genie turned into a real "boy", finishing a film that played very much like a test run for 1992's Aladdin.  Gene the Genie appeared to take up residence with Scrooge McDuck and family, but he was never seen again in the original series.  Dijon, however, did appear in the final episodes of that version of DuckTales.

Updated 2020 Gene the Genie was voiced by Jaleel White (Urkel of Family Matters fame). This Genie is a much more interesting character, in my opinion, than the somewhat annoying Genie in the film.

This Gene the Genie is made of shells and rocks, except for the ear rings, which are tiny metal rings often used for key chains or medals.

GizmoDuck (voiced by the late Hamilton Camp) made his debut in March of 1989 as a very long special on NBC called Super DuckTales.

GizmoDuck debuted before the DuckTales movie hit theaters, but curiously was never mentioned in the 1990 movie.  GizmoDuck would later appear in 1991's Darkwing Duck.  GizmoDuck became an early addition to the 2017 version of DuckTales, voiced by Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda.


As of this writing, one of the latest characters to get the reboot treatment on DuckTales is villain rooster Steelbeak from Darkwing Duck.

In Darkwing Duck, Steelbeak was voiced by veteran animation actor, Rob Paulsen.  In the new DuckTales, Steelbeak is voiced by actor Jason Mantzoukas (from Brooklyn Nine-Nine).  This version of Steelbeak is portrayed as an "evil Launchpad" foe for Launchpad .

One of the biggest twists of the 2017 DuckTales reboot was the introduction of Darkwing Duck.  Fans were initially disappointed that the character seemed to exist only as a TV show within the DuckTales universe.

I am the terror that flaps in the night.  I am the sand in your swimsuit.  I am the craft project you take on while under quarantine.  I am Darkwing Duck!

The introduction of Darkwing Duck (voiced again by Jim Cummings) as an actor named Jim Starling playing a TV character named Darkwing Duck was a big, giant tease to the audience.  Jim Starling turned out to become the villain Negaduck, while a new actor character named Drake Mallard (played by Chris Diamantopoulos) had been brought in to play a reboot Darkwing Duck.  Then, with the encouragement of Launchpad, he became the new Darkwing.

Disney's DuckTales 2018: Scrooge McDuck and Donald Trumpeter Swan

I have been enjoying the 2017 reboot of Disney's DuckTales.  The new series pays tribute to the 1987 animated version, as well as a variety of Disney comic books, and even video games.  The new show plays with some of the tropes associated with the world, and even expands on them.  This includes allowing far more species of birds to appear as characters (the 2017 show already featured a "Papa John's Pizza" parody, "Papa Swan's").

So I came up with Donald Trumpeter Swan to interact with Scrooge.  Of course Scrooge voted for him.  You'd be delusional to think otherwise.

Disney's Roboduck Invades NBC And The Disney Afternoon

When Disney's syndicated animated series DuckTales debuted on TV in 1987, it was a huge hit.  The 65 initial episodes were so well received that an additional 30 were ordered up with some new characters.  The first new character to show up was cave duck Bubba (voiced by Frank Welker).  The next new character was Roboduck.  Wait, who?!?  Yes, the character that would be known as Gizmo-Duck (voiced by Hamilton Camp) was originally called Roboduck.

Roboduck, Bubbaduck and an alien "Spaceduck" were pitched by Disney TV's Tad Stones as new character ideas for DuckTales.  Apparently, they were not part of some master plan or vision for the show.  The alien duck character did not make it to the series, but the other new characters were chosen simply based on drawings and a description.

The 1988 issue of Cartoon Quarterly Magazine (created by Gladstone Publishing) gave an early peek at the new characters.  I can still remember discovering this magazine at a grocery store when I was a kid.

This first (and only?) issue of Cartoon Quarterly has an article called Bear and Duck Tales---Disney Animation Comes to TV by John Cawley.  It is interesting to see the early designs for Bubba and Roboduck.

Bubba seemed to quickly become a background character in the series.

The character of Fenton Crackshell, and his alter ego Gizmo-Duck, would have a much bigger impact.  Super DuckTales aired on NBC during Easter of 1989, introducing the new superhero to the series.  Gizmo-Duck pretty much became the focus of most of the new stories on the syndicated TV show.  Some of them are pretty wild, including my favorite episode, Metal Attraction, which includes a parody of Disneyland and a robotic maid who is madly in love with Gizmo-Duck.

Gizmo-Duck appeared in comic books and video games, and in episodes of Disney's 1991 series Darkwing Duck along with fellow transplanted DuckTales cast member Launchpad McQuack.  The Gizmo-Duck character also was included in a DuckTales Kellogg's cereal figurine promotion for The Disney Afternoon.

Curiously, Bubba and Gizmo were not in 1990's theatrical DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.  The movie added a new "kid" Genie character (voiced by Rip Taylor) who seemed to be added to the cast at the end of the film (sort of a Bubba 2.0), though he never appeared in the TV series.  The movie's thief character, Dijon (voiced by Richard Libertini) appeared in the last episodes of the DuckTales TV series.

Frank Welker (Bubba) is a voice over legend, appearing in countless TV shows and movies over the years (if there's an animal in a movie, chances are good that Frank Welker provided its voice).

The late Hamilton Camp (Fenton/Gizmo-Duck) was a prolific musician and actor, and appeared on-camera in movies and in TV shows like Three's Company and WKRP in Cincinnati.

I wanted to note here that I don't think there is a single official way to write "Gizmo-Duck".  I have seen "Gizmoduck" and "Gizmo Duck" and "Gizmo-Duck" and "GizmoDuck".