#mcmystery at mcduck manor

[scottpetersen]

Something I Noticed In The Episode ‘McMystery At McDuck Manor’

Ok. As shown in the episode ‘McMystery At McDuck Manor!’, Scrooge McDuck’s enemies like Flintheart Glomgold and Ma Beagle seemed to respect Duckworth but despise Ms. Beakley. So, I’ll be going over my thoughts on why Scrooge’s enemies seem to respect Duckworth but don’t hold that same respect for Beakley. Also, Spoiler Alert for the DuckTales (2017) TV series. With that out of the way, let’s dive right in.

I think that the reason why Scrooge’s enemies respect Duckworth but hate Beakley might come down to when Scrooge hired them. After all, Duckworth was hired by Scrooge long before Della was lost in space considering that, as shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, Duckworth worked for Scrooge while Della was still a kid. And Beakley was probably hired by Scrooge after Della was lost in space since, as shown in the episode ‘Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!’, Della was surprised that Duckworth was dead and that Beakley replaced him, Duckworth’s death probably came shortly after Scrooge’s niece Della was lost in space. And Duckworth’s death happening so soon after Della’s disappearance was also pointed out by @sprklboo in their TBH The Extent Of The Abuse And Isolation That Bradford Enacted Towards Scrooge Is Not Talked About Enough post. And that means that Duckworth’s death along with Della’s disappearance probably caused Scrooge to become deeply isolated from the people around him. Also, I think that isolation not only caused Scrooge to push away his loved ones but also his enemies too. So, And, while Beakley was, as shown in the episode ‘Woo-oo!’, more than willing to help Scrooge connect with his loved ones, I doubt she would’ve been willing to let him interact with his enemies again which I’ll be elaborating on in my next point. Speaking of which…

As shown in the episode ‘Woo-oo!’, Scrooge seemed so isolated by Duckworth’s death as well as Della’s disappearance that he didn’t want to talk to his great nephews at first. And if Scrooge was so isolated that he didn’t want to talk to his great nephews, he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to interact with his enemies either. That’s probably one of the reasons why Scrooge hired Beakley. He probably wanted her to make sure that his enemies left him alone. And Beakley was probably more than happy to oblige given all the trauma that Scrooge was put through and also the fact that, as shown in the episode ‘Woo-oo!’, Beakley has a no-nonsense attitude and wasn’t impressed with Scrooge trying to back to adventuring. And considering Beakley’s no-nonsense attitude and that she, as shown in the episode ‘From The Confidential Casefiles Of Agent 22!’, used to work as a spy, I think that Beakley was so strict with security that her effort to keep Scrooge’s enemies away from him came off as more frustrating to said enemies than anything.

But while Beakley was able to keep Scrooge’s enemies away, she didn’t seem to be able to reunite him with his family as well. I think that one of the reasons for that is because Beakley isn’t exactly much of a social butterfly as shown in the episode ‘Friendship Hates Magic!’ where Beakley seemed out of her depth at first when it came to making friends with other people like Launchpad. And I think that’s because, given the fact that she, as I pointed out earlier, had a no-nonsense attitude and that she was a spy who worked for SHUSH, she probably didn’t have much time to make friends and probably had to constantly fight to keep the world safe from villains which probably means that Beakley was more used to being surrounded by enemies than by friends. So, Beakley probably wasn’t all that well-equipped to help Scrooge reunite with his family since she didn’t know much about forming close bonds with other people herself. And that’s probably one of the reasons why Bradford Buzzard didn’t try to get rid of Beakley despite the fact that, as stated in the episode ‘The Last Adventure! Part 3: Tale’s End…’, Bradford told Scrooge’s niece Della about the Spear Of Selene thus ensuring Della’s disappearance and that, as @yoshimickster pointed out in their …so…yeah…Bradford killed Duckworth didn’t he? post, he probably killed Duckworth too since he did show a picture of Scrooge mourning Duckworth as he was going over how he tried to isolate Scrooge. Given that, as shown in the episode ‘Woo-oo!’, both Bradford and Beakley worked for Scrooge and also that, as shown in the episode ‘Last Christmas!’, both of them attended Scrooge’s Christmas party, Bradford probably learned about Beakley’s lack of social skills at some point. Speaking of Bradford…

I think that isolating Scrooge from both his friends and enemies was all part of Bradford’s plan to get Scrooge to give up on adventuring. After all, as stated in the episode ‘The Most Dangerous Game…Night!’, Scrooge gets really competitive when he’s trying to beat an enemy. So, Scrooge gets a real thrill out of taking down his enemies. And that’s probably why Bradford tried to isolate Scrooge from not only his loved ones but his enemies too in order to get him to give up on adventuring. Also, I think that another reason why Bradford didn’t try to get rid of Beakley is because her skills as a spy would be able to keep Scrooge’s enemies away from him. After all, as shown in the episode ‘The First Adventure!’, Bradford and Beakley were both members of SHUSH. So, Bradford probably knew about Beakley’s skills.

Well, that’s all for this post.

See you all next time.

[inklyqueen]

On May 25th, 2018, the episode "McMystery at McDuck Manor!" aired on Disney Channel for the first time. As such, six years later, today would be Scrooge McDuck's 158th birthday in the DuckTales'17 Universe.

So the OCs celebrated!

Myself and @georgiarose hosted a special black-tie event for OCs to celebrate everyone's favourite gazillionaire, and the party was a smashing success! I'm so grateful to everyone that joined in for the fun on Instagram and how loving the fandom was with all the OCs 😭💕💕💕

Who knows, same time next year?? 👀👀

[thecrusadercomrade]

DuckTales day! So, thoughts on McMystery at McDuck Manor? How'd you like seeing how Scrooge treats his birthday? How was Duckworth? How was it seeing the villains Glomgold, Mark Beaks, and Ma Beagle get extended interaction here? How was Huey's own obsessiveness with wanting to throw Scrooge a great party?

I guess if you're a person like Scrooge, and you're THAT old, the idea of keeping track of your age like that just isn't fun anymore...

Duckworth was pretty cool! I wonder if we'll be seeing him again, or if he was just a one-off thing. I wouldn't mind seeing him as a minor character going forwards.

Damn it, Dewey. Literally manages to invite the three worst people he could've chosen. It actually took me a minute to figure out one of them was Ma Beagle, though I got the other two right away. Luckily Scrooge is too smart for their bullshit.

Huey was a little bit unhinged this episode! Straight-up treating a "kidnapping" like a game just so he can have the best party. And he still lost. Duckworth threw some serious shade on him at the end there XD. Hopefully he's learned his lesson.

[violetganache42]

One example of lighting I found in this show is Webby in the foyer of McDuck Manor. Before I go on any further, I want to mention that the foyer has a fixed light source: the recessed lighting on the ceiling, as shown in "McMystery at McDuck Manor!".

I bring this up because I notice that certain light sources seem to impact a setting that already has a fixed light source.

First off, let's take a look at this screenshot from "Jaw$!".

It is afternoon in this scene, so the primary light source is the sun, which is shining through the big windows offscreen and the open doors behind Webby and Lena. Since the daylight doesn't have too much of an impact on the recessed lighting, everything shown here is in their regular color palettes.

Now let's compare that with this screenshot from "Last Christmas!".

Since it is night in this episode, the recessed lights are turn on because a lot of characters are in the foyer, including Webby. There is also a fire going in the fireplace, and the lamps on the mantle are replaced with two 3-arm candelabras. The fire is the primary light source in this scene and gives off a yellow-orange color; therefore, the colors for the characters and foyer are adjusted to have that yellow-orangish overlay on them, making the atmosphere feel warm and cozy. Notice how the coloring and shading of the red rug are a bit brighter, or how Webby's plummage, hair, clothes, beak, and webbed feet are a bit more yellow-orangish. If you open up a paint program and select a color of the same thing from the two different scenes, you'll notice that it moves towards the warmer half of the color wheel in the second image than in the first one.

Anyways, that's what I wanted to say. Hope you don't mind the rambling. lol

The lighting in Ducktales is crazy. Every single scene takes into account what time of day is it, what room are the in, all that jazz, messes with the colors a bit, makes every location and setting feel distinct.

Anyway that's all I had to say

[tobiasdrake]

Dragon’s Eye on DuckTales S01E11: McMystery at McDuck Manor

So that last episode was kind of deep. What’s the perfect antidote for serious thoughts? Wacky fun shenanigans! It’s a Whodunit mystery at Scrooge’s mansion and all his rivals are invited!

The Junior Woodchuck’s Guide to Unwanted Parties

The basic premise is that Scrooge doesn’t want a birthday party, but Huey insists on giving him one anyway. Huey thinks that he can throw a party so great, it will make Scrooge take back his disdain for parties. Unfortunately for everyone, he is sorely mistaken.

There’s a deeper message here about blind adherence to tradition. Huey’s not, like, a party person. He’s not a wild and crazy party animal. He doesn’t love planning and throwing parties. He is not Pinkie Pie of My Little Pony fame. Loving parties and wanting everyone to have parties is not what this is about.

Huey wants to throw Scrooge a birthday party because that is what people do for birthdays. That’s all this is about. Scrooge is bucking tradition and Huey, the Lawful Stupid triplet, is outraged on tradition’s behalf. As a result, he has literally no idea what he’s doing and the outcome is every bit the slapdash mess you would rightly expect.

In stark contrast to “Terror of the Terra-Firmians”, this is actually a pretty good use of both Huey and Scrooge. I’ve always said Scrooge is at his best when he’s antagonizing one of the Triplets and at his worst when he’s supposed to be a likable person; “McMystery at McDuck Manor” provides a clever mixture of both.

Ultimately, Scrooge is in the right. The episode’s final statement on the matter is that he shouldn’t be forced to subject himself to traditions he doesn’t like. I agree with this message wholeheartedly. Traditions have cultural value but on an individual level, “Because tradition” is a poor reason to do something you don’t want to do - and sometimes traditions simply become obsolete as society and technology advances anyway.

Everyone has a right to opt out of a tradition.

So Scrooge is ultimately the bearer of the moral message here like he typically is for Louie, rather than an obstacle to be slain as he usually is for Huey and Dewey. But he’s still an obstinate jerk, so the episode presents him as an obstacle to be slain only to pull the rug out at the very end. It’s ironically Louie that the episode tasks with bearing the moral message as he argues with Huey against even having the party at all.

But Huey will not listen to reason when there are rules to be obeyed on the line, and so Duckberg’s biggest movers and shakers are invited to the mansion.

The Duckberg Elite

Right off the bat, the idea of inviting the rich and powerful to Scrooge’s mansion should send up red flags, even before the show reveals the poorly disguised attendees. See, Scrooge doesn’t have friends. Nobody in his position has friends.

Capitalism is a hierarchical pyramid of layered competition. As you climb higher, your field of peers narrows and the percentage of those peers who are direct competitors increases. The wealthier you get, the harder it becomes to have genuine friends, and the more you start to see people through the lens of potential alliances for personal gain. Selfishness is the name of the game.

Scrooge sits at the very top of the pyramid. He has little use for mutual alliances; he has nowhere to go but down. The only types of people who exist in his world are family, employees, and threats to his status as the richest, most powerful man in the world. Even then, sometimes the categories overlap. It is a miserable way to live.

Huey’s first mistake was insisting on throwing a party at all; his second was assuming that Scrooge had peers he admired and respected. Instead, his peers are familiar faces to the audience by now: the other occupants of the Billionaires’ Club, Flintheart Glomgold and Mark Beaks, and for some reason, Ma Beagle.

Glomgold and Beaks need no introduction. They’ve already been pretty well introduced. Glomgold is here because he wants to kill Scrooge; that’s pretty much his every waking moment. He has a plan to blow Scrooge up with a fake present. However, due to the rushed nature of the party, he literally had to throw the whole scheme together this morning, so his bomb is barely even strong enough to destroy the box it occupies. “Classic Glomgold,” he literally says so that I don’t have to.

Mark Beaks wants to hack the security system so that he can put embarrassing videos of Scrooge on YouTube for lulz. It’s a relatively harmless scheme, all things considered. Ma Beagle questions how he even counts as a nemesis at all. She isn’t wrong; he isn’t one. At least, not yet.

He’s a villain, to be sure. His only appearance thus far, “The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks”, featured a wicked scheme to defraud investors into pumping money into a fake product. But that had literally nothing to do with Scrooge. The only enmity that exists between Scrooge and Beaks is a result of Beaks joining the Billionaires’ Club and annoying the stuffy old coot with his Millennial-ness.

“Old money hates new money” is literally the entire extent of Scrooge and Beaks’s relationship at this juncture. But Beaks is happy to be counted as a bitter archnemesis of Scrooge’s nonetheless because he likes being included in things. He’s a joiner.

But there is one member of this trio that actually does need quite a bit of introduction. Despite appearing in two episodes thus far, the show has never actually talked about who she is or what she’s about. I am, of course, referring to....

Reinventing Ma Beagle (But For Real This Time)

Ma Beagle is the matriarch of the Beagle Boys. She commands their loyalty, their obedience, and their begrudging respect. “McMystery at McDuck Manor” marks her third appearance as an antagonist in this show, but up to this point, she’s just been a generic bad guy who does bad things to be bad.

We’ve seen her, we’ve fought her, but we’ve never actually met her. She’s been an archetype, rather than a character. A one-note crime-doer who does crime because there’s crime to do.

In this episode, the writers seem to realize that they’ve never actually introduced Ma Beagle properly. So the story pauses in the middle of the Whodunit for Ma to explain what, exactly, her relationship to Scrooge actually is. And, honestly, it’s kind of amazing.

Ma Beagle isn’t just trying to break into Scrooge’s Money Bin and get all his money, as you might have assumed upon meeting the Beagle Boys. This whole thing is actually a feud. She has a specific vendetta against Scrooge for a grave offense he committed against the Beagle family. She wants one thing from him, and that is what she believes is rightly owed the Beagles.

Scrooge, you see, holds the deed to the entire city of Duckberg.

Hahaha, what?! Wow! That is horrifying. It’s not unheard of for entire towns to go up for sale, but they’re usually abandoned properties. In any given city, most of the property is owned by private individuals, companies, realtors, and local, state, and federal government.

Somehow, Grandpappy Beagle managed to swindle, steal, cheat, and con his way to consolidating property rights for the entire city. Ma doesn’t explain much of how he did it, but she literally calls it stealing so we can assume the legalities are questionable at best.

Unfortunately for the Beagles, Scrooge managed to cheat Grandpappy Beagle out of his stolen property rights. Did Scrooge return the properties to their rightful owners? Of course not, are you crazy? He’s a capitalist. He kept them for himself, and now everybody in Duckberg is paying rent for their homes and businesses to Scrooge.

Twice, actually, because government offices are occupying land owned by Scrooge too. That means that for any Duckberg citizen, a portion of their tax dollars are being paid to Scrooge in rent as well, rather than funding emergency services, education, and welfare programs!

However he pulled it off, Grandpappy Beagle’s wicked scheme is a dystopian nightmare resulting in what Huey describes as a “tidy profit” for Scrooge, who swindled Grandpappy’s evil scheme out from under him just to employ it himself. Now, at last, we know the truth of the rivalry between Scrooge and the Beagles, and it’s that they are both rotten thieves.

My favorite part is that Scrooge has a framed painting of himself signing the deed to Duckberg while a gathered crowd of outraged protesters screams bloody fury. There is zero pretense here; Scrooge is the absolute worst and the animators present it in all its awful glory.

Like. Can we consider this the final nail in the coffin of Scrooge making his money “square”? He hijacked a wicked scheme to extort the city of Duckberg and used it to extort them himself. That’s pretty damning.

I kinda feel for the Beagles, but only a little because they came up with this whole terrible scheme to begin with.

Okay, but Whodunit?

What’s neat about this mystery is that there are three equally likely decoy culprits that one might focus on. There’s also the delightful Nik Nokturne, also known as Black Arts Beagle! Nik is a sorcerer masquerading as a cheap stage magician; he performs a trick to make Scrooge disappear, which goes horribly right. This leaves Black Arts just as confused as everyone else.

While the three recurring villains are each a little too obvious, you might come to suspect Nokturne himself. Maybe his freakout over the destruction of his vanishing box was an act all along, and he actually meant for this to happen! Maybe it’s all part of the show after all, or maybe the show was a ploy for a different evil scheme.

You’d be sort of right? But also WRONG. Black Arts thinks he’s in control of this situation, but he comes to find out he is sorely mistaken. Black Arts tried to dunit, but Black Arts did not dunit.

You may also suspect Scrooge himself. Maybe Scrooge faked his own kidnapping on purpose in order to escape. That was my pet theory the first time I watched it. Scrooge has the strongest motive out of anyone for removing Scrooge from the party, after all.

You’d be sort of right? But also WRONG. Scrooge absolutely wanted out of the party and he went along with his abduction willingly, but he wasn’t the person who actually made it happen. Scrooge was thrilled that someone dunit, but Scrooge did not dunit.

So whodunit? The butler dunit.

There’s this trick when writing mysteries. “The butler did it” is a well known cliche but many people don’t really understand what that means. It doesn’t mean, “Literally anyone who buttles in a mystery scene is always the culprit.” There isn’t some facet of buttling that turns people into murderers or something.

The idea behind the butler doing it is in reference to a figure who provides for and facilitates the mystery, but isn’t considered part of it. The person who brings you your meal at a locked door dinner-mystery game, for example, but interacts very little with the actual characters and personalities presented in the game.

The “butler” is a figure in the mystery that seems to exist outside of suspicion. It’s not the person you least suspect; it’s a person you don’t suspect, because it doesn’t cross your mind that they’re even part of the mystery at all. They exist around you somewhere, but don’t directly engage with the story until you learn the twist, and then suddenly the clues in your hands fall into place and you realize how you’ve been had.

For “McMystery at McDuck Manor”, the butler is Duckworth. Literally, but also very figuratively. He is a constant presence throughout the episode, discussed several times. But he is also beyond suspicion. He’s dead. How could have dunit?

You would need to be excruciatingly observant to realize that Black Arts Beagle invoking a spirit from beyond would give Duckworth an opportunity to return to the world of the living, and from there to further deduce that Duckworth’s familiarity with the house’s security system is a better explanation for the brief blackout than Mark Beaks messing up his hacking.

The clues are there and the culprit is repeatedly discussed and name-dropped, but it all washes right over you because Duckworth isn’t a suspect.

In Conclusion

This episode presents a solid example of how to write a Whodunit mystery. At the same time, it also presents a genuinely good and important message about respecting people’s boundaries. And it does it all while making great use of the characters the series has spent the last ten episodes introducing, even to the point of correcting a grave injustice that’s been done for one of them.

It has a good heart, it’s well-written, and it has some good things to say as well as a few clever observations to make about its cast. All things considered, “McMystery at McDuck Manor” is a solid contender for one of the first season’s best episodes.

[relatablepicsofhueyduck]

[brisingr-sword]

every time i watch the scene where della and louie sing the moon lullaby and then donald said he used to sing it to them every night i become just so 💗💗💗 that i temporarily become like webby in mcmystery at mcduck manor

[ultraericthered]

Turns out, despite this being the production order, the Disney+ order of the seasons is a little bit different. It goes:

1. Woo-oo! (Part 1) 2. Escape To and From Atlantis! (Woo-oo! Part 2) 3. Daytrip of Doom! 4. The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest! 5. The Great Dime Chase! 6. The Beagle Birthday Massacre! 7. The House of the Lucky Gander! 8. The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks! 9. The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra! 10. Terror of the Terra-Firmians! 11. McMystery at McDuck Manor! 12. The Missing Links of Moorshire! 13. The Spear of Selene! 14. Day of the Only Child! 15. Beware the B.U.D.D.Y System! 16. The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains! 17. Jaw$! 18. From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22! 19. Sky Pirates...In the Sky! 20. The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck! 21. Who is Gizmoduck?! 22. The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck! 23. The Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 24. The Night of DeSpell! (The Shadow War Part 1) 25. The Day of the Ducks! (The Shadow War Part 2)

They're the same up until after Episode 11. And while I could take the ordering of the midsection episodes in either version, the Disney+ order with "The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!" at Episode 20 makes the most sense by far. That was the big turning point where Huey and Louie learned about what Dewey and Webby were up to the whole time, and we learn the root of Scrooge's issues with family. So it feels natural that the following three episodes are dedicated to the season's overaching C Plot, B Plot, and A Plot respectively prior to the two-part finale where the plots all come together. While Season 2 was even better, I can't deny Season 1 was damn good at what it did.

Ducktales (2017) Season 1 - Intended Episode Order

Based on the episodes’ production code numbers:

1. Woo-oo! (Part 1) 2. Escape To and From Atlantis! (Woo-oo! Part 2) 3. Daytrip of Doom! 4. The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest! 5. The Great Dime Chase! 6. The Beagle Birthday Massacre! 7. The House of the Lucky Gander! 8. The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks! 9. The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra! 10. Terror of the Terra-Firmians! 11. McMystery at McDuck Manor! 12. The Spear of Selene! 13. The Missing Links of Moorshire! 14. Beware the B.U.D.D.Y System! 15. Day of the Only Child! 16. Jaw$! 17. The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains! 18. From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22! 19. Sky Pirates…In the Sky! 20. The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck! 21. Who is Gizmoduck?! 22. The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck! 23. The Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 24. The Night of de Spell! (Part 1) 25. The Day of the Ducks! (Part 2)

This order is FAR better with balancing the more mundane Duckburg adventures with the bigger adventures elsewhere and pacing out the Lena/Magica arc, the Gyro Gearloose/Mark Beaks/Gizmoduck arc, and appearances from Glomgold and the Beagle Boys, IMHO.

[tomb-bloom-noctem]

To inject some Ducktales positivity back on this blog, what are your favorite episodes from each season?

Sorry this one got a little buried in the inbox 😅 onto it now!

FAVS!

Oh. Good question. Um. Honestly I love most of the episodes and there's only a few I genuinely hate. Sadly though they can't all be winners 😅 So I picked ones the ones I enjoyed overall best from each season.

Season 1:

Woo-oo!, The House of the Lucky Gander, McMystery at McDuck Manor, The Missing Links of Moorshire, The Spear of Selene, Beware the Buddy System, From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22, The Secrets of Castle McDuck, Who Is Gizmoduck, The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck, The Last Crash of the Sunchaser, The Shadow War

Top pick: The Shadow War

I think this is one of the best episodes overall in terms of the show. It has family, heartbreak and reconciliation, action, drama, humor, I think this one is Ducktales at it's best. Much as I do also enjoy Moonvasion a lot, I kinda feel this one is the stronger finale. Either way though it's definitely a grand finale.

Season 2:

The Most Dangerous Game Night, The Depths of Cousin Fethry, The Town Where Everyone was Nice, Storkules in Duckburg, Whatever Happened to Della Duck, Friendship Hates Magic, Raiders of the Doomsday Vault, the Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee, The Duck Knight Returns, Whatever Happened to Donald Duck, A Nightmare on Killmotor Hill, Moonvasion

Top Pick: The Duck Knight Returns

So some of Darkwing Duck hasn't aged the best but I think overall the show is great. And out of all the Disney Afternoon programs to include in Ducktales, Darkwing is definitely the best. And oh my gosh did they deliver! The new Drake is still recognizable in comparison to his 91 version but still gets a modernization. The relationship between him and LP is even better than before, the battle with Jim Starling is so much fun. Chris D does a phenomenal job as this newer Drake and Jim Cummings finally appearing on the show as Jim Starling/Negaduck was AWESOME.

Season 3:

The Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks, Quack Pack, Double-O-Drake in You Only Crash Twice, The Lost Harp of Mervana, Louie's Eleven, Astro B.O.Y.D., The Phantom and the Sorceress, They Put a Moonlander on Earth, The Trickening, Let's Get Dangerous, Escape from the ImpossiBin, The Split Sword of Swanstatine, New Gods on the Block, The First Adventure, Beaks in the Shell

Top Pick: This one is legit a tie for me so I have to split it between Let's Get Dangerous and Louie's Eleven

Both of these episodes fill me with intensive joy i different ways. I get giddy whenever they're on O just love them. Let's Get Dangerous rocks even more of the amazing Drake and Launchpad dynamic (and yes I ship them) and we finally get Gosalyn. Like Drake she definitely resembles her 91 self in a way that's recognizable but she's also got a good modernization. Also I love how they modernized Taurus Bulba. He was instantly likable yet also crafty and very dangerous. Then also getting to see the Fearsome Four, getting a pretty hilarious DT87 reference "A SEA MONSTER ATE MY ICE CREAM!" The way the music swelled when Gosalyn couldn't shut off the Ramrod and prepared to destroy it, tears in her eyes. UGH GOOD STUFF. This episode has to be one of favorites.

But also love Louie's Eleven too much to not want it to be the top episode too. I adore healthy portrayals of Donsy and here we were delivered. It was refreshing to get to have Donald and Daisy meeting for the first time and have their portrayal instantly be healthier. Sure we still see some of that temper Daisy is known for too but thankfully not as bad as it can be. The way she instantly understands him. The way they smile at each other. When she hears him sing, she hears more than just his rough voice but rather the soul behind it. LOVE. And the way they team up to take on Graves and his team. The way Donald says "MY KIDS!" WHAT A DAD, I LOVE HIM. And the way at the end Donald sings and Daisy says she can listen to it all night and the two share such a loving look. I JUST ADORE IT.

And more than just the Donsy aspect of this episode, this was just ridiculously fun. Love the heist/scheme op at play. Love Louie getting to be Louie until he finally has to rely on his big brother Dewey. Then Dewey gets to Dewey it. And it's phenomenal. And of freaking course THE THREE CABALLEROS! YAY! I love them!!! This was just such a good episode I can't help but love it.

This is just my opinion though overall. This is not an attack on any episode or on anyone. I actually love this show overall I know I've been a bit critical lately but it's a really important show to me. Sad that it's over but happy it did happen.

[lagombraofficial]

“McMystery at McDuck McManor”

Inspired by Ducktales 2017 s1 ep11. It is a alternative fanfiction on what happened to Scrooge in the meantime the nephews tries to solve his disappearance. 

I’m in a phase of Ducktales so I hope you don’t mind the upcoming posts to be about ducks. 

The weird so called magician did its babbling outside the magic box with a classic trap door at the back. Scrooge was so bored and done with this entire day he crossed his arms over his chest. 

“You want me to go through the trap door, don’t you?” he shouted to the magician and the kids just to state that he clearly has had enough of this disastrous turn of events. 

That’s when something real extraordinary happened and came so unexpectedly that Scrooge felt lost for words. In a short moment he couldn't believe his eyes, did he really see the shape of his loyal and trusted friend and servant Duckworth? After a second reflection upon the ghostly figure that had suddenly opened the trapdoor and stood before him. Scrooge’s pupils winded as he felt himself smile widely with joy. 

At the end of the very same moment he was being lifted from the grown and transferred away from the box that had without him noticing, broken down around him. The feeling of air swooshed him away from the poorly staged scene he had been forced to be a part off. If not real magic or close to it was happening to him he didn’t know, but all Scrooge could think was the possibility of Duckworth being back. 

Before Scrooge knew it, he was gently placed on the upper floor hallway. Quickly the old duck spun around to look at the ghost figure to make up his mind. it might as well have been a regular ghost that also happened to despise party magicians. To his continued chock it was truly Duckworth who was in a ghost form hovering a few centimeters above the ground. 

“I could not let you suffer any longer Sir, I know how much you hate party magicians.” Duckworth winked at him cheekily. 

Scrooge gave a hearty laugh because he yet couldn’t quite find the right words to say. Scrooge fumbled with his cane. Slowly, parts of his mind fell back to the familiar grief of the loss of his friend. He had really missed those snappy comments, the great posture and caring and loyal heart that had belonged to Duckworth. What was he to say to a dear friend who had been gone for ages and now out of the blue came back as a ghost to save him from his own birthday party!? 

Instead he almost leaped forward to hug the taller dog but remembered halfway through his ghost figure, how naive he was to think he would be able to touch him like this. Now back to back with his very missed friend, Scrooge looked disappointed at his hands and sighed deeply. He felt a small sting at his heart as he turned around again to face the ghost butler who gave him a sad smile. 

“I’m sorry Duckworth I couldn’t resist.”

“That is alright, I am just glad to know how happy you are to see me.” he responded softly, stepping a bit closer - or rather floating a step closer. “It is not quite the same thing, but how about I try hug you instead?”

For being carried away just minutes ago, Scrooge didn’t protes. He nodded happily not even denying his tears building in the corners of his eyes. Duckworth lowered himself to his height and embraced his boss that he had been watching over and protecting for all too many years in his life, and afterlife. If his friend only knew how much he had tried to get back to him and his family! To show them he has been there all along, or that he never truly went away from the manor. He now had been granted a second chance to tell them. To be with his dear friend again was worth all the empty hours, days and years in the past. The hug was half settled but it was enough to pay off the missing years of each other's company.

“I can’t believe you’re back! I’ve missed you dearly...” Scrooge said not letting go for a reason he yet didn’t know. There was a pause where the old duck decided all his questions about the ghost shape could wait, but there was one question that lay on his tongue. Whether Duckworth was to stay or not. Yet something in his presence and the hug was enough of an answer and fade his worry. 

“Equal on my part as well Sir, snd happy birthday.”

I’m a bit soft for them so yeah, hope you enjoyed it and be sure to stay for more to come!

[running2redemption]

Can we see that Uncle BB rewrite of "McMystery at McDuck McManor!"?

Notes on McMystery at McDuck McManor:

Bradford stays at the manor on Scrooge's birthday because he doesn't make a big deal about it.

He is not impressed Beakley told the kids.

He co-operates with kids' party only because Huey wouldn't let up on the pouting and because McDuck deserved at least one person on his side.

Bradford refuses to wear a costume, though.

He really should have checked Louie's guest list but he didn't because he trusted Louie. That was a mistake he regrets quickly.

He is included in "staff meetings" and consistently tries to tell Huey to stop along with Louie.

Bradford is also accused of having kidnapped Scrooge, but he puts the kibosh on that quickly enough. He'd have just left with Scrooge, not stayed in the locked room with everyone else.

Bradford hasn't bothered calling Beakley because he knows that he can't - wherever Beakley and Webby go for Scrooge's birthday their communications are jammed.

Bradford is not in the secondary line-up of suspects.

While the triplets are arguing Bradford sees Black Arts being spooky and tries unsuccessfully to get their attention (yes this is a running joke in this AU).

Bradford gets grabbed by "the demon" pushing the kids to safety.

The next time we see Bradford he's in the security room with Scrooge.

Bradford sees the very real axe fall and frowns.

[goldiejake11]

source:  goldiejake11 

Hello!

Any similarities between this scene and McMystery at McDuck manor are NOT purely coincidental.  I have never drawn Penumbra before and it was a lot of fun to give her a shot.  In my mind she probably wouldn’t like a birthday (or earthday for that matter) party any more than Scrooge did.  Huey and Della on the other hand I could see using ANY excuse to throw a party.  In my picture I thought that people on the planet moon might not celebrate birthdays or even take note of them.  Silly of Penumbra to mention that little detail to Della and Huey.  They have decided to celebrate her first full year on earth with a party and there is no escape for her or anyone.  Not until at least after the party games are done. As for poor Mrs. B in the background.  She’s too busy for party games. No surprise there, we’ve all seen Della bake before.   😆

I hope everyone is keeping safe, well and healthy!  Hang in there and try to find at least one thing every day that makes you happy....even if it is something that you make up in your mind.  😊💖

[imgonnabeyourbubblegumwitch]

What’s so Great About... Huey?

A Huey Duck Character Analysis 

Part Four - What’s so great about Huey

(Part One here . Part Two here . Part Three here)

Welcome to the what's so great about Huey part of What's So Great About Huey? I'm going to start somewhere a little contradictory which is the first time Huey really frustrated me.

It was in The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks. And I'll admit in this episode the first time through I was very much rooting for Dewey. I'd not been watching long and I hadn't really got a feel for Huey's character yet. In that episode he seemed so rigid. I think it was his insistence that the slides were not for fun but efficiency that was a moment that particularly stood out.

But this is one of the reasons I now think Huey is so great, partly because he is so thorough. He wants to understand the world around him, whether that's driven by his fear of the unknown, or curiosity, or a list of categorising or a combination of all of these, the outcome is really impressive. He is continually adding to the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook. He is a hard worker and as a result has an impressive bank of skills including sewing, knot tying, trap making, navigating, map making, electronics etc.

Look at all his badges (and his lopsided sash!) Huey is crazy hyper-competent.

As well as having a lot of skills to draw on, Huey is resourceful. He is able to use things in a situation to his advantage. An example of this is in The Spear of Selene where he realises that the breezy togas could carry him up to the bag of winds. Huey is also able to figure out that Fenton could be controlling the suit in Who is Gizmoduck?

H: Just rip out the processing core!

Huey is a team player. He has his moments of wanting to shine like in McMystery at McDuck Manor, but on the whole Huey enjoys being part of a team whether it’s the Junior Woodchucks, or the triplets.

Huey is enthusiastic too. He clearly loves being a Junior Woodchuck and this shows in his excitement in getting new patches. He is constantly learning, constantly striving for the next skill, for the next patch and he always does it with such cheer. Even when others aren't interested in his hobbies, even when they openly talk down about them, he still pursues with what he enjoyed. In that sense Huey can be said to have a lot of confidence in being himself.

Bearing in mind his enthusiasm and how much he strives for his patches, I really liked how Huey encourages Scrooge to go back in the Impossible Summit of Mount Neverrest. He acknowledges that the danger has run too great and demonstrates that he is not prepared to risk everything in pursuing a badge.

H: Junior Woodchuck Rule 727: sometimes the bravest thing an explorer can do is walk away!

It makes his decision to join with the Beagle Brothers in The Day of the Only Child! all the funnier.  Since the death is only "possible" he opts to go for the badge.

H: Possible death, definite badge, possible death, definite badge, definite badge, Definite Badge!

I think one of Huey's biggest strengths however is his kindness. As mentioned before, Huey gives Webby tips on how to cope on her first bus ride despite the fact he wasn't initially keen to have her along. A couple of episodes later in The Beagle Birthday Massacre! he is quick to offer her his place on the boat. When she thinks Lena has run off, Huey comforts her, promising they won't leave her behind again and making jokes about leaving Louie behind instead.  

His kindness is seen towards his siblings too. One of my favourite examples is The Living Mummies of Toth Rah! Huey is quick to comfort Dewey when his facts don't quite gel with Dewey's idea of a mummy army.

D: "Oh man what if there's a whole army of mummies down here?"

H: "Unlikely mummification was an expensive process meant for royalty it would be rare for more than one… mummy… Toth Ra was pretty rich I bet there's at least six."  

Huey hasn't even finished his sentence before he's twigged that he has upset Dewey and then he immediately alters what he is saying to cheer Dewey back up. And Dewey is cheered.

Huey often notices when the others are going too far with Donald. In the House of the Lucky Gander, when Louie is saying how cool Gladstone and Scrooge are, slightly Donald, Huey chips in when Donald looks downcast.

H: Hey come on Uncle Donald is kind of cool.  

It's maybe not the most ringing endorsement and his delivery is a little hesitant as though he doesn't quite believe what he's saying. And maybe he doesn't. Huey isn’t a great liar and as far as the triplets have seen Donald hasn't done anything especially cool at this point. But Huey is trying to cheer Donald up. Unlike Dewey and Louie who can be a little oblivious and careless with others around them, most of the time Huey is incredibly kind and thoughtful.

(Just not when he's angry - you may not like him when he's angry!)

Similarly when Donald is preparing for his job interview in Woo-oh! he cooks Donald a good luck breakfast. This is a really nurturing gesture, and it's nice to see Huey (and Louie who tries to dress him) trying to take care of their uncle.

Huey isn't just kind to his family and friends, but extends this even to people who are technically his enemies. He is calm and patient with the Beagle Brothers in Day of the Only Child! He shows himself to be a great teacher and gives out praise and encouragement which quickly endears him to the Beagle Brothers who haven't been shown anything like the kindness Huey gives them. And he gives it to them without thought. It doesn't occur to him that teaching these kind of skills to people who have previously tried to kidnap him may not be a good idea - he is simply happy to share what he has learnt.

“the poachers knot was a good instinct but what you want here is a double overhead noose”

A lovely moment in this episode that further showcases both Huey's nurturing nature and his kind heart is when he tries the food Bouncer cooks. He is clearly apprehensive but tries the food anyway because it was cooked for him. When it is (surprisingly) good he is quick to offer compliments.

Huey is also kind to Gavin the bigfoot. We the audience know this is misplaced kindness. But after finding the injured Gavin and helping him, Huey's instinct is to take the bigfoot home and care for him. This is despite the fact that keeping Gavin in the house could get Huey in trouble, something he is obviously aware of as he goes to lengths to keep the bigfoot secret.  

As well as being kind, Huey is protective. He is especially protective of his brothers. He's protective in big ways like in the Living Mummies of Toth Rah! the expression on his face when he learns Louie and Webby are missing/trapped shows just how much he cares and worries. He clings to the bars like a safety net, and then when he turns his expression shows his fury.

Another example is in the Impossible Summit of Mount Neverrest where the others being in danger prompts Huey to realise they are going too far. He doesn't want them to be hurt, and isn't willing to risk the danger for a badge.

 Huey is also protective in smaller ways. In The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck! Huey tries to stop Louie manipulating Dewey into doing the laundry, pointing out to Louie how mad Dewey is going to be. Huey seems to have a strong moral compass: he is often against Louie's morally ambiguous actions like stealing from the little girl in The Spear of Selene. He also quickly loses faith in Gizmoduck once Gizmoduck begins to work for Beaks as Gizmoduck is no longer performing real heroics and asks Gizmoduck to literally throw away Huey's faith.

 I'll end with my favourite Huey moment. Just like Dewey there are a lot to choose from but I think I'm split pretty fifty fifty for two that could be considered his best for me.

The first is his utter fascination and adoration for the waters of auraidon. How calming he finds it is adorable.

H: Water. Dancing. Calm. Washing over me. Never felt… so at peace.

My second favourite moment of his is a bit of a cop out because I’m pretty sure I’ve mentioned it before, but it's everything he does in The Missing Links of Mooreshire! It's one of my favourite episodes of the first season and Huey is on top form. He charmed me the first time with his commentator voice and it still makes me laugh every time.

H: Glomgold now very obviously switching the official coin for one that has heads on both sides.

L: Very sneaky.

H: He tosses the double headed coin… and Glomgold has called - tails!

I hope you enjoyed this what's so great about Huey series. Huey is a fantastic character and I’m looking forward to see how he’s going to develop in the next season. 

(Next up: Louie!)

[julianlapostat]

Ducktales 2017 Top Ten Episodes

In No Order: Pilot The House of Lucky Gander McMystery at McDuck Manor The Last Crash of the Sunchaser The Ballad of Duke Baloney

The Town Where Everyone Was Nice Last Christmas The Duck Knight Returns Timephoon Moonvasion

[ducktales-wco-oo]

“Like this stuffy, old guy-”

“Top that, former Best Party Planner.” 

“He’ll be forced to admit that I did a better job than Duckworth-”

“Take that, Duckworth!” 

“Now I’ll never be able to throw a party better than Duckworth.” 

“A sub-par party.” - “Hey!”

(Do you ever just... Think about the fact that in McMystery At McDuck Manor, Huey did not hesitate to smack-talk the portrait of a DEAD GUY? :’D The boyyo was so frickin’ jealous of Duckworth, and literally addressed his snarky comments to the man’s picture when he wanted to rub it in the deceased butler’s face that he was doing ‘better’ than him. I... Huey was frickin’ Savage in this episode and honestly, I loved it. XD He is a respectful boy, but he is also a snarky one and his competitive/arrogant side really shined in this one.)

[disneyschedules]

DuckTales on Disney XD USA Network Premieres

These are the network premieres of the second half of Season 1 of the 2017 DuckTales TV Series that will make it’s network debut on Disney XD in the USA in October. The Network premieres just like Big City Greens will air Monday through Thursday. These episodes can be watched on Disney Channel On Demand and the Disney NOW App, but I felt like it was sitll worth sharing. If there’s any changes I will update them when it’s necessary.

Monday, October 1 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Spear of Selene!”

Tuesday, October 2 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!”

Wednesday, October 3 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Missing Links of Mooreshire!”

Thursday, October 4 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “McMystery at McDuck Manor!”

Monday, October 8 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “Jaw$!”

Tuesday, October 9 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Golden White Lagoon of Agony Plains!”

Wednesday, October 10 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “Day of the Only Child!”

Thursday, October 11 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “From the Confidential Casefiles of Agent 22!”

Monday, October 15 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “Who is Gizmoduck?!”

Tuesday, October 16 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck”

Wednesday, October 17 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “Sky Pirates... In the Sky!”

Thursday, October 18 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Secret(s) of Castle McDuck!”

Saturday, December 15 - 2:30 PM (ET/PT) - “The Last Crash of the Sunchaser!” 

Monday, October 22 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - "The Shadow War!"

Season 2

Sunday, December 23 - 8:00 PM (ET/PT)  - “The Most Dangerous Game... Night!

Monday, October 29 - 6:00 PM (ET/PT) - “The Depths of Cousin Fethry!”

Sunday, December 23 - 11:30 PM (ET/PT) - “The Ballad of Duke Baloney!”

Sunday, December 8 - 10:00 AM (ET/PT) - “The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!”

Saturday, December 15 - 10:30 AM (ET/PT) - “Storkules in Duckburg!”

Saturday, December 8- 6:30 PM (ET/PT) - “Last Christmas!”