When it first premiered, Millennials watched DuckTales in apprehension wondering if Disney had simply run out of original ideas and would simply redo its original series with a new coat of paint.
Thankfully, within a few episodes, it was evident that the new DuckTales would be its own great thing. Of course, that doesn’t mean that it can completely escape being compared to the original. Here are some reasons the reboot surpasses the original and a few reasons why it doesn’t.
Reboot: Better Structured
So far, both seasons of DuckTales have had a little more than 20 episodes apiece and by the end of season two, the characters are all in a completely different place than they were at the outset (not outside of Duckburg, though). While it may have seemed like they would just be a bunch of one-offs, it was clear by the end of season one there was a fully-mapped out plan.
The writers and creators of the show weren’t just looking to write new adventures for Scrooge and the gang to go on; they were fundamentally changing their arcs, creating some from scratch in some cases. One outlet has referred to it as Game of Thrones for kids, and while that feels like an oxymoron in and of itself, it is a good analogy for the level of detail that has gone into the stories and how they all tie together.
Original: Lots and Lots of Adventures
The downside to creating a more serialized DuckTales is the feeling of total confusion. There’s nothing wrong with just sitting down to any given episode of the DuckTales reboot, but if you haven’t seen the episodes that precede it, you can be very easily lost. The beauty of the original is that you can know virtually nothing about the show except the characters and watch any episode without getting lost.
The original series had a few multi-episode arcs, but even those arcs weren’t so alienating that we couldn’t figure out what was going on after a few minutes. It was a story over substance approach, but Disney made it work.
Reboot: Better Origin Stories
Ever stop to think why Ms. Beakley sticks around with the tightwad billionaire Scrooge McDuck? Ever wonder why Glomgold’s sole mission in life is to beat Scrooge at being the richest duck in the world? The original didn’t really care to stop and think about these questions.
The DuckTales reboot, however, did take the time to stop and ask these questions. In the first season, we discovered that Ms. Beakley worked together with Scrooge in an MI6-like organization, keeping Scrooge from getting into too much trouble. Later in season two, we learned that Glomgold isn’t even technically Scottish, but rather developed a completely new identity, along with a Scottish accent, after Scrooge short-changed him as a child shining shoes. Stories like this have added depth and heart that was previously missing in the original.
Original: Theme Song
While the reboot’s version of the theme song is totally fine and has even had some fun variations thanks to Launchpad and Glomgold, it simply wouldn’t exist without the original. We were graced with plenty of animated series from the Disney channel in the late ’80s and early ’90s, but DuckTales was absolutely the catchiest.
It was wise for the reboot to not rewrite it or do a new song because just thinking of DuckTales gets it stuck in your head. For goodness sake, the reboot’s pilot was named “Woo-ooo!” Sorry, TaleSpin and Goof Troop, but there’s just nothing that beats “Not pony tales, not cottontails, NO, DUCKTALES! WOO-OOO!”
Reboot: David Tennant
While there were more than plenty of voice actors on the original DuckTales, perhaps no other voice was more recognizable than that of Uncle Scrooge. Who could possibly do Alan Young justice? Well, Disney was lucky enough to land one of the most popular Scottish actors in the biz today, the Tenth Doctor, nay David Tennant. Not only is his accent fun, he brings added dimension to Scrooge that the original simply didn’t demand from Alan Young. David Tennant also brings a vibrant youth to Scrooge that makes it clear that while he may be older in age, he certainly isn’t at heart.
Original: Alan Young
While the original DuckTales introduced plenty of new characters every episode, we could always count on seeing Uncle Scrooge go on a new adventure with his nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie.
Scrooge could be a miser at times, but for the most part, proved to be the rich uncle that would go on Indiana Jones adventures we wish we had. Alan Young brought warmth to a character who very easily could have just been a total jerk. He passed on in 2016, but he will always be one of the best parts of the original series.
Reboot: Reincorporation of Donald Duck
Donald Duck, for all the presence he has had throughout the decades in Disney animation, surprisingly did not have a substantial role in DuckTales. He was present for the pilot and appeared a handful of times after that. He was just a jumping point for the original DuckTales to go off of.
Not this time around. We find out that Donald was actually stuck with Huey, Dewey, and Louie after the disappearance of their mother, and he goes to Scrooge when he can no longer handle the responsibilities of providing for all of them on his own. Season one takes the time to give us more history on how their relationship became so fraught, and it may be the best version of Donald we’ve seen anywhere.
Original: Rarely Self-Referential
If there’s one aspect of the reboot that can be a little tiresome every now and again is how self-referential it is. The reboot absolutely channels the nostalgia of the original series. While the original series was building upon the “Uncle Scrooge” comics, it was mostly creating unique characters and adventures that required little or no understanding of the characters in a prior existence.
DuckTales was aimed squarely at kids growing up in the late ’80s and early ’90s with few, if any, cultural references thrown to the adults. It was a kids series through-and-through and that was all it needed. While people who do not know the original DuckTales can certainly enjoy the reboot, there’s not nearly as much to appreciate if it’s the starting point.
Reboot: Better Characters
One of the best things that the writers of the new DuckTales have done is not only bring back the characters we love but give them more dimensions than we’ve seen before. As mentioned before, the main cast gets a great deal of fleshing out throughout both seasons, but even the supporting cast is a lot more interesting than they were in the original. Where McDuck Manor employees like Gyro and Ms. Beakley were goofy but loveable in the original, they can hold their own in the reboot.
Perhaps the best example, though, is Webby, who was overly saccharine and usually got more in the way than anything in the original. In the reboot, however, she has an encyclopedic knowledge of Scrooge and even gets a solo mission with him. We’d have been happy just to see these characters return, but we’ve been gifted with more than that in the reboot.
Original: Provided Blueprint For Reboot
Simply put, the reboot owes a LOT to the original. Had Disney not decided back in the ’80s to adapt the original DuckTales comic strips from decades past, there is no telling what it would look like today.
So many of the creative/writing decisions made on the reboot are in response to the original DuckTales. While the reboot has been able to mostly separate itself from its original counterpart, it’s highly unlikely that the reboot would resemble what it currently does if this were Disney’s first whack at it. We may have come to love the reboot more, but we’ll always have a place in our hearts for the original.
