After quite a long period of quite from their last teasers, Disney returns big-time to reminding their fans that yes, there’s a reboot of their most famous cartoon TV series “Ducktales” coming this summer of 2017. And they did it by showing an actual trailer, with scenes from the pilot episodes and voice-work galore from its celebrity cast. This new take on the exploits of the most famous family of anthropomorphic ducks in the world is shaping up into a smart fusion of the styling from the classic comics, the adventurous spirit of the original 1987 animation, and the sensibilities of more contemporary times.
SNL and the Doctor
To bring readers up to speed right quick, “Ducktales” is based on old Disney comic stories about the adventures of Donald Duck and his wealthy Scottish uncle Scrooge McDuck. But in the 1987 series, all Donald merely did was entrust his three nephews – Huey, Dewey, and Louie – in Scrooge’s care while he joins the Navy, and makes only token appearances later. This new take on the mythos reconciles the comics’ Donald-Scrooge dynamic with the nephews-Scrooge interaction from the first cartoon series, making for a larger party with more zany hijinks and fun times.
This is also enforced by Disney’s voice casting choices of the reboot. While Donald sounds the same as always (current official VA Tony Anselmo), gone are the days of the nephews sounding alike (due to originally sharing one VA).
This time they’re voiced by veteran comedians Danny Pudi (Huey), Ben Schwartz (Dewey) and SNL regular Bobby Moynihan (Louie). And of course, there’s the main draw for most eager would-be watchers “Ducktales” 2017, the voice of Scrooge being Tenth Doctor David Tennant, taking over for the late Alan Young.
Old meets new
From the trailer footage, the animation is clearly inspired by the character and background designs of the Disney comics by Carl Barks, even down to the black color of Donald’s iconic sailor shirt.
But the setting is a curious mix of vintage and modern, with classic “Indiana Jones” style adventures even while Scrooge uses a cell phone and the more “present” dialogue. Snippets of a new remix of the signature “DuckTales” theme can also be heard. The excitement is sure to reach fever pitch as the summer scheduled premiere comes ever closer.
A date may soon be announced to stay tuned.
The “Ducktales” reboot will be on Disney XD, but if you get Disney Channel as well then you might also want to look forward to “Tangled: the Series” premiering there at roughly the same period. The House of Mouse is really making this year’s TV viewing epic.
