It’s been teased repeatedly in the past months, something that’s supposed to hit the Disney XD channel sometime “this summer”. The years-long hyped franchise reboot of the classic Disney animated series “Ducktales” has gotten plenty of attention every time a teaser or trailer has been shown online. Having an actor who portrayed the lead character from legendary British TV show “Doctor Who” voicing Scrooge McDuck in this remake was just the tip of the iceberg where viewer interest is concerned. Finally, after another new Disney series adaptation – “Tangled” – has long been running on the Disney Channel, Disney XD has gotten off its rear and revealed a major load of new previews, including the reboot’s opening titles and a premiere date at last.
Franchise love-letter intro
For those who have been waiting for it to start with baited breath, they would be happy to know that Disney XD is set to premiere the “Ducktales” reboot this coming August. And what better way to premiere this than with a one-hour pilot movie that will loop endlessly on the channel for 24 hours of August 12? That’s pretty much just how excited the house of mouse is for this show. Another sign of the sheer love Disney has for “Ducktales” is the premiere movie’s title: “Woo-oo!” which is the crowd response part of the show’s famous theme song, performed for the new intro by singer-songwriter Felicia Barton.
As seen above, sharp-eyed fans of Disney’s classic “Duck universe” comics done by Carl Barks and Don Rosa will be seeing plenty of shout-outs to Scrooge and his companions’ original adventures in print, as seen in the shot with the haunted Flying Dutchman (an exact comic frame recreation).
The new “Ducktales” title sequence also showcases more of the comic-inspired character designs in motion, and it’s all a beautiful and hilarious sight.
Welcome to Duckburg
Aside from the show’s opening, Disney XD had in the past few days also released some special short previews of “Ducktales”. Entitled “Welcome to Duckburg”, each short thus far has featured a spotlight on one of the main characters.
The Scrooge segment has a neat shout-out to his voice actor David Tennant’s past role as the Tenth Doctor.
The segment with Huey Duck recalls the three nephews’ shared background as Junior Woodchuck scouts, seen in the original 1980s “Ducktales” series.
And the Donald Duck segment hews to the original comic continuity (Donald being Scrooge’s companion) as well as Uncle Scrooge’s spendthrift attitude.
The new “Ducktales” series stars the voice talents of Tennant (Scrooge), Tony Anselmo (Donald), Danny Pudi (Huey), Ben Schwartz (Dewey), Bobby Moynihan (Louie), Beck Bennett (Launchpad McQuack), Kate Micucci (Webby Vanderquack), Lin-Manuel Miranda (Fenton Crackshell-Cabrera/Gizmo-duck) and many others. After its day-long August 12 premiere, the episodes will debut in earnest on Disney XD September 23, in time for the original cartoon’s 30th anniversary.
