Underrated Duck Daze - The Best of Quack Pack

I've been defending this particular show a long time , haven't I ? And I've been meaning to post this for a while ...

This is easily one of the most underrated Disney series that has been done. It did more good than any critic apparantly on the purulent hive of the internet has been willing to give it credit for. It is far better than what the so-called TRUE Barks-Rosa fans say . No, they do not understand Donald or his world as well as they think they do. In fact , I can assure you they know NOTHING about Donald's cartoons or the Duck's contributions to the art of animation, his fantastic versatility and acting potential. And if you use his voice as a way to belittle him, then you sorely lack imagination and vision... It's quite unfortunate that instead of COMBINING the best of all worlds, people think in terms of narrow-minded, bigotted and vile purism . Not to mention that when one of them basically insulted Tony Anselmo while writing a fucking Stendhalesque book to bash every single episode of the show, they lose their right for an opinion.
I mean, you don't like Quack Pack ? Fine, strokes and all that. To insult and demean the voice actors like that ? Fuck you.)

Now, about the show itself, a lot of people bash it and compare it to DuckTales or Darkwing Duck while they've conveniently forgotten a few important details
a) Darkwing Duck was the only Disney series produced to have the flair and atmosphere of the Disney comics and to PROPERLY play with it.
b) While it's true Ducktales had the proper setting and antagonists, it did not actually use the characters to their maximum (especially Scrooge McDuck! ) and mostly ignored the more cynical and biting side to their personalities and interactions which made for their vividness. Which explains why some episodes feel way too tame and sugary !
c) As great as Don Rosa is (and he is), I'd take his word with a grain of salt when it comes to Disney as a whole (especially ANIMATED Disney) because this universe was NEVER meant to have a single-minded continuity. Bear in mind that Barks just wanted a good vivid setting for his stories, THAT's IT ! Carl completely let that world free for interpretation, only the quality of the story mattered for him. And as we will see, this show was no slouch in this department.
d) I honestly find Barks's paintings beautiful... This has nothing to do with anything in this article, so let's move on !


THE WEAKNESSES ?

Before you even raise a finger to point it out, YES, I am aware of the original premise. For those who do not know, here it is: Scrooge wanted Donald to "grow up", so to speak, since he knew that Donald would inherit his fortune someday... and would probably lose it all.
So the series would have Donald moving from department to department in the McDuck corporation, and screwing  up all the time... but the nephews keep helping Unca Donald out. Yes, that was the ORIGINAL Duck Daze series idea.
It does sound awesome, but it would be an infinitely better fit for a movie (or a 3-parter OVA ) than a TV series...and even then, I have far better ideas for a Donald Duck movie !

I do really regret it never got a second season with a proper writing staff that knew the Disney comics inside and out because SO MANY characters would be a perfect fit for THIS series rather than DuckTales( not to mention would allow them to let loose !): Characters such as Fethry (Donald's clumsy yet hyperactive and well-meaning cousin, who loves to help Donald but make the situations dramatically (and hilariously) worse !) or Gladstone (Donald's obnoxious jerk of a lucky cousin.) are simply no-brainers !
And if Quack Pack ever used Scrooge, it wouldn't be the lovey dovey DuckTales one as most would think ... THIS would be the Scrooge that would fit this series atmosphere : www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAlMeb… , the early Barks/Martina extremely harsh and miserly McDuck ! ANd Good God do I prefer Scrooge when he's a morally ambiguous bastard !
As for not using Webigail and Mrs. Beakly.... Good !

WHat I consider a weakness ( and it is actually a minimal one... it does not affect its advantages as you'll see ...) is maybe that the wackiness is cranked up to 11 ! It's not Looney Tunes (no one dies and gets brought back immediately, for instance ! They avoid getting killed !), but the writers seemed to have a ball and went Bonkers with it ! The message here is "Hey. It's a cartoon. That means we can do ANYTHING WE WANT! BWAHAHAHA!". Not a bad point (then again , I have lots of Donald comics that are pretty crazy and over-the-top , anything with Fethry in it when written by Giorgio Pezzin and drawn by Giorgio Cavazzano for example .), but some situations would have benefitted from more comedic restraints (just a little bit...) like more "realistic" and grounded slapstick Donald's older cartoons had.

Now a lot of people have complained about the presence of humans in this show rather than the anthro-dogs, saying that it does not work for the Ducks ... You serious ? I'm not gonna say anything , this shall speak for me images3.wikia.nocookie.net/__c… fr.picsou.wikia.com/wiki/Zippo fr.picsou.wikia.com/wiki/Orvil… , capice ?

THE CHARACTERS

There are lot of complaints I've heard about the protagonists being unlikeable or way too flawed, or lacking good morals ... OKay. What kind of Disney Ducks were you watching or reading ? Because they are at their most interesting when they try to play tricks on one another or when their flaws are used for comedy . That's part of what made the Ducks so vivid : we see their vices and virtues ! ANd WITHOUT oh-so-forced mushiness this time !
Detractors just make this show seem worse than it truly is . I will give you how the characters are written and why , despite some differences with the classics, they never betrayed the essence of said classics ! And again, even if it lacks DuckTales's setting, it did not tone down the meaner streaks of the protagonists like Ducktales WRONGFULLY did, mainly because it had the right key player and used him RIGHT !

* HUEY, DEWEY & LOUIE DUCK (voiced by Jeannie Elias,Pamela Adlon and Elizabeth Daily)

This is the main argument that people use to trash this show. In fact they blow it so much out of proportion that you'd imagine them as the plagues of Egypt or something just as calamitous. This is just ridiculous .
Yes, the show tried to update them for the 90's . Yes, they try to be hip or are often obnoxiously convinced they already are and are more impulsive than usual (much like Max in Goof Troop).AND YES, I admit that I do prefer the way we see them in DuckTales and Comics from Barks, Scarpa, Vicar and all but this version also has its advantages. Why ? Well mainly because it is a case of "THIS COULD BE YOU" to a certain extant: what teenager did not a certain ego or brag at a certain point ?
And on the plus side, they are not made out to be clones of each other to exploit more gags out that (If you ever refer to the fact they are not aware that they look and act the same , I am aware of it and that joke could wear out quickly in animation and would mean they's just have to be only supporting characters.). They now have individual styles and interests (Huey=the wannabe leader, Dewey=snarkier and smarter, Louie= a bit clueless and the more naive) and most of the comedy comes from that.
They are not completely different though : more often not do they work as a team but they also show more common sense than their uncle whenever they team-up (half the time that is... ) and tend to fall for the same girl (puberty FTW !). Also , their characterization and interractions are nuanced enough to not resort to ONE character trait every single time ; they are more diverse than the early-Taliaferro gag strips (where they were rascals making Donald's life a living hell ) and way above the later pedantic and boring non-entities Don Rosa ended up using.

* DAISY DUCK (voiced by Kath Soucie)

A very nice return to a more likable Daisy (which is something that they rarely do !) ! Much calmer than the Jack King version ( who still has the best Daisy Duck of all !) and very similar to the take of the brazilian Disney artists and some italian stories had on Daisy. This version (and the versions I've cited ) is an improvement over Barks's Daisy (since he didn't like using her that much, hence why she is not that developped in those stories as opposed to the other protagonists. Most of the time in Barks comics, she's just there to be the even more hot-headed girlfriend of Donald .). In a way, Daisy is also a part in the maturity VS Immaturity war that spices the Ducks familial relationship, being in the mature side most of the time.
Here , she's much more level-headed, patient and  is more trusting of the boys than their uncle is. She is also more competent (like in the brazilian comics where she is also a reporter and surpasses the duo of Fethry and Donald) but also extremely ambitious and eccentric (since she has many odd quirks.) which leads her to make various mistakes over the course of the show like  unintentionally putting the others in danger to try and get a story (not unlike Scrooge and his treasure hunts !).


* KENT POWERS (voiced by Roger Rose)  

An egomaniacal jerk anchor-man, Kent Powers is the boss of both Daisy and Donald. While the former can stand to him and even surpass him in terms of popularity ,he frequently belittles and exploits the latter for so little as a good laugh.He's reminescent of Gladstone or Neighbor Jones in that aspect (a shame they never re-appear in the same episode...) . I have nothing against Kent, his dynamic with Donald works to a T since it is nice to see Duck getting (deserved) revenge on him. If anything , Don has encountered this type of character a lot in his stories so it is perfectly fitting to pit him against this kind of narcistic jerk. It is a shame that Gladstone did not appear in the series though: it could make a good episode to show how crappy some of Donald's days are,think something like having to deal with Kent at work and having to stand Gladstone's monthly visit (and by that I mean he crashes for a month in Donald's crib !).


* DONALD DUCK (voiced by Tony Anselmo)

Easily the best thing about the show !
And of course, this is where I hear the stupidest argument ever : " Donald in this show is stupider and half the character he used to be."
... Yeah , I kinda wonder if they really know the character that well all things considered. Especially when they spout such half-baked, ill-researched and moronic statements !
As I said before, Donald obtained all his character traits from the cartoons first before his transition to the comics ! And you know something else ? Anyone that tells you that he's different and only good in the comics a) never really bothered watching his cartoons b) just says so because it is hip to trash Disney while being a Barks/Rosa fan . You know it to be true, don't look at me like that ...
But take it from me ; this series is the LAST TIME you'll see Donald used PROPERLY in animation ! THE LAST TIME. And even more than that , it more than makes up for the mediocrity that were Jack Hannah's majority of 50's Donald cartoons. Why ? Because Quack Pack takes advantage of Donald's versatilty both as a comedian but also as an individual and sets him either as  the main focus or as a supporting character. Instead of going the easy and lazy road by having just angry and that's it (a gross misconception that , predictably, the studios will use right after this show...), they show him as he should be shown: an average joe that thinks he's in control of the situations while he's prey to ungovernable passions or desires as well as an unlucky underduck. His specific aspect here is that he's a frantic, and suspicious (to the point of paranoia at times) but still very loving parent. And by loving , I mean Genuinely moving care unlike some Ducktales later episodes where the sugary scenes get to diabetes level (mostly due to his absence and being replaced by Webby....).
In fact , think of people who never one of his comics , this is a good exposure for them to a more layered and deeper Duck (other than King's work). Granted , I'd have loved to see him in more serious situations (thing like his WWII cartoons or the Noah's Ark sequence. Then he'd be a dead ringer for Barks's take ! ) but for what the show has and used as inspiration , it really DELIVERED when it comes to Donald ! And there are some character-driven stories in here too, bettya didn't expect it !
And thank God ; no joke about his voice, most of the humor comes from him as a character ! Since DuckTales, that joke really got old while in Quack Pack, the funny part comes from the fact that he's perfectly understandable to his peers and co-citizens (ironically ... he is understandable here! Tony Anselmo was good in DuckTales but he only got better and better.).


MY FAVOURITE EPISODES

Before we start , I'll clear out another point : while its setting is similar to Goof Troop , its comedy is actually different.
Goof Troop's comedy comes from the dynamic of 2 opposite forces namely the blissful candor of Goofy  and the manipulative cynicism and dishonesty of Pete. But here ? This is mainly a war of maturity where anyone could be right or wrong or where the Ducks family could be united or in conflict ! Also weren't afraid to show guns and dangerous booby-traps , so it could get a little darker at times with life-death situations . As for the villains... I think they've escaped from Arkham at some point and might be the few cuckoos Batman does not show in his files out of fear of not being taken too seriously...
Here are my 15 faves (there are others I like of course but you'll debate of course !)They weren't afraid to show guns and dangerous booby-traps in Quack Pack, whilst tastefully keeping them in line with good cartoon violence tradition and not make them actually harm its main characters (too much).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ut2ZHi…


15) KOI STORY

The group encounters a stranger , Gilles, who keeps a rare, giant fish couped up in a huge bowl, content on keeping him happy. But he doesn't know that his pet isn't happy, nor does he realize what he wants.
The episode starts right away by taking a jab at Disney's princessy stuff ("Oh boy! Here we start again..." says Donald). But the main attraction is Gilles himself . I really don't know , but he reminds me a lot of Sgrizzo www.personaggidisney.altervist… , one of Donald's craziest relatives. Except , as you 'll see, Gilles is a bit of a psycho especially when it comes to his fish Winston ...

14) HEAVY DENTAL

Huey wants to enter a cool teen contest, so wants to look his very best. But when he goes to the dentist to get his teeth whitened, he's outfitted with what he believes to be braces, but it is in reality a special mind-control device intended for someone else and the mastermind will stop at nothing to get it back.
Yes, it is a far-fetched premise but it completely is worth the murderous outcome ! And believe it, Donald's extremely questionable plumber talents save the day ...

13) DUCKLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE

Dewey has become fed up with his brothers intruding on his space (to the point he imagines that they'll stay together till they're even older than Scrooge ! It is funny to see one of the brothers actually wanting some space! ) and decided to search for a hidden place they're currently looking for. But when he finds an utterly insane hermit in it content on keeping to himself, he realizes he might not be able to cope with a life of solitude after all. In the meantime, Donald and Daisy show us who's the most competent when it comes to camping: Trust Donald ! He's the expert !

12) DUCK QUAKE

The boys remember the horror of their terrible camping situation from last year. So they employ the help of Ludwig Von Drake and trick Donald into thinking there will be a huge earthquake in Duckburg, thus pressuring him to buy provisions that the boys intend to use on the next school camping trip. But when Donald catches wind of their true intentions, he uses the boys own earthquake device to get revenge on them.
The 2 big assets of this episodes are a) Pr Von Drake (always a pleasure to see him ! We really need more Von Drake !) b) Everyone is a jerk ... and it works ! This to me is the darkest episode in the series: the nephews take advantage of Donald's fear of earthquakes (and being a bad parent) while he , instead of punishing them reasonably, takes a disproportionate revenge upon them !
My only regret is that the ending could have been much better than that ...

11) LEADER OF THE QUACK

The group go to a village still stuck in the Medieval period, where the people there hail Donald as their savior for defeating a dragon and make him their king. That is everything you need : How fun do you think it is to see Donald, unlucky everydude , get the power ? A lot ! Especially when he uses and abuses said power until it escapes! But for once, things end rather nicely for him ...

10) PHONIEST HOME VIDEO

When the boys submit a video of Donald's dish installation gone awry to a T.V. studio, the producer is enthralled with it and decides to make it a regular on the network. However, when things don't go the way the producer wants them to, he hatches a few contingency plans to make sure Donald injures himself to the amusement of the viewers.
It's nice to see that for once, Donald appreciates being the fall guy to the point where he becomes enamored of his fame and disses everyone else. At the end however , he'll find out that his family are the only ones he can truly count on ! And all that without the mushiness I despise so much because in this episode, it was genuinely heartfelt !

9) NEED 4 SPEED

When Donald has nightmarish visions of what will happen to his nephews if he lets them drive, he refuses to let them have a car. But when a champion racer has his eyes on Daisy, he promises the boys a car if they help him win the race. Only Donald isn't likely to give the boys exactly what they want.
Easily one of the best examples of character versatility in this show: while Donald is deeply concerned about his nephews well-being, he is not above tricking them or using their competences to get something for free (so much for stupider!). And the race at the end, pure CTR material with a neat twist-result !

8) CAPTAIN DONALD

Kent Powers lets Donald become captain of his yacht on a cruise when they run into a hurricane and are stranded on an island where a sinister pirate befriends them so they can use them to find a legendary treasure.
The Ducks and treasure-hunting ? Sounds familiar ! Well worth the watch to see how they go from clumsy hothead and rascals to the end where they are competent adventurers ...

7) CAN'T TAKE A YOLK

When Huey, Dewey and Louie get grounded after playing a practical joke on their uncle, they order some retro-growth formula to shrink a tree to get out of the yard work Donald set them. However, Donald accidentally uses the formula on himself and it is slowly turning him younger and younger.
If you people liked the very early trickster Donald, then this is right up your alley ! Yep, Donald's temper was not there right at the beginning , at that early stage, he was mostly one quick-witted little troll ! www.youtube.com/watch?v=IErXg5…

6) DUCKY DEAREST

When a commercial on television leads Donald to doubt the integrity of his nephews, he gives in and buys a kit to try and become the perfect parent. Little does he know about the scam behind the commercial.
It is fascinating to see that ever since the nephews appeared , the question of Donald's competence as a parent has used in various occasions and multiple ways; at their very first cartoon , he was trying to do everything to calm them (and contain his temper) but they were uncontrollable little devils ! Then with time, and in Barks's hands, they became more versatile and at times had much more common sense than Donald himself: the maturity competition starts and the relationship becomes much deeper.
This episode shows that they nailed that evolved relationship since it shows how much Don cares about his nephews but how (hilariously) misguided his attempts at improving himself can be, especially leading himself to get scammed. Thankfully, H,D& L come to his rescue and the ending is all the better for it !  

5) READY, AIM...DUCK

After Donald trashes the house while playing the boys' Captain Jack virtual reality game, he makes up lies on the spot to hide the truth. Donald then has visions of Captain Jack ordering him to confess. But Donald ignores this and eventually draws the ire of a dangerous criminal known as "The Claw".
Take the classic liar story but give it a surprising original ending !

4) THE LATE DONALD DUCK

Donald draws the ire of his boss Kent Powers when he shows up to work late. To try and keep his job, he writes a story so nuts that... it turns out to be the absolute truth ! Easily the nuttiest episode of the bunch !

3) REALLY MIGHTY DUCKS

Tired of being nagged at by Donald to clean their room, the boys seek the help of Ludwig Von Drake and find a machine that turns them into superheroes known as the Tremendously Talented Trio of Truly Trusted Trouble-Shooters or "The T-Squad" for short, thus deterring Donald from hassling them (and making him getting a million $ phone-bill !). But when Donald uses the machine himself and transforms into the supervillain "The Duck of Doom" (basically an even pettier,meaner Phantom Duck !), they start singing another tune ...

2) ALL HANDS ON DUCK

When Donald and Daisy go to do a report on a Naval vessell, it is revealed that Donald still owes them 24 hours of worktime, and his C.O. is content on giving him a hard time as comeuppance for all the times Donald has thrown him overboard.
This encapsulates what DuckTales lacked an awful lot : Donald and all the humor he brings to the table ! This is mostly similar to the 10 pagers Donald ; he starts a job (well he owes the navy another 24 hours of service !) and finds innovative ways to botch it , making even his boss completely cuckoo ( the Mr Sloopy part is sign of a bursting madness ! XD ). Surprisingly , the latter part of the episode shows his more heroic and responsible side when he does confront his own mistakes and eventually saves the day.


1) NOSY NEIGHBORS

After a series of thefts in Donald's neighborhood, he joins the Nosy Neighbors neighborhood watch group and gets carried away with defending his home turf.
And this, ladies and gentlemen , is my favorite in the entire series ! It starts from something that occurs in real life and goes into drastic territory courtesy of Donald's ability to overdo things . This episode has 2 plotlines: the first is a series of gags about Donald turning his house into a freaking fort and leading him to destroy the neighborhood (don't ask ...) and the second is about him actually finding the burglars and trying to arrest them (well to be fair , H,D&L found about them a second later but he found a way to catch them properly !), sacrificing his bug lamp for that . All in all, this was one of the most light-hearted and funniest of the whole bunch, since while the nephews are more mature than their uncle in this particular episode , he does manage to save the day by the day . Neat subtle conclusion wouldn't you say ?

And it is a shame that after this and Fantasia 2000 , no animated project will do the Ducks justice by using their range as characters . Who knows, maybe in the future they'd wise the fuck up and combine all the best aspects of this show and DuckTales to give us the PERFECT Ducks series ?