notes
words in quotes are not mine – i just took a bunch of screenshots on my phone of ducktales critiques that i thought were interesting.
tumblr critiques about dt17 scrooge, 25th march 2021
peachhoneii: the show has always made it the responsibility of others to meet scrooge’s standards. it’s part of the reason why i didn’t like how the kids were treated in relation to scrooge. he projects so much of himself onto them that they’ve done it to themselves, and for webby, this is quite literally the case for her.
- this is true! i don’t really think the resolution of “new gods on the block!” felt all that satisfying for me. scrooge HAD to say the kids were great, and did so through della’s prompting, but i can’t imagine him remembering to do it on his own afterwards. and what’ll happen when the kids break away from wanting to be like scrooge?
peachhoneii: we never see scrooge meet their standards or at least try to meet them halfway. that’s why i don’t think scrooge has grown as much as we think. he simply reverts to who he was before della went missing. his character development came from having donald and della in his life, not HDLW.
- GOOD POINT…
peachhoneii: donald is forced to see their POV most of the time. only della actually stands back and listens to her brother when he explains why he has to leave. i still find it strange that HDL had zero reactions to donald leaving.
robinine-blog: i find it incredibly strange that HDL had so little interaction with donald once they moved in with scrooge. i mean, i know kids can be distracted by the shiny, but that’s your father figure you’re leaving out in the swimming pool.
- ME TOO. like that’s your dad you guys.
peachhoneii: donald doesn’t want riches, he wants safety. he wants to know his and the boys’ lives are not in danger. scrooge completely ignores that and treats the very idea of donald wanting to have a safe quiet life as if it’s completely crazy. scrooge continues to ignore donald’s health, overrides his rules, borrows the kids for adventure…
robinine-blog: donald has been looking after HDL for 10 years, and they just jump out of the nest and never look back, never think about the lessons donald taught them, never mention their lives before scrooge. […] is donald’s love not good enough? he did everything for these kids, and they just forget him in favour of the rich and famous uncle. what sort of message does that send?
- donald was underutilized in the show! i would have liked to see more about his bond with the boys and how special that is—like an issue one of the triplets has that scrooge nor della nor webby can address, but donald can because he has that history with them.
- i didn’t realize how uncaring scrooge was until i read this critique, but i see it.
peachhoneii: we never see scrooge make an effort with donald [or] with anyone beyond bringing them along with him on adventures or to the office, as if his presence should be enough. the kids are easy. they are easily impressed, easily bought, they see glitter and wants. scrooge doesn’t have to try, bringing them along is enough for the kids. he’s NOT parenting them, he’s the rich uncle who swoops in, drops presents, and takes them places donald doesn’t approve of. i wonder what will happen when the kids grow up and want more than that from him? because we saw what happened when donald grew up and went his own way. scrooge hasn’t learned his lesson. what will happen when the kids no longer idolise him?
robinine-blog: scrooge only cares when lives are on the line. donald cares when one of the kids gets a paper cut.
- oh this is GOOD. i was thinking about how i don’t really have a strong sense of how scrooge reacts to certain events in (my headcanons of) the boys’ futures, and it might be because he’s not really very involved in what they’re up to at all. not that he has to be as involved as a sibling, but i haven’t seen him do much good at being an uncle figure to donald/della in a bonding way (or in a way that didn’t involve him just, like, having money and power to help them). sure he cares about them, but there’s something missing.
peachhoneii: it appeared to be the show was pulling donald away out of the parental equation [using may and june] and turning him more into an uncle. a traditional uncle.
the show didn’t focus much on donald HDL’s relationship. that really disappointed me because he was the one who put int he work for raising these boys. […] to watch donald slowly get pushed to the side in favor of scrooge and later della really shows me why some writers are very wary of including della since for some reason they can’t find a balanced coparenting relationship.
- big agree. i think della feels a lot like the fun aunt or older sister, even though she’s literally their mom. i don’t think any portrayal where HDL really lean on della as a mom feels real to me, though i don’t think they ever have a totally estranged or argumentative relationship. i just like the idea of them leaning on donald more.
danny pudi interviews (various sources)
danny: i have a historical markers app so when i see a historical marker on a building or a field, i’ll sit there for way too long reading and studying it while my kids are going, “dad, are you coming?”
- this is totally dad huey.
danny: (talks about how season one was dewey, season two was louie) and season three seems to be about hubert. his attempts at figuring out himself, but also how to help the family.
- ONCE AGAIN I HATE THIS… they wrap up huey’s attempts at figuring himself out way too cleanly for my liking, and his whole thing shouldn’t be about the missing mysteries. he wasn’t the focus, and it wasn’t his Big Goal despite how much his nerd ass enjoyed it – not in the way finding della was dewey’s Big Goal, and starting a business was louie’s.
- more in my problem with huey’s problems
danny: sometimes huey connects more to robots and machines than he does to real boys.
- THIS IS WHAT I WANTED THE SHOW TO EXPLORE!!! i guess they did give him a friend in boyd, but that wasn’t really expanded on (nor did i… care much? honestly. i think huey would just be nice to any kids) in any meaningful way – like they didn’t have a fun bond beyond the one ep. i wanted them to expand on huey’s social issues.
danny: it’s all about huey figuring out how he can live without the guidebook. how he can find balance. […] in season 3 with huey, you start to see him grow up a bit.
- NO IT’S NOT DANNY!!!!! NO YOU DON’T!!!!!!!
- HE’S ALREADY BEEN A DAD SINCE BIRTH i would have thought huey growing up would mean changes like “he finally lets himself be a kid” etc etc… ugh…
AV club episode reviews
happy birthday doofus drake
even though using the game to push huey into more adventurous things is very wholesome, it’s not as if huey is completely adverse to adventure in general. he usually gets too caught up in rules/details/preparation. that doesn’t mean he’s afraid of danger or taking risks. ducktales is still struggling with this character.
- exactlyyyyy. huey isn’t fearful – he’s anxious. he’s confident in himself until things go wrong or the situation is bigger than he imagined, but he’s pretty good about entering situations that are normally seen as dangerous or scary if there’s something interesting.
- if the thing he feared WAS becoming enraged and aggro in combat, it would make sense, but it wasn’t clear that that was the case. he just ended up looking like a guy who stays in his comfort zone.
- inb4 terrafirmians episode: I THINK he was freaked by that because a subway is a very ordinary place to him, and the idea of something beyond his comprehension/knowledge being there had a terrifying implication. what other things in his ordinary life should he suspect or fear? it wasn’t about sticking to what he knows – or at least not ONLY about that.