‘Life is a hurricane, here in Duckburg…’
(A line from one of the most catchiest theme songs of all time)

Today is the twentieth anniversary of the epic animated series, “Ducktales.” The series starred Scrooge McDuck, Donald’s nephews (Huey, Dewey, and Louie), Webigail Vanderquack, Gyro Gearloose, Launchpad McQuack, and an assortment of various other characters. The series was loosely based on the comics written and illustrated by Carl Barks and Don Rosa.

The show was unlike any series at the time or what Disney later produced. In short, it was an adventure series. The plots would vary from Scrooge trying to increase his wealth, protect his wealth, protect his ‘number one’ dime, a search for treasure, a search in history, etc. The show was not a ‘villain-of-the-week’ show, like the later series, “Darkwing Duck” and “Kim Possible”. However, many villains, mostly from the comics, appeared in the series, like Flintheart Glomgold, Magica De Spell, and the Beagle Boys.

The pilot was a two and a half hour episode, later divided into 5 smaller episodes. In it, Donald Duck joins the navy and hands custody of his nephews to his uncle, Scrooge McDuck, who wants nothing to do with them initially. The nephews would run away, but would discover a plot between the Beagle Boys and a mysterious man. Later in Part One, Scrooge would develop a liking for Huey, Dewey, and Louie, when they save an antique boat, which the triplets discover was a treasure map. In Part 2, Scrooge takes his great nephews on a treasure hunt, where he would have to compete with Flintheart Glomgold and the mysterious stranger. They would find the treasure ship, only witness it and seemingly the mysterious stranger sink to the bottom of the ocean. In Part 3, the characters, Bianca Beakley and her granddaughter, Webigail, are introduced. Also, the character, Launchpad McQuack, who is a pilot/hero for hire, is shown for the first time. In this part, Scrooge goes with just Launchpad and his nephew, Donald to find out a meaning behind a coin. Part 4 took us to the bottom of the world, where Scrooge found out that a society of penguins are holding a treasure map to the lost city of gold. He was captured. Launchpad goes to Antarctica with a group of stowaways (Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webigail, and Beakley). In Part 5, Scrooge and his family heads out to find the city of gold. Scrooge learns the value of family, after nearly being incinerated in molten gold.

The series evolved from there. After a 65-episode run in syndication, Disney knew they had a major hit on their hands. This show was outperforming many kids’ shows at that point in time. The company ordered another two season, consisting of 35 episodes and a theater release, “Ducktales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.” Many Ducktales related products came out. In Disney World in Florida, a microland, Duckburg, was built (replaced in 1994). There were two primetime airings. The first, “Time is Money”, which introduced Bubba the Cave duck, debuted in syndication. The second, “Super Ducktales” aired on ABC, which introduced Fenton Crackshell/Gizmoduck. The show remained in syndication until 1992. It became a staple at Disney Channel, from 1992 to 1997. In 1996, the show made a comeback of sorts, when ABC Saturday Mornings. The show went back into syndication from 1997 to 1999. In 1999, Disney Channel aired the show for one more season, before moving it to Toon Disney, where it was unceremoniously removed in 2004. Today, 3 box sets of the show are being released with more expected in the future.

The legacy of the show is great. There were two spin-off attempts, “Quack Pack” & “Darkwing Duck”. The latter was highly successful. Fans still fondly remember “Darkwing Duck”, which was based off a Ducktales episode, “Double-O-Duck”, today. Lauchpad McQuack and Fenton Crackshell both went to aide “Mighty Masked Mallard.” The series led to the creation of the Disney Afternoon with shows like “Rescue Rangers”, “Talespin” and “Goof Troop.” Without Ducktales success, I doubt the later hits of “Kim Possible” or “American Dragon: Jake Long” would have been made. The series owed its direction to Alan Burnett and Tad Stones. Alan Young, Peter Cullen, Frank Welker, Terence McGovern, the late Hamilton Camp, and Russi Taylor (who later voiced Martin Prince in “The Simpsons”) provided the voices to the many characters.

Twenty years ago today…a legend was born!