DuckTales Tribute

“DuckTales Wo-oo! Everyday they’re out there making DuckTales! Wo-oo! Tales of derring-do, bad and good Luck Tales!” This is the chorus of the theme song written for Disney’s DuckTales (1987-1990), featuring music and lyrics by Mark Mueller. The show originally began airing on the ABC Network on September 18th, 1987, 35 years ago today, and was rebooted on the Disney XD Network on August 12th, 2017. In honor of it’s milestone anniversary let’s explore how the show came about:

“DuckTales,” was the very first Disney-produced cartoon show for syndication. The show’s inspiration came from the Disney comic book series, Uncle Scrooge, written and designed by Carl Barks. (The first edition was published in March 1952). The series told stories of Donald Duck, his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and Donald’s uncle Scrooge McDuck. Their adventures in the fictional city of Duckburg, often involved foiling the schemes of Flintheart Glomgold, The Beagle Boys, and Magica de Spell. The comic book series caught the attention of television writer Jymn Magon, who began developing the idea for a show with Disney. With animation designed at Wang Film Productions, Cuckoo’s Nest Studio, TMS Entertainment and Burbank Films, the show’s first five episodes were looped together as a made-for-television movie that aired on ABC entitled “The Treasure of the Golden Sun.” 

The movie’s success lead to a run of 101 episodes over four seasons. It won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Film Sound Editing in its third year, 1990. That same year, there was another made-for-television film, DuckTales the Movie: The Treasure of the Lost Lamp. The show’s success set the stage for future Disney cartoon shows including Darkwing Duck a “DuckTales,” spin-off that included the “DuckTales” regular Launchpad McQuack as the sidekick of Darkwing Duck and Huey, Dewey and Louie made guest star appearances.

The show’s main voice cast included the lagreat Alan Young as Scrooge McDuck and the late-great Russi Taylor juggled the roles of Huey, Dewey and Louie. Tony Anselmo voiced Donald Duck and Launchpad McQuack was voiced by Terrence McGovern. (Fun Fact about Terence McGovern: He did voice-over work on George Lucas’s THX 1138 (1971), a pre-Star Wars project. At one point during voice recording McGovern messed up a line and said “I think I ran over a wookie back there.” Intrigued, Lucas asked McGovern what he meant by that and McGovern said that he just made it up, and Lucas never forgot that word, later using it as the species of one his most beloved characters, Chewbacca!) The series also featured Donald Duck’s other uncle, Professor Ludwig von Drake, Disney’s first ever television cartoon character, who was voiced by Corey Burton.

Every episode of the original “DuckTales,” is available to stream on Disney+, along with the “Lost Lamp” movie as well as the reboot show. Despite being 35 years old, DuckTales remains a favorite among Disney fans.  since it initially aired. Alan Young passed away in May 2016 and Russi Taylor passed in July 2019. It is sad they are no longer with us, but with the rest of the talented voice cast and Jymn Magon’s writing skills and Mark Mueller’s music, they’ve left quite an animation legacy.

 

 

Steven Spielberg: A Director to Love

Movie Directors are considered exceptional when their story powerfully captures human emotion and the character’s journey through life is relatable to the audience. While there are many directors who have achieved great things, few have captured the hearts and minds of audiences like Steven Spielberg. I thought I would acknowledge today why Steven Spielberg is a director to love.

Steven Spielberg has played many roles, including producer, writer and director, but when me makes a movie, you can be sure the story will capture your imagination, bring the emotion of history to life, or take you on an adventure of a lifetime. Although 1977 is primarily remembered as the year that George Lucas released Star Wars, that was the same year for one of Steven Spielberg’s greatest adventures as he directed and co-wrote Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). (“Close Encounters,” won a Special Achievement Oscar for its Sound Effects Editing and it also won Best Cinematography, an award that “Star Wars,” wasn’t even nominated for!)

When Spielberg directs he always surrounds himself with other brilliant people: Composer John Williams, who’s won five Oscars, won three for scoring Spielberg movies, i.e. Jaws (1975), E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982), and Schindler’s List (1993).

Besides Williams, Cinematographer Janusz Kaminski won two Oscars for photographing “Schindler’s List,” and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Playwright Tony Kushner received two Adapted Screenplay Oscar Nominations for writing Spielberg’s Munich (2005), and Lincoln (2012). And Spielberg has directed 11 actors in Oscar-nominated performances, three of which have won: Daniel Day-Lewis won Best Actor in “Lincoln,” Mark Rylance won Best Supporting Actor in Bridge of Spies (2015) and Ariana DeBose won Best Supporting Actress in West Side Story (2021). 

Spielberg himself has also been an award winner. He won the Best Director Golden Globe, Oscar, and Directors Guild of America awards for “Schindler’s List,” and “Saving Private Ryan.” “Private Ryan,” also won his only Best Picture Oscar and he won a third Best Director DGA for The Color Purple (1985). He won the Irving G. Thalberg Award in 1987, and received the Cecil B. DeMille Golden Globe in 2008. He was also inducted as a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2006, where he was saluted by frequent collaborator Tom Hanks. (Spielberg later returned the favor for Hanks when Hanks was inducted in 2014). Hanks was directed by Spielberg in “Private Ryan,” Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), “Bridge of Spies,” and The Post (2017) and the two co-produced the miniseries Band of Brothers (2001). 

No Spielberg tribute would be complete without referencing the Indiana Jones franchise (1981-2008). One could easily argue Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) is one of Spielberg’s best in the sense that it earned a Best Picture Oscar Nomination, gave us all an iconic hero role that has stood the test of time, and spawned three sequels: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984), Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade (1989), and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). The fourth sequel is also on its way and while it will be directed by Oscar-nominee James Mangold, Spielberg will continue as producer.   

A director of 34 theatrical movies, at age 75 Spielberg’s clearly showing no signs of slowing down. He made his animation directorial debut in 2011 with The Adventures of Tintin and in 2016 directed The BFG, his very first film produced and distributed by the Walt Disney Company. That screenplay was authored by the late-great Melissa Mathison, who also wrote “E.T.” Spielberg has a brand new directorial project, The Fabelmans (2022), a film that will be a semi-autobiography of his childhood and what inspired him to go into movie-making. “Fabelmans,” will be released on November 23rd of this year, will star Michelle Williams and Seth Rogen, and will once again feature the Music of John Williams, the Cinematography of Janusz Kaminski, and a script that Spielberg co-wrote with Tony Kushner.

To say that Steven Spielberg takes the craft of movie-making seriously is an understatement. You can take one look at any of his movies and know instantly that it was produced by someone who loves movies because while it is make believe, it looks and feels unbelievably real. And he hires brilliant people to make his vision come to life. He must also be great to work with, since he’s worked so often with the same people. And in the end, thanks to his guidance, their efforts usually pay off with a movie hit!