DuckTales was that classic tale of three little orphans coming to live with their rich old uncle, learning to love each other and going off on all kinds of adventures together. In this case, the orphans were ducks Huey, Dewey, and Louie, the uncle was Scrooge McDuck, the richest, most stingy duck in the world, the town was Duckburg, and the adventures ranged from going into space to invading Uncle Scrooge’s memories in the dream state.
The show enjoyed immense popularity, so much so that it was rebooted recently by Disney for their channel. Here are ten hidden details you might not have noticed in the series:
The Inspiration Behind Magica de Spell
Magica De Spell is the witch who is a constant thorn in the side of Scrooge and the gang, because of her obsession with procuring the first dime Scrooge ever earned. An interesting thing about Magica is that she is the only character in the series dressed all in black. All the other villains are still colorful characters despite their evil nature.
This all-black ensemble was a tribute to two other iconic Femme Fatales in fiction: Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and Morticia Addams of Addams Family fame. Magica’s character was inspired by both of them, hence the all-black dress that all three characters share.
The Original Beagle Boys
Just like Magica was inspired by previous pop-culture icons, The Beagle Boys were also parodies, not of fictional characters, but actual criminals from history. Arizona Donnie Barker was known as Ma Barker and was the head of a gang of four criminals consisting of her sons. The team would conduct highway robberies and bank heists and served as the inspiration behind Ma Beagle and her litter of bumbling but devoted criminal followers.
Inspiring Indian Jones
It is no secret that the 1987 DuckTales television show was inspired heavily by Hollywood action-adventure movies, chief among them being Indiana Jones. But what fewer people know is that Jones himself owed a debt to the comic series based on the adventures of Scrooge and his nephews that the television show was based on.
Both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, who were the creative team behind the Indian Jones movies, have cited Scrooge’s early comic adventures as a major source of inspiration behind the Harrison Ford movies. A pretty awesome case of two great pop culture properties inspiring each other to greater heights.
Scrooge’s Time Machine
The 2017 reboot of DuckTales brought a number of new elements into the world of Duckburg that fans know and love. In one scene, we see that Scrooge now owns a grandfather clock that is actually a time machine. This piece of trivia becomes all the more significant when you consider that Scrooge in his latest incarnation is played by David Tennant, who remains most well-known for playing the Tenth Doctor in the Doctor Who franchise, the story of an alien timelord who owns a time machine disguised as a telephone booth.
The Contents Of The Money Bin
Scrooge’s wealth is really meant to be more of an abstract concept than a real thing. His money was once stated to be somewhere in the range of one multiplujilion, nine obsquatumatillion, six hundred and twenty-three dollars, sixty-two cents. Naturally, that’s more money than can be counted or can exist anywhere other than fiction. But dedicated fans have still persisted in trying to get an estimate of Scrooge’s money bin and the wealth stored inside.
From the blueprints created by Don Rosa for a Ducktales comics, the money bin is said to be 127 feet tall and 120 feet long on each side. If we assume the vault is half full on most days, the amount of gold estimated to be contained within the vault comes out to approximately 228,600 cubic feet.
Donald’s Voice Was His Undoing
In the comics that were the basis of the 1987 TV show, Donald Duck was an integral part of the team. He was basically Scrooge’s second-in-command, and the one charged with keeping his young nephews in line and out of harm’s way. But when the TV show was being created, the producers decided to leave Donald out of the character lineup.
This was because Donald had a very distinctive, garbled speech pattern which sounded funny but was difficult to understand. Fearing that audiences would not understand key plot points if narrated by Donald, the makers decided to send him to the navy and leave the adventuring to Scrooge and his nephew triplets.
Retconned To Become A Hero
Scrooge McDuck is known unequivocally today as a hero, with a stingy nature that is usually played for laughs. But the original Scrooge who debuted in the Disney adaptation of A Christmas Carol was an out-and-out villain. He played the role of the antagonist in many more comics, usually against Donald.
But then the Ducktales series of comics reimagined Scrooge as an anti-hero and the TV show adaptation officially turned him into a hero who is more concerned with doing the right thing and saving the day than making a quick buck.
Scrooge’s Biggest Fear
In one episode in the recent reboot of the show, we get to see the family of ducks face their greatest fears. In the case of Scrooge, anyone who is remotely familiar with the character will know his greatest fear is losing his wealth. Instead, it is revealed that Scrooge’s greatest fear is finding out that his nephews do not truly love him, but are only after his money. It is a testament to Scrooge’s evolution as a character that his nephew’s love means more than his own money to him.
Scrooge Was The Original Darkwing Duck
The Darkwing Duck series was a popular show that debuted a few years after DuckTales. It followed the adventures of a suburban dad/ superhero, who fights crime with the aid of his daughter and Launchpad McQuack. Both Darkwing Duck and DuckTales exist in the same continuity, and in fact, two specific episodes of DuckTales were directly responsible for inspiring the concept of Darkwing Duck. One where Launchpad becomes a secret agent, and another where Scrooge becomes a costumed vigilante known as the Masked Mallard.
Reflecting The Older Generation
One thing that the reboot of DuckTales does is give each of the triplets Huey, Dewy, and Louie their own distinctive identities. What is interesting is that the personalities of the triplets directly mirror the personalities of their older cousins in some part. Louie and Gladstone are both smug, lazy and interested in material gains. Huey and Fethry are well-meaning and intelligent. And Dewy and Donald are tough adventurers and the most capable of the three.
