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Scrooge's Pet
Reviewed: 08/16/2009
With a face only a rich snob could love.
So now we end disc one with another adaption of a Carl Barks story (so sezs Chris Barat) which was originally called: The Lemming & The Locket. I like that title better than this one by the way. So let's rant on shall we?!
This episode was written by Jack Enyart (!!). The story is edited by Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron. Jack started off as a television movie special cartoon writer for Bugs Bunny (el-cheapo) and then it was mostly Hanna Barbera and Ruby Spears stuff for most of his career. I think Ducktales is his only DTVA credit. Funny how this is a Carl Barks story that is faithful to the original story; and yet he gets no credit whatsoever while Carl Barks gets credit for Back to the Klondike despite a good chunk of it was edited out by BS&P.
We begin this one with the far shot of the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM just to make me think that they put an effort into the background shot. It doesn't quite work; but the thought was certainly there. We also see the Money bin for the first time since the first episode as we zoom in to the front door and see Huey with the net as he whistles and calls all fisherman twice. I see Huey's hat has return to the red/black scheme (usually it's the red/darker red scheme by the way) we saw in certain episodes. The other nephews come out and Huey notices that a fisher-lady with a sun hat has also joined them in Webby (with a blue box) so he calls it that. No sarcasm on his part at all as Huey asks about what bait she brought to the event. She opens it to reveal grilled cheese and pickle sandwiches. Okay; that is a pretty neat lunch to bring as Louie steals one of the sandwiches and tries to eat it; but Huey lops the net over his head and proclaims that he caught one already. That probably would have worked if Louie's arms went through the net webbing and thus stopped him from eating the sandwich; but it doesn't. Louie just wanted to see if the bait really works and then eats the sandwich anyway. Yeap; the net is a total epic failure on this trip; time to bring the rod and reel for this one matey!
So we continue on as the MALLARD FISHERS OF QUACKERIA (their home planet name I made up; see Darkwing Duck rants for the joke) walking down the street with their gear. They walk around the bend as Huey declares this a perfect day and Webby wonders how Scrooge is enjoying it as they walk towards a shot of the Money Bin. Man; the zoom in shots take forever to produce the next scene. Something tells me this episode was not animated by TMS or Wang Films. So we cut to Scrooge's office as two dogsperson workers (the thin one in all blue with white hat and brown shoes and the fat one wearing a white shirt, a white hat, brown pants and brown shoes.) drilling something as the vault door has a lot of white stuff around it for no reason whatsoever. Scrooge is pacing around asking them to work faster; but the thin worker (Terry McGrovern) tells him that Rome wasn't built in a day. Oh; that white stuff is MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH! Why would Scrooge stuff dollar bills in the vault door anyway? That is just asking people to steal his wealth. Scrooge gleefully blows him off since he doesn't pay by the hour. The nephews and Webby walk in and ask Scrooge if he wants to go fishing; but Scrooge refuses nicely as the workmen are putting a combination lock on the money bin. That still doesn't explain why the dollar bills are stuffed on the vault door Scroogie? Unless he thinks it's a statement in insulation. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He wants his money's worth see and the kids sulk and exit stage left. Scrooge proclaims that he will enjoy himself and then blows off the workers to work faster. Webby is at the door and wishes Scrooge would worry less about his wealth and that logically leads to...
….The docks as the tugboats are honking like crazy. We pan to the left as we see the nephews and Webby fishing for dollars. Well; not quite. They want real fish as Huey has the rod and reel and is fishing of course. The road wobbles on the near shot and apparently Huey got one apparently; and if anyone has watched a fishing spot, here are the odds makers on what Huey shall catch:
[1.] A rubber boot or some other
garbage 4:1
[2.] Something valuable 10:1
[3.] An actual fish
40:1
[4.] He loses his rod to a shark or whale 2:1
[5.]
Scrooge's money bin 500000:1
If you picked the first choice then you are right as Huey reels it in and it's a rubber boat. See; it's not so hard to see the psychology in the spot. And naturally Disney Captions screws up again as Huey clearly said “Not another one!”; but Disney Caption has “Now another one!”. How stupid can Disney Captions be to make that easy of a mistake? Louie turns around and notices the pile of boots in the foreground declaring that there are a lot of barefoot sailors around. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Psychological Projection much there Louie? Webby doesn't care since Scrooge isn't around to see this. Russi's voice on THAT one sounds like Minnie Mouse instead of Webby. Louie agrees on that response which shows how much they have grown to like Webby now. Louie blows off Scrooge for running a shoe store as we get a zoom in on the boots. Then a voice beckons like a pirate to Avast or walk the plank. Oh goody; a pirate theme for this episode. Then a old sailor dogsperson (check the white beard) wearing all blue arrives with a green parrot on his right shoulder who is named Salty (Frank Welker doing a English talking voice on an animal; which is kind of odd considering his job.) who is running his beak off.
Salty asked if they have hugged a parrot today. How do you hug a parrot without laughing or crushing the poor animal? I don't know; I just asked. The kids giggle on cue as the sailor talks about the virtue of having a pet to unwind after a hard day of peeling potatoes. A seal bark beckons as we see a seal (Frank Welker who probably taught R.J. Williams how to do the seal bark properly.) getting fed fish by another sailor wearing a candy cane shirt, blue pants and a white hat. You know what would have paid off the joke Louie made earlier: have the sailor without shoes at all. Otherwise; this is pretty lame if you ask me. Salty whistles and he wants a halibut. Okay; that was lame as well. He should have said: Salty wants a halibut in order to make the pun work. He whistles again as Webby declares that Scrooge needs a pet. Louie asks about the fish; and Webby blows him off because Scrooge needs a pet to unwind and worry less about the MON-EY! Why is Webby sounding exactly like Minnie Mouse? This is terrible acting on Russi Taylor's part. It makes me love Ginny McSwain a lot more when she took over voice direction in 1989. The nephews see this as MON-EY as well. I guess the sailor is the dark sailor according to Chris Barat so it's Terry McGovern for him.
So we cut to a sailing ship as we hear someone's voice addressing Barnacle Biff and blowing him off for causing so many problems. We cut to into as we see Barnacle Biff (another old sailor dogsperson; only bigger with a red shirt underneath the old gray uniform and hat.) with his pet chipmunk or pet hamster with the white sailor hat. We cut to a far shot as we see a fat dogsperson wearing the same uniform only with a blue shirt, light blue uniform, navy blue hat and red pants sitting down eating his meal telling Biff to get rid of him before sailing off into the ocean blue. Biff tries to defend himself against Captain Frye (Chris has it as Captain Fry) but no dice is coming. Anyhow; Biff is voiced by Brian Cummings who started with Hughes and Harlow: Angels in Hell in 1978 along with the movie California Suite and Where The Buffalo Roam in 1980. He then went to animation mostly as an additional voice before finally breaking out in DTVA with his debut as Bumblelion and Flizzard in The Wuzzles. He then became Doctor Mindbender in G.I. Joe and appeared in other DTVA shows like TaleSpin as Jack Cases, Sir Tuxford in Gummi Bears, Darkwing Duck, Raw Toonage, Beauty & The Beast for WDFA, The Little Mermaid Animated Series, Timon & Pumbaa as the Vulture Police, and most recently in The Emperor's New Skool. He was also famous for The Story Keepers series of videos (nine of them). He also was an announcer for Let's Make A Deal and was in two Disney sequels from DTVA: The Emperors New Groove and Jungle Book 2. He also appeared as a voice in several Metal Gear Solid video games and his most recent credit is as a robot in Super Capers.
As for Captain Frye; and while Chris doesn't have an official confirmation on this; it is supposed to be the debut of the late Phil Hartman (although USIMDB has it as a Sea Captain only). He is famous for Saturday Night Live for 154 episodes, The Simpsons as Troy McClure for 53 episodes and started with Stunt Rock in 1978. He was Captain Carl in Pee-Wee's Playhouse and his voice of Waldo actually made it to Video On Trial. This is his official DTVA debut; but he is best known for two voices: Paddywhack in Darkwing Duck and of course Ace London in TaleSpin. YOU GOT THAT RIGHT! His last credit was Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales For Every Child and it probably wouldn't have been had he not been senselessly murdered by his wife in 1998. It was really sad because he was still in the peak of his career at the time too.
Moving right along; Frye calls the pet hamster/pet gerbil/pet chipmunk whatever a pest as he tries to eat a piece of swiss cheese and he eats too much. BWHAHAHAHAHA! Psychological Projection much there Captain Frye?! He's the big world version of Monty. AHHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummm.....The hamster stops eating out of shame as Frye proclaims that there isn't room for both of them. Geez; this guy is such an animal hater if he doesn't get the irony of his statements. So we cut to the ship as Biff and Lucky (so sezs Biff) as they both walk down the steps and Biff tells Lucky that he'll find a good home for him somewhere. We then hear Webby counting up to 25 and we see that they are counting their change and they only have 25 cents to spare for a pet. Huey wonders what kind of pet can they have for a quarter. Louie gleefully answers that one: a pet ice cream cone. HAHA! Biff comes over to the kids and asks if they want a pet; and offers to give them one under his hat. He takes his hat off and reveals Lucky as Webby thinks it's a rat. HAHA! She is as confused as I am.
Lucky blows it off as Biff explains that it's a lemming named Lucky. Okay; that doesn't look like a real lemming to me. He offers it for no cost as long as they provide him a home. Huey asks about a mansion and Biff states that it's even better. Dewey calls him friendly and small. They ask if it eats a lot and Biff stammers before saying that no more than any other lemming. Codeword: yes. And this lemming likes cheese of course; which makes him better than Monty be default. Because he's friendly and not a stereotype see. He's also smart and then Biff cuts the Yogi Bear promo. Lucky is given a piece of Swiss cheese and he balances it on his nose. He bounces the cheese about 20 times and the animation is just terrible as the cheese keeps hitting his mouth rather than his nose and then he finally eats it. I'm certain TMS isn't animating this episode; if so then they used The Wuzzles animators for it which is a sad sight indeed. Huey wonder what to give someone who has everything and Webby proclaims that it's a lemming who juggles of course. Yeap; this is turning into a Birds of a Feather episode now. Louie wonders why they didn't think of this before as he holds the lemming up. I don't know; maybe because you are trying to screw Scrooge again. Although it's unintentional this time around.....
So we logically return to Scrooge's office as the workers are still drilling the vault to the money bin and appear to make zero progress on that. Oh wait; the thin worker stops and admits that the fortune is now secure. Scrooge is happy because there is no overtime needed and thus he doesn't have to pay extra for it. Scrooge throws his top hat into the air while laughing because he hasn't been this happy since he got a free dry with his wash at the Laundromat. Oh yeah; he's stingy, we get it already Jack. The thin worker gives him the copy of the only combination numbers and tells him to put it in a safe place. Scrooge gets the paper and then the workers exit as Scrooge knows where to put it which he goes over to a statue of Goldie (in her dress from Back to The Klondike) and puts a love locket (Hence the original name of the comic: The Lemming & The Locket and I see why they changed it now.) onto it's neck which holds the combination numbers by the way. Scrooge decides to remember it after lunch as he puts his hat on the desk and brings out his bag of lunch. He tries to eat it; but the kids come in yelling at Scrooge. Don't just HATE it when that happens? You finally have a happy day with the lunch and then the kids come in to delay it? Kind of like what my mother suffers through on an average day. They got a surprise for him of course and Scrooge gets to guess. Of course he guesses wrong twice (a piggy bank polish? A wallet warmer? Like a real money maker would BUY such trivial stuff...).
Webby opens the blue box and shows the lemming wearing the sailor. Scrooge is a little scared of this as the lemming jumps out and sniffs for cheese. Scrooge doesn't know what to say about this; mainly because he doesn't want to blow off Webby and hurt her feelings. The nephews answer why on the good pet and introduce him as Lucky as Lucky goes for Scrooge's sandwich barely 30 seconds in. Scrooge is now mad because he's eating his cheese sandwich. HAHA! Lucky belches I believe for the first time in a DTVA cartoon and then eats some more just to be annoying to Scrooge. This could be fun. Scrooge blows him off and then Lucky and Scrooge go for a tug-a-war on the sandwich which cannot be good for Scrooge since he is facing luck and luck equals DANGER see. Lucky wins by halving the sandwich and then chops on the half and then runs off. Scrooge goes after him which Lucky drops the sandwich and hops right behind the Goldie statue with the locket attached to it. Lucky grabs the locket and that allows the Goldie statue to drop off the column as Scrooge proclaims that he'll save Goldie. Man; this guy has bigger problems with inanimate objects than BALOO does. POW! POW! OUCH! OUCH! Ummmm....Scrooge makes the LEAP OF FAITH and saves the Goldie statue easily. Sadly; he loses the locket as the nephews tells him not to worry because they'll learn to like each other. Sadly; he has the damn locket so I doubt these two can get along. Kind of like Ignatz and Baloo from Polly Wants A Treasure.
Scrooge then discovers that the Goldie Locket is missing from the neck as Scrooge swears in DUBBED SCOTTIE STYLE (Loch Ness Monsters! Yes; that is Scrooge's way of swearing, like Monty with his DUBBED AUSSIE STYLE swearing.). Louie points to the window as Lucky has the locket and Scrooge is PISSED as he calls Lucky a rascal as Lucky jumps out of the window successfully. Scrooge's version is less successful as he hangs from the window. Lucky runs away on the far pan shot outside onto the street as Scrooge panics like mad because he didn't memorize the combination and therefore he'll never see his money again. See what happens when you let it go just to have lunch. Why not memorize while EATING lunch Scrooge? Or simply drill the vault door open? Okay; the second one is risky so scratch that one; but this makes Scrooge look awfully stupid in spite of the kids' fault for bringing in a thief like Lucky. Scrooge faints on cue as he got lucky...HAHA! Louie and Webby hold on to him as Louie proclaims that they should have given him the shoes. We then cut to various scenes as Lucky is running from Scrooge's limo, running into garbage cans with good bumps; over wooden fences and running into the street. Man; that music is totally out of place even for a 1980's cartoon. Scrooge's limo is driving after it like a maniac as Duckworth is driving of course. More running from Lucky on the cobble stone road; over a fridge and he manages to run past the train signal as the limo barely manages to make it through before the train comes. Lucky then manages to climb aboard the Moony Gull white ship (helpfully labeled as such) and the stairs get pulled up as the ship sails away. The limo stops at the rope barrier across the dock (that looks like a conveniently placed obstacle to me since no one in their right mind would do that) and Scrooge jumps out and jumps over it getting off this gem of a line....
Scrooge: That lemming has shanghaied my locket!
So what is he saying? That Lucky is raping his locket?! See; it's things like this that make TaleSpin so mature because Colonel Grogg at least said it in the right context even though it makes Len Uhley look really vile in hindsight. Sadly; the ship is at least a mile away as Scrooge stops at the end of the docks while the sea sailors in the background look on as if nothing had happened. The nephews help him away which looked weak because Scrooge didn't seem to want to jump in. They declare that they really missed the boat. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Scrooge then goes to the three sailors which one of them is a short pig, one is a black dogsperson (!!!) and the other is a dog wearing a red hat and just to pay off the joke; they are all barefoot. HAHA! About damn time too; too bad it's only THREE sailors. They needs about 20 sailors to really make the joke work. Scrooge demands answers and the dark sailor (Terry McGovern so that blue Novaygian sailor with the parrot....doesn't matter since it's the same voice.) blows him off. Scrooge wants to let him have it; but Webby steps in to help. Why? So she can redeem herself for the idea gone a rye see. She goes over and whispers to the sailors and she points and giggles. The dark sailor finally concedes as he tells her that the Moony Gull is a fishing schooner and it's headed to Novay (play on Norway by the way) in Scandinavia. The sailors run off as Scrooge asks what she said to them. I betcha she gave them free shoes from the pile earlier. I check the DVD....Damn; I'm good.
And she proves my point as we cut to the sailors trying on new shoes and thus paying off the joke completely. Sadly; only the dog with the red hat gets a matching pair as they want to go in town and dance the night away. Ooooookkkkkaaayyy; if you say so. They walk off to break the new shoes in stage left as the nephews ask if they are going after the ship and Scrooge proclaims that they are...with the fastest means possible. I betcha it's Launchpad McQuack returning for the first time since the finale of Treasure of the Golden Suns. I check the DVD.... DAMN I'M GOOD!!....So we go into the skies as Launchpad is flying the helicopter with Scrooge and the kids. Launchpad asks where they are going and Scrooge tells him to go to Novay on the tip of Scandinavia. Scrooge asks if he could find it and LP sweats it no problem. Scrooge doesn't like that at all as he asks for gas and LP sezs it's no problem as they will stop along the way as Scrooge blows him off because we see a shot of the ocean. HAHA! LP guesses that they will stop along the way as the segment ends 10 and a half minutes in. This episode just got better thanks to LP's involvement now...
After the commercial break; we head to a town in Novay as we get a pan shot and we go to the docks and hear a bunch of Novay locals wearing the same gear you usually see during Oktoberfest. Oh and one of them has a smoking pipe with him as they exchange notes in their local accent. Man; I thought Grumps was bad enough. Lucky for us it's 1987 and we didn't know better back then. Unlike 1996 when we did and realizes it was an offensive stereotype. The local with the dark brown mustache (I love those mustaches by the way- voiced by Terry McGovern) bets that the helicopter is going to crash into the ocean blue. He's better in predicting Launchpad's crashes than I am. The red mustache man (Terry McGovern) looks worried as we see the helicopter by Launchpad crash into a lighthouse and lose it's props and STILL causes no damage whatsoever to the lighthouse; but crashes into the water below. SOMEONE FIRE THAT LIGHTHOUSE! Logic break #2 for the episode. But still an awesome spot nevertheless. The locals eat water weakly on that spot. Man; LP must be losing his touch when THAT happens. The brown mustache man knew no better (HA!) and then the locals both help the nephews, Scrooge and Launchpad up from the ocean. Or more accurately; Launchpad climbs out himself as Scrooge is coughing and gasping for air.
The brown mustache local shows disdain for Scrooge as he forget to say Thank you when the nephews do it properly. Scrooge asks where they are and the locals proclaims that it's Novay. I'm surprised Scrooge isn't blowing off LP; let alone strangling him. LP proves that he could find the way and Scrooge is PISSED off big time. The local then notice the Moony Gull coming into port as we see the white sail dock at the port and Scrooge recoils and thanks Launchpad for making it in time. Scrooge and the kids walk on board and Scrooge notices Captain Frye eating a chicken leg. Scrooge asks if he had seen Lucky and he gets really upset as he yells out to Barnacle Biff who comes by. Frye asks about the lemming and Biff admits that he tried to get rid of him; but Lucky appears with Swiss Cheese and the locket from under Biff's hat. UH OH! This is looking bad for Mr. Biff. Scrooge is angry and chases after Lucky again as Lucky runs away to the entrance to below the deck. It's the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE LEMMING EDITION~! They run to the cargo hold as Lucky dodges the fish lying on the bottom. Now if you thought Scrooge would stop before the fish; but of course he and the kids slip on the fish and then do some butt bouncing on the fish before falling into the pile. YUCK! Some dogsperson sailors in yellow hats and gray coats notice them and aren't amused by it as a net carries some BARREL OF LAUGHS up and I betcha Lucky is in them...I check the DVD...Damn; I'm good as the nephews admit that their fishing got them into trouble. HAHA! And this is turning into a really good episode; so the nephews can sod off for all I care.
Scrooge and the nephews go top side as Launchpad and Webby just stand there in front of the net and watch. Nice to see Russi Taylor has finally got the voice down and make it sound less like Minnie Mouse. Scrooge yells to all ducks to GET THAT DAMN LEMMING! Lucky gets onto the barrel of a grappling hook gun as LP has him in his sights. Am I reading this right? Launchpad gets in front to block Lucky; but puts his foot into the conveniently placed LASSOES OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE. LP laughs as Lucky backs away; but Lucky pushes into the trigger for the gun and of course Launchpad goes flying away as the harpoon gun launches itself into the bay. HAHA! Lucky runs up the yardarm as Scrooge goes to it and talks like a bad heel. He was supposed to be more of a tweener in the comics so this is somewhat apporos. Scrooge rolls up the sleeves to show us that he is SERIOUS BABEE and he climbs up the yardarm while blowing off LP.
We get the slow climb (which is pretty impressive for Scrooge considering his age) and he has Lucky in his sight as he makes it to the top pretty quickly. No logic break there; just weird as Scrooge tells him to try to run away now. Considering all the rope around and the fact that he can simply climb down the yardarm; I think Scrooge is screwed right here. Sadly; Lucky and Scrooge do the old run around spot from Back To The Klondike; only Scrooge is chasing this time. Funny stop and go routine and then Scrooge tires himself out and getting dizzy. HAHA! Now that is an Airplane Spin. AHHAHAHAHAHA! Scrooge tries to sit down; but almost MURDERS Lucky in the process; so Lucky bites him on the ass. HAHA! Scrooge free falls as Lucky uses his top hat as a parachute and then Launchpad gets back on board and I betcha he gets squashed by Scrooge. I check the DVD....No; actually he catches Scrooge on the rebound and drags him back into the ship. DAMN YOU BS&P! Don't forget to pump fist in feigned outrage. Huey yells that the lemming is overboard as Lucky floats on the top hat just to be a dick. Launchpad points out the obvious (HA!) and Scrooge is not amused by that one at all.
So we go into Novay's town as the kids run onto the dirt streets yelling out for Lucky. They go into a cheese store as we cut to the Novayigan storekeeper packing up his red suitcase with cheese (Brain Cummings or Frank Welker; it's hard to tell). He's got the goofy glasses too along with a red cap as Webby ask nicely if he's seen a lemming with a locket. He blows them off because they don't wear lockets; just fur coats. Webby goes around and notices some wheels of cheese and proclaims that they would make a great grilled cheese sandwich. The storekeeper locks the suitcase and tells her to take it for free because he's leaving. So we cut back to the beach as the top hat arrives without incident; but Lucky is gone as Launchpad points out the obvious. Scrooge takes the top hat and eats water when he puts it on his head. HAHA! Launchpad asks if it's raining just to bring the funny even more. Scrooge is not amused by this as we cut to the street as Webby and the nephews brings a large wheel of Swiss Cheese with them and Russi still sounds too much like Minnie. Scrooge asks if they seen any sign of Lucky and then we see a bunch of the Novay locals bail like scalded dogs as one of them (Frank Welker) blows them off as tourists to get out of the way. Scrooge wonders why in the name of Brigadoon is everyone leaving town. They all shout that the Lemmings are coming (Frank Welker and Russi Taylor I bet.) and Launchpad corrects them because one lemming is coming who is pushy, into jewelry and traveling alone. See; it's just funnier when Launchpad is around. Webby gasps...badly...because Lucky isn't alone as we have THE RUNNING OF THE LEMMINGS as the townspeople continue to annoy me. They repeat the sequence of running animation about five times and that ends the segment fifteen minutes in. So we have seven minutes of action and excitement left. YAY!
After the commercial break; we go to a shot of an apple wagon in town as the lemmings continue their stampede. I'm sorry folks; but I cannot take this seriously even if I tried. There are LEMMINGS; what did you expect?! And all of the apples get eaten on the apple cart of course. They also run some run and eat some pumpkins in a garden in the process along with the hay in the scarecrow. What a bunch of bastards?! They also eat a bill board which has some Swiss Cheese pictured. Okay Jack; they like cheese, Monty gets it now. Webby asks Scrooge what they should do. Scrooge proclaims that they do what all brave ducks do when outnumbered....They bail stage right complete with Hanna Barbera running and looping sound effect. And that's the first time I have seen this lame spot in this series by the way. The nephews run normally of course as Launchpad has a slightly different solution which is to run. HAHA! And so begins the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE LEMMING EDITION PART DEUX~!
That of course leads to the scene changer as we see the nephews hoisting up a wheel of cheese on a pulley and proclaiming that the lemmings will never get their Swiss Cheese Wheel no matter how hard they try. 1:1 odds say that the lemmings eat all the cheese easily. And amazing enough; the plan WORKS! IT'S A MIRACLE! Sadly; Huey get bit on his web toe; but sells the ankle. Explain THAT one kids?! Scrooge is on top of a pile of hay as the babyfaces climb onto the top like a bunch of chipmunk. How low on the dignity scale do you have to be to do that spot?! Sadly; the lemmings stampede and eat the hay like an apple as the hay looks like a core. Like that spot would work in real life; surrrreeee! Launchpad panics that they will crash and Scrooge gleefully blows him off for that response. Thankfully; the hay psychology comes into play and they land on their asses with weak bumps. Scrooge acts like a sad man as he asks the lemmings if they seen Lucky as one of them pops from the hay. Sadly; it's not him.
Webby asks a Novay local with a plant (I'm guessing Terry McGovern here) and he just repeats “The Lemmings are coming” while jogging on the spot. Scrooge wants a better answer; why? The plant Novay explains that the lemmings come far and wide to eat everything in sight and then dive into the sea to never return. Okay; I see that Jack is wasting time since we got too quickly to this point. The lemmings eat the guys plant like the greedy guts they are before the man bails like a scalded dog. Well; they are mostly dogspeople; so this is completely apporos. Scrooge is dizzy as if he doesn't find Lucky; he'll never see his fortune again. Why not DRILL the vault door open then if you fail?! Same difference. I think he's upset because he'll never see his locket again and take the WRAITH OF GOLDIE for it. That's probably why he's dizzy right now. You do not get on Goldie's bad side folks.
Scrooge then asks why they got him a pet in the first place. You're asking NOW?! Why not ask about ten minutes ago when it would have a better impact? Geez; Scrooge is getting to Drake's levels of stupidity. Dewey explains that they got one to keep him from worrying about his money. Scrooge doesn't like that response as LP sits onto a giant pumpkin and proclaims that it's the thought that counts. Webby admits that it was their doing which I disagree. If Scrooge had just memorized the locket DURING LUNCH; none of this would have happened. See how easy this episode would have been resolved? Dewey proclaims that they'll get the locket if it's the last thing they do. Geez; that is like inviting death there pal as the lemmings make a Jack-O-Lantern on the giant pumpkin as Launchpad is thinking. HAHA! Good luck trying to do that LP. Your role is being funny and crashing airplanes to screw Scrooge over. And then he gets dropped with a MAN-SIZED bump on his ass onto the ground. Launchpad is dizzy now as the lemmings run past him.
We then see Webby go to the golden bell and ring it to force a lemming to drop on his ass and get annoyed by the bell sounds. Webby asks if they will help her find the lemmings and the locals carrying their stuff blow her off and bail like scalded dogs...or in the case of the female furry...ham. AHHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm.....Webby blows them off in response as Launchpad now has an idea. Oh goody; this shall be fun. So that logically leads to inside town as the lemming stampede continues. Launchpad's plan: Fight water with water. In this case; a fire engine as it drives down town. This is going to fail big time; I just know it. The fire truck stops in front of the stampede as Launchpad jumps out and invokes the fire hose on them as the water blasts the vermin back from whence it came. Wow! Launchpad's MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN works; if only there wasn't a little flaw in the plan. Can you guess what it is by the time this spot is over?! Sadly; the lemmings actually create a giant tidal wave as LP thinks he is on top of the situation and Louie gleefully points out the obvious while the other nephews hold their becks gasping in horror. And naturally Launchpad gets swamped big time as we fade to black....
Post Production Glitch #1: Half second black slug again....I guess this was the real commercial break.
We return as the nephews and Launchpad run into a clothing store and ransack the place off; then return out looking like a bunch of goofy tool sea monsters. Sorry; but unless they eat Scrooge's ice cream, the joke MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN is going to fail big time. And the lemmings stop on a dime and laugh their asses off just to amuse me. HAHA! Told ya that plan would backfire. The nephews and Launchpad take off their stuff as the lemmings run past them as Launchpad blows them off and one lemming laughs at his expense. Then we hear Scrooge yelling for help as the nephews go Quackeroonie on us as Scrooge is being carried to sea by the lemmings. The nephews point out how carried away Scrooge is getting. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Launchpad runs in to help and Scrooge screams louder just to give LP the cold shoulder. HAHA! We cut to the nephews and Launchpad as they make it to a tree and the nephews climb up along with Webby. Launchpad climbs up as Huey and Louie get a tree branch and proclaim that they'll save him. Scrooge grabs onto the tree climbs and hold on for his life as the lemmings run across the abyss and into the sea as Scrooge panics that it's all over and his money is gone. Again; I ask: DRILL THROUGH THE VAULT DOOR YOU MORON! Launchpad claims it still got him and works for him so he'll see him everyday for the rest of his life. And of course Scrooge sobs like a baby right on cue. HAHA! He deserves this for being REALLY STUPID.
So we go to the scene changer as we see the nephews, Launchpad and Scrooge overlooking the cliff as Webby thought a pet would make him happy. Scrooge blows his nose and admits that the kids weren't at fault as sometimes even the most thoughtful deeds don't turn out well. Well; this is a start Scrooge. It's not blaming yourself for being so stupid; but it's a start. Launchpad agrees with this as he recalls a time when his friend was sick and they surprised him with a big breakfast in bed and he spilled it over him. Okay LP; the joke wasn't all that funny and this is supposed to be a pathos scene. Scrooge then gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY on that one as it was him. HAHA! Launchpad gives him a hand and is happy that Scrooge remembered. We get a pan shot of the village as Scrooge decides it's time to go home as Huey asks if a big hunk of cheese would cheer him up. Scrooge refuses with disdain because it reminds him of the...and he stammers on the lemmings. So Launchpad; the bastion of funny corrects him on cue. Then the nephews and Webby are SHOCKED as they call for Scrooge at the Swiss Cheese Wheel and he comes. They have a surprise for him and tell him to hold out his hands. Scrooge decides to and they shake the cheese wheel and out comes the locket. Okay that makes no sense whatsoever because none of the lemmings MADE CONTACT with the cheese earlier in the episode. Logic break #3 for the episode and the first one I don't accept. What a bad finish this is?!
Scrooge cannot believe this logic break at all; and then the nephews shake the cheese wheel again and out pops Lucky which pops the logic break out of the episode as this makes a lot more sense now. Dewey proclaims that as Biff sezs; he's a smart little lemming. I guess so since he saved what could have been a lousy finish. And then logic break #3 beckons because we don't see any ladder to the cheese. Webby asks if the lemming wants more cheese and he belches and faints dead away as we fade to black again. So we return to a far shot of the money bin as we cut to inside as Scrooge counts all of his MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH while kissing it. So the nephews and Webby enter with the pink present as they have another pet for him and Scrooge wants no part of. I see a little logic break #4 as the present has no holes in it and thus the pet would be dead by now. Webby assures that it's not a lemming as they are back in Novay which contradicts what the local said about the lemmings legend in the first place for logic break #5 for the episode. Webby opens the present and Scrooge takes out the perfect present for him: A goldfish bowl with a female goldfish inside just perfect for him. Which pretty much describes Scrooge's sex life in a nutshell. POW! OUCH! Ummm...Scrooge laughs and eyes the goldfish swimming as the out of place music plays to end the episode at 21:14. Well this was pretty awesome until the lame finish which could have been a lot worse if Lucky wasn't inside. Three logic breaks during the last minute of the episode doesn't a ****+ episode make. And it's TMS animating so it was probably the C-Team working on this one. *** ¾ (35%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; we end disc one of Ducktales on a high note; but it could have higher. Now despite the obvious stupidity of Scrooge McDuck; this was a really good episode although the pacing could have been a bit better . Launchpad was his usual smooth self and while I like the entire episode premise; it did make Scrooge look stupid. As I said several times; he got upset over nothing in the context of the episode. Now if the locket was the main focus because of his relationship with Goldie; the whole episode would have been awesome and it would have made Scrooge look a lot better than him simply losing his money. As I said; blaming the nephews and Webby was silly because Scrooge could have memorized the locket during lunch or drill the vault combination off and the episode would have been resolved either way. Biff, Salty and Frye were nothing characters and Lucky was just a placeholder for the real chaos which were the lemmings. As funny as it was; it had to be comical because the lemmings were no good as heels to Scrooge. I couldn't take them seriously. I found the finish to be lame and several animation spots blown by TMS which really isn't very good considering their reputation. Overall; this could have been a really excellent episode (mostly due to Launchpad's involvement and the lemmings making Scrooge look like the stupid mallard that he was); but logic breaks near the end prevented the **** episode.
So this ends Disc One of Volume 2 of Ducktales; and we have five thumbs up and three in the middle; although all five thumbs up were from the pilot episodes. Next up is the next four part pilot which is Catch As Cash Can which should be interesting since one of their episodes contains the most hilarious scene in Ducktales history and maybe all of DTVA. It also plays into TaleSpin as well as you will see. So....
Thumbs in the middle pointing up for this episode and I'll see you next time.