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Microducks From Outer Space
Reviewed: 12/26/2009
I Guess Shrinkage Is A Problem In The DTVA World.
Well; this is it, the final episode of this disc and how fitting it is that it is a shrinking episode. So this had better be a ****+ episode; of we can finally say that the shrinking plot device should be retired from cartoons forevermore. So how does it do. Let's rant on and find out shall we....?!
This episode is written by Carl Barks (#4!!!). The story is edited by Patsy Cameron and Tedd Anasti. The teleplay is done by Jack Hanrahan and Eleanor Burian-Mohr. Eleanor started with the New Adventures of Tom & Jerry in 1980 and has done the usual stuff along with Mutant League, Sherlock Holmes and the 22nd Century and Milo's Bug Quest. Jack started in Frankenstein Jr. And the Impossibles in 1996 and did episodes for Fantastic 4, Chips, The Love Boat, The Waltons and Get Smart early on among others. He also did some cameos as a narrator in 90's western videos, the television movie Ziggy's Gift, Up Your Alley and Repossessed.
We begin this one in the sky AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) and then down to the ground to Duckburg as dogs howl within a ten mile radius. So we pan down to Gyro's house as Gyro is fixing the television beam device again. We then go to the close up shot and a pan over as Gyro calls this his super-megawatt antenna he'll be able to get television stations around the world. In other words; he's STEALING MY CABLE. That cheating dorky bastard! He only needs one more minor adjustment and turns on the wheel and gets SHOCKED WHITE HOT. HAHA! See this is a cautionary tale on the dangers of being a nerd. He then trips on the wires and falls backwards down and turns the dish about 90 degrees to the west. So we cut inside the lab as Gyro is just hanging (and goofing) around upside down as the set finally works. We then see a Micro Duck in armor (check the voice; doesn't matter which since all two of them are voiced by Will Ryan anyway for the males as Tress McNeille voices the female one) who calls his commander that they are getting a high-energy transmission. The female voice IS the commander by the way as it asks if it's coming from Earth and Micro Duck #1 (or #2; doesn't matter) proclaims that it is as we see a yellow/red spaceship coming close to Earth. We go inside the ship as Micro Duck #1 and the Female Commander see Gyro burning up and upside down as they ask if he can tell them where to find them.
So we head to the wheat farm at dawn as there are sacks of wheat everywhere and a dollar sign flag colored in purple. The Wheat Farm boss inside the house proclaims that it is a question of too much wheat. We then head inside with a pig furry wearing overalls, a checkered shirt and a green hunting hat (Hal Smith) talking to Scrooge, the nephews and Webby about how they do their business. There is wheat everywhere; even in the office and even in the water jug at the water cooler demonstrated by Dewey. What? The jug didn't give way the fact that there is no WATER in there Dewey?! See if the wheat farm boss doesn't find a buyer soon; half the harvest will rot in the fields. Scrooge proclaims that he cannot stand waste and orders him to ship it to his mansion and he will find a buyer. Scrooge goes to the door as he proclaims that nothing will stand in this way. I betcha he opens the door and the gang gets entombed by wheat. I check the DVD....Damn; I'm good.
So we head to a slow pan right shot of the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM as we head to Scrooge's second office (I've accepted that he has another vault and office inside his mansion now; so it's no longer a logic break, just mere overkill on Scrooge's part.) as he continue to ink some papers and the phone rings. Scrooge answers the phone addressing that there is wheat for sale. And of course we cannot hear the other side like adults in Charlie Brown shows only less funny. Scrooge is taken back by the guy who claims that he is buying when Scrooge is actually selling the wheat. Why would someone looking to sell wheat to someone who is selling. Isn't the reason you go to Scrooge is to BUY his products; not the other way around?! He slams the phone and groans like he got the Wheaties headache. He then proclaims that he wishes that he stuck to chickens and cows (chick-chicks and moo-moos. HAHA!). Then the nephews and Webby walk in with an ant farm and they put it on the desk for Scrooge to see. They have names too and are just like Scrooge as work is their favorite past time as we cut to a shot of the black ants working. Webby then has an idea which is to feed the ants to Scrooge and show he how it is done. The kids run out to get some sugar as Scrooge looks at one of the ant from the glass and the ant gets scared of him. HA! Scrooge blows it off as anything smaller than a penny isn't worth two cents. Remember that for later on and watch Scrooge change his tune over it.
He places the ant hill on the left side and then the phone rings again. He answers it as he has some wheat for sale. It's Gyro this time as he has made an amazing monumental discovery. Scrooge blows him off because he's up to his beak in unsold wheat. I'll take his word for it since he literally was about two minutes ago. Scrooge carries the phone with him as we cut back to Gyro's house as this is why he's calling him first. See; he's been contacted by being from another planet as we see the female duck with purple armor and blond hair. Scrooge claims that they are relatives of Gyro's. HAHA! Gyro claims that he is serious about this as Scrooge sits on the desk and bumps his ass on the ant hill glass and it falls over spilling dirt on his chair along with the ants. See the planet Microducks has a food shortage and they want to buy all the wheat he can spare. Scrooge jumps down as he returns to his seat as Gyro wants him to get a sample for testing and Scrooge proclaims that his house is FULL of samples. Gyro tells Scrooge that their ship will land in the mansion as Scrooge puts the phone down and does the Old MacDonald song; but cannot finish as he sits on his chair and gets stung right in the ass by the ants. HAHA! Then Scrooge jumps about 20 feet and lands on his feet on the floor. He got nailed in the ass; but he's selling the hips. Explain THAT one kids?!
So we get the spaceship overlooking the Earth in space and then the hatch opens and out comes the universe's smallest red UFO as it glows white and comes down. We then cut to the sky shot of the mansion as there is a huge white X on the roof and on the scaffolding there is Launchpad and Gyro even though they are not animated at all on the zoom in; it looks like Scrooge with LP on the left side and then on the animated shot; it's Gyro. Explain THAT one kids?! Launchpad proclaims that they shouldn't have any trouble noticing this and Gyro's Stick'Em Up glue will keep them in place. Launchpad grabs the Gedo Glue of Doom as LP wants Gyro (with a hay stick in his mouth. Strange since toothpicks would still be legal today; and cigarettes were still allowed in DTVA at this point.) to do his welcome speech. LP calls him Gyroo. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Gyro thanks him and sighs because it's a wonderful day to be a nerd. Kind of like today it seems. LP proclaims that there is not a cloud in the sky which is bad for Kit Cloudkicker of course. We then enter the office as Scrooge is writing up something (probably damages against the kids for screwing up his selling of the ass on the ant hill) as the nephews ask Scrooge what he thinks that they look like.
While I am at this; it's a little weird that Scrooge would be so accepting of aliens at this point considering that in the storyline (minus Superdoo of course); Scrooge hasn't even met aliens. I guess the myths have caught up to him. Scrooge doesn't care as long as they have big mouths and big stomachs...and of course big wallets as he chuckles on that one. Yeah; because it's all about that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH. And after this; I have nine episodes to go before I can be finished with the DVD sets too. Louie claims that they will land their spaceship in the backyard. Funny since Gyro and Launchpad had it planned so they land right ON TOP of the mansion. Something tells me someone has their wires crossed in this episode and I'm guessing the writers. More to the point; the teleplayers. The nephews decide to leave to see the spaceship as Dewey jumps onto the desk and messes up Scrooge's papers on the way out. Scrooge grabs them and goes through the math which is 14 million, carry the one as he gets startled by the magnifying glass from Webby. See; this is why I get annoyed by Darkwing Duck all the time; that magnifying glass of his is really annoying. Scrooge asks about the last ant as Webby proclaims that Twitchy is gone for good as Scrooge is confused. UH OH! OH MY GOD; Scrooge killed Twitchy! YOU BASTARD!
So we head to the roof as Launchpad places the second diagonal tape onto the roof and. Wait a second? Wasn't the tape on there already? What is the point of this scene? Then we hear some buzzing like a fly on the close up shot as Launchpad puts glue on the tape. Then Launchpad notices the buzzing of the universe's tiniest red UFO and he's annoyed as he tries to MURDER it like a fly. He of course misses every time and then somehow falls off the scaffolding with the tape coming down on him and wrapping him up like a bean pole present. HAHA! He lands in the bushes near the open window with a really nasty bump on his hips. So we head inside the office (complete with window) as Scrooge continues his cartoon fuzzy math skills. And in comes the red UFO to buzz around and annoy Scrooge to no end. He thinks that it's a wheat beetle as he brings out the BUMBLE SWASHER OF DEATH. You wish you could make an ass out of yourself like Bumble Swasher Scroogie! BONK! OUCH! Ummm.... He misses the desk by about three feet easily on the first shot and then he goes after the UFO acting like Bumble Swasher on speed. I never thought I would be quoting Wuzzle puns again; but then again I had to deal with the god of Rhinokey in the last rant; so there you go. So Scrooge sneaks away after dropping on his ass again (oh the irony!) as the red UFO lands on the lamp desk. So Scrooge proclaims that no puny little pest can make a fool out of him.
So Scrooge rises from the grave and invokes the bug spray and it forces the UFO to buzz away from the lamp desk and then it lands on Scrooge's desk. Okay; that was really silly Scroogie. So we pan up and we see Scrooge with the SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT (oh geez; this stuff writes itself. At least it's a wooden one...) as he wants to MURDER them like he MURDERED Twitchy. Webby then runs in and places the conveniently placed top hat right on top of the red UFO forcing Scrooge to stop. Webby proclaims that the bug might have a family as Scrooge backs away. To Webby: I don't think it's a good idea to reason with someone when he has a wooden sledgehammer; or a toy sledgehammer; or a real sledgehammer. I've seen enough WWE to know that sledgehammer equals irrational person. Nothing good can come out of it. The nephews pull the top hat away and Huey realizes that it is not a bug. NO?! REALLY?! As if the glass eye didn't give that away. The nephews get on the desk as it's a tiny spaceship with tiny people from outer space.
Louie has the magnifying glass on them as Scrooge blows it off as nonsense because nothing that small could travel in space. And then the MicroDucks invoke the gold laser from the UFO as the commander is pissed off at the lack of welcome (which Gyro promised Scrooge would give to him) she got. Well; I expected nothing less from someone trying to be Bumble Swasher of course. Scrooge chuckles on cue for that gaffe as he wants to talk business as a greeting. The Commander comes out and proclaims that they have scanned the grain and it's perfect for their needs. Micro Duck #1 comes out with some of the smallest jewels known to man as Scrooge takes the magnifying glass from Louie and sees the payment and it is good to him. Scrooge just groans on cue afterward as Dewey explains to them that the jewels are just bits of dust on this planet. The commander sees this and orders MicroDuck #2 to get the molecular manipulator. She also addresses him as DecaDuck (Chris missed that one). I wonder if the first MicroDuck is called SexaDuck...HEE HEE HEE...POW! OUCH! Ummmm....
We see DecaDuck (brown hair, gray armor same male voice of Will Ryan) salutes her without question as it's coming up or down depending on what micro drugs he was using. POW! OUCH! Ummm...I see they have strong fists for ducks that size. So DecaDuck drives a banana yellow tank (Gedo fashion sense BEGONE FROM MY TELEVISION SCREEN!) with the size ray as MicroDuck #1 puts the jewels in front of the desk. The commander proclaims that this should fill the requirements for the selling of the wheat. I guess small ducks are high pitched too like chipmunks are as they shoot the laser cannon and the jewels become the size of big jewels. Scrooge swears in DUBBED SCOTTISH STYLE (blow me bagpipes!) as the Commander asks if it is a deal and Scrooge proclaims that it's a deal creating such a shadow to shake hands and then catching himself after the ducks have to back away in fear.
Scrooge apologizes for that one as DecaDuck continues his work as he rotates (giving us a shot of Louie kneeling) as we see the sacks of wheat being shot at from the FPS shot and turning into small little candy bags you get at Halloween. Ah; I see the laser doubles as a tractor beam too. More shooting as we see Gyro using the telescope of doom to look for aliens while there are sacks of wheat being shot at from his backside. For a guy who brokered the deal with aliens and Scrooge; he is really clueless. He then goes to his speech of doom which is absolutely terrible. We then head inside the office as the kids wave goodbye to the aliens as the red UFO of doom flies away through the window with the kids looking out where Gyro is in his blissful cluelessness. And somehow; he would still be better than Mr. Poe Pat. Webby waves goodbye to the aliens and Gyro's sanity as well.
So we head back to Scrooge as he checks the jewels and we then see the tiny laser on the desk. Why is it there? Simple; so we can have a shrinkage episode silly and try to get the episode over the fact that this episode has been quite dull thus far. In any other universe; this episode would be over and it would be an 11 minute; but Ducktales doesn't do this 11 minute crap. Unless you count Magica's Magic Mirror and Take Me Out Of The Ball Game of course. Scrooge notices the machine right away and jumps for joy right over the desk with glee. He goes over to the shelf of rich stuff and grabs a gold nugget from a blue pillowcase. He goes over to his desk proclaiming that with this machine; he can make his first gold nugget as big as he wants. Scrooge uses the magnifying glass as he brings out the tweezers (because all rich guys have one in their pockets right?) as the nephews aren't sure that this is a good idea to be screwing around with a enlarging machine.
I see these nephews have been watching The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and if my calculations are correct Scrooge will screw up like Gimmick did and everyone will be tiny ants. I check the DVD....Damn; I'm good. And Scrooge broke the machine to boot. Yeap; this is now a Teddy Ruxpin episode which makes all those Time Bandit/Allowance Day comparisons seem REALLY STUPID in hindsight. Hint: At least Ken Koonce and David Weimer stole from themselves (ala Flintheart in the next rant I'll be doing tomorrow.) for TaleSpin. They are stealing from Worlds of Wonder; although there is a case to be made since I believe that this is a Carl Barks story from way back before TR and therefore it's really the other way around. My point still stands on grounds of comparison though. Scrooge claims that it worked. It certainly did Scroogie as we zoom out to the desk as Scrooge proclaims that he really did it this time. I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic there Scroogie. That ends the segment nine and a half minutes in. Please don't let this episode suck....please?!
After the commercial break; we see Webby using a postal stamp to fan a groaning Scrooge near the desk as the nephews check the laser tank; and Huey calls it hopeless. Scrooge realizes how stupid he looks right now as Dewey thinks Gyro or the Micro Ducks can fix it. Louie wishes he was still here. Wasn't he outside doing his goofy alien speech? Webby puts down the stamp as then we cut to the door and speaking of the goofy nerd himself; here comes Gyro. Great echo from his voice too as he comes in and proclaims that the wheat is gone too. The kids try to get Gyro's attention so much so that even Scrooge is on his knees praying like a good little Christian duck. There is no dice as their voices are too small to hear him. Gyro proclaims that he missed the whole damn thing. Geez; how clueless can one nerd get?! Gyro walks away and goes home as the nephews plead for him to come back (and Dewey jumps about six inches to force the point) with no luck in sight. The door closes as he's gone.
Huey wonders what they are going to do now to Scrooge. Scrooge wants the telephone and Huey blows off that suggestion since they cannot lift the receiver. So I found one thing ducks cannot do; but chipmunks and mice can do. I can just hear the Rescue Ranger fans now dancing in the nude with their Gadget pictures saying: I am so smart! I am so smart! SMRT! I mean SMART! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... Scrooge wants something to attract attention and Webby notices that Twitchy is still alive. DAMMIT! I thought Scrooge murdered him earlier. You stupid South Parker's wanted me to waste bandwidth to fake an ant's death?! Scrooge drops on his ass as Huey and Webby pet Twitchy. Scrooge chuckles as the nephews run stage left as Scrooge follows. Webby wants to feed Twitchy some sugar; but Scrooge grabs her arm and they all do the telephone spiral spot down to the floor. Yeah; go to the ground where it's easier for people to step on you. Real smart there guys and gals. They land with good bumps onto the green rug as everyone pops up and Huey comments on the thickness of the rug. Scrooge blows it off because it isn't cheap enough as then everyone panics because here comes Duckworth inside with the white apron and VACUUM CLEANER OF DEATH! The anime background commences and everyone tries to run; but no good as now this episode really sucks. HAHA!
Ron Sparks: It sucks more than Shaun Desmond.
Duckworth walks away (his leg gives it away as we go to the scene changer as Duckworth goes outside to the trash can and dumps the vacuum bag contents into the trashcan. Scrooge tries to get out; but has to bail back in as the trash man magically arrives within seconds (dogsperson with a red mustache that is too long for him to eat, green shirt, red hat and blue pants) as he grabs all the trashcans and dumps the trash into the trash truck. He throws the last trashcan away and hops onto the back of the trash truck and the green truck drives away. That is a very dangerous place to ride on when you are going about 50+ km/h I should point out. So we ride into the city with the truck driving faster than it should with someone hanging onto the back and then the red light forces them to stop on a dime eating some dust. I guess the streets are very dusty at this time of year. We then see Scrooge and the kids hang onto a dandelion as it exits the truck and then they pan down towards the streets as the kids get off easily; but Scrooge drops on his ass and then runs like mad and then trips on a pink button and then gets knocked on his ass again with a wussy bump. At least there ARE bumps in this one unlike Getting Antsy was. Scrooge dusts himself off on the street as the kids come over. I'm betting the next spot will be the street cleaner coming to force them into the sewers. I check the DVD....That was just too easy to call!
Oh; and the street cleaner must believe in Green Clean Day too judging by the colors he is wearing. So they use the match box as a raft and match sticks as oars (I would love to see Toon Disney try to edit THIS scene) as they use the sticks and cane to dodge the street corner and other litter on the streets. Man; there are a lot of litterbugs in Duckburg. Scrooge swears in DUBBED SCOTTISH STYLE (Curse me kilts) as they go through a broken bottle. This would have been dangerous if the jagged pieces were about four inches closer than they really were and make it look like it was needed to duck. If you look 13:06 into the DVD; even Scrooge could have made it through without ducking. Bad, bad form there TMS. And to make the logic break even worse; the back shot shows that indeed; Scrooge was right to duck. Not good continuity there guys. Then Huey goes into...some poetry to explain the whole concept of being small. Okay; this is just too funny not to mock. Kit Cloudkicker doing poetry would be even funnier to mock I should point out. And of course they go through the whirlpool which the storm drain leads into the sewers. I told you it was too easy to call that spot guys.
So we go down the sewers as Webby does CPR on Scroogie. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That's the best spot I have ever seen out of Webbigail Vanderquack ever! The boat bounces a bit before the babyfaces decide to jump onto the brick side and towards a conveniently placed steel ladder. Scrooge proclaims that they cannot tell which way they are going down there. Although we can deduce that there is either a street or sidewalk past that man hole cover. And then the shadow of doom appears and Scrooge said rats! Ironically Kit said the same thing as a swear in DUBBED ANIME STYLE and the giant ass rat almost MURDERED him and then he said no offense in response. That one was really funny in an otherwise sub-par performance for R.J. Williams (which is a rarity in TaleSpin); and an otherwise poor TaleSpin episode. Not because of the concept; but because the execution was terrible. So the rat hisses on cue and Scrooge pulls Huey away towards the matchbox.
Scrooge then takes a match and lights it (I smell Toon Disney cut) as he lights the matchbox and floats it towards the rat. The lighting from TMS is really good here. Scrooge and the kids bail stage right of course on Scrooge's orders. And then TMS's creditability streak continues as when the rat sees the matchbox on fire; it appears that there are two rats in the scene; but when he runs away stage left; there is one rat. Scrooge comments on the ship as it sinks into the sewer ocean and the flames go out. Good animation from TMS there. So we head to the street looking at a man hole cover. Scrooge and the kids go through the holes in the man hole cover as Scrooge thinks he's safe. HAHA! He wishes as the cars go whizzing by; forcing Scrooge to tuck Webby closer to the chest. The kids and Scrooge run across the street dodging wheels and stop and go as they are forced to. They make it to a broken piece of sidewalk and climb up to end the carnage. We then get a shot of the streets with a dogperson kid waiting on the street corner as Huey proclaims that they will be 12 years into the next century before they make it to Gyro. In other words; 2012 which is considered doomsday by some calenders. We zoom out with the cars passing by.
Then we go to the sidewalk edge as Webby proclaims that they need a ride. Scrooge chuckles on that one as how are they going to catch one. Webby then points over to the dogsperson (male? Female? I cannot tell. Red shirt, dark skinned, blue pants, helmet, banana yellow knee pads, elbow pads and gloves.) as we pan down to the pink skateboard she is using. The kids and Scrooge run and climb right onto the front of the skateboard as they sit down and we ride like the wind..an easterly wind complete with partial anime lines. It's TMS; what did you expect? We go through the S-curve on the sidewalk as we see the kids and Scrooge hanging on for dear life, natch. We go into the park for some more skateboarding and then a shot of the water puddle with two white birds drinking from it. The birds fly away as the skateboard splashes on past. That leads to three bike riders in exercise gear riding bicycles on the sidewalk as we head to the intersection of doom down the hill.
Everyone is shocked as Scrooge is hanging on swearing in DUBBED SCOTTISH STYLE (Blast My Bagpipes!) as the skateboard guy does some really awesome dodging of the bicycles when they split apart and somehow stay on. However; he rides up and hits the grass on the right side and turns around as we get a shot of his open mouth. Was that really what I need during supper time?! We then go to a shot of the skateboarder nearing a sign that said: Don't go over the cliff with a picture and a walking motion X'ed out. So the babyfaces scream and we get the FCC FRIENDLY PINK IMPACT STARS SHOT OF DOOM into the wooden sign as the little people fly up into the air and into the grass with no bumps whatsoever. What does TMS think they are; Sun Woo animation?! We go into the grass below as the nephews help Scroog up who is laying flat on his back. Louie wonders where Webby is and then they are SHOCKED AND APPALLED as we see Webby stuck to a spider's web struggling to get free. Webby then proclaims that this adventure is going to ruin her dress. Okay; that is too funny to mock and then she screams as we see on the bottom view; a black red eyed spider coming down towards her. That ends the segment nearly 16 and a half minutes in. And I must say; they are trying for ****; so I'll give them that at least.
After the commercial break; we go to a zoom in shot of the park near the water fountain and then Webby and the spider meet up close and personal on the spiderweb. Webby praises Mr. Spider's beautiful web. Webby struggles and shrieks on cue as the spider wants some lunch on micro ducks. Scrooge tells Webby to hang on as the nephews do the human ladder chain spot; as Webby tells him that hanging on is easy and letting go isn't as Webby grabs onto his cane. Scrooge orders the nephews to pull as everyone pulls down and Webby gets broken free from bondage and they all take a nosedive and land with wussy bumps onto the ground. And Scrooge is on bottom as Webby lands on Scrooge's belly. Webby has that same look she had with Milady in Horse Scents at the finish I should note. Everyone gets up and bails stage right as the spider just hangs onto her web. So we get a shot of the park again and then zoom in onto the path as we see Scrooge and the kids walking on it and selling tiredness all around as Scrooge drops on his face. HAHA! Everyone sits down as Louie proclaims that they are lost. Scrooge proclaims that they cannot get their bearings until they get out of the park. Webby then embraces Scrooge looking very afraid of the situation.
Huey proclaims that they need another ride as then popcorn rains down from the heavens as the kids and Scrooge dodge. Apparently someone on the bench has a popcorn fetish as Louie notices the pigeons flying down and eating the popcorn. So he goes to the trash can and pulls out some string from it and then runs back proclaiming that this is the ride that they need. They use the rope on the popcorn as the pigeon starts jawing and then Scrooge and Webby get aboard the back of the pigeon via that rope as it's all aboard Pigeon Airlines (as sezs Louie). Huey and Louie get aboard from the rope from the pigeon snapping back it's neck. They hold the pigeon back like a horse and then we mush up into the air and out of the park as we go to the sky shot of the pigeon flying out. Scrooge tells the nephews to steer left on the close up shot and Webby almost falls off. Scrooge is behind her and she is grabbed before she falls. Scrooge consoles her as we fly some more as Scrooge proclaims that they will make it to Gyro's barn (which looks more like a shack I think). And we make it to Gyro's house as the pigeon flies around and stops right onto the roof. Everyone gets off as the nephews proclaim that they made it. However; now they have to someone get Gyro's attention and how to get down from the roof. The pigeon flies away and it leaves one of it's feathers as it drops down in front of the drop. Everyone gets on as Scrooge pushes it off the edge and they all flutter down towards the ground. Then they get off near the green door and go through the small hole wedge on the bottom of the door easily to get inside.
So we head inside Gyro's house as Gyro is sleeping in his red chair snoring like a guy who needs nasal strips STAT! We then go to a shot of the alarm clock on the table and then pan left to the micro babyfaces on Gyro's belly as Scrooge proclaims that he wouldn't rest until he found them. Scrooge wants to poke him in the nose for being such a heinous liar; but Dewey has some string and has a quicker way. The nephews run stage right towards the table with the alarm clock and then invoke the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE. It latches onto the small lever (WRONG LEVER!) on the alarm clock and the nephews pull with all their might. We then see Scrooge on the beck of Gyro poking him with the cane to wake up. However; Gyro is a heavy sleeper I see. Thankfully; the lever (WRONG LEVER!) gets pulled and the alarm clock rings and bounces in mid air. Gyro wakes up; but the jerk motion forces Scrooge from his beak (D'OH!) and he lands right into a glass of water.
Gyro wipes the sleep in his eyes thinking it's morning and goes for the glass of water. See; that's why not poking him with a stick was a GOOD idea Scroogie. Gyro tries to drink the glass of water with Scrooge in it; but the kids scream at him to stop being so clueless right now. Okay; maybe not, but it's implied enough. Gyro then hears them and spits out the water spraying the kids with it. HAHA! Gyro then looks in the glass and finally sees Scrooge inside. And then Scrooge magically makes it on the beak of Gyro. How about that for teleporting?! We then go outside as we see Gyro driving his...I cannot say this on this rant...(Gyro: Just read the script Mr. Weagle.)..The VANILLA MANILLA UFO OF DEATH (Note from the future: It's Barks' canon so claims Chris Barat.) towards the mansion as he tells Scrooge not to worry and that he can fix the alien machine. At least in theory. The Mircoducks are on top of Gyro's hat, natch as the red hair whips around. Scrooge is not amused of Gyro's calling this a little problem. We head to the mansion and inside the office as the commander and MicroDuck #1 have returned from space as they have the laser tank and Commander is pissed off with the waste of precious time. DecaDuck gets back onto the tank apologizing to her and proclaims that the laser is fixed. DecaDuck drives the tank laser into the spaceship as Commander cannot wait to get home into orbit again. Everyone gets into the spaceship and then the spaceship drives away through the open window for the last time I suppose.
And then Gyro enters the room wanting to know where the molecular manipulator is. He has his stethoscope and the magnifying glass as Scrooge tells him that it's on the desk with the broken lever (WRONG LEVER!). Gyro looks around and it's amazing because he sees a plain, ordinary pencil. HAHA! Scrooge gleefully blows him off on that one. Scrooge realizes that the machine is gone and Huey thinks the aliens came back to take it. Good deduction Huey; too late for you though. Dewey states that they will be halfway to their planet by now as Webby sobs about being a little girl forever. To Webby: This is DTVA; it doesn't matter at this point. Duck To The Future notwithstanding of course. Scrooge consoles Webby as he thinks Gyro will come up with some way to make them normal again. And then force Gyro to create something to make Gyro normal. Good luck on that second one Scroogie. Gyro gets all sulking because he is not going to get to see the aliens at all. And then here comes Launchpad wrapped up as a mummy as everyone gasps in horror. HAHA! I knew he would be used at some point; and I betcha the alien spaceship gets stuck on the glued tape too. Damn; I'm good. Hint: Check Launchpad's forehead at 21:19 of the DVD.
Gyro then uses the magnifying glass and he sees the spaceship with the MicroDucks. And at least 2/3's of them are not amused by Launchpad's sticky mummy routine. This commander has no sense of humor whatsoever. So we go to the scene changer as DecaDuck is on the desk with Microduck #1 and the commander as they invoke the laser beam and that turns the kids and Scrooge back to normal size again. They cheer for victory and embrace and sadly; we get no blow off from the commander on Scrooge for using the device. BOO! HISS! He deserved it after this episode. So we go into the office as Scrooge is using the magnifying glass as he examines the diamond he got from the aliens. And in comes Duckworth with a platter of two white tea pots. One for Scrooge and one for the diamond of course. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! BONK! OUCH! Ummmm....Duckworth puts the platter down and leaves as Scrooge has that look of : I'm going to hurt you are making Gregory Weagle invoke a Ron Sparks joke.
Scrooge does more exams on the diamond and here comes Twitchy coming close to the diamond as Scrooge gasps. Scrooge then thinks of invokes the fist drop to MURDER Twitchy for real this time; but he recoils and puts the diamond away. He takes some tweezers and takes some sugar right out of the sugar pot and gives it to Twitchy. The magnifying glass is on him as Twitchy eats up like a good little ant. Scrooge calls this his little secret. HEE HEE! Scrooge winks to the camera as we circle fade to black to end the episode and disc three at 21:14. Close; but no cigar on this one. Although this one was like the Incredible Shrinking Molly: Great concept; not so good execution which the Incredible Shrinking Molly lacked in spades. So Ducktales got the nod for the best shrinking episode in DTVA. Not of all time: Teddy Ruxpin's trek with the first crystal wins that one since it became a really important part of that series in general. *** ¾ (75%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; it looks like DTVA would have every right to retire the shrinking episode from whence it came; because it seems that everything it happens, the execution is already off, or it turns into a dull as dishwater fest. This episode falls under the former category like The Incredible Shrinking Molly does; however, it is much better due to the fact that it wasn't nearly as screwed up as that episode was. Well; Carl Barks is writing this one; unlike Chuck Tately was for TaleSpin's version. The storyline was very good; and the performances were fine; although they made the commander sound like a robot which negated the use of a female commander instead of a male into a BS&P blow off; then anything really interesting. And I found TMS' animation of bumps at time similar to Sun Woo's; although we got some really awesome spots from Webby (The CPR spot was the most hilarious thing I have ever seen from Webby in this series); and the usual from Launchpad despite doing almost nothing in this one. Overall; this is the best one in DTVA, but if you want better shrinking episodes; then I suggest (and I know I'm going to get bombed for this; but screw it) Teddy Ruxpin the Animated Series. If only because it set up the other episodes in the series nicely. Too bad the acting sucks in that show; or it would have been killer.
So we end disc three of Ducktales as I did 16 episodes in just eight straight days! We end with three thumbs up, five in the middle (with several close to being a thumbs up) and one thumbs down. 67 episodes are ranted on and we head to disc two with the final nine episodes. And what sights I see: Gyro becomes a knight! Doofus gains roided powers to cheat on Junior Woodchuck Badges from aliens! Scrooge gets framed and goes to prison! Launchpad becomes the anti-superhero! Scrooge gets screwed by a weasel (both ways) and goes into the poor house! His money vanishes again; twice! We see Dinosaurs! Mrs. Featherby speaks in two voice tones! Mrs. Beakly becomes a opera singer after being kidnapped by Vikings! And Scrooge Vs. Witches (oh wait; that's any episode involving Magica Despell)! Vacation Von Honk changes voices! Did I cover all the bases here?! If so; good then I have to say....
Thumbs in the middle pointing up for this episode and I'll see you next time.