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Ducktales Returns: The Beagle Birthday Massacre!
Reviewed: 08/06/2018
...And The Return Of A Literal Magica Shadow!
Yeah; I decided to do a detour once again and begin the major angle of Lena/Magica for real as Webby meets Lena in an abandoned theatre and they become friends and screw up Ma Beagle's birthday in the process. And once that issue was settled, Lena basically turns on Webby behind her back, sort of. Oh; and did I mention that this episode is a parody of The Warriors. So, how did this episode fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!
The Beagle Birthday Massacre's story is written and edited by Francisco Angones who also co-produced the show and directed by Dana Terrace. Additional story was provided by Colleen Evanson, Madison Bateman (who also did teleplay), Bob Snow (also did teleplay) and Christian Maglhaes. Animation is provided by Snipple Animation.
Censorship Moment #1: In some cuts of this episode; the title of the episode is called "The Beagle Birthday Breakout"; because the word Massacre is considered too violent for those broadcasters. The DVD release keeps the original title. Although the only thing that was a massacre was the birthday party becuase I have 2:1 odds that it was the birthday cake that suffered from said massacre.
Episode opens with a shot of the money bin BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset) and we pan south along the bridge. We then cut to a beach shot of Huey on a row boat reading while Webby is pulling a banana yellow duffel bag. She then gives Huey an assortment of item including... I cannot believe I'm typing this...Lifejackets with hotdogs tied on them which attracts a lot of seagulls instantly. Huey is not happy to see this as Webby's theory on this is that Louie hates hotdogs; but would still wear it to avoid eating themselves when hunger fever sets in. Huey throws the lifejacket away and the seagulls eat the hotdogs in kind. Ummm; the lifejackets are still useful, natch. As in; you are required by law to wear them. Louie is literally drinking out of the canteen as Dewey is standing on a box holding the oars. He jumps on Louie; Louie is pissed and tackles Dewey down and they have the FCC FRIENDLY OFF-SCREEN FIGHT OF DOOM. They roughhoused in Ducktales during the Armstrong episode; so no surprise here. So, the boat is a kayak as Louie is Daddy Pig in this setup when it comes to map reading and Louie takes offense even more than Daddy Pig does. Louie isn't offended that he gets them lost; but is the captain of getting them lost. Of course! The other nephews taunt him for that as Webby has no idea why they are laughing, even though she is the only one who is laughing and it's very awkward at best. So, Dewey does his promo and they try to get on the boat; and despite the boat appearing to have enough passengers; it can only hold three of them. Webby pops from the boat and faceplants right into the sand. Huey offers his spot to Webby; but Webby no sells as the nephews taunt Louie's captain lost skills even further. Webby is dejected as she sits on the sand, then a bottle shows up with a note in it. Webby takes the note from the bottle and reads. Someone wants help because a lost sailor got caught in a deadly whirlpool with no hope for survival. Webby proclaims that she is going out to sea after all as she stands up....AND WE HIT THE OPENING~! So, Webby runs into the water and finds another bottle that talks about shipwrecked sailor getting murdered by dolphins.
Then Webby looks to her right and notices bottle after bottle with notes in them as we pan north to see an ampitheatre with a female teenage duck writing notes on paper with a pen; wearing a green shirt with black and grey stripes in the middle of the shirt, along with green/white sneaker as she looks like an older Gosalyn who is interested in punk fashion. Suddenly; when Webby appears and joins into the teenager's game (because she's not in any danger, she was pranking anyone within the range of the bottles) the shot clearly shows an out of nowhere necklace with a purple orb; which becomes the most important aspect of this episode by the time this episode is over. More on that later. Webby's first message in a bottle: Please recycle this bottle. HAHA! The teenage girl is not amused, but that seems to be her default personality. Webby and the teenager shake hands. Webby comments on her pink hair and it's suppose to look this way, because the teenager has anime hair. Apprently; the necklace was bought at a thrift shop and just looks like an ancient necklace. That proved to be a lie. She stole the shirt from a band called the Featherweights and in this world; Paris exists. Webby is marking out on this; which seems to be the default charazation of every kid character in the new Disney. So, more talking as Webby unintentionally knocks a bottle into the drink (the last one); thus it's game over for this prank. Webby don't care as she does a half-dozen flips on the rocks and manages to get the bottle back. The teenager is impressed by Webby's skill and this believe it or not is in fact explained in an episode which involves finding the secret recipe for Gummiberry Juice. I'm not kidding either. Webby returns flipping and the flipping has apparently, turned on her into a promo cutting machine because she is cutting promo and sounding awfully robotic doing it. Lena finally addresses her name and puts the note in the bottle. Lena is voiced by Kimiko Glenn and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Known for portraying Brook Soso in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, Dawn Williams in the Broadway musical Waitress and Ezor in Voltron: Legendary Defender.
Glenn was born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, with her sister Amanda. Her father, Mark, is of German, Scottish and Irish descent, and her mother, Sumiko, is Japanese.[1] Glenn began acting at the Valley Youth Theatre in Phoenix, along with several other local theaters, when she was in the fifth grade.[2] She was educated at Desert Vista High School, and the Interlochen Arts Academy boarding school in Interlochen, Michigan.[3] Glenn attended the Boston Conservatory for a year as a musical theatre major, but dropped out after she was cast in the touring company of Spring Awakening.[2] She is in a relationship with actor Sean Grandillo.[4] During her freshman year of college in 2008, Glenn was cast as Thea in the first U.S. National Tour of Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's rock musical Spring Awakening. In 2013, Glenn booked her breakthrough role as Litchfield Penitentiary inmate Brook Soso in the Netflix comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black.[5] In 2014, she appeared in the Lena Dunham-directed music video "I Wanna Get Better" for Jack Antonoff's solo project Bleachers.[6] Glenn portrayed the supporting role of Liv Kurosawa in the drama-thriller film Nerve (2016), based on the young adult novel of the same name, directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman.[7] In 2016, she was cast as Dawn Williams in the Broadway transfer production of Sara Bareilles and Jessie Nelson's musical Waitress. Preview performances began on March 25 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, and the show officially opened on April 24, 2016.[8] She began her career as Katie Summers in Submissions Only in 2010. Sofia The First (Cinder) is her DTVA debut. Liza On Demand (Harlow) and In Reality (Lallie) are her most recent credits. She has 21 Acting credits and 2 Self credits to her resume.
Lena also calls Webby Flippy. If Peruvian is offensive; then so is Flippy as I discover with the problematic name for a Nintendo Switch game called Flip Wars. Why didn't they call it Flicker Wars (which is closer to the Japanese name used for the game) is a mystery to me. I should also point out that it's laughable for someone to be offended by the word Peruvian all while defending the character Dijon (a racist stereotype of a Middle Eastern person) in Ducktales 1989. Even stooping to claiming that this was a wave off of the Grandfather clause trope; even though the guy (He's Mandouga from Toon Zone; the same person who complained about "Woo-oo" by the way) is clearly using the False Equalivance logical fallacy, which is far worse. Anyhow; Lena offers Webby to join her in a blowout in which Webby literally thinks it's an explosion. HAHA! Lena corrects her, it's a party. A party of explosions! I wish Webby had said that; but she didn't. Webby wants to wait for her friends so she can inform them of this; but Lena insists otherwise because the party might be over before they come back. And it would be an adventure! And that's enough for Webby to join Lena to a...wait for it...wait for it...a junkyard (IT'S UNCENSORED BABEE~! Except the Sky Pirates as they were understandably censored to death.). It also says "Beware of Dogs" and that's the understatement of this show! The music is so silly here as Webby has to do all the work in order to just open the door to let her in, and Lena even claims that the best parties are the ones which you are uninvited. So, after some flips and climbing, Webby drops down, opens the door and we get the funniest and most awkward bump fist of all time. Webby is the only one who has a clue of how deadly those are. It's like knee-on-knee in ice hockey. Lena wants her to blow it up and they make explosion noises for a while. So, they enter and it is supposed to be a costume party; but in reality, they are all legit Beagle Boys. Oh dear; Ma Beagle has been littering again and she has been littering with a huge pool of dognoses it seems like. Webby thinks this is a costume party. If only Webby, if only.
Lena corrects her as Webby finally sees Big Time, Bouncer and Burger exchanging pleasure thoughts. I can only imagine what those pleasure thoughts are. Webby steps back as Lena proclaims that this is a Beagle Boys party as we get a really bad zoom out shot of the junkyard and all the Beagle Boys look generic compared to the actual scene where 90% of them look like knock offs of television shows; including the Joker Beagles that look like they were from Batman Beyond, which uses a similar art style to this show. Notice how no one complained about that; but complained when Disney did it. Then we head to the top of the trailer with a wooden deck as I swear that Ma Beagle stole Ma Crackshell's trailer from Ducktales 1989. So, she addresses the crowd as we get every Beagle Boy dressed in motifs, including the 6th Avenue Friendlies. What clowns?! Ma Beagle is also padding her stable by referring the Deja Vu's at least three times for a cheap laugh. Apparently; they all love their mother and all the Beagle Boys pop for that, probably because she'll kill them of they don't. The Dick Tracey Beagle Boys act like dicks as one of them punches a tied up short Beagle Boy in the face with boxing gloves. At least they can sing the Happy Birthday song without the censors cutting in due to copyright law; but they are heels anyway, so doing this in defiance of copyright law would have been funnier. Oh well. The Ugly Failures are hippies; what a shocker?! Webby wants to get out of here and somehow during this; a birthday cake is produced and Ma Beagle blows out the candles without incident. Wow, just wow.
Webby and Lena try to flee, but Bouncer grabs Webby and makes sure to grab the entire body to prevent any sort of idea that he grabbed her by the neck. Lena bails stage left as Big Time comes over and tells him to let her go because Ma Beagle said not to mess with them anymore because Donald would kill them otherwise. Ma Beagle sides with Bouncer because she got busted by Webby and Bouncer brings Webby over to Ma and Big Time wonder what the hell went wrong with this relationship. Bouncer is about to give Webby to Ma as Lena taps Ma on the shoulder. Don't turn around...oh, too late! And the birthday cake gets massacred; there's your payoff to the episode title! Lena stomps on Bouncer's head, causing him to let go of Webby and they bail. Ma want them duck hides and we get the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE BEAGLE BOYS EDITION~! Lena and Webby run out of the junkyard and into the alleyways as they are panting like the actors were literally from Canada. Death references increase to five as the Beagle Boys arrive in a mach truck pumping their fists in outrage and snarling. That ends the segment about nine minutes in. "We're gonna die!" is so Bearly Alive from TaleSpin that it only adds credence to my theory. Anyhow; this is just there and it feels rushed so far.
After the commercial break; the babyfaces run through the alleyway and the mach truck follows them until the dead end. Why is there a ripped up teddy bear's head image on the front of the mach truck? Anyhow; the truck is stuck, and thus it gives the babyfaces the opening they need as Webby flips up and tries to grab the ladder; but one of the rungs is broken off. Webby falls; grabs another one and brings out the apartment building ladder. Lena and Webby escape upwards and bring the ladder up and this is enough to stop the heels cold in their tracks after struggling to get out of the truck. So, we head to the roof as Lena thanks Webby and she isn't being sarcastic at all. Webby cannot read the room to save her life. Lena asks why Ma Beagle has a personal grudge against Webby and Webby basically reveals the finish to Daytrip Of Doom. Webby then notices the top of McDuck McManor as if they make it there; they'll be safe. Lena is impressed with Webby as then we get the skateboarding Super Dave Osborne wannabes Beagle Boys. I'm shocked one of them was not a Beagle Boy version of Kick Buttowski; since Disney owns that show anyway. They are the Longboard Taquito Beagle Boys who skateboard and sky fly with their uniforms. Never taunt a Beagle Boy; nothing good comes out of that. They even talk like 1990's kids as Lena turns on the giant air conditioner of doom and this sends the Beagle Boys flying into the air in a tornado. Yawn. They tease Bouncer climbing up and grabbing Lena; but Lena and Webby enter into the abandoned apartment complex via the sun roof. They hide behind a steel pillar and watch the Ugly Failure Beagles listening to Ma Beagle on the radio. Ma Beagle's orders: Kidnap Webby and Lena before they make it to McDuck McManor because it would be the ultimate birthday present. Of course! So the UFBs exchange pleasure thoughts about probably being the UWBs (keep dreaming, fools); as Webby has a plan that is completely reasonable. Lena is all "eww, a plan" and just blows her cover, just like that. Lena is talking with a British accent and the yellow haired Beagle Boy has the most creepy blue eyes I have ever seen (Bottle Beagle by the way).
The UFBs are so not buying this as they force Lena to back up and Webby then runs in and does a much better British accent than Lena. Lena is now Brittania and Webby is Englanbeth. Don't tell me Weboliva was rejected?! Oh; and they are the Beagle Birds, because apparently Ma Beagle would boink a mallard. To be fair; inter-spieces breeding would not be far-fetched in DTVA nor Teddy Ruxpin for that matter. So, this fools the UFBs (what a shocker?) as Webby grabs the radio and talks in British, saying words that no one with a clue would say in real life even if they were British. Webby and Lena shut the door and run away as the UFBs finally get the two clicks in the making of a clue; but it's too late. Jump cut to a street and then head to a rundown playground and Lena and Webby run in and get on the roundabout. Lena asks about her accent and Webby points out that Mrs. Beakly is British, Scrooge is Scottish and she didn't hear an American accent until she was seven. Which I suspect was when she started her training. So, they play a lot and Lena wants to run this town; as Webby cannot wait to see the nephews again. Lena blows them off as nerds. Hey; only Huey is a nerd. Dewey's a geek and Louie's a scumbag. Webby's the dork. POW! OUCH! Ummm... Lena basically admits that she has no family and she was lying; but at the same time, I can fully understand why. Webby explaination is such BS that I laughed at it. She is literally carrying this episode on it's back because this episode isn't all that exciting otherwise. It was so BS that even Lena was giving eye contact violence. Seesawing commences and Lena is surfing on it. Somehow; there is branches and leaves in Lena's hair (in the same instance as objects landing in Oscar's afro in Fish Hooks) as there are bushes ruffling in the background as Webby jumps off (which would explain how Lena got the branch in her hair -- they were near a tree) and goes into defense mode. Out comes... the nephews? Wow; I didn't see that one coming at all as Lena tackles Louie down. How did she know Louie was the evil nephew?
Lena is not amused by the greeting as the nephews basically call themselves special snowflakes...while having the exact same voice and talking at the same time. Lena is now amused and I know this because her left eyebrow rose up after this. The nephews were worried sick about her and before Webby can answer; Lena accuses them of leaving her off the boat, despite the fact that Webby had told her that she left the boat on her own and that the nephews even offered her a spot that Webby turned down. Of course; Captain Lost strikes again, even though we never saw them get lost at all. Louie's pissed, I don't care. The writers clearly cared more about getting Lena and Webby over; which to be honest, was noble in itself; but their segment went on for far too long and we got nothing from the nephews subplot on the boat. That would have at least broke the tension and allowed us some funny moments; since the episode seems to care more about the ending itself then booking a great story to get to the ending. Dewey was the one who picked Louie because it's so funny. It probably was; but we'll never know as Louie tackles Dewey down as Huey is trying to break this fight up, struggling. Lena cheerfully retorts that one for me as Webby wants them to calm down because it was just an adventure. And then we get whistling and blowing of wind around the area as it's getting darker and it's officially AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) and the kids all bail to inside the house slide. The music is straight out of Earthbound as the radio is on and it's Ma Beagle. Ma Beagle informs the Tumblebum Beagle Boys to go to the playground and that's where they will find them. I hope Webby has a tracking device on her; or the radio does because if not, that's a huge logic break. Huey thinks they are adorable -- like a stupid idiot -- and here comes the Tumblebums; who look like cross between the Joker, the circus and a really wacky version of the Beagle Boys from Ducky Mountain High. An old 1989 episode that made it to the DVD I might add. Huey finally gets it after the martial arts zoom in and that ends the segment sixteen minutes in.
After the commercial break; the nephews are bickering, Lena looking around and I have no idea what Webby is doing. One of the Tumblebums literally does the Bray Wyatt walk from WWE on the cage bars. The nephews ask Webby why they are after her and the response to that: Lena decided to cosplay Jim Cornette getting his face slammed into a birthday cake. Only it's Ma Beagle, who is not a Mama's Boy, since she is not a male. So, the nephews try to devise a Krackpotkin Plan and there are three banana peels because Louie has a condition called "stress eating"; which sounds legit to me. Dewey don't care as he starts fighting with Louie ...AGAIN! Dewey is slapping Louie with the banana peel as Huey breaks this fight up. It's just not the same without Teddy Ruxpin being around. So Lena and Webby climb down and Lena tells Webby to follow her and use the nephews as bait. Webby is horrified by this as Lena is still trying to claim that the nephews left her high and dry. To be fair; in real life, this would be a rational Occam's Razor response. Problem is; we know that wasn't the case. Webby doesn't want to leave; Lena wants to trust her and then Webby simply chooses the nephews and climbs up to break up the fight. So, here's the plan: Webby shoves Louie out of the house slide and uses him as bait. So, basically 1/3 of Lena's plan. Then Huey and Dewey slingshot banana peels and since cartoon physics are in play, the heels slip and slide. The Beagle Boy wolfman nearly nails one of the Tumblebums in the groin area. Webby slips up the Tumblebum Silts Man in the process and then shoves him down on his back right on top of the other Tumblebums as the wolfman one disappears completely. The babyfaces cheer as Webby tries to find Lena; but she has disappeared completely. So we head back under the bridge as the nephews are preparing the boat as Webby sulks on the shoreline holding her ankles. Huey comes over after doing a binocular shot of Webby. Webby wondered if she could have had a friendship with Lena like with the nephews. The answer in the end was clearly no. Huey promises to ditch Louie on the boat; because he's a scumbag.
So, another two bottles with notes wash up on the beach and Webby picks up the bottles and reads them. Apparently; Lena has really been kidnapped by Ma Beagle and the Beagle Boys; and it turns up that she really is on the binoculars shot. 2:1 odds Ma Beagle wrote those letters just as a trap. Also; Louie gets carried away by birds and dropped like a bad habit. Yawn. Anyhow; the radio has been heavily modified since I last saw it; but we hear from the radio that Ma Beagle is coming to the ampitheater to get her revenge on Lena for deying her chance to eat birthday cake. What a dick Lena is?! Sure; Ma Beagle is a giant one in her own right, but COME ON! Let Ma Beagle be a human being for this one time! Louie wants to get Scrooge, Beakly and two tanks. Reasonable; but there is no time for that! Webby thinks she's so good at being British that Webby completely confuses Dewey; so Dewey is clearly not a The Warriors fan. Webby proclaims that she is not abandoning her and she's getting a spot on that stupid boat this time; which Huey said himself that she would get a spot and they offered a spot earlier; but Webby turned it down. Okay, then. So; we head to the ampitheatre as the blond UFB's gimmick is getting his fingers stuck in bottles. Lena is tied up and gagged to a stone pillar; struggling to get free and having the same luck as blond UFB getting the bottles off his fingers. Only blond UFB has "friends" to get said bottles off his fingers. So, one of the 6th Avenue Friendlies offers Lena a glass of water (which she couldn't drink even if she wanted it); 6th Avenue Meanie comes in, steals the glass of water and throws it away as it shatters off-screen. I'm shocked no cats were in the area this time and thank goodness for that. Whomever thought that was a great joke deserved to be me-too'ed. So, there is a turn overed boat in the background and the babyfaces all show up. Wait; what?! Webby climbs up and ungags Lena; but cannot get the ropes untied. This was straight out of Baloo Thunder with Kit and I doubt Webby has Professor Buzz's mini chainsaw and she blew her cover as the spotlight is on her. We then discover that she unintentionally turned the stage lights on.
Which was a switch that didn't exist until that moment. That was pretty lazy continuity there, creative! Webby is tied up to the stone pillar and Bouncer has the nephews upside down as they were caught as well. Aw; they tied them up with a red ribbon for Ma. My heart melted! Big Time is on the transmitter informing her that everyone who has been causing trouble to her has been caught and she can have her revenge anytime now. This leads to Webby and Lena arguing like crazy and Louie is crying; which completely ruins the moment for me. Huey would have been fine and Dewey would have been awesome, but no; it's the scumbag. Lena and Webby look into each others eyes and Lena hates family because they fight a lot. But none of them are really family anyway (well; to each other as a group), so Lena has an idea as she taunts the Beagle Boys for a while as Botch Beagle has to give the signal. He's the name of one of the UFBs. That's like giving Pedro Pony the signal and I have more confidence in PEDRO not screwing this up than Botch Beagle. Big Time reasonably states that his group should do it because they are the main guys. Actually; Bouncer captured the nephews, so you win by default. Of course, since the Beagle Boys have zero scruples and since sharing is like the spawn of Satan (hilarious considering God's outrageous kill shot that would make even the worst offenders of anime blush with embarrassment), this is the signal for them to turn on each other and fight. The blond UFB finally gets the last bottle off his finger and it goes flying and takes a sick bump right on top of Big Time's head. Is there such a thing as concussion protocol in cartoons?! Burger's response was to whack one of the Beagle Boys in the face with a blue bird lawn dart. I'm not kidding either! Okay; this Burger is even better than the old Ducktales 1987 version, just on that spot alone. So, this degrades into a low energy fight of doom as Burger gets punched in the face on-screen full bore (I assume it was Bouncer) and he lands on the dry ice machine and it turns on and here comes the fogs~! Who keeps a dry ice machine in an abandoned ampitheatre?!
I just love how they used it to tease the FCC FRIENDLY CLOUDDUST FIGHT OF DEATH...and then show the entire fight full bore. Doods; it's not censorship, it's a cheap animation trick to not fully animate the fight. This turns into a Beagle Boy wrestling match, complete with the funniest bad attempt of a double eye poke I have ever seen. Webby gets semi-free and then wiggles up the stone pillar and climbs down. She breaks her own ropes and then unties Lena just like that. What a stupid logic break that was?! Bouncer still is the best Beagle boy ever as he's punching out guys without dropping the nephews. Sadly; Webby jumps up and pulls the cap down on Bouncer's eyes and Lena gets on all fours and Bouncer trips over Bouncer and falls down. Dewey nearly gets crushed and has to roll left to get away from Bouncer's right arm. The babyfaces all run off stage left as we get one of the dumbest fighting spots ever with one of the 1990's kid Beagle and a French Beagle wearing a beret and holding a loaf of French bread. It looked poopy and thankfully the kids push the French Beagle into the water on the rebound. The babyfaces get on the boat and sail away as we finally get the true FCC FRIENDLY CLOUDDUST FIGHT OF DEATH in the middle of the ampitheatre and here comes Ma Beagle in the mach truck looking pissed off. I should note that her cane looks like a crowbar as the heels stop fighting and groan because everyone is gone. Ma Beagle is groaning even more so and she punishes the Beagle Boys by denying them birthdays and that is that as the babyfaces row back to the shore. Well, Huey. So, it's almost sunrise as we scene change to the gates of McDuck McManor as we do the recap of the story and exchange cheers and notes for a while. I see Lena has been taking notes from Kim Possible as well. Lena is an awesome person; not really. Webby and Lena do their British accents of doom; which to be honest was the best thing about this episode. Not saying much; but I did like that scene at least. The nephews are completely confused as Huey buzzes the intercom and the kids all head inside as Webby waves goodbye to Lena and enters.
The gate closes as Lena turns around looking bold as she walks into the hard camera and we head back to the ampitheatre as the entire Beagle Boy clan is gone for no reason. Lena walks to the center and remember the orb in her necklace. Well; it begins to glow as Lena suddenly summons a spell that causes the wind to whip and papers flying. Lena kneels down as a huge shadow appears with red eyes and the look is awfully familiar. Lena basically says: "Magica, I'm in!" and the face in the shadow has a wicked smile and that ends the episode at 21:07. This episode was basically designed to get Lena and Webby together, so that we could begin the debut of Magica DeSpell. A lot of fans thought Della was Magica, or even Lena, but the storyline indicates that Lena is a successor to Minima Despell and her last name is LaStrange; basically making Lena Magica's neice. At the time of this airing, I had a few questions: (1.) Why is Magica in the orb? I still don't know that answer. (2.) Is everyone Webby meets going to turn on her and make every episode like a country song? Thankfully; that answer has been a no, at least for the first season and (3.) Why didn't I see this coming since they showed the orb at the start? Because the orb was shown only twice and it didn't play into the episode at all until the end because the writers cared more about getting the major angle over, then getting the episode over. There were some funny moments; but this felt bloated and there was no subplot whatsoever despite building one for the nephews. Call this ** 1/2 (50%). One more thing; despite not voicing her in the episode...
Magica De Spell is voiced by Catherine Tate and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Tate began her television acting career with roles in serial dramas such as The Bill[10] and London's Burning.[8] Tate started stand-up comedy in 1996,[13] and has appeared in comedy series such as The Harry Hill Show, Barking, and That Peter Kay Thing.[14] She played the part of Kate in the unaired pilot episode of sitcom Not Going Out.[15] In 1998, she wrote and starred in Barking, a late night sketch show broadcast on Channel 4 and featuring a host of, back then, unknown stars such as David Walliams, Peter Kay and Mackenzie Crook. Soon after, she became involved with Lee Mack's Perrier Comedy Award-nominated New Bits show at the Edinburgh Film Festival in 2000.[14] In 2001, she returned to the festival with her own sell-out one-woman show,[13] which was followed by roles in Big Train,[11] Attention Scum and TVGoHome.[14] After being spotted at Edinburgh, she was given the role of Angela in the comedy, Wild West, with Dawn French,[14] who commented "Catherine Tate is far too talented and she must be destroyed."[11] Tate has also performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company,[11] and at the National Theatre.[10] She acted the role of Smeraldina in a 2000 RSC production of A Servant to Two Masters, and another role in The Way of the World at the National Theatre.[16] Tate was approached at a post-show party at the Edinburgh Festival by then-BBC controller of comedy Geoffrey Perkins, who encouraged Tate to develop her character ideas, especially to push the boundaries with teenager Lauren Cooper. Undertaking Perkins' advice, after a live show Tate found the audience walking out of the show repeating the character's catchphrase Am I bovvered?[17]
Produced by Perkins at Tiger Aspect, Tate was given her own programme on BBC Two in 2004, which she co-wrote and starred in with Derren Litten, entitled The Catherine Tate Show, which ran for three series.[14] Two of the show's well-known characters are teenager Lauren Cooper and Joannie "Nan" Taylor, the cockney grandmother.[11] Tate's inspiration for the cockney grandmother came from visits to old people's homes when she was at drama college.[11] Tate won a British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Newcomer for her work on the first series of The Catherine Tate Show,[18] and with the first series becoming a success, in March 2005, Tate made a guest appearance during the BBC's Comic Relief as the character of Lauren from The Catherine Tate Show, alongside boy-band McFly, which gained her further exposure.[13] In November 2005, Tate appeared in another charity sketch as part of the BBC's annual Children in Need telethon. The segment was a crossover between EastEnders and The Catherine Tate Show, featuring Eastenders characters Peggy Mitchell, Little Mo Mitchell and Stacey Slater, whilst Tate appeared as Lauren.[19] Also at that time, she was a guest star at the 77th Royal Variety Performance and appeared again in the guise of Lauren Cooper. During the sketch, Tate looked up at the Royal Box and asked The Queen, "Is one bovvered? Is one's face bovvered?".[20] During the sketch, co-star Niky Wardley (in character as Liese) remarked: "That old man sitting next to her has fallen asleep." Prince Philip then reportedly complained to the show's executive producer, saying he had been insulted.[9] Tate later won a British Comedy Award for Best British Comedy Actress for her work in the second series of The Catherine Tate Show.[21]
At the end of 2005, she appeared in the BBC television adaptation of Bleak House.[22] Tate returned to the stage for the first time since working with the RSC,[23] to play a role in the 2005 West End revival of Some Girl(s), alongside Sara Powell, Lesley Manville, Saffron Burrows and Friends star David Schwimmer.[24] In an interview, Tate commented that she could not look Schwimmer in the eye during her time with him, leading to speculation that the pair did not get on.[10] Tate immediately denied the rumours, explaining that she was joking about her attempts to act "cool" around Schwimmer, whom she described as "a very funny, personable man, and easy to get along with".[25] The third series of The Catherine Tate Show aired in 2006, going on to win the National Television Award for most popular comedy as voted for by the public,[26] and Tate's catchphrase "bovvered", used by her character Lauren Cooper, became so influential in popular culture that it was named Word of the Year and was even poised to enter the Oxford English Dictionary.[27] Tate also played the role of Donna Noble in Doctor Who, a woman in a wedding dress who suddenly appears in the TARDIS at the end of the episode "Doomsday".[28] The following episode, the Christmas special entitled "The Runaway Bride", saw Tate's character in a major role, where she was temporarily the Doctor's companion.[28] On her appearance in the series, Tate commented "I'm honoured and delighted to be joining David Tennant aboard the TARDIS. I was holding out for a summer season at Wigan rep but as a summer job, this'll do."[29] Tate had roles in three films in 2006, these included, Starter for 10, Sixty Six,[23] and Scenes of a Sexual Nature.[9] She later appeared in the films Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution, in which she played the title character,[23] and Love and Other Disasters.[30]
In the 2007 television adaptation of the novel, The Bad Mother's Handbook, she played the lead role and co-starred with Anne Reid.[31] On 16 March 2007, Tate appeared for a second time on Comic Relief as some of her well-known characters from The Catherine Tate Show. She acted in sketches with David Tennant, Daniel Craig, Lenny Henry and the then Prime Minister Tony Blair, who used the show's famous catchphrase, "Am I bovvered?"[32] Tate also appeared as Joannie "Nan" Taylor in an episode of Deal or No Deal, hosted by Noel Edmonds.[33] Tate became a Patron of the performing arts group Theatretrain.[34] Despite speculation that the third series of The Catherine Tate Show would be the last, Tate and the BBC have not ruled out further episodes.[23] She later filmed a one-off special episode which aired on Christmas Day 2007.[35] The episode was subject to criticism when 42 viewers complained about the amount of swearing, and accused Tate of bigotry over the depiction of a family from Northern Ireland as terrorists, whose Christmas presents included a balaclava and a pair of knuckle dusters, in reference to the Troubles.[36] After the complaints were made, an Ofcom report later concluded that the show was not offensive and did not violate broadcasting regulations.[37][38] An extract from the Ofcom report read "Overall this episode was typical of the Catherine Tate Show and would not have gone beyond the expectations of its usual audience. For those not familiar with the show, the information given at the start was adequate."[39] She has also been nominated for four BAFTA Awards for her work on The Catherine Tate Show to date, including Best Comedy Performance.[40] Tate returned to Doctor Who in 2008 to reprise the role of Donna Noble as the Doctor's companion throughout the fourth series, which was shown on BBC One starting on 5 April for a 13-week run.[41]
Producer Russell T Davies said, "We are delighted that one of Britain's greatest talents has agreed to join us for the fourth series." Tate added, "I am delighted to be returning to Doctor Who. I had a blast last Christmas and look forward to travelling again through time and space with that nice man from Gallifrey."[1] At the TV Quick Awards 2008, Tate was voted best actress for her role in Doctor Who.[42] She returned as Donna Noble in the two-part Doctor Who Christmas special The End of Time which was broadcast over Christmas 2009.[43][44] In 2008 Tate starred as Michelle, a promiscuous mathematics teacher, in David Eldridge's Under The Blue Sky at the Duke of York's Theatre, London, alongside Francesca Annis and Nigel Lindsay. Tate injured her ankle in rehearsal on 15 July. She performed preview shows with the aid of a crutch. On 11 April 2009, 26 December 2009 and 30 January 2010, Tate and David Tennant guest hosted Jonathan Ross' BBC Radio 2 show. In 2009 she created a one off special spin off to The Catherine Tate Show. Although this time the show only starred 'Nan'. In the show, Nan played Scrooge, and was visited by 3 ghosts, one of whom was played by David Tennant. The show was a one off Christmas special however was followed by three other episodes in 2014 and 2015 which are known collectively as Catherine Tate's Nan. In 2010, Tate took part in Channel 4's Comedy Gala, a benefit show held in aid of Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital, filmed live at the O2 Arena in London on 30 March. Tate took part in a series of short comedy films called 'Little Crackers'.[45] Tate appeared as Queen Isabelle of Lilliput in the 2010 film adaptation of Gulliver's Travels. On 18 March 2011, the video for Take That's new single "Happy Now" was debuted on Comic Relief.
The video shows comedians Catherine Tate, Alan Carr, James Corden, John Bishop and David Walliams audition to become Take That's ultimate tribute band, Fake That. Filming took place at Ealing Studios on 17 February 2011.[46] ' Tate appeared alongside former co-star David Tennant in the Shakespeare comedy Much Ado About Nothing at London's Wyndham's Theatre from 16 May to September 2011.[47] For her performance – as Beatrice – Catherine won the BroadwayWorld UK Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play.[48] In the seventh-season finale of The Office, which aired on 19 May 2011, Tate guest starred as Nellie Bertram, a potential replacement for the departing Michael Scott (played by Steve Carell).[49][50] On Saturday 17 December 2011, Tate presented the second episode of Channel 4's Laughing at the... series – entitled "Catherine Tate: Laughing at the Noughties" – in which she met Alan Carr, David Walliams, Noel Fielding, Rob Brydon and (her Doctor Who co-star) David Tennant to discuss the comedy highlights of the 2000s.[51] In January 2012, Tate returned to The Office for its eighth season. She reprised her role as Nellie, who was hired as a "misguided special projects manager". She returned as Nellie for the ninth and final season.[52] She starred alongside David Walliams and Philip Glenister in BBC One's situation comedy Big School in 2013.[53] In November 2014 she was a guest on BBC One's The Graham Norton Show in which she revealed that her first stage appearance had been performing an impression of Gary Glitter in her school nativity play.[54] For Comic Relief 2015, Tate appeared as a nun in a sketch alongside with David Walliams as Lou Todd and Stephen Hawking in the Andy Pipkin role.[55]
Three further episodes of Catherine Tate's Nan aired in January 2014 and December 2015 on BBC One after Nan's Christmas Carol which aired on Christmas Day 2009. In January 2016, Tate played the role of Sapphire in the one-off comedy show Billionaire Boy, written by David Walliams.[56] She appeared in Bruce's Hall of Fame with Alexander Armstrong the following day. In 2016, Tate appeared in the new musical comedy Miss Atomic Bomb at the St. James Theatre.[57] The show ran from 7 March to 9 April.[58] It received poor reviews, including a one star review from The Stage.[59] In late 2016, Tate began touring British theatres in The Catherine Tate Show Live, guest-starring Mathew Horne, Niky Wardley and Brett Goldstein. Tate's characters Nan, Nurse Bernie, Geordie Georgie, Sam and Paul and Lauren all featured in the show, linked by videos starring Nick Grimshaw and other celebrities interacting with the characters.[60] In late 2017, Tate was revealed to be part of the cast of Disney's DuckTales reboot, providing the voice of the villainous sorceress Magica De Spell following the death of the character's longtime voice actor, June Foray, in July of the same year. Coincidentally, her Doctor Who co-star, David Tennant, provides the voice of the show's protagonist, Scrooge McDuck. Tate has 56 Acting credits, 7 Writing credits (Big Train, Attention Scum, etc.), 4 Soundtrack credits, 1 Director credit, 1 Producer credit, 1 Thanks credits, 73 Self credits and 24 Archive Footage credits to her resume. So, after being together in Doctor Who; Catherine is now the number one heel of the show with David still being the babyface.
THE REVIEW LINE
Okay; this episode was below average for the most part as there were a few okay moments and a few funny moments; but nothing special and nothing really exciting. This felt like they went through the motions and the Warriors parody was not well executed at all. Lena was fine; but until the ending, she looked like Gosalyn who couldn't care less, so I didn't get a good first impression of her. She wasn't horrible, she was just there. Webby of course was carrying this episode kicking and screaming; but this needed a subplot to break the tension and the writers refused to do one because they were so focused on getting the Lena/Magica angle over that they just wrote a beginning, a middle, a finish; but no subplot and hoped for the best. Outside of some logic breaks, this was all right as I have seen a lot worse than this; but for a major plot thread that is going to be your #1 thread stake of the show with one of your number one heels and a sad heel in Lena; you would think that they would write a better episode over it. Maybe I have watched TaleSpin too much and expected too much; but I just think this episode stumbled through the motion and then had to depend on the ending to get it past average. Overall; great ending to a lame episode and nothing more. So...
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you next time.