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The Boy Who Cried Ghost
Reviewed: 01/22/2013
...And Got Eaten By Satan! Okay; Maybe Not!
Well; here we are at the Halloween episode of doom which featuring Dewey making too many practical jokes and stranding everyone at a haunted mansion when they were going to a Halloween party. And then the house is haunted and no one believes Dewey. I am not liking this prospect at all; but Dewey is the least sucky nephew of the trio; so it might work out more. So; let's rant on and find out shall we...?!
This episode is written by Steve Cuden. The story was edited by Douglas Langdale . Sadly; Juan F. Lara did not release the animation studio here.
Opening Moment #1: Today's title card features Dewey with a candle light which create the GHOST OF GEDO. Well; that just sucks doesn't it?!
So we begin this episode on a dark and spooky road as the What In The World RV drives (which in this case is the lamest Mystery Machine ever) around a graveyard and not one tombstone has a cross on it. We then cut to a tree with yellow eyes in the knotholes. We see branches acting sort of like humans on the trees; and then I speak too soon as there is a tiny cross on one of the tombstone in the background. And then a second one in the background as the bat fly in the RV's windshield as Donald blows off the nephews for bothering him. See; they are going to a Halloween Dance Party and Donald is taking a shortcut which is jackhammered with a sign called "short cut" which vultures are perched on. I will say that the lighting is very impressive here as Huey mocks Donald just to be a smug ass. Oh lord; here we go as Louie grabs Huey's beak and snaps it back. Huey protests as Louie points out that it was Huey's idea to leave the original costumes at home and he brings out two costume sets which Huey is instantly repulsed by it because they are Cute Little Bunny and Cute Little Kitty Cat costumes. HEE HEE!
Kit Cloudkicker: I once dressed up as a seal; so SCREW OFF and LIKE IT!
Now this would have made for an interesting setup: Louie screws Huey out of a cool costume as a practical joke and then have the cascade effect ensue. That would have made sense and it would be akin to Louie's character in Ducktales. However; since Toby wanted all visages of that show cleansed from this one; would it surprise people anymore if Louie wasn't the focus character here? Louie "tweaks" Huey's beak again on Huey's request and then the van goes dark for no reason as we hear ghoulish voices coming from the closet and it's clear that it's Dewey as they open the closet and see a big ass skeleton with ghoulish paint all over Dewey (check the hair; I'm not fooled guys). Huey and Louie panic and race up on the ceiling lights (which is the same one you see in school buildings) and Dewey comes out and laughs his ass off; taking off the gray mustache beak. Okay; that was pretty funny which is made slightly funnier with the scalded ducks ripping off the light protector and falling down and destroying it in the process. Huey and Louie call this double uncool. I beg to differ guys; this was FUNNY! However; for most ducks fans who have watched Ducktales; it brings back a point I made about these nephews that the writers are treating all three like the exact same character; only in different duds. Ducktales at least made three different personalities despite having the same voices and were hard to tell apart without the color coding. So this seems rather contrived to have Dewey be the prankster; when LOUIE was the prankster in Ducktales and thus this role is more suited for Louie than Dewey. Anyhow; Dewey throws the skeleton in the ghost (HA!) as Huey throws the costume Donald gave him and it's a baby seal. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Dewey is repulsed and Kit is laughing his ass off all the way to the bank.
Dewey brings out the fake can of nuts which the other nephews realize that it's the old snake in the can trick and that NO ONE is fooled by that. So Dewey goes to the cockpit and kindly gives Donald the can of "nuts" and Donald buys it hook, line and sinker while Dewey bails stage right. Well; this makes Donald look even dumber than Goofy now doesn't it? And then we do the lame bump into everything as Donald was bounced back about 15 feet and then runs back to the wheel and the tire pops and the van is forced to stop. Other than running in the water; you missed nothing. So we scene change to Donald swearing and throwing stuff out of the RV while Louie and Huey watch on doing nothing but be smug asses. So Donald brings out the spare tire; but then notices that a bat was cut out of it and Dewey brings out the bat on a stick. Well; they had to do this so that the heat would be on Dewey; but the problem with this is, it was Donald's fault that they took a stupid shortcut to begin with. Dewey gets his beak "tweaked" and pulled by the beak as Donald screams while saying nothing which is the universal sign of swearing like a sailor and using F-bombs or worse. The other nephews blame Dewey for getting them stranded and Dewey comments about the night and it starts to pour out of nowhere with no suspense built. Geez; maybe having that boring one or so sequence of the RV breaking down wasn't such a good idea. Dewey is screwed as the other ducks want to MURDER Dewey; but the rain stops and the haunted mansion shows up out of nowhere like a Richard Merwin love in. The only thing notable is the noose on the tree in the foreground so the three ducks are shaking like a leaf and Dewey uses the green vampire fangs (which he stole from Huey in Heavy Dental) and uses the flashlight to scare them again. Which works of course as the trio is scared stiff and Dewey laughs them off. Donald, Louie and Huey blow him off and walk towards the haunted mansion to find a payphone for a tow truck.
Dewey hides in the trees with thunderclaps in the background and proclaims that this is a prankster's paradise while getting all evil and stuff. This would have been fine if LOUIE was doing it; but it comes off as contrived for the sake of surprise which doesn't payoff. Sometimes Toby; hating a show works against you and this is a prime example of it. So Donald, Louie and Huey walk to the deck which leads to the front door and we get the door opening on them without them touching it and the three head inside and then the door slams on them and we go dark for about five seconds. We walk inside which appears to be the basement which is downright weird with lots of skulls but not much else. Huey and Louie notice the lack of Dewey in their presence and think Dewey is setting them up. If Dewey could successfully set this one up as you claim; then that would make him Louie of Ducktales; and this would be Hotel Strangeduck that was abandoned for no reason whatsoever! Then we get the cloud dust spot and the neon blue ghost shows up which Donald oversells like mad while grabbing onto Huey like Scooby Doo which was very funny on Donald's part. Louie knocks on skull (Donald's of course) and accuse Dewey of another prank. Okay double laffypants?! Where's the evidence that Dewey set you up again? It doesn't help your accusation when DEWEY is running in claiming that he didn't set this one up. The others are not buying this crap. And then everyone sells it for no reason and Dewey finally proclaims that indeed; he set them up with the fog machine and video projector. Why does Donald Duck keep buying these things? Projector I can understand; but a fog machine? What use would Donald have for such a thing; unless he is using it to make himself disappear from the FCC Navy?!
The nephews call it high-tech and then the lights flicker on for no reason which indicates the Dewey isn't setting them up anymore. Again; this Dewey is lazy (setting up blue neon ghost with logic breaking material is so rookie hour to me), so this makes the nephews no selling of Dewey's paranoid kind of mean-spirited and dumb. If Dewey had the Ducktales kind of character; which this Dewey does not; then the no selling is apporos. I will give Dewey credit for the overselling of his paranoia though. The nephews back up Dewey; but Donald is more concerned about a phone and so everyone walks into the next room except for Dewey who is still pleading. I never thought Dewey to be such a scared little rabbit in my life. I mean; he oversells the most contrived boo in the history of ghost kind and gets all paranoid and everything when he sees a purple ghost with glasses and a blue collar working shirt. I'm guessing that he was BS&P'ed to prevent a lawsuit from the creators of Casper; which is fitting after Jymn Magon was working on Casper a few years later. Dewey is calling for the troops and they are even mean-spirited enough to turn around and come back just to allow the spot where the ghost is gone when Dewey points. This episode is so damn predictable that I think Steve Cuden has been watching too many Scooby Doo shows. Richard Merwin deserves an apology. Needless to say; the others are not amused. Dewey; just leave the mansion now! They are not buying what you are selling. Donald calls on the nephews to follow him; but Huey blows off Dewey and tells him to stay right there. Everyone except Dewey leaves stage right as Dewey is scared again; but then stops selling and claims that they are setting HIM up and had this plan for weeks to get even. Ummm; Dewey? Huey and Louie are even LAZIER than you and Donald has gotten over his cheap parlor tricks on you nephews for decades now! The only reason for this is to have Dewey reveal his full name which is Deuterotomy D. Duck; which is at least less lame than Huey Duck; so there you go.
So we see Donald in the dark hallways looking for the phone and a ghost goes through the door which Donald clearly sees. Now you would think that this would make Donald realize that Dewey is not pranking them here; and so we go into the pantry as the purple ghost bangs on pots and Donald slams the big ass cupboard door with his webfoot which is conveniently in the path of said ghost. Donald blows off Dewey again and heads for the opposite door. We cut to Louie and Huey in a hallway as they think this castle existed before telephones were made and we get the stock voice ghost scream of doom. They think it is Dewey being a dick again. I almost typed Huey by mistake there; which is evidence of how much thought was put into this episode. So there is a bat following them into another room as the purple ghost shows up and is so contrived and forced that it would be clear to everyone that Dewey is not pranking them. See; the whole point of this is that Dewey cried wolf one too many times and no one buys his pranks anymore. The problem with that is; these "real" ghosts are so lame and contrived that they make DEWEY's "pranks" look scary. Now if the ghosts were on Dewey's level of fear; this would work a lot better and convince us that Dewey went too far in crying wolf. However; it makes the nephews look like jackasses and stupid. Even more so when the nephews chase the ghost into the wall and the ghost goes into the wall; but the nephews bounce off the wall with wussy bumps. What a shock?! And they still think that Dewey is pranking them. Sadly; it doesn't help when Dewey is planning to prank them upstairs with some machinery and a surprisely small spider. I guess the big ass spider is still at the repair shop. Then we get a neat spot where we get a lot of wind flying around because that is what this episode needs: more windbags! And then it snows inside and Dewey freezes and chatters teeth; then it gets hot and melts everything. Dewey blows them off for playing with the thermostat and then we head hard footsteps and Dewey isn't buying that bill of goods either; until he turns around and sees a werewolf wearing a suit, tie and hat. Geez; the design on these "real" monsters suck a lot more than Dewey's fake monsters.
So Dewey winks and his eyes tell the whole story as we segue to Donald and the nephews climbing up the stairs and then Dewey rushes in and tackles everyone downstairs. Yawn. The bumps have no zip to them anyway. And Donald is always on bottom. Dewey stammers like an idiot and I yawn because I don't care; since we see this stupidity played out a million times every day on Scooby Doo. Recess's Halloween special was a lot more interesting than this. And to the answer to a trivia question Chris Barat asked me which was what Toon Disney would do if characters were wringing their necks? Answer: nothing..AND THE ROCK SEZS NOTHING! Dewey overselling the neck wringing spot and of course no one is buying what Dewey is selling. Huey and Louie blame Dewey for getting them in this mess and missing the dance altogether which brings me to another point: What is the point of them going to a dance? Oh yeah; so Huey can be a rotten sexist with the SEXIST GIRL OF THE DAY. And they have to spend the night in this mansion that I don't care about. Dewey is not liking this at all. Join the club, you moron! Anyhow; we head to another room as we see the purple ghost getting abused by a ghost like viking who turns into a solid object in the next three or four shots. I'm sorry; but I have played Valkyrie Profile and nothing can top it. The Werewolf also abuses the purple ghost because he cannot scare anyone. UH OH! Yeap; this purple ghost is the answer to Casper The Friendly Ghost and he sucks. OH LORD DOES HE SUCK! Casper at least was naive and didn't want to scare anyone which made us have sympathy for him when he tries so hard to scare when we know that he's the friendly ghost. This purple ghost has none of that charm to make me care about him getting abused. The vampire bat is also there and tells them to screw off as we discover that the bat is his nephew as he changes into the lamest looking Dracula ever; with no sense of presence. Doctor Fright from Care Bears was much better than this goofball.
So he blows up his nephew (yes; he is the purple ghost, just accept it. Or don't since it is a gaping logic break) and we are shown a picture of the invisible man who is in this case a woman. That is so original. No, not really; but she has the best character design in the entire episode which does nothing to help the other four characters who are in the episode full time. We discover that the purple ghost's name is Sigmund and according to Juan F. Lara might be voiced by Dave Coulier and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Coulier has done extensive voice work for shows including Extreme Ghostbusters, The Real Ghostbusters and Slimer! and the Real Ghostbusters (taking over the character of Peter Venkman after Lorenzo Music's departure from the role), Muppet Babies after Howie Mandel left (Baby Animal, Baby Bunsen, Bean Bunny and Uncle Statler and Waldorf, even a pre-teen Janice for one episode), Scooby and Scrappy-Doo, The Jetsons, Rude Dog and the Dweebs, Detention and Teen Titans.[citation needed]. From 1984 to 1986, he was also the host of a comedy series on Nickelodeon known as Out of Control.Coulier is best known for the role of Joey Gladstone on the ABC's sitcom Full House.[3] He stayed on the show from 1987 until its cancellation in 1995. He was famous for doing voices and impersonations. In addition to Full House, Coulier appeared on George and Leo and Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher. He has also hosted America's Funniest People (first with Arleen Sorkin and later with Tawny Kitaen) and Opportunity Knocks. Additionally, he was also a voice actor in Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, and has voiced Felix the Cat on a few occasions. He also put out a solo album called Cut It Out, a self proclaimed tribute to "tank tops and short shorts." In addition to his voice work, Coulier has also taken a few acting parts appearing in the Disney Channel Original Movie's The Thirteenth Year and The Even Stevens Movie (where he had a cameo as a reality show host), as well as the Nickelodeon original movie Shredderman Rules and he wrote and starred in an unaired pilot for FX called Whispers and Balls.
He also founded his own children's entertainment company F3 Entertainment, in 2000. In 2003, Coulier appeared on the 3rd season of The Surreal Life. Then in 2006, he appeared on the TV reality show Skating with Celebrities on FOX, where he was paired with Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan. They were eliminated on the fourth episode. Currently he is a member of Duck's Breath Mystery Theater touring comedy troupe (which he claims is clean comedy but 'not quite as creepy' as Full House) as well as host of the series Animal Kidding. His work on Robot Chicken is probably his most "adult" to date, voicing off-color situations, like Popeye savagely beating Wimpy over a debt. On June 2, 2008, Chikara, professional wrestling promotion based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, announced that Coulier was elected by the Chikara Board of Directors as the new commissioner of the company, a position that he will hold for the following two years until the next election (taking place on May 25, 2010). Coulier is the successor to former Commissioner and fellow Full House cast member Bob Saget. In 2009, Coulier provided the voice for Bob McKenzie on the Canadian animated series Bob & Doug, based on the SCTV characters Bob and Doug McKenzie. Coulier became the first person other than Rick Moranis to portray the character, as Moranis (who serves as executive producer) was not interested in resuming the part. Coulier says he understands that longtime fans might be skeptical of his take on the role, but he couldn't help jumping at the chance to portray one of his favorite comic characters. "It's huge shoes to fill, stepping into Rick Moranis' shoes. It's such an established, great character and I guess the only thing I have going for me is that it kind of sounds alike and that half of my family is from Canada." His mother's family is from Bathurst, New Brunswick.[4]
After the cancellation of Full House in 1995, Coulier struggled to find prominent roles in television and film. After a brief stint in reality TV with The Surreal Life and Skating with Celebrities, Coulier continued to make regular television appearances as the host of shows like America's Funniest People, Animal Kidding and America's Most Talented Kid. He continues to tour the US and Canada as a stand-up comedian, and recently Coulier launched a youth-oriented comedy website, cleanguys.TV.[citation needed] As mentioned; his debut was the Scooby & Scrappy Doo show followed by Things Are Tough All Over as man with tongue. The Little Mermaid The Series as Moray The Eel is his DTVA debut. The Jadagrace Show is his most recent credit. He has 46 acting credits, 32 self credits and producer, directed, wrote and composed Can't Get Arrested. He is also the vampire as well. The Werewolf is Frank Welker and the Viking is April Winchell by the way. So the vampire goes all evil with the eyes as the Viking and Werewolf are scared to death. Geez; even Dewey isn't this bad as vampire proclaims that he will teach Sigmund the tricks of the trade and it will help him not embarrass the netherworld; as they will scare the ducks in their sleep where they cannot escape and they will not live past morning as he laughs badly like all lame monsters in this show. Lots of bats fly as we zoom out to an outside shot of the mansion with more laughter and that ends the segment 11 minutes in. Wow; that was a whole lot of nothing so far.
After the commercial break; we see Dewey walking out of the mansion blowing off the nephews and Donald for not believing him and wipes his hands clean of responsibly for this mess. And then we bring back the dumbest plot device I have seen since Time Is Money Part Four: Dewey's conscience; which is basically a ghost Dewey with angel wings. He blames Dewey because his "loving family" (Riiiigggghhhhtttt conscience?!) had enough of his pranks for years. Years?! In Ducktales; LOUIE was the prankster. Again; if Louie was the one doing the prankster; this makes sense. This show should be required viewing for that punk brat who wants to see the Skylanders do a crossover so they can curb stomp My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic; because this is exactly what the writers and Toby are doing with this show. Dewey blows off his conscience for being annoying and then we get probably the best part of the episode: Dewey's conscience grabs Dewey and turns into HELL CONSCIENCE OF DEATH. Now this little curb stomping I have zero problems with. So the hellish conscience pounds Dewey into the ground and orders him to go back and protect his family no matter the cost and then throws him into the tree and Dewey takes a really good bump off of that. That was AWESOME! This might save the episode from a DUD now. Might. The hell conscience is voiced by Frank Welker by the way. And is it just me; of have the tombstones on the road migrated to the mansion now since I see a lot of them inside the property now. So we cut to a shot of something that I do not care about and it goes nowhere anyway as we pan up to see Donald putting on his green striped nightgown and hat. So we do the eyes in the painting spot which is basically a shot of a werewolf in purple gear who is female with a puppy wolf. Oooookkkkaaayyyy. Behind the painting we see Vampire telling Sigmund to scare Donald out of his wits by taking the form of an international object. Of course he has the worst accent ever because it sounds like Dumptruck's accent, only Dumptruck is a much better character and he was DUMBER than this loser. Ponder that one for a while.
So Sigmund is confused and then gets pushed through the eyes in a neat spot and bounces onto the bed. Vampire should know by now that Donald is use to objects screwing with his mind as shown in Captain Donald; so he's going to assume that it's either Dewey, or the LAW OF SCREWJOBS~! Which will make him more ANGRY than scared. Sigmund turns into purple bedsheets and Donald is still yawning and not noticing a thing despite making eye contact on him twice before finally grabbing the covers and dozing off. Vampire calls it the old bed spread trick which should retire until they come up with better designs. These monster designs are so uninspired; they make Monster Mash the cartoon look like the most original designs on the planet. So Dewey sneaks in to check on Donald and then the bed spread lifts into the air and Dewey leaves. This seems so contrived because it appears that the bed spread lifted after Dewey closed the door. Then Dewey catches himself; opens the door and screams. He then grabs the conveniently placed RIC FLAIR BROOMSTICK OF DOOM and whacks at Sigmund which goes right through him. HAHA! I'll give the writers this much; they have done a better job with the logic of the ghost which is more than I can say for this series in general. Sigmund floats away allowing Dewey to MURDER Donald in the ass with the broom and give us the oversell from Donald Duck. HAHA! Donald is PISSED and kicks Dewey out of the room off-screen and destroys the broom which the pieces go flying over Dewey's head and miss him by a mile. BS&P RULEZ~! Dewey is not amused by this. I beg to differ; Donald being pissed off is his best gimmick! So we head to a room with a SWANK carpet as the nephews are sleeping together in one sleeping bag. And you thought co-habitation with Scrooge and Goldie was creepy?! We pan northwest slowly as the bookshelf swings open from the wall and it's the werewolf who is wearing the eyeglass piece to indicate that he is a British stereotype.
So he practices the fine art of not being seen and hides behind the curtains right in front of the nephews who are asleep. So the werewolf closes the sleeping bag (oh lord...) and drags them away outside into the hallway as Dewey is just standing there looking smug at his nephews in the sleeping bag. Yeah; this is such a loving family. NOT! Dewey then catches himself when he notices the UK Werewolf and we give chase down the stairs and do the spot from Ducks By Nature where they run stage left off-screen, do the off-screen bump; then run in the opposite direction stage right, then to the left again. Rinse, lather, repeat. At least Huey and Louie are selling the bumps off the stairs this time. Dewey sliding down the rail is not as cool as Kit; but it will do as Werewolf barely makes it to the stairs punch drunk as Dewey is upstairs with the fake sleeping bag because there is no wiggling present. So Dewey plays along and the Werewolf screams in his face to create more windbags; but no heat still. So Dewey lets him grab the bag and Werewolf goes down stairs to the dungeon and opens it wanting to scare six sticks of TNT which is lit. Ummmm; yeah. And it explodes off-screen of course as we cut back to Dewey on the steps. Wonder if there was a Toon Disney snip beforehand? Don't care; this episode is dull and boring as Dewey goes behind the love seat and drags the real sleeping bag and foolishly opens it. Yeah; the nephews are pissed and pin him against the wall. Dewey slips out and backs up trying to plea his case; no go. Dewey then drops down the stairs and takes some decent shots to the head on the way down as the nephews blow him off and storm out. Dewey then does the Gruffi pose and sits on the front of the stairs; blowing off the nephews and Donald as he is done with them. Then a thunderclap ensues and Dewey runs like a scalded duck into a suit of armor which is only about 10 feet away from him. Yawn.
So we head back to the bedroom where Donald sleeps as the Viking is going to show Sigmund the ropes now. I just realized something and we will never admit this despite the fact that we know that it's true: This lame Viking character and April Winchell's voice were the prototype for Helga Magnumson for Kick Buttowski some 14 years later. No amount of denial can stop this line of evidence. So Sigmund bails through a closet as the viking goes over to Donald and in one of those moments that makes me see flashes of TaleSpin's daring beckons: Viking takes her head off her shoulder and the neck shoots flames out of it. INCREDIBLE! BS&P completely missed it too! This alone makes the viking the best monster design of the lot because at least this appears to be original. Donald wakes up and sees her; and then blows it off thinking that it's Dewey again; only this time it makes SENSE since this trick looks like something Dewey would do at least. Viking then jumps on the bed and wakes Donald again getting in his face proclaiming that she is trying to teach Sigmund some lessons in scaring; but Donald blows that off. So Huey and Louie run in and call for Donald as they think it's Dewey again. So Huey and Louie want to MURDER the Dewmeister and they run in the out of nowhere coat rack and mirror. Oh lord; here we go again with the same old crap from Heavy Dental AGAIN! And would anyone be surprised that the viking falls for it like Agent X did? Did I mention that the nephews are actually wearing pants and ties instead of their usual outfits; and of course they made zero effort to make it look original; and it's basically the same outfits; only the shorts are pants? And people consider TALESPIN a rush job? Heaven forbid! So they tie up the viking with the MEASURING TAPE OF DOOM and the viking is getting more and more pissed off by the second.
And we cut to a shot of a suit of armor as Dewey is inside and then we see Vampire's yellow eyes inside the suit with Dewey and Dewey runs out like a Scooby Doo character stage right. The Vampire pops out of the helmet proclaiming that he has not lost his touch...of suck. So we head back to the bedroom as we get one of the most offensive moments in this series...and with Grumps around; that covers A LOT OF GROUND as the nephews grab a straight jacket (which is blue to match Dewey's color) and then Donald takes and wraps it around the viking. Well; this moment flushes any good graces I ever had in this episode as Dewey runs in and does a neat Krillian running on the walls spot before stuffing himself like a basketball inside a trash bucket. HA! The nephews pull him out and tease murdering him and then they get the LIGHT BULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY. Yeah; they snap back to being scared again faster than they did when Dewey pranked them with the fog machine and projector. Seriously! Another contrived and forced spot in a series of them as Viking breaks out of her bondage and she is pissed off at Donald. The nephews all stammer like idiots and here comes Vampire calling them all doomed as the lamest monsters in the history of DTVA assemble and act not scary at all. To GeoX: This is why the Ducky Horror Picture Show was much better than you think it was. They stalk the four dumbasses and that ends the segment 17 and a half minutes in. Well; this episode is not good at all.
After the commercial break; we get more stalking as the babyfaces push through the stone wall and somehow make it crumble. Yeah; this episode is sucking badly, you surprised at this?! So we do the chase as they head to the door; but Sigmund blocks it and his booing still sucks like crap. Vampire shows up out of nowhere and growls at them and we run off stage right. Donald gets WARNERED from the conveniently placed trapdoor for no reason other than to give the nephews more screen time to push the crappy button. So the nephews run in the hallway and Huey and Louie's pants are shorts again in case anyone cares. So the nephews run for a while and then stop in front of three pillars with strange statues on them; which is basically the telegraph to have their heads making sucky faces behind the pillar to fool the monsters and it works to perfection as usual because these kids are the main event and burying them in spite of their suck factor would kill the show. But then Sigmund notices that this is a trick and whistles everyone back. If this episode didn't suck so much; this would be funny. So we do some more chasing that has been done hundreds of times better in Scooby Doo and Richard Merwin writing Ducktales. And then they back the nephews against the wall as somehow; the pants and tie have returned to Huey and Louie for no reason at all. The monsters all come in for the kill; but then they stop and do a Scooby Doo spot (Scooby embraces Shaggy spot times three!) as apparently; there is the conveniently place mouse hole that wasn't there on the far shot. Sigh. The mouse comes out and the monsters all bail stage left to go after Donald. That's right folks; they can scare ducks; but they are scared by a little mouse. If only he was the Aussie Stereotype because Mr. Supermouse is always a major fear when it comes to the quality of Rescue Ranger episodes. So Dewey grabs the mouse and proclaims that he'll show those monsters what a real prankster can do. Ooookkkkaaayyyy...
So we head to the basement as Donald has the candle light and apparently he's in the cellar which is the exact same place they were when they walked INTO this house earlier! Great; now this house makes no sense. So we walk for a while and then another neat spot is wasted as we discover that the candlelight is Sigmund and his booing has gotten a lot better. HA! I guess Vampire isn't so useless after all. Donald runs to the stairs to the door; but it's locked and Donald bangs on it as the other monster block all ways of escape and do their grandstanding stuff about how they are going to get this mortal and make him learn the true meaning of fear. By watching Fanboy & Chum Chum? AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Oh come on guys! You knew that one was coming a mile away. They are ready to "scare" Donald out of his "wits" (because these monsters cannot scare a mouse inside a house; and Donald's wits came to an end in Pride Goeth Before The Fall Guy); but here comes the nephews to push the crappy button once again. Yeap; they are wearing the costumes Donald bought them and the monsters instantly get frightened and I am gagging seeing this because it just reinforces the notion that being cute is disgusting and wrong. SCREW YOU CUDEN! You should have just done the big ass rat shadow finish and got it over with. This is so repulsive as one of the nephews goes boo; which is Louie and the monsters all run like Scooby Doo which is fitting because this is a Z-grade Scooby Doo episode done by a company who should be above such things; but then again, Steve Cuden thinks he can channel Richard Merwin. It works even less than when Merwin does it. So the monster run above Donald and break down the door as we get the contrived explanation that monsters are hideous and hate cute things. Please lord; TAKE ME NOW!
So we continue this BS with the outside door and we get more cute spots which make me gag. Not because they aren't cute and all; but because we are supposed to buy that these monsters are so insecure that they would hate this and flee. Hell; if they hate this stuff; they would KILL them; not RUN AWAY from them. GOD!! Trick-or-Treat spot with the door, the "I love you" spot, and Donald acting like a baby which is only slightly less of a failure than Scrooge as a baby in Super Ducktales Part Four. Barney and his pack of lawyers must be thinking about a lawsuit at this point; if anyone cared about this show and now are only watching it as adults to spite the new Disney. The monsters then give up and burst into flames; except for Sigmund who blows this off because he was getting the hang of it. Now you need to learn to overcome your fear of cute things like Huey is at some point getting over his out of nowhere fear of clowns. Yeah. So everyone is feeling relieved; until Vampire reappears and proclaims that he's taking the house with him and wishes them a nice day before disappearing for good. Heh; why not? So the house begins to rumble and everyone gets out of the house through the front door as the nephews have their normal outfits again. They run down and away from the property as the house has the green smoke effect, thunderclap and tombstones sinking into hell before the entire house sinks into hell with it and then burps. That was the second best bit of the episode; next to Dewey's conscience curb stomping Dewey. And of course Dewey hasn't learned anything at all as he goes into his cocky self which happens with every nephew as the nephews and Donald get into his face about it and Dewey has to concede defeat for this one. And we head onto the road as the sun is rising and Dewey is stuck in the front seat with a seatbelt on with the big ass tow truck driver who is driving the big ass tow truck towing the RV with the rest of the "babyfaces" on it. Okay; this is fine as Dewey sulks about being blamed again and since we don't see the tow truck driver's face; at first I thought it was the Viking; but it changes to Sigmund who apparently is still in this world somehow and he absolutely makes Dewey oversell as he bangs on the windows for help as the trio clearly sees him and blows him off anyway. So this is Dewey's punishment? Okay; I don't care anymore as tow truck drives slowly away from a farm and that mercifully ends the episode at 21:03. Dull, boring, heatless with a crappy finish and an ending with no heat as usual. There were a few awesome bits; but the whole storyline was contrived and forced. And the wrong nephew was used as this pretty much buried Dewey as the best nephew of the show. What is Toby Shelton obsession with burying Ducktales? Jealousy much there sir? 1/4 * (5%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; another Quack Pack episode flushed down the drain by stupidity and insipidity. To be fair; the animation was fine for the most part and most of the logic breaks were minor ones; but the rest of this was dull, boring and heatless. I called half of the spots a minute before they happened and the whole Scooby Doo feel was so contrived and forced that it wasn't funny. Even Richard Merwin on his worst day can write better material than this episode. None of the heels had the heat to warm a bagel and I didn't care because we have seen this a million times before and done better. Also; having Dewey being the prankster would have been fine; if kids were stupid enough not to notice in Ducktales that Louie was the prankster of the group and this episode would have been a field day for him. Plus; he's the worst nephew of the three in this show; so that would have made the finish and ending work a lot better in the long run. But no; it had to be the best nephew of the three (I know this doesn't mean much; but still) so Dewey gets effectively buried as a result. The monsters were totally lame and uninspired; only the Viking with the shooting flames out of her neck when the head comes off was interesting and Sigmund would have been fun; if he wasn't a total heel in the process since the writers were clearly shooting for a homage to Casper. Besides the Viking; Dewey's conscience is the best part of the episode and he only got a minute of airtime; but was the most over in the entire episode when he kicked Dewey's ass for abandoning his "loving family". Those were the only two spots that were awesome and there were a few funny bits; but otherwise, nothing of note. And the finish was repulsive to me because I am still mad that writers are still pissing on cute characters. This is something you would see from fans who want to see My Little Pony die a horrible death; not from professional writers who should KNOW better than if a monster sees something as cute it wouldn't run away; it would kill them. This is to date the worst Halloween episode ever and I think even Monster Mash 2000 is better than this. So the next weekend of episodes are The Germinator, Duck Quake, and Koi Story which will bring us to the halfway point of this series. Germinator sounds interesting, and the other two I'm not sure of and is ready to be surprised. So........
Thumbs down for this episode and I'll see you next time.