Welcome to Duckverse – DuckTales Season Two Review

Introductory words

The first season of the new Disney Channel Duck Tales was stunning. It was evident that the creators were trying to fit the story to modern times, and the old heroes turned out to be much more fun or “life-like”. In the background we had two intertwined stories: a treasure hunt and a family drama related to the mother of the nephews. What was done with Season Two? Everything good from the first season was multiplied. The on-screen duck world has expanded with new characters, has had two very interesting recurring storylines, and has also given viewers a lot of cute family duckling moments.

What exactly is the second season about?

We can distinguish two plot threads. The first revolves around the mother of the major triplets, Della Ducks, and her efforts to get off the moon. At first, this is not a funny story at all, but quite a painful encounter with the drama of a mother who works day and night to return to Earth to her children. Unlike the first season, which built a mysterious story around Scrooge’s biggest enemy – Magiki De Czar – the main story of the second season, while still very enjoyable, doesn’t really exceed my expectations. The lunar history is predictable, but it is not about who will attack and who will be the main antagonist, but how strong the duck family is. It is about how much love Donald had for his nephews, about Della growing up to the role of a responsible mother,

Who will inherit the inheritance? This is a question that many ducklings have been asking themselves since the dawn of time. Therefore, we have a second storyline this season and the story of Zyzia Kaczor. On the surface, Zyziek seems to be a relaxed character, but also very greedy and cynical at times. A Scottish relative notices a talent for business in his great-cousin and wants to make him his successor. It will not be easy, as the young drake will often take shortcuts. When he manages to become for a moment someone more powerful than his older relative, he begins to be guided by the impulse of the moment and the lack of prudence. Zyziek is undoubtedly the most important of the nephews in the second season. Although last year the first violin was rather played by Dyzio with his willingness to solve family secrets,

We explore not only the treasury, but also other heroes …

The first episodes of 2017 opened the gates to a whole new world of ducks, filled with other characters from the classic Disney animated series. The second season tries to follow this path and introduces us to brand new characters, but also explores the stories of those who didn’t have much to say. In this way, we get a slightly goofy, but also mysterious story of Bytie Mortadela, also known as Granit Forsant. For the first time, this iconic enemy of Scrooge is depicted as Bur. In the 1987 version, due to the prevailing apartheid policy in South Africa, Disney could not be presented as a representative of a community supporting racial segregation. In addition, the second richest duck in the world proves at every step that it deserves the name of archnemesiswhich – as it turns out – is assigned to the Magician … It disturbs Forsant a lot. Bytie Mortadela shows his hellish intentions, going so far as to try to kill Scrooge and create his own rogue family (without the witch of Vesuvius, of course).

Mark Dziobs has also undergone a minor evolution. There were also new opponents, including the third richest billionaire Howard Kwakerfeller, and the main leader of the inhabitants of outer space. However, I would like to pay the most attention to opponents of Darkwing Duck. This hero is not very well known in Poland, but he made his debut this season in all its glory, and with him his villains such as Negaduck, or the sinister FLOW agency with its iconic agent, the Steel Beak. Although the organization associating much more powerful opponents than the Be Brothers or Magika De Czar appears literally for a few seconds, we already know that it will play a large role in the third season. Maybe they want to kill the duck family to destabilize the world economy by eliminating the biggest financial shark? We will certainly have to wait a little longer for the answer to this question. Another surprising debut among the “zloty” was Fantomen. This dark opponent of Mickey Mouse already appeared in the first version of Duck Tales. Now he will also fight ducks.

What about these positive characters? There are also many of them. We have Donald’s former colleagues from the trio of Tres Caballeros, the debut of the eccentric Beak, or Bubbe – a prehistoric caveman and the ancestor of the Scrooge. There are also completely new characters, such as Tasi’s purple friend, who is a specialist in paranormal matters. There are also references to Mickey Mouse. In addition to the mentioned Fantomen, we can hear how the vice president of the Forsant Consortium says the name “Myszgród”, and Donald himself has an unusual meeting with his mouse friend. This is just the tip of the mountain of references to other Disney series and comics. Did I mention Zombi Bombie already?

But is everything for children?

The new season of Duck Tales is an even greater tribute to older viewers who remember the first version from the late 1980s. In the final battle during the space skirmish, you hear the familiar theme from DuckTales, and more precisely from the level played on the moon. Also, Donald admits for the first time that he is a sailor – which was one of the themes of the original series.

Throughout the second season, there is also a lot of absurd joke pulled from popular animation for adults. Anyway, the line style in which the series is created is modeled on animations for adults, as I mentioned when reviewing the first season. The very scene of the joyful and dancing Forsant after the death of his opponent can strongly hit our sense of morality. Some scenes also seem much more brutal in places. Is something like that we would like to see in the series for the little ones? Well, maybe not necessarily on a TV show for kids under 7.

Summary

What’s wrong here? Well, there are episodes (including the season finale itself) where the creators try to fit as many characters as possible in twenty minutes. It actually misses the point, because none of the heroes has too much time to showcase their abilities. Sometimes the plot of some episodes loses the main plot after the first five minutes.

Nevertheless, these are only minor stumbles. We still receive a timeless story about a duck family that has to be faced with contemporary realities. Duck Tales is a story that connects generations and reaches viewers of all ages, thanks to sloppy family moments, deep character analysis and bizarre humor. I can certainly recommend you the next season of adventures of Scrooge and his family.