Other Doctor Lives: DuckTales: Season 1, Episode 1 – “Woo-oo!” (2017)

Granted, I already have dozens of Peter Capaldi and Jodie Whittaker reviews on file, thanks to Capaldi Fall and Countdown to Thirteen, but I’m finding that of the modern Doctors, David Tennant definitely has the most easily-accessible work out there. We’re settling in for another long project here, as Tennant starred as a certain miserly duck on all three seasons of this rebooted animated series.

In dire babysitting straits, Donald Duck turns to his estranged Uncle Scrooge to watch his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. The boys are enamored with the idea of the adventurous, globe-trotting billionaire, but when they’re actually dropped off at Scrooge’s mansion, they’re not impressed with the cranky old miser before them. However, the boys are nothing if not tenacious, and they’re bound and determined to get an adventure out of this one way or another.

I remember watching the old DuckTales series as a kid, though I’d forgotten the angle of Scrooge McDuck being an explorer/adventurer. Makes sense—you’d need a way to bring in some action and excitement—but my lasting childhood memories of Scrooge are more from the Mickey Mouse Christmas Carol version. The pilot episode is amusing if flimsy, full of fast-talking clips and slapdash action.

My take on the double-length premiere episode is “fine but unremarkable,” but I’m definitely prepared to see more. For one, my brother and sister-in-law have been recommending it to me for a while, and they’ve mentioned that the show improves a lot as it goes on. And second, the voice cast is made up of a fine group of actors.

Starting with our trio, we’ve got Danny Pudi as Huey, Ben Schwartz as Dewey, and Bobby Moynihan as Louie. I can tell that the show is laying groundwork to establish each of their separate personalities (Dewey, for example, appears to be the ringleader,) but the casting immediately helps to distinguish between them, as all three actors have very distinct voices. I couldn’t place the actress voicing Webby, the spunky granddaughter of Scrooge’s housekeeper, at first, but I knew I recognized her voice. She’s played by Kate Micucci, who I’ve seen all over the place but who I remember best as “the Gooch” on Scrubs. Additionally, the always-welcome Beck Bennett voices Launchpad McQuack, and I’ve talked enough with my brother and sister-in-law to know about some of the many guest stars who will be appearing in future episodes.

Then, of course, there’s David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck. Again, my memories of Scrooge from my childhood are spotty at best, but he’s enjoyable in the role. I know Tennat’s done quite a bit of voiceover work, which certainly tracks—I’ve always loved the Doctor Who audiobooks he’s read. Here, he’s well-suited as a curmudgeonly homebody who’s far from his swashbuckling glory days, with enough of a glint in his vocal performance that you can see the explorer he used to be and could become again. Tennant brings a casual feel to the comedy that comes off well—I enjoy his matter-of-fact delivery on lines like, “Maybe I could just hire some family. Then they’d have to listen to me.”

Accent Watch

Absolutely Scottish.

Recommend?

In General – So far, a “sure, why not?” for kids, but I wouldn’t go that far for adults yet. We’ll see how it progresses.

David Tennant – A maybe for now. Tennant’s performance is fun, but there’s not a whole lot to it yet.

Warnings

A little violence, maybe a few scares for kids, and some “don’t try this at home.”