Other Doctor Lives: DuckTales: Season 1, Episode 8 – “The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!” (2017)

Cute episode. An intrepid adventurer like Scrooge was going to be visiting a pyramid at some point, and naturally, that means mummies! Well, sort of.

Scrooge and the kids explore the pyramid of the legendary pharaoh Toth-Ra. Dewey’s hopes of finding mummies on their expedition are fulfilled, but not in the way he was expecting. Instead of mummies of the Boris Karloff variety, they discover the living descendants of the pharaoh’s servants, who’ve been living inside the pyramid for millennia and toiling on behalf of the king they worship.

I enjoy the idea of “living mummies,” both as a general concept of a preserved society cut off from civilization and as a twist on the more usual horror trope. This allows for some fun character opportunities as the main cast interacts with the servants. I like Dewey’s utter delight at the discovery of the mummies, as well as his crushing disappointment when he realizes they’re not the actual walking dead, and it’s fun to watch Huey’s increasing impatience at having his scientific knowledge questioned by people whose perspective of the world hasn’t been updated in a couple thousand years.

It’s a good episode for Louie and Webby, who get separated from the group and then clash as they have very different approaches to dealing with their situation. Rather like the dichotomy between Huey and Dewey in the last episode, Webby is a rule-follower while Louie tends to follow the shortest path to his own gratification. But despite the similar odd-couple setup, their overall dynamic is different than Huey and Dewey’s. Webby uses her obsessively-encyclopedic knowledge to examine her surroundings and draw up a logical plan—I love, “Basic rule of treasure-hunting: if it might be cursed, don’t touch it!” Straightforward but practical! Meanwhile, Louie is totally vibing with the treasure hoard they’ve discovered, sees no need to plan anything in advance, and relies on his hustle to get him out of any given complication. His own mantra is, “As long as you can talk, you can talk your way out.” I like seeing them butt heads before (of course) learning to work together.

As for Scrooge, let’s just say he’s better suited to cracking codes, evading booby traps, and dodging curses in uninhabited pyramids, so dealing with the living mummies aren’t exactly in his wheelhouse. “We’re just used to the mummies in the pyramids being, well, dead,” he explains, as politely as he’s able. This already starts him off on the wrong foot, and when he’s not able to take charge in the way that he’s used to, that leaves him pretty curmudgeonly. I love David Tennant’s cranky delivery of, “This is the dumbest rebellion I have ever been part of.”

Also? The Scottishness is cranked up to eleven here. Not only does Scrooge refer to the kids as “bairns,” he also utters the exclamation, “bless me bagpipes.” You love to see it!