Ever since the 2010 decade, Disney has run out of originality with many unnecessary reboots and remakes of their beloved films and T.V. shows. In 2017, however, the company made a bold move by rebooting one of their most beloved Disney Afternoon classics, “DuckTales,” for a new audience on Disney Channel and Disney XD. Surprising many people, both the old and new generation since 2017, “DuckTales” has proven that the worst of messes become successes.

In a similar structure to its 1987 counterpart, “DuckTales” follows triples Hubert, Dewford, and Llewelyn (also known as Huey, Dewey, and Louie) who start living with their incredibly wealthy uncle, Scrooge McDuck (voiced by Dr. Who himself, David Tennant) and embark on crazy adventures. 

Along their quack-filled journeys, they are tagged along by Scrooge’s employees like his goofball pilot Launchpad McQuack, housekeeper Mrs. Beakley, formerly Agent 22, and her energetic yet equally adventurous granddaughter Webby Vanderquack. With the help of Donald and Della Duck, each episode centers around their quests and defeating foes that last entire seasons.

Many people, especially those who grew up in the 1980s and 90s, had worried about how this reboot was going to change the direction of the stories and characters for the worse. Once “DuckTales” made its premiere exactly three decades later on Disney XD, many things were praised by audiences alike about how well the series excellently reintroduced the characters with better designs and personalities on top of a nice update to the iconic ear-worm that is the theme song sung by Felicia Barton.

Even though I had some knowledge about the classic series and seen some episodes, I can’t say that the characters or their stories were all that enthralling or even memorable. In fact, the only things I vividly remembered about the original were the theme song and original performances done by the late Alan Young and Russi Taylor.

The reboot did a great job at not only making the story and Scrooge more interesting but the triplets as well. In the classic series, Huey, Dewey, and Louie didn’t have much to offer in terms of their personalities. Many people could argue that the triplets were practically the same character, minus the color of their caps and shirts. The reboot on the other hand, is very self-aware of this issue and makes all three unique in their voices and traits. 

Huey (voiced by “Community” cast member Danny Pudi) is portrayed to be organized and hard-working by following his Junior Woodchuck GuideBook in every situation. Dewey (voiced by the latest Sonic the Hedgehog, Ben Schwartz) is portrayed to be adventurous, brave, spiritual, and full of emotions especially in the first two seasons where he questions the disappearance of his mom, Della. Louie (voiced by former SNL star Bobby Moynihan) is portrayed to be a lazy, care-free, self-conceited schemer who mainly shows up where money or gold is involved. 

Much like “Gravity Falls” and other shows Disney had made recently, “DuckTales” is full of great qualities for all audiences. There are some good slapstick jokes for the kids, great bonds and stories for the teens, and very witty dialogue for the adults that will go over children’s heads. On top of that, some episodes feature callbacks, references, and even cameos from the previous series and other shows from the Disney Afternoon like “Darkwing Duck,” “Talespin,” “Chip n’ Dale’s Rescue Rangers,” and “Goof Troop,” a personal favorite of mine.

So far, the show has been doing a great job at building suspense, mystery, and heart throughout its run especially with Della’s return and the invasion of the Moonlanders in Season 2 and the organization of F.O.W.L. in Season 3. I’m also glad that the reboot incorporates Donald and Della as main and supporting characters status which is something that the original failed to do. I honestly can’t wait to see where the third season goes even though it is ending this year. 

For a show that’s been doing well as a reboot, Disney Channel has decided that the third season will be it’s last with a proper finale sometime in 2021. This was confirmed by an employee on the show, Drew Taylor on his Twitter back on December 1, 2020. In my opinion, it feels too soon to end this reboot especially since many people have claimed it to be better than the 1987 classic series. 

On that same day, Alexander L. made a petition to the Walt Disney Company on Change.org for the show to be renewed for a fourth season, and currently, there are only a little over 100 signatures left to reach its 15,000 signature goal. If Disney were to notice this, then maybe we could have at the very least, one more season as there are still so many stories and characters to be unfolded in Duckburg. 

Up to right now, the reboot has a perfect 100% Rotten Tomatoes score and 8.2/10 on IMDb which is extremely rare for reboots, in general, to come by. Most of the time, a reboot will fail to capture the spirit of the original while having its own identity like “Teen Titans Go!”

“DuckTales” on the other hand is not just a great reboot, but a great family show and while I hate to see it go this year, I will always treasure it literally in the waves of Scrooge’s money bin.