EPISODES 21-30
Darkwing Duck, Tuskernini and Launchpad in Adopt-A-Con
21.
Adopt-A-Con Episode 31 November 7, 1991 Animation: Sunwoo Animation Darkwing has Tuskernini arrested for bank robbery. The next day, while trying to rid himself of the Muddlefoots door to door selling, Drake unknowingly signs up to the Adopt-A-Con Program, which legally binds him to taking a convicted criminal into his home. Drake ends up having to provide room and board for Tuskernini. The episode takes a very dim view on unsolicited, door to door charity canvassing. The central idea of the Adopt-A-Con program is so far fetched and yet presented in such a blasé manner, it seems weirdly believable. By the show’s own ending it is actually proven to work, to which Drake questions the consequences. As mentioned before, thespian villain Tuskernini is the perfect adversary for Darkwing Duck's stories of deception. The opening scene, in a courtroom, sets the full out farcial tone. The fast paced dialogue and consistent stream of jokes gets the viewer immediately involved. Darkwing is so agitated by Tuskernini from the very beginning that we can’t wait to see his short fuse explode. He is skeptical of the villain throughout, at one point even spying on him, while dressed as a yodel climber. The episode takes a most interesting turn in the final third when we see the Mallard household posing as a crime gang. Drake, Gosalyn and Launchpad give the worst performances of their lives to a gullible Tuskernini. There is great satisfaction in watching various characters keeping secrets from one another and inevitably becoming exposed, which thematically ties the episode. Symbolically, at one point we actually see a skeleton in Tuskernini’s closet. There are many great scenes, including one in which Launchpad must return to a judge with an ever escalating amount of bail money, as Gosalyn continues to help Darkwing break out of prison. Tuskernini also unexpectedly performs poor impersonations of both Megavolt and Bushroot, in subpar costumes. The moment Drake attempts to burn his contract, as the judge reads out the clause on burning it, is also very funny. The most amusing visual joke in the episode has Drake, held hostage in a Dog Day Afternoon style bank robbery, leaving his kidnapper and crawling across a jungle and desert landscape in order to pose as Darkwing with the police team outside. It is done repeatedly and he always manages to get there just in time. Even funnier is that the vast desert he passes ends abruptly in front of the bank! We also see a scene on Pelican’s Island which provides a clever analogy for the events unfolding in the Mallard household: A grumpy Skipper is devoured by a visiting giant sea monster. 
Teenage Darkwing Duck and Megavolt in Clash Reunion
22.
Clash Reunion Episode 88 November 14, 1992 Animation: Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. Drake is invited to his high school reunion. In high school, Drake was a social outcast. It was here that Drake became Darkwing and fought Megavolt at their senior prom. Realising Megavolt is his former classmate, Elmo Sputterspark, Drake expects the villain will also be in attendance. The most emotionally resonant of the ABC season 2 episodes. The portrayal of Drake Mallard as “Drake the Dweeb” here and the constant school bullying appears to have been something of a jumping off point for the Darkwing Duck starring Ducktales 2017 episode The Duck Knight Returns. The episode begins by recounting the events of Drake and Elmo’s time at high school. It shows Drake’s roots as an investigative crime fighter. While his voice over remembers these events nostalgically, on screen we see that these were not great times for him, and less so for Elmo Sputterspark. A tortured science genius with a potentially bright (excuse the pun) future, his entire unfortunate existence as Megavolt was the product of bullying. What separates Drake from Elmo is that the former found success and acceptance as Darkwing Duck, even though it was under a mask. Elmo Sputterspark never moved on from high school. School bullies Ham String and Prina Lott are completely unlikable, both as teenagers and as adults with a charmed life. The scene in which Drake is unmasked before his cackling fellow students at the reunion is genuinely heartbreaking, with a heightened sense of anxiety. It also shows how much of a crutch the mask and superhero identity has been to Drake throughout his crime fighting career. Especially painful is how Drake tolerates the inevitable bullying of Ham and Prina when he arrives at the reunion, knowing that he is fully socially accepted as Darkwing Duck. The idea that his superhero identity compensates his toxic interactions as Drake makes it tragic when it is taken away from him. Of course, this is rectified at the end. This episode was released in 1992, and a banner above the school reunion is emblazoned with the year 1972, clearly their year of graduation. The 1970s flashback setting is full of period details, from the hair styles to the bell bottom trousers and mirrorballs by way of glam rock band Megawatt, who have an amusing interaction with the villain. When we see Drake appear as Darkwing for the first time, he wears the same attire as concept artist Bob Kline provided for the show’s initial development artwork. Megavolt’s misremembering the season during a flashback transition is inventively done. There’s also a lovely moment where we see a close up of a lump in the villain’s throat when Darkwing appears at the reunion. Amusingly at one point, Megavolt refers to Darkwing with a thinly disguised pop culture reference “those meddling kids and their nosey dog”. Dr. Slug’s glue warehouse is the setting for a finale that makes a point about its hero not being defined by a mask. 
Darkwing Duck tied down by Camille the Chameleon in Calm A Chameleon
23.
Calm A Chameleon Episode 73 November 2, 1991 Animation: Walt Disney Animation (Japan) Inc. Shapeshifting villain, Camille the Chameleon, is stealing printing plates and ink to forge money. Honker is being bullied at school, so Darkwing takes him aside and hands him the Darkwing Duck Assertiveness Training Course. Counterfeit money production, Honker’s identity crisis and a chameleonic villain all fit together with unified satisfaction. This is a really tightly written episode with a resonant theme about the importance of being yourself. The fascinating part about Camille is that she is a mirror character to Honker; a bullied, high school outcast with a huge talent for science. Unlike Honker, she was defeated by her identity crisis, and became a reptilian villain. Honker on the other hand, saves the day by being himself. Darkwing summarises this in the closing moment of the episode, only for Gosalyn to comment on the hypocriscy of superhero identity. This leaves Darkwing lost for words and unable to compose a reply. It’s brilliant genre satire. Honker’s identity crisis, prompted by the advice in Darkwing Duck’s Assertiveness Training Course, turns him into a 1950s biker called Spec; a pint-sized version of Marlon Brando in the Wild One. There is a dramatic moment where Camille takes the form of a physically threatening, male bully, breaking Honker’s confident facade. There are themes of bullying in many Darkwing Duck episodes, and as with Battle of the Brainteasers and A Brush With Oblivion, these episodes show Honker as a pivotal character in the show. One of the most original elements of Camille is her ability to transform into people of any sex or age and even inanimate objects, including a mop that looks very similiar to the brooms from Disney’s Fantasia. Disney Japan’s animation is typically delightful. An inconsequential cliffhanger involving a train is well done. There are many instances of great visual gags, including Darkwing squished into newspaper supplementary material and Darkwing revealing a rubber chicken among his arsenal for no reason. Camille’s many transformations are handled with a perfect sense of energy. The music by Philip Giffin helps enhance the already well executed drama. 
Darkwing Duck, Gosalyn, Launchpad and Honker surreally rendered in A Brush with Oblivion
24.
A Brush with Oblivion Episode 77 November 30, 1991 Animation: Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) Pty, Limited Honker and Gosalyn’s artwork is being displayed a the St. Canard Museum. Honker notices a woman moving In a painting, but nobody will believe him. The woman then steals a gold statue which only Honker witnesses, and he is accused of the theft. He is grounded by his parents, but Gosalyn, who is the only person that believes Honker, sneaks him out of his house and back to the museum. There they meet the thief, who has the power to paint them into different genres of art and is also in desperate need to make more money by stealing the Mona Lisa. Another great episode in which Honker must stand up for himself, and also stand up for what is true. Honker is (excuse the pun) framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and nobody but Gosalyn believes him. She’s blamed as an influence. We hear the word truth repeated by Drake, the museum curator and by no less than the amusingly sassy voice of the Mona Lisa’s Smile later on. The episode also exposes the truth in how art reflects the mind of the artist, and the interpretation of the beholder, particularly in exposing pretensions. Drake’s own reading of Honkers painting, his decided understanding of subtext, shows great superiority, until Launchpad challenges him over the content of Gosalyn's own work. It also exposes the Muddlefoot’s bundled approach to parenting, as they blame Gosalyn and have no idea how to punish Honker, because of his evident clean track record. The villain, Splatter Pheonix, oddly never introduces herself or her unusual name, and is randomly identified by Honker midway through with no explanation. She speaks in highfalutin, waffly sentences but is paradoxically dressed like pop star Madonna in her early 1980s Lucky Star phase, wearing ankle warmers, fingerless gloves and a skirt over shorts. Once again, Darkwing believes himself to be more cultured than Launchpad, until he is caught out by Splatter Pheonix. There are three locations in the whole episode, and the art gallery especially is put to imaginative use. The visual storytelling is really efficient; at one point we see Honker in close up in a jail cell, and it transitions exactly to his bedroom. To realise a fine art themed episode, all hinges on the animation and artwork. Disney Australia really delivers with a vast amount of styles, from classical to abstract and surrealist to cubism and even a child’s drawing. The Mondrian sequence is a true sight to behold; this is some of the most experimental and exacting Disney animation from the late twentieth century. Amid this, we see weirdly respectful anthropomorphic animal versions of the paintings American Gothic and Washington Crossing the Delaware. There is as much educational value here as there are thrills and entertainment. Adding to the incredible visuals, the word play of the characters is equally delightful. From the villain's spicy dialogue to Darkwing exclaiming "Screw Loose, Lautrec". The teleportation and paint sound effect that takes Splatter Pheonix in and out of the paintings is otherworldly. 
Launchpad, Darkwing Duck, Gosalyn and Honker swap bodies in Trading Faces
25.
Trading Faces Episode 14 September 24, 1991 Animation: Sunwoo Animation After an electrical accident, Darkwing and Launchpad swap bodies with Gosalyn and Honker, while F.O.W.L. has stolen the Iggy space shuttle that can stop the world’s orbit, in order to hold the world at ransom. A body-swap episode with a thrilling spy movie plot that gives it immediacy and scale. The stakes are very high, as evil organisation FOWL and Steelbeak are stealing a space rocket and stopping the rotation of the planet Earth. It’s an assignment only solvable by the most experienced of professional spies, but made doubly more difficult for Darkwing, now stuck in a child’s body. The contrasting child/adult sized visual jokes are clever but never at the expense of plot. The pace is tremendous. There are two great sequences involving underage joyriding, firstly with Gosalyn tearing up the neighbourhood in her father’s car and child-sized Darkwing pulled over for riding the Ratcatcher. A live ransom video in which Steelbeak initially doesn’t realise he’s being recorded holds up very well decades later in an era of video conferencing. The entire ransom video is imaginatively executed exposition, in the style of a cooking show, as is the following SHUSH briefing. The zero gravity sequences have a strong sense of awe. The Iggy Rockets canyon setting, wedged between perpetual day and nighttime, adds a wondrous sense of spectacle. There’s a goosebump inducing moment when Steelbeaks metal mouth glints during Darkwing’s entrance. It also has one of the best wrap ups of the series. The music melds very well with this episode, especially the various military style marches. Steelbeak suggests the government should raise taxes in order to pay the $1 Trillion ransom. He then makes the aside “Like they need an excuse, right?”. The episode was written in 1990, at the time U.S. President George H.W. Bush broke his election pledge to not raise taxes. 
Darkwing Duck and Gizmoduck in Tiff of the Titans
26.
Tiff of the Titans Episode 72 October 26, 1991 Animation: Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) Pty, Limited Gizmoduck learns that the EGRIT will be presented at the St. Canard airshow, but FOWL are interested in obtaining it. He decides to drop in to St. Canard as his alias Fenton Crackshell to see his friend Launchpad. Darkwing is tracking down Steelbeak, who wants to convince Gizmoduck that Darkwing is a criminal. This is the episode that really interweaves Darkwing Duck with characters from the TV show it spun-off from, Ducktales. It begins in Duckburg with Gizmoduck, and moves to St. Canard, with Fenton Crackshell reunited with Launchpad McQuack. It’s a huge treat for fans of the Disney Afternoon. While Darkwing Duck creator Tad Stones has stated that the show is not in the same universe as Ducktales, it’s certainly the same world, albeit a highly caricatured interpretation. There is even a spoken and visual nod to Scrooge McDuck, without naming him. The episode is similarly about the strength in putting egos aside and working as a team. Gizmoduck is the Disney Duck superpowered Superman to Darkwing’s masked Batman. Fenton and Drake are similarly egotistical and neurotic, even if their alter egos are opposites. Their constant bickering, with Launchpad, failing to see the inherent complications, wedged between them, makes for great entertainment. The dialogue is delivered at Howard Hawks speed and sometimes the characters overlap when speaking in a complimentary manner. Fenton leaning on the Basil the Mouse Detective statue and unknowingly spinning the chairs next to him is fantastic physical comedy. The most curiously entertaining parts of the episode are some morbid references to violence in screen entertainment. Gosalyn and Honker are seen viewing ‘Nightmare on Pelicans Island’, where we hear the sound of a machete stabbing, with Honker and Gosalyn seeming mostly unaffected. There was discussion around this time about children being desensitised to violent movies. Later on, Darkwing and Gizmoduck discuss what they can see on a cinema screen, which is the tragic ending to the 1940s Disney classic Old Yeller. The various intelligence technology and hardware on display here is worthy of both the military and Wile E Coyote’s ACME products. These include the angular, long legged EGRIT (Experimental General Retalitary Transport), with its yolk bomb and the FOWL egg tanks. The episode is filled with noirish lighting and dramatic camera angles in interesting, large scale locations. The opening includes a dazzling cannon ball ride through a Duckburg valley. There is a thrilling set piece with a FOWL eggman posing as Darkwing atop a cinema. The glorious climax has the EGRIT trampling through the centre of St. Canard, featuring a falling statue of titan Atlas. We see Gizmoduck as part of a street parade and with the mayor in a key to the city ceremony on Drake’s TV. These would be given much more screen time in episode Let’s Get Respectable. Perfectly animated by Disney Australia. 
Launchpad and Darkwing Duck in Beauty and the Beet
27.
Beauty and the Beet Episode 3 September 9, 1991 Animation: Sunwoo Animation Darkwing narrates the origin story of Dr. Reginald Bushroot: a misunderstood research biologist at St. Canard University, ridiculed by his bullying coworkers. Bushroot is defended by Dr. Rhona Dendrum, whom he finds attractive. Under pressure from his money-conscious University Dean Tightbill, Bushroot decides to undertake an experiment of his own that transforms himself into a plant creature. He then seeks revenge on his tormentors. Darkwing Duck must stop him. A thoroughly entertaining origin story for supervillain Bushroot. It’s the tale of a bullied outsider by way of the Universal horror monster movies. Bushroot is both misunderstood as a person and antagonist, and his taste for revenge ultimately gets the better of him. We need to tolerate our enemies and not fall to their level, or as Launchpad summarises “You have to eat your vegetables but you don’t have to like them.” Propelling the drama is the the torture Bushroot endures from his co-workers. Doctors Gary and Larson are grotesquely childish, and as their names suggest, bare a fun likeness to the pear shaped scientists from Gary Larson’s comic series The Far Side. Dr. Rhona Dendrum’s sympathy for the underdog scientist and his attraction to her lends the episode some genuine heart. Bushroot’s plant based experiments are all in aid of nutrition, whereas Dr. Gary and Larson favour quantity. Before they meet their fate, the two are seen injecting a burger with a substance that allows it to physically grown in size. The episode was written during the development of genetically modified food, which was a topic for debate at the time. The best of the Bushroot episodes that channel the villain as a Dr. Frankenstein type creator character. There is a freshness to all of the plant based puns and a non-stop array of plant based creatures, from bowling pumpkins to giant, muscular trees. The jokes are quick fire and there is a cuteness to the design work, from the colourful floral setting to a violin playing lab rat and a robot with a toaster oven head. The imaginative rollercoaster sequence on a beanstalk is a thrilling series highlight. There is also a pleasing amount of dark humour. Dr. Dendrum tells Darkwing that Bushroot wouldn’t hurt a fly, but then describes an exact event in which he tore off a flys wings for an experiment. We also see a Duck anatomy skeleton in the university research laboratory. The case file wraparound used to narrate the episode helps the zippy pace, enhanced by Joel McNeely’s original energetic score. It is brassy, wall to wall and features unusual instrumental choices, such as a theremin, to give it a true retro horror movie feel. 
Herb Muddlefoot impresses a customer with Quackerware in Merchant of Menace
28.
Merchant of Menace Episode 78 December 7, 1991 Animation: Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) Pty, Limited Darkwing is assigned by SHUSH to stop a jewel burglar, who appears to be Herb Muddlefoot. Darkwing turns it down, assuring J Gander Hooter that Herb isn’t a criminal. Grizzlykoff is then given the assignment, and Darkwing decides to protect Herb, who is an award winning Quackerware salesman, impersonated by thief Weasel Loman. This episode, about resisting the urge to judge character, says a lot about American consumer culture. At the time the episode was produced, there was generational nostalgia for the late 1950s and early 1960s. Tupperware (which Quackerware stands in for) and door to door product sales were a through line to this past, an example being Avon in the film Edward Scissorhands, made in 1990. When engaging the Muddlefoots for a Quackerware story, the obvious route would have been to have Binkie Muddlefoot throwing Quackerware parties. In the 1950s, Tupperware was stereotypically consumed, marketed to and sold by suburban housewives. Binkie was even described in the series bible as a stereotypical 1950s housewife. More effectively, the writers chose to reverse the gender stereotype here, and make Herb Muddlefoot a 1950s style door to door Quackerware salesperson, with an equally ungraceful male former employee as the villain. The neighbourhood the episode takes place in looks a lot like nostalgic 1950s affluent American suburbia, from the houses down to the street furniture and Herb’s car. The Quackerware uniform is even a 1950s bowtie and porkpie hat. All of the customers depicted in the episode bar the butler are 1950s style women in hair rollers and aprons. This retro world building makes Herb’s oddball neighbour character seem even more kitsch and out of time to Drake. It also adds a quaint style to the largely domestic setting of this spy focused episode. Merchant of Menace then flips audience expectations and makes Herb the skilled salesman of the decade. For the first time in the series, Herb becomes unexpectedly fluid, charming, precise and empathetic. Darkwing goes from looking down at Herb and his Quackerware profession to gaining newfound respect for him. This is especially true in the contrasting moment where Drake demonstrates the products to unimpressed customers and fails to make a sale. At one cleverly written point, Herb likens selling Quackerware to being a secret agent. Weasel Loman's name derives from Willy Loman, the door to door sales protagonist from Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. There is a clever split screen phone conversation between gullible Herb and Loman, posing as ‘Mrs. John Q. Public’, misleading him to a spectacular but amusingly throwaway Desert setting. Watching Herb stay fiercely loyal and defensive for his beloved Quackerware, and with no apparent motivation, is brilliantly hilarious. Cartoon physics are also pushed to the limit when Loman pours Herb into a tiny Quackerware tub. The animation by Disney Australia is typically impressive. The storytelling is told in an interesting visual manner. Most of the episode is framed from a dramatic low angle, possibly intended as the point of view of the marching Quackerware products. There is also an effective car chase with an ice cream van. The Quackerware Cheer that Herb performs is perhaps the catchiest tune in the series, so much so that it seemed to be repurposed as the Hamburger Hippo jingle in episode Disguise the Limit. 
Darkwing Duck and Morgana Mawcaber in Fungus Amongus
29.
Fungus Amongus Episode 69 October 5, 1991 Animation: Walt Disney Television Animation (Australia) Pty, Limited Pizza toppings are being stolen across St. Canard. Darkwing sights two ghostly wolves. It takes him to the haunted house headquarters of Mawcaber Mushrooms Unlimited. Here he meets business owner Morgana, whom he quickly falls head over heels for and insists on protecting her Mushrooms. He also meets her board of directors, who are less than enthusiastic about his presence. Trust Darkwing Duck to make its most stylish, horror themed episode a bizarre romance. It makes magnificent use of its moonlit setting, with shadowy, chiaroscuro visuals and a ramped up sense of gothic atmosphere. We even see blood dripping during a scene transition. The plot, involving the production of mutant pizzas, is complicated, contradictory and makes little sense, but that is also precisely the point. The episode is more a poem about the mystery of romance (or pizza): how we love it and how it consumes us. Morgana is a great enigma for the audience, and, more importantly, Darkwing himself. A mixture of Elvira Mistress of the Dark, Morticia Addams and The Bride of Frankenstein, Morgana is effortlessly cool, manipulative, playful, fearless, ruthless and compassionate, all at the same time. Darkwing constantly places her on a pedestal beyond criticism, and we watch him unravel, much to the frustration of Launchpad. The sidekick compares her to a predator. Throughout, it is impossible to guess exactly what will happen next. Morgana's calmness and composure feel contrary to Darkwing's constant, neurotic babbling. However, both of them are darkness based characters who use their own theatrics and magic to play on the fears of others, whilst being driven by career ambition (in this episode, Morgana heads her own company). Their meeting sets them up as a potential odd couple, but they actually have much more in common. She has a great line of dialogue that explains everything about her while also making little sense: “I enjoy the night. The sun is so harsh for my skin” to which Darkwing replies "I'm sort of a creature of the night myself". It is interesting to see Darkwing's moral code taken advantage of and at times almost distracted, and to see Morgana's become somewhat recalibrated too. Everything is concluded in an unexpected, morally-ambiguous twist ending. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered for Darkwing and the audience, who are left wanting more. It also keeps things open for Morgana as a recurring character (and not necessarily a villain). The various monster characters fit the horror movie art direction perfectly. They range from the Mawcaber board of directors to spiders with human teeth, ghost dogs and one eyed bats. Equally impressive is an Escher style room in which Darkwing gets lost. Highly effective animation by Disney Australia and appropriately chilling music by Philip Giffin. 
Darkwing Duck ejects himself from Launchpad in Bad Luck Duck
30.
Bad Luck Duck Episode 65 May 20, 1992 Animation: Hanho Heung-Up Co., Ltd. Darkwing pursues Negaduck to a remote Island. Negaduck steals a magic crystal amulet from a local witch doctor, that turns inanimate things alive. Mistaking him for Darkwing, the witch doctor gives our hero the curse of eternal bad luck. This immediately affects Darkwing, whose next stop is his fan club meeting. Luck cannot be controlled. Or perhaps it shouldn’t be pushed? At least that seems to be the message here. This is one of the best paced and most highly energetic episodes, to the point of feeling like it is sped up by 300%. Its humour is notably mean spirited and cruel, but to a pleasingly farcial level. Like episodes Planet of the Capes and Disguise the Limit, this is very much a machine gun fire of gags in the Looney Tunes mould, but with the staccato rhythm of episode Dances with Bigfoot. It is a non-stop bombardment of bad luck gags. Somewhat miraculously, it manages to continually outdo itself on the pain scale, as it escalates from moment to moment. At one point, after enduring mass amounts of pain, Darkwing quotes Winston Churchill’s “We shall fight them on the beaches”. As with Cleanliness is Next to Badliness and Paint Misbehavin’, this episode is also a cruel assault on fandom. Darkwing’s fanclub, which may or may not have been a result of the bad luck spell, is referred to by both Gosalyn and Negaduck separately as being “more like a fundraiser for the save the geeks foundation”. The fans, and there are very few of them, are portrayed as whiney, socially awkward and embarrassing. Darkwing’s fanclub parade scene is as painful to watch as any of his physical accidents. Every moment of screen time is savoured and maximised with unique cartoon movements and jokes. There’s no visual repetition. Even the small gags, like a Sherbert sculpture sliding off a table or Launchpad inflating a flattened Darkwing, are seen from the most exciting angles and timed with sheer perfection. A lot is made of the frame, with characters not limited to performing on one plane. The episode ups it’s scale, building to an impressive Godzilla style climax, unexpectedly involving the Audubon Bay bridge. The animation, by Hanho Heung-Up, is quite dimensional and fluid, with effortless cartoon physics and shot construction. A lion statue and Hamburger Hippo coming alive are pretty awe inspiring, as is the ending. At one point we see Darkwing open a parachute satchel full of books, in true Wile E Coyote fashion. It is all beautifully reminiscent of the classic Warner Bros. influenced Roger Rabbit shorts produced around the same time. The use of sound is also really elaborate, with the pattering of feet being a constant noise. |