Darkwing Duck

Probably the best cartoon to come out of Disney in quite a while, Darkwing Duck was somewhat darker than the average Disney fare and managed to touch upon some serious issues. However, it also could be extremely funny, with Darkwing's over-dramatic entrances, his ego 'the size of a small planet' and his arguments with his daughter.

There's a whole new set of villains to be thwarted by the terror that flaps: NegaDuck, Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator (a parody of Penguin from Batman) and Bushroot; collectively the Fearsome Five. Not to mention the evil F.O.W.L. and its chief agent, Steelbeak.

Fortunately, DW has help. DuckTales' Launchpad McQuack is on his usual form, performing some excellent crashes in DW's Thunderquack and playing a good sidekick; GizmoDuck occasionally shows up fresh from Duckberg to drive DW crazy; Gosalyn, his daughter (who has a greater capacity for getting into trouble than Huey, Dewey and Louie put together!); and, last but not least, Morgana McCawber, sorceress and one-time crook.

As you can probably tell, this is my favourite Disney cartoon bar none. A couple of videos were released in Britain, and DW played on the Disney Channel for a while, but it has been far too long since Darkwing graced our terrestrial screens. Any Americans who have the Disney Channel and/or Toon Disney should count themselves very lucky indeed to be able to watch this absolute gem.

When I was growing up, a little child of the 90's, the coolest show around (in my opinion) was Disney's highly hilarious superhero cartoon "Darkwing Duck". Every chance I got I followed the adventures of the egotistical crime fighter. Sadly, those days are gone and done, with mostly crap cartoons littering the networks these days. But "Darkwing Duck" reigns supreme.

One thing that you always remember about the show was it's sense of humor. The jokes ranged from cartoony pratfalls to satire to the just plain odd. The voice talent is also hilarious, with the immortal Jim Cummings in the spotlight as the title role (and about 4 or 5 other characters). Cummings was truly uproarious as the crimefighter with "the ego the size of a small planet" (in one villain's words).

It's been a long time since "Darkwing Duck" was canceled. But it lives on in all children of the 90's memories. Disney, PLEASE release a DVD!

This was a wonderful show. It cashed in on the big "superheroes-battle-crime-in-dark-city" trend that included Batman and the Ninja Turtles and lampooned it brilliantly. I can still remember Darkwing's wonderfully over-the-top vocal delivery and the many colorful villains (just thinking about Quackerjack and his psychotic chattering teeth brings a smile to my face). I'd love to see a live-action movie based on this cartoon (a la "Inspector Gadget"), with the animals replaced by human actors, a Gothic-style Saint Canard, and the latest special effects.

Hey, what would life have been a decade ago without DARKWING DUCK?

I actually bought a video years back for my (then) young kids who were transfixed by the deeds of Mr Darkwing. Obviously lifted from the BATMAN concept and with nefarious villains around to allow DARKWING DUCK to win out ultimately, bringing with each victory some social lesson to be learned, each episode was a feathered triumph to savor. As his inimitable "Bruce Wayne" alter ego Drake Mallard, Darkwing would defend to the death the honor of the least threatened creature while reminding us of many of life's little obligations.

Multi-layered animation for the aware.

I wouldn't have been surprised if Paul Verhoeven or Tim Burton directed one or two of the episodes of this show! I can't believe Disney let it through, of all studios!! This is real biting stuff, and it's twisted, demented and weird. I loved it. It was my favourite Saturday morning cartoon and my pick as the best of Disney's animated series'. This was a show like "The Simpsons", where every scene was a rip-off of something. And yet it existed in its own imaginative world, not so over-the-top that it doesn't make some kind-of sense. Darkwing's enormous ego is the best rip-off of superheroes I have ever encountered. And those villains!!!! Batman would have stopped to say: Nice powers. As far as TV goes, especially animated TV, this is among the best of it, I think!