The Million Dollar Duck

I first watched this movie when I was 10 years old, I have never watched it since! that's 23 years ago. I watched it again yesterday, it came back to me fast! And since this movie successfully brought back the memory and feel of those wonderful old days, I can't give it less than 10/10.

The story is simple, to save the duck "Charley" Professor Albert Dooley takes home this duck from the lab, not knowing that its a gifted duck, a different duck. The rest? Watch the movie, its the perfect family movie.

I think "The Million Dollar Duck" is one of the best movies Disney have ever made, it is a classic, a rare gem.

An absolutely excellent movie.

I cannot, for anything, understand any criticism of this fine film, such as Mr. Siskel, walking out on it, as he did this for only three movies, out of all the thousands he watched for reviewing.

Any movie, I say, any movie, with Joe Flynn, is great, and you add in Edward Arnold, and the solid Disney characters similar to those of the Dexter Riley era, and you have a smash hit.

The plot, what is wrong with that? The last I knew, Disney was known for fantasy, and family tales, with a happy ending.

Dean Jones, as usual, is superb, Sandy Duncan, great, as his loving and supportive, sweet wife. And Tony Roberts, great- punchy, yet a friend to the professor (Jones).

Concerning the portrayal of sweet, middle-class American family life, what is wrong with that? Nothing. Just because it does not look like life of today, is no reason to knock it, plus it provides deep joy for those who grew up in that era (1971), especially those who did so, in the Southland, where this gem was filmed.

Happy ending, with good lessons learned, a fine film.

Suitably entertaining.

'The Million Dollar Duck' follows very similar steps as a lot of Disney's wacky comedies from around this era, it that regard it isn't anything particularly noteworthy. The writing to set up the events of this film is poor, it's incredibly manufactured.

However, as with most of these sorta films, it does produce enjoyable moments. That's helped by the casting, which Disney pick masterfully the vast majority of the time. Dean Jones always elevates a production upward, even if his performance here isn't one of his best. Tony Roberts is decent as Fred, though none of the others do all that much; not even Joe Flynn (Finley).

Nothing out of this world, but a good enough watch nonetheless.

This movie, also known by the alternative title "The $1,000,000 Duck", isn't clearly one of Disney's most solid films. It's not a great movie, but has its fun and originality.

The movie stars Dean Jones and Joe Flynn, both from "The Love Bug". The movie happens to be about an animal, but here's where its biggest originality is: it's not about a cat or a dog or other familiar animals in movies, but a duck! The duck is a cute and likable chap, but very strange. After wandering into a radiation lab, the duck becomes irradiated and many unusual things happen to it, such as to lay golden eggs. Before that, it was already a poor dumb duck.

Dean Jones portrays Professor Albert Dooley, the guy who takes the duck home to offer his son. His son becomes attached to the duck. But because of the whole golden eggs story, Albert Dooley becomes obsessed with the idea of becoming rich thanks to that, proving how people can get so easily greedy for money.

Then again, it's not a super movie, but has its moments, such as Dooley's giant car polluting the air like that and doing those engine noises when it stops (very much like Uncle Buck's car) and some moments with Joe Flynn. I also liked that nice and beautiful yellow sports car.

Almost at the end of the movie, there is a sequence that is all about a chase. The whole sequence is really nuts yet hilarious! While watching it, I couldn't help myself thinking «Damn, what a chase!».

I sat down in 2021 to watch the 1971 Disney movie "The Million Dollar Duck". This is my second time to watch it actually. I remember watching it back in my childhood, probably in the early 1980s, but I could only vaguely recall the movie. So as I had the opportunity to sit down in 2021 to watch it, of course I did so.

This movie is still very entertaining and watchable, even now 50 years after the movie was initially released. So writers Ted Key and Roswell Rogers definitely did a good job with the script here, and that is quite the accomplishment which makes for a truly timeless classic movie.

"The Million Dollar Duck" is a twist on the classic tale of fowl being able to produce a golden egg. So it is a familiar storyline, but with added contents. And I will say that the Disney fingerprint definitely is showing on this 1971 movie. There was just something profoundly enjoyable about the movies Disney made back in the day.

The cast in "The Million Dollar Duck" definitely was good, and of course having Dean Jones in the lead role certainly made for a good movie, as he had a great track record with his older Disney movies. So if you enjoyed him in other of Disney's movies, you will also enjoy him in "The Million Dollar Duck".

This was definitely a movie well worth taking the time to sit down and watch again, and it is a movie that has something to offer to the entire family.

My rating of "The Million Dollar Duck" lands on a six out of ten stars.