Quack Pack

Hello, my name is iam_moriya and I'm a donaldist.

That means that I'm a big fan of Donald Duck, but also a fan of the duck-universe. The comic books by Carl Barks and Don Rosa, the earlier cartoon shorts, DuckTales, I love'em all. But with all the things starring Donald and the Duckfamily their is one show that has been very underrated. A thing that I found very unfair.

I'm speaking of the show Quack Pack. Starring Donald Duck, his three nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie and the love of his life Daisy Duck. Often seen as a "sequel" to DuckTales it is best to watch this show on it's own terms. Because Quack Pack is a whole different animal, still entertaining, but different.

While DuckTales was based on the comic book stories written by the late master Carl Barks Quack Pack seem to take it's inspiration more from the earlier cartoon shorts. And it has allowed it's characters to actually *age*. I guess this threw of a couple of fans, but I've got nothing against it. It's a TV-show for crying out loud, you don't have to consider it canon if you don't want to.

Now, making the characters a bit older allowed the writers to write something new and fresh, while still paying tribute to the characters roots. For example, while older Donald still hasn't cooled his temper and he is still cursed by his bad luck. And the nephews proves that boys will be boys, just boys who has grown into their teens and therefore acting like teens do.

I recommend you to give this show a second chance. It's funny, smart, thrilling at times and most importantly: entertaining. If you can accept the fact that this isn't DuckTales, nor is it suppose to be, you will probably find out that this isn't a bad show at all, in fact, it is actually quite good.

The Golden Era of Disney cartoons was dying by the time the end of the 90s. This show Quack Pack shouldn't even be considered a DuckTales spin off because the show barely had anything to do with DuckTales. It's about a teen-aged Huey, Dewey and Louie as they make trouble for their uncle Donald and talk in hip-hop lingo and they are fully dressed unlike in DuckTales. I prefer the little adventurous nephews from DuckTales. There are humans in Duckburg and the ducks are the only animals living in Duckburg. There's no references of Scrooge McDuck. The stories are repetitive, the plot is boring but the animation is good. If you want lots of slapstick humor, I recommend this to you. If you want a better Disney show watch "Darkwing Duck" or "DuckTales".

Quack Pack did something truly shocking and revolutionary for the world of cartooning--it allowed their characters to -age-! Huey, Dewey, and Louie are now teenagers rather than the little tow-headed tykes they've always been, and their long-suffering "Uncle D" appears to be middle-aged. Everybody has gotten a much-needed makeover, and when I say the boys are teenagers now I'm NOT kidding...they are -definitely- teenagers. As in...well, they chase girls. Constantly.

The best thing about Quack Pack, in my opinion, is how they write the main characters' personalities. They really do seem like the SAME people, only evolved. Making Donald into a frantic, and (rightfully, considering the boys) suspicious, but still very -loving-, "parent", really gives him a lot more depth. Daisy is a very modern '90s woman with some rather odd quirks, and the boys? They kick...tail-feather! Their main personality traits (Huey=the leader, Dewey=the smart one, Louie=a bit clueless, but sweet) are all much stronger now--mixed with hormones, to add a bit of extra spice to the proceedings. They now have individual "hair" styles and outfits, rather than matching...they're now their own, individual, -people-. They are emphasised as individuals first, identical triplets -second-.

Also, they don't talk or act in unison or one after the other anymore...they would rather go their own ways, and often FIGHT each other! And frankly, considering the almost saccharine cuteness of before, a bit of hot-blooded rivalry is really quite -refreshing-...

The show's other main good point is the humour--biting, sarcastic, witty, and very intelligent, containing even references to classic literature and so forth that I'm sure the little kids in the -ostensible- target audience would NOT get. (Example: In one quick "throw-away" line, Huey paraphrased George Orwell's "1984".) No, this show is--as were DuckTales and Darkwing Duck--written BY adults, FOR adults. It just happens to be G-rated enough so that little kids can come and play if they -want- to...It may be a cartoon, and it may even be Disney. But it is NOT kiddie-fied or dumbed down...

Quack Pack's WORST points are that it's rather silly, and often the plots make little or no sense, stuff just basically...happens. Also, this show is hard to fit into the continuity of DuckTales, even though it -claims- to follow it. There are humans everywhere in Duckburg...though they weren't there before...and they're drawn VERY exaggerated, which makes it hard to suspend my disbelief. However, Quack Pack doesn't care, it has the flippant attitude of: "Hey. It's a cartoon. That means we can do ANYTHING WE WANT! BWAHAHAHA!"

Despite the silliness and slapstick, however, the show is rather more adult than you'd expect. Between the intellectual humour, the boys' obvious lusting after any female who crosses their paths, Donald's very real parenting concerns, and some (implied) rather nasty violence occasionally, this show has an...-edge- to it, a bite, that's unusual for a "children's cartoon".

From the very first ripping electric guitar chord of the theme song, to the very last biting, sarcastic, intelligent quip, Quack Pack SCREAMS one consistent message at the viewer:

THIS AIN'T YOUR FATHER'S DISNEY! ...and sometimes, that's a -good- thing. :)

Well this is pretty bad. I'm just glade that the duck nephews got a second wind in Duck Tales 17, I know it's not supposed to be viewed as an actual reboot just a spin off sequel but It's pretty bad. Huey, Dewey and Louie were arguably bland characters in Duck tales but that doesn't mean they weren't charming and likable, here however they aren't at all. The design for Huey, Dewey and Louie look so force to look like cooler versions of them past selves not to mention they all have the same personality The cool bad boy archetype that has a thing in the mid 90's I guess. By the way while reading the wiki page for this review I can across this in the 2 paragraph "(They usually do this by tricking Donald, or whoever else they wish to manipulate)" Really gotta love the Word "Manipulate" when describing main characters. One thing I hate is that very often they visit Ludwig Von Drake, He's a good character but he only serves a purpose as the Sisters from Johnny test served for their inventions to be used for plot devices. I always hated things like that If your gonna call it "Quack Pack" The Quack Pack do something unique and adventurous not slap another character on their for the sake of having something to base episodes on. The Intro is pretty lame too it doesn't have the same catchy vibe as the other intro's did though in the later Disney Afternoon show's like this the shows began to stagnate. Donald is enjoyable, I constantly rooted for him because he has to put up with The triplets crap all the time as well for Ludwig Von Drake.

Thank you Disney+ for bringing back a show that I had not seen since I was a kid. This is a great show and was very underrated. I hope it can get reincarnated someday.