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Darkwing Duck: Volume 2
R1 - America - Buena Vista Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Pat Pilon (3rd September 2007). |
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The Show
 He is the terror that flaps in the night. He is also so many other things, like the hairball that clogs your drains, and the itch that you can't reach. He's Darkwing Duck, and he’s there to stop evil from taking over the city. Stopping the likes of Megavolt, Quackerjack and his arch-nemesis Negaduck takes a lot of hard work, and Darkwing Duck is up to the challenge. Spoofing his way through all the episodes he really gets dangerous. I remember the badly dated theme song and watching a few episodes, but I was never that big of a fan of the show. It was a spin-off of 'Ducktales' but I generally stuck to watching other cartoons. I did, however, really enjoy the show this time around. It took a few shows to get started but once it did, there was no stopping it. Starting really with 'Life, the Negaverse and Everything', the entertainment value is extremely high. The season's first episode, 'All's Fair in Love and War' is also a very good way to re-introduce oneself to the show. Another surprising thing would be that the plots really move. My simplistic descriptions below don’t really do justice to just how much goes on in every episode. I suppose the makers figured that the more things moved the more entertaining everything would be. I’ve seen animated shows for kids that move fairly slowly, and these really took away from the enjoyment of the show, but ‘Darkwing Duck’ has none of those problems. The plots can get actually quite tangential and one needs to listen to the dialogue to understand what goes on. Many times the main plot goes into a subplot for most of the episode, and then ends up finishing with the initial main plot. 'Twitching Channels' is a good example of this. Borrowing quite liberally from the likes of 'Superman' (his origin in 'The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck') and 'Batman' (his costume, the city's design), the show makes no bones about what it’s taking from. Many, many episode names also border curiously on TV shows and movies ('Twin Beaks', 'In Like Blunt', for example), and this just adds to the fun. No child will ever catch the 'Twin Peaks' references in that episode, so the makers of the show added a lot of neat stuff for adults. (I mean, one of the episodes actually has a book called the 'Quackrinomicon'.) I do have to say that my favorite episode is probably 'Planet of the Capes', simply because of the ending. Also, now, more interesting for me were all the voice talent involved. Homer Simpson himself, Dan Castellaneta, has a recurring character, the evil-but-bumbling Megavolt. Fans of the Rugrats will definitely recognise Charlie's voice here, as Christine Cavanaugh plays Darkwing Duck's daughter. With the likes of Rob Paulsen, Jim Cummings and even the great Frank Welker, you know every voice is going to be distinct and entertaining. There's also no way to have an interesting show, impressive though your voice talent may be, without great writing. The titles of the episodes should give you a good indication of what to expect, but I still laughed at every episode, even though I'm now a few years older than the upper limit of their target demographic. A few lines are pretty impressive, but my favorite is in 'Dead Duck'. The grim reaper is chasing after Darkwing after he has a particularly nasty accident. Darkwing Duck runs into a house and locks the door, with death right behind him, pounding on the door, and he quips, 'A few hours ago, I was at death's door, and now he’s at mine.' The jokes may get a bit silly for the level of the show, but for a kids show that's hardly a fair critique. Some of the humour is clearly intended for the parents and this is quite appreciated. When a cartoon can be appreciated on more than one level, it can be enjoyed a lot longer than your 13th birthday, and that’s what makes a great show. 'Darkwing Duck' is solid entertainment, with very nice humour, silly situations and a fun main character. Even though Darkwing Duck is a bumbling superhero spoof, when the going gets down, he can still fight with the best of them and get rid of the bad guys, and he can do this intentionally! How about that! disc 1: All's Fair in Love and War (22:44) Darkwing Duck wants to solve a string of robbers and ends up following a bunch of firebugs that melt gold underground, where he meets and Ice Queen. Interesting plot to start the season. Whiffle While Your Work (22:42) Darkwing wants to enter a video game contest, but ends up fighting the game's main character's arch-nemesis, the Quackerjack! Ghoul of My Dreams (22:42) Trying to solve a crime, Darkwing Duck gets stuck in Dreamland, weaving in and out of sleep, trying to catch Nodoff and woo Morgana. Adopt-a-Con (22:46) Darkwing Duck unknowingly signs an adopt-a-con contract, and has to house-sit the criminal he helped convict in the opening scene. Toys Czar Us (22:42) The Quackerjack is up to his old tricks, sending wave after wave of deadly toys to try to stop Darkwing Duck! The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck (22:43) In the future, two students on a school trip to a history museum get educated about Darkwing Duck by the museum's janitor. I’m sure this story is a lot more interesting that Darkwing Duck's actual emergence (either in the show or in real life). Up, Up and Awry (22:46) In addition to Megavolt attacking the city, Darkwing Duck has to compete with a new superhero in town, Gizmo Duck! Life, The Negaverse, and Everything (22:42) In an interesting manner, Darkwing Duck gets sucked into the Negaverse, a Bizarro-like world, where Negaduck rules. This is one of the bigger episodes of the season and it shows through in its entertainment value. Dry Hard (22:45) A terrible heatwave robs the city of water. A greedy mineral water company owner tries to sabotage the water supply but ends up becoming the Liquidator instead. This is where the season hits its stride. Many of the following episodes are pretty good. disc 2: Heavy Mental (22:47) Launchpad volunteers to be a part of an experiment that would allow him to have special mental powers. Disguise the Limit (22:43) With a special ray gun, Darkwing Duck can morph into different people. The problem is, he can’t control this special power. Meanwhile, Negaduck, disguised as Darkwing, robs the city blind. Planet of the Capes (22:39) This is probably my favorite episode of the season. The ending is really weird, but a lot of fun. Darkwing Duck basically gets abducted to a planet of superheroes, so he can be an ordinary guy so the superheroes can save him. Darkwing Doubloon (22:42) This episode has nothing to do with the normal season, but instead is Darkwing Duck's take on the swashbuckler stories. Darkwing has so save the king’s gold from Negaduck, who’s stolen it. Another really fun episode with some nice jokes. It's a Wonderful Leaf (22:45) This is the Christmas episode, with candy canes and skating. Having Christmas trees and all, Bushroom is causing tons of trouble, which Darkwing Duck wants to stop. Twitching Channels (22:42) Megavolt figures out a way to travel through wires and goes on a crime spree traveling through television sets. Dances with Bigfoot (22:38) Darkwing Duck finds himself being worshipped by a tribe (who unknowingly want to eat him) somewhere in the jungle. It's up to Goselyn and Honk to save him! Twin Beaks (22:43) Bushroot escapes from prison and the gang (Darkwing Duck, Launchpad, Goselyn and Honk) have to follow him to, well, the town of Twin Beaks to catch him. The Incredible Bulk (22:45) Darkwing Duck decides to focus on brawn over brains, and takes a strange growth fertilizer. He ends up being very strong but very stupid. disc 3: My Valentine Ghoul (22:45) In this episode, Darkwing Duck tries to have a nice date with Morgana, only to be annoyed at every turn by Negaduck. Dead Duck (22:44) After a particularly bad night of crime fighting, Darkwing Duck finds himself in a place where the big guy in the sky and the other guy down there fight over him. A Duck by Any Other Name (22:41) A reporter reveals Darkwing Duck’s secret identity, and gets it wrong. The publicity the fake Darkwing gets really annoys the real Darkwing Duck. Let’s Get Respectable (22:42) After Darkwing Duck gets criticised on TV, he tries to get a makeover and be respectable. For some reason, I really like the title of this episode. In Like Blunt (22:43) Spy movies are spoofed this time. Pulled out of retirement, Agent Derek Blunt is reluctantly teamed up with Darkwing Duck to find an evil genius wanting to sell a list of secret agents. Quack of Ages (22:45) Quackerjack wants to destroy the very first yo-yo, and goes some 700 years in the past. Darkwing Duck follows him very quickly there, and tries to stop him. Time and Punishment (22:42) Instead of going to the past, Quackerjack and Megavolt go into the future! There, they meet DarkWarrior Duck! You also see how Darkwing Duck became DarkWarrior Duck in the future. Stressed to Kill (22:45) Megavolt and Quackerjack once again cause trouble, by pacifying the entire town while they go on a crime spree. Darkwing Duck is appalled at the people's behaviour, causing him a little bit of stress. The Darkwing Squad (22:43) The spy agency Darkwing Duck helped out in 'In Like Blunt' is having problems with training their agents, so it asks Darkwing Duck to help them out.
Video
1.33:1 full frame. As may be expected, the video is okay, but looks very used. Disney did clean everything up, and no print damage is seen. Even with 9 episodes per disc, compression is never a problem. The colours are bright and vivid. The simple animation restricts shadow delineation and contrast, but the colours are still accurate. The lines are a tiny bit fuzzy, but that's probably due to the source. Overall, the picture is okay for tube viewing but with a bigger TV, you'll probably be complaining a bit.
Audio
The set sports English and French tracks, both in Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo. The show is pretty dynamic and the track handles the action with no real problems. Sure, the range isn't so big, but everything is heard clearly with no distortion or screeching. The dialogue is clear and unmuffled, and the score is robust but never overpowers the dialogue. The many effects come through very clearly, adding nicely to the on-screen action. It's overall a good track. English HoH subtitles are provided.
Extras
There's nothing in the way of extras on this set other than a few Sneak Peeks on disc one. 'Peter Pan: Return to Neverland' (1:01), 'The Santa Clause 3' (2:22), and (also start-up trailers) 'The Jungle Book' (1:33), 'Meet the Robinsons' (2:29), 'Little Einsteins Rocket's Firebird Rescue' (0:54), and a Disney Movie Rewards ad (0:41) have trailers.
Packaging
Buena Vista has packed the season in three single-disc ultra-slim amaray cases, covered by a slipcase.
Overall
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