DuckTales was a Disney cartoon series centered around Scrooge McDuck and his three grandnephews, who went on a wide range of adventures that saw them being pitted against a wide range of foes and obstacles. Recently, a reboot of the same name was released, so it is understandable that there are a lot of people who are wondering how well the new cartoon series compares with their childhood memories.
How Does the New DuckTales Compare to the Old DuckTales?
As it turns out, the new DuckTales compares well with the old DuckTales for a number of reasons. First, it is still recognizable as the same franchise as its predecessor as opposed to being something that is sort-of based on it. Second, it offers a richer narrative in spite of the fact that it is meant for children, which is reflective of wider trends when it comes to cartoons in the West. Third, the new DuckTales has been updated for modern sensibilities, which is rather important when the old DuckTales came out in 1987.
For an example of how the new DuckTales compares to the old DuckTales, look at the character of Scrooge McDuck. Said character has been a combination of virtues and vices since the start, but the exact manner in which those characteristics are expressed can have an enormous amount of influence over how he is perceived. For example, Scrooge McDuck was known to spout some rather unpleasant things about the poor in the old DuckTales, but those comments would not be perceived the same in the present as in the past.
As a result, the new DuckTales retains said characteristic but chooses to express it in a more subtle manner, thus resulting in the same character but presented in a manner that won’t alienate more modern viewers. At the same time, it is interesting to note that it puts increased emphasis on some of Scrooge McDuck’s other characteristics such as his one-time passion for adventure, which can make for something that is both fresh and familiar.
With that said, other characters have benefited from the new DuckTales‘s take on its beloved characters as well. For example, Donald Duck is now embedded in the series’s overarching narrative, though it is interesting to note that he remains recognizable as the same character, as shown by the fact that he is still being played by Tony Anselmo. Meanwhile, his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie now have distinctive personalities of their own as opposed to be sort-of the same, which does not just make them more memorable as characters but also enable them to have more meaningful interactions with one another as well as other characters. Finally, even the side characters now have increased nuance to them, thus making the whole series that much more worth watching.
Summed up, it is clear that the new DuckTales is a labor born out of love for the old DuckTales. However, it has benefited a fair amount from modern trends stressing richer characters, more true-to-life sentiments, and longer-running narratives, thus resulting in a product that does credit to the franchise as a whole.
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