Remember the state of weekday afternoon cartoons circa early-mid 80s, companies was mostly producing cartoons based off of toys during that time period. In 1987 Disney produced a series that forever changed the state of weekday afternoon cartoons. That cartoon series is called DuckTales, one of the greatest cartoons of all time in my book. DuckTales is one of the few 80s cartoons that wasn't based off a toy line/video game/comic book. This cartoon tells the adventures of Scrooge McDuck, his nephews Huey, Dewey and Louie, pilot Launchpad McQuack amongst others. The show first began on 9/11/87 with the 2 hour pilot "Treasure of the Golden Suns" on NBC's prime time time slot and later began regular broadcasting the following week. DuckTales is about a rich geezer duck who wants to keep adding to his fortunes and he and his nephews (and in some cases Webby) goes on treasure hunts and Indiana Jones like adventures. The second season introduces Bubba the Caveduck, Fenton Crackshell aka Gizmo Duck, Mama Crackshell, Gandra Dee and tons of others. Some of the new characters (Bubba and Gizmo Duck in particular)were frequently criticized by some DuckTales fans for changing the show. I for one disagree. I think the show was the same as it was during the first 65 episodes. In 1990, Disney made a movie based off the series called DuckTales, Treasure of the Lost Lamp. In 1991, Disney made a spin off to the show, Darkwing Duck. Five years after Darkwing Duck was made the prequel to DuckTales was made and it was not successful nor good like the other two shows. The prequel was Quack Pack. DuckTales have great writing, great animation and cool story lines. This was the best of the Golden Era Disney TV cartoons (including Gummi Bears, Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers, TaleSpin, Darkwing Duck and others) Parents, definitely buy the 2 DVD box sets for your kids, this show is way better than any of the shows on Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network nowadays. If you like DuckTales, check out other Golden Era shows like TaleSpin and Chip n Dale Rescue Rangers. DuckTales rocks!
