Webby: "The dictionary defines 'family' as a group of people bound together by commitment and unwavering loyalty"!
Hi, I'm Tyler... and not gonna lie; the new reboot of DuckTales has got to be the most clever kids cartoon
I've seen since "Over the Garden Wall".
But not just because of the funny writing, likable cast and characters or the pretty good animation,
but because each episode
consistently has a relevant theme about the importance of family; The lessons that you can learn from your elders or from your own
siblings and ways that family can be more of a curse rather than a blessing.
These are lessons that kids and adults can equally learn from,
which is what I think mate shows like "Garden Wall" or the "Avatar" franchise so successful in the first place!
And what's interesting is that each central character has very similar needs and desires that can be summed up in one word.
Oddly enough even main characters and villains share some of these exact same motivations and needs. For example
let's look at one basic desire that most family members probably want most!
Huey, being the smartest, oldest and most responsible of the triplets, always wants his brothers to listen to him more often & his orders
because in his mind his trusty Junior Woodchuck Guidebook has the answer to everything...
And yeah-sometimes it does.
Huey: We are violating every rule of my Junior Woodchuck training. We're out of supplies-it's starting to get cold
so even if we make it to the top we'd freeze to death before we get down"!
This is a trait he clearly gets from his uncle Donald who-along with Beakley, also do everything to keep their children safe at all cost.
All three of these characters learn eventually that there is such thing as too much protection:
Donald and Beakley discover their overprotective behavior inspires the kids to rebel by putting themselves in dangerous situations and
proving that they know what to do. Whereas Huey realizes that people can follow orders a little too closely.
Huey: "No, no, I meant carry him down... not cut him down... with... impeccable chopping technique"! Burger Beagle "Sure thing, boss"!
Therefore, they all learn to put more trust and be more open-minded in the rest of their family.
Hell, even Ma Beagle has control issues with her own sons.
I mean she obviously does want them to be as successful as she is,
but she can't be that good of a mother and be as forgiving whenever they make a mistake because...
Well, they're criminals-they're not supposed to! And her constantly scolding her sons only makes them try harder and feel even more!
Now this will come as a surprise to nobody has already seen the show,
but if Louie has one thing in common with the villains, it's pure greed. Having spent this whole life being poor,
Louie was already a trickster motivated by greed and laziness and he often wanted needed his brothers help with his schemes.
And, let's be honest, moving into his rich uncle's mansion probably didn't help all that much!
Louie: "Hey, do we have any more Pep"? Scrooge: "You've got six full cans right here"!
Louie: "I only like that first sip-peak carbonation. Never mind, I'll call Beakley".
Strange ring is my favorite episode about him centers on learning lessons from Donald; at the beginning of that episode
he loves how wealthy his uncle Gladstone is when they come to visit him...
But when Donald has to compete against him to escape Macau
Louie's the one who acknowledges Donald's persistence the most. Louie "Come on Uncle Donald! So you have the worst luck in the world-who cares?
No matter how bad things get-like really, really bad, you keep going! It's kind of ridiculous!
You never had the common sense to give up before, why start now!"
A similar thing happened in "Day of the Only Child" where he tries to be friends with a rich kid until it becomes clear
just how insane and abusive he is to his own family. In the end Louie uses his own con skills
and persuasion as a way to defend his own family!
Moral support has got to be the one thing most of the characters want in this entire show,
Not just from a main characters perspective
but even some of the villains!
Dewey, Webby, Lena and the Beagle Boys all have motivations related to earning attention from others-
specifically approval from their own elders! The heroes often struggle because they're afraid of being rejected;
Dewey's used to hearing no as an answer whenever he asks for help,
Webby hasn't had enough experience being around other people to know what to say,
Villains like the Beagle Boys make impulsive choices to show Ma that they can be good criminals when really they're just drawing attention to themselves,
And Lena's unique in that over the course of the season she can't decide whether to follow and magicus orders just because 'she's family',
until she sees it's more important to side with Webby & the McDuck's since they treat her with more care and respect!
She disobeys Magica and resists her powers as much as possible to protect her friends, and she does so at the expense of her own
life and freedom, while Dewey & Webby's loneliness usually gives in to what they want most,
leading them to persistently present themselves to other members of the family. And even if that doesn't work,
They still have each other to work with!
As for the Beagle Boys, they realized too late that they should have made a plan first... and then forget everything that they've already learned.
Ma Beagle: "Hey! Where are the brats?!" (Inaudible sighs) "For the love of-That's it! None of you get birthdays this year"! (Beagle Boys moan)
Some of these lessons are told in a subtle-enough way, others are pretty on the nose. Donald: "Family truly is the greatest-" (Donald choking)
But DuckTales still has plenty of character growth that stems from it's important and relevant themes that without them,
it would just be another cartoon reboot and wouldn't have equally grabbed kids and adults attention as much as the original 80s hit!
Webby: "HA! Tell me not to make treasure about learning! Everything's about learning"!