Darkwing Duck is an American animated television series produced by The Walt Disney Company that ran from 1991 to 1992 on both the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon and Saturday mornings on ABC. It featured an eponymous superhero anthropomorphic duck with the alter ego Drake Mallard (voiced by Jim Cummings).
| Darkwing Duck | |
|---|---|
Darkwing Duck as seen in the show's opening sequence. | |
| Created by | Tad Stones |
| Starring | Jim Cummings Christine Cavanaugh Terry McGovern |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 91 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Syndication/ABC |
| Release | September 8, 1991 – December 5, 1992 |
Premise
The only people who know the hero's secret identity are his adopted daughter Gosalyn Waddlemeyer Mallard (mistakenly referred to as his niece in recent Disney information sources; voiced by Christine Cavanaugh), his sidekick Launchpad McQuack who refers to him as 'DW' (originally from Duck Tales; voiced by Terry McGovern), Gosalyn's best friend Honker Muddlefoot (voiced by Katie Leigh), and in later episodes, Darkwing's girlfriend Morgana Macawber (voiced by Kath Soucie).
Darkwing's costume, gas gun, and flashy introductions are all direct references to the Crimson Avenger, the fictional city of St. Canard and Darkwing's rouges gallery reflect Batman influences.
The show's hero often demonstrates a large degree of clumsiness and lack of common sense that is hampered by his tremendous ego. However, unlike Inspector Gadget and similar cartoon heroes, Darkwing is actually as extraordinarily competent as a superhero is generally expected to be—once he puts aside distractions and focuses completely on the case. This moment of transition would mark the start of each story's climax, and is almost invariably signaled by Darkwing's catchphrase (featured in the show's opening theme), "Let's get dangerous!"
While the show establishes its own conventions, it is largely regarded as an affectionate satire on superhero mythos and lore, some obvious, some subtle, and others quite witty. One episode of note shows Darkwing being bitten by a mutated spider and ending up growing six arms. While on the surface this is a parody on the origin of Spider-Man, below it, it is a nod to the changes and reinventions all superhero characters go through, as Spider-Man in a notable issue ended up growing six arms.
In some episodes, Darkwing is sent on missions as a freelance agent of S.H.U.S.H., a covert crime fighting organization that is so secret, nobody knows what the acronym stands for. S.H.U.S.H. is a parody of the Marvel Comics S.H.I.E.L.D., a top-secret government organization. Darkwing's S.H.U.S.H. missions most often have the aim of thwarting various evil schemes of the Fiendish Organization for World Larceny (or F.O.W.L.).
Darkwing's main weapon of choice in his crime-fighting escapades is his "gas gun", which fires a variety of different gases at his opponents (smoke bombs, laughing gas, tear gas, etc.), as well as having a retractable line and grappling hook for transportation purposes. His main forms of transportation are the Thunderquack (a small airplane-like vehicle shaped like Darkwing's head that was built and is piloted by Launchpad) and his motorcycle, called the Ratcatcher (a name shared with a Batman villain, maintaining the theme of superhero homages and parodies).
When not fighting crime, Darkwing Duck's alter ego is Drake Mallard, whose occupation is never given. This has led to inquiries by some fans as to how Darkwing makes money to pay for his house, supplies, and equipment. Although the first episode shows that Darkwing lives in his lair in the Audubon Bay Bridge, he purchases a home and creates an alter ego only after adopting Gosalyn Waddlemeyer. This hints that he, for some reason, may not truly even need his alter ego for anything more than giving Gosalyn some semblance of a normal life.
There were, generally, two kinds of episodes. In the first it was just a straighforward quest to stop the villain, in the other some kind of transformation would happen to one of the maincharacters, such as Darkwing being turned old, Gosalyn being turned to slime and so on, and they would have to find a cure, while stopping the villain. Meanwhile, the transformation will turn out to be of tremendous use in this particular case.
Origins
There are two completely different accounts given throughout the series regarding Darkwing's origins and a third which some people believe is another origin story called "Darkwing Doubloon"—all three of which contradict each other.
Perhaps the most outrageous of Darkwing's purported origins is "The Secret Origins of Darkwing Duck," in which we learn that both Darkwing Duck and Negaduck both came from a doomed planet in a tale paralleling the origin of Superman. Darkwing acquired his mask, gas gun, and combat training from a variety of sources who figured that they "could come in handy some day." Among numerous other pop culture references in the episode, he receives martial arts training in a monastery inspired by David Carradine's Kung Fu. This episode takes place in the future and is told in a series of flashbacks by a museum janitor, who looks suspiciously like an aged Darkwing Duck, relating the story to two children who look like descendants of Honker and Gosalyn. Given the nature of the story, and the fact that Negaduck was revealed as hailing from a parallel dimension a few episodes later, this episode is more than likely a tongue in cheek parody not meant to be taken seriously.
"Darkwing Doubloon" is a period episode taking place several centuries in the past (Darkwing himself says 300 years) and featuring the entire Fearsome Five and the Justice Ducks as pirates. The continuity problem posed by such an episode is rather glaring. However, the episode does not actually claim to be a telling of the origins of Darkwing, but rather is simply Darkwing telling the tale of "another masked mallard who fought for justice 300 years ago", which indicates that Darkwing was either weaving a tale as a narrator for the sake of telling a story to the fans of the show, or was a recounting of one of his possible ancestors. Three of Darkwing's ancestors have appeared in the present day of the series, so the idea that Darkwing Doubloon is related to Darkwing Duck by blood is not impossible. This story of a remarkably similar ancestor fighting for justice in the days of the pirates parallels that of The Phantom.
Darkwing's most plausible origin is revealed in the episode "Clash Reunion", in which a young Drake Mallard disguises himself as Darkwing at his high school prom in order to stop a classmate turned villain (Elmo Sputterspark, later known as Megavolt).
The episode "Kung Fooled" revealed that Darkwing received martial arts training from the sensei Juice Lee, indicating at least part of the "Secret Origins" episode was based on truth. It is unclear whether Darkwing received his training before or after defeating Elmo Sputterspark. In various episodes, Darkwing makes passing references to skills he has learned from others around the world, giving his origin an additional Batman-like quality.
In the episode "Paraducks", Darkwing and Gosalyn go back in time where they meet the nerdy young Drake Mallard, who is a complete coward. He is about to be involved with a criminal gang, but Darkwing trains him to stand up to them, and in the end the young Drake is wearing a mask and helps Darkwing defeat the bad guys.
Some of these accounts seem intentionally over the top, and given Darkwing's ego problem, it is not hard to imagine that perhaps he exaggerates his true origins. As there is no one true story depicting how he came to be, most just shrug it off, saying that it adds to his character's mystique and charm. On the other hand, it has been argued that the unsure and convoluted origins of the character is a further nod to the superhero genre that the show repeatedly satirizes.
Catchphrases
Darkwing is characterized by dramatic entrances; they usually involve mysteriously appearing in a cloud of smoke, and almost always include some version of the following speech:
- I am the terror that flaps in the night,
- I am the [noun] that [verb]s your [noun],
- I am DARKWING DUCK!
The metaphor in the middle line often consists of Darkwing comparing himself to something annoying, such as "I am the bubblegum that sticks in your hair", or "I am the termite that devours your floorboards." Others tend to make very little sense, such as "I am the cat that lays kittens in your bed," (although having a litter of kittens in bed could be considered a nuisance). This middle metaphor often has something to do with the villain at hand, i.e., when facing Bushroot he will often work wood into his metaphors.
Darkwing Duck's catchphrase originates from the second episode of the series, "Darkly Dawns the Duck Part 2". While chasing Taurus Bulba's airship, Darkwing Duck asks Launchpad to blow a hole in it.
- DW: "We need to blow an entry hole in that thing."
- LP: "I dunno DW, that sounds dangerous!"
- DW: "Yeah? Well then, let's get dangerous!"
Before Darkwing fires his gas gun at his adversaries, he always says the catchphrase "Suck gas, evil doers!"
Darkwing often employs alliteration in his speech.
Secondary characters
- Herb and Binkie Muddlefoot, Honker's parents; voiced by Jim Cummings and Susan Tolsky, respectively. Herb's voice is based on the character actor Andy Devine, who played Jingles, sidekick to Wild Bill Hickock in the 1950's Western TV series.
- Tank Muddlefoot, Honker's brother; voiced by Dana Hill.
- J. Gander Hooter, Director of S.H.U.S.H., a reference to former FBI director J. Edgar Hoover.
- Dr. Sarah Bellum, a S.H.U.S.H. scientist, whose name is a pun on cerebellum.
- Agent Vladimir Goudenov Grizzlikof, a grizzly bear; S.H.U.S.H.'s top agent; voiced by Danny Mann.
- Gizmoduck, Launchpad's old friend and Darkwing's rival super hero, also originally from Duck Tales; voiced by Hamilton Camp.
- Neptunia the Fish Queen
- Steggmutt the dinosaur, a stegosaurus who was originally a duck before being turned into a dinosaur.
- DarkWarrior Duck, a merciless vigilante and alternate future version of Darkwing himself, who conquers St. Canard in the episode Time and Punishment. In all likelihood, the character was inspired by Frank Miller's version of Batman in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel.
Villains
- NegaDuck (I), the physical manifestation of Darkwing's evil side (whose molecular structure was composed entirely of "negatrons")—this NegaDuck only appeared in a single episode, as he was created and later neutralized by Megavolt's tron-splitter device. Before his destruction, this incarnation was given hyper-destructive superpowers by being galvanized by the same device. Voiced by Jim Cummings.
- The Fearsome Five (an obvious comedic take of Spiderman's Sinister Six):
- NegaDuck (II), Darkwing from an alternate dimension, the Negaverse; voiced by Jim Cummings. This is the second character to use the name. He is extremely violent, and possesses an encyclopedic knowledge of all forms of weaponry and combat devices. NegaDuck II is the de facto leader of the Fearsome Five, and unlike most of its members, he is highly intelligent. Does not appear to specifically parody anyone, though being an evil twin in altered clothes may be a rather loose homage to DC Comics' Bizarro.
- Megavolt, a rat; he is able to absorb and manipulate electricity, using it as both a weapon and a sustaining life force; voiced by Dan Castellaneta. Resembles the Marvel Comics' character Electro.
- Dr. Reginald Bushroot, formerly a duck, now half-plant half-duck; he is able to control plant life; voiced by Tino Insana. Bushroot is nervous and fearful, but will do what is needed to succeed in his missions. He fights mercilessly alongside his plant-life cohorts when necessary. Closely resembles the DC Comics' villains the Floronic Man and Poison Ivy, with additional influences from Swamp Thing.
- Quackerjack, a vicious jester with a weird obsession for toys; voiced by Michael Bell. Probably inspired by DC Comics' Joker and Toyman; his frequent dialogs with a puppet also resemble those of DC Comics' Ventriloquist.
- The Liquidator, formerly a dog; now a watery villain whose dialogue is usually patterned after advertising slogans; voiced by Jack Angel. Possibly inspired by Marvel Comics' Hydro-Man.
- Steelbeak, a rooster; a smooth-talking and slick Brooklyn-accented villain who has a metal set of jaws, possibly a James Bond reference; top F.O.W.L. agent; voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Ammonia Pine, an agent of F.O.W.L.; is obsessed with cleaning things and constantly makes advances towards Steelbeak; voiced by Trudy Libosan.
- Moliarty, a mushy-voiced mole who schemes to put the surface world into an eternal darkness; name is a reference to James Moriarty, Sherlock Holmes' nemesis; voiced by Jim Cummings. Possibly inspired by the Marvel Comics character Mole Man.
- Tuskerninni, a reference to famed conductor Arturo Toscanini, though the resemblance ends there; a walrus and an ego-driven but failed Hollywood film director whose schemes are built around films; travels with a cadre of silent yet efficient penguin sidekicks; voiced by Kenneth Mars. Possibly inspired by Marvel Comics' Mysterio, or DC Comics' The Penguin.
- Dr. Slug; frequently mentioned, but never appears in an episode in any major capacity.
- Splatter Phoenix, a duck who fancies herself a modern artist; capable of using a paintbrush to create and modify things in the real world.
- Taurus Bulba, a bull; Darkwing's strongest, most ruthless enemy; voiced by Tim Curry. Taurus has only appeared in three episodes: Darkly Dawns the Duck parts 1 and 2, and Steerminator, which sees Bulba revived by F.O.W.L. as a cyborg. The name is a spoof of Taras Bulba, the title character of a novel by Nikolai Gogol about 16th century Cossacks.
- Hammerhead Hannigan, Bulba's lead henchman; voiced by Hal Rayle.
- Hoof and Mouth, Bulba's lackeys.
- Dr. Fossil, a pterodactyl; creator of Steggmutt. Voiced by Barry Gordon, who is likely most well-known for voicing Donatello in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles animated series.) Resembles the Marvel Comics character Sauron.
- Jambalaya Jake, a good-ol-boy with a bad attitude; with his pet gator, Gumbo, they make up the "Bayou Bullies", but Gator seems to be more intelligent than his "master". Voiced by Michael Gough. Jake also has a grandmother who makes various potions to help Jake with his crimes.
- Dr. Anna Matronic, inventor of the Silly Signal, originally built to make her Muttmatics smarter, but instead, it made them act silly! She used this weapon on SHUSH agents to make them act like twits in the storybook The Silly Canine Caper. Anna Matronic was originally intended for an actual episode of the show which was abandoned for unknown reasons; she does, however, make a cameo appearance in "In Like Blunt". She is also prominently featured in a comic story published by Marvel Comics, but for some reason, instead of a female duck as she was originally designed, she appears in the comic story as a human (!) who bears a strange resemblance to Mom from Dexter's Laboratory.
- Paddywhack, who only appeared in one episode, "The Haunting of Mr. Banana Brain"; an ancient spirit that is held in an old jack-in-the-box. He feeds on the misery of others, and can possess inanimate objects. He can also suck people into the box's strange alternate reality. Voiced by Phil Hartman.
Episodes
Home Video
Four episodes of Darkwing Duck were released in the United States on VHS tape on March 23 1993 – "Darkly Dawns the Duck", "Justice Ducks Unite!", "Comic Book Capers" and "The Birth of Negaduck". However, most countries around the world only received releases of "Darkly Dawns the Duck" and "Justice Ducks Unite!".
Rumors of a DVD release of the series started in early 2006, and in May the rumors were proven true—a 3-disc DVD box set entitled Darkwing Duck: Volume 1 is scheduled for released on August 29 2006, and will include the pilot episode ("Darkly Dawns the Duck") and the first 25 episodes. [1]
Video games
There was a Darkwing Duck video game released by Capcom on the Nintendo Entertainment System and the Game Boy. Another game was also made for the TurboGrafx-16.
"Let's get dangerous" in other languages
The show was dubbed in several different languages for international distribution. As such, the catchphrase Let's get dangerous! had to be translated into a similarly catchy phrase for the target language. It often did not keep its literal sense, as a direct translation of the phrase was unlikely to hold the same impact.
| Language | Phrase | Literal translation |
|---|---|---|
| Cantonese Chinese | 等我搞破壞! | Wait till I do some destruction! |
| Danish | Lad os så vove fjerene! | Let's risk our feathers! |
| Dutch | Laten we lekker link gaan doen! | Let's get nasty! |
| French | Ça va craindre un masque! | Fear the mask! |
| German | Zwo, eins, Risiko! | Two, one, risk! |
| Hindi | Ho Jaye Katron Se Takkar | Let's tackle danger! |
| Indonesia | Hadang bahaya!! | Charge the danger! |
| Italian | Dagli addosso, Duck! | Go for it, Duck! |
| Korean | 덤벼 보라고! | Go ahead and attack me! |
| Mandarin Chinese | 讓我們搞破壞! | Let's do some destruction! |
| Portuguese | Vamos encarar o perigo! | Let's face danger! |
| Russian | Ну-ка, от винта! (Nu-ka, ot vinta!) | Off we go! |
| Spanish | Hay que entrar en accion! | We have to get into action! |
| Swedish | Nu blir vi farliga! | Now we get dangerous! |
Trivia
- This show was inspired by two episodes of DuckTales, entitled Double O'Duck and The Masked Mallard. The original concept had Launchpad McQuack as the star.
- Many of the episode titles are puns or references to other titles or phrases from pop culture. "In Like Blunt," for example, is a reference to In Like Flint, with Derek Blunt replacing James Coburn's "Derek Flint" character. "Whiffle While You Work" is an inside joke that combines the character of Whiffle Boy with the song "Whistle While You Work" from another Disney production, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. "Life, the Negaverse, and Everything" is an allusion to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, referring to "Life, the universe, and everything."
- Darkwing opens the secret passageway connecting Drake Mallard's house to his bridgetop headquarters by hitting the head of a statuette of another Disney animated character – Basil of Baker Street, from the film The Great Mouse Detective. The series never explains why Darkwing has this statue, but it is possible that he was inspired by Basil to become a crimefighter himself. However, The Great Mouse Detective depicted anthromorphic animals as co-existing with humans who were unaware of animal society (similar to the universe of the Rescue Rangers), in contrast to Darkwing's world where no humans exist at all.
- There is a reference in "Darkly Dawns the Duck" to the Jay Ward character Super Chicken. When Darkwing attempt a risky stunt to capture the villains, Launchpad worries that it is a dangerous move. Darkwing's response: "It's like the chicken said, 'you knew the job was dangerous when you took it,'" a quote from Super Chicken's theme song.
- At the end of the episode "Comic Book Capers", Darkwing discusses having his comic book published by Disney - a meta-reference to Disney publishing their own comics, and also perhaps the first time the company name was said in their own cartoons.
- In at least two episodes, Gary Larson and his The Far Side comic are referenced. In "Twin Beaks", a cow character (cows were often featured in his comic strip) explains that they come from the planet Larson, on the far side of the galaxy. In "Beauty and the Beet", the names of the two lab scientists opposite Dr. Reginald Bushroot are Dr. Gary and Dr. Larson. Besides the stylistic similarities of those two scientists to those in The Far Side, they were also characteristically, of Far Side, playing keep-away with a weaker scientist's research.
- Nearly the entire episode of "Twin Beaks" was a reference to Twin Peaks. The town of Twin Beaks was shown, using the same camera angles, as well as the signature two peaks and the waterfall. The theme music from Twin Peaks was also adapted, with changes in only two notes. The slow movement of everyday objects and actions from the Twin Peaks introduction credits were also parodied. A version of the Red Room was used to advance the plot, as was a version of the phrase "The thing is not what it seems". One of Bushroot's bodies washed ashore in plastic wrapping. These references were perhaps the most lavish—at the show's target age range, and at a point in time where VHS cassettes and DVDs of entire TV shows simply did not exist, it unlikely that many viewers recognized the references, unless parents were watching the show with their children.
- Darkwing Duck exists in the same continuity as many of the other Disney cartoon series. In addition to Launchpad and GizmoDuck's appearances in the series, Magica DeSpell, Flintheart Glomgold, and the Beagle Boys from DuckTales can be seen in crowd shots during "In Like Blunt." Chip 'N Dale's Rescue Rangers are indirectly referenced in "Twitching Channels", an episode that was originally planned to be a full crossover with Rescue Rangers. In an episode of Goof Troop, Max is wearing a Quackerjack watch, and in another episode, Pete is reading a newspaper with Darkwing Duck pictured in the cover story. The character of Darkwing Duck appeared occasionally in the series Bonkers, and earlier Gosalyn appeared in the series Raw Toonage. In a five-part comic in Disney Adventures, The Legend of the Chaos God, it was shown that Tale Spin, Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, DuckTales, and Darkwing Duck all take place in the same world.
- One of the greatest upsets to fans of the series is that one of the last aired episodes, "The Steerminator", featuring the return of Taurus Bulba, finishes at a cliffhanger ending. Originally meant to be resolved in season 4, the series was cancelled before this could happen.
- Likewise, the ghostly Paddywhack's only episode finished on an ominous note. This was also to be resolved in the fourth season.
- The original, galvanized Negaduck was staged to return in season 4 as a permanent villain, where he was meant to be separated from Darkwing again and turned into a being of pure negative energy.
- There is an episode of this series that has been banned from television. The episode Hot Spells is about Gosalyn wanting magical powers like Morgana, while visiting the school where some of Morgana's relatives teach. She is unable to attain them at the speed she desires, since it involves studying and understanding the principles behind the spells. Becoming impatient, she is easily maneuvered by the "Devil" in order to access forbidden knowledge to attain this power in order to, unknown to her, force Darkwing to relinquish his soul to save her. However, the "Devil" makes the hasty mistake of simply lying to her that the contents of the Library of Forbidden Spells were replaced with permitted material, which meant Gosalyn honestly believed that she was allowed to use the room. This mistake meant she was actually innocent by a technicality (although she should have asked one of the librarians to confirm this claim), thus allowing her to save her father. The very fact that a Disney-related show had any reference to Satan, and was even allowed to air a few times, is unusual. The same "Devil" also appeared in the episode "Dead Duck," but most of that episode was evidently a dream sequence.
- The series was last seen in the U.S. on Toon Disney, but due to bad scheduling and the addition of JETIX, it has vanished completely from the network. Along with a number of other shows, it was removed from schedules in November 2004 and has not been seen since, although Toon Disney did air the Christmas episode featuring Bushroot on December 25, 2004. It is unknown if it will ever return, but currently (2005), it does air on Toon Disney in Scandinavia.
