Disney TV Show Spotlight: Darkwing Duck

Mitchell Stein- Out of all of the original classic Disney Afternoon television programs, Darkwing Duck by far by absolute favorite. With voice actor Jim Cummings as the title hero, the character is an incredibly fun character to watch and Cummings brings a lot of life into him and forms him into the hilarious comedic character that we know him as. Launchpad McQuack, fresh off his debut from DuckTales serves as an assistant to the quirky hero, and provides a lot of the slapstick comedy himself, and I love how the running gag between the two concerning Darkwing’s name (“It’s Darkwing, not DW!”) and Dawrkwing even refers to Lauchpad as LP in one episode. It’s a funny running gag, and it’s done quite well.

Darkwing’s newly adopted daughter, Gosylyn is a good character, while not my favorite, she adds a lot to the show along with Honker, her friend. To be honest, Darkwing is hilarious enough, and could easily carry an entire show by himself, I never feel any of these characters are necessary in that sense, but the other characters are fun to have around and play off well of the terror that flaps in the night.

The villains are so wacky and zany, they’re just perfect. I love Negaduck, Darkwing’s evil diabolical doppelganger. Negaduck is the leader of “The Fearsome Five”, which is probably my favorite villainous element to this series. Some of the other villains of the fearsome five include Dr. Bushroot, Megavolt, and Quackerjack. Other characters Steelbreak is a fun villain, as well as the other agents at F.O.W.L. Many of the show’s elements feel like parodies of other well-known superhero stories, especially with some of the familiarities between this show and other comic book characters, such as Batman and Spider-Man.

I also enjoy the somewhat continuing story in this series. Not many children’s/family cartoon shows take the time to create an entire backstory to the series, but Darkwing Duck has a fantastic two-part pilot episode named “Darkwing Dawns the Duck” where it establishes the entire backstory of DW, and his adoption of Gosylyn and other facts mentioned throughout the show.

Overall, I really enjoy this show a lot. It’s a shame more shows like this don’t dominate the current Disney Channel. I think its fun, quirky and good clean entertainment with a lot of really hilarious slapstick humor. It’s one of those shows that I still enjoy watching today and probably enjoy it more than I did previously. I think it’s safe to say out of all of the classic shows, Darkwing easily comes out in first place. 

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Why Darkwing Duck is Such a Great Show

Michael Wermuth- Darkwing Duck is one of Disney’s greatest animated shows. It’s one of my favorites from the Disney Afternoon (and the only one I’ve bothered to get the DVDs of). I watched it during it’s run on The Disney Afternoon, and occasionally caught the ABC episodes. I even had all of the action figures (not sure whether I still have them all). But why is the show so good? Because it is! 

The characters are great. I can identify with Darkwing Duck, wanting to be in the spotlight, though he does a better job at it. Launchpad McQuack, who debuted on DuckTales, is a funny sidekick to Darkwing. Darkwing’s adopted daughter, Gosylyn, is a good character for him to have adopted. And her brainy best friend, Honker, is a good character, one of my favorites when I was younger (though watching it now he does seem a little weak). I also like Darkwing’s girlfriend, Morgana, a lot better now than when I was a kid.

And of course there’s the villains. My favorite villains from the show are Megavolt, Quackerjack, and Steelbeak. Megavolt and Quackerjack are both funny and colorful characters, and it’s a shame he wasn’t in the action figure line-up (but Tuskernini was, and he was only in five episodes. Fun fact: The Tuskernini figure was the first one I had gotten, and I hadn’t even seen any episodes with him. And I chose that one over the others that were in the store that day, can’t remember who else was there but I know the ones I wanted most weren’t).  Steelbeak is also a great villain, kinda the leader type though he’s not really a leader, just a top agent at F.O.W.L ,  the type who could be the big bad of the show, if he did lead the other villains (although the video games and other merchandise imply otherwise, the other major villains weren’t part of F.O.W.L.). And he’s perhaps the shows most notable villain to not be part of The Fearsome Five, which consists of Negaduck (the leader, and another character who could have been the main villain), Quackerjack, Megavolt, Bushroot, and The Liquidator. There’s also some great villains who didn’t appear in many episodes, including the theatrical Tuskernini, hillbilly Jumbalaya Jake, and a group of hat-shaped aliens who take over the bodies of whose who wear them.

Some of my favorite episodes include: “Comic Book Capers”, where Darkwing tries to write a Darkwing Duck comic book but other characters (including Megavolt) manage to add their own creative input. “Twitching Channels”, where Darkwing and Megavolt get zapped into the TV and land in the real world, with humans who are fans of the show (wouldn’t it have been great if this episode could have mixed live action with animation?). “Clash Reunion”, which reveals Darkwing and Megavolt’s back stories (well, one of at least four back stories that reveal how Drake Mallard became Darkwing Duck). “Batttle of the Brain Teasers”and its sequel, “Return of the Battle of the Brain Teasers, Too!”, which feature the hat-shaped aliens and Honker becoming a hero. The two-part “Just Us Justice Ducks”, featuring the debut of The Fearsome Five as a team (and it really is the debut of Negaduck, and due to the episodes airing out of order, Liquidator’s first episode). “Trading Faces”, where the main characters switch bodies. And “Water Way to Go”, in which Darkwing agrees to let Launchpad be the hero for once. And there’s a lot more episodes I’d like to list but won’t here.

I would also like to acknowledge the voice cast, especially Jim Cummings, who voiced Darkwing as well as many other characters on the show. It seems to me like Cummings was the only voice actor on this show to do multiple voices, even though some of the other voice actors did multiple voices on other shows. Other voice actors included Rob Paulsen (Steelbeak), Dan Castlenetta (Megavolt), Michael Bell (Quackerjack), Tito Insano (Bushroot), Terry McGovern (Launchpad), Christina Cavanaugh (Gosylyn), Katie Leigh (Honker), and many other wonderful voice actors.

So Darkwing Duck had a lot going for it. It had great characters (especially villains), a great voice cast, great episodes, I didn’t mention the comic book series from Boom! Because I’ve only seen the first story arc but that was a great comic. At 78 episodes, it’s one of the few Disney Afternoon shows to have more than 65 episodes (though DuckTales has it beat by 100). 

Michael Wermuth's Ten Favorite Disney Villains

Michael Wermuth, Jr. - Many of the animated Disney and Pixar shows have great villains, and today I present my list of the top ten Disney villains. Oh, and I must warn you that most of these entries contain spoilers.

10. The Big Bad Wolf, from "The Three Little Pigs" shorts 

The Big Bad Wolf is, obviously, a big bad wolf wanting to eat the Three Little Pigs. He appeared in all of the shorts with the Three Little Pigs, eventually becoming the papa to Three Little Wolves. But even The Big Bad Wolf has standards--in "The Practical Pig," when he captures two of the pigs, he orders his sons to NOT eat them until he captures the last pig (though they disobey their father and attempt to eat the others anyway).

9. Randall, from Monsters, Inc.

Randall was one of two top scarers, second only to Sully. While Sully was quite humble over being top scarer and saw it as friendly competition, Randall was a bit more competitive. When he was discovered working late hours and was responsible for Boo being let lose in the monster world, it was assumed he did this just to make his score higher, when it turns out he was really trying to kidnap her to test out a scaring invention. I can identify with Randall a bit, wanting to be a bit competitive. Though I don't think he really looked scary enough to even be #2.

8. Ursula, from The Little Mermaid

Ursula is a sea witch, banished from King Triton's underwater kingdom. She manages to make a deal with Ariel, where she'll give her legs and let her live outside the water for three days, in exchange for her voice, and if Prince Eric doesn't kiss her in three days, Ariel will become a tulip. She does a good job at preventing this, and the sun sets just in time, only for Triton to agree to be turned into a tulip instead of Ariel. And it's cool when Ursula becomes a giant. And Ursula is probably one of the hammiest Disney villains.

7. Scar, from The Lion King

Scar was hoping to be king, but then his brother Mufasa had a son, Simba. Scar set out to kill Simba and Mufasa. Scar led Hyenas in a plan, killing Mufasa and thinking he killed Simba. Scar then became king, only to cause a great drought to the pride lands. When Simba came back to challenge Scar, he ordered Scar to leave and never come back, but had to fight Scar for the throne. Simba tossed Scar over a cliff, where Scar was attacked by the Hyenas, whom he had previously blamed for everything. I can identify with Scar being jealous of his brother and wanting to be in control. And his villain song "Be Prepared" is such a great song.

6. Syndrome, from The Incredibles

As a boy, Bucky, who would become Syndrome, wanted to be Mr. Incredible's sidekick. Mr. Incredible refused because he didn't want or need a sidekick. Eventually, after superheroes were forced to retire, Bucky became Syndrome and became a villain, setting out to invent the ability to become a superhero, because when everybody is super, nobody is. And after he was defeated, he ended up going so far as to kidnap Mr. Incredible's youngest son, Jack-Jack, unaware that he had gained superpowers.

5.  Jafar, from Aladdin

Jafar was the royal visier to the Sultan, and was able to hypnotize the Sultan with his magic scepter, causing the Sultan to allow Jafar to marry Princess Jasmine. Jafar was also interested in the magic lamp buried underground, sending Aladdin in and then attempting to kill him after getting the lamp. After eventually becoming the Genie's new master, Jafar was tricked by Aladdin into wishing to be an all-powerful genie... Not realizing this means being trapped in a lamp. Of course, Jafar was freed in the sequel, Return to Jafar, where he's an evil genie but ends up being destroyed at the end.

4.  Captain Hook, from Peter Pan

Perhaps one of the most iconic Disney villains, Captain Hook is the leader of the pirates in Neverland, and wants to kill Peter Pan, particularly due to Peter being responsible for getting Hook's hand eaten by a crocodile. While a ruthless pirate, he is also quite clumsy, constantly needing his first mate Mr. Smee to help him. Captain Hook bombs Peter Pan's hideout, nearly killing Peter and Tinker Bell, kidnaps Wendy, John, Michael, and the Lost Boys, and attempts to drown the Indian princess Tiger Lily. Although a buffoon at times, Captain Hook showed he can also be truly evil.

3. Gaston, from Beauty and the Beast

Gaston started out as just an egotistical jerk who wanted to marry Belle. But her rejection of him combined with her father Maurice telling the town that Belle was locked in a beast's dungeon led to Gaston paying the head of an asylum to have Maurice committed unless Belle agreed to marry him. When Belle was able to prove that the Beast was real, Gaston set out on a new mission to kill the Beast.. Gaston showed what a real jerk he is by stabbing Beast in the back (literally) right after the Beast decided not to kill Gaston, only for Gaston to fall to the death (but nobody falls to the death like Gaston). The townspeople never turn their back on Gaston, and they follow Gaston when he wants the Beast killed. I wonder how his funeral turned out.

2. Megavolt, from Darkwing Duck

My favorite villain from Darkwing Duck, Megavolt has electrical powers and a fondness for electrical puns. Originally a science nerd named Elmo Sputterspark, he got his powers after bullies sabotaged an experiment in static electricity, and he decided to use his powers for good... By getting revenge on the bullies and becoming a bad guy. I wouldn't call him the main villain of Darkwing Duck, but he is surely one of Darkwing's most important enemies. After all, he appeared in more episodes than any other villain (17, to be exact) and he was the first bad guy Darkwing fought (in fact they went to high school together).

1. Cruella de Vil, from 101 Dalmatians

A fashion designer who went to school with Anita Darling, Cruella has a desire for a dalmatian-skinned fur coat. When Roger and Anita's dogs had puppies, she wanted to buy them all, and when they wouldn't sell them, she had her henchmen Horace and Jasper steal them, and a lot more dogs, totaling 99 dalmatians.In the sequel, she starts out being good (after being on probation and prohibited from buying furs), but after gaining an interest in art she once again desired to kidnap the puppies. Cruella de Ville is such a cool villain, with her hair being two different colors, her desire for fur coats, and her reckless driving. The "Cruella de Ville" song is awesome as well. And she has such great lines, like "Poison them! Drown them! Bash them on the heads! I don't care how you kill the little beasts, but do it, and do it now!"

These are just some of Michael Wermuth's favorite Disney Villains. If you would like to contribute a list of your ten favorite Disney Villains, email us at mickeymindset@gmail.com!

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