The Curse Of Castle McDuck
This episodeis important as I think it’s the only time we get a present-day look at Scrooge’s homeland. Yes, there is a Scooby Doo element to the episode, but there’s more than that, it owes much to the Sherlock Holmes mystery The Hound Of The Baskervilles too. The ending works well - the Druid circle is shown vaguely in the background at all times without it being obvious until the Druid points it out. There’s a bit of incidental music here, when they decide they’re going to get to the bottom of this mystery, that always makes me think of Defenders Of The Earth. It crops up a few times in the series.
Hero For Hire
Launchpad had several good episodes during the series’ run, but this is probably the best one to really show off his whole character. The nephews are completely absent, and even Scrooge is only in a very few scenes, but it doesn’t matter because Launchpad is a good enough character to carry the episode. The Beagle Boys being different ones from the main three, I looked it up, and apparently these three appear in a few episodes in place of the more regular ones. There’s lots of other Beagle Boys besides these two sets, although usually these are “specialist” Beagle characters who join the regulars because they have a particular skill required for the job in hand, or they are the foreign relatives who live in the country that’s being visited.
As for this episode, yes, it’s a good one. The way the Beagle Boys use Launchpad to pull off their bank robberies works. He’s stupid enough to do it. “Spielbig” for Spielberg is good - I wonder if they were tempted to say “Beagleberg” though! Gyro’s invention also came through, although it is curious how it’s only designed to detect the Beagle Boys - are there no other would-be robbers in Duckberg? Still, the story holds up.
Duck In The Iron Mask
Another important episode as it’s the only time the triplets’ identical appearance is ever explored as a character/plot point (other than the odd prank). And until you mentioned it Wilycub, I’d never noticed that the theme deliberately coincides with the twins Roy and Ray in this episode, which is odd as it’s one of the episodes I remember best from my youth! Even when I watched the whole series again as an adult a couple of years back. It’s like in Thundercats’ “The Shifter” when Panthro and Snarf are arguing at the start, I spotted that as an adult, but not this for some reason!
In any case, it’s another good episode. Peg-Leg Pete made several appearances in the DuckTales universe, never as the same character, as it were, Scrooge encountered a few different Petes. Launchpad did indeed get some great lines. I think my favourite is when Scrooge tells him to do something, “I am doin’ somethin’ - I’m crashin’!”
The story owes a lot to Dumas, the twin brother being held prisoner in an iron mask most notably, and the name Montedumas (Dumas and Monte Cristo), and of course the triplets done up as the Three Musketeers, but it also give a little nod to the Robin Hood legends. Roy and Ray are basically King Richard and Prince John, with Pietro as the Sheriff of Nottingham (or in this case Montedumas), the unjust ruler oppressing the citizens while the rightful king is away, or in this case, usurped. The two elements blend together very nicely. Reminds me, I need to watch my DVD of Errol Flynn as Robin Hood again!
