Quack Pack
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 Poor Donald. He's always getting stuck with all the bad luck.
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"If Bonkers was the actual 'jump the shark' moment for The Disney Afternoon, I think a lot of people saw Quack Pack as the absolute point of no return for the block, as everything about it just seems to scream 'desperation for relevance'."
— Chris Moore, TV Trash
Quack Pack is an American animated sitcom produced by Walt Disney Television Animation, featuring Donald Duck and his nephews. The show debuted on September 3, 1996, as a part of the "Disney Afternoon" programming block, following the success of Goof Troop. The series ran for one season with 39 episodes.
Plot
The show centers around Donald and the adolescent versions of his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Donald works as a cameraman alongside Daisy, who is a reporter. The group travels around the world looking for a big scoop.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie have more distinctive personalities than when they had been presented as younger. They usually resort to extreme and strange measures to avoid getting into trouble with their uncle and to achieve their ambitions. They usually do this by tricking Donald, or whoever else they wish to manipulate, but they usually feel guilty about it. Huey, Dewey, and Louie share similar passions such as listening to rock music, getting revenge on those who anger them, impressing girls, getting money, pulling pranks, playing games, and reading comics. They also share a profound knowledge of cars and mechanics.
Bad Qualities
- Some of the plots are either flat-out stupid or forgettable. A prime example of this was relating to the titular trio having Professor Ludwig Von Drake turning them into superheroes, all because of getting away from not cleaning up their room.
- Also, some of the episodes can be rather dull, ridiculous, and uninteresting as well because of how much the scenarios try way too hard to be cool, instead of coming off as bland, boring, and generic.
- This gets to the point that the creators seemed like they weren't even trying when coming up with these episodes.
- Speaking of which, Huey, Dewey, and Louie have been flanderized from cheerful and enthusiastic scamps into essentially uninteresting and unlikable characters with whatever outdated trends or ridiculously stupid plot that was going on in the 90s to serve as a constant reminder of how changing characters with being hip isn't usually a good thing.
- The show sometimes tries to be faithful to the classic Donald Duck shorts, yet it was overly modernized as it focuses on the titular trio in a modern setting and personas, as it was done horribly.
- While this show hints at the source material like Donald being in the navy, it never answers the following question as if this show was meant to be connecting with DuckTales as either a sequel or a reboot of Disney's duck continuity.
- While Donald and his nephews' relationships were always antagonistic in the classic shorts, the youthful trio was rather innocent and very childlike compared to Donald instigating the conflict as a sense of retribution for what the boys did in return. In this show, the innocence isn't there since the trio is flanderized from being excited, enthusiastic young scamps into rebellious teenagers, as mentioned in BQ #3.
- Ultimately, the episodes came off like the creators thought they were recreating the zany adventures the characters were known for in the original shorts but had none of the charm whatsoever.
- As a result of this, the humor tends to be mean-spirited in a rather extremely unfunny manner, especially since Donald usually doesn't do anything wrong in the slightest to even deserve the misery he is given in the first place.
- Speaking of the writing, it is rather cliched, unsubtle, and has horrendously outdated tropes of the nineties, much to the point of showing an ugly representation of what was cool in the nineties.
- This show overall has had no impact on the Donald Duck franchise since almost every element from this show is completely ignored in later Donald Duck television and film appearances, such as Huey, Dewey, and Louie no longer having normal voices and instead of reverting to their original youthful incarnations until at least when 2017's DuckTales came out. You can watch the original DuckTales and the Donald Duck shorts, as well as any other television spin-offs and films featuring Donald Duck and his nephews, but skipping Quack Pack, and anything too important would not be missed.
Good Qualities
- Some of the adult characters are rather the most interesting and likable characters in the show.
- Donald Duck is a kind-hearted middle-aged uncle who does his best to look after his nephews. He still has moments of being hilarious and moments of being more like his likable if temper-prone self since he is timeless, most likely when he isn't constantly abused/ridiculed by other characters like his nephews for example.
- Daisy Duck was given an interesting and well-developed change to her personality, where she went from being the typical love interest for Donald, has been given a more unique take as a quirky reporter.
- While Huey, Dewey, and Louie are unlikable, at least they have separate physical appearances, distinct personalities, and different voice actors, which would only be done again in 2017's DuckTales while in all other media featuring them, they are being the same duckling (to the point of having the same design, but recolored). However, it's undeniable that DuckTales executed the concept of the triplets having separate personalities way better.
- Louie can be likable in some episodes. He is also the least unlikable of the trio.
- Dewey can also be likable from time to time.
- Speaking of which, some of Donald's antics translated well into modern suburbia.
- Some decent jokes here and there.
- Good animation for 1990s standards.
- The soundtrack is passable for the most part.
- Speaking of which, despite the rather bad lyrics, the theme song (sung by the late Eddie Money) is very catchy and funny.
- The voice acting is decent for Disney standards.
Reception
Quack Pack currently holds a rating of 6.7/10 on IMDb. It has been considered to be the show that started the downfall of The Disney Afternoon.
Trivia
- Quack Pack is often compared to DuckTales and Goof Troop.
- Founder of the now-defunct Blue Sky Studios, Chris Wedge worked on this show as a prop and character designer.
Videos
(Go to 34:33 for Nostalgia Critic's video)
External Links
TV Trash's review on this show.
Comments
- Mean-spirited shows
- Unfunny shows
- Annoying shows
- Cancelled shows
- Animated shows
- Cartoons
- Disney shows
- Disney XD shows
- 1990s programs
- Syndicated shows
- Shows that lasted only one season
- Cult shows
- Comedy shows
- Shows with bad morals
- Average shows
- Shows that are only popular in certain countries
- Traditional animation shows
- Short-lived shows
- Disney Television Animation shows
- Commercial failures
- Bad media
- Bad shows