Darkwing Duck

Hey, what would life have been a decade ago without DARKWING DUCK?

I actually bought a video years back for my (then) young kids who were transfixed by the deeds of Mr Darkwing. Obviously lifted from the BATMAN concept and with nefarious villains around to allow DARKWING DUCK to win out ultimately, bringing with each victory some social lesson to be learned, each episode was a feathered triumph to savor. As his inimitable "Bruce Wayne" alter ego Drake Mallard, Darkwing would defend to the death the honor of the least threatened creature while reminding us of many of life's little obligations.

Multi-layered animation for the aware.

Probably the best cartoon to come out of Disney in quite a while, Darkwing Duck was somewhat darker than the average Disney fare and managed to touch upon some serious issues. However, it also could be extremely funny, with Darkwing's over-dramatic entrances, his ego 'the size of a small planet' and his arguments with his daughter.

There's a whole new set of villains to be thwarted by the terror that flaps: NegaDuck, Megavolt, Quackerjack, Liquidator (a parody of Penguin from Batman) and Bushroot; collectively the Fearsome Five. Not to mention the evil F.O.W.L. and its chief agent, Steelbeak.

Fortunately, DW has help. DuckTales' Launchpad McQuack is on his usual form, performing some excellent crashes in DW's Thunderquack and playing a good sidekick; GizmoDuck occasionally shows up fresh from Duckberg to drive DW crazy; Gosalyn, his daughter (who has a greater capacity for getting into trouble than Huey, Dewey and Louie put together!); and, last but not least, Morgana McCawber, sorceress and one-time crook.

As you can probably tell, this is my favourite Disney cartoon bar none. A couple of videos were released in Britain, and DW played on the Disney Channel for a while, but it has been far too long since Darkwing graced our terrestrial screens. Any Americans who have the Disney Channel and/or Toon Disney should count themselves very lucky indeed to be able to watch this absolute gem.

In short........ DARKWING DUCK ROCKS! IT'S ONE OF DISNEY'S BEST! IT'S BRILLIANT!!!!! IT'S CRAZY! IT HAS SOME OF THE BEST SUPERHERO PARODIES EVER!

Who could forget the episode where we learned the "real," origin of Darkwing, which was a parody of Superman. Or the Spider-man parody episode? Or that Darkwing's rogues gallery mirrored other comic book supervillains?

This was hilarious, with of course due thanks to Jim Cummings, who provided Darkwing's voice. What can I say, he's a genius! It's so funny when Darkwing is constantly trying to get attention, but failing to do so, or losing it to someone like Gizmo-duck!

I have a question though: why'd they change the theme song? It was played on the Disney Channel when DD first appeared, but after it was moved to Fox, they changed it, and it has stayed that way since. I have an original episode that plays the first version of the theme song, and I prefer it much more.

BOTTOM LINE: A funny cartoon! A Disney great! Too bad now they're making junk like Teacher's Pet.

I love this show and I used to watch it during its short four-year stretch on ABC. Jim Cummings (Tigger, Winnie the Pooh, the guard from "Shrek") provides the voice of Darkwing Duck, a sort of equivalent of Batman for a duck world.

Along with his pilot sidekick, daughter and trusty motorcycle, Darkwing Duck fights crime with a vengeance -- and a pretty good sense of humor.

I love this show and I really hope they'll release the DVD so I can revisit them. I haven't seen an episode in years and I've love to see some again.

ABC/Disney, please release a DVD!

This was a wonderful show. It cashed in on the big "superheroes-battle-crime-in-dark-city" trend that included Batman and the Ninja Turtles and lampooned it brilliantly. I can still remember Darkwing's wonderfully over-the-top vocal delivery and the many colorful villains (just thinking about Quackerjack and his psychotic chattering teeth brings a smile to my face). I'd love to see a live-action movie based on this cartoon (a la "Inspector Gadget"), with the animals replaced by human actors, a Gothic-style Saint Canard, and the latest special effects.