DuckTales Series Premiere Review/Thoughts (SPOILERS) · 7:29am Aug 12th, 2017
TL;DR: It's everything you love about DuckTales, plus the unique spicy snark of the 2010s. I LOVE IT!! 
Donald is raising his three nephews on a houseboat docked at the port of Duckburg. He has no job, and is very overprotective--even forcing his nephews into oversized life jackets when he's only going to be gone for two hours for a job interview. With the triplets causing mischief and the babysitter rerouted to the middle of nowhere and no time for a backup, Donald takes his nephews to his uncle's mansion to drop them off for the day.
Donald and Scrooge...do not have the best relationship.
Scrooge believes family is "nothing but trouble" and hates having it called out that lately he hasn't been doing anything interesting like he used to. He's turned into a bitter, crotchety old relic who longs to return to his glory days.
And then there's Webby and Mrs. Beakley. Mrs. Beakley is massively overprotective, teaching Webby to be ready for anything but never letting her do anything--she's never even eaten a hamburger!
Anyway, the kids cause a bunch of mischief, which actually excites Scrooge! He loves mischief and trouble and adventure, and the kids nearly getting him killed twice (four times if you count each monster separately) turns out to be just what he needed to fire up his blood and bond with his estranged family. He decides to take the kids on a quest to discover Atlantis.
Meanwhile, Donald has gotten a new job...working for Flintheart Glomgold, who intends to search for...(dun dun DUUUUUUUN!) Atlantis.
The triplets run Scrooge nuts in the sub; when Donald learns that Scrooge has taken the boys on an undersea adventure (because you know he does), he goes completely ballistic, ignoring the fact that his new boss wants to kill his entire family.
From here, it goes about like you'd think: wacky comedic adventure in trap-filled Atlantis, a double-cross, a deathtrap, a death-defying escape, and it all ends with the family growing closer together and becoming a bona fide Adventure Family, living together at McDuck Manor.
In short...it's DuckTales. For the New 10s. It's everything we loved back in the 90s plus everything we love about shows like Gravity Falls. Including a broader mystery arc, revealed in the last five seconds of the pilot...
Some notes:
One of the biggest concerns we all had from the outset was the art style, which has been designed to more closely match the New Mickey Mouse cartoons.
It works. It really, really works.
The voice cast, headlined by David Tennant as Scrooge, is perfect, expertly killing their roles. The nephews have been given personality upgrades and a 2010s sensibility, coming across more as Dipper Pines in triplicate but each with something distinctive about him. Webby is, well...Mabel. That's about all I can say about Webby. She's Mabel.
I'm amused at Glomgold's character motivation here. His hatred of Scrooge is about more than money and glory here. He's determined to prove to the world he's more Scottish than Scrooge McDuck! "Ah'm wearin' a KILT, McDuck! A KILT!"
St. Canard and Cape Suzette are mentioned by name! 
(As are some other locales in the Disney Afternoon canon.)
There's a TON of blink-and-you'll-miss it stuff in the pilot that...I blinked and missed. It won't be long until the DuckTales Wiki and TVTropes are super-overpopulated with all the little details, though, including the clues to the bigger mystery of the McDuck family.
Unfortunately, I don't really know when I might get a chance to watch it myself, but this seems like an appropriate response:
i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/113/203/shutup_spike.jpg
I didn't even catch it when Cape Suzette was mentioned, I was busy freaking out over the St.Canard reference. Darkwing Duck and/or Talespin crossover/spinoff when?
No seriously, I loved watching reruns of them as a kid, i NEED this...
The only problem might be the voicing. Granted the triplets characters change is great but the voces may take some geting used to
Don't have cable, where can I watch it ASAFP?
4631325
Cape Suzette was the first reference. The triplets were gonna drive the houseboat to Cape Suzette.
4631326
I like the voices. They fit with the triplets having actual personalities.
4631325
Agreed.
Loved Tailspin, wanted that damn plane when I was younger. Or the airship, the one from the pilot more then the show proper.
Darkwing Duck needs a reboot, which might happen? Think Mythril posted some teaser thing about that.
With them all in the same verse now, they could all show up in later episodes of Ducktales.
Im going to find somewhere to watch this tonight. Loved Ducktails.
Should I watch the original series before watching this?
4631467
Since it's about a month and a half before the series proper begins, you can do both if you can find the original somewhere online to watch. But really? Just go into it blind, it's not going to matter. (Or don't. Because the original is awesome.)
(Also, knock it off with the Sweetie Belle emoji. It's getting annoying.)
I think Webby may actually be more Dipper than Mabel
4631472
Well, I was too lazy to find the other questioning emoji's.
4631650
She's more Mabel with Dipper's competence, really.
Watched it, loved it.
Anyone else notice the 'Gold Sun' giant coin in the garage? Or the lamp from the Ducktales movie (Treasure of the Lost Lamp)?
Also, am I the only one expecting to see shipping fics/art of Donald and...I think her name was 'Stabby McBladeson'? I hope I'm not the only one hoping to see that group returning at some point.
4631991
I'm sure we'll see them again at some point. Also, I'm expecting the namedrops to be relevant down the line--say, for example, Launchpad is laid up with a broken arm/leg, so Scrooge charters Higher For Hire? And all the implications of St. Canard being namedropped...
4632006
Those would both be amazing.
4632006
Oh! That talk about cutting back on experimental technology...Gyro Gearloose!
4632011
Heh. Also, I love how Scrooge's board of directors are actual, literal vultures.
4632015
I missed that detail, but it makes so much sense!
Though I love what they've done with Mrs. Beakley. Am I the only one picturing her being ex-Marine or something like that?
4632029
She's certainly something alright.
I love how they handled this show and the characters. And it looks like we got a season-long story arc if we're taking that cliffhanger at face-value. It's got the same adventure and charm as the original I feel.
4631325
4631450 I'll hide this in case of spoilers, but Darkwing Duck is confirmed to appear at some point.
4632050
Fucking AWESOME.
4631779
I can see feeling like that kind of, but really all of her Mabel like moments, where she's really excited about something or gushing over someone . But those are in situations where Dipper would be gushing over someone of something too. The closest thing to Mabel is when she's random, like with the going to eat a hamburger statement and Dipper could be like that ep with Quinton Trembley when he acted like going to the open library was breaking in and was going to set the map on fire to decode it
4632050
you know, i just left my job for the night, kinda bummed out and tired.
you just made my day mate.
I loved Ducktales as a kid, and it's cool that they brought it back.
I saw it this afternoon when i woke up before work. Hot damn that was a fun one.
I caught the St. Canard and Cape Suzette(hell that one helped me wake up when I heard it) If there is a Tailspin cross I kinda like the idea that an Older Kit was Launchpads flight instructor.... and his great shame.
Scrooge out for more than cash and out to prove that he's still got it... Yeah that's a good new way to go.
Making the Triplets individuals... holy crap that is a big step up. That they were pretty much one character in 3 bodies was always one of the few complaints about the old show I had.
Both Webby and Mrs. Beakly are made much more interesting characters.
Launchpad... is pretty much the same. If it ain't broke...
Donald now part of the main cast and being central to what the season's mystery is another plus. (Is it weird that I kinda want him Mickey and Goofy in their own show being a adventuring trio)
The new take on Glomgold was fun as well. He wants to out scrooge scrooge. Not just in money and glory but in everything. I can't wait to see how they put twists on the other villians as well.
Spoiler and Speculation I expect that the obvious reason for the fallout between Scrooge and Donald,that the boys mother is dead, Is too obvious. They might think she is but if that's the cause we find out in season 2 that she's actually not.
My only gripe was that Donald was incomprehensible half the time. Mind you, that's par for the course. I'll probably get used to deciphering his speech.
Also, is it me, or does Mrs Beakly sound a lot like Integra from Hellsing Ultimate?
4632979
I'm concerned for Tony Anselmo if Donald has as much dialogue through the series as he did in the premiere. Because doing that voice for that long has to be destructive to one's larynx.
4632998
Probably. To be fair, he probably gets breaks between takes so his voice is not 100% totaled. And he is a professional. I have little doubt that he knows what he's doing.
4631467
No real need.
4635478
Okay, I might, though, just for the heck of it.
My favourite gag (among many, many great ones)...
Webby: [excited babbling] What are your blood types? What's Donald really like? Who's the evil triplet?
Huey & Dewey: [instantly] Louie.
Louie: Eh. [shrugs, it's a fair cop]
I love modern shows like this that clearly have a certain level of self-awareness that allows them to consciously embrace the ludicrous and over-the-top without ever falling into the trap of becoming oh-so-disaffectedly "ironic". None of that desperate, "Gosh, we are being so silly right now. Please don't think for a second that we could be taking this seriously." Instead every now and then there's the conspiratorial nod and wink that says, "Yeah, sure, it's ridiculous, but come on! We're all having fun with it, aren't we? Admit it – you enjoy taking this ride just as much as we did making it."
Yeah, I'll admit that any day of the week.
4636637
My favourite is Glomgold's Kilt line.
4636699
Ha, yeah, that's also among my top contenders, alongside Launchpad's repeated "I'm a pilot!"