Mighty Ducks
moviestillsdb
While it seemed perfectly reasonable when it first aired in 1996, In retrospect Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series is an utterly bizarre show. Other than borrowing the name and branding of Disney’s actual hockey team (and the live-action kid’s film that inspired that), the cartoon is entirely its own thing. It follows the adventure of anthropomorphized adult Duck superheroes who travel from their hockey-themed planet (Puckworld, naturally) to defend Earth from the invading dragon-like Saurians — oh, and they also compete in the NHL as the Mighty Ducks in Anaheim, California.
Disney put a lot behind the project — they even got Ian Ziering of Beverly Hills, 90210 fame to voice our hero duck, Wildwing Flashblade — but the show was too “cool” and “edgy” for its good.
Quack Pack
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Quack Pack ran for 39 episodes for Disney’s beloved syndicated block of cartoons and was another example of their building and a show around slightly aged-up versions of characters that kids were already fans of. This time, instead of the triplet ducks palling around with their rich Uncle Scrooge, they are brought along on adventures with Donald and his reporter girlfriend Daisey.
It was cool to see how the writers expanded on the characters as Huey Dewey and Louie went from interchangeable brothers with different color shirts to completely distinct personalities… with different color shirts. Not as great as DuckTales, but an enjoyable series nonetheless.
Goof Troop
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Goof Troop was one of the longest-running and most popular series produced for the block, running for 78 episodes. Here, we are introduced to single Dad Goofy Goof and his son Max as well as their neighbors including the cantankerous Pete and his son (and Max’s best friend) P.J.
The show proved so popular that it led to two feature films, with A Goofy Movie remaining a cult classic for kids of a certain age. It also changed the “cannon” around Goofy, with the show’s version of the character being what Disney would lean on for future projects.
Bonkers
IMDb
For the longest time, it was believed Bonkers was a loose reimagining of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? The pieces are certainly there — an overweight detective who hates antics and toons is paired with a zany animal partner to solve crimes in Los Angeles. While this has long been disproved it’s still a fun lens to view the show through.
Bonkers has two different partners during the series run, depending on the season. Whichever one you prefer depends on how much conflict you want between our heroes (Officer Miranda Wright is far more tolerant of how bonkers Bonkers D. Bobcat tends to be).
Aladdin
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If you were confused when Disney’s Aladdin: The Series premiered in 1994, you weren’t the only one. While the show is set after The Return of Jafar it began months before the movie was even released on video. And that’s saying nothing of the fact that the newly freed Genie had said he was going to travel the world and yet here he was accompanying Aladdin, Jasmine, and company on their new adventures. Still, the show was imaginative and surprisingly well-drawn even if it didn’t have nearly the same budget as the original film.
Though as far as Aladdin movie tie-ins nothing could beat the fantastic Super Nintendo and Sega video games.
TaleSpin
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TaleSpin is a bizarre hodgepodge of Disney IP and borrowed ideas. Inspired in equal parts by Casablanca, Cheers, Jungle Book, old adventure serials, and half-remembered episodes of steampunk anime, the show follows the adventures of Baloo, a lazy bush pilot, and his ward, the youthful navigator Kit Cloudkicker. In between daring cargo runs and avoiding the dreaded sky pirates, Baloo also balances the threat posed by industrialist tiger Shere Khan with a will-they won’t-they love story with his new boss Rebecca Cunningham.
The dogfights are exciting and the show uses its wartime setting well. The animation is occasionally rough around the edges but it’s charming enough that you likely won’t notice.
Gargoyles
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Credit to Disney and the creators of Gargoyles for not being afraid to try something different. Not only is the series far darker (both literally and thematically) than other shows on the Disney Afternoon block, but it was also highly episodic. While it would create frustrations for kids who might miss an episode or two and feel a bit lost in the larger narrative, it also made Gargoyle’s feel like the “serious” show for “serious” kids.
The show also features an incredible voice cast, including Keith David, Ed Asner, and seemingly half the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Darkwing Duck
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Darkwing Duck was a long-running and highly popular DuckTales spinoff that followed the adventures of mild-mannered single suburban dad Drake Mallard who moonlights as the caped crime fighter in the city of St. Canard.
The concept is inspired by old serialized heroes like The Shadow, Batman, or Zorro, and thus the show’s creators gave Darkwing Duck an expansive rogue’s gallery of interesting villains. While the episodes were typically self-contained, seeing familiar foes pop up gave young viewers the impression of dropping into a larger world. Fans of DuckTales were also treated to even more Launchpad McQuack as he often serves as the crime fighter’s bumbling sidekick.
Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers
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Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers is another great example of Disney borrowing elements of different ideas and kit bashing them together to create something wholly new. Here, we take the classic Disney characters of Chip ‘n Dale and throw them into a detective agency that is akin to The Rescuers. Sharp-eyed viewers will also immediately clock that Chip is dressed like a pint-sized Indiana Jones while Dale shops at the same stores as Magnum P.I.
The show has a lot of fun with their tiny gadgets and vehicles, and it’s fun to pause and work out how, for example, their mechanic Gadget has built their plane
DuckTales
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Running for four seasons and one hundred episodes from 1987 to 1990, DuckTales was the best-animated series Disney produced in that era and was often the anchor of their syndicated Disney Afternoon block.
Inspired by the old Uncle Scrooge comic books, the animated series follows the thrilling adventures of the ultra-wealthy businessman and treasure hunter Scrooge McDuck as well as his three great-nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie. They run afoul of some recurring villains including the Beagle Boys, Flintheart Glomgold, and Magica De Spell as they travel the globe looking for even more riches to add to Scrooge’s ridiculous vault of gold.
