What a difference 5 years can make!

Exactly 5 years ago, I released the quintessential DuckTales 25th Anniversary Retrospective. It was the quintessential because it was the only one :P. Disney couldn’t even be bothered to put out more than a two paragraph text statement. (Yes, Chris Barat (RIP) did a year long celebration, but ironically forgot the anniversary date.)

What a stark difference today is for DuckTales at 30. Not only is there a brand new DuckTales reboot just in time for the 30th anniversary, but Disney actually seems to be putting a serious effort into both its production and marketing. In fact, Disney’s whole landscape has flipped. 5 years ago, John Carter was among many significant Disney missteps, but now they are riding high on massive successes of Marvel and Star Wars properties. And ironically, 5 years ago, ESPN had profits that out stripped Disney’s theme parks and movies combined, but today is the darkest cloud over Disney and dragging its stock down.

For those who haven’t read my DuckTales 25th Anniversary Retrospective, it is highly recommended, including by Chris Barat (“Wing doesn’t need a prayer”). Everything still holds up today and will be a fun read for any duck fan. It covers the critical role DuckTales had in launching the Amercian animation renaissance of the 80’s and 90’s. And it offers some insights about the character designs (personalities)

But those hoping for new material for the 30th, never fear. I have a new article coming that looks at the new DuckTales 2017 premeire and reflects on how it fits with the original DuckTales and the Barksian/Duck Universe overall. Due to other speaking engagements I have coming up, this unfortunately could not be finished by today. But with the new series kicking off this Saturday, duck fans have plenty to stay occupied.

So stay tuned for my upcoming article. I’m also considering a video version this time. Last time, Disney/YouTube copyright takedown claims were overly aggressive. Right now, it seems Disney has figured out that people talking about stuff on social media actually benefits them, and I’m seeing a lot of DuckTales commentary on YouTube now that would have been quickly claimed before. If you have posted DuckTales related stuff recently on YouTube, please let me know how the waters are.





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