Quack Pack! is the second episode of Season 3 and the 49th episode overall of DuckTales 2017. It aired on April 4, 2020 on Disney XD, alongside Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!
Synopsis[]
The family is not quite itself as it soon discovers the planned family photo-shoot might just be a part of a bigger "wish" gone wrong.
Plot[]
Huey and Donald arrive at McDuck Manor in preparation for a family photo. Dewey then dances into the foyer over the audience noises claiming to have the perfect idea for the photo, while Huey shows all the past photos having been silly and danger-making. Scrooge reminds Louie about charging people to watch Della jump off the roof, despite Della having done so all the time on the moon, and Louie's claims that the higher the stakes, the more they can charge. Thirty minutes before the photo, Scrooge takes Louie and Della to do something unrelated to the study. Beakley and Webby arrive from above with a grappling hook and watch for enemy spies sneaking about the mansion, as Beakley claims she's "not a spy". After a moment of Donald's silence, Huey asks him if he's noticed anything unusual happening, and Donald suddenly speaks in a normal tone.
After the "Quack Pack" opening sequence, Donald claims he has a scratchy throat but Huey assures that he is the artiste and just needs to wait for the photographer. Webby opens the door for Knox Quackington who says he travels the world uncovering people's deepest secrets. Webby grows suspicions and believes him to be a spy as she then directs him to a nearby room, where she beats him up and ties him to a chair. Meanwhile, Della, Scrooge, and Louie go to check on the study room for the photo-shoot, only to find it in shambles with Scrooge having done no repair work whatsoever due to refusing to hire a repairman. Eventually, the price became more and more expensive the longer he waited, as the damage got worse.
In a last-minute effort, Scrooge decides they should all fix the room themselves as best as they can, as Scrooge would rather spend their own time overspending his money on someone else because time isn't money. Donald and Huey enter the room and discover its poor shape, with Della suggesting they just find another room to shoot the photo, but Donald refuses by claiming the lighting in the room to be the perfect spot within the mansion. As Donald continues to panic over the imperfection of the photo, Dewey enters the room and invites Donald for a scalp massage and haircut for the photo. With Dewey and Donald now out of the room, Huey intends to hatch up a plan using his Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, only for him to discover all the pages on the book are suspiciously blank.
Della suggests he may have just put it in the wash by accident, but Huey begins to grow further paranoid from realizing he'd never let anything harmful happen to his Guidebook, along with all the mysterious background laughter only he can seem to hear. Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Dewey continues to give Donald a scalp massage. Although Donald is comfortable at first, he soon realizes Dewey actually has no true experience in massaging nor hair-styling (aside from what Dewey saw on the internet). Huey then bursts into the room, claiming that something strange is going on around the house, as Dewey simultaneously shows him the hairstyle he perfected for both him and Donald, a Mohawk. The mysterious laughter only Huey can hear continues, only for him to hear mysterious music as well and the lights suddenly fading while Dewey and Donald remain oblivious to what's happening.
After a Pep commercial occurs and the scene returns to Quack Pack, Huey continues to shout about all the strange occurrences happening that only he can see. Donald tries to calm him down by admitting he may have been putting too much pressure on him about the photo-shoot. However, Huey instead declares the veil of reality is melting away all around him and yet no one seems to be taking him seriously about it. Due to his anxiety, Donald decides to take care of the rest of the photo duties himself as Huey then storms off. Meanwhile, Webby begins interrogating the photographer as she claims to know exactly who he is through his actions during the day.
She then accuses the photographer of being a spy, much to his relief but also confusion as Webby threatens to bring her grandmother over to further interrogate. As Webby is about to leave the room, she asks Launchpad to keep an eye on him along with his band members, who decide to play more silently than usual because of Webby's claim that the photographer's an agent, assuming she means someone to publicize the band. Meanwhile, in the study room, Scrooge and the others continue to fix the room as much as they can, only for the walls and pipes to further crack into pieces. Huey then barges in once more and tries to tell them they're trapped in a mystical prison that continuously laughs at them, as he proceeds to further panic after seeing an Ottoman Empire Brothers advertisement pop up in the bottom corner.
Suddenly, Huey begins to put all the pieces together of the strange occurrences and soon realizes he and his family are stuck on a TV show after coming to the conclusion that the blank Guidebook he currently has is a prop, and the room they're currently in is a fake TV set due to there being no cables, pipes, or insulation inside the walls. At first, the family believes he's overthinking things, but when Huey points out the room only has three walls and they never looked at the fourth wall, the family looks at the fourth wall and notice an entire audience staring at them. Scrooge decides to open the door to the next room, only to realize the doorway is blocked by a wall of bricks, as they then decide to break down as many areas as they can to escape the room.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Donald shaves the top of his head to get rid of the hairstyle Dewey fashioned for him, as Webby shows up trying to act non-inconspicuous while grabbing a meat tenderizer. As she leaves the room, Goofy arrives through another door and admits he came to borrow some ketchup from the mansion's fridge. Goofy then notices Donald's slumped state and asks him what the problem is, as Donald expresses his frustration about the big family photo and how the photographer is nowhere to be found. Goofy then states he has to leave to go work at the photography studio, which Donald then happily suggests to Goofy he can help since he's a photographer.
Goofy, however, doesn't quite understand what he's saying at first, so instead, he decides to leave to get one of his co-workers to help with the photo-shoot. Moments later, Goofy re-enters the room and volunteers to help with the photo since he's a photographer, much to Donald's aggravation. Meanwhile, as Launchpad and his band finish up their song with the photographer, Scrooge, Louie, Huey, and Della suddenly crash through the roof and fall in front of them. Webby, Dewey, and Beakley then enter the room to see what all the commotion is about, as Donald and Goofy follow right behind them, with Donald noticing the hole now in the study and believing the photo's now ruined.
Della then shouts to the rest of the group about their TV show predicament (to which Launchpad commends the agent for giving them a TV show after the audition), as Huey begins to think about why they're in this situation in the first place considering they're supposed to be adventuring. When Louie suggests they pick up their tracks from before this morning, Donald instead claims Louie simply learned a lesson about honesty after he accidentally broke Della's favorite vase. Dewey then strokes his chin while trying to remember what happened, when suddenly everything went fuzzy, leading Huey to realize they need a flashback sequence. He then suggests everyone tilt their heads and strokes their chins to try and remember what happened.
The flashback shows Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Donald, Della, Beakley, Webby, and Launchpad inside of a cave on top of a large statue, as they try to fend off a hoard of scorpions approaching them. They were searching for a magic lamp that was informed to them by Isabella Finch's lost journal, as they continued to stop the scorpions from climbing up to reach them. Meanwhile, Donald, panicking behind everyone's backs, wished that he and his family can simply have normal family problems. Suddenly, a lamp began floating up in front of him as a genie then shot out and granted him his wish, ending the flashback.
All eyes were then pointed on Donald after realizing he was the one responsible for their imprisoned state. When Louie questions Donald about his reasoning, Donald reveals he constantly wishes for his family to be normal, and that it was a sheer coincidence a magic lamp was beside him when saying it this time. Webby then recognizes the genie they saw from the flashback, as she then accuses the photographer originally thought to be a spy as the real genie. Knowing he's been caught, the photographer then transforms back into his original clothing and introduces himself as Gene.
While Huey also recognizes him as the man from the Pep commercial, Scrooge demands from Gene to release them from the world they're imprisoned in. Even so, Gene refuses, claiming he's merely carrying out the wish Donald requested for a normal family. However, Gene's view of a "normal family" is proven to be inaccurate because he's had no recent learnings of the present world, due to having been stuck inside the lamp ever since the year 1990. Nevertheless, Della and Scrooge attempt to forcefully get Gene to change everything back to the way it was, but Gene states he is unable to do so unless his new master Donald wishes for it, as Donald still has two wishes left.
Donald, however, believes the world isn't as bad as they make it out to be considering the problems they face aren't catastrophically dangerous, and at the end of the day everything is resolved without anyone getting hurt, captured, or lost. Regardless, Huey believes that's simply not who they are because they love the spirit of adventure, traveling the world, and defying danger. Angered, Donald storms out of the room with Goofy following him and proceeds to continue with setting up the family photo he's wanted to do from the start.
Beakley then questions Gene about how long they'll be stuck in the wish for if Donald still refuses to comply, to which Gene's ultimate answer is forever (considering that Launchpad would have 3 dates the following week, with Louie losing his pet snake, estimating at least 3 seasons, plus spin-offs, and the chance of the show being rebooted in the future). Huey then decides the best course of action is to find the lamp Donald used and wish themselves out, but once he says that, the crowd in front of them begins to boo and slowly approaches the family. The family is freaked out over the sight of unrecognizable creatures, and they proceed to flee from their pursuit. Unfortunately, they then trap themselves once again after falling into a room similar to the entrance room inside the mansion.
Scrooge continues to demand answers, with Gene reminding him that Donald made the wish so if they continue to fight it, the wish will only further attempt to preserve itself. Huey then orders everyone to split up around the room and find the lamp, but while doing so, Launchpad runs into illusions of his past girlfriends who then become hostile themselves. Luckily, Launchpad, Webby, Della, and Beakley managed to defeat them, while Dewey and Louie are meanwhile being chased by Louie's pet snakes that were mentioned earlier. Scrooge then saves Huey from an upcoming mob of creatures, after the miniature ottoman empire brothers from earlier were carrying him towards them.
The creatures continue to swarm around them, but luckily Huey uses a nearby Pep drink to wash them away using a wave of the drink previously seen in the Pep commercial. But just when the family thinks they got rid of them all, more creatures proceed to swarm into the room. Meanwhile back in the study room, Donald persistently tries to clean up the room as best as he can for the photo, believing the rest of the family to be having an enjoyable time, and likely won't be joining him for the photo. Goofy thinks they may just be a little mad at him, but Donald doesn't understand why it's so hard for him and his family to be like other families.
Goofy, however, believes the best photos are ones that aren't staged, as he then shows Donald a handful of photos of him and his son Max in an odd turn of events at an amusement park. All of the photos were taken at unexpecting times, but the moral is they reminded them of memories they love and cherish between one another. Donald then wonders if it really is wrong for wanting to be normal, but Goofy believes every family has their own definition of being normal.
Meanwhile, the fighting in the entrance room continues between the Duck family and the creatures. Donald soon shows up to reconcile with everyone alongside Goofy, only for him to freak out as well over the creatures. Even so, after a brief pause, Donald joins in on the fight, and everyone fights together to stop the creatures from pinning them to the ground. As the fighting continues, Donald eventually spots the lamp on the chandelier above them, as Goofy is then jabbed with sharp nails from behind, instinctively shooting him into the air and grabbing onto the chandelier. This causes the lamp to slide off, as Donald manages to catch it and immediately wishes to undo his previous wish.
Gene accepts his command, as he then returns Donald and the rest of the family back to the same cave where Donald wished for his first wish. The scorpions then back off, as the family realizes they're back to normal when Dewey tried to say "something funny Dewey," and there was no background laughs this time. Donald is also returned to his natural voice, as Gene shoots out of the lamp once more out of fun exhilaration for the "episode" that just happened. Soon after, the family also discovers Goofy in a corner of the cave, as they realize Goofy was actually real the entire time. Gene then appears in front of Donald, reminding him he still has one more wish he can grant him.
Later back at Donald's houseboat, Huey, Dewey, and Louie watch Donald place a frame on his wall, as Louie expresses his frustration with Donald for "wasting" a wish on having a framed photo for himself when he could've wish for something much bigger. Nevertheless, Huey claims he likes it with Donald himself believing it to be perfect. The scene ends as it zooms on the framed photo of the entire family working together against the creatures created by the wish.
Cast[]
- David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck
- Danny Pudi as Huey Duck
- Ben Schwartz as Dewey Duck
- Bobby Moynihan as Louie Duck
- Kate Micucci as Webby Vanderquack
- Beck Bennett as Launchpad McQuack
- Paget Brewster as Della Duck
- Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
- Toks Olagundoye as Mrs. Beakley
- Don Cheadle as Quack Pack Donald
- Jaleel White as Gene the Genie
- Bill Farmer as Goofy
- Laura Bailey as Launchpad's Girlfriends
- Abby Ryder-Fortson as Little Girl Audience Member
- Noah Baird as Little Boy Audience Member
- Kari Wahlgren as Audience Members
- Keith Ferguson as Johnny and Randy (uncredited), Drummer (uncredited)
Allusions[]
- This episode is named after and a tribute to the Disney Show of the same name that aired on the Disney Afternoon:
- The Quack Pack logo is reused.
- The episode features human beings, which were also present in Quack Pack and select Donald Duck cartoons. In addition, when the crowd is coming for Scrooge’s family, one of the humans resembles Kent Powers, who also appeared in Quack Pack.
- This makes this the only DuckTales episode to involve humans.
- This episode is heavily inspired by 90's sitcoms, including the family sitcoms of the Disney Afternoon block like Goof Troop and Quack Pack.
- The title card and one of the pictures Donald looks at while talking to Goofy is a nod to the Quack Pack promo image that features Donald, Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Daisy.
- The picture is actually the same one from The Other Bin of Scrooge McDuck!
Trivia[]
- The idea behind this episode was to create something as close to a "bottle episode" as possible for an animated series. In television, a "bottle episode" is a story limited to a single location, largely based on dialogue, and meant as easier for production: bottle episodes are next-to-impossible in animation as they can be hard on the different parts on the process. Frank Angones went to Matt Youngberg and asked what would constitute a bottle episode for DuckTales, to which Youngberg half-jokingly replied, "I don’t know, four backgrounds and six shots and everyone’s just kinda talking?" Angones, realizing this described a multi-camera sitcom, immediately ran out of the room to start planning the episode.[2]
- The writers were surprised to learn most of their cast were able to pull off the multi-camera sitcom style: Paget Brewster joked during the recording sessions that she has the record for the most multi-camera sitcom pilots, and Don Cheadle remarked his earliest gigs were on sitcoms like The Golden Girls spin-off series The Golden Palace.[2]
- Besides featuring Gene from DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp, this episode includes numerous references to the film:
- Gene mentions being stuck in his lamp since 1990, the year marking the film's release and his debut.
- The scene with the giant scorpions mirrors the opening scene of the film.
- There are two references to the original DuckTales:
- Scrooge, Launchpad and Beakley wear the clothes from the original DuckTales.
- One of the artifacts in the background of the manor's garage set is a smaller version of the giant golden sun coins from "The Treasure of the Golden Suns - Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing"; the others are a painting of a bull-like creature and a dog-ified Easter Island head.
- There are a number of references to the Disney Afternoon series Goof Troop and its spin-off A Goofy Movie.
- When Goofy shows his wallet photos to Donald, Max, Roxanne, and PJ can be seen in them, along with a picture of Max dressed in a red Powerline outfit. Max, P.J., and Roxanne all look like elementary-school kids rather than teenagers, though.
- Goofy's job as a photographer is a reference to his career in A Goofy Movie where he worked as a children's photographer.
- The final scene where Louie is berating Donald for wasting his last wish has him mention that Donald could've wished to be a genie himself. This is perhaps a nod to Jafar's final wish in Aladdin.
- This is the second time of Don Cheadle as Donald’s deep voice.
References[]
- ↑ Walt Disney Television Press.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "DuckTales showrunners discuss that fourth wall-breaking season 3 premiere." Entertainment Weekly
