DuckTales Wiki
Register
Advertisement
DuckTales Wiki

Season 1 of DuckTales 1987 aired from September 18, 1987 to January 1, 1988 and includes 65 episodes, one of which features two stories in one, and nine of which formed the serials, "The Treasure of the Golden Suns" and "Catch as Cash Can".

Production[]

Walt Disney Television Animation began production on DuckTales in 1986, and the first season includes 65 episodes, the requirement needed for a show to have a weekday syndication (five days a week for thirteen weeks). Much of the season was inspired by Carl Barks' comic book stories, with ten episodes being full fledged adaptions, and Barks given credit for eight of them. Supervising producer of the first season was Fred Wolf, while Tom Ruzicka served as associate producer.

One of the show's developer, Jymn Magon, co-wrote the five-part pilot "The Treasure of the Golden Suns" with Bruce Talkington and Mark Zaslove, as well as the four-part serial "Catch as Cash Can", and some standalone episodes, while the duo David Wiemers & Ken Koonce were the most frequent additional writers. The duo Tedd Anasti & Patsy Cameron wrote the first episode that was produced, "Back to the Klondike", and served as story editors through out the season. Other writers of the season include Anthony Adams, Sharman DiVono, Evelyn Gabai, Michael Keyes, Richard Merwin, Bruce Reid Schaefer, and Len Uhley, as well as several contributors who were credited in one sole episode each: Eleanor Burian-Mohr, Diane Duane, Jack Enyart, Richard Esckilsen, Don Glut, Dale Hale, Jack Hanrahan, Pamela Hickey, Sam Joseph, Earl Kress, Randy Lofficier, James A. Markovich, Dennys McCoy, Francis Moss, Tom Naugle, Michael O'Mahony, Margaret Osborne, John Pirillo, Frank Ridgeway, Manette Beth Rosen, Astrid Ryterband, David Schwartz, John Semper, Chris Weber, Cherie Dee Wilkerson, Karen Willson, Mark Young, and Judy Zook.

David Block, Steve Clark, Terence Harrison and Alan Zaslove took turns directing the episodes, with timing director Vincent Davis serving as one-off director of the episode-segment "Take Me Out of the Ballgame".

For budget reasons, Disney outsourced the animation, mainly to two studios – TMS Entertainment in Japan and Wang Film Productions in Taiwan. TMS did the animation for the first 45 episodes to be produced (production numbers 101-145), while Wang did 19 of the remaining 20 – Australian studio Burbank Films produced the animation for "Down & Out in Duckburg". Four supervisors oversaw the overseas animation: Bill Wolf, Mike Reyna, Dale Schott and Sean Newton.

Broadcasting[]

The five-part series premiere "The Treasure of the Golden Suns" originally aired in syndication as a two-hour TV movie during the weekend of September 18–20, 1987 (the airdate varied by market – for instance, WSYT aired it on September 18, while WSBK-TV aired it on September 20).

Starting on the Monday of September 21, 1987 new episodes aired daily, until the season finale on New Year's Day of 1988. "The Treasure of the Golden Suns" first appeared in its serialized form from November 9–13, 1987.

Cast and characters[]

Main article: DuckTales (1987 TV series)#Cast and characters

The series focus on established comic book characters Scrooge McDuck (Alan Young), "the richest duck in the world", and his grand nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie (Russi Taylor). Donald Duck (Tony Anselmo) plays a minor role, but makes regular guest appearance throughout the season.

Much of the supporting cast is original DuckTales characters, including Duckworth the Butler (Chuck McCann), daring pilot Launchpad McQuack (Terry McGovern), nanny Mrs. Beakley (Joan Gerber) and her granddaughter Webby Vanderquack (Russi Taylor), and the friendly but clumsy Doofus Drake (Brian Cummings). Also appearing frequently is inventor Gyro Gearloose (Hal Smith), adapted from the comic books alongside his sidekick robot, Lil Bulb (non-speaking).

Recurring villains, all based on existing comic book characters, include the "second richest duck in the world" Flintheart Glomgold (Hal Smith); menacing witch Magica De Spell (June Foray); and the dreaded Beagle Boys, foremost including Big Time (Frank Welker), Burger (Chuck McCann), Bouncer (Chuck McCann), Baggy (Frank Welker), Bankjob (Peter Cullen), Babyface (Terry McGovern) and Bugle (Brian Cummings), and led by Ma Beagle (June Foray).

Additional characters include Scrooge's secretary, Mrs. Featherby (various actors); his long time love interest, Glittering Goldie (Joan Gerber); Donald's lucky cousin, Gladstone Gander (Rob Paulsen); his commanding officer in the navy, Admiral Grimitz (Peter Cullen); and Magica's brother-turned-raven, Poe (Frank Welker).

Minor recurring characters debuting during the first season include Webra Walters (Joan Gerber), Vacation Van Honk (various actors), Benzino Gassolini (Gino Conforti), Lord Battmountain (Chuck McCann), Quacky McSlant (non-speaking), Farley Foghorn (Frank Welker), Gloria Swansong (Joan Gerber), John D. Rockefeather (Hal Smith), Lady de Lardo (Joan Gerber) and Mrs. Quackenbush (various actors). The Mayor of Duckburg makes one non-speaking appearance but will return in a speaking capacity in Season 2.

The characters Admiral Grimitz, Poe, Gladstone Gander, Benzino Gassolini, Gloria Swansong, Farley Foghorn, and Quacky McSlant do not appear past the first season, while Vacation Van Honk and Lord Battmountain, did return, but only as non-speaking characters. Donald Duck, while not appearing physically past the first season, continued to make photographic cameos up until the third season.

Episodes[]

  • Note: On Disney+, the episodes are out of order and there are 2 episodes missing. The following list includes all the episodes in the correct order.
# Episode Production Original airdate
1 "The Treasure of the Golden Suns"
Part 1: "Don't Give Up the Ship"
124 September 18, 1987
2 "The Treasure of the Golden Suns"
"Part 2: "Wronguay in Ronguay"
125
3 "The Treasure of the Golden Suns"
Part 3: "Three Ducks of the Condor"
126
4 "The Treasure of the Golden Suns"
Part 4: "Cold Duck"
127
5 "The Treasure of the Golden Suns"
Part 5: "Too Much of a Gold Thing"
128
6 "Send in the Clones" 120 September 21, 1987
7 "Sphinx for the Memories" 141 September 22, 1987
8 "Where No Duck Has Gone Before" 133 September 23, 1987
9 "Armstrong" 114 September 24, 1987
10 "Robot Robbers" 134 September 25, 1987
11 "Magica's Shadow War" 135 September 28, 1987
12 "Master of the Djinni" 110 September 29, 1987
13 "Hotel Strangeduck" 122 September 30, 1987
14 "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" 108 October 1, 1987
15 "Duckman of Aquatraz" 129 October 2, 1987
16 "The Money Vanishes" 107 October 5, 1987
17 "Sir Gyro de Gearloose" 115 October 6, 1987
18 "Dinosaur Ducks" 106 October 7, 1987
19 "Hero for Hire" 113 October 8, 1987
20 "Superdoo!" 121 October 9, 1987
21 "Maid of the Myth' 112 October 12, 1987
22 "Down & Out in Duckburg" 147 October 13, 1987
23 "Much Ado About Scrooge" 131 October 14, 1987
24 "Top Duck" 132 October 15, 1987
25 "Pearl of Wisdom" 109 October 16, 1987
26 "The Curse of Castle McDuck" 119 October 19, 1987
27 "Launchpad's Civil War" 123 October 20, 1987
28 "Sweet Duck of Youth" 103 October 21, 1987
29 "Earth Quack" 102 October 22, 1987
30 "Home Sweet Homer" 130 October 23, 1987
31 "Bermuda Triangle Tangle" 117 October 26, 1987
32 "Micro Ducks from Outer Space" 104 October 27, 1987
33 "Back to the Klondike" 101 October 28, 1987
34 "Horse Scents" 118 October 29, 1987
35 "Scrooge's Pet" 105 October 30, 1987
36 "Catch as Cash Can"
Part 1: "A Drain on the Economy"
136 November 2, 1987
37 "Catch as Cash Can"
Part 2: "A Whale of a Bad Time"
137 November 3, 1987
38 "Catch as Cash Can"
Part 3: "Aqua Ducks"
138 November 4, 1987
39 "Catch as Cash Can"
Part 4: "Working for Scales"
139 November 5, 1987
40 "Merit-Time Adventure" 116 November 6, 1987
41 "The Golden Fleecing" 146 November 16, 1987
42 "Ducks of the West" 140 November 17, 1987
43 "Time Teasers" 142 November 18, 1987
44 "Back Out in the Outback" 143 November 19, 1987
45 "Raiders of the Lost Harp" 144 November 20, 1987
46 "The Right Duck" 148 November 23, 1987
47 "Scroogerello" 149 November 24, 1987
48 "Double-O-Duck" 150 November 25, 1987
49 "Luck o' the Ducks" 145 November 26, 1987
50 "Duckworth's Revolt" 153 November 27, 1987
51 "Magica's Magic Mirror" 111 November 30, 1987
"Take Me Out of the Ballgame"
52 "Duck to the Future" 152 December 1, 1987
53 "Jungle Duck" 151 December 2, 1987
54 "Launchpad's First Crash" 155 December 3, 1987
55 "Dime Enough for Luck" 157 December 4, 1987
56 "Duck in the Iron Mask" 158 December 7, 1987
57 "The Uncrashable Hindentanic" 156 December 8, 1987
58 "The Status Seekers" 159 December 9, 1987
59 "Nothing to Fear" 160 December 14, 1987
60 "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck" 161 December 23, 1987
61 "Once Upon a Dime" 162 December 24, 1987
62 "Spies in Their Eyes" 154 December 25, 1987
63 "All Ducks on Deck" 163 December 30, 1987
64 "Ducky Horror Picture Show" 164 December 31, 1987
65 "Till Nephews Do Us Part" 165 January 1, 1988
vedDuckTales (1987) episodes
Season 1
"Don't Give Up the Ship" • "Wronguay in Ronguay" • "Three Ducks of the Condor" • "Cold Duck" • "Too Much of a Gold Thing" • "Send in the Clones" • "Sphinx for the Memories" • "Where No Duck Has Gone Before" • "Armstrong" • "Robot Robbers" • "Magica's Shadow War" • "Master of the Djinni" • "Hotel Strangeduck" • "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" • "Duckman of Aquatraz" • "The Money Vanishes" • "Sir Gyro de Gearloose" • "Dinosaur Ducks" • "Hero for Hire" • "Superdoo!" • "Maid of the Myth" • "Down & Out in Duckburg" • "Much Ado About Scrooge" • "Top Duck" • "Pearl of Wisdom" • "The Curse of Castle McDuck" • "Launchpad's Civil War" • "Sweet Duck of Youth" • "Earth Quack" • "Home Sweet Homer" • "Bermuda Triangle Tangle" • "Micro Ducks from Outer Space" • "Back to the Klondike" • "Horse Scents" • "Scrooge's Pet" • "A Drain on the Economy" • "A Whale of a Bad Time" • "Aqua Ducks" • "Working for Scales" • "Merit-Time Adventure" • "The Golden Fleecing" • "Ducks of the West" • "Time Teasers" • "Back Out in the Outback" • "Raiders of the Lost Harp" • "The Right Duck" • "Scroogerello" • "Double-O-Duck" • "Luck O' the Ducks" • "Duckworth's Revolt" • "Magica's Magic Mirror/Take Me Out of the Ballgame" • "Duck to the Future" • "Jungle Duck" • "Launchpad's First Crash" • "Dime Enough for Luck" • "Duck in the Iron Mask" • "The Uncrashable Hindentanic" • "The Status Seekers" • "Nothing to Fear" • "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck" • "Once Upon a Dime" • "Spies in Their Eyes" • "All Ducks on Deck" • "Ducky Horror Picture Show" • "Till Nephews Do Us Part"
Season 2
"Marking Time" • "The Duck Who Would Be King" • "Bubba Trubba" • "Ducks on the Lam" • "Ali Bubba's Cave" • "Liquid Assets" • "Frozen Assets" • "Full Metal Duck" • "The Billionaire Beagle Boys Club" • "Money to Burn"
Season 3
"The Land of Trala La" • "Allowance Day" • "Bubbeo & Juliet" • "The Good Muddahs" • "My Mother the Psychic" • "Metal Attraction" • "Dough Ray Me" • "Bubba's Big Brainstorm" • "The Big Flub" • "A Case of Mistaken Secret Identity" • "Blue Collar Scrooge" • "Beaglemania" • "Yuppy Ducks" • "The Bride Wore Stripes" • "The Unbreakable Bin" • "Attack of the Fifty-Foot Webby" • "The Masked Mallard" • "A DuckTales Valentine"
Season 4
• "Ducky Mountain High" • "Attack of the Metal Mites" • "The Duck Who Knew Too Much" • "New Gizmo-Kids on the Block" • "Scrooge's Last Adventure" • "The Golden Goose, Part 1" • "The Golden Goose, Part 2"
Serials
"The Treasure of the Golden Suns" • "Catch as Cash Can" • "Time is Money" • "Super DuckTales" • "The Golden Goose"
Advertisement