Promotional art for the movie version
Time is Money is a serial of five DuckTales episodes.
Originally airing as a 2-hour television movie on November 24, 1988 on Disney Channel, it opened season two of the series, serving as the introduction to Bubba Duck and his pet Triceratops, Tootsie. The movie version had minor edits and cuts, and the full stand-alone episodes premiered in February 1989.
A 1988 ad promoting the movie event
For details, see the articles for the individual episodes:
- Part 1: "Marking Time". Stand-alone version aired on February 20, 1989
- Part 2: "The Duck Who Would Be King". Stand-alone version aired on February 21, 1989
- Part 3: "Bubba Trubba". Stand-alone version aired on February 22, 1989
- Part 4: "Ducks on the Lam". Stand-alone version aired on February 23, 1989
- Part 5: "Ali Bubba's Cave". Stand-alone version aired on February 24, 1989
Inconsistencies[]
A number of inconsistencies pop up through the storyline -- particularly, in the final two episodes.
- Time travel logic: The Millennium Shortcut's use introduces potential paradoxes that are mentioned narratively but never fully explored. For example, Gyro warns that bringing Bubba to the present "may have created a paradox as big as the Money Bin," yet no concrete consequences are shown. Bubba's presence in the present, despite being prehistoric, is treated casually, and his long-term impact on Duckburg's history is never addressed.
- Island ownership: Scrooge purchases the westernmost part of the Duckbill Islands, with he and Glomgold making a deal: 10 million on the day of purchase and 10 million by noon on Friday, or else Scrooge loses both his deposit and the westernmost island. When Glomgold realizes Scrooge bought the "worthless" island because it contained a diamond mine (Bubba's cave), he has the Beagle Boys blow the westernmost portion of the island off, making that fragment Scrooge's property. By "Ali Bubba's Cave", however, both parties act as if the agreement concerns all westernmost islands -- yet Scrooge can still keep the blown-off, nearly worthless chunk of land even if he fails to fulfill the contract.
- Cave ownership: Scrooge's plan to mark Bubba's cave 1 million years in the past to assert legal ownership is inconsistently applied. A team of legal analysts on TV agree that it is legally binding, and Glomgold hatches a plan to destroy the markers. However, by "Ali Bubba's Cave", they're entirely forgotten despite Scrooge continuing to claim ownership of the cave and its assets -- even planning to pay Glomgold what he owes with the cave's diamonds.
- Technology continuity: The Millennium Shortcut is introduced as a groundbreaking time machine, but earlier episodes featured Gyro's Time Tub, which could also travel through time. The serial never reconciles these two devices, leaving a minor technological continuity gap.
