Timephoon! is the twenty-first episode of Season 2 and the 44th episode overall of DuckTales 2017. It aired on September 9, 2019 on Disney Channel.
Synopsis[]
When Louie uses Gyro's Time Tub to steal lost treasures from the past, a mysterious storm in the present sends all of space and time crashing down onto the mansion.
Plot[]
Life is like a hurricane in Duckburg as the El Pato Tropical Storm strikes the city, forcing the residents of McDuck Manor to prepare. All except Louie, who reveals to Launchpad that he "borrowed" Gyro Gearloose's Time Tub as part of his latest get-rich-quick scheme: with his new "Time Treasures" venture through Louie, Inc. he goes back in time to find famous lost treasures at the exact moment before they were lost, avoiding risking time, resources, or lives navigating dangerous temples. He demonstrates by taking Launchpad back in time to the cave-duck era and taking an artifact. Unbeknownst to him, the time tub also zaps one of the cave-ducks, named Bubba, into the present, to be discovered by the rest of the family.
Huey, who has been studying cave-ducks as part of an effort to get into the Junior Woodchuck Guidebook, tries to use his knowledge to learn more about Bubba. To his annoyance, Bubba does not exhibit much in the way that matches anything in his research, showing a love for modern clothes, processed meat, skateboards, and rock music. Meanwhile, Mrs. Beakley tries to get Della to implement some tough love with her children as they get up to their usual antics. Della, however, prefers to encourage their activities, claiming she should be supportive.
Louie's adventures in time travel soon go awry when it turns out the Tub creates a time vortex, which combines with the hurricane to form a "Timephoon" that teleports figures from history such as Benjamin Frankloon into the present. Gyro, who was pulled through the space-time continuum into McDuck Manor, reveals that using the Time Tub creates an after blast that can bring people along with it: the Timephoon dumps pirates, old-time bicycle performers, ninjas, Spanish (or French) freedom fighters, cowboys, and even a dinosaur onto the McDuck Manor grounds, forcing the family (with Bubba's help) to deal with them. During the massive free-for-all from people across time, Mrs. Beakley reminds Della that she needs to keep an eye on her kids so their antics do not lead to bigger problems, case in point. Huey tries to keep up with monitoring all of Bubba's anachronistic behavior, including taming the dinosaur aptly named Tootsie by Huey.
Things take a turn for the worse when the Timephoon's lightning starts blasting members of the family into the past. While looking for the Time Tub, Della discovers Louie and Launchpad in the middle of trying to put the treasures back, much to her anger. As the Timephoon starts sending the rest of the family through time, Louie figures out how to use the Time Tub to send everyone back to the proper points in time, fixing the time vortex and bringing his family back to the present. Louie apologizes for his selfishness, and most of the family is happy to express forgiveness. Della, on the other hand, angrily points out his antics put everyone's lives at risk, and finally puts her foot down by grounding him from any more of his schemes. Mrs. Beakley assures Della that a little tough love now will make her children better people later.
Later, while cleaning up the Manor grounds, Huey finds out his report for the Junior Woodchuck Guide was rejected due to how outlandish it was, much to his disappointment. Scrooge discovers one of the heirlooms of Clan McDuck, a club from the caveduck era, is missing. Remembering Bubba was the one who last used it, the kids wonder if he may have been their ancestor due to his intelligence and strength, but shrug it off. In the past, however, Bubba carves himself a hat much like Scrooge's.
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, Male Pirate (uncredited)
- Paget Brewster as Della Duck
- Toks Olagundoye as Mrs. Beakley
- Jim Rash as Gyro Gearloose
- Dee Bradley Baker as Bubba Duck, Benjamin Frankloon, Cowboy (uncredited)
- Kari Wahlgren as Roxanne Featherly, Female Pirate (uncredited)
Trivia[]
- Main Cast Absences: Donald
- The name of the type of hurricane striking Duckburg, "El Pato" (Spanish for "The Duck"), is a reference to the storm classifications "El Niño" and "La Niña".
- Scrooge brings out a basket of canes, among the canes is an umbrella with a green parrot as the handle. This is a reference to Marry Poppin's umbrella.
- This episode, with its focus on Della and Louie's relationship, wraps up a three-episode story-line about Della's relationship with each of her sons ("Raiders of the Doomsday Vault!" with Dewey and "Happy Birthday, Doofus Drake!" with Huey).
- When the ninja who suddenly attacks the family in the the mansion after making his appearance due to the lightning strike of the Timephoon disappears and leave a log in his place, is a reference to ninjas performing a similar move in various anime/cartoon series.
- During Della's brief fight with the ninja, she also does Liu Kang's Bicycle Kick from Mortal Kombat.
- Bubba's species' scientific name Duckus Lopithecus, which is mentioned by Huey in the episode, is a joke on Australopithecus[1], i.e. one of the earliest ancestors in the human species.
- There are some references that can suggest that Bubba is in fact a relative of the McDuck family, for example he is show hunting for an ancient lost artifact at the beginning of the episode, he's show to be smart and advance for his time era and he uses a top hat and cane, wielding it in a similar manner to Scrooge.
- The wall-hanging in the hallway, is similar to the 'The Hunt of the Unicorn' and the opening scene in the movie 'The Last Unicorn.'