Reviews

I don't often rate things a pure 10, but I may have to with Duckula. It's one of my favourite cartoons _ever_. Unlike many of the other posters here, I didn't run into it in my childhood, but instead in my teenage years--a perfect time, as that's when I was twisting into the sarcastic, British-humour-loving, slightly Gothic science fiction/fantasy geek I am now. It was EXACTLY what I was in the mood for, and my brain just ate it up. I've seen a lot of cartoons, and no other show gets quoted _half_ as much by me or members of my family, as Duckula. Over a decade since we were able to last see an episode, and we'll still toss out random lines whenever we feel like it.

What makes it not only good as a children's cartoon, but so very appealing to the older child or adult's mind? Simple--the writing. It was simply one of the snappiest, wittiest things I've ever seen. You have goofy puns and Abbott-and-Costello back-and-forths. You have colourful, bizarre characters and time-and-space travelling adventures to exotic locations. You have vampires and a creepy castle, for those to whom the Gothic elements might appeal. And even some slapstick that small children can understand and laugh at. It had everything.

And, on a more "serious" note, the writing was good because it didn't fall into stereotypes. Duckula was a monstrous fiend...who wasn't monstrous. But not a saint either; he had _lots_ of personality faults! Dr. Von Goosewing, the vampire hunter, would NORMALLY be a good guy, but in this situation he's cast as the antagonist! (Notice I don't say "villian".) He's also a mad scientist, which is even more fun. Occasionally we'd get an episode in which we would learn something about the background/past of a main character, or see a _real_ vampire, an actual bloodsucking fiend--the show didn't take itself too seriously, but that grain of seriousness in there makes the comedy that much better.

Put all that together with lovely detailed backgrounds, appropriate music, wonderful voice-acting from all involved, the delightfully creepy narrator and his classic sign-off line, and, as a cherry on top, the occasionally goofy credits, and you've got a classic for the ages.

I remember watching this show when it was new--I was 8 years old at the time, about the same age as Lucy Little, and I totally identified with her. At the time I thought it was just a fun show about little (REALLY little!) kids that were just like me, in a way. Recently I found it again in syndication and I'm relieved to find out that one of my childhood favourites _has_ aged well.

"The Littles" is a very creative cartoon, and gives great attention to details. For one thing, every time they do a scene from the Littles' point of view (which is often), the animators had to draw ordinary objects blown up to many times their size, which requires a lot of detail work (i.e, every single individual strand on a piece of string, the holes on a piece of printer paper, etc.) Another detail that I like is that the Littles are mostly drawn as having a sort of late 1800's/early 1900's style to their clothes, technology, etc. For example, Tom dresses kind of like a "Newsie", Dinky's outfit is that of a WWI flying ace rather than a _modern_ pilot, and the kids' home-made bicycles (which use _bottle caps_ for wheels) have the front wheel much bigger than the back, like a 19th-century style bike. This lends a colorful little touch of...quaintness to the look of the show and adds to the Littles' "otherworldly" feel.

And then there's the characters, none of whom are one-dimensional clichés. The main one I remembered from back then (besides Lucy) has gotta be the dippy, accident-prone aviator Cousin Dinky--and watching it again, I can see why. He is just plain _hilarious_--constantly bragging about being an expert at things he's never done, insanely daring one second but cowardly the next, seemingly unfazed by crashing his plane (which happens _often_. Well, you know what they say...any crash you can walk away from...) And while he normally seems stupid or at least "out of it", he can sometimes be the only one who picks up on an important clue. Personality-wise, he _strongly_ reminds me of Launchpad McQuack, from "DuckTales"/"Darkwing Duck"...but since "The Littles" was first, I guess we gotta call Dinky the "prototype" of LP, huh? (Heck, the way Grandpa always insults Dinky even sounds like the way Scrooge McDuck always yells at LP...)

The other characters shine no less brightly. Grandpa is not a feeble old coot, but instead a tough, experienced older gentleman with a sharp sense of adventure and an even sharper tongue! Tom is a bit hot-tempered and impulsive but has a heart underneath that, and Lucy is a tomboy who manages to be _sensible_ without coming across as cowardly. She's the kind of role-model more little girls these days could stand to grow up with. Even Henry, who's fairly bland, comes across as sympathetic because the other kids at his school consider him something of a loser.

All things considered, "The Littles" may not be one of the greatest cartoons of all time, no, but it is detailed, creative, and _does_ hold up well over time. If you haven't caught this one on syndication yet, give it a look--because, like the tiny people themselves, you never know when it might disappear.

Quack Pack did something truly shocking and revolutionary for the world of cartooning--it allowed their characters to -age-! Huey, Dewey, and Louie are now teenagers rather than the little tow-headed tykes they've always been, and their long-suffering "Uncle D" appears to be middle-aged. Everybody has gotten a much-needed makeover, and when I say the boys are teenagers now I'm NOT kidding...they are -definitely- teenagers. As in...well, they chase girls. Constantly.

The best thing about Quack Pack, in my opinion, is how they write the main characters' personalities. They really do seem like the SAME people, only evolved. Making Donald into a frantic, and (rightfully, considering the boys) suspicious, but still very -loving-, "parent", really gives him a lot more depth. Daisy is a very modern '90s woman with some rather odd quirks, and the boys? They kick...tail-feather! Their main personality traits (Huey=the leader, Dewey=the smart one, Louie=a bit clueless, but sweet) are all much stronger now--mixed with hormones, to add a bit of extra spice to the proceedings. They now have individual "hair" styles and outfits, rather than matching...they're now their own, individual, -people-. They are emphasised as individuals first, identical triplets -second-.

Also, they don't talk or act in unison or one after the other anymore...they would rather go their own ways, and often FIGHT each other! And frankly, considering the almost saccharine cuteness of before, a bit of hot-blooded rivalry is really quite -refreshing-...

The show's other main good point is the humour--biting, sarcastic, witty, and very intelligent, containing even references to classic literature and so forth that I'm sure the little kids in the -ostensible- target audience would NOT get. (Example: In one quick "throw-away" line, Huey paraphrased George Orwell's "1984".) No, this show is--as were DuckTales and Darkwing Duck--written BY adults, FOR adults. It just happens to be G-rated enough so that little kids can come and play if they -want- to...It may be a cartoon, and it may even be Disney. But it is NOT kiddie-fied or dumbed down...

Quack Pack's WORST points are that it's rather silly, and often the plots make little or no sense, stuff just basically...happens. Also, this show is hard to fit into the continuity of DuckTales, even though it -claims- to follow it. There are humans everywhere in Duckburg...though they weren't there before...and they're drawn VERY exaggerated, which makes it hard to suspend my disbelief. However, Quack Pack doesn't care, it has the flippant attitude of: "Hey. It's a cartoon. That means we can do ANYTHING WE WANT! BWAHAHAHA!"

Despite the silliness and slapstick, however, the show is rather more adult than you'd expect. Between the intellectual humour, the boys' obvious lusting after any female who crosses their paths, Donald's very real parenting concerns, and some (implied) rather nasty violence occasionally, this show has an...-edge- to it, a bite, that's unusual for a "children's cartoon".

From the very first ripping electric guitar chord of the theme song, to the very last biting, sarcastic, intelligent quip, Quack Pack SCREAMS one consistent message at the viewer:

THIS AIN'T YOUR FATHER'S DISNEY! ...and sometimes, that's a -good- thing. :)