A Look at Disney Investigates: Darkly Dawns The Duck (Darkwing Duck Pilot Episode Review)

Hello & welcome back to A Look at Disney. And today, we continue our investigation as A Look at Disney Investigates continues as we look at the pilot episode of Darkwing Duck.  This episode does a lot to set up for the characters and it's world.  With that outta the way, let's begin.

The Plot

Darkwing Duck is starting out as a new superhero in the city of St. Canard.  DW dreams of being a famous superhero but he hasn't exactly caught his big break yet as he's stuck with small time crooks. Though one night, while out on patrol, he comes across the men that work for the nefarious Taurus Bulba (voiced by villain extraordinaire Tim Curry)   and discovers that they are planning to steal a top-secret  military weapon known as the Ramrod .  However, it seems all is lost as Darkwing is unable to stop them.  Darkwing eventually gets some help from biggest and only fan, Launchpad McQuack.   Okay, I want to address something right here that I find especially confusing as Darkwing's creator came out and said that Darkwing Duck and DuckTales are not in the same universe, even though Launchpad is in both shows.     Which okay fair, I guess as he created the show but there are references to DuckTales on Darkwing's show as GizmoDuck also appeared a bit on the show.  And there aren't that many references to Launchpad working for Scrooge and Tad Stones says he just believes the Launchpad in his show to be an alternate version of the character from DuckTales. Even though, Terry McGovern voiced the bumbling pilot in both DuckTales and Darkwing Duck.  

Heck, even Disney Adventures referenced that Launchpad used to work for Mr. McD in the crossover, where the heroes of The Disney Afternoon had to face off against the villain known as Solego but it seems like that had very input from the creators of these shows.  And for all intents and purposes, Launchpad in this show acts exactly the same as he did on DuckTales, so Mr. Stones this may be your show and I love what you did with DW but....  I have to disagree with you and say Launchpad in Darkwing Duck is the same Launchpad McQuack that we saw in DuckTales.   

Anyways with that aside, let's get back to the plot of the episode.  Even with Launchpad's help, Darkwing loses the sight of Bulba's men and turns down Launchpad's desire to be DW's sidekick.  Bulba discovers that while he has gotten the Ramrod, he doesn't have the arming code for it and a previous attempt to get it resulted in the death of it's inventor, Professor Waddlemeyer before Bulba could learn the code.  

Bulba sends his men after Waddlemeyer's granddaughter Gosalyn at the orphanage that she is being kept at in the hopes that she knows the arming code.   This results in a car chase and Darkwing ends up saving Gosalyn and after this, Darkwing returns with Gosalyn to his hideout and promises to protect her until all of this blows over.   Here Darkwing discovers that Professor Waddlemeyer had taught his granddaughter the arming code without her realizing it in the form of a lullaby that he used to sing to her.  I just have to say that this is one of the sweetest moments of the episode and shows a more human side to DW as this is where you really start to see Darkwing and Gosalyn start to bond.   It's such a sweet moment that makes it clear how much Darkwing grows to care for Gosalyn and makes it really natural, when he adopts her at the end of the episode.

Soon,  a newly escaped Bulba lures Darkwing out of the shadows to his secret hiding place and trick the police into arresting him. All seems lost as Darkwing is sitting in a cell but soon Launchpad comes and springs him loose on the Ratcatcher.  And we get the introduction of one of the coolest aspects of the show, Launchpad's fanmade DW jet, the Thunderquack.  Which is made to look like Darkwing's face.  They fly off to Bulba's flying base of operation as we see that he is holding Gosalyn hostage.  And this results in a climatic battle between Bulba and DW with Bulba falling to the ground presumed to be dead (Or so, we are led to believe).  And the episodes as we see a battered and beaten up Drake Mallard (aka Darkwing) coming to the orphanage to adopt Gosalyn.  

This was a really fun episode and it did a good job of setting everything up for the rest of the series to come.

Characters

Main Character

Darkwing Duck voiced by Jim Cummings 

Darkwing is such a fun character.  Here, we have a character that has such a huge ego and is really into being a superhero for the fame and fortune that comes with it. But underneath it all, you also see that he does care for the people that enter his life. Sure, he may say that he likes to work alone but we see that he needs a support system to function and to keep himself grounded in reality.   Wait a sec....

Yeah, DW is basically Lego Batman of The Lego Batman Movie years before that movie ever came out.   I guess, it's a common trope but it works and Darkwing is such a fun character, that even with that thought, I'm still able to enjoy the show on it's own.

Supporting Characters

Gosalyn voiced by Christine Cavanaugh 

Gosalyn is a great character and I will agree with the Nostalgia Critic that she is one of the first kids in The Disney Afternoon to feel like a real kid.  She has a lot of spirit and spunk and matches wits with Darkwing wonderfully. In many ways, this pilot shows that these two need one another.   

Launchpad McQuack voiced by Terry McGovern 

I won't say too much on Launchpad here as I went into great detail about his appearance on this show during the plot section. He is the same character that we saw on DuckTales here.   

Villain

Taurus Bulba voiced by Tim Curry

Bulba is such a fun villain as you can see that he looks at ones like Darkwing as being beneath him.  I love the way that Curry plays this character as he just makes him so dapper and as though being in prison was just a minor inconvenience to his bigger plans.

My Final Thoughts

This episode does a great job of setting everything up and makes for an enjoyable viewing experience.  It was a treat to go back to and re-watch this pilot.   I'd say that if you guys haven't seen this, go ahead and check it out.  Join me next time as we look at...