Animation Source Forums

I think it would be interesting to know how you feel about the Disney Afternoon shows.

Here are the current ones I've watched so far : (PS : remember that I didn't really watch them when I was young, so there's no nostalgia effect on me!)

- Ducktales : Brilliant, I perfectly understand why it's the most popular. It's almost as varied as the TaleSpin episodes (generally less serious though, there isn't any suggested content that kids wouldn't understand like in TaleSpin, or multi-sided characters) It's more focused on adventure, and has some likeable characters : I'm fond of Scrooge, the nephews and Donald - when he's there, too rarely unfortunately. The Beagle Boys and Magica de Spell are great ennemies. I can't say I like Launchpad and Webby as much. The soundtrack is very 80's. The animation is very good (thanks to TMS Japan) My rating : 8/10

- Rescue Rangers : To tell the truth, I have almost forced myself to watch the 5-part pilot...because...well I'm not sure. Too long, repetitive, unoriginal and it's hard for me to understand the chips voices in english, are probably part of the reasons I don't like Rescue Rangers too much. It's better in the following episodes though. The characters ARE likeable, but terribly one-sided. Monterey Jack overreacting everytime the same way in front of cheese is annoying. The soundtrack isn't good. There are some episodes I really liked though (like the one with the super dog actor which I forgot the name) It's really a mixed bag. I'll have to watch some more episodes to give a definite rating, but for now I would rate it 5/10.
NB : I'm sure and I know this series had a lot of appeal to kids, and I probably would have liked it when I was young, but honestly, there aren't too many things interesting for an adult there. I will still be getting the comics because I want to support Boom AND they've done a very good job with Darkwing.

- Gummi Bears : A great series. I love the characters (I would really like some back story for them though - why do they seem and act like a family when they're not related? maybe that's because I didn't watch all the episodes yet) Some episodes are really funny (like the one in which Grammy is desperatly trying to cook something good! ) and I love the fact it's not too dark (like The Black Cauldron) or too cute, it's just THE perfect balance. I even like the humans pretty much (something I rarely do when it comes to film/series with animals characters in it), including King Ightorn. I don't like the fact that many episodes are only 10 minutes long - that doesn't help to make great or epic stories. Although I'm pretty positive here, I can't explain it exactly, but I feel there's something missing in this series, something that would make it go from "great" to "amazing", though I can't just point it out. Maybe the soundtrack which has nothing particular. (except the main theme of course) Very good animation (thanks to TMS) My rating : 8/10

- Darkwing Duck : More action packed, it's more a "superhero parody" of some sorts. I really love the relationship between Darkwing/Drake and Gosalyn (which reminds me a LOT of the relationship between Baloo & Kit, a family without really being one - is Jymn or Mark behind this?) In fact I believe Gosalyn is the best character in the show, she's really not the typical little girl BUT at the same time she's still one (unlike nowdays shows which tend to make the kids unrealistically "all powerful and afraid of nothing")
I feel Launchpad wasn't really necessary at all though...He was more the hero in Ducktales, but here he's more an annoying sidekick who can't do anything on his own.
I really loved some episodes and especially the pilot "Darkling dawns the duck", but I have to say my excitement got to a much lower level after watching a few not-that-good episodes. Pretty inconsistent animation either (one of the very few problems of TaleSpin too) My rating : 7/10

Even though I have watched TaleSpin before really watching any of the others, I can now firmly confirm it's the one that I love the most and I would rate it 9.5/10. (for the reasons I had stated there) It's very unique, probably more than all of them. I especially noticed how much TaleSpin has the greatest soundtrack among all of them, and the greatest characters with depth...I really think this series is the most misunderstood of the bunch, for all the things that kids couldn't catch up and probably found boring during its course. (notice how kids don't like/understand Rebecca for instance...)

I won't state much things for the shows for which I have only seen one episodes or two (eg Goof Troop, Gargoyles, Bonkers ...)

While I haven't watched too much of this show a lot lately, you kinda left out Goof Troop. I should start watching that again, soon. And not to mention, the Goofy Movie it spun off, which is one of my favorite animated films.

Don't forget Gargolyes. That's a classic in my book.

I must say I've never been attracted by these two as much as the others. I remember seing a few episodes of Gargoyles some years ago though. It's very different, I can't say that's my cup of tea but I'll probably have to rewatch/insist.

I don't remember much about Gummi Bears because I haven't seen I was 9 years old, but I do remember that I loved the theme song.

DuckTales was my first cartoon 'love'. I watched the movie introducing Gizmo Duck so much that I could recite it in its entirety - in voice. Still can, in some parts. Is there anyone out there that watches Mr. Ed just to hear Alan Young, or likes the M*A*S*H eps with Hamilton Camp?

Rescue Rangers was okay. Another good theme song. Gadget was my favorite character; I think she's everybody's.

Darkwing Duck was funny. I got a kick out of the punny names and dialogue and I loved the pilot. I think about Gosalyn's Grandpa's lullaby-that's-really-a-key every time I watch The Pacifier.

Goof Troop was okay. Not up to the movie's standard, though I still get a kick out of the ep where Pete makes an RV out of household items.

Gargoyles was my 'soap opera' during college. While other girls were taping soap operas, I taped Gargoyles and secretly watched it when my roommate was gone. I learned a lot about mythology from that show.

And TaleSpin? Well, I just like pretty much everything about it.

Since I have ranted on most of the Disney Television Animation shows.....

[1.] The Wuzzles- The idea of fusion animals was intriguing and the slice of life genre was a fresh take from the usual action/adventure series; but the execution of the series left somewhat to be desired. Rhinokey's jokes were terrible, Butterbear would have been fine if it wasn't for her wooden voice (partially caused by the fact that the actress was a producer), Hoppo was good when she was acting like a dense diva, Bumblelion has good character development (Bumblelion & The Terrified Forest was probably the best episode of the 13), Eleroo was pretty good and I loved Moosel and his childish antics. Sadly; the animation was off and there were at least five logic breaks per episode. And the pilot episode didn't help to wash away the television cartoons have terrible animation concept at all. I give Wuzzles a *** 1/2. Did all 13 episodes.

[2.] Gummi Bears- This was the show that got Disney Television Animation over and ultimately led to better animation from all fronts. Gummi Bears was a midevil show with really fun characters and good enough stories. Still; the groundbreaking stuff wasn't quite there as Sunni and Grammi were still in female only roles which was fine for the time setting of the series; but would become a problem in later series. Sunni started off bad; but got better as the show went on when she rein in her teenybopper character. Cubbi was at that point the best child character in Disney and would have been if Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham didn't exist. He was very playful and did everything with effort and wit. Gruffi was all right, Tummi was good when given excellent shorts to play with (Fence Sitter was one of the best shorts in the 11 minutes it was given). Duke Igthorn was really cool; until Secret of the Juice and then he fell apart completely with Just A Tad Smarter where the writers wrote him as a really weak character. Cavin and Calla were good; and Gregor was fine when he wasn't breaking logic (Crimson Avenger). The animation was pretty much dead on; although there were some green places here and there. Plus; we even get to see Cubbi strip naked in A Gummi By Any Other Name. **** 1/2. Ranted on 45 episodes I do believe; give or take.

[3.] Fluppy Dogs - This pilot failed badly. Although the first half was all right and I did like Jamie for a while; the second half flushed it all down the drain. Jamie was a whiner; his mother an object, Ozzie had zero character development, the rest had little and Wagstaff was basically a Igthorn clone without the charm and torture methods. The snake that attacked Wagstaff's aide was more over than the entire cast. Lots of logic breaks and not so good animation plus a cop out ending with the Fluppy Dogs invading the town from the magical door did this one in. *. Saw it on Youtube this summer. Needless to say; the pilot tanked and Disney went with classical characters from there.

[4.] Ducktales - Carl Barks for the expanded audience. That's really all you need to know. And it was executed well; most so the first season with TMS/Telecom animating. It isn't without it's problems though as Webby and Mrs. Beakly were put in roles that were still female and since this show took place in the 1980's; it wasn't a good image for Disney's female audience. Although Beakly and Webby did make an effort not to suck though and did well in spite of the crutch. I found Launchpad to be the best character of the show since his crashing a plane a minute routine was too funny not to drive it to the ground. Scrooge was actually good in spite of him being toned down a bit and I loved Magica Despell (complete with her Pentagrams) along with Burger Beagle the most. The stories were varied; although I think TaleSpin did a much better job in executing those stories (except for The Status Seekers; which Ducktales was clearly better at compared to My Fair Baloo). The second season wasn't as good mostly due to Wang Films messing up and Bubba The Cave Duck was all right in the only episodes I ranted on; but got worse as time went on. He worked better as a one shotter. Gizmo Duck on the other hand was great. **** 3/4. Ranted on 76/101 episodes.

[5.] Rescue Rangers - I found this show very good as Tad Stones made it's debut and brought along Gadget Hackwrench which is still the best female character DTVA ever had. Tad did a good job in executing Gadget and Dale; but for all the ideas Tad Stones had; the execution left something to be desired. Monty was a one joke Aussie Stereotype that would have been bashed if he was a African American Stereotype. Zipper was a 10 second of work machine, Chip was only useful being straight man to Dale (with Sneer No Evil being the exception). Fat Cat was good, Norton was annoying and with the exception of Foxglove, Tammy and Desiree and Sewernose; there were not much in the way of memoriable one shot characters. The stories ranged from breathtaking (Case of the Cola Cult) to almost DUDs (Piratesy Under the Seas, Le Purrfect Crime and half of Monty focused episodes which was a lot.). I didn't find the voices bad; but the acting was all over the place though along with the animation (the last 14 episodes did so many illogical jump cuts I got whiplash). ****. All 65 episodes ranted.

[6.] Winnie The Pooh - Needless to say; if I saw the shorts; I got a good idea what this series is about. Pretty much average to above average; although Rabbit's encounter with Kessie was really memoriable. *** 1/2

[7.] Darkwing Duck - Tad's parody of a superhero comedy was one of those things that when it was good; it was awesome; but when it was bad it was REALLY, REALLY bad. Some episodes like "Life The Negaverse & Everything" and Time & Punishment was top notch along with Drake's "origin" story which is so over the top that I laughed my butt off. Sadly; there were lots of clunkers like "Nightmare of the Giant Spud" (A mutant potato? Really?), Easy Come, Easy Grows, both Jimayla Jake episodes, All's F in Love And War and Dances With Bigfoot were so terrible that I gave negative stars for the last two. Up & Up & Awry really depressed me because the Gizmo Duck/Darkwing Duck was a good idea and they ruined it with the worst animation logic breaking in DTVA history and the burial of Megavolt; one of the best villains on the show. I liked Bushroot and he got buried quickly. I loved Quackerjack and so far he hasn't been buried yet. NegaDuck was basically a stupider version of Darkwing Duck. Launchpad was a shell of his former self and I did like Gosalyn and Honker when they were on their game. The animation was all over the place and it felt so loose at times; I wondered where the quality control was. As I said; Tad has great ideas; but his execution sucks. *** 3/4. 54 episodes out of 91 ranted.

TaleSpin I'm not going to say until I finish the re-rants. Other than some episodes have gotten better and some have gotten worse since I last saw them. Goof Troop was average, Bonkers was not good, Aladdin was okay, Gargoyles was great but like Rescue Rangers isn't as good as many say it is, Quack Pack is terrible, Kick Buttowski started off terrible as heck; but has improved somewhat thanks to Jackie Whackerman.

He wasn't that annoying. Sure, his inventions failed him miserably, but he was a funny villain. Months ago, I drew a pic of him with Professor Peeper from Superbook, telling him why he's a genius. XD



I remember Bonkers. I used to watch it a lot when I was 3/4, but I haven't really watched it anymore. It wasn't terrible, because I thought Jim Cummings did an excellent job voicing Bonkers. The down factor is that I only remember Bonkers, Lucky Piquel and Mirinda. I actually read that Greg Weisman- Gargolyes creator- produced the Mirinda episodes and he's stated that her charater influenced Eliza Chavez in Gargoyles.



Now Quack Pack; it wasn't bad for it's theme song. I actually found it pretty catchy. But since I haven't seen it in a while, I can tell why a lot of people don't like it. I can't say I'm a fan myself.

Gummi Bears - 9+/10 (short episodes).Agree with Steet- they're "not too dark" and "not too cute".I've discovered them recently and I like them
Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers - (though I'm colder now to CDRR than 2-3 years ago,loosing my interest to CDRR,probably because of growing interest to TS and GB)- 7/10.
Darkwing Duck,Bonkers,Duck Tales etc. - many of them I saw in 90s as a child,so can't say anything concrete.I remember those were good times.

Of the shows mentioned, most of them I caught on VHS or on reruns. It was only up until later in my life cycle that I actually got to see them again and wondered if they held up. In some cases... well, I suppose so. It doesn't enthrall me as it might have, but it does impress me in comparison to what's out there now. It's kind of a shame we don't have these kinda things now. :/

Gargoyles - when I waited for Batman the Animated Series the next day, Gargoyles was there in it's place. Disney's answer to that, and Hannah-Barbera's 'SWAT Kats'. It was a very good show, and a risky move on Disney's part to get that going without cute and funny antics like the bulk of their line-up. I'm pretty impressed with it's fanbase and how's been holding up now, in comics and conventions.

Bonkers - based a little on the Roger Rabbit film, what could have been a series which included multiple company characters besides Disney's own, turned out to be a likeable show as a whole. The Eddie Valiant and Roger Rabbit personas fit so well with Lucky Piquel and Bonkers D. Bobcat, and the episodes were great. I probably would've preferred more noir like the film, but the buddy-cop concept stuck in pretty swell.

Darkwing Duck - a subtle parody of the superhero genre, moving the bar higher than DuckTales before it, and certainly steps higher than 'Quack Pack'. Good writing, good appeal, catchy soundtrack.

TaleSpin - Was it the fact they made Rebecca Cunningham such a fun character? It was her and Baloo's dynamic, and the personality along with Kit's that made me relate to it. My friend admitted to me that he always wanted to own Baloo's plane, and I recall as a kid having the same thought. Clementine Clevenger, when I saw her in a Youtube episode, couldn't have lol'd so hard at her lines and mannerisms. Then again, most cowgirl characters as a whole make me lol.

I could name some more, but I think Goof Troop was pretty good (Peg for the win), Rescue Rangers was kinda decent, Hercules and Aladdin were up to standard with the films to a certain degree, and I think that was pretty much it for me.

True, Rebecca is a large drawing point of the show for me, she had a lot of chemistry with Baloo that helped him expand beyond his Jungle Book counterpart (his bond with Kit was well played too but largely mirrored that of Mowgli). The 90s seemed to be a bad point for female characters due to the 'Girl Power' fad of idealising the gender and ironically making blander perfected characters than when they were doing Princesses and gender-swaps with bows. The Disney Afternoon shows actually seemed to avoid this and made entertaining complex female characters with a good balance or positive and negative traits.

Duck Tales: Extremely corny looking back at it, but mostly in the enjoyable sense. Obviously one of the most nostalgic of the DA roster (and arguably 80s/90s cartoons period). I understand some fans of the comics (and writers) weren't big on the cartoon, while I don't know enough of the comics to give judgement of it's adaption skills it seems like a great show in it's own right. And may that theme be forever stuck in our heads...

New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh: Maybe more a Disney Morning show but still nostalgic and a guilty pleasure. Mostly stays very true to the feel of the original shorts and even adapts a few minor elements of the original novels. There are few odd concepts and stories however (the show is the first and only time the franchise has real villains for example). While Disney often suffers from Sequelitis and rehashing films and concepts that some believe should have been brought to a close, Pooh is an example of good expansion and reviving a classic film into further potential, and the TV show is a large part of it's fanbase.

You just underlined something that I didn't realize myself, but now that you mention it, this is another reason why I enjoy them and especially TaleSpin.

It's been so long since I've seen the other shows. But I remember enjoying them all. Especially Duck Tales and Talespin. Those were my two favorites. I'm currently on a rewatch of Talespin and I'm really surprised at how well this show holds up. Especially for adults. The characters and stories are a perfect balance to where both kids and adults can enjoy them.

I'm really curious if the same can be said about the other Disney Afternoon shows. After I finish Talespin I might hunt them down and see if they can stand toe to toe with Talespin.

Indeed. I'm not an expert on the other DA-era shows, I confess, but I find it ironic that Talespin was probably the best and yet nobody seems to remember it now

I agree with Steet, most of the DA shows have their flaws and good points. I don't really like C & D, and for a strange reason I'm not interested on watching Ducktales again.

Darkwing duck it's good but there are many episodes that are a shame, one of them is in which supposedly it's a pirate that was his ancestor, other one is when they took out the Mallard's ancestors just to discover that they were not that great (which I found ironically similar to Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time, because among the ancestors are a cowboy legend, a caveman and a knight, the difference between them it's that Sly ancestors were awesome.)

Talespin it's my favorite, after rediscovering the series last year, although I watched some episodes when I was a kid I didn't watch many episodes, due to school and the time it aired in Mexico when I was younger. The characters are well done due to their inner conflicts, and the way they change gradually learning from each other. The series would have a 10/10, if it wasn't for the rest of the 11 episodes. I mean from the last 11 episodes, three in my opinion have good scripts: Mach One for the Gipper, Destiny Rides again (although it's simple I found it entertaining) and The Incredible Shrinking Molly. The other 8 episodes I found them flat.
And to be honest the English voice acting surpassed the Mexican (where I come from), I watched in my language but most of the characters lack of the energy and the style that their original actor gave to them.

And at last Gummi Bears, I watched a week ago some of the episodes and I got hooked to it. I like each character they way they are, because also they act as a family. I agree that it has many flaws too, because they even produced more episodes when it came to it's finale (King Igthorn episode is considered the series finale.) It is predictable, because of Igthorn, but the way the characters are developed is good. Gusto Gummi adds more fun to story, in my opinion he should have appeared more in the series.
And I found something really interesting, from my point of view princess Calla's attitude was reused to create princess Jasmine.

I have to say that my favorites were Talespin,Ducktales, and Bonkers. Bonkers was probaly my favorite I had to say. Talespin was good however, there are like no videos on youtube:( of it. Ducktales is a classic and it had a catchy theme song. I also really liked Gummi Bears and CaDRR.

Cannot forget Gargoyles! ^^

Gargoyles was my favorite show of Disney, probably ever, right there with Talespin of course. It was dark, dramatic, nothing you'd expect to come from the Happiest Place on Earth. A gargoyle clan, stone by day, are cursed to be stone forever, until abruptly woken up not in 994 Scotland, but in 1994 New York! Each gargoyle was compelling, even the comic relief one. Broadway wasn't just the overweight one, he was the one with a soft heart, and avenges his friends when they've been hurt. Elisa Maza was also great, a blue-haired detective who sorta gets a relationship with the gargoyle leader- Goliath. Demona has to be the best villain on Disney Afternoon. Making deals that end up getting most of her clan destroyed, yes, her family and friends smashed to pieces and those that are left are stone for good until 1994. It also had a lot of Shakespeare and mythology thrown in- Odin, Puck, Macbeth.

I really haven't watched the other shows in a while, save Goof Troop. Pete's family was always the funniest part to me. :3