I feel like saying just how much I love this series is probably no longer necessary. (If you have read my other post where I talked about the series you might be familiar with the topic.) Ever since the big announcement towards the start of the year, the series has gained a lot of attention across news outlets and social media. New and old fans are sharing fond memories of the original series and hopes (even fears) of what is to come in the up-coming series.
Even though fans are excited for the new series, this year is special for another reason. Twenty-five years ago on August 3rd of the year of 1990, a very special movie arrived in theaters. The title – DuckTales The Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp.
Warning! Twenty-five-year-old spoilers below.
The events of DuckTales The Movie, much like the series, are very strongly centered on Scrooge, his nephews, and Webby as they seek the lost treasure Collie Baba. But Scrooge’s quest for the lost treasure takes a few wrong turns and leaves him, or rather Webby, only walking away with a seemingly ordinary lamp. Not long after returning home to Duckburg, the secret of the lamp comes to light- it actually is magical and a genie resides inside.
Being the ones who awoke him, Genie grants the four children three wishes of their choosing, but asks his new masters to keep it hidden from the outside world out of fear of falling into the wrong hands.
Upon Webby’s final wish, to breathe life into all of her toys, Scrooge discovers that the lamp he had written off prior is far from junk. And wanting to impress Archaeological Society at the upcoming ball, and not wanting the shame of losing what could have been the greatest treasure of all, Scrooge takes the lamp with him.
But during the affair Scrooge finds himself attacked and mistakes the magical lamp with that of a gravy boat- thus leading the genie into the wrong hands and leading into the climax. With the genie fallen into the wrong hands, Scrooge finds himself fortune-less and thrown in jail.
It is only with the aid of Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webby, Mrs. Beakly, Duckworth, and Launchpad that Scrooge is able to set out and make things right once more.
DuckTales the Movie did rather well during the theater release though it received rather mixed feedback and it was not quite as grand as Disney had aspired. It unfortunately led to the shelving of other possible DuckTales movies as well as others from the Disney Afternoon line-up. Despite the shortcomings, this movie was the first of Disney filmed under the now departed DisneyToon Studios.
Even from a glance, the plot of this it is very clear that a lot of the concepts of Treasure of the Lost Lamp came into play two years later with Aladdin. Even though I would not rank this as one of the best movies narrative wise I have ever seen, I still admit that I love it dearly. Treasure of the Lost Lamp brought that magic that is DuckTales to the big screen and the characters, as well as their relationships, are the true heart of the story.
Naturally like all of Disney’s movies, the film was released on VHS in the spring of the following year. It was not re-released however, until January of 2006 on region one DVD format exclusively released through the Disney Movie Club and Disney Movie Rewards Program. Then, it was not until last year, more specifically October, in a wider release as a Wal-Mart exclusive and then again in January when other retailers started carrying the disk and iTunes added it to their store to download.
As I have said before, DuckTales has such great potential of all the things it can do- and this is a fine example of it was we see our beloved character charge into another adventure that makes them grow some and challenges them.
Times have changed, life has shifted in way we may have never thought, even we ourselves grow and DuckTales is also changing. But twenty-five years after the fact it holds up as well as the original series with timeless charm, heart and characters that stay with you long after the credits roll.
In a way not everything does change.
Join the conversation; have you seen DuckTales the Movie? If so share your thoughts; moments you loved, ones you might have wanted to roll your eyes at (it is okay, really!)?
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