The DuckTales Reboot announces it cast, headlined by the Tenth Doctor himself David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck.
DuckTales will return to the airwaves in 2017! A new DuckTales animated series (I really don't want to use the word "reboot" if I can avoid it, because there's no need to mess with the canon, here) is coming to Disney XD.
DuckTales, in case you don't know, was a wonderful animated series that aired 100 episodes between 1987 and 1990. This was a cartoon with an impressive legacy. Based on the Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics of Carl Barks, which are not only some of the finest comics ever made, but helped influence the Indiana Jones franchise (which the cartoon then borrowed some flavor from), DuckTales was a perfect blend of adventure and afternoon cartoon comedy. It also boasted the catchiest theme tune in history, and spawned a video game that still holds up as one of the best ever produced for the NES.
DuckTales Reboot Cast
Disney has announced the selection of the voice cast who will solve mysteries and rewrite history with “race cars, laser, aeroplanes” on the DuckTales reboot series.
Headlining the cast is David Tennant, who will voice the uber-affluent, gold-hoarding feathered Scotsman main character Scrooge McDuck. The real Scotsman Tennant, of course, will likely always be best associated with his legendary 2005-2010 tenure as the 10th regenerated iteration of Doctor Who, who, besides his celebrated murder mystery Broadchurch, also recently put on a chilling Marvel television villain performance as Kilgrave, a.k.a. the Purple Man on Jessica Jones. However, he’s no stranger to providing his voice for animated genres having played a role in the 2010 film hit How to Train Your Dragon and currently voices the alien robot the Fugitoid on Nickelodeon’s current Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series.
Voicing the roles of Scrooge’s adventuring, trouble-making grandnephews are Danny Pudi (Community) as Huey, Ben Schwartz (Parks and Recreation, the voice of BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as Dewey and Bobby Moynihan (Saturday Night Live, We Bare Bears) as Louie. Filling out the rest of the cast are Beck Bennett (Saturday Night Live, Sing) as ace pilot (and eventual Darkwing Duck spinoff facilitator,) Launchpad McQuack, Toks Olagundoye (Castle, Parnormal Action Squad) as nanny Mrs. Beakley and Kate Micucci (Garfunkel and Oates, Milo Murphy’s Law) as Mrs. Beakley’s granddaughter Webby Vanderquack.
To say the least, this cast is a cavalcade of fan-friendly talent who not only possess the comedic pipes necessary to bring this revival to life, but acknowledges the adult audiences who will prospectively tune in to the new version for some freshly-harvested Member Berries about the 1987-1990 animated series. Accordingly, Disney also released a video of the new cast singing the classic DuckTales theme. Check it out below!
That's about all the hard info we have right now, but it's good enough. The latest piece of promo art promises that the new DuckTales will arrive in Summer of 2017, and like the earlier art from the show that was released, it looks like they're staying true to the spirit of the original. All the familiar DuckTalessupporting characters will return, and this doesn't look like a drastic reimagining of the animation style, either. No CG or 3D rendering to be found!
DuckTales Reboot Teaser
Entertainment Weekly dropped a quick teaser for the new series...
Here's the word from Marc Buhaj, Senior Vice President, Programming, and General Manager for Disney XD, released in a statement when the project was first announced in February of 2015:
“DuckTales has a special place in Disney’s TV animation history, it drew its inspiration from Disney Legend Carl Barks’ comic books and through its storytelling and artistic showmanship, set an enduring standard for animated entertainment that connects with both kids and adults. Our new series will bring that same energy and adventurous spirit to a new generation.”
Until then, sing that theme tune over and over, play DuckTales Remastered on one of your consoles, and track down some of these amazing Carl Barks duck comics that Fantagraphics has been putting out. You won't regret it.
This article first appeared in February of 2015. It has been updated with new information.