DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1990)

Powerful

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

My kid's been singing the new "Ducktales" theme song for the past two weeks (GoNoodle, of all places), which is the primary motivation for digging up the original show. "The Movie" is the easiest thing I could get my hands on (plus, it's got Christopher Lloyd, which even back when I was 10, perked up my ears). Turns out, it wasn't the best move, and I swear it's not because I'm a Disney cynic. But the kid really liked it.It's mostly the writing; the story oddly fell somewhere between "Aladdin" and "Raiders of the Lost Ark". But nothing really worked for me; the voice work, the low-level animation, the grating genie-turned- hip sidekick. I don't mean to be overly negative with this, but this is just about as anemic as it gets. 5/10

Animation is OK, but the problem is the script. It starts rushed up and ends with fairy-tale Disney ending that has always been annoying.I saw this movie right after watching third season of the show (I grew up watching DuckTales but recently decided to re-watch just to watch the movie itself) and the drop in quality is very noticeable.The animation done by a new studio feels rough, especially when they show whole Duck Berg or the first opening scene itself. Some characters like Launchpad do pretty much nothing while others like Gyro and Gizmoduck are completely absent like they never existed (not even a small cameo). Worst part is, this movie's failure meant Disney never bothered with another movie unlike Aladdin which has like 4 movies.That said, is it a "bad" movie? No. Kids will enjoy it, even grown ups.. probably will. Just not enjoy it as much as the TV series itself.

I know I used to watch Duck Tales as a child because I found myself humming along absentmindedly to the theme music but I cannot remember much more than that. This was not a problem though as I only watched it to act as a bit of a trip down memory lane for me. The plot is OK for this sort of thing and allows plenty of silly antics as well as just doing enough for the duration to actually give the film somewhere to go towards the end to create a certain amount of actual drive for the antics. This is not to say it is a great affair because it isn't, but under tens should enjoy it enough to distract them for just over an hour.The animation is colourful and, even if it is uninspiring it still does the job and never feels cheap or rushed out. The voice work is pretty good but I, like many others I think, found the voices of Huey and crew to be rather annoying even if one must give Taylor his dues for doing several voices. Young does a simple job on Scrooge, Taylor is fun as the genie and Libertini is quite fun as the comic relief. Lloyd is a nice addition for adults and he has a great presence thanks to his distinctive voice work but he has little to do and, to be honest, the voice work doesn't really stand out that much.Overall this is OK fare for under tens but I must admit that it is unlikely to draw any audience other than that. Those seeking childhood memories may enjoy it and be glad to find that it is quite well made even if it is unspectacular but it is not worth watching if you have not experienced it before now. Tape it off TV and you'll find it useful enough to keep young children happy but I doubt many adults find it useful in any ways other than a babysitter.

In this tale, which is roughly based on Ali Baba lore, we find Scrooge McDuck and his nephews on the trail of a magic lamp. Also on the trail is Merlock the Magician (voiced by Christopher Lloyd of 'Back to the Future'.) The film has a slight resemblance to the likes of Indiana Jones and Disney's own later film series of 'Aladdin' and 'Aladdin and the King of Thieves'. Based primarily on the television series of the same name, 'DuckTales' and created by the brand new (at the time) Disney Toon Studios and released theatrically in 1990, this is a timeless film that children and adults will both enjoy. The only downfall for those who love this film is that the only DVD release (so far) has been through the Disney Movie Club. So delightful, I gave it 10/10!