"Last Christmas!" is the thirtieth episode of DuckTales. It premiered on December 1, 2018 and is the sixth episode in the second season.
Synopsis[]
Scrooge avoids the pressures of the holidays by traveling back in time with a trio of fun-loving ghosts to crash history’s greatest Christmas parties instead, until one of them shows him what Christmas is really about. Meanwhile, time-lost Dewey teams with young Donald Duck to find his mom on Christmas.
Plot[]
It's Christmas time, and the family is getting ready to celebrate with Christmas decorations around McDuck Manor. Scrooge, however, is in a petulant mood over the holiday. When a blow-up of Santa Claus is placed in the foyer, he flies into a rage and retreats to his quarters after destroying it. Meanwhile, Dewey is alone in his room grieving over his mother, Della, when Donald enters to invite him for caroling, though once he sees Dewey with Della's photo, he lets him be. Just then, Dewey spots a green light emitting from Scrooge's room. Dewey enters to find Scrooge with the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Scrooge explains to Dewey that he doesn't hate Christmas (although he maintains a vendetta against Santa), but he needs a break from his responsibilities. He met the Ghosts when the three mistook him for another individual named Scrooge; thus every year, they hung out together to relive past Christmas parties. Dewey secretly hitches a ride with Scrooge and the Ghosts once they head out but he loses his grip and descends back to the Manor sometime in the past.
Scrooge and the Ghosts visit the first annual McDuck Enterprises Christmas party. Scrooge tries to dance with the younger Agent 22 but he is pulled away by a living Duckworth for discussion among his investors and other businesspeople. Discouraged by his responsibilities and unable to see the past Goldie O'Gilt, Scrooge becomes even grumpier once the party is concluded by Grandpappy Beagle and the Beagle Boys ransacking items (including the Ghost of Christmas Present) from the Manor. Past takes Scrooge back to when he first settled in Duckburg. Scrooge is relaxed, but he immediately becomes bored and learns Christmas is about the benefits of his responsibilities - hearth, home, and family. However, Past refuses to let Scrooge go home as he doesn't want Scrooge to abandon the Ghosts and move on like the Ghosts' regulars of before. Scrooge tricks Past to rewind the fight and acquires the time-brella to escape, abandoning the spirit in the past.
Flashing back to Dewey, earlier while hitching a ride with Scrooge and the Ghosts, he falls into a pile of snow and realize he went back to the past. Then, Dewey looks for Della inside the Manor and comes across a sulking younger Donald. Dewey pretends to be a distant relative and asks for Della, and Donald states Della is outside looking for Santa. Dewey snatches Donald's guitar and rushes outside, where they come across Della's abandoned tent, and soon, they are ambushed by a Wendigo. The Wendigo gives chase, but the boys run into a net trap set by Della. Della refuses to let them down unless Donald apologizes. Dewey concludes that Della is upset because Donald wasn't spending Christmas with her and too distracted with himself to notice — which Dewey was also doing. Donald apologizes and Della releases them. The Wendigo then appears, declaring it is looking for Scrooge, and a fight ensues. Donald defeats the Wendigo after it destroys his guitar while Dewey and Della trap it in netting. After dragging the Wendigo back to the Manor, the now-reconciled Donald and Della figure out Dewey is from the future but reject his warnings to avoid time disruption. After the twins leave to retrieve their Scrooge for help, the Wendigo breaks free, although it is knocked back down by the time-traveling Scrooge, along with Present and Future, arriving above. The Wendigo then reverts to its true form — the Ghost of Christmas Past — as Scrooge learns that him leaving Past turned the spirit into a Wendigo from desperation and loneliness. Scrooge returns the spirit his time-brella as an apology. Past happily accepts the gift and brings the group home.
Back in the present, Scrooge and Dewey, accompanied by the Ghosts, join the family and sing Christmas carols together. Meanwhile, on the moon, Della wishes Donald and Scrooge a Merry Christmas while she continues work on her rocket.
Cast[]
- David Tennant as Scrooge McDuck
- Danny Pudi as Huey Duck
- Ben Schwartz as Dewey Duck
- Bobby Moynihan as Louie Duck
- Kate Micucci as Webby Vanderquack
- Tony Anselmo as Donald Duck
- Russi Taylor as Young Donald
- Beck Bennett as Launchpad McQuack
- Toks Olagundoye as Bentina Beakley
- David Kaye as Duckworth and Professor Rhutt Betlah
- Jack McBrayer as Ghost of Christmas Past/Wendigo[1]
- Bill Fagerbakke as Ghost of Christmas Present
- Eric Bauza as Grandpappy Beagle and Captain Farley Foghorn
- Marc Evan Jackson as Bradford Buzzard
- Paget Brewster as Della Duck
Trivia[]
- This episode contains several references to Mickey's Christmas Carol.
- Scrooge quotes "Bah, humbug", the signature quote of his namesake, Ebenezer Scrooge, whom he portrayed in the film.
- The Ghost of Christmas Past is a cricket, harkening back to Jiminy Cricket's portrayal of the character.
- The Ghost of Christmas Present is wearing the same outfit Willie the Giant wore for the character.
- The Ghosts mention mistaking Scrooge for a "different" Scrooge, likely alluding to Ebenezer.
- The closing credits were drawn by Michael Peraza Jr. in the same style used for the opening credits of the featurette.[2]
- The episode also includes references to several Carl Barks stories.
- Ms. Beakley's Christmas schedule includes a screening of "Christmas on Bear Mountain", a reference to Scrooge's first appearance.
- One of the attendees of Scrooge's party in the past tries to get Scrooge's funding for an Andes expedition to find more square eggs, a reference to "Lost in the Andes".
- The title is a reference to the Wham song Last Christmas.
- 1950s holiday renditions of the theme song and credits theme play instead of the normal music.
- Young Donald is voiced by the late Russi Taylor, who provided the voices of Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby in the original DuckTales series and other projects since 1987 and the only role she did in the reboot prior to her death in July 2019. In addition, though said by a young Donald, this episode marks the first of the reboot where one of the triplets' many used catchphrases from the original series was used: "Quack-a-Rooney".
- One of the attendees at Scrooge's Christmas party, Captain Farley Foghorn, was a recurring character on the original DuckTales series. In the original series, Captain Foghorn is a goofy captain who was occasionally hired by Scrooge.
- Foghorn was previously mentioned in "The Golden Lagoon of White Agony Plains!"
- Della's nickname "Dumbella" is a reference to the name she had in Donald's Nephews.
- The character Rhutt Betlah is named and designed to look after Rhett Butler, a character from Gone with the Wind, famously portrayed by Clark Gable.
- A poster for a grunge band called Geezer is seen on the wall in Donald's room. The poster is a clear shout out to the band Weezer and designed to look like their self-titled debut album.
- Young Donald has several references to Nirvana including a t-shirt modeled after the Nirvana logo, poster in Donald's room referencing the album cover of Nevermind, a Fender Mustang guitar with reverse colors (Red with White) to Kurt Cobain's Fender Mustang (White with Red) and the look of early '90s Grunge music artists like the aforementioned late Kurt Cobain, including long hair and flannel button-down shirt over a t-shirt. Even Donald's work-in-progress song mentions being difficult to understand which references both adult Donald's speech impediment and Cobain's occasional habit of slurring lyrics in songs like Nirvana's biggest hit Smells Like Teen Spirit.
- Scrooge defeats the Wendigo by bouncing on his head with his cane, like his classic move in the video game.
- Scrooge mentions Jörmungandr, the world-devouring serpent from Norse mythology.
- The fight with Jormungandr is seen in the Season 3 episode "The Rumble for Ragnarok!"
- Scrooge's line, "Urgh. Time travelers", is an allusion to his voice actor's role as the time-traveling Doctor from Doctor Who.
- This is the only episode (if not counting the 44/66 minute long specials) that has no cold open before the opening theme as well as the only episode that has two acts instead of three.
- Donald and Della are around 12 when Dewey meets them, which means that Dewey travels back to about 1993.
Gallery[]
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References[]
- ↑ "Frank Angones on Wendigo". Tumblr (December 1, 2018).
- ↑ "Who did the end credits drawings that rendered everyone in classic Disney style?". Tumblr (December 1, 2018).
