"The Town Where Everyone Was Nice!" is the twenty-eighth episode of DuckTales. It premiered on November 10, 2018, and is the fourth episode in the second season.
Synopsis[]
Donald reunites with his band, the Three Caballeros, while the family takes in the sights of a Brazilian town with a dark secret.
Plot[]
The family arrives at a remote village in Brazil to attend the blooming of a rare large flower, the Drosera occidendum, in the town's plaza. Webby is immersed in the sightseeing and encourages Dewey to look around, but Dewey is too preoccupied with taking selfies to show themselves at the moment. Donald reveals the purpose of the trip is for a reunion between him and his band, the Three Caballeros, whom Scrooge complains were a garage band Donald and his college friends formed in their youth. Above them, an airplane drops off José Carioca while nearby, Panchito Pistoles steps out from the shade. Donald greets them and they reminisce about their younger days before getting to talking about what they're up to now. José claims he is now a successful travel consultant booking and paying for the family's trip while Panchito is now an international pop sensation. When they ask Donald about himself, Donald, worried about what his friends will think of him if he's done nothing since college, asks Huey to help him build up a fake story to impress his friends. Scrooge cooperates with the ruse to avoid having to pay for the trip lest José finds out they were lying. Donald tells his friends he is the billionaire owner of McDuck Enterprises taking care of Scrooge (playing the part of his ailing uncle). Nearby, Webby sees Dewey takes another selfie. Webby reprimands his obnoxious behavior, but Dewey continues selfies with Louie.
At a restaurant, Huey and a reluctant Scrooge cover for Donald while Webby gets exasperated with Dewey's investment in selfies. When the bill comes, Donald, Panchito, and José all attempt to avoid paying before Donald does use Scrooge's wallet, to Scrooge's anger. The group then leave the restaurant, though Webby hears a strange hissing noise coming from the waitress but then dismisses it.
Webby continues to explore, but Dewey continues selfies with Louie retorting that the pictures show him doing it and therefore doesn't need to deal with the less-appealing experience. Meanwhile, Donald, Panchito, and José talking about their time playing as the Three Caballeros make them feel morose over having to leave their carefree days behind. However, after listening to some music and getting the spark of joy back, they decide to reunite the band using Donald's (Scrooge's) fortune. Huey suggests Donald stop the charade, but Donald insists that he needs this opportunity. Elsewhere, Webby asks a woman for information about the town. Receiving robotic responses of "Of course", "Have a great day", and "Thank you" from the resident, Webby trips over a vine and sees the rest of the woman that sends Webby back to Dewey and Louie. Webby uses the pictures to show them the truth: the townspeople are all puppet vines connected to the flower. Exposed, the flower reveals its true, carnivorous form.
While the Caballeros prepare for their performance, Huey and Scrooge are alerted by the others the bloom is a trap to lure prey for the flower. The others are soon captured by the flower's vines in their attempt to escape, with Scrooge unable to fight due to committing his body to act elderly. Donald tries to convince Panchito and José to leave but the two accuse Donald of leaving the band behind again. Donald is forced to admit his lie, though José, moved by Donald's admission, admits he was lying and is actually a flight attendant who used his airline points to pay for the trip. Panchito is angered for their deception but he also comes clean as a birthday party performer who hoped to relaunch his career. The three reconcile for lying to each other right as the flower finds them. To save the others, the Three Caballeros perform a song to pulverize the vines and reposition Scrooge's back from the singing. Noticing the negative effect Donald's voice has on the plant, the Caballeros sing a high note and they successfully devitalize the plant. As the group then heads for home, Dewey decides to delete all the photos on his phone since it recorded Dewey tossed around by the plant. Huey remarks to the Caballeros that being true to oneself will work out, and they all agree to get the band back together before Scrooge, still pretending to be weak, destroys Panchito's guitar to prevent the idea. Back at the village, a seed from the plant's remains falls and burrows itself into the ground, and a new flower sprouts up.
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
- Arturo Del Puerto as Panchito Pistoles
- Bernardo De Paula as José Carioca
- Kari Wahlgren as Coffee cart woman, waitress
Song[]
Trivia[]
- Arturo Del Puerto and Bernardo De Paula improvised several lines featuring their characters' native languages in order to avoid giving an offensive or stereotypical depiction of their nationalities.[1]
- This is the first episode in the series where the title card and credits precede the opening theme.
- The opening theme is noticeably shortened in this episode as well. It’s the second episode where the opening theme was shortened, the first being The Great Dime Chase!.
- There are several nods to Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, where José and Panchito made their debuts, respectively.
- Panchito greets the kids with "saludos amigos".
- Panchito uses José's umbrella as a flute, as the latter did in Aquarela do Brasil.
- In addition to reprising the classic "The Three Caballeros" song, several poses from the number were reanimated and placed throughout the episode.
- During the song, the change of color makes Donald's black sailor suit appear blue, as it was in The Three Caballeros.
- A deleted concept would have involved the plant's spores to trap the characters in a live-action hallucination, which would have been a direct reference to the live-action segment from the original film in which a cactus turns into a woman, though the idea was discarded and replaced with the dance sequence.[2]
- When Panchito proclaims "The three caballeros ride again", it's a reference to the comic of the same name, written by Don Rosa.
- The name Drosera occidendum is derived from Drosera, the genus for the carnivorous sundew plant, and "occidendum", the Latin word for "murder", both of which allude to the plant's sinister nature.
- The way the Drosera occidendum inadvertently stretched Scrooge's sore back to normal before he slices off its limb was similar to Mr. Incredible's fight against the Omnidroid v.8 in The Incredibles.
- Launchpad appears at the end of the episode, though only his right arm is visible.
Goofs[]
- Just before the flower reveals itself, the mouth of the green male bird moves as if he were speaking. However the audio "Of course." doesn't play until just before his mouth stops moving.
References[]
Gallery[]