Webbigail "Webby" Vanderquack is a major character in DuckTales. She is voiced by Russi Taylor, who also provides the voices of Huey, Dewey and Louie.
She is the granddaughter of Betina Beakley. It is unknown what happened to Webby's own parents, but Betina seems to be her legal guardian. At the time of Mrs. Beakley's interview for the position of Scrooge's maid, cook and the Nephews' nanny, Webby and Betina were homeless. She agreed to work only for food and shelter for the both of them--a deal Scrooge couldn't refuse. Since then, both have been adopted into the Duck's extended family. And Webby earned a place in Scrooge's heart, evident by him telling her to call him "Uncle Scrooge" even though they're not related. She enjoys helping her Grandmother and Scrooge.
Personality
Webby is an extremely affectionate, adorable and emotional little duckling and has a great love for animals. She's never without her "Quacky-Patch" doll--a small stitched doll that looks exactly like her and sometimes keeps small tokens like jellybeans and marbles inside of a hole in its stitching. Webby's love for animals is her greatest asset, since she seems to be able to tame even the most exotic creatures including dinosaurs and a Snow Monster. Her only conflict with animals came when she got lost in the Outback--her doll was stolen by a koala and she was chased by warthogs, though she eventually overcame her fear and became friends with those animals as well.
Webby is very expressive and always speaks her mind. An example of this is that in a possible future, depicted in the episode "Duck to the Future", Webby is the only one of Scrooge's family to help him return to his own time. She has grown up into a lady and is married to Doofus Drake. When Scrooge returns to his own time, he suggests that he will see them at their wedding, to which Webby displays great disgust.
The Disney studio promotional material said that her greatest goal is to become the Fourth Nephew. Webby often feels neglected and this has often been the impetus for her own misadventures. One even caused her to join the Beagle Babes after being kidnapped by them. Despite incidents like the prior, Webby is also often the voice of reason and is shown to be much more sensible about certain things than the boys. One example of this is in the episode "Merit-Time Adventure", where the children are trying earn their sailing merit patches, but she is the only one who studies for it while the boys goof-off. In the end, her studying pays off and she not only gets her patch, but she saves the day as well.
Animation
DuckTales
Webby kisses a shark in the DuckTales intro sequence (this scene does not appear in any episode).
Webby makes her first appearance in the DuckTales episode "Three Ducks of the Condor" (part three of the pilot movie "Treasure of the Golden Suns"). After which, she made regular appearances throughout the series, playing the role of Scrooge's adopted niece. Some episodes even focused on her, such as "Attack of the Fifty-Foot Webby" and "The Good Muddahs".
In "Attack of the Fifty-Foot Webby", when Scrooge takes the children to the jungle to find a rare animal, Webby comes in contact with some water that causes her to grow to a massive size.
In "The Good Muddahs", Webby is kidnapped and held for ransom by the the Beagle Boys' cousins, the Beagle Babes. During the time that they're holding her, she befriends them.
DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp
In the DuckTales movie, Scrooge takes Webby, the boys and Launchpad on a trip to find the Treasure of Collie Baba, unaware that the evil Merlock is also looking for it. When they find it, she spots an oil lamp and asks Scrooge if she can have it, because it looks like a teapot. Not being very valuable, he says 'yes'. After having the treasure stolen by Merlock and barely escaping, they return to Duckburg empty handed.
Once home, Webby begins to polish her "teapot". As soon as she wipes it with a cloth, a Genie pops out. He befriends Webby, Huey Dewey and Louie and grants several wishes for them. Her first wish, for a baby elephant, almost reveals the Genie's presence. Finally, Webby's wish that her toys would come to life reveals his presence to Scrooge. Once Gene the Genie is revealed, Scrooge wishes for the Treasure of Collie Baba and takes the lamp to the Archaeological Society Ball, where he plans to tell of his discovery. Here, Dijon (Merlock's sidekick) gets a hold of the lamp and wishes for Scrooge's fortune. After he's arrested for trespassing on "his" own property, Webby and the rest of Scrooge's friends chip in to bail him out of jail. After which, she assists in retrieving the lamp and saving the day.
Raw Toonage
Webby appears in the opening theme of Raw Toonage, but does not appear in any of the episodes.
Video Games
DuckTales, DuckTales 2, & DuckTales Remastered
In DuckTales, its sequel DuckTales 2 and DuckTales Remastered, Webby is a non-playable character who appears in certain levels to drop hints to the player about winning.
DuckTales: The Quest for Gold
Webby in DuckTales: The Quest for Gold
In DuckTales: The Quest for Gold, Webby is a playable character who is featured in the Wildlife Reservation level where the player must get photos of rare animals.
Comics
Webby appeared regularly in the DuckTales comic book stories. She also appeared in the Darkwing Duck crossover arc "Dangerous Currency", during which she showed a slight crush on Honker Muddlefoot.
Disney Parks
Webby with the Olsen twins at Disneyland.
During the Disney Afternoon era, Webby was a walk-around character at the Disney Parks. She was mostly seen in skits starring the DuckTales characters and at Disneyland's temporary Disney Afternoon Avenue area. They have since retired her.
Gallery
Trivia
- Although Webby is officially Betina Beakley's granddaughter and not related to the Duck/McDuck family, some DuckTales books mistakenly say she's Mrs. Beakley's niece and others say she's Huey, Dewey and Louie's cousin.
- In some ways, Webby is very much like the orphan Annie:
- Both are orphans.
- Both are taken in by a wealthy man, (Annie by Oliver Warbucks, Webby by Scrooge McDuck).
- Both have great love of animals.
- And both are very compassionate, generous, and optimistic.
- Webby's last name, Vanderquack, is actually only mentioned twice.
- Once in Pearl of Wisdom, when her name is announced in the marble shooting contest.
- And once in a television commercial for DuckTales, where she introduces herself to the audience.
- As Webby has a different surname from her grandmother, it can be assumed she got her surname from her father, which would mean Webby's mother was Mrs. Beakley's daughter, making her Webby's maternal grandmother.
- She has rarely appeared outside of DuckTales, as she was non-canonical.
- In the Dutch version of DuckTales, Webby is named Lizzy. Which is also given to April, one of Daisy's nieces.
External links
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