Disney Afternoon Discussion Thread

All topics relating to Disney-branded content.
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slave2moonlight
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Post by slave2moonlight »

make this thread asking you, Disney fans around the world, to help me in this article by telling me if you are familiar with some of these series and have any particular favorite episodes, characters, or factors regarding these series. As to not give you too much too handle in one sitting, I'll update this thread once every few days and update the show to write about in question

Okay, should have read the first post first, ha, my bad. To directly address the specific questions, though I covered some of them somewhat,... especially my familiarity with the shows...

Gummi Bears: I always love the cute toon ladies. Even being a bear, Sunni was adorable, but Calla, mmm, I adored her. Loved Gusto because he was a later addition and an artist, like myself, and always loved Cubbi before Gusto came along. Favorite episodes were the one where Cubbi get a pet wolf cub (Loopy Go Home, or something like that) and anything heavy on Calla. I'm sure I could think of more if I refreshed my memory. I also liked the one with the gremlin or gargoyle on the loose in the castle, and when a guy was selling sculptures of animals by using dust he had that would freeze them, so they weren't real sculptures, just frozen creatures. And, of course, he wanted to sell the Gummies like that too. I can't think of anything I disliked about Gummi Bears. Something worth mentioning though, was how it took a lot of elements from Black Cauldron, sort of combining it with Care Bears or Ewoks, ha, admittedly, two of my other fave shows. I guess I liked teddies. Heck, it's probably even got more in common with Shirt Tales than those two, and definitely takes a lot from The Smurfs as well. And definitely, I should mention Duke Igthorn as another of the show's high points. Great villain character for the type of show that it was! The stories were great too. Really set the show above other shows at the time, something continued with DuckTales and that seemed to inpire more high-quality animated shows from other companies, like Warner Bros.

Duck Tales: As for DuckTales, as I said, it will always be my fave, but I didn't like how Donald was not a regular and I didn't like Scrooge's clothing color change, and while I enjoy the Gizmo Duck and post Giz episodes, they definitely represent a big turn for the show, and in my opinion, it wasn't for the better. It was just a Darkwing Duck tester or something. I missed the more Carl Barks inspired stuff. Scrooge is, to this day, my fave Disney character. It did take me a while to get used to the voices of Huey, Dewey, and Louie. Webby was adorable, but all over the place were things that I wished were more accurate to the comics the show was based on. Yet, it was such a thrill to see anything that was from the comics, from characters like Gyro and Gladstone, to plots adapted to the DuckTales alterations. Launchpad was a great character! Magica's episodes were always cool! Anytime Gladstone was on was a rare treat, and I wish he had been seen more, along with some characters who never made it on the show, from what I remember, like Grandma Duck, Daisy, Moby Duck, and Gus Goose, to name a few. Favorite episodes? I always liked the 5 parters, especially the premiere, because I have fond memories of my first viewing of it. Also always loved the spooky ones, because I like that sort of thing, especially the episode with the Monster Convention and the haunted hotel the gang opens, and the Fountain of Youth episode! It's weird, but I always liked cute girl ducks too, so I liked the Norway episode and the one about Homer or Ulysses, or whoever. I'm sure I could think of lots of fave DuckTales episodes. The Golden Fleece is definitely another fave, especially with its Von Drake appearance, and the one where Launchpad became a spy was also awesome! So many though. They were all good! I remember there was also a Valentine's Day special shown on the Magical World of Disney on NBC, "A DuckTales Valentine". I always wondered if this was later put into the daily runnings (if so, I never caught it) and if it would have made it onto the DVD volumes, though they never actually finished those... so who knows...
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Post by Goliath »

slave2moonlight wrote:Anywho, yeah, still have a crush on Calla, Gusto is awesome, and I don't think I ever got to see all of the later episodes with the Barbic Gummies. I don't recall if any of those made it onto the DVD release, but man, I would love to own those and finally get to make sure I saw them all.
YouTube is your friend: http://www.youtube.com/user/wonderbar

http://www.youtube.com/user/morelia666?blend=1&ob=4

These two users should have all episodes of Gummi Bears... and lots, lots more!
slave2moonlight wrote:They did have this great Disney Afternoon poster at the entrance that I've gotta get someday. Not an uncommon image, a cluster of D.A. character on a white background.
You mean, this one:

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Post by slave2moonlight »

Yeah, I need to use YouTube better when it comes to catching up with shows I loved but didn't get to see thru to completion, like Gummi Bears and Sailor Moon. I am always intending to, but whenever I sit down to actually catch up on some episodes, that's where they are experiencing a copyright crackdown period...

Anywho, yeah, it was a poster similar to that, but movie poster shaped and so with much fewer characters, and not the later characters. That one above looks more like a fan reworking to include later D.A. additions. The version I fondly remember seeing at the front of the part had that Baloo and Kit I believe, and DuckTales character, Rescue Rangers, and possibly Gummi Bears, and I think that was it.

It was more like this one being sold on Ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/DISNEY-AFTERNOON-OR ... 4839f70484

However, I think the one I remembered was a pre-Darkwing version and might not have even had Rebecca, and I think Balloo was carrying Kit. Here is an even later version being sold on Ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Disney-Afternoon-PO ... 53e195b9e1
Ah, I think this Songbook cover has the poster image I remember, though I remember it on the white background: http://www.amazon.com/Afternoon-Songboo ... 478&sr=8-3

Yeah, I think that last one was it, as it was there mainly to advertise the live stage show, which featured Gummi Bears, DuckTales, and Rescue Rangers only, though I know Balloo was in the poster. I think that last one was it, but with the solid white background. Definitely gotta get one of those posters someday though, but definitely one with the Gummies included, though it'd be nice to have the later characters too...

Incidentally, they did sell Disney comics in the U.S. in the '70's and possibly early '80's, but they were super low quality from Whitman, and were totally kid-aimed. Like, SMALL kids. And also worth mentioning, during the Disney Afternoon craze, the comics changed focus to Disney Afternoon titles, including a comic specifically called "The Disney Afternoon". I'm sure I have some of those, if not all, but that became one of the periods where I had to quit buying Disney comics because they were making more titles than a kid could keep up with financially... which was very upsetting. And, yeah, all these shows had great opening theme songs, the early ones of which were on that soundtrack I mentioned. It has always been one of my fave CDs (that I originally owned on cassette), and I highly recommend D.A. fans seek it out.

As for the stage show I saw it Disney World, it was hosted by a peppy Disney cheerleader (which I loved, of course), and was a little story about Scrooge getting locked in his own vault (by Launchpad, of course), and needing help from Gruffi and Zummi Gummi and the Rescue Rangers (Chip, Dale, and Gadget) to get out.

Oh, and I have to say, I really would have liked to have seen the Disney direct-to-video DVD releases focus on creating new feature length adventures based on its TV properties rather than being shut down for the most part. It would have been a great way to continue the adventures of the DuckTales gang, Darkwing, the Rescue Rangers, the Gummi Bears, etc... and could have taken the qulity UP rather than making sequels to bigscreen films that would require a significant drop in quality. It would have kept the characters and properties fresh in people's minds and could have helped sell DVD sets of the shows too. At the very least, they could have continued Gargoyles that way like Marvel and DC do with their superheroes. I think it would have been a way to do direct to video that was much better received than bigscreen sequels, though I'm sure the money wouldn't have been the same. It would mean better critiques rather than higher cash flow, unless they really caught on. I still think it could have been a great idea.

Speaking of, the Disney Afternoon shows spun off two bigscreen releases anyway (and at least one direct to video, though it could also be considered a sequel to one of those bigscreen releases...). There was the DuckTales Movie and A Goofy Movie (and An Extremely Goofy Movie). Both were fantastic.
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Post by SNES Chalmers »

While I don't have too many fond memories of the Disney Afternoon, I did watch and enjoy it, and my favorites as a kid were Ducktales, Chip & Dale, Darkwing Duck, and Goof Troop. Most of the rest of the shows I didn't see until Disney Channel re-ran them later in the 90's, or until that brief window when we actually got Toon Disney.

Thanks to Avaitor though(I know him elsewhere), I've been getting back into the shows that I loved, like Ducktales and Chip & Dale, and watching ones I don't have fond memories of, like the Gummi Bears and Marsupilami.

Man, I miss the 90's, what a time to be a kid.
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Post by Avaitor »

Man, I'm glad to see love for all of these shows. Sorry I didn't contribute much to your DuckTales discussion, as I was busy writing the retrospective up, as seen in my link.

I don't think I'll be as lucky as to do two articles in a 24 hour span again, so consider this a fluke, while I get us ready to talk about my next piece, Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2e5q6ubDlZE
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Post by Goliath »

slave2moonlight wrote:Incidentally, they did sell Disney comics in the U.S. in the '70's and possibly early '80's, but they were super low quality from Whitman, and were totally kid-aimed. Like, SMALL kids.
You're sure? Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics? Maybe the early 1970's, but as I've understood it, they were absent from the late 1970's on. Until the reintroduction by Gladstone in 1987.
slave2moonlight wrote:And also worth mentioning, during the Disney Afternoon craze, the comics changed focus to Disney Afternoon titles, including a comic specifically called "The Disney Afternoon". [...]
A lot of those comics were printed in The Netherlands as well, in a two-monthly magazine called 'DuckTales'. I don't believe any other countries printed those comics. Some of them were of really high quality, when you take into account that they were produced by big studios, intended for a mass audience.

@ Avaitor: take your time. There's no need to rush this. The more time you take for it, the longer this thread will last, which is a good thing. It will give more people the opportunity to join the discussion
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Post by Avaitor »

Goliath wrote: @ Avaitor: take your time. There's no need to rush this. The more time you take for it, the longer this thread will last, which is a good thing. It will give more people the opportunity to join the discussion
Oh, I have no intention to rush the rest of these articles in, but I had to do so for DuckTales because of computer issues. I was afraid that I'd lose what I already had in progress, as I started working on it after I finished my Gummi Bears retrospective, and had a decent amount done. I didn't want to have what I had done deleted, so I spent about two hours typing up the whole thing.

I'm taking my sweet time for Chip N' Dale, however. To start the conversation off, I want to say that the show was probably at it's best with the "To the Rescue" pilot movie, and the earlier episodes when TMS was still working on it. Wang and Cuckoo's Nest didn't really do a good job on what they were given, and since the scripts typically weren't solid enough to stand on their own, the show suffered because of it.

There were some good episodes post-TMS, but DuckTales was better overall.
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Post by Avaitor »

I managed to get my next article done just a few moments ago. Be sure to talk about the shows as much as you want to.

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Here's what I'm planning out to write next, TaleSpin. Good stuff, all in all.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Goliath wrote: You're sure? Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge comics? Maybe the early 1970's, but as I've understood it, they were absent from the late 1970's on. Until the reintroduction by Gladstone in 1987.
Well, I wasn't born till 1975, and my parents bought me some, which had to have been in the late seventies or early eighties. Like I said though, they were pretty bland, kiddy stuff from Whitman. They had titles like Chip N Dale (in which they talked kinda like cavemen, skipping words and stuff), Uncle Scrooge, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Donald and Daisy, and who knows what else. I think I also have a few movie adaptations from them (though I don't recall if those were reprints or new work). Pretty sure these came out in the early eighties, but I could believe late seventies.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

So are we discussing Rescue Rangers and TaleSpin now? Okay, well, these were still early shows in the Disney Afternoon line-up, and though I was always super excited for new shows, it was even more exciting when the whole idea of Disney animated shows was really new. I remember these two shows premiered on the Disney Channel, and I was so psyched for them! I think they only ran weekend mornings. Rescue Rangers seemed at times (especially since I saw it before seeing the pilot) as a show for younger kids, but I still found it quite entertaining (I don't remember how old I was at the time, or if I was in jr. high yet or what). I think I probably got that impression because the first episode I saw was the one about the stolen Boobie Egg. Anyway, it was really neat and weird to see Chip and Dale in such a different kind of program, and with Chip in his Indy Jones type costume, but I warmed up to it after a while. Of course, all us guys loved Gadget, ha. Can't think of anything particular that I didn't like or even anything specific that I did like. It was just a fun, entertaining show, and had another great theme song and all. Some favorite episodes... Coo Coo Cola, the ones with the Pi-Rats, the pilot (always love the pilot episodes), the Hound of the Whiskervilles..., I don't know, I haven't watched these in a while, so it's harder to remember. Gotta rewatch my discs of all this stuff.

TaleSpin, well, I was a huge fan of the Jungle Book. It was my fave Disney animated feature till Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast. I was just so psyched to see the characters in their own show, and such an interesting adaptation for them! Khan was brilliant and definitely one of the coolest aspects! There was nothing I didn't like about this show, except I wished they would include other characters too. I mean, they had Bagheera like characters, but no actual Bagheera... Anyway, I LOVED the Baloo/Louie episodes that were like Hope and Crosby movies, and other faves were the Chrismas episode, the pilot (of course), and any episode that showed Khan!
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Post by Goliath »

Not be be like a moderator or to boss around Avaitor in his own thread, but I would like a little more time to discuss one show before discussing another. Obviously, everybody is free to discuss whatever he/she likes, but I'm gonna discuss one show at a time; not two.

So, Chip 'N Dale Rescue Rangers. This could possibly be the first show I got obsessed by. I was a little too young when Gummi Bears and Duck Tales first aired (although I quickly caught the repeats and videotapes), but CnD-RR came at exact the right time. Being a little kid, I had a huge crush on Gadget. So in those early days, she was my favorite character, with Monty being my second favorite. I liked the 'new' characters slightly better than Chip and Dale, but I think their new roles suited them well.

I remember drawing my own comics about the Rescue Rangers. I still have some of them saved somewhere. You can't make any sense of it, and you can barely see who the characters are supposed to be, but hey... it kept me quiet and busy as a kid, so my mum was very enthusiastic about it. ;)

Recently, I've seen some of the episodes again and to me, it's one of those shows you loved as a child but can't hold your attention very long now that you're an adult (unlike Gummi Bears and Duck Tales). I still think it's good entertainment for kids, better than most that's out there now. For kids, it still sets the bar higher in storytelling than most shows nowadays. But I've outgrown it a bit. However, I still love the theme song:

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Post by Avaitor »

It's fine. I'm just zipping through these, and don't want you guys to dwell over on what I just finished. Sorry if I'm going too fast for you guys, but don't feel rushed, and I'll try to take my time as well.
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Post by steetboris »

Recently, I've seen some of the episodes again and to me, it's one of those shows you loved as a child but can't hold your attention very long now that you're an adult (unlike Gummi Bears and Duck Tales).
That's exactly the same feeling I have about Rescue Rangers : a fine show for kids, but not so much now.
And it's the exact opposite for Talespin, which everyone says it's even better with an adult eye than when we were kids. (there were a lot of elements in that show that a kid can't understand...for example, the way Rebecca acts - most kids think she's a b****, when actually it's all the opposite and a very clever character)

If only Disney would realize all the HUGE potential of these series and would bring them back one way or another, instead of just letting them in the vault...
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Post by Goliath »

steetboris wrote:That's exactly the same feeling I have about Rescue Rangers : a fine show for kids, but not so much now.
And it's the exact opposite for Talespin, which everyone says it's even better with an adult eye than when we were kids. (there were a lot of elements in that show that a kid can't understand...for example, the way Rebecca acts - most kids think she's a b****, when actually it's all the opposite and a very clever character)
That's very true. I didn't like TaleSpin much when I was a kid, but I appreciate it a whole lot more, now that I'm older.

Avaitor, I have read your review of Gummi Bears and I agree with most of it. I think you overstated the quality of the animation. While it was very good for tv standards, you described it as coming close to a feature animation film, and I can't agree with that. It was definitly still in the tv-league.
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Post by Super Aurora »

Gummi Bears had one of THE most awesome theme song.

Also in that pic with all the Disney afternoon pic, where's is little mermaid? I don't any character from show on there, yet Aladdin and Lion king has theirs


also been long time since i've seen talespin, but what animal is that one that look like a mechanic?
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Post by Avaitor »

Like I said, I did have issues with the animation, particuarly with Calvin, but compared to just about everything on the air, it was more fluid than anything.

It's easier to pick apart what's wrong now, but it still doesn't look that bad.
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Avaitor wrote:Like I said, I did have issues with the animation, particuarly with Calvin, but compared to just about everything on the air, it was more fluid than anything.

It's easier to pick apart what's wrong now, but it still doesn't look that bad.
Probably as good as some non-Disney animated features, like the Care Bears movies? Just a guess. Haven't watched them in a while and I really love those movies, but I remember being surprised the last time I watched them at the low quality of animation for the big screen.

Anyway, as for Little Mermaid, I don't believe it ever was part of the Disney Afternoon. It was a Saturday morning show.
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Post by Goliath »

slave2moonlight wrote:Anyway, as for Little Mermaid, I don't believe it ever was part of the Disney Afternoon. It was a Saturday morning show.
You're right. Although foreign audiences, like me, didn't make that distinction. We just talked about 'Disney animated tv series'. And we put The Little Mermaid, the animated series in the same category as the Disney Afternoon series. Just like we did with The many adventures of Winnie the Pooh, which was a great show, and I still enjoy watching it.

TaleSpin was never that popular in The Netherlands, as I remember it. There were quite a few videotapes of the show out there to buy, but not many episodes where shown on tv initially. Only around 1997 or '98 a lot of the episodes were finally shown, because a tv station had decided to buy and narrate the 'missing' episodes. Another indicator of its lack of popularity is the fact that the Dutch version of the theme song was absent from YouTube for a very long time --really, that is an indication!

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I much prefer the English version! That's because the voicecast was *so* impressive! All the familiar characters sound like they did in the film Jungle Book, while the voice actors were very different. I love it every time Baloo calls Kit "little bridges" (sp?) like he did with Mowgli. Also, Louie did sound 100% like he did in the film. Who did his voice? IMDb doesn't help me out in this case. Didn't Disney get into legal problems afterwards because Louis Prima's voice was somehow copyright protected and nobody was allowed to imitate it? I vaguely remember his widow (daughter?) suing Disney over this.

I like the show most because of the special setting, in the 1930's, and how good they have kept themselves to this premise, while still maintaining a modern feeling. What was also great, was the development of Baloo-Kit-Rebecca-Molly as some kind of family, although there was never aromance between Baloo and Rebecca. But you still got that feeling that they formed somehow a disfunctional kind of family that belonged together. You don't see that kind of character development from Disney's tv shows anymore, nowadays.

The question is how original TaleSpin *really* was:
Also, many of the series concepts seem to be based on the 1982 ABC series Tales of the Gold Monkey, including the main concept of a cocky flying boat cargo pilot and his rocky relationship with his girlfriend (although in this series she was merely his boss), his scatterbrained mechanic sidekick, the era and designs of the aircraft and costumes, the Pacific Islands setting, the secondary character relationships, even the visual appearance of the lagoon. Also, the protagonists of both series fly planes named for waterfowl (Cutter's Goose and Sea Duck) and are regular denizens of taverns named "Louie's".
From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tale_Spin
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Post by slave2moonlight »

Apparently, Tales of the Gold Monkey gets a DVD release next Tuesday! I'm psyched to see it, though I might not have the cash to get it right then. I've heard of this show but never seen it, and seeing some clips on YouTube, I'm even more interested... Man, it looks soooooooo much like TaleSpin!
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Post by estefan »

Goliath wrote:Also, Louie did sound 100% like he did in the film. Who did his voice? IMDb doesn't help me out in this case. Didn't Disney get into legal problems afterwards because Louis Prima's voice was somehow copyright protected and nobody was allowed to imitate it? I vaguely remember his widow (daughter?) suing Disney over this.
Jim Cummings did Louis's voice in TaleSpin. And yeah, it was his widow who used, which is why they had to invent a different character for him to appear in House of Mouse, but King Larry was essentially the same.
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