DVD Review: Ducktales – Destination: Adventure!

Disney XD’s revival of the classic Disney Afternoon series, Ducktales (woo-oo!), arrives on DVD for its second volume. The first release only contained the hour-long premiere episode with some bonus shorts, while this one contains six episodes from the new series plus two classic episodes of the original series that make their DVD debut. Get ready for more stories from Dukburg with Ducktales – Destination: Adventure!

First up is “The Beagle Birthday Massacre” which finds Webby on an adventure with a new friend named Lena. When they sneak into a Beagle birthday party, they upset all of the different Beagle gangs by destroying their birthday cake.

In “The Living Mummies of Toth-Rah!,” Scrooge leads Launchpad and the kids through a treacherous tomb where they become separated and uncover a secret prophecy.

“The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverest” finds the ducks on winter break. Scrooge is determined to be the first duck to step foot on the top of the mountain, but they weren’t prepared for the mountain’s dark secret.

Huey, Duey, and Louie come close to finding some information about their mother in “The Spear of Selene.” They also discover that Donald is friends with Storkules and that Scrooge has a longstanding feud with Zeus.

Launchpad finally gets his driver’s license in ”Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!” which also finds Gyro’s assistant Fenton (Lin-Manuel Miranda) getting in trouble when he puts on a suit that transforms him into Gizmoduck. Disney Afternoon fans will appreciate several nods to Darkwing Duck in this episode.

The final episode is “The Missing Links of Moorshire!” finds Scrooge and Glomgold facing off in a golf tournament that is thwarted by mischievous, magical ponies.

The new Ducktales has the same sense of whimsy and adventure that made the original series so special, along with a new design esthetic. The biggest difference is the humor, with many laugh-out-loud moments in the new series, which are well represented across the six episodes on this release. This volume is also a perfect way to introduce kids to the original series with two classic episodes as bonus features.

Bonus Features

  • “New Gizmo-Kids on the Block” (22:45) – When the Gizmoduck suit shrinks, the nephews use it to stop the Beagles.
  • “Ducky Mountain High” (22:50) – Scrooge, Goldie, and Glomgold fight over land with golden trees.

Packaging & Design

Ducktales – Destination: Adventure is housed in a standard DVD case. Inserts include a code for 100 points and a flier for Disney Movie Club. There are no extra goodies and no slipcover with this release.

This disc uses Disney’s FastPlay feature, which allows you to autoplay all of the contents without visiting the main menu. If you let it run its course, there’s a trailer for Incredibles 2 before the episodes begin. Afterwards, it plays additional ads for Disney Movie Rewards and Disney Now. The main enu arranges clips from the show as a comic book set to the theme song.

Final Thoughts

Ducktales – Destination: Adventure! showcases six episodes from the first season and brings two classic episodes to DVD for the first time. While full season releases would be preferred, Disney doesn’t really do that for kids shows anymore, with the exception of the upcoming SHOUT! Factory release of Gravity Falls. Perhaps someday, Disney will license this show in a similar fashion, but its likely a long way out. In the meantime, you can at least bring home some of the episodes with this release.

Alex Reif
Alex joined the Laughing Place team in 2014 and has been a lifelong Disney fan. His main beats for LP are Disney-branded movies, TV shows, books, music and toys. He recently became a member of the Television Critics Association (TCA).