Master of the Djinni
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DuckTales episode | |
|---|---|
| “Master of the Djinni” | |
 Scrooge and Glomgold discover the djinni. |
|
| Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 59 |
| Guest star(s) | Roger C. Carmel Howard Morris |
| Writer(s) | Sam Joseph Manette Beth Rosen |
| Director | Alan Zaslove |
| Production no. | 7 |
| Original airdate | November 26, 1987 |
| Episode chronology | |
| ← Previous | Next → |
| "Back to the Klondike" | "Launchpad's Civil War" |
"Master of the Djinni" is the fifty-ninth episode of the Disney animated television series DuckTales.
[edit] Synopsis
The episode starts off with Scrooge having made the front page of the newspaper, for he has found a map which will lead him to the vault of Aladdin, which supposedly houses Aladdin’s lamp. Flintheart Glomgold learns of this, and sets out to reach the vault with two of his unnamed goons before Scrooge does. When one of the goons questions how Glomgold will find the vault without a map, Glomgold points out that Scrooge’s map found its way into the newspaper photo.
Later on, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie are on camelback in an Arabian desert, following the map to the vault, which leads them to a mountain. Glomgold shows up in his plane, which lands on the other side of the mountain, unbeknown to Scrooge and the boys. While Scrooge and the boys scale one side of the mountain, Glomgold scales the other, without the help of his tired out goons. Glomgold finds the door on his side, which he has to open up with dynamite. This results in a cave-in on Scrooge’s side, causing Scrooge to fall into the vault.
Scrooge and Glomgold, who have entered the vault at the same time, spot the magic lamp atop a fairly tall podium. The two ducks race to the top of the podium and grab the lamp at the same time. After getting into a fight over the lamp, the somewhat oafish djinni that’s inside it is released. Since the djinni can’t determine who rubbed the lamp first, he proposes a race between Scrooge and Glomgold; the first one to the Duckburg Ice Cream Parlour wins. Scrooge also suggests that the djinni relax at his house during the race, so the djinni starts the race off by transporting himself and the boys to McDuck Manor. The djinni begins to take a liking to the luxuries of Scrooge’s home, but isn’t very grateful for it.
On his way down the mountain, Scrooge is captured by Glomgold’s goons, who tie him up. Scrooge tricks the goons into thinking that there is a hoard of gold in the vault, so that he can make can make his getaway while they’re gone. Using the rope he was tied up in, Scrooge has an easier time climbing down the mountain than Glomgold. Glomgold tries to crush Scrooge in an avalanche triggered by dynamite, but ends up falling down the mountain on a boulder and destroying his own plane. Glomgold continues through the desert on foot, with Scrooge following behind.
Back at the mansion, the rather rude djinni uses his magic to watch Scrooge and Glomgold on the TV. Duckworth is rather peeved at the djinni’s selfishness, and together with the nephews and Webby, they witness the djinni send Scrooge and Glomgold back in time, so that they can never finish the race, meaning that he will never have to worry about another master. Because they’re in them middle of a desert, Scrooge and Glomgold are unaware of the time warp, until they stumble upon a palace with armed guards. The guards take the two ducks to see the Sultan, who thinks that they’re spies who’ve been sent by the Emir, to rescue the maiden Schwebazade, a duck in the Sultan’s harem.
The Sultan orders for Scrooge and Glomgold to be fed to the crocodiles, where they are tied up at the top of a well with three crocodiles. The water is too low for the crocodiles to reach them, but soon the water level starts to slowly rise. Schwebazade shows up to kindly tell the guards a story, which is really a guise to put the guards (as well as Scrooge, Glomgold and the crocodiles) to sleep. Schwebazade takes one of the guard’s keys, and uses it to free Scrooge and Glomgold. Soon Scrooge, Glomgold and Schwebazade find themselves being chased around by palace guards.
Back in the present, the djinni is still watching the race on TV. The boys and Duckworth decide to trick the djinni into bringing Scrooge and Glomgold back to their time. Back in the past, Schwebazade hides Scrooge and Glomgold in the Sultan’s harem, dressing them both up as girls. Though the Sultan can see through their disguises, Schwebezade tells a story to put everyone to sleep again. At this point, Schwebazade and the two ladies leave the palace on horseback, but not without a watchman seeing through their disguises, and summoning several troops to chase after them. Glomgold goes his own way, but the guards are more concerned about Schwebazade. When Schwebazade’s horse falls into a sand pit, they are rescued by the Emir and his camel troops, who scare off the Sultan’s troops.
Back at mansion, Webby questions if djinni really did live in the small lamp. When she doubts the djinni, the djinni proves his point by going back into the lamp, only to have Huey block the spout with a cork, trapping him inside. Dewey then tells the djinni that they’ll only let him out if he agrees to bring Scrooge back to the present. Back in the past, Schwebazade heads back home with the Emir, while Scrooge and Glomgold continue their race.
At this point, however, Scrooge and Glomgold are brought back into the present, where Glomgold meets up with two explorers to help him reach an airport before Scrooge. Eventually, Scrooge makes it all the way to the ice cream parlour, only to learn that Glomgold actually beat him there, and that he is the true master of the djinni. For his first wish, Glomgold wishes for Scrooge to be marooned on a desert island. Overcome with triumph, Glomgold accidentally uses his second wish by saying ”I wish I could see the look on Scrooge’s face”, which has him transported to the island with Scrooge. Pissed off at this, Glomgold unintentionally uses his third wish to wish that neither he nor Scrooge had found the lamp in the first place.
This third wish undoes everything that had happened after Glomgold blew open the vault door with dynamite. In addition to that, the explosion causes the lamp to fall off the podium as well. Unaware that the lamp is actually in the vault, Scrooge chases Glomgold outside. When the boys climb down into the vault, the whole place starts to cave in. Though the boys manage to get outside, the lamp remains inside the vault, as if it had never been found.
[edit] Trivia
- This episode contains many references to The Book of One Thousand and One Nights.
- Schwebazade is a spoof of Scheherazade.
- The deus ex machina ending of this episode was reused for the Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers episode A Lad in a Lamp. In both episodes, the effects of a djinni's wishes are undone by somebody wishing that the lamp had never been found in the first place.
