Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck
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| DuckTales episode | ||
| "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck" | ||
 Dr. Jekyll's formula causes Scrooge to go crazy. |
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|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | |
| Episode no. | 25 | |
| Airdate | October 9, 1987 | |
| Writer(s) | Margaret Osborne Michael Keyes |
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| Director | Terence Harrison | |
| Prod. no. | 60 | |
| Guest star(s) | Jim Cummings Linda Gary Rob Paulsen (Gladstone Gander) Clive Revill |
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| Episode chronology | ||
| ← Previous | Next → | |
| "Down and Out in Duckburg" | "Time Teasers" | |
| List of DuckTales episodes | ||
"Dr. Jekyll & Mr. McDuck" is the twenty-fifth episode of the Disney animated television series DuckTales.
[edit] Synopsis
One foggy midnight in London, a man is walking down a street, unaware of another man, who is stalking him. The suspicious man trips the first one, who identifies him as Jack the Tripper. The man cries out for help as Jack attempts to steal his wallet, and Jack runs off when a policeman comes running over. Jack is then chased through the streets by two policemen, and climbs over a gate into the yard of an old estate. The policemen identify the estate as the ex-home of Dr. Jekyll; an insane man they had arrested before, who had literally thrown his money around the street. Going by a statue of Mr. Jekyll in the yard, the doctor bears an uncanny resemblance to Scrooge.
When the policemen leave, Jack takes a look at the statue, and gets an idea. He then notices a note on the front door of the house, stating that all articles in the house are to be auctioned off in Duckburg to help pay off unpaid debts. Jack then enters the house.
A few days later in Duckburg, Scrooge is at an auction with Huey, Dewey and Louie, where he acts uninterested in everything that is up for bid, and makes his nephews split one soda with four straws. Meanwhile, Gladstone Gander shows up to meet Scrooge, but he accidentally raises his hand, which wins him an old trunk for five dollars. Gladstone almost gets Scrooge to pay for the chest, but upon opening it, Gladstone discovers that it was full of money, and pays for it himself.
Scrooge then gets into a bidding war over another trunk with Jack the Tripper, although he doesn’t know who he is. Scrooge wins the chest for one-thousand dollars, and is disappointed to learn that only some old clothes (Dr. Jekyll’s) are inside. Dewey also discovers some sort of cologne in the chest, but when Scrooge sprays himself with it, he goes crazy, calling himself “Uncle Moneybags”, and starts throwing his money around.
As Scrooge runs off to his Money Bin, the nephews have Duckworth drive them there in the limo. When they get there, they find Scrooge shovelling his money out of his office window. Huey splashes Scrooge’s face with Louie’s soda, bringing their uncle to his senses. Outside the Money Bin, Jack places down some banana peels, which Scrooge soon trips on. As he trips, the bottle goes flying into Jack’s hands, and the crook runs off. Scrooge doesn’t care, as he just wants to go home.
In bed that night, Scrooge has a nightmare about his money, while the nephews try and figure out what Jack could’ve wanted the cologne for. Huey then finds Dr. Jekyll’s address stamped onto the trunk, while Scrooge grabs an armful of dollar bills, causing him to go crazy again. Scrooge runs outside, throwing more money around, but Dewey stops him by spraying him with the sprinkler system. Scrooge insists that he needs a cure, and Huey and Louie tell him about the address on the trunk, saying that it was in London, so it’s off to London they’ll go.
The next night in London, Jack sprays a rich couple with the cologne, causing them to go crazy. Meanwhile, Scrooge and the nephews enter Dr. Jekyll’s old estate, where Scrooge tells the tale of Dr. Jekyll to his nephews. Huey claims that he’ll be ready for Scrooge with a seltzer bottle, as they enter the house to look for the antidote. Scrooge opens a closet, and a pile of money falls on top of him, making him crazy again. Jack shows up, claiming that they money is his, and Huey sprays him, pushing him back and knocking him out a window. Scrooge then grabs some money and runs out into the street, where the nephews lose him.
Knowing that they need some help, the nephews conclude that they can get help from the world’s greatest detective: Shedlock Jones, an honorary Junior Woodchuck who lives in London. The nephews travel to Shedlock’s office that morning, where Shedlock deduces Scrooge’s adventure, by quoting what he read in the newspaper. Shedlock explains that he’s too busy tracking a greater thief by the name of Moody Doody, and that he can’t go after Jack the Tripper. Assuming that Shedlock will be of no help, the nephews leave.
As the nephews walk down the street, they overhear one of the policemen from earlier claiming that a rich guy is throwing money around Tralla La Square. When they get there, they find Scrooge and the rich man from the previous night trying to give each other their own money, when they fall into a fountain. Due to Scrooge’s behavior, the police tell the nephews that they need to keep Scrooge locked up until they can cure him.
Dewey insists that they search Dr. Jekyll’s mansion again, but they find that the only thing that wasn’t auctioned off was an old painting of the doctor himself next to the fireplace. Before they can check upstairs, Shedlock walks down from the second floor, explaining that he had already searched, and was only able to find the stolen cologne, or rather, formula. Jack, who was hiding outside, notes that he needs to get the formula back.
Shedlock tells the nephews that there is a clue hidden in the painting, and Dewey finds it: There is a door in the painting, while no such door appears in real life. Shedlock concludes that the door is hidden in the wall, and they push open a panel, leading to Dr. Jekyll’s lab. In the lab, Shedlock finds Dr. Jekyll’s journal, while Huey finds the antidote. According to the journal, Dr. Jekyll created the formula to make himself more likeable, but he made it too powerful. Shedlock also reads that the antidote won’t work more than forty-eight hours after the formula is used.
Dewey worries, because Scrooge was sprayed over fifty hours ago, but Shedlock reminds him of the six hour time difference between London and Duckburg. On their way out of the house, Shedlock trips on a kipper, and the antidote goes flying into Jack’s hands. Shedlock and the nephews follow Jack to Duckingham Palace, where Shedlock deduces that Jack plans on stealing the Crown Jewels.
Having just showered, the Queen enters the hallway, where Jack sprays her with the antidote, not knowing that he was using the wrong bottle. Shedlock catches Jack, and rips off his disguise, revealing Moody Doody. Shedlock explains that Moody created his alias to trick Shedlock into thinking that there were two criminals running around, and that he would only be able to pursue Moody, but not Jack. Jack runs off with the Queen’s crown, but Huey trips him by sliding the Queen’s soap across the floor and under his feet.
Later on, the police thank Shedlock for all his detective work. When the nephews go to Scrooge’s cell to cure their uncle, they find him obsessing over mail-order catalogues. Although Scrooge is willing to buy the nephews anything they want as long as he’s crazy, Huey chooses to spray him, restoring him to normal for good. Once released, Scrooge tells Shedlock that he owes him his thanks, and mentions to just keep it at that.
[edit] Trivia
- Gladstone's cameo in this episode is one of his only roles in the entire series. His main episode is Dime Enough for Luck.
- This episode is a spoof of the story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
- Jack the Ripper is a light-hearted spoof of Jack the Ripper.
- Shedlock Jones is an obvious spoof of Sherlock Holmes.
- Duckingham Palace is an obvious spoof of Buckingham Palace.
- Tralla La Square may be a reference to the Carl Barks story Tralla La. That same story was later retold as the second season episode The Land of Tra-La-La.
- The pig couple that Jack sprays also appears in the elevator in the episode The Money Vanishes.
- One of the men that bring Gladstone his trunk also appears as a locksmith in Scrooge's Pet, and as a mover in Time Teasers.
