Sweet Duck of Youth
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DuckTales episode | ||
| "Sweet Duck of Youth" | ||
 The group discovers the underground spring. |
||
|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | |
| Episode no. | 19 | |
| Airdate | October 1, 1987 | |
| Writer(s) | Ken Koonce David Wiemers |
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| Director | Steve Clark | |
| Prod. no. | 23 | |
| Guest star(s) | ||
| Episode chronology | ||
| ← Previous | Next → | |
| "The Status Seeker" | "Magica's Shadow War" | |
| List of DuckTales episodes | ||
"Sweet Duck of Youth" is the nineteenth episode of the Disney animated television series DuckTales.
[edit] Synopsis
Scrooge and Launchpad return to McDuck Manor one night after a failed attempt to find a lost mine. Scrooge then remarks that he wouldn’t have been so hesitant to return home so soon if he were younger.
Before entering the mansion, Scrooge realizes that all the lights are off. After spotting a flashlight through one of the windows, Scrooge and Launchpad presume that burglars are inside, so they go to check it out. Scrooge eventually hears voices coming from the living room, so he enters, only to trip on Webby’s skateboard, and crash into a punch bowl. It turns out that today is Scrooge’s birthday, so his family and friends have thrown him a surprise party. When Scrooge is unable to blow out the candles on his cake, Launchpad has to do it for him. Scrooge then opens one of his presents, and is disappointed to learn that it’s a rocking chair.
When Mrs. Beakley mentions the Fountain of Youth to Scrooge, the old duck sprints to his library. There, he pulls out a book with information on the fountain, and about the explorer Ponce de Loon, who supposedly discovered it in Okeefadokie Swamp without returning. Nevertheless, Scrooge, Huey, Dewey and Louie get ready to leave for the swamp.
The next day, Launchpad takes Scrooge and the boys to Okeefadokie Swamp in Florida by helicopter. Launchpad doesn’t crash the helicopter, though he does manage to land it in quicksand. Although the boys manage to get out of the quicksand, Scrooge begins to sink. When Launchpad pulls him out with the helicopter, Ponce de Loon fires a crossbow at the helicopter from a distance, and he hits the rear rotor. Launchpad is unable to control the helicopter and crashes, but not before Scrooge jumps clear. Though the boys are able to find Launchpad, Scrooge is lost.
Launchpad and the boys try to find Scrooge, while Scrooge tries to find them, but to no avail. Using the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook, the boys manage to rebuild the crashed helicopter into a motor boat. Unable to find Scrooge by dusk, the boys run off to set up camp while Launchpad continues the search. Scrooge, who is still alone, sets up shelter just as rain begins to fall. However, Ponce de Loon shows up and destroys Scrooge’s shelter, demanding that he leave immediately. Scrooge flees and discovers a cabin, only to get caught in a net, with Ponce de Loon right behind him.
While still out looking for Scrooge, Ponce de Loon shoots Launchpad’s makeshift boat, causing it to sink. Ponce de Loon then catches Launchpad in a net. While the boys worry about Scrooge in their tent, Ponce de Loon shows up and scares them off while destroying the tent. Dewey suggests that they follow Ponce de Loon in order to learn what’s going on.
Scrooge and Launchpad, who are still stuck in their nets, are being held inside the cabin. Launchpad is convinced that Ponce de Loon is a ghost, but Scrooge seriously doubts him. Ponce de Loon unknowingly leads the boys to the cabin, where he reveals his real self; an old explorer, to Scrooge and Launchpad. The explorer takes off his armor and gets ready for bed. The boys get inside the cabin by jimmying the lock, but Louie accidentally makes too much noise, waking up the explorer. The boys scramble into the explorer’s armor, and pretend to be Ponce de Loon’s real ghost to scare him. When the boys trip on a log, they crash into the explorer and knock him out, giving them a chance to free Scrooge and Launchpad.
In the morning, the explorer explains that he’s been looking for the Fountain of Youth for thirty years with no success, and how at first he just wanted to bottle the water for profit instead of using it for self-rejuvenation. Dewey then discovers some sort of riddle written inside of Ponce de Loon’s armor, which reads:
"The path to your youth and your map back in time lies hidden around where I thought up this rhyme."
Even though the explorer had known about it too, he had been unable to decode it. Dewey eventually deduces that the answer may lie inside the helmet, because Ponce de Loon would’ve thought up the riddle in his head. When Huey inspects the helmet, he discovers the map to the fountain, which was hidden inside a secret compartment within it all along. Though the explorer is desperate for the map, Scrooge agrees to share the profit with him 50/50.
The map does indeed lead the group to the Fountain of Youth, but they discover that the fountain itself is all dried up. Scrooge throws a hissy fit, and accidentally triggers a trap door, causing the group to fall down into an underground spring. After climbing out of the water, everyone is convinced that they really are younger, as they see younger versions of themselves reflected in the water. However, they soon realize that the water doesn’t actually rejuvenate people, as it only reflects a younger version of whoever looks into it. Although the explorer is disappointed, Scrooge realizes that age is just a state of mind, and convinces the explorer to make the rest of his life.
Scrooge, Launchpad, the boys and the explorer soon return to Duckburg. Though they are ready to part ways, the explorer wants to make up for the thirty years of his life that he wasted searching for the fountain, and is ready to go out and see the world. When Duckworth, Mrs. Beakley and Webby arrive, Scrooge explains that although he didn’t truly find what he was originally looking for, he did find his true self. When Mrs. Beakley remarks that Scrooge seems twenty years younger, Scrooge tells her that you’re only as old as you feel. Launchpad, who is all tired out, claims that he must be seven-hundred years old.
[edit] Trivia
- This episode's title is an allusion to the play and movie Sweet Bird of Youth.
- We never do learn the old explorer's actual name.
- Ponce de Loon is a spoof of Ponce de León.
- Okeefadokie Swamp is a spoof of Okefenokee Swamp.
- Gladstone Gander, Vacation Van Honk and Quacky McSlant all have cameos as guests at Scrooge's birthday party. (In production order, this marks Gladstone's animated debut.)
- In this episode, Launchpad exclaims that he can't swim. Yet in other episodes, such as Aqua Ducks and A DuckTales Valentine, he has no problem with swimming. However, in Merit-Time Adventure, he cannot swim either and asks Webby to teach him at the end of the episode.
- As Scrooge reads from the book, look at the left hand page opposite the picture of Ponce de Loon, and you’ll see that some of this episode’s dialogue has been written down.
- Additionally, when Scrooge turns the page to a picture of the fountain, keep paying attention to the left hand page. You’ll see some funny Easter eggs written down, such as “animation product”, “Disney’s DuckTales" and “can’t speak English”.
- After the boys run out of the library, look closely at one of the book spines that Louie was standing in front of. It reads "NEVER GIVE UP!".
- The happy birthday song sounds like the "Very Merry Unbirthday" song from Disney's Alice in Wonderland. The same song is also sung in the episode Time Teasers.
- Goof: When Scrooge is reading from his book, the name of the actual explorer that this episode is spoofing; Ponce de León, appears in the bottom right hand corner under the picture of Ponce de Loon.
