The Right Duck
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| DuckTales episode | ||
| "The Right Duck" | ||
 Emeperor Ping and his men seize Launchpad and Doofus. |
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|---|---|---|
| Season | 1 | |
| Episode no. | 46 | |
| Airdate | November 9, 1987 | |
| Writer(s) | Ken Koonce David Wiemers |
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| Director | Terence Harrison | |
| Prod. no. | 46 | |
| Guest star(s) | Jerry Dexter Howard Morris Ronnie Schell |
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| Episode chronology | ||
| ← Previous | Next → | |
| "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" | "Back Out in the Outback" | |
| List of DuckTales episodes | ||
"The Right Duck" is the forty-sixth episode of the Disney animated television series DuckTales.
[edit] Synopsis
While delivering a statue to Scrooge’s swimming pool, Launchpad’s helicopter runs out of gas and crashes into the water. As a result, Scrooge gets fed up with Launchpad’s tomfoolery and fires him. While explaining the incident to Doofus, Launchpad mentions that Scrooge called him a "space case". Doofus takes the term literally, and thinks that Scrooge meant that Launchpad should become an astronaut. Launchpad likes the idea, as it would allow him to prove to Scrooge that he is a good pilot.
Launchpad and Doofus go to the Duckburg Aeronautics and Space Administration (DASA), where Launchpad is introduced to the German-accented Dr. Von Geezer. At first, the doctor mistakes Launchpad’s application for a doodle of Doofus’ and Launchpad has to set things straight. It actually turns out that Dr. Von Geezer has been looking for someone like Launchpad, and allows him to start his training.
Before starting, Launchpad is introduced to a chimp named Ronny, who will be his training competitor. After Ronny causes Launchpad to slip on a banana peel, one of the other doctors mentions behind Launchpad’s back that they’re really looking for the dumbest pilot they can find. Dr. Von Geezer points out that if Launchpad does poorly enough, he’ll be the one who winds up in space, which gives Ronny an idea; he'll sabotage Launchpad’s simulation tests. Right before the third test (a G4 simulator), Launchpad sabotages the vehicle for Ronny, only to learn that he’s the one who’ll be going first. Despite his protesting, the doctors force Launchpad to go first, and as expected, he crashes.
Later on, Doofus meets up with a depressed Launchpad at his house. Launchpad fears that he won’t get picked to go into space, just as the phone rings. Doofus answers, and is told by Dr. Von Geezer that Launchpad has been chosen. After returning to DASA, Doofus overhears the doctors calling Launchpad "stupid" while he’s not around, so Dr. Von Geezer explains to Doofus that he needed test his new Idiot-proof Guidance System with a “proven idiot”.
Doofus runs out to find Launchpad, who’s on his way to board his ship. Launchpad gets the launch pad numbers mixed up, and accidentally boards the wrong rocket. Doofus tries to stop Launchpad from going into space, but he’s too late, and Launchpad accidentally activates the voyager probe he’s entering. Soon enough, Launchpad and Doofus are inside the rocket, and are blasting off into space. However, the probe is on a different course, and a recording that Launchpad discovers announces that the probe is headed towards Mars.
On Mars, the green-skinned Martians present to their Emperor Ping the Pitiless an offering of jewels. But when Ping notices a crack on one of the jewels, he has the bearer executed, only to realize after that the crack was really just a hair. Just then, the probe lands itself in Ping’s throne room, and uses robotic arms to collect any artifacts that it finds. Launchpad and Doofus get knocked out of the probe, and Ping’s guards seize them. Ping assumes that the two ducks are thieves, and feels that he should invade Earth and rob them as payback. When Launchpad mentions that Earth is poor, Ping sentences him and Doofus to the dungeon, and orders to have Earth destroyed.
Back at DASA, the doctors learn that although the probe made it to Mars, Launchpad and Doofus are missing. Dr. Von Geezer decides that Ronny, being the only other trained astronaut, will have to rescue them, much to Ronny’s dislike.
While Launchpad and Doofus are in the Martian dungeon, they learn that one of their cellmates, an old lady, was imprisoned for jaywalking. When Launchpad remarks that Ping would probably imprison his own mother, she tells them that she is his mother. At that moment, two of the guards throw the probe, which stole their very own clothes, into another cell. Doofus tells Launchpad to use his head to try and find a way out of the cell, so he bangs his head on the energy bars, nearly giving himself a concussion. The probe then retrieves the key that was in the clothes, and tosses it into the other cell, but a dazed Launchpad can’t figure out how to use them. Doofus unlocks the cell, and the group is soon pursued by the guards. Launchpad deals with them by freeing the probe from the other cell, which scares them off.
Launchpad and Doofus run out of the dungeon and enter a shelter near what looks like a rocket. Little do they know that it’s actually the missile the Martians intend to destroy Earth with. Just before the missile takes off, Doofus suggests that they take the “rocket” back to Earth, so they can warn everyone about Ping’s attack. The guards are unable to stop the missile from blasting off, so they warn Ping. Ping doesn’t care, since Launchpad and Doofus will be destroyed, but he has one of his guards executed anyway.
DASA detects the missile heading towards Earth, which they assume is an unidentified flying object, and set out to warn everyone. On their way back to Earth, Doofus discovers that they’re really in the missile, and sees Ronny flying away from Earth in a rescue rocket. Meanwhile, Scrooge convinces his nephews to prepare for the supposed invasion by hiding all of their valuables around the house. Launchpad feels really down at this point, but Doofus gives him some encouragement, telling him to do what he can to stop the missile.
The probe enters Ping’s throne room and abducts the emperor, while Doofus cries over the fact that Launchpad can’t do anything right. Launchpad can’t stand to see Doofus cry, so he screws with the controls and finds the steering mechanism. Doofus then consults the Junior Woodchucks Guidebook and reads that a Martian bomb can be stopped by dousing it with water. Launchpad crashes the missile into Scrooge’s pool, and on his way out, drops the door on Scrooge’s statue.
Later on, Launchpad is awarded with the Von Geezer award for saving Earth from the Martians, but he doesn’t accept the award without thanking Doofus for sticking with him. Scrooge apologizes to Launchpad as well, and tells him to stay away from his pool. Dr. Von Geezer then asks himself about whatever happened to Ronny. It is then revealed that because Ping is gone, Ronny wound up on Mars, and was somehow crowned as the new Martian ruler. As for Ping, he’s stuck inside the probe, which is on its way to Pluto.
[edit] Trivia
- This episode's title is an allusion to the book and movie The Right Stuff.
- DASA is a spoof of NASA.
- When he finds out that the probe is heading towards Pluto, Ping mentions that he hates dogs, a reference to the Disney dog of the same name.
- Ping is a parody of Ming the Merciless.
- Many aspects of this episode are illogical and unexplained, such as how a conventional rocket can travel from Earth to Mars in mere minutes, and why people can breathe on the surface of Mars where there's no oxygen.
