Mighty Ducks (TV series)

Mighty Ducks
Genre	Action/Adventure Science fiction
Created by	Marty Isenberg Robert N. Skir David Wise
Based on	The Mighty Ducks by Stephen Herek
Developed by	Marty Isenberg Robert N. Skir David Wise Gordon Kent
Voices of	Ian Ziering Steve Mackall Jeff Bennett Jennifer Hale April Winchell Brad Garrett James Belushi Dennis Franz Tim Curry Clancy Brown Frank Welker Tony Jay Townsend Coleman Jim Cummings Charlie Adler
Theme music composer	Carl Swander Johnson
Opening theme	"Ducks Rock" performed by Mickey Thomas
Ending theme	Various
Composer(s)	Alex Goodman Bruce Broughton Thom Harp Steve Nelson
Country of origin	United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	26
Production
Editor(s)	Jamie Thomason
Cinematography	Lesley Hutchison
Running time	22 minutes
Production company(s)	Anaheim Ducks Walt Disney Television Animation
Distributor	Buena Vista Television
Release
Original network	ABC Syndication
Original release	September 6, 1996 (1996-09-06) – January 17, 1997 (1997-01-17)

Disney's Mighty Ducks (also known as Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series) is an American animated television series that aired on ABC and the syndicated programming block The Disney Afternoon in the fall of 1996.^[1] The show was inspired by and loosely based on the live-action Mighty Ducks films and the NHL team, the Anaheim Ducks.^[2] Twenty-six episodes were produced in total. The series most recently aired on Toon Disney but was removed from schedules in November 2004, and has not appeared on the channel's line-up since then.

The series' main theme, composed by Carl Swander Johnson, is performed by Mickey Thomas of Jefferson Starship fame.

DisneyQuest, an "Indoor Interactive Theme Park" located in the Downtown Disney area of the Walt Disney World Resort, has an attraction loosely based on the program called Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam. Wildwing is the only character from the show featured, first as a life-size cutout at the front of the queue line and then again as the goalie in the game.

Story

In another galaxy exists a planet populated entirely by humanoid ducks. Dubbed "Puckworld" by its inhabitants, it is an icy planet, perfectly suited to the Ducks' favorite pastime, hockey. For the citizens of Puckworld, hockey was not simply a sport, but a way of life, occupying virtually every aspect of day-to-day existence.

Legend has it that centuries ago, during an invasion by a reptilian race called Saurians, a duck named Drake DuCaine became the planet's savior over the Saurians' Overlords. The legend tells that DuCaine did so with a high-tech goalie mask. With it, DuCaine sent the Saurians to a mysterious "Dimensional Limbo".

The last of the Saurians escape Dimensional Limbo and returns to Puckworld with an armada of robotic attack ships. The group of four is led by the last of the Saurian Overlords, Lord Dragaunus, who is assisted by his minions Siege, Chameleon and Wraith. They invade the planet and enslave the people of Puckworld. After some time, a resistance is formed by Canard, who has found The Mask of Drake DuCaine. With it, the wearer of the Mask could see through the Saurians' invisibility cloaks. Canard forms a band of Ducks to fight Dragaunus. The members of his team consists of Wildwing, Nosedive, Tanya, Duke, Mallory and Grin. They go on a mission to destroy Dragaunus's fortress the Master Tower and free the planet from the Saurians' control. While the mission is successful, Dragaunus and his forces manage to escape in their ship, the Raptor. The Saurians open up a dimensional gateway to escape through, but Canard and the others follow him into the portal with the Aerowing, intent on stopping them.

Dragaunus attempts to get rid of the Ducks inside the portal by attacking them with an electromagnetic worm that will grow until it can swallow the Aerowing. In a desperate attempt to get rid of the worm, Canard sacrifices his own life by throwing himself to the worm. Before doing so, however, Canard gave the Mask, and leadership of the team, to Wildwing Flashblade, his best friend. Both the Raptor and the Aerowing leave the portal and enter a different dimension, landing in the Earth city of Anaheim, California. The Ducks meet Phil Palmfeather, a human who becomes their manager and makes them a legitimate NHL team. Their arena, only known as The Pond in the show, has a hockey rink that doubles as a landing pad for the Aerowing above and has a formal HQ below. On Earth, the Ducks and Dragaunus continue their fight, although there are other villains that also challenge the six Ducks.

Characters

Main characters

The Mighty Ducks in action, from left: Nosedive, Tanya, Grin, Wildwing (center), Mallory, Duke.

• Wildwing Flashblade (voiced by Ian Ziering) – Saved by Canard back on Puckworld, he is the leader of the Ducks on and off the ice. At first reluctant to take charge after Canard fell, he eventually comes to accept the role of leadership. As a hockey player, he's the goalie, wearing the jersey number 00 and being known for his ability to take any kind of beating and still remain standing. Brave like Canard before him, Wildwing is also intelligent and just. He usually plays the straight man to the other ducks and protector to his younger brother, Nosedive. Along with the mask of Drake DuCaine, Wildwing uses body armor and a Puck Launcher on his left gauntlet. In real life, Wildwing is the mascot for the Anaheim Ducks, known as the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim until the 2006–07 NHL season.
• Nosedive Flashblade (voiced by Steve Mackall) – Wildwing's younger brother, who initially was not intended to be part of Canard's resistance. However, Wildwing makes Canard take Nosedive with them ("If you want me, then my brother's part of the deal."). Once they reach Earth, Nosedive becomes an official member of the team, both on the hockey team and the crime fighting team. He is by far the team's most impulsive and immature member, similar to Michelangelo of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. His character may have been influenced by Michelangelo; the two series were initially penned by the same writer. Nosedive is more childish and easy-going than the other Ducks, and often looks toward his older brother for support and protection. Nosedive can be very likable, making friends with teammate Grin, and humans Thrash and Mookie. He wears body armor, but not as much as Wildwing. He usually uses a Puck Blaster and rides a Duckcycle. On-ice, Nosedive is the left winger, and his jersey number is 33.
• Duke L'Orange (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – A notorious jewel thief on Puckworld, Duke changed his ways to battle Lord Dragaunus. Duke has used a Puck Blaster in some episodes, but he mainly uses a golden sword called a Ducksaber (or sometimes just a 'saber'). He also carries lock picks and a grappling hook attached to his wrist. Duke has a Brooklyn accent and is pretty level-headed, albeit egotistical at times. He also has an eyepatch and a chipped beak, possibly as a result of his past as a thief (In the episode "Dungeons and Ducks", he tells Borg, "Hey, take it easy, you can put someone's eye out with one of that thing [a sword]. I should know.", which might be a clue to how he lost his eye). He was the leader of a gang called The Brotherhood of the Blade. He remains the most experienced of all the Ducks and possesses a good balance of skill and confidence. Unfortunately, there are some minor trust issues with Mallory due to Duke being an ex-thief, though this fact doesn't seem to faze their leader Wildwing. His name is a pun on the dish duck à l'orange. He is the team's center, and his jersey number is 13. His character design is based on Kurama Wataribe from the Japanese animated series Mashin Hero Wataru.
• Mallory McMallard (voiced by Jennifer Hale) – Mallory is a fiery redhead who is well-learned in Puckworld's version of the martial arts, although most of the time she is content with just using a Puck Blaster. She has a sharp tongue and usually directs it towards Nosedive's immature acts, or anything that she feels is "out of line." Her trust is easily broken, particularly in Duke's case, and as she sees it, for some very good reasons. With her strong military background as a member of the "Puckworld Special Forces," she often thinks in black and white. She's a strict disciplinarian, and has a high regard for the chain of command. She's also stubborn, which can be a fault as much as a strength. Mallory is the team's right winger, and her jersey number is 15.
• Tanya Vanderflock (voiced by April Winchell) – The Ducks' resident genius who is often the one turned to for advice, even by Wildwing. She is good with mechanics and uses the Omnitool on her wrist with many of her projects. Despite her intellect, she has bad allergies (including an ironic allergy to feathers, with the result that she constantly sounds like she has a cold), lacks confidence, has a gentler personality, and is not as good a fighter as the other ducks. She makes up for this with her good common sense and wry humor. According to herself, her middle name is Gertrude. On-ice, Tanya is the left defenseman, and her jersey number is 23.
• Check "Grin" Hardwing (voiced by Brad Garrett) – A super strong Goliath with a Zen-like philosophy. Unlike the stereotype of strong people, Grin is wise and doesn't let his anger cloud his judgment. He rarely uses weapons in battle, relying on his wisdom and strength instead. He has a strong sense of honor and can always be counted on for support. He is a good friend of Nosedive. During Grin's younger years, he had a horrible temper. He found enlightenment with the training from the grand hockey master, Tai Quack Do. Grin is the right defenseman of the team, and his jersey number is 1, the same number on Tai Quack Do wears on his robe.
• Canard Thunderbeak (voiced by Townsend Coleman) – Canard Thunderbeak was Wildwing's best friend, and the only remaining survivor of the Resistance from Puckworld. He was the original leader and team captain of the Mighty Ducks before being pulled into Dimensional Limbo. While following Dragaunus through a dimensional gateway, Canard sacrificed himself when the Saurians released an electromagnetic worm on the Aerowing. Before he did, he gave the mask of Drake DuCaine to Wildwing and told him to be the team captain. As far as the Mighty Ducks know, Canard is still trapped in dimensional limbo. He was a great leader and a great friend. Wildwing believes Canard is still alive and swears he will find him. In the episode "Take Me to Your Leader", he appears to have escaped and made a distress call to the Ducks, but it is revealed to be Chameleon setting a trap for them once again leaving Wildwing feeling guilty for not being able to save his friend.

Human allies

• Phil Palmfeather (voiced by James Belushi) – The Ducks' manager when they are being an ice hockey team. He'd rather have the team do sometimes rather dangerous or stupid promotional gimmicks and autograph signings with fans than having them save the world, although he does acknowledge that they do good. He also has bad taste in fashion.
• Captain Klegghorn (voiced by Dennis Franz) – A police officer for the city of Anaheim who initially doesn't trust the Ducks, particularly due to the lack of evidence that Dragaunus even existed in the first place. While he still doesn't like them, eventually they come to terms when he helped Wildwing retake the Pond when the Saurians took their headquarters.
• Thrash & Mookie (voiced by Jeff Bennett & April Winchell) – Nosedive's seemingly only human friends who dress like punk rockers. They run the comics store called "Captain Comics," of which Nosedive is a frequent customer. They were the first people that they met on Earth. Thrash is male, Mookie is female.
• Bernie "Buzz" Blitzman (voiced by Jeff Bennett) – Buzz is an orphaned genius young boy in his early teens. He is a big fan of the Ducks, and is particularly fond of Mallory. He proves to be a big help to the Ducks.
• Dr. Huggerman (voiced by Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.) – A scientist and friend of Tanya's. He turned his back on humanity when they abused his inventions. However, he does help the Ducks stop the energy creatures.

Other allies

• Borg (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – Prince regent of the dimensional Anaheim. The Ducks helped him take back his throne and fought against Asteroth. He soon returns to warn the Ducks of Asteroth's search for his amulet, and he helps Nosedive and Duke find the Star Sword, a weapon capable of destroying Asteroth's amulet.
• B.R.A.W.N. (voiced by Frank Welker) – A large gold robot who is a bounty hunter, sent to capture Dragaunus but was reprogramed to eliminate the Ducks. Tanya was able to re-reprogram him into joining their cause and stopping Dragaunus' assault platform. He from there on in had a game show host-like voice and personality. Almost his entire body was destroyed, but his head still remained. He briefly appears in "The Return of Asteroth".

The Saurians

• Lord Dragaunus (voiced by Tim Curry) – The leader of the Saurians, Dragaunus is evil, big, strong and can breathe fire. He's not above working with humans or even other aliens he hates in his quest for world domination. When a geeky guy who's a comic book fan dreams of being a real-life superhero, he gives him superpowers and employs him to steal and kill others for Dragaunus. He doesn't take kindly to the failures of his cronies, Siege, Chameleon and Wraith. Dragaunus has lost faith in the Saurian dark magic which Wraith uses and only when somewhat desperate, will he allow Wraith to employ them in a major part of his latest plan. Otherwise, the main tools he equips himself and his henchmen with are teleporters, rays, blasters, rockets, and cloaking devices. Most of Dragaunus's schemes involve trying to create an alternative fuel source for his flagship, The Raptor.
• Siege (voiced by Clancy Brown) – Siege is a soldier who is aggressive and has a strong hatred for the Ducks (particularly Grin, due to the large duck being able to go toe-to-toe with him on a daily basis and generally win or draw in the fight). He can also be viewed as Dragaunus' second in command, though the window is pretty wide. His cruel nature is mechanically and technologically minded, and he believes that brute force is the only means of victory. He often builds weapons and vehicles and directly uses them against the Ducks. He scoffs the dark magic of the ancient Saurians, and Dragaunus seems a little more tolerant and open to his ideas as a result. However, when he fails, he gets little better treatment than the others.
• Chameleon (voiced by Frank Welker) – A shapeshifter that is able to increase or decrease his strength, size and dexterity depending on his transformations. Much of the time, an imperfect transformation can give him away. Also, he ends up wasting his powers a lot by doing corny impressions of human celebrities (mostly famous early 20th century comedians). At times, he is capable of transforming into a large reptilian form rivaling Siege or Grin in strength. Dragaunus has little patience for his antics and stupidity. The most effective uses of his powers has been in his impersonations of the Ducks and other humans, which comes in handy the most for such tasks as infiltration, sabotage, and espionage.
• Wraith (voiced by Tony Jay) – A Saurian warlock with a dry sense of humor. He is smarter than Siege or Chameleon, but disdained by Dragaunus because of his firm belief that the dark magic of their ancestors is the only means for victory. He shuns weapons in battle, preferring to use his ability to throw fireballs. He is very glum and is often predicting the inevitable failure of their mission. Of course, he is usually proven right.
• Hunter Drones – Robotic foot soldiers of Dragaunus. They have blasters on their hands. They are often easily destroyed by the Ducks. Dragaunus himself destroys whenever he's extremely angry and having a tantrum. In "The Iced Ducks Cometh", they face off against a much larger Drone, nicknamed Tiny by Siege. Nosedive destroys Tiny by crushing him with a zamboni.

Other villains

• Dr. Droid (voiced by Charles Adler) – Formerly a human named Otto Maton, Dr. Droid is now mostly android (essentially a cyborg), and wants to turn the rest of the world into robots. The Ducks tangle with him twice.
• Asteroth (voiced by W. Morgan Sheppard) – An evil wizard from another dimension, which is actually a supernatural version of Anaheim, California. His title is "Lord of the Red Dragon", since he can morph into a large red dragon when enough power is in his possession. The Ducks fight him twice: first in the alternate Anaheim, and then in the "real" Anaheim.
• Falcone (voiced by Reed Diamond) – Falcone is a Raptrin member of The Brotherhood of The Blade. Duke pretended to join up with Falcone to learn what he was up to, and found out that Falcone was working for the Saurians, trying to help them steal the world's largest jewels for a new weapon. Duke tried to stop him, but failed as Falcone got him arrested. Falcone got the gem, but not long after that, his ship blew up and sent him down into a moat. There, the guards of Big Ben found him. Falcone is currently sitting in London's jail cell for stealing a jewel from them.
• Lucretia DeCoy (voiced by Kath Soucie) – Lucretia DeCoy is a traitor to the race of the Ducks and a spy for the Saurians. Tanya was the only one who knew who she was, but Lucretia prevented her from revealing that she was a spy by tying her to the top rafters of The Pond. She tells the others that her name is "Vonda McDrake". Due to a misunderstanding, the Saurians believed that she switched the item she was sent to steal from a tomb with the help from the Ducks; in reality, it had really been switched by Wildwing. The end result was her being sent to dimensional limbo as punishment for her perceived treachery and the weapon Dragaunus tried to use the chip for blowing up in his face.
• Dr. Swindle (voiced by Rob Paulsen) – A corrupt scientist the Saurians hired in "Beaks vs. B.R.A.W.N." to create a flotation device. When the Saurians refused to pay him for his work, he attempted to sell the machine to the highest bidder instead. The highest bidder turned out to be Chameleon, who took the device and left Swindle with a suitcase full of newspapers. A running gag has the Doctor insisting that his name is pronounced "Swindel".
• Daddy-O Cool (voiced by Jim Cummings) – A deformed beat poet who is into monster trucks. In "Monster Rally", he challenged the ducks to a monster truck battle, and had planned to put toxic waste into the world's water supply to make the world a "cooler" place. It's stated that he was once human, until he fell into some toxic waste. When his plan is thwarted, the toxic waste changes him into a 1950s insurance salesman.
• Dr. Wally Pretorius (voiced by Matt Frewer) – A mad scientist who likes to splice different types of DNA on test subjects. His main purpose was to try his experiment out on the Ducks by trapping them in a small town called Sunnyville, where he disguised himself as the town mechanic. He then kidnapped the town residents and made humanoid replicas of them, after he made a satellite that jammed their frequencies forcing their vehicle to break down and prevented them from using their comlinks. He was about to extract their DNA until Nosedive saved them. He is also considered Draganus' number 1 fan.
• Phineas P. Viper (voiced by Xander Berkeley) – An industrialist who helped Dragaunus with his plan to create a Super Raptor. In the future, he ruled Earth with an iron fist while the Saurians were off conquering the galaxy, and he genetically merged himself with his pet snakes in that time. He was mentioned again in "Bringing Down Baby" when Wildwing, Duke and Tanya found out that he was still helping Dragaunus with his plans.
• Baron Von Licktenstamp (voiced by David Hyde-Pierce) – A German hunter who owned an island. He captures Wildwing, Tanya and Duke and hunts them. He had robotic animals to help with his hunt. He collaborated with Dragaunus, giving him the Salerinite substance in exchange for the hunt. He was captured by the three ducks and had his head stuck on a wall.
• Stanley Strazinski (voiced by Jim Cummings) – A former hockey player with a violent attitude. Dragaunus came to him for help and used a DNA accelerator to transform him into a monstrous version of himself to fight the ducks. Stanley changed his ways when Grin's words reached him. He was turned back to normal and becomes a referee.
• Mondo-Man (voiced by Eddie Deezen) – Alvin Yasbeck, a regular customer of Captain Comics, did not like the Ducks' style of crimefighting, so he acted like he was his own superhero. However, he was extremely clumsy at what he did, and his appearance gave the Saurians the chance to escape once more. Tricking him into believing they were good and the Ducks were evil, Dragaunus gave him super powers and got him to do his dirty work. Incapacitating three of the Ducks with "Ducktonite", a radioactive egg of his own creation which had the ability to weaken them, he then stole some Balerium Crystals from the incoming Sarks for the Saurians. After Dragaunus was finished with him, he took away his powers during a fight, and he was later arrested by Captain Klegghorn.
• Emperor Xyloid & Commander Zenon (both voiced by Jim Cummings) – Xyloid and Zenon are Abominable Snowman-like aliens that came to Earth to freeze the entire planet to live on with the aid of their weather machine, which was interfering with Dragaunus' plan to use solar power to recharge the Raptor. During conversation, Xyloid always tells everyone to take a memo/note, tells them what he has to say, and he ends his sentences with "Sincerely, Yours truly, so on and so forth, etc., etc., etc."

Weapons, items & vehicles

• Drake One – The Ducks' supercomputer built by Tanya under the Pond.
• The Migrator – The Ducks' battle van. On one occasion, Tanya created the "Mega-Migrator" after the original was damaged battling one of Daddy-O Cool's monster trucks. However, the new van's weapon systems failed to work properly, either backfiring or not aiming in the right direction, and it was eventually destroyed.
• The Aerowing – The Ducks' air/spaceship. It was the only vehicle that they brought with them from Puckworld. For launch, the roof of the Pond retracts, while the center of the ice surface splits in half, revealing the Duck's HQ; a portion of the HQ floor then rotates around to reveal the Aerowing docked underneath; it then raises as a ramp, and the Aerowing takes off.
• Duckcycles – The Ducks' motorcycles.
• The Duckfoil – The Ducks' motorboat.
• Mask of DuCaine – A biomechanical, cybernetic interfacing mask, created by Drake DuCaine to fend off the Saurians' initial Puckworld invasion. Equipped with computer-assisted sight that allows the user to see through Saurian cloaks and magic. Later found by Canard, then passed to Wildwing, who uses it in battle.
• Puck Blasters – A gun that shoots explosive hockey pucks.
• Puck Launcher – A rocket launcher-style weapon that also shoots explosive hockey pucks.
• Omnitool – Tanya's multipurpose tool, containing everything she needs to fix, disassemble, defuse and reprogram mechanical items.
• Ducksaber – Used by Duke, the Ducksaber is a weapon that dematerializes into the hilt once deactivated, and the hilt can be detached at the grip and expanded.
• The Zamboni – A weaponized zamboni constructed by Nosedive.
• The Raptor – Dragaunus' ship, which is stranded on Earth. Considered the base for the Saurians, it requires Balerium Crystals to function properly and fly; the Ducks destroyed the Raptor's original crystals shortly after arriving on Earth, with Dragaunus now only able to keep the ship's cloak running for most of the series run; many of his plots involve finding a new power source for the ship. The tip of the ship held their Dimensional Gateway Generator, which was originally used to travel to Earth when trying to escape the Ducks. Dragaunus later tried to use it to bring more Saurians from Dimensional Limbo to help him conquer Earth, but Wildwing blew it up with the Aerowing. It is currently at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Many of Dragaunus' schemes involve trying to create a fuel source for the Raptor.

Episodes

Home video releases

A direct-to-video feature film titled Mighty Ducks the Movie: The First Face-Off was released on VHS on April 8, 1997.^[3][4] It comprises three episodes of the series ("The First Face-Off" Parts 1 and 2, and "Duck Hard") edited into one continuous movie.

To date, none of the series has yet been released on DVD, and Disney has not revealed any plans to do so.

Awards and nominations

• Daytime Emmy Awards

1997 – Outstanding Sound Editing – Special Class – Paca Thomas, Nick Carr, Marc S. Perlman, Kris Daly, Melissa Ellis, Phyllis Ginter, Eric Hertsguaard, Paul Holzborn, Jennifer Mertens, William Griggs, Jeff Hutchins, Kenneth Young, Bill Kean, David Lynch, and Otis Van Osten (won)

See also

• List of anthropomorphic animal superheroes

References

External links

• Mighty Ducks at the Internet Movie Database
• The Mighty Ducks: The Animated Series at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Mighty Ducks at TV.com