TaleSpin Cements DuckTales Reboot as Ultimate Disney Afternoon Love Letter

DuckTales Season 3, Episode 20 Review

Let it be known here and now to all who read this. The 2017 reboot of DuckTales is the ultimate love letter to the legendary Disney Afternoon block! They have included the likes of DarkWing Duck, Chip n’ Dale Rescue Rangers, Goof Troop, Quack Pack, Gummi Bears, and even Bonkers. But as the show enters its home stretch, it finally adds the last show from the Disney Afternoon: TaleSpin.

So, how was the crossover between DuckTales and TaleSpin that fans probably spent years waiting for? Honestly, meh.

TaleSpin and the Story of Kit Cloudkicker

The opener to the episode takes place years ago, as a grown-up Kit Cloudkicker, AKA Baloo’s protege on TaleSpin, bungles the delivery of an important mystical artifact to F.O.W.L. thanks to Don Karnage. How important was it? That mystery rock’s one of the missing mysteries everyone’s after. And it can fuse organic beings together to create new life. In other words, freakish monsters.

In the present day, Della takes Dewey and Huey to look for the stone while using Kit as a guide. The only problem is…he sucks at flying. Like, really sucks at it. I think Launchpad can do a better job at flying a plane than Kit can. But he insists on doing it so he can follow in the footsteps of his idol, Baloo.

Oh, and Dewey tries to take up cloudkicking (surfing in the sky like one would wakeboard). Only…he’s terrible at it and it terrifies him.

That’s basically the whole conflict of the episode outside of trying to beat Don Karnage to the Stone of What Was. Kit and Dewey insist on being something that they’re clearly bad at when their true talents lie elsewhere.

I’ll be honest, people: I never watched TaleSpin growing up, so I’m not emotionally invested in that part of the story. But it helped that Kit and Dewey both had similiar dilemma’s. Kit thinks being like his hero means being a pilot. And Dewey? He doesn’t want to be a pilot since it’s as exciting as he thinks befits his personality.

Do What You’re Good At

The long and short of the episode is this timeless Aesop given to us by Kit: “When you’re great at something, you gotta hold onto that.” And when both of them realize it, they kick serious ass, get the stone, and stop Don Karnage.

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So, in the end, Kit decides to take up cloudkicking full-time with his old friend Molly Cunningham, and Dewey decides to become a pilot. And for once, he doesn’t try to showboat! That’s real character growth there, people!

So yeah, this wasn’t as exciting a crossover as the Darkwing Duck special was; not for me, at least. But for those who grew up watching the adventures of Baloo, Kit Cloudkicker, and everyone else in TaleSpin, I think that this episode will be right for them. I’m glad that DuckTales got around to including them before the big finale.

I Give “The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker” a 3/5

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