Quack Pack

Short-Lived 1996 Disney Afternoon show featuring Donald Duck, his now-grown nephews, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, and his girlfriend Daisy. The three nephews are now portrayed as teenagers, and much less interchangeable than in previous depictions: as might be expected by the rules of Chromatic Arrangement, Huey is depicted as the leader, Dewey is depicted as the tech-whiz, and Louie is depicted as the slightly-dim jock.

Seemed almost designed to inspire cries of They Changed It, Now It Sucks from Disney purists, fans of the earlier DuckTales (1987), and fans of the classic comics, the inhabitants of Duckburg are now (save Donald, Daisy and the nephews) entirely human, the nephews speak with regular voices (as opposed the the slightly "quacky" voices of DuckTales (1987)), the costumes have been redesigned to be Totally Radical (and to include pants), and Daisy and Donald now work as reporter and cameraman for a TV show entitled What in the World. Save for the occasional visit by Ludwig Von Drake (and in one episode, a cameo by Pluto), no other character of the Duck Universe appears. Some fans argue that the producers intentionally filled the world with humans in order to separate the show's universe from that of Ducktales and Darkwing Duck, which did not share Quack Pack's over-the-top wacky tone.

As the show focuses on Donald and Co., rather than Scrooge, the tone is a bit more slapstick in nature, though the stories presented are generally of the Carl Barks and Don Rosa type adventures the characters are known for (and, of course, a good dash of Nightmare Fuel Nightmare Fuel).

Lasted for a single season of 39 episodes, most of which weren't seen until the show was rebroadcast on Toon Disney. Apparently has fallen into Canon Discontinuity, as depictions of Huey, Dewey and Louie have reverted to their classic form in future Disney productions (unlike the aging of Max Goof). However, the teen depictions of the trio from this series did make a cameo in the short comic story "Whatever Happened to Uncle Scrooge?"

Tropes used in Quack Pack include:
  • Animated Shows
  • Barefoot Cartoon Animals: The nephews.
  • Bear Trap Bed
  • The Cameo: In the episode Pride comes before the fall guy the boys get a packet of famous villian cards. The villian on the box is Professor Ratigan.
  • Canon Discontinuity: Some would argue it was this from the start, since previous animated duck universe shows had no humans in them (and in fact, when Darkwing Duck was transported to another dimension and saw humans for the first time, he was horrified, referring to them as "hideous, beakless mutants."
  • Chromatic Arrangement
  • Continuity Nod: One episode has Donald forced to serve one more day in the Navy (which he had been part of during DuckTales (1987)).
  • Cool Plane: "The Mega Death-wing of Doom!"
  • Cordon Bleugh Chef: Averted in one episode; Gwumpki invents something called "Tasty Paste", a gooey, slightly chunky paste that looks questionable, but tastes fantastic. The boys buy the recipe and the rights to sell it from Gwumpki, turning it into a massive corporate empire until an industrial accident turns the stuff into a giant kaiju. Then the boys wake up. Just when they think it was All Just a Dream, Gwumpki offers them a taste of his latest creation: Tasty Paste!
  • Crazy Prepared: Nigel Nightshade - greatest thief in the world - who has a plan, backup plan, con, or escape for pretty much every situation he finds himself in. Case in point, after he steals a valuable artifact and the heroes bust in on him gloating at his home, he reveals what looked like the artifact was actually made of chocolate, just on the off chance someone walked in while he was holding it.
  • Crossover Punchline: In the episode The Real Mighty Ducks. "Quick! To Pluto!"
  • Deadpan Snarker: Pretty much all of the characters trade off on this, even Donald, though Daisy has it most consistently. Most episodes have at least one of the nephews (usually Louie) be more levelheaded than the rest and spend the episode being snarky about things. Often combined with Aside Glance, with the characters turning to the camera and flatly snarking about what's going on.
  • Distracted by the Sexy: Leads to Huey mistakenly going into an evil scientist's lab when he meant to go see the dentist.
  • Dogfaces: In "All Hands on Duck."
  • Dressing as the Enemy (Though a strange example... while Huey, Dewey, and Louie indeed manage to get the guards' uniforms... the Big Bad does not seem to notice that the guards are now ducks.)
  • Era Specific Personality: When hit with a De-Aging Ray, Donald reverts to each of his earlier models.
  • Expy: Donald's cousin Mel appears in one episode and looks, sounds, and acts like Herb Muddlefoot.
  • Funny Foreigner: Gwumpki, Donald's Wacky Neighbor.
  • Furry Confusion
  • Going Commando: In "Koi Story", when an earthquake occurs after Gil presses a button on a remote to separate a large, rocky wall to show a giant fish bowl, the shaky earth causes Daisy (wearing her light pink sweater and dark pink short skirt with matching high heels), to lose her balance and bounce a few times. As she does this, she involuntarily flashes the camera and audience, revealing she's not wearing any undies underneath her skirt (let alone tights or even spandex pants). When the quake stops, she's in spread eagle position before turned around (probably modestly) and getting up while looking at the bowl. Her upskirt can be seen from behind as well during this, in another location and she's upskirted when she and Gil are on a wooden platform. These were done probably for humor, like with Minnie perpetually flashing her panties.
  • Green Around the Gills: In "Can't Take A Yolk", Huey, Dewey and Louie's faces turn green after getting motion sickness from an amusement park ride.
    • In "The Really Mighty Ducks", a pilot turns green not only in the face, but his hands are seen green as well, from airsickness.
  • Half-Dressed Cartoon Animal: Averted: The nephews actually wear PANTS in this series. Donald still remains half-dressed, though (although he has traded in his sailor suit for a Hawaiian shirt.)
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: The voice of Tommy Pickles can be heard as Louie (and occasionally one of the others when the animators and voice actors miscommunicate).
  • Hot Scoop: Daisy Duck. No, really. She gets hit on by quite a large number of male characters in this series.
  • Hulk Speak: CLAW SMASH AND MASH!
  • Intrepid Reporter: Daisy.
  • Lampshade Hanging: Several, usually of the kind with characters pointing out how over the top things have gotten, though one episode they have a more direct one. The nephews have developed superpowers thanks to one of Ludwig Von Drake's inventions. Things get severely out of hand, until the boys have accidentally destroyed EVERYTHING IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE, with one exception: Von Drake's lab. Naturally, he's invented a way to fix everything. Dewey is quick to point out how incredibly convenient this is.
  • Lions and Tigers and Humans, Oh My!
  • Non-Mammal Mammaries: Daisy Duck has cleavage.
  • The Not-So-Harmless Punishment: Aliens threaten Donald with twenty lashes with a wet noodle. He laughs it off and tells them to make it fifty. Turns out the "noodle" is a giant, living, carnivorous worm.
  • Panty Shot: There have been a few of these in this:
    • In "Pardon My Molecules", after Donald, Daisy and the nephews first arrive in a desert to set up camp, when Daisy moves as she marvels and takes in the sights while talking about getting the next story break for her and Donald's news show, the hem of her pink dress lifts slightly in a breezy draft caused by her movement, revealing her frilly unmentionables (which are actually similar to bloomers or pantalets).
    • In the same episode, a flashback involving Dr. Emile Crocker's past includes scenes in which some people in the street become horrified and faint at the sight of his face from a ray that distorted his normal face into one designed in an abstract art style. Then a young lady with long, light brown hair, wearing a green beret and a blue dress who is passing by notices him. She jumps with a frightened look on her face, her beret flies up (suspended in mid-air for a few seconds), her hair stands up and her dress flips up, revealing white, frilly panties before the dress flips back down, and she too faints.
    • In "The Boy Who Cried Ghost", the female viking ghost's undies are shown from behind, as she jostles against the blue ghost and vampire to escape a room.
    • In "Heavy Dental", Huey is watching three cheerleaders from a stadium entrance to the field and they're seen waving their pompoms and jumping, which causes their close-fitted mini-skirts to lift slightly, revealing peeks of their blue panties. Huey then uses his dental head gear to control the cheerleaders.
    • Averted with Daisy in "Koi Story" by wearing none. See one of the tropes above this for more info.
  • Pluto Is Expendable: One episode was actually about Donald becoming planet-sized and smashing Pluto to pieces because that's where his nephews (all pretending to be superheroes) are hiding. The episode also had a brief cameo of the "other !" Pluto.
  • Show Within the Show: What in the World.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: Kent Powers.
  • The Nineties: Extreme attitude on the boy's part and the fact that Daisy was often portrayed as a Murphy Brown-esque career-oriented woman suggest a cartoon from the politically correct era.
  • That Poor Cat: In a garbage chute.
  • Toon Disney
  • Totally Radical: the whole show.
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