DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp

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DuckTales the Movie:
Treasure of the Lost Lamp
DuckTales the Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp.jpg
Original theatrical poster by Drew Struzan, parodying Indiana Jones
Directed by Bob Hathcock
Produced by <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • Bob Hathcock
  • Jean-Pierre Quenet
Screenplay by Alan Burnett
Based on DuckTales
by Carl Barks
Starring <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
Music by David Newman
Edited by Charles King
Production
companies
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Distributed by Buena Vista Pictures
Release dates
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  • August 3, 1990 (1990-08-03)
Running time
 74 minutes
Country <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
  • France
  • United States
Language English
Box office $18.1 million[1]

DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp is a 1990 French-American animated adventure fantasy film based on the animated television series DuckTales. Released by Walt Disney Pictures on August 3, 1990, it was the first animated feature released by Disney that was not part of the Disney animated features canon. It was also the first Disney animated film to be produced by Disney MovieToons.

Produced by the Walt Disney Television Animation satellite studios in France and Australia, the classic Donald Duck cartoon Dude Duck was shown before the film when it played in theaters.

Plot

Scrooge McDuck travels to the Middle East to inspect a recently found treasure chest he believes contains Collie Baba's treasure, accompanied by Huey, Dewey and Louie, Webby Vanderquack, and Launchpad McQuack. Although initially disappointed when the chest seems to contain old clothes, Scrooge is excited when an ancient treasure map is found in one of the pockets. Guided by the thief Dijon, they set out to find the lost treasure, unaware Dijon works for the evil sorcerer Merlock, who desires something Collie Baba owned. The group discovers Collie Baba's treasure in a sand-covered pyramid. Webby wants a lamp in the treasure, which Scrooge lets her keep as it holds no value.

After packing up the treasure for transport, Scrooge and his group are trapped in a room full of monstrous scorpions by Merlock and Dijon, who take the treasure. However, Merlock discovers the lamp isn't with the treasure; he drags Dijon with him to find it. Scrooge and his friends manage to escape from the pyramid and, with nothing more than Webby's lamp, depart for Duckburg.

Days later, the children discover the lamp holds a Genie. Ecstatic about his freedom, the Genie grants the four children 3 wishes each; to fool Scrooge, he poses as the boys' Woodchuck scout friend Gene. He tells them about Merlock, who used his wishes for eternal life and the destruction of both Atlantis and Pompeii, popular vacation spots; Merlock's magic talisman overrides the lamp's rules, granting him unlimited wishes. They must keep Merlock from getting the lamp back or the world will suffer.

The next day, Webby uses her last wish to bring all her toys to life, which forces the children to reveal the Genie's true identity to Scrooge. Wishing to impress the Archeological Society at their annual ball, Scrooge takes the lamp and the Genie with him to the ball. He is followed to the ball by Merlock and Dijon, who violently attack Scrooge. In the ensuing struggle, Scrooge mistakes a gravy boat for the lamp and leaves the lamp and the Genie behind, after which they both fall into the hands of Dijon, who is convinced by the Genie to keep the lamp instead of giving it to Merlock.

Having wished for Scrooge's fortune, Dijon takes possession of the Money Bin and has Scrooge arrested. However, Scrooge is quickly bailed out by Launchpad, his nephews, Webby, Mrs. Beakley and Duckworth who agree to help Scrooge set things right. Scrooge, the nephews and Webby infiltrate the Money Bin in an attempt to steal the lamp, but are stopped by Merlock; the evil wizard turns the Money Bin into an airborne fortress, and attempts killing the heroes. Luckily, they manage to get Merlock's talisman away from him, letting the villain fall to his doom.

Scrooge uses his wish to return everything to how it was before Dijon took the lamp. Back in the Money Bin, Scrooge wishes for Genie to become a real boy; the lamp crumbles into dust. While the children play with their newest friend, Scrooge discovers Dijon stuffing his trousers with money. Scrooge chases him outside, yelling "Somebody stop those pants!"

Voice cast

Additional Voices

Production

Animator Larry Ruppel shared his experience during the film's production:

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"I was the sole American working at the Paris studio during this production, the other creative artists hailing mostly from France, Denmark, Australia and Italy. I'd like to add that this little movie ended up being quite important because of the many notable animation professionals who got their start on this project. Besides myself (I've animated numerous Disney projects, also Classic Warner Bros. shorts), there are, among others, DreamWorks animators Sylvain Deboissy and Nicholas Marlet, French animation director Pierre Lyphoudt, and ILM's James Baker and Daniel Jeannette. For all the Europeans working on this Disney feature, it was a dream come true, and because most of us were working on a feature for the first time in our lives, in a way it was our Snow White. As the only American on staff, there were many occasions when I had to explain to supervisors or other animators the exact meaning of some American slang phrases used in the dialogue of the script."

During the film's main titles, the titles' typeface is similar to that of the Indiana Jones films. This was obviously to honor the film Raiders of the Lost Ark for using the original Carl Barks comic book series as part of the inspiration for the former (such as the scene when Jones being chased by a boulder which was inspired by "The Seven Cities of Cibola," an Uncle Scrooge comic book issue. Also, the idea for the idol mechanism in the opening scene in Raiders, and deadly traps later in the film were inspired by several Uncle Scrooge comics). Another homage to the Indiana Jones films comes later in the movie when someone looking like Indiana Jones can be seen briefly when Scrooge and Genie visit the Explorer's Club.

Release

Box office

While the film earned $18 million domestically and made back its budget, it was not the financial success Disney was supposedly hoping for, having to face competition from other larger-scale summer family releases such as Problem Child, and caused all planned DuckTales films to be shelved as well (there were plans for there to be several DuckTales films following this).[citation needed]

Critical reception

Reception was positive but some critics considered the film to be a betrayal of Carl Barks's Uncle Scrooge comic books on which DuckTales was based.[2][3] Overseas, however, critics were generally kinder to the film. On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film got a fresh rating of 88%.[4] The more successful animated film, Aladdin, released by Disney almost two years later also shares many elements with this film.

Home media

The movie was released on VHS on March 15, 1991, followed by a Laserdisc release on April 26, 1991. On January 16, 2006, the region 1 DVD of DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp was released as an exclusive to the Disney Movie Club and the Disney Movie Rewards Program. The first release of the DVD to the general public was announced for January 13, 2015.[5] Ahead of this, DVDs were available in Canada in October 2014, apparently as a Wal-Mart Exclusive.[6] In addition, there was a DVD release also ahead of the general release date that was issued in the United States as a Wal-Mart Exclusive on October 14, 2014. Disney has given the DVD wide release in Europe and other parts of the world. The DVD release is in widescreen presentation in region 1 and other countries. However, it is currently unknown whether the film will ever be released on Blu-ray or not.

The film is available to rent and purchase (including in HD) on iTunes.[7]

See also

References

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External links

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