ROCKS 6B: Count Duckula

WELCOME EVERYBODY TO THE SECOND DISCUSSION IN THE SIXTH STRAND OF THE NEW CLUB "R.O.C.K.S." - REWATCHING OLD CLASSIC KIDS SHOWS!
A big thanks to everyone that are joining us through all of this.

Threads 6A and 6B will focus on the 80s classic Count Duckula, who originally appeared in Danger Mouse but later got his own show, along with a new look.

This week we're watching the following episodes:

Dr Goosewing And Mr Duck
The Return of the Curse of the Secret of the Mummy's Tomb Meets Frankenduckula's Monster and the Wolf-Man and the Intergalactic Cabbage...
Bad Luck Duck

Just the usual friendly reminder to everyone that, whilst fans are obviously welcome to passionately discuss and give their views on these episodes, please remember to keep things on a friendly footing and respect your fellow posters.
Also, please do not post where or how to find the full episode online. And do not post asking others to PM it to you. You are however allowed to watch the show in whatever manner you want.

Great selection of episodes.
I haven't seen any of these episodes before.

Bad Luck Duck was really funny.
The Return of.... is a great tribute to all those old Hammer and Universal Horror movies. The Wolfman, Frankenstein, a Alien invader, a Mummy, Van Helsing and even The Creature From The Black Lagoon.
Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck was another really funny episode. Maybe my favourite of the three episodes.

I am curious though if Von Goosewing's assistant Heinrich ever makes an actual appearance or is he always just only mentioned by name.

Bad Luck Duck is one of my favourites, this is classic British comedy at its best. You can imagine it happening with Tony Hancock on Hancock's Half Hour back in the 1950s.

The Return Of . . . is indeed a hotch-potch of every horror cliche with a healthy dose of farce.

Dr Goosewing And Mr Duck is another clever one. The idea of all the main characters becoming their opposites works very well here, and is the sort of thing that a more serious show wouldn't have got away with.

Heinrich was never seen. In one episode, Von Goosewing does refer to having turned him invisible by accident, but even if he is invisible, he's never actually been observed to do anything in any way, so it's possible he's a figment of Von G's imagination.

Sorry I couldn't participate in the first Duckula discussion. But I managed to watch this week's chosen episodes and here's my views:

Bad Luck Duck - Simple but funny. It was amusing to see Duckula trying to disprove the various superstitions!

Th Return of .... - Another nice episode. Could they cram anymore popular monsters in there? Probably not! :biggrin

Dr Goosewing and Mr Duck - This was my favorite of the three. When I read the title, I knew that it was going to be a Dr. Jekyll Mr Hyde inspired story, like a couple of those Looney Tunes cartoons which used the same concept. But I was pleasantly surprised that the writers put a little twist here by making the potion have an "opposite" effect on people.

You can actually feel Igor's happiness when Duckula finally asks for blood. All of his years of hard work finally paying off. Too bad for him it was only temporary. It was funny when even Igor's hair changed into curls after he drank the concoction.

I gotta say I enjoyed these more than Danger Mouse. The animation is much much better here as is the pacing and the stories. I think the artists really capture the spooky and eerie feeling with their superb background paintings.

Is it just me or is there a slight difference in Duckula's voice between the episodes "Dr. Goosewing" and "Bad Luck Duck"?

Glad you enjoyed it. Both Mark and I are in agreement that Count Duckula is better than Danger Mouse, after having watched both shows. Duckula spawned its own spin-off, in the form of Victor And Hugo, based on occasional guest villains Gaston and Pierre, who weren't in any of the episodes I picked. I hardly ever saw it, because it clashed with The Legend Of Prince Valiant.

But I digress. Duckula's voice was always provided by David Jason, who was also the voice of Danger Mouse, and many other characters besides, both shows used a very small voice cast. If you think you can detect a difference in voice, maybe he had a cold one day, I don't know. I think one episode is from the first season and two from the second, if that makes any difference.

"LiamABC, post: 120855, member: 25438" said:

But I digress. Duckula's voice was always provided by David Jason, who was also the voice of Danger Mouse, and many other characters besides, both shows used a very small voice cast. If you think you can detect a difference in voice, maybe he had a cold one day, I don't know. I think one episode is from the first season and two from the second, if that makes any difference.

I think that just might be it. :) Sometimes when you watch two episodes back-to-back which are quite far apart chronologically, then I guess one is bound to notice some small differences in the voices and such.

Absolutely. Humphrey Lyttelton presented the radio comedy "I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue" from the early 70s until his death in 2008 (it's still going without him, although they should have called it a day when he went). I have most of the series on mp3 and CD. And you can really tell the difference in his voice over the years.

The Duckula episodes for this segment were only about one year apart, so it's unlikely the texture of his voice changed that much. That said, David Jason is a master of voices. He is one of Britain's best loved actors, possibly the very best loved, he's a realistic candidate for that accolade, no question. Apart from Danger Mouse and Duckula, he has made a name for himself in classic comedy, playing Granville in Open All Hours, Blanco in Porridge, and, most significantly, Del Boy in Only Fools & Horses. These shows routinely make it into the top tens of British sitcoms, and rightly so.

"LiamABC, post: 120858, member: 25438" said:

The Duckula episodes for this segment were only about one year apart, so it's unlikely the texture of his voice changed that much. That said, David Jason is a master of voices. He is one of Britain's best loved actors, possibly the very best loved, he's a realistic candidate for that accolade, no question. Apart from Danger Mouse and Duckula, he has made a name for himself in classic comedy, playing Granville in Open All Hours, Blanco in Porridge, and, most significantly, Del Boy in Only Fools & Horses. These shows routinely make it into the top tens of British sitcoms, and rightly so.

Outside of comedy he was very good as Inspector Frost in A Touch Of Frost.

"LiamABC, post: 120855, member: 25438" said:

Glad you enjoyed it. Both Mark and I are in agreement that Count Duckula is better than Danger Mouse, after having watched both shows. Duckula spawned its own spin-off, in the form of Victor And Hugo, based on occasional guest villains Gaston and Pierre, who weren't in any of the episodes I picked. I hardly ever saw it, because it clashed with The Legend Of Prince Valiant.

I forgot all about the Victor and Hugo cartoon.

I wonder if Disney would ever purchase the Duckula licence and incorporate it into Duck Tales. :biggrin

"Wilycub, post: 120854, member: 25043" said:

I gotta say I enjoyed these more than Danger Mouse. The animation is much better here as is the pacing and the stories. I think the artists really capture the spooky and eerie feeling with their superb background paintings.

I completely agree Wilycub. The background paintings are great, The other day when I was watching the episodes I watched one of the DVDs special features which was a video of one of the animators showing how to draw Duckula. It was quite interesting.

"Mark M, post: 120860, member: 5058" said:

I wonder if Disney would ever purchase the Duckula licence and incorporate it into Duck Tales. :biggrin

That's an interesting thought! Even if Disney don't want to purchase the franchise, they can do a one-off collaboration movie of the two franchises. Scrooge and the gang's adventure taking them to Transylvania where they meet our vegetarian duck. :)

"Mark M, post: 120860, member: 5058" said:

I completely agree Wilycub. The background paintings are great, The other day when I was watching the episodes I watched one of the DVDs special features which was a video of one of the animators showing how to draw Duckula. It was quite interesting.

That's cool! It's always great to see such behind the scenes videos. I remember owning a VHS which had on it one episode of "Rolf's Cartoon Club" in which Rolf Harris and some children visit the Cosgrove-Hall Studios to see how their cartoons are made.

Rolf also talks with Brain Cosgrove and Mark Hall and how they started the company. They started with an animated series called "Jamie and the Magic Torch" and then moved on to DM and Duckula. We see one of the animators working o a Danger Mouse scene and then the kids do a little animation of their own. It was really fun to watch!

DuckTales meets Count Duckula - that would be an interesting idea. Either the original bloodthirsty version from Danger Mouse or the vegetarian version who stars in his own show. I think for this purpose the vegetarian version would work better, especially around the nephews.

Gaston and Pierre appeared in only a small number of episodes - Transylvanian Takeaway and Hi-Duck most notably, also The Hunchbudgie Of Notre Dame. They were also in the episode Venice A Duck Not A Duck, which had just about every baddie in it except Von Goosewing.

The Crow Brothers also were in a handful of episodes, Christmas Crackers, The Show Must Go On, Mobile Home and No Yaks Please We're Tibetan (as well as No Sax Please We're Egyptian which we saw last week).

"LiamABC, post: 120865, member: 25438" said:

DuckTales meets Count Duckula - that would be an interesting idea. Either the original bloodthirsty version from Danger Mouse or the vegetarian version who stars in his own show. I think for this purpose the vegetarian version would work better, especially around the nephews.

Duckula still as a vegetarian would have a lot more comic value to it than if he was a normal vampire. Maybe they could also have some normal vampire involved in the story.
I think there could also be some fun interaction between the duos of Igor and Nanny and Duckworth and Mrs Beakley. Perhaps even Launchpad getting to fly the castle.

Btw I noticed something Igor said in The Return.... It seems as though he and nanny have had very long lives as I think they mentioned doing the stock take before and they only do it once every hundred years.

"Wilycub, post: 120862, member: 25043" said:

That's cool! It's always great to see such behind the scenes videos. I remember owning a VHS which had on it one episode of "Rolf's Cartoon Club" in which Rolf Harris and some children visit the Cosgrove-Hall Studios to see how their cartoons are made.

Rolf also talks with Brain Cosgrove and Mark Hall and how they started the company. They started with an animated series called "Jamie and the Magic Torch" and then moved on to DM and Duckula. We see one of the animators working o a Danger Mouse scene and then the kids do a little animation of their own. It was really fun to watch!

I always loved watching the shows of Rolf Harris drawing the various cartoon characters. I recorded it now and then but usually ended up taping over them. However a couple small clips were still on some videos. I recall two in particular of him drawing villains from Woody Woodpecker.
Liam and I were talking a while back and Rolf Harris came up in conversation. It's a shame the way things ended up for Rolf. Aside from my Mum and Dad showing me how to draw things when I was really young, Rolf was a big part in my interest in art and drawing. He was a really brilliant painter. I recall fondly watching him draw scenes from the various cartoons then I would replicate drawing scenes from all the cartoons I watched. I have a large book of a collection of Rolf's work in which he discusses various techniques used for the pieces and it is a really fascinating read. I learned a lot of stuff they never covered in College lol. As much as I enjoyed College since finishing I have learned a vast amount more about fine art painting and drawing through books and videos about various artists and their techniques etc.

Not sure about how Duckworth could be worked into it, but as for the rest, Launchpad could fly Scrooge, the nephews, Webby and Mrs Beakley to Transylvania. Or rather, crash them. They could go on a trip in Duckula's castle, and make a joke about could Launchpad crash that . . . and absolutely involve a regular vampire as well.

"Mark M, post: 120878, member: 5058" said:

Duckula still as a vegetarian would have a lot more comic value to it than if he was a normal vampire. Maybe they could also have some normal vampire involved in the story.
I think there could also be some fun interaction between the duos of Igor and Nanny and Duckworth and Mrs Beakley. Perhaps even Launchpad getting to fly the castle.

Or we could have Igor and Nanny turning Scrooge into a vampire! You can imagine the comedy and terror that would ensue. :)

"Mark M, post: 120878, member: 5058" said:

I always loved watching the shows of Rolf Harris drawing the various cartoon characters. I recorded it now and then but usually ended up taping over them. However a couple small clips were still on some videos. I recall two in particular of him drawing villains from Woody Woodpecker.
Liam and I were talking a while back and Rolf Harris came up in conversation. It's a shame the way things ended up for Rolf. Aside from my Mum and Dad showing me how to draw things when I was really young, Rolf was a big part in my interest in art and drawing. He was a really brilliant painter. I recall fondly watching him draw scenes from the various cartoons then I would replicate drawing scenes from all the cartoons I watched. I have a large book of a collection of Rolf's work in which he discusses various techniques used for the pieces and it is a really fascinating read. I learned a lot of stuff they never covered in College lol. As much as I enjoyed College since finishing I have learned a vast amount more about fine art painting and drawing through books and videos about various artists and their techniques etc.

Yeah, same with me. When I was very young, I really liked to imitate Rolf, the way he drew cartoon characters. I would try to copy him, even the songs that he hummed when drawing. :biggrin He is a great artist. He did a live portrait of the queen a few years ago. You can watch that entire video on Youtube. It really is a shame how things ended for him.

"LiamABC, post: 120880, member: 25438" said:

Not sure about how Duckworth could be worked into it, but as for the rest, Launchpad could fly Scrooge, the nephews, Webby and Mrs Beakley to Transylvania. Or rather, crash them. They could go on a trip in Duckula's castle, and make a joke about could Launchpad crash that . . . and absolutely involve a regular vampire as well.

"Wilycub, post: 120885, member: 25043" said:

Or we could have Igor and Nanny turning Scrooge into a vampire! You can imagine the comedy and terror that would ensue. :)

Maybe it could involve Rory being related to Scrooge and have Scrooge and Co.go to stay at McCastle McDucula. Coinciding with Duckula, Nanny and Igor arriving at the same time. Perhaps the on their way to London but the Castle malfunctions and they end up at Rory's. Then Scrooge and Co. go to London with Duckula in his castle.
During conversation Duckula could let it slip about some other Transylvanian vampire with a fortune of gold and treasure. Scrooge could sabotage the Castle to fly off without Duckula etc. Then Scrooge could offer to have Launchpad fly them back to Transylvania. Then he could find out more about the treasure and go looking for it. Von Goosewing could make an appearance thinking Scrooge and his nephews are also vampires and chase them. Then Duckula could save them.

"Wilycub, post: 120885, member: 25043" said:

Yeah, same with me. When I was very young, I really liked to imitate Rolf, the way he drew cartoon characters. I would try to copy him, even the songs that he hummed when drawing. :biggrin He is a great artist. He did a live portrait of the queen a few years ago. You can watch that entire video on Youtube. It really is a shame how things ended for him.

That was a really interesting video. I remember watching it when it was on TV. The cool thing about a lot of his work, portraits especially, was they were quite real looking, even though they were still done in a somewhat rough/impressionistic style. For him to do that naturally instead of having to use projectors and tracings of photographs was really impressive. I know there is nothing wrong with using those techniques as a lot of famous illustrators like Drew Struzman, Julie Bell and Boris Vallejo do the same tracing techniques. They are more than capable of doing it by hand but they have to get the commission pieces they are working on finished on time etc.
But even though Rolf was doing a really big commission, a portrait of the Queen of England, he still just relied on his own ability.