Ducktales in General
The Ducktales television show was very popular and one of my favorites when I was young in the late 1980’s. This show featured the miserly Uncle Scrooge, the richest duck in the world who lives in, and basically owns, the town of Duckburg. Scrooge’s favorite activities include hunting for treasure and swimming in the money in his treasure vault. His nephews Huey, Duey, and Louie live with him throughout the show. Also regularly featured was Webby, the cute granddaughter of Scrooge’s live-in housekeeper Mrs. Beakley. The general plots of the show centered around Scrooge’s adventures searching for hidden treasures and the triplets’ frequent mishaps. This film is a full-length feature based on the television show.

The Plot
Treasure of the Lost Lamp is basically an adaptation of the Aladdin story, with considerable changes. The movie opens with Scrooge and the kids heading out to see the alleged discovery of Collie Babba’s treasure, a venture Scrooge has been funding for a long time. Launchpad crash lands onto the ancient ruins, but the treasure box hauled up reveals only clothes. In one pocket, however, is a map to the treasure.

Of course, we discover right away that this adventure will not be easy, as Merlock, the scary looking bad guy, wants the treasure as well. He orders his assistant, Dijon, to act as Scrooge’s guide as they search for the treasure. After finding a pyramid under the sand, and exploring a secret cavern full of booby traps, the group finds the treasure, including the famous magic lamp. No one knows of the lamp’s power, and Gabby asks to keep the lamp, planning to use it as a tea pot. After Dijon makes off with the treasure, however, Scrooge is left with nothing to show for his adventure. The only piece saved is the lamp Gabby held on to.

Back at home, Webby sets out to polish the lamp, out pops, of course, a genie. The children immediately start making wishes ranging from huge ice cream sundaes to a baby elephant. The genie stresses that big wishes are bit trouble, and is traumatized by his past experiences with Merlock, who had unlimited wishes due to a magical talisman. The genie just wants to be one of the gang, so the triplets dress him up like a kid. Finally, Scrooge becomes wise to what is going on and makes his first wish for the treasure of Collie Babba. The rest of the film involves a back and forth scramble for the lamp between Merlock, Dijon, and Scrooge and the children.

The Good
I always liked the Ducktales series when I was young because of the adventurous themes, particularly the searches for buried treasure. This movie keeps the action high and is chock full of booby traps, hidden caverns, and crazy results of the wishes people make. The action starts out right at the beginning, and there aren’t really slow parts of the movie.

This is no “Aladdin” genie in terms of humor and uniqueness, but he is fast-talking and entertaining. He is very curious to learn about the societal changes while he has been in the lamp, which provides for some funny moments. My favorite part is when Webby asks him to play tea party with her, and he is excited because he thinks they are going to play Boston Tea Party and he gets to dress up and throw tea in the harbor. At the same time, he is endearing in his desire to be a real kid, and his general common sense approach that big wishes are big trouble.

The messages of the film are good, and discourage selfishness. In the end even money-hungry Scrooge resolves not to make any more selfish wishes. The general idea is that wishing for more than you already have is usually more trouble than its worth. The bad guys are punished, and in the end no one has more than they started out with to begin with. Also, the theme song is really catchy.

The Not So Good
I don’t remember this so much as a child, but the ‘duck voices’ of the children really grate on me! Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Gabby (all voiced by Russi Taylor) are all a little bit difficult to understand, which is fine in short doses but by the end of the movie it was getting really old. The three boys are distinguishable only by the letter on their hats, which doesn’t do much for character development.

Of course, since this is an older movie, animation is not so great, but that is to be expected I suppose. This film was made in 1990, before Disney animation really took off. It isn’t really bad, it just isn’t up to par with later films.

Overall…
This is a good, solid kid’s movie. It has great action, a creative plot, and likeable characters, particularly the Genie. I watched this over and over as a child, and didn’t find it too annoying watching it today as an adult, either, which is always a plus.


Recommended:
No

Viewing Format: VHS
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children up Ages 8