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Tuesday, September 13, 2016

Toontown Tuesdays: The Launchpad Controversy!


Tad Stones, longtime Disney television producer, recently riled up the fans by stating that DuckTales and Darkwing Duck did not exist in the same universe. Why would fans think they did? Well, because they both featured Launchpad McQuack.

 

Launchpad was Scrooge McDuck's incompetent pilot. In Darkwing Duck, he was Darkwing's more competent sidekick. Same name, same clothing- why would Mr. Stones think there was anything different about the worlds inhabited by Launchpad?

 

Launchpad, while depicted as an imbecile in DuckTales, is much smarter in Darkwing Duck. His old friends in Duckberg are rarely mentioned, though he does get a visit from Fenton Crackshell, who was a friend on DuckTales. 

Tad Stones' claim, however, probably has merit. As we've learned in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, in DISNEYLAND's Toontown and on Disney's Magical Express in Florida, the Disney characters are actors who star in the Disney films. Is it hard to believe that Launchpad was merely a toon actor who starred in two different shows, much like Kelsey Grammer in Cheers and Frasier? The Frasier Crane of Frasier would have never hung out with the low lifes from Cheers. This could explain why the Launchpad of Darkwing Duck was so much more competent than the Launchpad of DuckTales.