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2017


Whoo-crashed it!

– Launchpad

Launchpad McQuack is one of the nine protagonists in DuckTales 2017. He is based on the original version of the character from DuckTales 1987 and Darkwing Duck.

Description[]

Launchpad is a fearless and big-hearted guy who works for Scrooge McDuck, initially as his limo driver and later as his air and submarine pilot. Launchpad may not be a Carl Barks original character, but he is still an endearing friend to the McDuck family as well as the show.

Personality[]

A loyal employee of McDuck Enterprises, Launchpad also serves as a loyal friend to the McDuck family. He is fearless and always up for anything which suits well as Scrooge's drivers. Launchpad isn't the brightest; he acts on instinct and learns by experience. Although he isn't book-smart, he appears to be at least somewhat emotionally intelligent, knowing how to comfort people when they need it. People often assume that Launchpad is stupid because of his lack of book-smarts, but are sometimes proven wrong, such as when Della assumed Launchpad wasn't a good pilot since he didn't know proper plane mechanics, only to realize he had his own way of doing things that worked effectively for him. Though even through some misadventures and mistakes, he always keeps a positive attitude, and this is shown in "Woo-oo!" when he was bitten by snakes and remained calm and positive throughout the ordeal. And even when things are going wrong he is determined to make things right and be there some others as seen in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!". Launchpad's kind and helpful nature was shown in "Woo-oo!" when Huey, Dewey, Louie, and Webby needed to help Scrooge defeat a flying golden dragon. Launchpad offered to help them fly the Sunchaser after hearing that they needed a pilot for their rescue plan, even though he didn't know them well at the time. In "Day of the Only Child!", Launchpad is shown to be rather oblivious, unable to see past the Beagle Boys' paper-thin disguises. He is also often easily distracted, especially from driving, which is shown in many occasions like in "Sky Pirates...in the Sky!" where Launchpad comes down to watch Don Karnage's performance even though he's supposed to be flying the plane.

Skills and Abilities[]

  • Driving Skills: Although he has a complete and total disregard for most road safety laws beyond wearing a seatbelt, Launchpad can operate almost any vehicle without training, and worked as Scrooge's limo driver for many years before becoming his pilot as well. However, he had not received his driver's license until Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!, and although he went to flight school, it is unknown if he ever received a pilot's license.
  • Tolerance for injuries: He has crashed almost every vehicle he's driven, but never seems to get seriously injured. In addition to this, he's survived things that would have killed or incapacitated other members of the cast, such as falling the entire height of the Money Bin directly into the pile of coins (Scrooge survived the same fall by diving into the coins, but kept Louie from attempting a smaller jump, saying he would crack his skull as he didn't know how to dive correctly.) Louie lampshades this ability in The Most Dangerous Game...Night!, pointing out that "Launchpad's crashed so many times, [he's] convinced he may be immortal".
  • He apparently speaks Swedish, as shown in Woo-oo!
  • Resourceful Repairment Skills: Although his experiences with flying appear extremely crash-centric, in "The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!" he proves to Della his out-of-the-box maintenance methods actually work.
  • Musical Abilities: He is shown to be good at playing the piano in the episode "Last Christmas!", where he played the 12 days of Christmas, with the rest of the family. He can also play the saxophone, as seen in Quack Pack! (although, that may have been under the influence of Gene's magic)

Biography[]

Main article: Launchpad McQuack (2017)/Biography

Relationships[]

Scrooge McDuck[]

Launchpad is a devoted employee of McDuck Enterprises and prides his job as Scrooge's chauffeur. He not only views Scrooge as his boss but also somewhat of a father figure as shown in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!".

Donald Duck[]

Donald and Launchpad's interactions are rarely shown on-screen, however Launchpad is very friendly towards him. They are also apparently close enough for Donald to include a framed photo of Launchpad on the wall of his houseboat dedicated to family photos, as discovered by Della in "Nothing Can Stop Della Duck!". Launchpad also likes Donald's fashion sense, which he admitted in "The Shadow War!".

Huey Duck[]

Although Dewey is Launchpad's favorite out of the triplets, he treats all of them with affection. He and Huey have teamed up on numerous occasions as sports commentators, such as during "The Missing Links of Moorshire!" and "The Rumble for Ragnarok!". Launchpad is also Huey's Junior Woodchucks leader, as seen in "Day of the Only Child!" and "Challenge of the Senior Junior Woodchucks!"

Dewey Duck[]

Launchpad considers Dewey to be his best friend, and his favorite out of the triplets, referring to the other two as "Dewey's brothers." In "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!", the two of them hang out together, and Launchpad introduces Dewey to his favorite TV show, Darkwing Duck. In "Jaw$!", they seem to have some sort of psychic connection; when Dewey gets eaten by Tiffany the money shark, Launchpad wakes up in the middle of the night saying he can "feel" that Dewey is in danger, and takes Donald's houseboat to the Money Bin to rescue Dewey. In "Double-O-Duck in You Only Crash Twice!" Launchpad with his smart persona manages to save Dewey from getting hit by an Intelli-Ray gun F.O.W.L. agent Steelbeak was planning to use on him and the entire city of Duckburg. However, once the Sate-lighthouse is equipped with the ray gun and prepared to blast, Launchpad realizes the only way to save Dewey and the city is to sacrifice the intelligence he had just attained. Originally, Launchpad feels conflicted because he believes he could only be good enough for Dewey with his new abilities, but when Dewey states he's already good enough for him and his best friend, Launchpad willingly hangs in front of the ray and reverts back to his normal self.

Webby Vanderquack[]

Even though they don't interact or hang out much, they made a great team in "The Shadow War!" where they worked together to prevent Donald and the triplets from permanently moving to Cape Suzette.

Bentina Beakley[]

Mrs. Beakley did not seem to have a high opinion of Launchpad at first, as seen in The Most Dangerous Game...Night!, stating "At least we'll lose quickly," when forced to team up with Launchpad for family game night. She also didn't seem to care when he turned up missing halfway through the night, as this meant she couldn't keep playing, which she hadn't wanted to do in the first place. Despite her annoyance at his accident-prone nature, she never seemed to actively dislike Launchpad, and was willing to join in on his and Webby's plan to reunite the family during The Shadow War!. Later in season 2, Mrs. Beakley wanted to get to know Launchpad better, realizing she did not have many friends after Webby pointed this out to her in Friendship Hates Magic!. When she tried to bond with him that night, Launchpad misunderstood her intentions and spent the evening terrified that she was going to fire him for damaging Mr. McDuck's gate. Eventually, however, he mistook the vigilante character on the cover of her book, “The Scarlet Pimperbill”, for Darkwing Duck. When Beakley didn't know what he was talking about, Launchpad was appalled, and produced the entire series on VHS for an impromptu marathon. Beakley simply put up with this at first, thinking it was at least a chance to finally bond with him, but she turned out to enjoy the series so much that she was outraged to find out it had been abruptly canceled. The two then teamed up to make Launchpad's fanwritten script into an amateur film, and although their interactions were not shown much after that, it can be assumed that the experience made them closer friends.

Della Duck[]

After Della Duck returned to Earth after spending a decade on the Moon, she was shocked to find out that Launchpad had taken her place as Scrooge's personal pilot. This infuriated her, leading her to threaten a confused Launchpad when he tried to introduce himself. He later tried to show his own skills as a pilot to Della during "The Golden Armory of Cornelius Coot!", but instead his ignorance of proper plane mechanics and procedure led her to assume that he was stupid and an incompetent pilot, During one such example, she assumed his use of chewing gum in fixing his plane was because he didn't know how to fix it properly. In reality he had actually been using the gum to stop a faulty hose from flooding the plane with smoke, which Della later realized when he pointed it out to her. "I usually just block it a little with gum so that the smoke can still vent, but what do I know?" They ended up escaping the Beagle Boys and a hoard of spiders using Launchpad's tactics, and afterward, Della realized that she had been unfair to him. Presumably, the two of them got along better after that.

Drake Mallard[]

Launchpad became acquainted with Drake during the events of "The Duck Knight Returns!", where originally Launchpad attempted to help Jim Starling by trapping the new actor for the Darkwing Duck film. But instead, they ended up bonding over their loving interest for the original Darkwing Duck TV show. Eventually, when Jim begins to get out of hand on the movie set, Launchpad and Drake work together to convince him that his obsession was getting too out of control. After the explosion incident with Jim having seemingly disappeared, Launchpad encouraged Drake to step in Jim's shoes as both the role of Darkwing Duck and a hero. This gave Drake enough belief in himself to take on the roles, with Launchpad claiming he had now gained his first fan.

Gosalyn Waddlemeyer[]

Launchpad encouraged Drake to look into Gosalyn's claims after she asked them for help to find her grandfather. He also protects her from Taurus Bulba when he tries to attack her, and catches her and Drake when they fall off the side of the building. He tends to look after Gosalyn, bringing her pancakes for breakfast and coming to talk to her when she's upset. He is also the one who tells her about Drake overworking himself to find her grandfather, and encourages her to be a hero when she gets scared. Eventually, he decides to join her and Drake on their superhero adventures at night in St. Canard.

Old flames[]

Viking and Wereduck

Unused art of the Viking Shieldmaiden and The Wereduck drawn by storyboarder Sam King.

In several episodes, including "The House of the Lucky Gander!", "The Depths of Cousin Fethry!" and others, Launchpad reconnects with old flames. His relationships with these individuals, who are almost never actually shown, often lead him into his own adventures separate from those of Scrooge and his family.

Appearances[]

Shorts[]

Season 1 (74%)[]

Season 2 (67%)[]

Season 3 (45%)[]

Games[]

Videos[]

Promos[]

Shorts[]

Best Moments[]

Gallery

Click here to view the image gallery for Launchpad McQuack (2017).
Click here to view this page's gallery.

Trivia[]

Launchpad's driver's license

Launchpad's driver's license.

  • His driver's license in "Beware the B.U.D.D.Y. System!" states his birthdate as September 18, 1987.
    • September 18, 1987, is when the first few episodes of the original DuckTales show aired.
    • Launchpad is an organ and tissue donor, and he signs his signature with a drawing of an airplane propeller.
  • Launchpad is able to play the piano in "Last Christmas!" when the family sings their version of "The Twelve Days of Christmas".
  • It is revealed in "Last Christmas!" that Launchpad is Jewish.
  • Though he has the likeness of a pelican, Launchpad is actually a duck, as stated in Frank Angone's Tumblr.[2]
  • Launchpad is the last character to speak in the series.

References[]

vedCharacters
1987
Scrooge McDuckHuey, Dewey, and Louie DuckWebby VanderquackLaunchpad McQuackBentina BeakleyDonald DuckDuckworthGyro GearlooseFenton CrackshellDoofus DrakeFlintheart GlomgoldMagica De SpellBeagle BoysBubba DuckGlittering Goldie
2017
Scrooge McDuckHuey, Dewey, and Louie DuckWebby VanderquackDonald DuckLaunchpad McQuackBentina BeakleyDella DuckGyro GearlooseFenton Crackshell-CabreraDrake MallardDuckworthLena SabrewingViolet SabrewingFlintheart GlomgoldMagica De SpellBeagle BoysF.O.W.L. (Black HeronBoard of Directors (Bradford BuzzardBentley and Buford Buzzard) • SteelbeakJohn D. RockerduckJeevesPhantom BlotEggheads (Pepper) • Bodie)
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