Duckman may not be the kind of show you’d expect me to like. After all, a lot of cartoons aimed at adults attempt to use edgy, often lowbrow humour and end up failing spectacularly. Which is a shame, I think, as animation isn’t just for kids. The problem is that so many of these shows try to establish themselves as “mature”…through being incredibly vulgar and immature. To be honest, the most mature cartoon intended for older viewers would definitely have to be Daria, since it showed its maturity through witty, intelligent writing, satire, social commentary and dry sarcasm, rather than just being offensive for the sake of being offensive. However, that is not the pointy. I’m supposed to be talking about Duckman.
“What the hell’re YOU starin’ at?”
The great thing about Duckman is that it mixes together both the very highbrow and the lowbrow. Not only is the show incredibly funny on all sorts of levels, it’s also quite insightful, and manages to make some very good points about the human condition. (Okay, I know that other shows have done that too, but Duckman is the only one of those that ever worked for me.) Also, the series has a surprisingly large amount of heartwarming/tearjerker moments. To add to this, the animation is superb. It’s actually done by the creators of the more family-friendly Rugrats, and their idiosyncratic art style really suits its tone and feel. Oh, and the theme tune is by Frank Zappa. Based on an Underground Comic, Duckman follows the insane misadventures of our titular protagonist: a private investigator and single father. He lives with his kids and sister-in-law Bernice, who (allegedly) despises Duckman, but stays to help raise the children after his beloved wife Beatrice’s death. Duckman is generally a sleazy, contemptible and unreliable character, who often neglects his offspring (though he does try to be good to them) and is basically worthless as a detective. In fact, the majority of his cases are really solved by his assistant Cornfed, an anthropomorphic pig who often ends up overshadowing him. Cornfed is a brilliant character; he speaks in a near-constant monotone and appears to have done everything and anything at some point in his life. And even though his boss can often be a little bit abusive towards him, Cornfed still remains deeply loyal to his employer. Other characters include Fluffy and Uranus, his aggravatingly twee and politically correct secretaries (who usually meet violent ends- in one episode, Duckman actually ate them), and King Chicken, his bitter childhood nemesis (voiced by Tim Curry).
There is a more introspective, poignant side to Duckman- both to the show and to the character himself. While he is far from perfect, and by his own admission should never be regarded as a role model, he sometimes does have something important to say amid his manic rantings. As well as this, he mostly acts the way he does because he misses Beatrice and can’t get over her passing away. Some of the best episodes are where he reminisces about her. It seems that while she was around, he kept his behaviour in check, and tried to be a better person. Actually, Duckman may not have the healthiest attitude towards women, but whenever he does truly fall in love with somebody, he ends up becoming totally sincere and faithful towards the object of his affections. Out of all the episodes I’ve seen so far, my favourite is “About Face”, where he finds himself smitten with a woman named Angela after hearing her voice on the telephone. However, when they meet, he finds out that she is…”facially challenged”, to quote Cornfed. But Duckman doesn’t abandon her, and ends up appreciating Angela for her personality in spite of her looks. I won’t tell you what happens next, because I don’t want to spoil the ending, but I can promise that its conclusion is bittersweet, tender and shows just how powerful a show Duckman can be.
Basically, I highly recommend Duckman- ’tis a definite 5/5!
The Hawkline Monster 