“There’s so much to do!”
No truer words can be said now that Disney+ has officially launched in several countries and brought a slew of OG Disney Afternoon content for people to relive or experience for the first time.
Disney Afternoon content has been a bit hit or miss in the digital age with classics like Darkwing Duck just getting a digital release a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, Chip ‘n Dale Rescue Rangers somehow got the HD treatment (not that I’m complaining as it was my favorite) whereas DuckTales remained in SD.
Disney+ seems to be correcting a fair amount of that, and even bringing some “lost” classics back for the first time in years! Let’s take a look at each Disney Afternoon series and see how its Disney+ release compares to what was originally aired. I’ll break it down like this:
- Original release dates
- Total episodes produced
- Total episodes available on Disney+
- Video quality on Disney+
Let’s get started!
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Disney’s Adventures of the Gummi BearsOriginal release dates: 1985-1990 |
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DuckTalesOriginal release dates: 1987-1990 • S01 E02: “Sphinx for the Memories”, which deals with Egyptian myths, is missing
• S01 E03: “Launchpad’s Civil War”, which finds Launchpad in a Civil War reenactment, is missing
• S01 E05: Listed as “Hero for Hire” this episode is actually “Armstrong”
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Chip ‘n Dale Rescue RangersOriginal release date: 1989 |
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TaleSpinOriginal release date: 1990 • S01 E28: “Last Horizons”, which deals the characters discovering “Panda-La”, a reference to Shangri-La, is missing
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Darkwing DuckOriginal release dates: 1991-1993 • S02 E09: “Hot Spells” remains missing from US home release
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Goof TroopOriginal release date: 1992 |
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BonkersOriginal release date: 1993 |
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GargoylesOriginal release dates: 1994-1996 |
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AladdinOriginal release dates: 1994-1995 |
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Timon & PumbaOriginal release dates: 1995-1998 |
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Quack PackOriginal release dates: 199 |
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The Mighty Ducks: The Animated SeriesOriginal release dates: 1996 |
So there you have it: plenty of content to keep Disney Afternoon fans, new and old, busy for a while.
It is odd that among all those shows, Aladdin is missing, especially when you consider the direct to DVD movies that bookend the series, The Return of Jafar and Aladdin and the King of Thieves are both on Disney+.
Likewise, while we know some of the history around Disney excluding “Hot Spells” from the Darkwing Duck line up, I was surprised to see those two episodes missing from DuckTales. I specifically recall “Launchpad’s Civil War” because it was on one of the DuckTales VHS tapes I had as a kid. It makes me wonder if its absence is an oversight or intentional, and I’ll have to pull out my DuckTales DVDs to see if it’s on there as well.
Still, there are plenty of shows I’ve never seen (like Gargoyles) or haven’t seen since they were on TV (like Bonkers), so I can’t wait to binge those and see if they still hold up!
If you have any insights or memories of the missing episodes and think you may know why they aren’t in the line up, be sure to let us know in the comments or on Twitter! Also, let us know what your general thoughts are on Disney+ and its Disney Afternoon content, and make sure you point out which series you’re most excited to have streaming on all your devices!
DuckTalks 
Considering how many there are and the issues with Disney+ on the first day, the rest of DuckTales and the entire Aladdin will probably be added later. Hot Spells is the only disappointment I have so far, considering it’s pretty innocent for a 90s show.
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Ya. It’s just interesting how “Launchpad’s Civil War” is at least on iTunes, but the other isn’t. Could easily just be oversights.
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