The long title -- DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp -- implied there was intent to make more films within the universe. While no such sequels were made, the plan was not without reason.
"DuckTales" was a highly successful property for Disney. The television series had received acclaim and very good ratings. Merchandise, from lunchboxes and beach towels to VHS tapes and a Nintendo game, was selling.
When the film was released to theaters, Disney aired a television special hosted by Tracey Gold and Kadeem Hardison (actors from then-popular sitcoms "Growing Pains" and "A Different World", respectively).
The choice of these 20-year-olds as hosts supports the notion that it wasn't just children watching these cartoons, but whole families, even cool young adults. The special wasn't a behind-the-scenes look at the film's making as much as a spotlight on the success of the DuckTales franchise, as the hosts reviewed their favorite moments from the TV series and previewed scenes from the upcoming theatrical release.
Treasure of the Lost Lamp follows Uncle Scrooge, Huey, Dewey, Louie, Webbigail, and Launchpad on a hunt for the lost treasure of Collie Baba (a clever play on the fictitious Ali Baba). After literally stumbling on the location of the treasure in a pyramid that barely breaks the surface of sand dunes, the explorers follow a map to find Collie Baba's treasure. Escaping traps only Indiana Jones would be comfortable with, the ragtag treasure hunters reluctantly leave the booty behind and escape with only a rusty old lamp in Webby's knapsack.
Back in Duckburg, while cleaning the lamp, Webby releases a genie who quickly befriends the children and grants them wishes including making a giant ice cream sundae fall from the sky. The genie seems to enjoy granting wishes and playing with the kids as much as they enjoy requesting and reaping rewards.
All of this is done in secrecy, though, so that Uncle Scrooge doesn't find out about the genie and take away the kids' newfound playmate. It doesn't take long before Scrooge finds out what's going on, though. After making several selfish wishes, he starts to feels sorry for the spirit who must spend his life in solitude and servitude.
Meanwhile, a menacing magician named Merlock is also on the trail of Collie Baba's genie. With his special talisman, Merlock can make an unlimited number of wishes, and rule the world (as evil magicians are so often bent on doing). Stealing the lamp, Merlock assumes his place on a self-made throne of evil overlooking Duckburg.
Can the gang with a special appreciation for the genie overcome the most powerful sorcerer in the world with only their courage and wit? The ending of the film is obvious to any viewer within the first fifteen minutes of the movie (especially if they’ve already seen Aladdin), however I won't spoil it here.
The film itself is cheesy, cookie-cutter storytelling with no real surprises or legitimate character development. Serialized episodes of the "DuckTales" TV series are superior to this outing. Even the writing on this film was campy beyond anything Disney had ever put on screen (including Trenchcoat and Midnight Madness):
Scrooge: Launchpad, is this a stunt you learned in flight school? Launchpad: Flight school? Scrooge: You mean you never took flying lessons? Launchpad: Well, I took a crash course. Scrooge (placing his hand on his head and looking at the camera): Now he tells me.
All of the characters are paper thin and only Scrooge makes a trite character change toward the end of the film. It all seems so forced, though, that an ABC after school special looks subtle in comparison. There is no real depth hinted at in any character on screen, save for perhaps the villain, Merlock (voiced by Christopher Lloyd).
The animation quality is vastly subpar when compared to other Disney theatrical releases, however this is due to the fact that it was almost all animated in France and not by Walt Disney Feature Animation. This was the first film released by the television animation department that would come to be known as DisneyToon Studios (here it's dubbed "Disney MovieToons"). The division developed the story in the United States, then animation was completed overseas.
The practice was similar to what Disney began doing five years earlier on "The Gummi Bears" and "The Wuzzles." The animation of Treasure of the Lost Lamp is only slightly superior to TV caliber, but as all of Disney's small screen animation at that time was high quality, that there wasn't a huge gap to fill in jumping to the big screen.
DuckTales: The Movie - Treasure of the Lost Lamp was first released to DVD in the PAL format and Region 2 of Europe. In January of 2006, the Disney Movie Club included the film in its fourth wave of Club-exclusive DVDs. The disc seemed identical to the earlier international releases, but Americans were finally able to have a clean, legal copy of the film that started DisneyToon Studios and essentially capped off Disney's most successful animated series to date.
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