Update: Disney has confirmed our reporting with the following official statement: “The talented creative team, led by Matt Youngberg and Francisco Angones, have delivered exceptional storytelling with uniquely reimagined characters for three seasons of 75 episodes and more than 15 shorts. While physical production has wrapped is wrapping*, ‘DuckTales’ continues to be available on Disney Channels and Disney+ around the world and fans will get an epic season finale in 2021.” [*From an updated statement.]

Original reporting below:

Yesterday, the hashtag #RenewDuckTales2017 was trending on Twitter. When I chimed in, stating that the rebooted DuckTales wouldn’t actually be coming back after completing the last few episodes of its typically superlative Season 3, well, that tweet unexpectedly blew up. So today I am writing to say, yes, DuckTales is done – and to give you the story behind its lack of a renewal.

Firstly, DuckTales has been finished for a little while now. Last September the team was informed that the show was over and they began closing up shop. The wonderfully talented crew has already begun working on other shows: For example, Dana Terrace, who directed a handful of the very best DuckTales episodes, now has her own brilliant series on Disney Channel, The Owl House (Season 2 coming soon!)

And I know that people are upset, but there are a few things that you should probably keep in mind:

1) Just because it’s not coming back doesn’t mean it’s canceled. It could have just reached its logical end. This new DuckTales was creatively vibrant and beautifully animated; it was the high-water mark for what one of the animated revivals could be and has clearly inspired the return of similarly 90s-centered properties like the recent Hulu version of Animaniacs and the upcoming Tiny Toons reboot. But sometimes thing just conclude. And yes, the show was expensive and cumbersome to produce, eschewing the more popular 11-minute format for a full 22-minute experience, which probably factored into the decision. But from what I understand, it wasn’t like Disney was pulling the series out of the hands of the showrunners (we’ve reached out for comment).

gravity-falls-disney
Image via Disney

2) Disney has done this before. Remember when, right before the season finale of Gravity Falls began to air, when Disney was like “oh by the way these are the last few episodes?” Expect a similar announcement before the last batch of DuckTales episodes air in 2021.

3) Historically speaking, DuckTales will conclude its run with a solid amount of episodes. The Christmas episode that just aired on November 30 gave the show 65 episodes, which is usually the cut off point for many Disney Channel original series, since they can now run the show every weekday for 13 weeks without repeating an episode. And while the original series ran for 100 episodes (and one theatrically released feature film), it was also the lynchpin for a corporate-wide initiative to bring feature-quality animation to the small screen, instead of just being a new show on Disney Channel (or Disney XD). Other original Disney Afternoon classics like TaleSpin, Adventures of Gummi Bears and Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers all only made it to the 65-episode mark.

4) Truly, I have no idea how this affects the interactive EPCOT experience that was being planned. In my mind it is still a viable IP with strong ties to international exploration, so it could still be on the docket, with or without an accompanying TV series.

5) Have you been watching this season? Not to spoil anything for those who haven’t been keeping up, but they are clearly setting up the grand finale of the series. It will be an absolute blast to watch how that plays out.