Launchpadβs Association with Della Duck: A Secret Agenda?
When it comes to working for the McDuck family, I donβt think LPβs just along for the ride. He certainly can't be in it for the pay: in the old show, Scrooge pays him pennies an hour. If that's still true, why on earth would LP bother sticking around? That isn't enough money to sustain him. (But then again, Scrooge stated βEvery dent is coming out of your salary!β which ultimately causes him to work for nothing...still though.) Iβm sure he wanted to befriend Scrooge in the process since he wants to be friends with everyone and possibly because he wanted to take the opportunity to work for someone so important, but maybe heβs also hoping for an exchange of information. The main reason why he could be working for Scrooge might be to find out what happened to Della. If anyone has an idea, itβd be Scrooge.
- When the reboot opens up, we find out that LP just started working for Scrooge. He was really eager to talk about the aviation aspect of his life. His mentions of being a pilot could have been him seeing if he could carefully segue into asking Scrooge about Della. (Because bad things do happen to those who speak of her.) He was low-key trying to motivate Scrooge to come out of retirement so he could go on an adventure with him. Maybe heβs hoping that one of Scroogeβs adventures could possibly lead him to her or he wants to stay close to the family in case anything important leaks out.
- Launchpad could be playing dumb (to an extent) so no one will suspect anything and to remain on Scroogeβs good side.
- Launchpad has access to the mansion and heβs just roaming around the place. Does he live there? He just so happens to be behind the door whenever the word βpilotβ is mentioned. Was he eavesdropping?
- In the pilot episode of Darkwing Duck, βDarkly Dawns the Duckβ, LP mentions having a scrapbook of newspaper clippings. One of the producers confirmed on their Tumblr that this will still be relevant in the reboot. When Scrooge goes to look at his diving outfit, he walks past an old ripped up newspaper with a headline that alluded to Dellaβs disappearance. Itβs likely that LP could have his own copy of the same article in his scrapbook with who knows what else.
- Della and Launchpad definitely could have known each other, theyβre both from well-known families with aviation relations: LP from The Flying McQuack stunt pilots (assuming this will be carried on into the reboot) and Della piloting for The Richest Duck in The World. Della may have been his friend from flight school, or their paths just so happen to cross one day, and a friendship formed from that. Launchpad was probably a fan of hers; he was probably a fan of the McDuckβs in general with their globe-trotting and whatnot. Heck, Della could have been a fan of his family. For all we know, they may have inspired her to become a pilotοΈ! The more active you are in your field, the more people youβll meet within that field.
Why are Della and Launchpad matching? No, theyβre not straight up matching but they're both pilots wearing brown and green. That doesn't automatically mean that they have a connection, but sometimes in art, it can signify importance. One could argue that they have these colors because theyβre pilots, but judging by characters like Baloo, Ripcord, Loopy and Gadget, it doesn't seem to be a requirement to wear them.
Only Baloo has been confirmed for the reboot (not explicitly, but cβmon, you canβt have Cape Suzette without Baloo), but I think itβs safe to say that whenever any of these characters will show up, theyβre not going to lose their signature colors. That breaks the rules of the character designs theyβre going for. This show likes to update old characters while still retaining key features. (Like Webby for example, she has an indigo vest and a purple skirt now, but she still has pink articles of clothing.) Brown is very common when it comes to what pilots wear, but those shades of green? Whenever green is incorporated in aviator outfits, theyβre usually in much duller shades and sometimes boarder-lining brown.
- At first, I thought their colors were some kinda indicator of the flight school they went to, but I later began to doubt that. Their outfits probably aren't something that a school would enforce anyway, theyβre a little too casual; Dellaβs wearing shorts and LPβs even more so with his t-shirt and cap.
- I also thought maybe what Della is wearing in the reboot was a reference to her pilot outfit in the β80 is prachtigβ/βFamily Tiesβ comic that the showrunners drew inspiration from for her character. I took another look at it and the design is completely different from what Reboot!Della wears. Green and brown are present, but overall, the design of it isnβt strong enough to make a good comparison.
- In βWoo-oo!β, Della is depicted in an outfit closer to what LP used to wear in the old series, but in other depictions, her outfit falls more in line with what Reboot!LP wears when he's adventuring.
- Dellaβs scarf is often a shade of blue-green and LPβs hat falls in that spectrum. Blue-green is the dominant color in Dellaβs dedication room (and the dining room where she shoved Donaldβs head into a cake, lol). LP was mainly wearing a shade this color and other various shades of green in βThe Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrestβ.
- Launchpadβs standard wardrobe has never had the color green or blue-green in it until the reboot. (As far as I know, anyway.) He had a light-green scarf in Fabian Menseβs concept art and now he wears two green articles of clothing. LP completely loses the color green when heβs a chauffeur. Based on the covers for the new DT comics and other early promotional material, itβs suggested that he was originally going to wear his chauffeur outfit consistently no matter what task he was doing. Somewhere later in production, it was decided for him to have two separate outfits.
- Della and Launchpadβs outfits seem to suggest that theyβre very in-tune with each other. This is looking a little too close to purely be a designing coincidence...
So... theyβre both pilots, they have a good chance of knowing who the other is, itβs very likely they were friends and theyβre sporting similar colors. With all these similarities, factors and connectedness going on, one canβt help but wonderβ¦
Could Launchpadβ¦
...actually beβ¦
....the long-lost father of the triplets?!
(Yes, I'm going THERE! And yes, I know, but here me out.)
I mean, with all this talk of mom, itβs only a matter of time before thereβs talk about dad, right? LP and Della are oddly connected from the get-go. In βWoo-oo!β, the pilot episode, Launchpad, a pilot, constantly states βIβm a pilot!Iβm a pilot!Iβm a pilot!β and what do we find out at the end of the two-parter? HDLβs mom is a pilot. Like...whatβs with all this pilotception? Iβm having a hard time believing that the showrunners would set something up like this for it to go nowhereοΈ.
- We still donβt know too much about Launchpad. He has this mysterious background that the characters aren't really paying attention to, especially Scrooge. He constantly ignores LP every time he tries to talk to him about his life.
- It seems to be implied that he was a world traveler before he started working for Scrooge. He claims that the road is his office, and he has the ability to speak other languages. (How well heβs able to speak to them isnβt exactly certain. He suddenly spoke in Swedish when Webby was trying to lie to her grandmother and he probably knows Chinese as well.)
- Itβs been confirmed that the old episode, βDouble O Duckβ will be reworked into this show, and depending on how the crew plans on using its story elements, he could have been or could still be a spy! Back in the 90βs there was a Disneyland live show called βPlane Crazyβ that involved Launchpad along with a few other Disney Afternoon characters being recruited by the FBI to retrieve a stole spy jet. Thereβs another secret agent connection right there! The showrunners aren't just pulling from the comics and the previous show, thereβs a good possibility that they could use something like this as a source. (I mean, they made something as obscure as a Toontown Online reference! Almost anything is possible!)
- No one expects much from Launchpad McQuack. People think heβs just this stupid comic relief guy who keeps crashing planes everywhere. The Macau trip proved that thereβs more to him than what he seems. LP is an outsider with a ton of connections. This wonβt be the first time he surprises us.
- If heβs the father, why does he not remember his children? At first, I was thinking that maybe some mind-wiping might have come into play. (How far is Scrooge willing to go to cover up Dellaβs existence? What the heck happened to the mailman?!) It would explain his odd behavior and why heβs so unfocused, but now Iβm leaning more towards an event in the past that could have prevented him from returning to his family.
- He could have gone missing himself, he probably didn't even know Della was pregnant during his absence. Maybe he had a severe injury that kept him sidelined. (No one has ever died during LPβs crashes, but has anyone ever gotten hurt?) LP is already a clumsy-accident prone character who always ends up getting in some sort of dangerous incident. In the episodes we've seen so far, something always ends up impairing him during the adventures.
Letβs check the hit counter:
- Bitten by a bunch of snakes
- Falling off a mountain
- Freaking out about ice fever
- Several arrows to the back
- He had an eye-patch in that same episode, so he possibly sustained an eye injury
- Crashing into a wall
- Getting paranoid about mole monsters
- Heβs also apparently sunk a helicopter in a wave pool once
- In HDLβs original comic debut, their mom leaves Donald a letter, mentioning their father being hospitalized due to a firecracker exploding under his chair. Doesn't sound too far off from some kind of crazy thing that could have happen to Launchpad.
Sky Pirates exist in this universe due to Talespin, maybe they raided his plane and kidnapped him. If heβs a spy, he could have been called out on a long mission. Launchpad could have also been in the military. I've seen comments when some viewers were speculating that LP might be suffering from PTSD due to how badly he reacted in βTerror of the Terra-firmians!β. The oldest illustration of the tripletsβ father (WHY did they give him human ears?! ARRHG!) depicts him having a buzz cut hairstyle. This could be suggesting he was a soldier. Launchpad did army crawl in βThe Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest!β, and there was a scene where he was acting like a drill sergeant in βThe Living Mummies of Toth-Ra!β. Heh, I guess that could be another explanation to why heβs wearing green. (LP just strikes me as a character who has had multiple occupations in the past.)
[Note: Della was previously called βThelmaβ and βDumbellaβ before her name was finalized.]
- If heβs the father, how could Donald and Scrooge not know who he isοΈ? I really donβt think they would know...Della probably didn't properly introduce them to him. This could have been due to his possible disappearance. He could have been really busy due to whatever job he had at the time or maybe she was afraid to tell them who he was because they could have thought poorly of him. (He probably was notorious for his constant crashing around.) I have a bit of a feeling that Della kept certain important things in secret; her love-life probably being one of those things (And the possibility that she was working with Magica). Iβm sure Scrooge could care less about who Dellaβs dating; he just needs her to be available for adventures.
- Now with Donald, I dunno. In the β80 is prachtigβ/βFamily Tiesβ comic, Della just randomly shows up at Donaldβs door with the triplets. He had just returned from the navy, and he didn't even know she had children. Why wouldn't she tell Donald? It feels so weird for someone as close as your twin sister to lose contact like that. (Really? No letters? No telegrams or whatever means of long-distance communication that existed in that time frame?)
- Dβoh geez...what if Donald knew or had a feeling but saw Launchpad unfit to take care of the boys? He already isn't very fond of LP for mishandling his damaged houseboat. I just wanna see Donald show a general annoyance towards Launchpad regardless of it having anything to do with Della. LPβs character was basically created to rΜΆeΜΆpΜΆlΜΆaΜΆcΜΆeΜΆ help fill the void Donald left behind in the old series after he went off to the navy. It would be entertaining to see something meta like that.
- Towards the end of βWoo-oo!β where Scrooge instructs HDL not to tell their Uncle Donald about going to Atlantis, Launchpad says βWait, who is that?β This could suggest that he doesn't know who Donald is, but itβs possible that it was the βUncleβ part that threw him off. Donald wasn't an uncle 10+ years ago, so maybe he thought Scrooge was referring to another relative. Itβs also possible that LP wasn't paying attention during Scrooge and Donaldβs exchange in the earlier part of the special. Depending on how far the spy element will be worked into his character, he could also be pretending he doesn't know who Donald is, so his cover wonβt be blown. (Would Della not tell Launchpad about her brother? If so... why?)
If the relationship Launchpad and Della have is a romantic one, I donβt think the show runners are going to be quick to confirm it. One of the producers stated that this show isn't about romantic relationships. That doesn't mean that there wonβt be any romance, but itβs main focus will be on the platonic relationships that go on in a family. Discovering who both of HDLβs parents are fits perfectly with the family theme of the show, but we probably wonβt see this get addressed until maybe the third season or the end of the show in the fourth season. (Disney has a rule about how their shows canβt exceed four seasons.) The relationships of the main cast need to be established first before a surprise element like this can be thrown into the mix.
While it may take a long time for their connection to be addressed, I believe there may already be hints to ensure that this is happening. In my next post, I'll be discussing some other interesting things I've noticed and what they could mean.
Are you up for more reading? Continue here.
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