DuckTales, Season 2 Episode 8: "Treasure of the Found Lamp!"

Season 2, Episode 8: "Treasure of the Found Lamp!" 5/7/19
Starring: Scrooge McDuck, Webbigail Vanderquack, Louie Duck, Dewey Duck, and Huey Duck
Costarring: Ma Beagle, Duckworth, Selene, Charybdis, Gladstone Gander, Doofus Drake, Bentina Beakley, Mr. Drake, Mrs. Drake, Big Time, Burger, and Bouncer
Appearances by: Johnny Ottoman and Randy Ottoman
Featuring: Djinn
Setting: Duckburg and Ithaquack
Plot: When a mysterious figure comes calling for his lost lamp, Scrooge and Webby must distract him while the nephews attempt to track it down.

Value is subjective.  What may be a priceless family heirloom to some is just a “cheap bauble” to others.  Value can also meander between the material and the abstract. It’s a fluid concept that plays out through the contrasting worth Djinn and Scrooge place on the (found… lost… and then found again) Lamp of the First Genie.

Djinn doesn’t value the lamp itself for monetary or magical reasons.  For Djinn, it’s purely sentimental. He cherishes his family’s history and believes that “treasure’s greatest value lies in the stories it can tell us.”  The lamp symbolizes the love between his great (x7!) grandmother who found the lamp at a bazaar (how bizarre...), fell in love with its genie, and wished for his freedom so they could live a life together.  For Djinn, this is the story that gives the lamp meaning. 

We know Scrooge places value on items; be they monetary (money… duh) or sentimental/magical (his #1 Dime).  This is why it’s curious that Scrooge has discarded so many of the treasures he’s collected through his various adventures to his Wing of Secrets (aka the McDuck Manor garage).  I’d venture to guess it has something to do with the ten-year funk he fell into following the disappearance of Della. It’s such a waste to let so many cool items just collect dust in the dark - without a story, without a care.

In a bit of a throwback to the original series, Scrooge actually gleans a lesson from his experience and acts on it in a productive and meaningful way.  Inspired by Djinn’s quest, Scrooge opens the Adventures Wing of the Duckburg museum which will house many of his treasures otherwise collecting dust in the aforementioned Wing of Secrets.  Now, artifacts such as the famed Candy Striped Ruby** or the giant disc from the Valley of the Golden Sun*** will be on display in the aptly titled Relics from a Forgotten Time exhibit. Just like the Lamp of the First Genie, Scrooge’s treasures can now be given proper value through the sharing of their stories.     

(*) In fact, we first see the Lamp of the First Genie in the Wing of Secrets all the way back in “Woo-oo,” the series’ pilot episode.

(**) A gift from the King of Rippan Taro Island. This treasure first appeared in the story “Many Happy Returns” from the series of DuckTales (2011) comic books.

(***) Of which we first saw all the way back in the pilot, “Woo-oo!”  But, more famously, it’s from the epic, five-part pilot of DuckTales ‘87, “Treasure of the Golden Sun.”

Quacking Points

The lamp gains its powers on the “eve of the Ifrit’s dawn.”  An Ifrit is a supernatural creature from Arabic lore and legend.

Here’s a list of the many references to DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp (1980): 

• The episode’s title, swapping out “Lost” for “Found.”
  
  
• Djinn, the overly earnest and intense warrior, is an obvious stand-in for Dijon, the bumbling (and more offensively stereotypical Middle Eastern) henchman of the movie’s villain, the evil Warlock, Merlock. Dijon would also go on to star in DuckTales ‘87’s “Attack of the Metal Mites” as well as its final episode, “The Golden Goose” (where his brother, Pupon, also appears).  
  
  
• While looking for the lamp, Scrooge mentions originally finding it in the Treasure of Collie Baba.  This is also where he found it in the movie. Except, in this story, there’s no more genie and it’s merely just a cheap “bauble.”
  
  

The lantern with the glowing light that Scrooge calls Ferryman’s Flame, lights the way to the land of the dead. The boys would go on to use this to channel Duckworth. This may also be in reference to the Young Adult fantasy series called The Ferryman and the Flame - a story about forbidden love, apocalyptic weapons, and sacrifice... *shrugs*

Djinn mistakes the television show, Ottoman Empire, for the real life Ottoman Empire of which ruled parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa for over six centuries from 1299 through 1924… while also trying to destroy his ancestors and steal the lamp.

At Louie’s Emporium, you can see red, green, and tangerine coloured shirts hanging in the background.  While red and green have always been Huey and Louie’s respective colours, Dewey would often wear a tangerine coloured shirt in the classic shorts. 

Duckworth’s demonic dragon friend is named “Francis.”

Duckworth’s vacation shirt has the same colour and pattern as Lilo’s mumu from Lilo and Stitch.

Louie, true to character, snatches a diamond from Gladstone’s ice bucket while simultaneously denying the offer and lamenting that “there’s no time for that.”

Gladstone’s new home (the blimp he received in return for trading the lamp to Doofus) features a large painting of what looks like a robed male and female duck enrapt in a passionate hug and kiss.  The significance, if any, eludes me.

Doofus is such a weirdo.  He forces his parents to dance to him playing the theremin for over an hour all whilst he’s wearing roller skates.  Then, he reveals he’s been using the lamp as a syrup boat for his one-man-flapjack-jamboree.

In the junkyard, Djinn refers to himself as “Faris Djinn.” In Arabic, Faris translates to knight or horseman.

The only discernible beagles to make an appearance, other than Ma, are Big Time, Burger, and Bouncer.

Scrooge and Ma Beagle, scurrying up the column of garbage in a race to procure the lamp is an homage to the famous clip of Scrooge and Flintheart Glomgold making a similar climb from the DuckTales ‘87 title sequence.  That scene, though, is from the episode, “Master of the Dijinni.”