Weird Episodes: DuckTales: Allowance Day & TaleSpin: The Time Bandit

Look, I get it. When you're tasked to write for shows with roughly 65 episodes, it can be tricky. You're bound to reuse plot ideas a lot. Your amnesia episode, your clone episode, your size change episode. But more often than not these concepts are given enough to do that sets them apart from other similar ideas. But what if, just once in a blue moon, two cartoons had the exact same plot? And I mean almost down to the letter? 

Well, what perfect item to bring us back with Weird Episodes, because we're talking about TaleSpin and DuckTales. Two shows I did full reviews on many moons ago before I just up and ended up falling out of that. I'm not done with it, hell Bonkers is ready and done but I need to finish Goof Troop, but we'll veer into one more discussion on two shows we already. Until I come back for other weird episodes. What do I mean by the exact same episode. Let's look at both the DuckTales episode "Allowance Day" and TaleSpin's episode "The Time Bandit".

"Allowance Day" opens with Huey, Dewey and Louie being super stoked about a top of the line scooter. The downside is it cost thirty dollars, which they don't have on them. Their allowance from Uncle Scrooge is given to them on a Saturday, which given the sale ends the next day, they're about to have no luck on this. 

Speaking of time related irony, Scrooge tells Fenton that he has to go to the Banana Republic (literally shaped like a banana because this episode is swimming in irony) on Friday to renew the rights to Scrooge's banana bran flakes factory. If they miss the date, it goes to the tyrannical General Chiquita. When the boys realize they'll need to pool their allowance to get the scooter, they ask Scrooge for the money early. Scrooge, both in believing on doing things at their correct time and also because Scrooge is a frigging skinflint as it is, doesn't budge. But the boys have a plan. A really sneaky one. But before we do that, let's check in on TaleSpin.

"The Time Bandit" opens on Baloo and Kit at Louie's as Louie tells them about a big "Carmen Merengue Night" on Friday evening. Baloo and Kit both want to go to the party, but are currently broke and can't pay the five dollar entry fee. They could go if they got their weekly pay from Rebecca, but that's the day after. Baloo tries to get the money early, but of course Rebecca doesn't budge. But Baloo's undeterred as he has a plan. A really sneaky one. Back to DuckTales.

In order to trick Scrooge into giving them their allowance early, the nephews deduce that if Scrooge is led to believe the next day IS Saturday and not Friday, they'll get their pay early. This includes changing the calendar, switching dates on everything and doing the most concise job possible to make it seem like somehow Scrooge is... I dunno, old and senile enough to think he spaced on the date? And in the coup de grace, pretending that they're the local radio station mentioning that it's Saturday. How Scrooge could fall for this giving how distinct the nephews' voices are, we'll call that cartoon coincidence. 

And sure enough, the con works and the boys get their allowance. However, it worked too well as Scrooge checks in on a conference call and tells the other board members that somehow it's Saturday, which they all fall for because they're yes men for Scrooge. And with the news of this time anomaly spreading, the rest of Duckberg also believe it's Saturday and thus, the boys end up missing the sale and are screwed out of their scooter. They then learn the news spread worldwide as everyone thinks it's Saturday. Which I'm certain isn't going to screw Scrooge over on a certain factory renewal. Back to TaleSpin.

In order to trick Rebecca into giving them their pay early, Baloo deduces that if Rebecca is led to believe the next day IS Saturday instead of Friday, they'll get their pay early . This includes changing her calendars and having the local radio station bring up that it's actually Saturday instead. Though in fairness to this plan over the nephews, this one at least involves an actual radio station so it's less likely that Rebecca would figure it all out immediately. 

And sure enough the plan works and Rebecca gives Baloo and Kit their pay. However, it worked too well and because Baloo was late on cargo deliveries, Becky holds his pay until he gets his deliveries done, including delivering ear muffs to Thembria. Baloo then tries to cop to it, but Rebecca is gullible enough to believe THAT is an excuse and despite everything that's happened, I guess this whole thing's one weird astrological anomaly. So it's off to Thembria.

Due to the news of the Friday skip, Fenton is unable to secure the renewal of the contract, so General Chiquita ends up owning the factory. The boys then confess that they pulled the prank and that they never meant for it to go this far, which, I mean, they aren't wrong. But the silver lining is that Scrooge still has a chance to get his factory back if he can prove that it is still Friday. 

Meanwhile, in Thembria, Colonel Spigot learns of the Friday skip and informs the high marshal about it. Knowing it's a chance to screw Thembrians out of their weekly pay, the high marshal decides that they'll stick to that story. Spigot mentions Cleanser's Comet, due to appear on Friday, but the marshal is certain due to Thembria's overcast weather, nobody will see it.

As Baloo and the gang arrive to Thembria, they get shot down by flying bathtubs (due to no actual live ammunition) and are arrested. Spigot mentions they'll get a fair and expedient trial, then be killed by a firing squad. 

Scrooge arrives at the Banana Republic and tries to convince General Chiquita about it actually being Friday. Turns out that assaulting a dictator is verboten as Scrooge and Fenton get arrested and then to be killed by a firing squad, ore more accurately, a cannon squad. Huey Dewey and Louie then try to find a way to clear Scrooge and Fenton by proving it's Friday. And conveniently, there's a solar eclipse due for Friday. 

Turns out that the trial goes... almost well enough, with Kit and Baloo being freed from any wrongdoing. Rebecca, being the boss however, is still due to be shot and killed. So now Baloo and Kit have to save her. And to do so, they have to have Thembria see Cleanser's Comet. So they manage to steal back the Sea Duck and use the plane to clear up the skies, while Rebecca ends up a guest on "This Was Your Life", while also about to be shot by tanks. And for, you know, a dark as hell bit, it's legitimately hilarious.

Meanwhile, the nephews get Launchpad to also clear the skies as, much like in the TaleSpin episode, they too are overcast. All while Fenton tries his best to stall the anxious firing squad. However, their plan goes awry when Fenton summons the GizmoDuck suit, which smashes into Launchpad's plane, causing it to crash. So at least it's on brand for Launchpad. 

With only a few seconds left and Fenton now GizmoDuck, he manages to get fired out of a cannon and remove the last piece of overcast cloud to fully reveal the eclipse, and both saves them from imminent death and also ends up getting Scrooge's factory back under his control. So the world reverts back to the correct date, the nephews end up tricking Scrooge into a second allowance and I guess not face criminal charges for a prank that went too far. Well, they are related to Scrooge.

Over on TaleSpin, Baloo and Kit manage to clear the skies in time for Cleanser's Comet to pass, meaning that everyone now knows it is actually Friday. And the Thembrians get their payday. So everyone reverts back to the correct date and Baloo is forced to date the radio DJ because he promised her a date, so he gets less of a happy ending here. Though honestly given he near got his boss/love interest killed, that's getting off super easy.

And that's both "Allowance Day" and "The Time Bandit". Two very similar episodes with very similar plot structures. But why, and how did this happen? The answer comes in the writers for both episodes, Ken Koonce and David Weimers. Two writers who worked on episodes for many of the early Disney Afternoon shows and, for the most part, didn't really suffer from this level of repetition. But this apparently was a black eye for them, not just for the repetition, but according to sources I checked for this episode, likely in how "The Time Bandit" handled Rebecca in the story. 

And while yes, it's weird that both of these episodes are very similar due to self-plagiarism, I also look at it like this. I think "The Time Bandit" is the writers trying again to get the concept right. "Allowance Day" is fine, but does feel a bit too convoluted in how we get General Chiquita to believe the Friday skip happened. So we have an entire world just up and believing that it's a whole different day simply on the account of "well if Scrooge believes it, it must be true". 

With the TaleSpin example, they turn Thembria learning about it into a long con from the high marshal to screw over his citizens. Which almost works. And this also gave the chance for the writers to have more fun with Rebecca's near-execution. In fact, the whole episode for TaleSpin feels more fluid and with far less dragging of its feet, some better paced jokes and some decent animation from the France unit over the more on-brand Wang effort for DuckTales. If I had to choose one over the other, I'd go with "The Time Bandit", but the fact that we have these two episodes mirror one another by writers who hoped nobody would notice is just weird.