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2001 multi-national TV series or program From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sitting Ducks is a CGI-animated children's television series based on the 1977 "Sitting Ducks" lithograph and the 1998 children's book of the same name, created by the poster artist Michael Bedard.[1] The series first premiered internationally before debuting in the United States on Cartoon Network, reruns had also aired on Qubo from 2007 until 2012.
Sitting Ducks | |
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![]() Promotional poster | |
Genre |
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Created by | Michael Bedard (lithography) |
Developed by | Sitting Ducks Productions Universal Pictures Visual Programming |
Directed by | Walt Kubiak |
Creative directors |
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Voices of | Ian James Corlett Dave "Squatch" Ward |
Theme music composer | Kick |
Composers | Kick (Season 1) Charlie Brissette (Season 2) |
Country of origin | United States Canada |
Original language | English |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 26 (52 segments) |
Production | |
Executive producers |
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Producer | Eliot Daro |
Editors |
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Running time | 22 minutes |
Production companies |
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Original release | |
Network | Cartoon Network |
Release | September 13, 2001 – July 5, 2003 |
The show lasted for two seasons each comprising thirteen episodes, with the last episode shown on July 5, 2003.
Sitting Ducks takes place in a 1970s-style town called Ducktown, and stars the duck Bill who likes to drink milkshakes, play “bucket-ball” (basketball), and hang out with his best friend Aldo, the alligator.
Bill prefers a more relaxed lifestyle, enjoying peaceful activities such as his hobby of painting and contemplating the flight of ducks. He shares his living space with his next-door neighbors, the three duck brothers Ed, Oly, and Waddle, who have a penchant for raiding Bill's fridge in search of snacks. Additionally, Bill cohabits with Fred, a melancholic penguin who hails from Antarctica and now resides in Ducktown.
Aldo resides in the nearby town of Swampwood and happens to be Bill's best friend. He occupies his leisure time with activities like bowling, working at the bowling ball factory, and enjoying the company of Bill. While Aldo occasionally feels a temptation to consume ducks, he consistently overcomes this instinct. Despite encountering resistance from fellow alligators who advise him to end his interspecies friendship with Bill, Aldo remains unwavering in his dedication to their relationship.
Season | Episodes | Originally aired | ||
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First aired | Last aired | |||
1 | 13 | September 13, 2001 | March 10, 2002 | |
2 | 13 | April 12, 2003 | July 5, 2003 |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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1a | 1a | "Running Duck" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Paul Rugg & Danielle Mentzer | September 13, 2001 | 0001a |
After watching the week’s "Running Duck" episode, Bill ventures out into the night and in parallels to the show, he then gets chased by a hungry Aldo. After confronting him in an alleyway, he and Aldo eventually warm up to each other after Bill takes him to Cecil, the town dentist. In the end, Bill and Aldo become friends and forgive each other. | |||||
1b | 1b | "Duck Naked" | Danielle Mentzer | September 13, 2001 | 0001b |
Bill, in a half-naked embarrassed appearance, experiences molting, and grows a strong dislike for it. After being given directions to the Decoy Café by Ed, he (with Aldo accompanying) then gets “cured” two times, each with devastating effects, the last one turning him green! | |||||
2a | 2a | "Ducks for Hire" | Thomas Hart | September 20, 2001 | 0002a |
After dropping a fridge on someone's scooter, Ed, Oly, and Waddle must find a job to pay to get it fixed. After getting fired from Bev's Cafe and several other jobs, Bill asks them to help paint a billboard, but however it goes terribly wrong. | |||||
2b | 2b | "Hic Hic Hooray" | S : John Hoberg; T : Richard Albrecht & Casey Keller | September 20, 2001 | 0002b |
Aldo volunteers to be the fifth member in Bill's Squaddo game, but Bill tries to stop him because he hasn't told his family his best friend is an alligator. After eating fried tadpole buttocks, Aldo also gets a case of the giccups (gator hiccups), so Bill and some of their friends try to make the giccups go away. | |||||
3a | 3a | "Peeking Duck" | Richard Albrecht and Casey Keller | September 27, 2001 | 0003a |
While using his new telescope, Bill spots Aldo in Cecil and Claire's apartment. After being told that Aldo has eaten Cecil and Claire by Ed, Waddle and Oly, they go to the apartment finding that Aldo is only baby-sitting their pet lizard for the weekend. | |||||
3b | 3b | "Fred's Meltdown" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Sean Roche | September 27, 2001 | 0003b |
After Fred the penguin's air-conditioners cause a town power outage thanks to an electrical overload, every duck refuses to let him into the pond to cool off, so Bill and Fred go to Swampwood to get some ice, and almost get attacked while doing it. | |||||
4a | 4a | "Mind Over Mallard" | Don Gillies | October 4, 2001 | 0004a |
Cecil tries to help Bill so he can achieve his dream of learning to fly. After trying over and over again, with heckling from Raoul the Spanish crow, Bill eventually gets hurt and ends up in the hospital. | |||||
4b | 4b | "The Fly Who Loved Me" | S : Walt Kubiak; T : Danielle Mentzer | October 4, 2001 | 0004b |
5a | 5a | "Feeding Frenzy" | Michael Merton | October 11, 2001 | 0005a |
After being barred from entering the Decoy Cafe, Ed, Oly, and Waddle create green waffles in an attempt to find food, and after they start selling commercially, Bev starts losing her customers after Waddle's business attracts the whole town. After the ingredients in the waffles cause their customers to shed their feathers, they quickly go out of business. | |||||
5b | 5b | "Bev's Big Day" | Danielle Mentzer, Jill Gorey, Barbara Herndon, and Christine Balling | October 11, 2001 | 0005b |
Thanks to nobody remembering her birthday, Bev closes the cafe. In an attempt to earn her respect again, Bill, Aldo, Ed, Oly, and Waddle give her cake and flowers, but then realize that the true way to find her love is through her heart, so the quintet tell Bev about the ways they met. | |||||
6a | 6a | "Born to Be Wild" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Richard Liebmann-Smith | October 18, 2001 | 0006a |
A scooter crash renders Waddle in a primitive state, and eventually he starts acting like an ancestral wild duck. After Ed and Oly watch him, they end up finding him on the top of a billboard, thus Bill is tasked with the objective of retrieving Waddle. | |||||
6b | 6b | "Bill Hatches an Egg" | Don Gillies | October 18, 2001 | 0006b |
A game of frisbee catch leads to Bill finding an egg in the park, which incites him to believe that it's an abandoned duck egg. After he takes it home, concerns about the egg (its taste in media, whether it's a duck egg or not) causes Aldo and Bill to keep challenging each other, but then when they lose the egg in a chase, they are both surprised to find out that it's a turtle egg. | |||||
7a | 7a | "Hey... Bill's on the News" | Sean Roche | October 25, 2001 | 0007a |
Bill has to go out and buy a satellite dish in order to watch a special on The Flight Channel. | |||||
7b | 7b | "Got Milk?" | Barbara Herndon and Jill Gorey | October 25, 2001 | 0007b |
8a | 8a | "License to Scoot" | Danielle Mentzer | November 1, 2001 | 0008a |
Fred likes Dottie and with Bill's help, nervously asks her out, but has to learn about using Bill’s scooter to get there. It turns out that penguins are not the best at scooter-driving. | |||||
8b | 8b | "The Old Duck and the Sea" | Richard Albrecht and Casey Keller | November 1, 2001 | 0008b |
9a | 9a | "Pest of a Guest" | Ken Koonce and David Weimers | February 10, 2002 | 0009a |
After Bill hurts Raoul's foot in the window, he has to take care of him. However Raoul begins to take advantage of Bill even though his foot was never really injured, just so he can get royal treatment he thinks he deserves. | |||||
9b | 9b | "Getting Away from It All" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Richard Albrecht & Casey Keller | February 10, 2002 | 0009b |
Bill decides he needs some time to himself only to find Ed, Waddle and Oly in his house watching TV. So he takes a boat to a private island only to have his boat float away. While on the island, he makes a new friend in a chicken and is almost eaten by alligators. When Ed, Oly, and Waddle notice Bill is missing, they set off to rescue him. | |||||
10a | 10a | "Midnight Snack" | Don Gillies | February 17, 2002 | 0010a |
When Bill is almost eaten by a sleepwalking Aldo, he tries to get Aldo to eat duck food but to no avail. So Bill takes him to Cecil which doesn't work and then tries a psychiatrist which also fails. In the end they find out that they both like to eat fish. | |||||
10b | 10b | "The Visitor" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Richard Albrecht & Casey Keller | February 17, 2002 | 0010b |
An alien duck named Zug visits Ducktown with a remote that can control people. Finding it funny at first, their opinion changes when Aldo is frozen, Ed, Oly and Waddle are put into a video game they are playing, and Bill gets shrunk. In the end Zug's parents arrive and he gets grounded. | |||||
11a | 11a | "Ducks on Ice" | Don Gillies | February 24, 2002 | 0011a |
To celebrate Penguin Day, Bill and his friends go down to central pond. However a fierce wind blows them over to the alligators' side of the pond where they have to agree to play the alligators' kids at a game of Ice Pucky or be eaten. | |||||
11b | 11b | "Where's Aldo?" | Richard Liebmann-Smith | February 24, 2002 | 0011b |
After Bill and Aldo have an argument over Aldo's clumsiness, Aldo leaves. Bill regrets the fight so he, Ed, Oly and Waddle head off to Swampwood to try to make up. | |||||
12a | 12a | "Great White Hype" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Ken Koonce & Dave Weimers | March 3, 2002 | 0012a |
A boxing match between Crazy Bob the duck and an alligator known as the Green Death! has come to town and everyone is taking bets. However Bill finds out what is going on behind the match and then the tables turn. | |||||
12b | 12b | "Waddle's Spud Bud" | Don Gillies | March 3, 2002 | 0012b |
After Aldo performs a magic trick on Bill turning him into a potato, Waddle babysits the potato he believes to be Bill for the day. In the end he realizes that he took the illusion a little too seriously. | |||||
13a | 13a | "Denture Adventure" | Barbara Herndon and Jill Gorey | March 10, 2002 | 0013a |
13b | 13b | "All In a Day's Work" | Tom Hart | March 10, 2002 | 0013b |
Bill ask Aldo if he wants to go to a concert but Aldo refuses because he is too tired from work. When Bill asks what Aldo does for a job, Aldo refuses to tell him because his job involves cooking ducks. So Bill goes to Aldo's factory and is almost eaten by other alligators. Aldo finds Bill and claims that Bill is his lunch. In the end Aldo decides he is going to quit his job. |
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Written by | Original air date | Prod. code |
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14a | 1a | "Holding Pen 13" | James Magon | April 12, 2003 | 5427a |
A contest that Ed, Oly, and Waddle supposedly "win" leads into the three getting kidnapped and transported to Colonel Snappy's, a restaurant in Swampwood. After learning of their presence via a commercial on the gator channel, Aldo and Bill set out to free them, and every other duck trapped within the gates. | |||||
14b | 1b | "Daredevil Ducks" | Danielle Mentzer | April 12, 2003 | 5427b |
A fight over the remote leads to Ed, Oly, and Waddle's television breaking, and in the middle of their program, "Daredevil Ducks." After travelling to Bill's apartment to finish the show, they call into the show after seeing that they can win a TV after rubbing an alligator's belly. After a continuous series of failed attempts, they finally win the TV after Bill rubs Aldo's belly, indirectly making him fall asleep. | |||||
15a | 2a | "Aldo the Duck" | Vinny Montello | April 19, 2003 | 5428a |
After Aldo continuously subdues his urges to eat duck, it overcomes him, and thus he goes to Cecil's office for help. As a solution, he gives Aldo duck hormones that instead make him crave duck food. Aldo eventually overdoses on the hormones, which leads to the point where he starts looking and acting like a duck. | |||||
15b | 2b | "Chasing Andy" | Sindy McKay | April 19, 2003 | 5428b |
Bill meets Andy, Aldo's baby cousin, and is given babysitter duties after Aldo leaves for a bowling championship. While preparing him a sandwich, Ed, Oly, and Waddle walk in and mess with him; Waddle gets bitten which causes Andy to develop a lasting craving for duck, which sends him and the ducks on a wild chase. | |||||
16a | 3a | "Feet of Fortune" | Larry Swerdlove | April 26, 2003 | 5429a |
Learning of Madame Bevousky's fortune telling services, Aldo and Bill get their feet read, but after Bev makes a shocking discovery on Bill's foot, she reveals to him that he is ridden with bad luck. After setting foot into the outside world, Bill goes through a series of calamities, which gets to the point of him not trusting his very own best friend, until it turns out that Bev's chart was upside down, and everything else was mere coincidence. | |||||
16b | 3b | "The Great Scooter Race" | Ford Riley, Tedd Anasti, and Patsy Cameron | April 26, 2003 | 5429b |
In a bet to win free milkshakes, Ed and Bev take part in the Ducktown 50, a scooter race that spans the entirety of Ducktown and the surrounding country. Despite her being inept at riding a scooter at first, Bev then gains her skills, and during the race, Ed's team resorts to cheating and plants booby traps that are supposed to set Bev up for failure. | |||||
17a | 4a | "O'Brother What Art Thou" | Michael Dobkins | May 3, 2003 | 5430a |
Aldo is a member of a secret club, The Brothers of The Snapping Snout, and Bill, eager to join a club for the first time ever, tags along with Aldo (in an alligator costume). The other members warm up to him, and when Bill is initiated into the club, Bill makes the mistake of revealing his true identity, causing Aldo to get barred from entering the club ever again. | |||||
17b | 4b | "Urban Legend" | Sib Ventress | May 3, 2003 | 5430b |
Aldo dreams about the urban legend Quack the Ripper, a duck known as the "web-footed scourge of gatordom", with sharp teeth who feasts on alligators. After telling Bill and co. about the legend, Ed, Oly, and Waddle mock Aldo relentlessly, who then conjure up a prank to pull on the entirety of Swampwood. After dressing Waddle up like Quack the Ripper, and causing mass hysteria, the alligators then kidnap him and force Aldo to eat him, until the real Quack the Ripper scares off the alligators. | |||||
18a | 5a | "Fred's Fever" | Doug Molitor | May 10, 2003 | 5431a |
On the day of the Ducktown citizenship test and initiation, Fred develops a fever that is known to be harmful to penguins. While Bill and Aldo offer assistance, it doesn't prove to be of much help, and Fred becomes delirious with the fever. it gets to the point to where he crashes the initiation, and before every duck ostracizes him from the town, Fred speaks up about how passionate he is to become a citizen, and becomes initiated. | |||||
18b | 5b | "You're Grounded" | Vinny Montello | May 10, 2003 | 5431b |
Raoul's reckless flying causes him to get in an accident, and consequently gets his flying license revoked, much to the excitement and mockery of Bill. Later, Bev, Bill, and Aldo start to notice that Raoul's become a "broken bird", and Bill comes to realize that he truly misses Raoul's mischief. Because of this, Aldo and Bill set up flying lessons for Raoul so he can get his license back. | |||||
19a | 6a | "The Gator in the Mask" | Tedd Anasti and Patsy Cameron | May 17, 2003 | 5432a |
The annual Ducktown picnic is in town, historic for the fact that something goes wrong every time it happens. While Aldo wants to attend, he has to wear a duck mask that makes the fellow ducks none the wiser. Unbeknownst to the attendees, a duo of alligators plan on sabatoging the picnic so they can make the ducks into food, which Aldo defends the ducks from (which involves a lawnmower). When everyone believes the picnic will finally end normally, the lawnmover shreds everything in its path and ruins the picnic. | |||||
19b | 6b | "Lotta Gelata" | S : Michael Bedard; T : Sindy McKay & Vinny Montello | May 17, 2003 | 5432b |
Fred's favorite cousin, Gelata, visits town, and much to her surprise, all the male ducks she meets fall in love with her. All the time she spends in Ducktown is with the male crowd, much to Fred's embarrassment. Eventually, after Ed, Oly, Bill, and Waddle spend time with her in Fred's apartment, they freeze solid, until Bev gives the ducks steaming kisses that melt the ice. | |||||
20a | 7a | "Feather Island" | James Magon | May 24, 2003 | 5433a |
Drill Sargeant Duck imposes a ban on alligators spending time in Ducktown, to the dismay of Bill and Aldo. After finding a treasure map in the Decoy's storage room, they decide to search for the treasure, while being unwantingly followed by Ed, Oly, Waddle, and Raoul. The two quarrel over finding the treasure, until they find it and realize that it was a means for them to spend time. | |||||
20b | 7b | "King of the Bongos" | Danielle Mentzer | May 24, 2003 | 5433b |
After talking Ed, Oly, and Waddle into giving back his stolen KDUCK bumper sticker, Bill attends a concert held by his idol, The King of the Bongos, but when it turns out that he's missing, Bill and Aldo search for him until finding him using sewer grates, fences, and anything else he can think of as an instrument. Bill begins to deduce that The King is crazy, but before leaving, The King invites him and Aldo onto the stage to play a medley of the sounds of Ducktown. | |||||
21a | 8a | "Fred's Secret" | Carin-Greenberg Baker | May 31, 2003 | 5434a |
The brothers catch a nervous Fred holding a curious object, and after Bill gets kicked out of Fred's apartment after a phone call, they are overcome with questions about Fred's intentions. After catching him with a green glowing substance on him, buying something from an alligator, and a questionable poster on his wall, they deduce that Fred's an alien that's planning to take over Ducktown, and a heated confrontation leads to them discovering the truth: Fred was just building a new satellite so they can watch a game of Ice Puckey on TV. | |||||
21b | 8b | "Aldo's Uncle Artie" | Tim McKeon | May 31, 2003 | 5434b |
Aldo is going out of town for a bowling tournament and needs someone to look after his blind Uncle Artie. Bill volunteers and he and Artie soon become friends. But when Artie says something about ducks that annoys Bill, Bill tells him he is a duck. Artie then tries to eat Bill, but Aldo comes back in the nick of time and saves Bill. | |||||
22a | 9a | "Close Encounters of the Green Kind" | Danielle Mentzer, Kate Wharmby, and Michael Maurer | June 7, 2003 | 5435a |
Waddle gets a new girlfriend, Alley, who is an alligator. But when she keeps drooling over him he begins not to trust her. Bill reminds Waddle about how no one trusted Aldo at first when he returned to Ducktown, so Waddle tells Alley he could trust her more if she didn't drool as much. | |||||
22b | 9b | "Gonna Getcha Gator" | Danielle Mentzer | June 7, 2003 | 5435b |
Drill Sergeant Duck wants to win the Outstanding Sergeant of the Year Award and decides the only way to win it is by catching an alligator. She decides to go after Aldo, so Bill and Aldo must stay one step ahead of her. She ends up arresting Bev, Ed, Fred, Oly, Waddle and Aldo but then loses the award because it is revealed that she arrested Aldo for nothing. | |||||
23a | 10a | "Nothing but the Truth" | Vinny Montello | June 14, 2003 | 5436a |
Everyone one is tired of Ed's lying so they go to see Cecil to get something which will fix his lying problem. Cecil gives them a spray but Waddle and Oly go around and spray everyone and Bill ends up trying to tell Bev he likes her. Meanwhile, when Ed tells Drill Sargent Duck that two criminals stole his money. Drill Sargent Duck thinks that it's Oly & Waddle. | |||||
23b | 10b | "Duck and Cover" | Mark Young | June 14, 2003 | 5436 |
Bev is almost eaten by an alligator while outback of the cafe. However Bill can't get out there to save her, but two members from the Ducktown Defense League end up coming to her rescue. Subsequently, Bill joins the League and ends up becoming a hero to all ducks in the League, and even Drill Sergeant Duck. | |||||
24a | 11a | "Iced Duck" | James Magon | June 21, 2003 | 5437a |
A huge block is delivered to the cafe and Bill and Aldo notice that there is an ancient Caveduck stuck in the ice after the ice begins to melt. | |||||
24b | 11b | "Duck Footed" | Jeff Stockwell | June 21, 2003 | 5437b |
After Bev's dance partner drops out of the Ducktown's annual Shake and Shimmy dance contest, Bill volunteers to step in. They have to compete with Raoul & a female crow named Evette. | |||||
25a | 12a | "Free as a Bird" | David Ehrman | June 28, 2003 | 5438a |
It turns out that Jerry, Bill's parrot, can talk and has been ordering things with Bill's credit card. Bill gets suspicious when he receives a delivery that he didn't order. After trying and failing to get Jerry to tell him who ordered it, Bill decides to set Jerry free thinking it will give him something to talk about. But when Jerry doesn't return Bill begins to worry. | |||||
25b | 12b | "Fowl Weather Feathers" | Sarah Weeks | June 28, 2003 | 5438bb |
Ducktown is facing a feather shortage and is in danger from Swampwood. Bill manages to convince Oly to donate some of his feathers, which turn out to be unique. When Oly becomes a celebrity amongst Ducks and Gators alike, Bill and Aldo realize that if Oly is producing all the feathers, the Gators will have no use for the rest of the Ducks and will eat them. | |||||
26a | 13a | "Duck Lover" | Kate Donahue, Scott Kreamer, and Michael Maurer | July 5, 2003 | 5439a |
When the other gators start making fun of Aldo because his best friend is a duck, he doesn't feel anyone respects him anymore not even in Ducktown. The alligators even initiate a raid on Ducktown. Aldo reaches out to a llama and says that even though he is friends with a duck, he is proud of his alligator roots. | |||||
26b | 13b | "Outback Quack" | Richard Liebmann-Smith | July 5, 2003 | 5439 |
Bill's old friend, Outback Quack, comes for a visit and begins to brag about his gator he caught. Aldo then pretends to be Bill's captured gator and scares Quack revealing to everyone that he isn't what he says he is. |
Besides airing on Cartoon Network in the US, the series also aired in Australia on ABC3 and Nickelodeon, in Canada on CBC Television and YTV, in the United Kingdom on CITV and Boomerang, and on the Japanese version of Cartoon Network.[2]
Title | Release Date | Additional Information |
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Sitting Ducks: Duck Cravings | February 10, 2004 | Also available on DVD format. Episodes: Running Duck, Hic Hic Hooray, Peeking Duck, Midnight Snack, Ducks on Ice, Great White Hype, All In a Day's Work Includes a bonus episode "Where's Aldo?" |
Sitting Ducks: Ducktown Adventures | February 10, 2004 | Also available on DVD format. Episodes: Mind Over Mallard, Got Milk?, Duck Naked, Bill Hatches an Egg, Hey... Bill's on the News, Denture Adventure, Waddle's Spud Bud Includes a bonus episode "The Fly Who Loved Me" |
Sitting Ducks: Bill & Friends | February 10, 2004 | Also available on DVD format. Episodes: Ducks for Hire, Fred's Meltdown, License to Scoot, Pest of a Guest, Bev's Big Day, Feeding Frenzy, Born to be Wild Includes a bonus episode "The Visitor" |
Title | Release Date | Additional Information |
---|---|---|
Sitting Ducks – Season 1: Quack Pack | February 10, 2004 | Consists of the “complete first season.” However, the DVD contains only one episode from season 1, but featured all of the others from season 2. |
Sitting Ducks proved to be a big hit with the European children's show market, and as a result toys, clothing and other merchandise were created.
The show itself also spawned a few books. Quacking Up is a joke book written by Rick Walton featuring the characters from the TV show, and multiple children's picture books by Danielle Mentzer and Annmarie Harris based on various episodes. The books were released in 2004, roughly one year after the show had ended.
In May 2003, Light and Shadow Production picked up the rights from Universal to create games for Sitting Ducks.[3]
Developed by Asobo Studio, the PlayStation 2 and Microsoft Windows versions are 3D action-adventure titles where the player controls Bill and Aldo in different missions based on episodes from the show, with a Multiplayer racing mode also available.[4] An Xbox release was also planned, but was cancelled.[5]
Developed in-house at Light & Shadow Production with The Code Monkeys assisting the PlayStation version, the PlayStation and Game Boy Advance versions are top-view adventure games where the player can control Bill, Aldo and Fred. It also features a different storyline than the PS2/Windows version.
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