Disney Banned Hit 90s Cartoon Because Of The Devil

By Jonathan Klotz
| Updated 48 seconds ago

Disney has been around for a long, long time now, and over the decades, the company has wiped a movie from the timeline, Song of the Southand oddly, an episode of Darkwing Duck. The first is because of the racism, but the second is a little surprising. What could be in the Ducktales spin-off that was so horrible Disney pulled it from airing and has never made it available on Disney+? It’s Satan. Turns out, parents weren’t fond of a cartoon including a plot about the Devil making a deal with one of the main characters.

Darkwing Duck Vs. The Prince Of Darkness

Darkwing Duck was always a darker series than Ducktales but the banned episode, “Hot Spells,” goes a little further than the color palette and the Batman-style rogue’s gallery. Goslyn, Darkwing’s daughter, is bored when she goes to a magical school alongside Darkwing and Morgana, finding that magic isn’t as fun as it sounds. It’s a lot of math. The Janitor, Beezelbub in disguise, takes advantage of the opportunity to trick her into a deal that gives her magic, but allows him to take Darkwing Duck’s soul.

Together, Morgana and Goslyn are able to trick Beezelbub into releasing Darkwing Duck. It’s still a Disney afternoon cartoon after all. By then though, the damage was done, and parents lit up the switchboards at ABC with complaints that their child watched the Devil himself. The odd thing is, it wasn’t Beezelbub’s first appearance.

Beezelbub, or The Devil, or Satan, depending on how you want to refer to him, appeared in the episode “Dead Duck” when Darkwing passed away (temporarily). Meeting the Masked Mallard at the Pearly Gates, Beezelbub tried to convince St. Peter that the hero should be in Hell. At the end of the episode, Darkwing wakes up with a bump on his head, thinking it was all a dream.

Not The Only Banned Episode Of Darkwing Duck

More Darkwing Duck episodes wound up being banned, including “Tiff of the Titans,” which included a cameo from Gizmo Duck. That one was banned due to a terrorism plot. Around September 11, 2001, it was caught up in the rush of entertainment banned, albiet briefly, due to sensitivity. “Bearskin Thug” was pulled in 2001 as well after complaints that the bear was too scary. The best banning though was “Aduckyphobia,” pulled because the character Arachno-Duck was too similar to a certain wall-crawling Marvel superhero.

With the exception of “Hot Spells,” the banned episodes have been restored on Disney+. Internationally, “Hot Spells” is available for streaming, but within the U.S., it’s been banned for over 30 years and counting. A character giving into temptation and making a deal with the devil is pretty common in shows like Supernaturalor well, Luciferbut the afternoon cartoon was a bridge too far.

Darkwing Duck is one of the many shows that Disney hasn’t done much with over the years. For a decade, there have been rumors of a legacy sequel featuring a grown-up Goslyn and an older Drake Mallard,  produced by Seth Rogen. A few months ago, the original voice for D.W., Jim Cummings, said he had recorded a scene, so fans can cautiously look forward to more news about the return of Darkwing Duck in the near future. This time, Satan won’t be included.