The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling (episode)

This article is about the episode. You may be looking for the character.

The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling
Production code:	110b
Air date:	March 10, 2000
Credits
Director(s):	John R. Dilworth
Writer(s):	Irvin S. Bauer
Storyboard:	Curtis Cim
Episodes
Previous:	The Snowman Cometh
Next:	Heads of Beef

The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling is part two of the tenth episode of Season One, which aired March 9, 2000, following The Snowman Cometh.

Synopsis

When Eustace cracks open an egg to cook for breakfast, a little duckling pops out and instantly claims the farmer as his mother. It soon becomes clear however, that the sweet little duckling wants Eustace all to himself and is plotting to get rid of Muriel and Courage.

Plot

Outside the farm, Courage comes across a nest of eggs and finds all but one egg hatched. Courage decides to give the unhatched egg a nice, warm home and takes it with him. As soon as he gets inside the house to nourish it, Eustace snatches it from him and uses it for his breakfast. He puts a pan on the stove, melts the butter in it, and cracks open the egg, only for a black duckling to fall out and onto the hot pan, causing it to hop out and onto Eustace's face. The farmer slams the duckling on the ground and accuses Courage, who unsuccessfully attempts to convince the farmer that he wasn't trying to use the egg for breakfast. Just then, the duckling pulls out a boot from nowhere and whacks Courage in the leg with it. The duckling turns to Eustace and hugs him, believing that the farmer is his mother.

Later, the duckling puts slippers on Eustace's feet while the latter is sitting in his armchair and gives him the newspaper to read, with Courage, his leg all bandaged up, growling at him. Muriel comes around and offers Eustace a cup of tea, much to the duckling's envy. As Muriel leaves, the duckling tosses away the cup and offers Eustace tea and sandwiches. Courage has had it and grabs the duckling to scold him. Eustace tells the dog to leave the duckling alone, and the duckling tosses the cup on Courage's head. The dog walks into the kitchen and tries to convince Muriel that the duckling is bad news. But Muriel doesn't believe him.

Later, Muriel offers Eustace a blanket while he sleeps in his chair and relaxes in her rocking chair. Courage comes in and catches the duckling trying to saw the leg of Muriel's rocking chair. Courage merely stops him and snatches the saw from him. The duckling calls "Mama!" and Eustace wakes up all of a sudden. Courage tries to explain to Eustace what happened, but as usual, the farmer is too obtuse to comprehend what Courage elucidates and promptly tosses the dog outside.

A furious Courage manages to make it back inside just in time to catch the duckling dumping a bag of dry cement in Muriel's bath water while she is taking a bath inside the bathroom. Courage stops him and once again, the duckling calls "Mama!" and Eustace appears inside the bathroom, accusing Courage. Muriel wakes up from her bath and runs out of the bathroom. Eustace accuses Courage and the duckling, upset that his plan to get rid of Muriel has failed again thanks to Courage, promptly tosses the dog into the bath water of wet cement.

Courage manages to free himself out of the cement the next morning and attempts to get rid of the duckling once and for all. Inside, Muriel makes a batch of pancakes for Eustace and leaves to make another batch for him and herself. The duckling ties a string strapped to an anvil hanging on a ceiling hook to the fork at an attempt to have it fall on Muriel once she grabs the fork. Muriel returns to the table and attempts to grab the fork on the table, only to get the butter, tea, and syrup, much to the duckling's annoyance. As Muriel attempts to make one last grab for the fork, Courage walks inside and saves Muriel from getting the anvil dropped on her. He tries to keep the anvil from falling, but the duckling jumps on top of it and throws a pitcher of syrup to his head, causing the dog to lose his grip and the anvil falls on top of him, causing him to laugh dazedly.

While Eustace is sitting in his armchair listening to music, Muriel is strapped to a rocket ship about to fly to outer space by the duckling inside the attic. The duckling finishes screwing the ship and closes the hood, only to get his wing caught in it. Courage makes it inside the attic and frees Muriel out of the rocket. With no way to get his wing out of the hood latch, the duckling calls "Mama!", which Eustace is able to hear through his headphones. Realizing that the duckling needs help, Courage attempts to free him out of the hood latch. Eustace enters the attic and grabs him, only for the ship to fire off to space after the countdown. As the rocket lands onto the moon, the duckling is seen giving Eustace a foot massage, saying "This didn't work out so badly after all, did it?"

Characters

• Courage
• Muriel Bagge

Villains

• The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling
• Eustace Bagge

Trivia

• First appearance of The Precious, Wonderful, Adorable, Lovable Duckling.
• The Duck's rocket and the anvil was a 3-D model.

Goofs

• When the duckling tosses Eustace's teacup out of the stool, a breaking sound is heard, implying the cup shattered. But when Courage confronts the duckling about heaving the teacup away, the scene shows the cup, completely unharmed.

Confusions

• In this episode, Courage states that he typically likes ducks. Ironically, Le Quack is one of his main villains.

Errors

• In the last scene, the duckling's rocket is a 2-D model when it lands on the moon. However earlier, it was a 3-D model.
• During the opening credits for this episode, Irvin S. Bauer is erroneously credited as Irwin S. Bauer. (pictured)