The recent reunion episode of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers took an entire month to shoot, says the series’ executive producer, Steven Brill. Now halfway through the 10-episode arc of its first season, the new Mighty Ducks series has been receiving favorable reviews from both fans and critics alike, ushering in a new era for the celebrated franchise.
It’s been more than 30 years since the first Mighty Ducks film arrived, kicking off a franchise that became so popular it even influenced the creation of a professional hockey team. With three films to its credit, the concept has also been turned into an animated series, video games, theme park attractions, comic books and more. Throughout all of this, the franchise has never been particularly well-received among critics, and because of this, its celebrated status is so much more impressive. It was due to the devotion of fans that Disney made the decision to bring the franchise back – this time as a TV series. Enlisting the aid of Emilio Estevez, who starred in all three films as Coach Bombay, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers has already become a welcome return to form and yet another hit for Disney+.
In Spirit of the Ducks, the most recent episode of Game Changers, members of the film version of the original Mighty Ducks team will return. According to ET Online, Elden Henson, Matt Doherty, Vinny La Russo, Marguerite Moreau, Garette Henson and Justin Wong will join Estevez’ Gordon Bombay on the series for a special gala honoring the ice hockey team’s past, present and future. And while this is great news for long-time fans of the film franchise, the amount of work it took just to get Spirit of the Ducks off the ground was considerably more than most TV series’ face. Said Brill:
The Mighty Ducks reunion was something we have been planning for a long time. From the minute we knew we were going to do 10 episodes, it was a question of figuring out how many of the old Ducks we could get back into the flock. I think had COVID not hit, we would've had different ways to have more Mighty Ducks characters coming in and out of the show throughout the 10 episodes we shot. With the restrictions of COVID, we were constrained to using a certain amount of Ducks in the course of one episode, which actually took a month to shoot.
There’s no doubt that Covid has created a continuous struggle for productions of all sizes, but the fact that the Mighty Ducks reunion episode could have potentially included more characters from the original film had it not been for the pandemic is unfortunate. Still, fans can remain content to know that there is a reunion episode, and considering the favorable reviews the show has been getting so far, there’s a strong possibility that a second season of Game Changers will be in the cards. Of course, a second season hasn’t been confirmed at this point, but Disney clearly wants the decades old franchise to continue to grow, and this first season proves the demand for The Mighty Ducks is still strong.
It’s hard to say just how much of The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers’ current fanbase is made up of those who have been following the franchise from the beginning. With its new cast and different approach to the Mighty Ducks mythology, there’s definitely a new generation of fans in 2021, and if the series continues to do well, it’s hard to imagine Disney not moving forward with a new film at some point. All of this is conjecture, but it’s worth remembering that the reason the film series came to an end was due to lack of interest. If that interest is reignited once again, then the sky very well could be the limit.
Source: ET Online