Aarav contacted “RetroToonFan,” who agreed to mail him a copy for ₹500. When the disc arrived in a plain white sleeve, Aarav popped it into his player. The screen flickered, and then he heard it: “तैयार हो जाओ... क्योंकि आ रहे हैं बत्तखों के किस्से!”
For most millennials in India, DuckTales wasn't just a cartoon; it was a Sunday morning ritual. But unlike Tom and Jerry or Scooby-Doo , DuckTales had a unique history in Hindi. In the early 1990s, Doordarshan (DD National) aired a Hindi-dubbed version. Scrooge McD became “कड़क सिंह” (Kadak Singh – "Tough Lion"), and his nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie were lovingly called “हैरी, डैरी, और लैरी” (Harry, Dary, and Larry). The theme song, translated as “बत्तखों की कहानियाँ,” was a cult classic.
He first tried Amazon and Flipkart. Nothing. He found a listing for “ DuckTales: Volume 1 ” but the fine print read “English Audio Only.” Disney India had never produced a Hindi DVD of the original 1987 series. Why? Licensing issues. The Hindi dubbing rights from the 90s were split between Doordarshan and a small Mumbai studio called Sound & Vision India , which had since shut down. The master tapes were rumored to be lost in a warehouse flood in 2002. ducktales hindi dvd
In 2014, a group of fans had tracked down an old VHS recording from Chandigarh. They painstakingly digitized the audio, cleaned the hiss, and synced it with the high-definition video from the US DVD release. They burned this onto DVD-Rs (recordable DVDs) with custom cover art: DuckTales – Hindi Dubbed – Collector’s Edition .
However, these episodes never got an official home video release in India. While Disney released DuckTales on DVD globally in English (2005-2010), the Hindi track was missing. The few existing Hindi tapes were recorded by parents directly from TV onto VHS cassettes—poor quality, with fading audio and old advertisements for Dabur Chyawanprash. Aarav contacted “RetroToonFan,” who agreed to mail him
Frustrated, Aarav turned to eBay. He found a seller in the US listing a “ DuckTales – The Complete Series (Region 1)” but again, no Hindi. Then he discovered a niche forum: IndiansForDisneyDVDs . A user named “RetroToonFan” had posted a solution: a bootleg community project.
Aarav’s quest began after his niece laughed at the idea of “uncle watching old ducks.” He wanted to show her the real DuckTales —the one where the villain Flintheart Glomgold was called “लालची लाल” (Lalchi Lal – "Greedy Red"). but for nostalgia.
In the bustling lanes of Delhi’s Palika Bazaar, 28-year-old collector Aarav Sharma was on a mission not for gold, but for nostalgia. He held a crumpled list: DuckTales – Hindi Dubbed – Original 90s Version .
The audio crackled slightly, but it was authentic. There was Scrooge yelling, “कड़क सिंह कभी हारता नहीं!” as he dove into his money bin.