The Secret of the Candlesticks

I hope you’ll excuse me for saying that “The Secret of the Candlesticks” is a bit of an odd duck. It starts out as a comedic adaptation of Les Misérables with Uncle Scrooge as Jean McJean, Daisette, Donaldius Duckmercy and the rest. Then it takes a swerve and turns into a treasure hunt. See, the bishop had bought the candlesticks from a secondhand seller, who bought them from Thénardier, who stole them from one of Napoleon’s supply wagons at Waterloo, and Napoleon had collected them from the royal treasury, and they were keys to an ancient royal treasure… No, seriously! Well, OK, not seriously. On top of that, there’s a framing sequence in which Uncle Scrooge tells Huey, Dewey and Louie the story of his ancestor Jean McJean, claiming that Victor Hugo adapted his story (with “a few changes”). The nephews are impressed, even if Donald remains skeptical. And yet it actually works! Madcap twists and turns, character adaptations that fit, references galore to both the stage musical and the…