D3 THE MIGHTY DUCKS

D3 THE MIGHTY DUCKS Emilio Estevez, David Selby (1996, Walt Disney, PG, $22.99) The Mighty Ducks go to high school! And true to their underdog tradition, they land (en masse) in a stuffy preppy academy, where they stick out like white pucks. Not to worry. The teammates survive by playing supposedly harmless pranks -- like loosing the dean's fire-ant farm into the upperclassmen's dorm -- on their way to the inevitable grand finale against the varsity team. Buried somewhere, there's a potentially useful message about growing up and getting along. But that theme is so sugarcoated by the feel-good formula that it ends up mere brain candy. Not that most kids will mind. Still, even the most nondiscerning Ducks fan may be starting to notice that this series, like the no-longer small-fry stars, is getting too old to be cute anymore. C-