One of Arnold’s many unique aspects is that he has a pet pig. However, as this cartoon shows, it’s one thing to have a certain animal for a pet that most people don’t, but it’s another to do something different with the animal from ones commonly kept as pets. The thing about Arnold’s pet pig, Abner, is that he doesn’t seem to behave differently from other pets, namely dogs. He begs and pants like a dog, enjoys playing fetch, and even has his own doggie door set up for him. Basically, Abner may be a pig, but at heart, he’s no different from your average pet. Still, the opening sequence of him and Arnold enjoying being together is very nice and it really demonstrates their strong bond which in turn gets you to feel for Arnold when Abner gets lost. Then again, the way Abner gets lost is based around a pretty stupid move on the pig’s part. Given that Abner behaves like a dog, he gets the urge to chase a cat in the middle of the night, resulting in him getting out of the boarding house and into the real world where he could easily be caught and made into food or a football. All this because he felt that getting a cat was more important than his family. This not only gives dogs a bad name, but it also builds the cartoon’s entire conflict on a dumb decision lowering the appeal. Still, it’s got a lot of strong heartfelt parts throughout the duration. Since the bond between Arnold and Abner has been established to be a strong one, there’s a genuine feel of despair and sympathy when Arnold realizes Abner is gone and is nowhere to be seen. As more time is spent focusing on Arnold trying everything he can to find him akin to ways anyone would try to find a lost pet, it’s easy to get invested and hope he finds him. There’s even a nice moment between Arnold and Grandpa where Arnold is given some nice strong advice on getting over his loss by remembering all the good times he had with Abner which inspires an admittedly clever idea to get Abner home involving creating a scent of his favorite things to follow. Plus, Abner himself gets a nice moment of heart when he’s reminded of home after catching sight of one of Arnold’s “lost pig” signs. These moments lead to a joyous conclusion where Abner finally follows the garbage scent back home and he and Arnold reunite while rolling around in garbage, which is an appropriate way of showing the happiness of them being back together with a touch of funny pig mannerisms. This cartoon is pretty standard when it comes to lost pet plots, but it’s worth a watch for being told well and showing off why Abner coming home is worth hoping for. 8/10
Here’s another cartoon that explores the out-of-the-ordinary yet highly creative and imaginative lives of the strange inhabitants of Arnold’s city, major emphasis on creative which is just what I like to see in an animated product. The story gets off to a nice and simple start with Arnold being tasked by Grandpa to get a special pocket watch for him, which is a task he hardly entrusts to anyone. After Arnold purchases the watch, the creative angle really starts to take effect. It starts when Arnold and the kids come across a demolition team blowing a hole in the road, resulting in a long way down to the sewers of the city, which is something you certainly don’t come across every day. Anyway, the watch falls down the hole into the depths of the sewer prompting Arnold and Gerald to venture down to try and retrieve it no matter what happens. We’re treated to some impressive designs of the sewer which consists of pipe formations, waterfalls, and rats crawling throughout the darkness, all the makings of an adventure that takes you to places you could only imagine going to, in this case the sewers. Then, we meet the titular Sewer King. He has a rather interesting way of life, living in the sewers, having only rats for friends, and considers anything from the surface world his rats find to be a “royal icon.” It’s because of these ways of life that the Sewer King doesn’t just give up the watch to Arnold and Gerald. Then, of all things, the boys find that the only way to get the watch back is to beat the Sewer King in a game of chess. Arnold does win every time, but the catch is that the Sewer King keeps making them play until he wins. Eventually, Arnold catches on to the act and just up and grabs the watch from the Sewer King, resulting in an entertaining chase through the sewers culminating in an escape that reveals another interesting trait about the Sewer King. He fears the light of the surface world, which could possibly be the reason why he lives the way he does. So, our heroes escape with the watch that’s rightfully theirs. Unfortunately, the story ends on way too strong of a downer note. After all that trouble Arnold went through to get the watch, Grandpa accidentally drops it down the drain and it ends up back with the Sewer King making the plot of getting the watch back from him completely pointless. Even more pointless is the plot of this cartoon in general as Grandpa later reveals a bunch of backup watches meaning there was really no reason for Arnold to do what he spent the entire cartoon doing. Then, for his troubles, Grandpa gives him another task to do which really doesn’t seem appropriate. Still, as much as a major downer the ending is, this is still a highly enjoyable cartoon for its creativity and likable characters. 9/10
The Rankings
1. Pigeon Man
2. Haunted Train
3. Stoop Kid
4. Arnold’s Hat
5. Wheezin’ Ed
6. Spelling Bee
7. Helga’s Makeover
8. Mugged
9. Tutoring Torvald
10. The Baseball
11. Olga Comes Home
12. The List
13. Das Subway
14. The Vacant Lot
15. Downtown as Fruits
16. The Old Building
17. Field Trip
18. The Sewer King
19. Sally’s Comet
20. Roughin’ It
21. Gerald Comes Over
22. 6th Grade Girls
23. The Little Pink Book
24. Abner Come Home
25. Arnold as Cupid
26. Snow
27. Eugene’s Bike
28. Door #16
29. Heat
30. Benchwarmer
31. Operation Ruthless
32. Cool Jerk
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the 17th episode of this season: "False Alarm/World Records."
No comments:
Post a Comment