'Toon Reviews 14: Animaniacs Vol 1 Part 8: Gilligan's Island Parody/The Big Candy Store/Bumbie's Mom

Episode 8

Gilligan’s Island Parody

Once again, we’re opening an episode with a parody of a theme song to a well-known old TV show, this time on Gilligan’s Island. 

Like what it’s parodying, this cold opener unfolds a sea ballad sung by what sounds like a chorus of sailors.  However, it’s given distinction by how it ties into how the Warner siblings escape the tower for the episode.  It features a cartoonish explanation for an occurring storm, and how that storm allows for a flood which makes it easy for the Warners to escape. 

Then, to cap it off it ends with a listing of people they’re closely associated with and even directly tie into Gilligan’s Island by including people actually listed in that theme song, “movie stars, the Professor, and Mary-Anne.” 

In all, this is one of the stronger parody openings for how it works in a bit of a story while also working off the actual intro.  It’s too short to make an impact as big as other parts of this show, but it’s still admirable for its respect to what it’s parodying and great sense of fun on its own. 9/10

The Big Candy Store

This cartoon is one of those that really fits the bill for a Warners cartoon to work in regards to the antagonist the trio is up against. 

Here, we meet a candy store owner named Furman Flaxseed who, despite having a great abundance of candy, is completely unwilling to donate any of it, even if it’s for a good cause like a donation to an orphanage.  I’m not kidding.  This guy is so cheap that he laughs immensely at the thought of offering candy to a nun.  For even turning down someone so sacred, Flaxseed is completely open to be put through some sort of comeuppance for his jerky behavior. 

That’s where the Warners come in zany as ever as they kick things off with a creative entrance of riding on top of a bus like it’s a chariot.  While they’re clearly annoying to Flaxseed, what they do is completely hilarious from an audience perspective made better by taking place in a setting as fun as a candy store.  Plus, given how unlikable Flaxseed is, whenever the kids’ antics cause him significant annoyance or stress to complete a ridiculous task, it doesn’t sting at all.  If a character receiving torture is a heartless jerk, any pain he goes through is the best way the story can work.  Things like insisting he’s the candy man even when he doesn’t want to be called that, holding back on saying what candy they want, making him climb insane heights for jelly beans they’d rather look at than buy, and using a taffy pull to send Flaxseed lying around the store demonstrate the Warners’ great style of comedy through word play and physical gags.  Not only that, but as is the case with most of their antics at first, even when they’re up against a jerk, they seem completely innocent as they annoy and inconvenience him, not trying to harm his, but just approaching the scenario in the joke-filled manner they’re suited for.  It’s after Flaxseed causes legitimate harm to them by kicking them out when they ask to have something for free when they start getting antagonistic. 

Admittedly, since they would’ve gotten candy for themselves and not for a good cause like the nun was going to, the Warners feel less-inclined to get something for free and Flaxseed’s actions make too much sense in this case.  This doesn’t make him any less unlikable though, so when the Warners return and attack him with malted milk balls as if they’re bullets out of a machine gun, it’s still enjoyable to watch him get what he had coming, and the gag itself is very clever and humorous in execution.  The payoff for all this isn’t as great as it could be.  It’s not because Flaxseed gets away with his bad behavior, but rather because the way he does get the final blow come from someone other than the Warners even though we’ve seen that they are capable of handling big jerks on their own.  The takedown itself is entertaining for how it works in how nuns aren’t allowed to resort to physical violence and how a group of nuns win by praying for help resulting in a whole football team, fittingly coming from a parody of the Catholic college, Notre Dame, giving Flaxseed a chocolatey beating.  Still, since the Warners are still sitting out of something we know they can do, the final takedown of Flaxseed isn’t a moment to do justice for them.  At least it still works fine as an ending generally. 

As for the cartoon as a whole, it’s still strong for much of its humor going on in a visually appealing setting, great character moments, and the antagonist jerky enough to receive pain and annoyance. 9/10

Bumbie’s Mom

Thanks to the general public’s preconceived notions on Disney films, you’d think their movies are just light-hearted fun here to entertain your kids.  However, if you take the time to watch them, you’ll notice that their films have many heavier moments amidst the happiness.  They can be scary scenes, or traumatizing or depressing moments.  If you have a kid with you, it’s not surprising for the kid to be emotionally broken by one of those traumatic moments.  This cartoon shows exactly what this is like and has the perfect character to go through it, Skippy Squirrel. 

While watching a movie called Bumbie, an obvious parody of the Disney film Bambi, we witness firsthand what watching Disney films are really like.  The movie is at first sweet and adorable with scenes of a deer frolicking in the forest with his mother and cute animal friends.  However, while Skippy is so invested by the cuteness, he’s caught off guard when the dark and traumatizing part of the film comes, which is likely to happen with most kids watching a Disney film for the first time.  Like what it’s parodying, the part is of Bumbie losing his mom, and Skippy’s feelings are constantly emphasized by deep heavy cries which are thankfully tolerable enough to not turn the audience off from the cartoon. 

Then you consider Slappy’s role.  Her softer and caring side is really shown as she goes to great lengths to get Skippy over his trauma from the movie.  Most of what she does attempts to get Skippy to realize that while cartoon characters may be shown to be killed in some films, they’re still actors who are alive and well when the cameras stop rolling.  The interesting thing about how Slappy teaches this is the magnitude of her demonstrations. First she pulls a huge onslaught of painful physical violence on a random cartoon dog who comes out fine. When Skippy wonders if the same can apply for cartoon characters in a movie, she takes him straight to the original actress of Bumbie’s mom.  The way Slappy goes about it is big on creative uses of the animation medium and even some relatability to real life.  The fun animated bits include getting directly to a plane through a transition with a literal wiper and commenting on the “gratuitous cameos” along the way. 

The relatability comes in when they arrive at the home of Vina Walleen who’s said to play Bumbie’s mom.  At first, Skippy is bored out of his mind as Slappy and Vina reminisce about their cartoon star pasts and can’t fit in on the conversations, like most people dragged to the house of someone’s old friend would.  Then, when Slappy convinces Vina to perform the old Bumbie bit for Skippy, we get an exaggerated yet completely believable look at how actors get into character.  When getting ready for the role, Vina transforms from a crotchety old deer to the sweet loving mother figure she portrayed in the film. 

This is both an interesting portrayal of one of the most common occurrences in show business and a nice way to cap off Skippy’s conflict Slappy took the time to resolve…at least until we end with a reminder that there are other traumatizing Disney moments out there via a parody of Old Yeller.  However, that and other parts of the cartoon only further its appeal with how it looks into bits and pieces on how movies work.  Also, its great heart between Slappy and Skippy worked in help it to stand out as an entry in this comedic series. 10/10

Cartoon Ranking

1. Slappy Goes Walnuts
2. H.M.S. Yakko
3. Hooked on a Ceiling
4. Temporary Insanity
5. Bumbie’s Mom
6. When Rita Met Runt
7. De-zanitized
8. Win Big
9. Taming of the Screwy
10. Piano Rag
11. Cookies for Einstein
12. The Big Candy Store
13. Operation: Lollipop
14. Goodfeathers: The Beginning

Song Ranking

1. Yakko’s Universe
2. Yakko’s World
3. The Monkey Song
4. What Are We?

Miscellaneous Ranking

1. Gilligan’s Island Parody
2. Nighty-Night Toon
3. Flipper Parody

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Warners seek Wally Llama for an answer to their important question, and Pinky and the Brain plot to take over the world at a world leader summit.

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