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Episode 28
Moby
or Not Moby
Because they’re so versatile with where they pop up, the
Warners can make an entertaining cartoon out of any situation they’re placed
in.
This time, they suddenly appear on
the deck of the ship, Pequod, belonging to Captain Ahab and his crew hunting
the great white whale, Moby Dick.
They’re comic sensibilities here are mostly used to treat being
part of this whale hunt as if they’re on a cruise. It's a
perfect example of their strength in remaining upbeat and positive in a serious
situation. How they roll with their
interpretation of where they are no matter how off base it is brings a fair
share of jokes and visual gags. They insist that some of Ahab’s crew are
cruise attendants, and use the ship for like min-golf or
waterskiing.
As you’d probably expect,
the true nature of where the Warners have ended up makes itself clear when Ahab
is quick to reach his limit with the kids’ antics. He preaches his goal to
capture Moby Dick to them and forces them to aid in the search since they’re
stowaways. Even with the truth revealed,
it’s great that the Warners hold stick to their humorous approach to the bad
situation. They may be forced into
hunting labor, but that doesn’t stop them from making many more rapid-fire
jokes. Also, being up against a pompous,
self-absorbed, irrational captain like Ahab is makes their
victim a great target for the many ways they taunt and mess with
him. The funniest mind game they
play to me would have to be in response to the statement, “Thare she blows”
which then cuts to Dot randomly acting like Louis
Armstrong.
At the same time, there are a
few times where the Warners’ role flounders into the preachy category when
they’re very open about Ahab calling off his whale hunt. Unlike in the
original Moby Dick where Ahab was
after the whale for revenge of the loss of his leg, here he wants to
capture him to make goods out of his blubber and oil. That's the simple reason why most
whalers do what they do. By the way, I only know this tidbit about the original story because I read an article about it. I never actually read the book. Anyway, with Ahab's motives made so basic, the
Warners' advocates for him to spare the whale feel like vague statements on how
it’s not worth it. There really isn't any genuine weight to their arguments such as what the
whale means to them. Maybe if there was
a comedic twist like Moby being their pet or something, it would come off
stronger.
Even if it can be shallow as
an anti-whaling cartoon, what keeps it standing strong is the fact that there’s
still plenty of room for comedy. A big example is a lively sea shanty
where the Warners swing and drop Ahab all over the ship while saying “killing whales
is stupid.” To finish it all, there’s
another funny display of the Warners messing with Ahab in various ways culminating
with Moby Dick eating him up. Even the only rescue ships coming from the Warners being associated with disasters has good humor.
The structure as a standard preachy
anti-whaling short makes this cartoon not as humorous as it could’ve been. Still, there's a good amount of solid laughs and entertainment from the Warners
going up against the featured antagonist warrants checking it out.
A-
Mesozoic
Mindy
Try not to let the change in setting and time period fool you. No matter where a Mindy and Buttons cartoon unfolds, the content is almost always routine. Mindy begins the short in a harness. Her parents tell Buttons to watch her as they leave. Mindy breaks free to chase something cute prompting Buttons to go after her, and chaos ensues that gets Buttons hurt. Mindy still gets home safe while Buttons gets scolded for somehow breaking a specific rule. Even if the premise is formulaic, there’s enough appeal to these characters. They’re really cute for one thing, and the different settings have their own assortment of suitable gags and explorations. This fits animation’s quality of transporting audiences anywhere. The latter positive aspect is prominent here set in prehistoric times giving a whole new atmosphere.
It’s apparent in the opening scene of
dinosaurs grazing in a field and then looking up at something off screen
stomping toward them suggesting a different approach. Then at the last second, the stomping is
revealed to come from Mindy as a cave girl. It’s obvious we’ll be getting the
same Mindy and Buttons setup from here, but it’s an effective play on
expectations. Adding to the atmosphere
is the caveman talk. In my experience,
prehistoric cartoons usually don’t come off as very entertaining mainly because
of the inaudible language. It may be
reflective of the dawn of time, but it just feels like people walking around
like mindless fools speaking gibberish, which isn’t much fun. Here, the caveman talk is much more tolerable
since gibberish words are comically put between comprehensible English terms.
Mindy, meanwhile, is completely out of the setup and talks as normal as ever.
The caveman talk also makes for some decent
jokes. During the part where Mindy asks what two people are doing and
why, and every question is greeted with inaudible mumbling. A following scene of them discovering the
wheel and fire where they mumble about their findings and
top it off with an audible “Who knew?” also works in a comedic sense.
There's something funny about deadpan and blunt responses to such huge discoveries.
As for Buttons, here a sabretooth dinosaur
creature, the ways he gets hurt while chasing Mindy who runs after an egg with a hatching dinosaur, while not really bad, aren't all that funny. They’re mostly just him
running into dinosaurs who either give him mad looks for climbing on him or
slam him into the ground which don’t lead to any funny expressions. There are some strong humorous bits. They include Buttons running uncontrollably on a caveman’s wheel and getting himself eaten whole by a mountain lion who he beats up while inside.
However, that’s only a few strong gags out of several average ones.
There are also genuine stakes when Mindy faces
the real danger of a mother dinosaur looking for her baby. It's an
interesting change of pace since Mindy doesn’t notice the trouble she’s in. Even so, she doesn’t see this is a big
deal, prompting a great moment from Buttons to protect her. It doesn’t last long since the mother backs
off when her baby finally hatches and flings Mindy and Buttons back home. We may not get a lot of great bravery
from Buttons back there, but his protection of Mindy is nicely followed up by a
hug from her in the end. As proven before, moments like these make his usual scolding more
tolerable.
On the whole, this cartoon is
mostly standard Mindy and Buttons fare, but with a few solid gags and a nice
take on the prehistoric setting, it’s worth checking out as something fun.
B
The Good,
the Boo, and the Ugly
Also working in its favor is the absurdity of the idea of a realistically
portrayed giant chicken being seen as so amazing brought to life. Each part of the
formula even has some variety to how it’s staged.
This is because this odd premise is able to fit into any genre, such as
that of this cartoon, a Spaghetti Western. The genre is hilariously depicted by a scene
of two Western residents eating spaghetti though a subtitle explaining the joke
really is not needed. The Western motifs
give the oncoming Chicken Boo formula a unique feel from the look of the setting, the background music, and
the way people talk.
It also stands out
for there being a need for Chicken Boo to come as opposed to most appearances
where he’s already present and ready to do his thing. As in most Westerns, outlaws are rampant in
the featured town, and there are no sheriffs around to stop them, so Chicken
Boo arrives on the scene as a new sheriff. His more elaborate than usual disguise hiding
his identity and his traits emotionless state as a realistic chicken work in
his favor as a figure with no personality. If you think about it, that's the
best way to describe someone who’d dare face an outlaw, and it’s this quality
of his that grants him the town’s trust to face the outlaw. It’s funny enough to see a huge chicken walk
into the fray of a Western battle. The impressive thing about the setup is that Chicken
Boo impressively disarms the outlaw and ties him up all while never breaking
from his usual posture.
He’s so
impressive in the heat of battle that it’s kind of unfair that he’s chased off
for being revealed as a chicken in the end.
Maybe it’s because the townspeople have an apparent thing against
chicken feathers, but this chicken just saved their freedom. Why does it even matter who he really
is? It goes to show that the formulaic
nature has its ups and downs. They have
their own distinctive feel for the genre they tie into, but ending every
cartoon with Chicken Boo being chastised for his species isn’t always
tolerable. At least that’s more than I
can say for Mindy and Buttons cartoons which have the same feel no matter what and the mean-spirited ending is mostly always intolerable.
Anyhow, if you’re into anything of the
Western genre, with the Chicken Boo formula intact, this cartoon is an
interesting one to see to say the least.
B+
Cartoon Ranking
- Jockey For Position
- Sir Yaksalot
- Potty Emergency
- Babblin’ Bijou
- I Got Yer Can
- Moby or Not Moby
- The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
- Mesozoic Mindy
Miscellaneous Ranking
- Testimonials
- You Risk Your Life
The next Animaniacs review gets into the Halloween spirit with the Warners in a Dracula cartoon, and Rita and Runt in an amazing Frankenstein cartoon.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the "Glory Days" of OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
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