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Thick as an Ed
Each Ed is defined by certain personality traits that make them stand out from each other. A common way to come up with an idea for a cartoon is to take on of those traits and build a plot around it. While this is a solid approach, sometimes focusing so much on that trait can lead to a stunt in engagement; not enough to bring the product down but not producing the best results either.
At the center of this particular cartoon is Ed, and in the opening moments, there’s a display of a few of his main personality traits. He’s slow and dim-witted as he gets himself ready to take Sarah to Jimmy’s before she decides it’s not worth waiting for her big brother chaperone; then he’s soon in his own imaginary world where he goes about a crayon-drawn version of the cul-de-sac while counting to himself. These are amusing sequences, but they’re disconnected from the main plot that focuses itself on one particular trait of Ed’s.
After being snapped out of his fantasy, Ed is called upon to take part in setting up a scam where the Eds catch frogs and have the other kids use them to compete in a derby. Soon after, the plot kicks in when preparation for the scam faces an obstacle stemming from Ed’s very trait of lacking good hygiene. He’s always had a disregard for being clean ever since the beginning to the point where the others are kind of used to it. The problem here is that he stinks way more than usual, and it isn’t long before the reason is revealed.
Ed’s fouler than average stench is because of a moldy piece of cheese he has in his jacket which he names Sheldon. From here, the cartoon goes in a very monotonous direction with one basic sequence of events at play for the whole runtime. The Eds are at the creek trying to catch frogs, but Ed’s stinky jacket gets in the way as Double D complains about the smell and Eddy complains about the scam being stalled. There’s nothing but the same routine going on in the same location, and that makes the viewing experience kind of dull. In all this time, the only things to offer are complaining, and attempts to get Sheldon out of the jacket that keep going unaccomplished.
To be fair, there is solid entertainment from the overly dramatic ways Double D goes about the situation; the funniest thing to come out of this is a banter with Ed where Double D says an intellectual insult about Sheldon while Ed stands strong while repeating the same insult, “stinky hat.” This bit is very funny, but the rest of what goes on don’t come close in terms of comedy or entertainment.
There’s just so much over-the-top drama from Double D (to the point where he acts like Sheldon has killed him which goes nowhere) and failed attempts from Eddy to forcefully get rid of Sheldon one can take. It also doesn’t really make Ed look good by not showing any care for the discomfort Sheldon is causing his friends. Yes, Ed is dumb, but he’s always had some consideration for others, so his behavior doesn’t feel too right. In the end, Eddy gets rid of Sheldon by throwing him in the creek. Ed is sad about this, but it’s hard to feel for him after all the grief his actions caused. Not only that, but he has another thing that smells really bad, a fish carcass named Angus. The cartoon at least closes on another “stinky hat” banter, so at least it knows where it’s at its most entertaining.
On the whole though, this cartoon is passable, but with one primary character trait driving everything, the experience is a bit of a drag.
C+
Sorry Wrong Ed
Monotonous was the word to describe the first cartoon of this episode. This feeling continues into the following cartoon where the runtime is an ongoing series of pain gags stemming from something so simple and insignificant.
It starts with the Eds watching Rolf frantically bury an antique looking phone. Taken in by the classy appearance, Eddy offers to guard the burial for Rolf when it’s actually a ploy to dig the phone up and take it for himself. After successfully getting the phone, the formulaic routine is put into motion. Basically, every time the phone rings and someone answers it, Eddy gets hurt in a completely outrageous way. That’s just about all there is to this entire cartoon, amounting to nothing more than an exercise to get Eddy hurt practically for the sake of it. Granted, there is solid variety through the different ways Eddy gets hurt. A record is flung off the player and hits him; a spring in his bed breaks and shoots him up the wall; a random ice cream cart rides in by itself and falls on him; and he’s sprayed by a skunk that suddenly appears. In other words, one thing that can’t be faulted here is the imagination with the pain gags coming with a lot of variety.
Creative as the ways Eddy gets hurt are, the fact remains that the context of how they happen is still an issue. While there are different ways he gets hurt whenever he answers the phone, the basic idea is still the same and not very pleasant. Yeah, Eddy may have taken the phone for himself, but what he gets is disproportionate to his actions; it’s nothing but pain for him with no bright sides. The most prominent pain is how the situation puts him into sheer paranoia believing the phone is cursed, and honestly, it’s not too far-fetched to believe that. The ways Eddy gets hurt are very inexplicable with most things coming out of nowhere. Plus, it’s all too convenient that they happen whenever the phone’s answered, so something must be up.
This brings to light another issue that adds to the monotonous feel of the cartoon, how the other Eds react to it. There’s nothing much to say for Ed, but in addition to Eddy getting hurt, there’s a great deal of Double D stating how it’s ridiculous for Eddy to think the phone is cursed. He may be an intellectual individual, but how he reacts to everything make him look frustratingly dense. In real life, his claim that curses aren’t real is true, but here, it has no weight since everything really does happen every time the phone is answered. It’s hard not to believe it has a connection to everything especially since things like the ice cream cart and the skunk come completely out of nowhere after it’s answered. Even things that do have a logical explanation like a later scene of a streetlight falling on Eddy supposedly due to a rusty bolt aren’t convincing. It's in perfect condition at first but then suddenly breaks after the phone is picked up. That has peculiar written all over it, yet Double D is too stubborn to realize that or show any care for Eddy’s pain.
Continuing the trend of poor characterization, the conclusion is big on boneheaded ways of thinking. After failing to give the phone back to Rolf, instead of doing the sensible thing of just destroying the phone or even burying it again, Eddy hastily drops it off with Jonny and Plank. Granted, it’s not totally boneheaded at first as Eddy still getting hurt after giving up the phone does open the idea of the curse being ambiguous even though Double D is still inconsiderate. Then that idea isn’t followed up on at all with it revealed that Jonny and Plank still answer the phone that leads to Eddy’s inexplicable pain. This leaves nothing to think about with the impression that yes, the phone really is cursed. It also begs several questions like why it’s only Eddy who gets hurt no matter who answers it. Shouldn’t Rolf get all this pain since he’s the phone’s real owner? Plus it makes it so glaringly obvious that Eddy would have been cured if he just destroyed the phone.
Overall, it just feels like the cartoon wants to make Eddy suffer for the sake of it. Some humor can be found by the creative ways he’s hurt, but if pain for the sake of pain is all that’s to be offer, it amounts to a pretty weak cartoon.
D-
Series Ranking
1.
An Ed is Born
2. One
+ One = Ed
3.
The Day the Ed Stood Still
4. A Glass of Warm
Ed
5.
It Came from Outer Ed
6. Rent-A-Ed
7.
Once Upon an Ed
8. Fa
La La La Ed
9. Urban
Ed
10.
Ed…Pass it On
11. One
of Those Eds
12. Laugh
Ed Laugh
13. Dawn
of the Eds
14. Don’t
Rain on My Ed
15.
Wish You Were Ed
16.
Dueling Eds
17. Mirror,
Mirror On the Ed
18.
Gimme, Gimme Never Ed
19. Ed-N-Seek
20. Keeping
Up With the Eds
21. Who
Let the Ed In
22. Avast
Ye Eds
23. Flea
Bitten Ed
24. Fool
on the Ed
25. Ready
Set Ed
26. The
Ed-Touchables
27. Who
What Where Ed
28. Dear
Ed
29.
Momma’s Little Ed
30.
Brother, Can You Spare an Ed?
31. Hot
Buttered Ed
32.
Ed or Tails
33. Stop
Look and Ed
34.
See No Ed
35. Shoo
Ed
36.
Rock-a-Bye Ed
37. Little
Ed Blue
38. Ed
in a Halfshell
39. Scrambled
Ed
40. Pain
in the Ed
41.
O-Ed Eleven
42. Vert
Ed Go
43. Ed
Overboard
44. Oath
to an Ed
45.
Ed, Ed, and Away
46. Button
Yer Ed
47.
An Ed in the Bush
48. Read
All About Ed
49. Rambling
Ed
50. Home
Cooked Ed
51. Honor
Thy Ed
52. Floss
Your Ed
53. Quick
Shot Ed
54. Look
Into My Eds
55.
The Luck of the Ed
56. The
Good Ol’ Ed
57.
Is There An Ed in the House?
58. Knock,
Knock Who’s Ed
59. A
Boy and His Ed
60. Eds-Aggerate
61.
Three Squares and an Ed
62. One
Size Fits Ed
63.
Will Work for Ed
64.
Boys Will Be Eds
65. High
Heeled Ed
66. Know-it-All
Ed
67.
For Your Ed Only
68.
Dim Lit Ed
69. Cry
Ed
70. Eeny
Meeny Miney Ed
71. A
Pinch to Grow an Ed
72. Pop
Goes the Ed
73. Hands
Across Ed
74. They
Call Him Mr. Ed
75. An
Ed Too Many
76. Sir
Ed-a-Lot
77. For
the Ed By the Ed
78. Over
Your Ed
79.
From Here to Ed
80. A
Key to My Ed
81. Once
Bitten Twice Ed
82.
X Marks the Ed
83. It’s
Way Ed
84. In
Like Ed
85. A
Twist of Ed
86.
Thick
as an Ed
87.
My Fair Ed
88. To
Sir With Ed
89. Nagged
to Ed
90. Tag
Yer Ed
91.
Sorry
Wrong Ed
92. If
it Smells Like an Ed
93. Your
Ed Here
The next review introduces Captain Melonhead, and the appeal of the Eds' dynamic is questioned further when Eddy and Ed trick Double D into thinking he has a fatal disease.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, it's back to DuckTales.
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