The material in this set of episodes that
focus on Huey, Dewey, and Louie seem to cover a common theme.That theme would be having these young boys
using business to enhance their desires for fun only to learn that business is
far more complex than they let on.So
far, they’ve tried stretching the truth about the day of the week to get more
allowance, and doubling their money, both of which resulting in havoc.The trend continues with this episode where
the nephews believe that they can run a successful business only to realize the
complexities the hard way.
A nuisance
about the local malt shop having only three milkshake flavors has the boys wish
that they had their own business so they can run a shop with all sorts of
flavors.As their uncle Scrooge informs
them that they’re too young for that, a series of events put the boys’ desire
into motion.Scrooge suddenly comes down
with a case of loot lice as a result of his obsession with maintaining his
fortune.A lot of time is spent on him
building up to discovering his condition via a comedic scene of him going to
the cheapest clinic and being unable to convince the doctor he’s rich.Then there’s a long bit of him being placed
in the hospital for a week while the lice are fumigated all while sharing a
room with one of the Beagle Boys.The
point here is that there’s so much focus on Scrooge that it can easily catch
the audience off guard when Huey, Dewey, and Louie eventually take back the
spotlight.
Fortunately, once they do,
there’s interesting and well-realized subject matter for the rest of the
episode.The boys (as well as Bubba the
caveduck who’s just kind of there) end up answering calls on Scrooge’s private
business line since he’s not around to do it.Their innocence of having a company buy a baseball team and suggest
trading baseball cards surprisingly go well.When they end up coming clean to a bunch of investors and dealers,
they’re impressed with how well they handled the deals, and the boys use this
as an opportunity.They claim themselves
as the heads of McDuck Enterprises, and with their new power, they set out to
make business deals that fit their personal desires for fun.For one thing, they set up a chain of malt
shops that has all sorts of flavors like they wanted which work out well.Then they take things further with other
ideas for products like FM radio earrings and their own car design.Considering that they pulled off their
previous business deals well, it does seem like they know what they’re
doing.They even work the money bin’s
security system well when the entire Beagle family tries to rob it.
However, it turns out for how well the boys
seemed to handle things, they still prove that their youth is their own undoing
in business deals.Their product ideas
prove too ridiculous to be successful, resulting in many failed deals.The investors are now in debt after spending
so much on making said products, resulting in Scrooge’s money bin being
completely emptied.The boys have the
right idea to make money on their own in a day, but it’s still not enough.Once Scrooge is well enough to come back, the
way events play out for the rest of the episode gets pretty messy.First, the boys’ attempts to keep Scrooge
away from the bin go completely wasted when he notices it empty anyway.Then he's suddenly sent back to the hospital
after the emotional shock of the sight.The boys are with him for a while which looks like they’re going to
explain to Scrooge what happened.Instead, there’s a sudden cut to a scene where they’re running away
without anything to establish that’s what they were planning.
During this plan, they find a way out of the
mess when they learn from a policeman that investors can’t make business deals
with young kids like them; serving as the business lesson for the episode, this
is a matter of breaking child labor laws.It’s all a clever way of working in a real world issue, but this is
where the logic must be questioned.If
child labor laws are a big matter, how could none of the investors have
considered them when making those deals with the boys?Surely, they would have easily been able to
tell that they just can’t make deals with literal children just by looking at
who they were talking do.It kind of
makes this loophole just a matter of plot convenience with it only being
considered at the right time.On top of
that, while it easily solves the problem by getting Scrooge’s fortune back the
way it was in an instant, they seem to be absolved from owning up to their
mistake.Scrooge is just happy things
are back to normal, and the episode ends with the boys easily moving on with
their lives.Some could say it’s a mixed
message for the boys to not face any consequences, but they did still learn and
fixed their mistake, and there’s no harm done now.Overall, unlike things like the investors
being too dense to consider child labor laws until it matters, this direction
is fine.
Ultimately, this episode is a
solid continuation of the trend of working in interesting business lessons into
childhood antics.It still suffers from
sudden shifts in focus and resolutions feeling like conveniences, but it
doesn’t make the merits any less notable.
B+
The Ranking
1.Blue Collar Scrooge
2.My Mother the Psychic
3.Allowance Day
4.The Big Flub
5.The Land of Trala La
6.Yuppy Ducks
7.The Good Muddahs
8.Dough Ray Me
9.A Case of Mistaken Identity
10.Bubba’s Big Brainstorm
11.Beaglemania
12.Metal Attraction
13.Bubbeo and Juliet
The next episode features Scrooge stuck in an arranged marriage with Ma Beagle, but first a look at an episode of the reboot.
If you would like to check out other DuckTales reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
Some of this show’s most memorable works have a creative
concept that really takes advantage of its potential for quality
entertainment.With this cartoon, its
concept is central to the quirks of some of its characters and their reaction
to a notable inconvenience.
The
characters in question here are the typically most dreaded in the cast, the
Kanker sisters.They’re awakened one
night and discover that their home has been invaded.Rather than their damaged furniture and
appliances, their concern is on a missing ship-in-a-bottle, a family heirloom
they clearly have a huge attachment to.In a way, their ties to the ship-in-a-bottle, shown to their distress of
it going missing, does a lot of good for the Kankers as characters.Giving them a sentimental attachment to
something gives them shreds of humanity which is good for them considering
their status as relentless harassing thugs who can’t take a hint.
There isn’t much humanity in how they set out
to look for their ship-in-a-bottle which is terrorizing the entire cul-de-sac
by breaking into houses and assaulting all the kids.However, even then, with the context of their
actions in mind, some could say that their so devoted to this specific treasure
that they’re willing to do anything to get it back.It is a natural response to forget all logic
and common sense in the name of sincere devotion.Also, as a creative scenario, the Kanker’s
wreaking havoc on the cul-de-sac is well-executed.It’s a somewhat ridiculous setup with the
Kankers ready to cause harm over something as simple as a ship-in-a-bottle, but
that’s what makes it entertaining and amusing.It works together with the just how destructive the havoc as a result of
their actions looks.From the moment
Rolf’s farm animals react franticly sensing a disturbance and Rolf rushing them
to the cellar, danger is clearly imminent.The danger is well displayed with a threatening red sky, and whenever
the Kankers show up, there are earthquakes, immediate house destructions, and
all around carnage.All the other kids
are powerless to stop them and are reduced to hiding in fear, all because of
what’s known as a “Kanker hissy fit.” Just a name like that for something so
seriously dangerous makes what unfolds just as humorous as it is legitimately
threatening.
As for the ship-in-a-bottle
itself, this would be where the Eds come in.In a callback to another very memorable and greatly executed creative
concept, Eddy and Double D are called to retrieve Ed from Kevin’s refrigerator.He’s been eating while sleepwalking again,
and in his travels, he got a ship-in-a-bottle stuck on his finger.Naturally, the Eds’ goal for the cartoon
becomes trying to get the ship-in-a-bottle off of Ed’s finger.There’s a variety of extreme attempts that
tend to come from a trio who regularly makes simple tasks more difficult from
trying to forcefully pull it off; fighting Ed’s resistance to soap; and Ed
insisting they can remove the bottle by using sticky tape while he jumps from a
ceiling.These scenes are fun enough,
but they don’t reach the same impact as the Kankers’ destruction.The funniest part about them is how the Eds
are so in tune to their task that they’re oblivious to all the painfully
obvious carnage going on around them.
There is a clever way of how both paths cross.When getting sticky tape, they come across
Sarah who aggressively says she’s hiding, but they don’t care to find out what
she’s hiding from.Then the Kankers show
up and attack Sarah, an honestly welcome change of pace for this usual
aggressive brat.Then, Sarah ends up
proving resourceful remembering just one brief moment of her encounter with the
Eds, proving helpful to the Kankers when they mention their
ship-in-a-bottle.
This leads into the
cartoon’s best gag where the Kankers suddenly show up at Double D's doorstep as
he and Eddy try another attempt to free Ed’s finger.There’s total silence as Double D slowly
locks the door lasting for a good number of seconds.Then suddenly, noise goes all out as he
freaks out to the other Eds on how the ship-in-a-bottle belongs to the
Kankers.The pace becomes frantic as the
Eds hide from the Kankers in fear of the usual harassment, and the audience is
right to think that too given their dynamic.However, a slight subversion of expectation occurs, as the Kankers uncover them from under the sink, simply take the ship-in-a-bottle off
Ed’s finger, and leave.The fact that
they just stop their rampage after getting back what’s theirs and don’t even
follow through with their lust for the Eds may just present the Kankers at
their best here.It’s best not to expect
anything notable to come from this though.Still, there’s something to appreciate about the Eds not having to
suffer too much when all is said and done.Even Eddy now getting his finger stuck in the sink is a very tame
misfortune by comparison to how the Eds usually suffer.
Overall, this whole cartoon is an impressive
ridiculous scenario that stands out not just for how far they go out with tonal
effects, but the portrayal of the central characters.
A
Hand Me Down Ed
Creative
concepts continue to keep the focus going into the companion to the previous
cartoon for this episode.While
character work remains a key element to this featured concept, the overall drive
is something especially out there.
It
all unfolds with the emergence of something as simple as a boomerang flying
into the scene.The focus on it is all
the indication needed to know that it will have an important role to play
here.
Then comes Jimmy going about his
day innocently playing with his toys and running into the usual misfortune with
Kevin inadvertently knocking over a mailbox, destroying them.Jimmy then wants to beat up Kevin for showing
no remorse for what he was put through, but laments being a weakling.This is where the boomerang comes in as it
lands near Jimmy and attracts his attention.Then comes the twist when Jimmy picks it up, and for an inexplicable
reason, he’s transformed into his natural opposite.Instead of a weakling, Jimmy becomes an
ultra-buff muscle man and gives Kevin quite a beating.He doesn’t remain this way though, for when
the boomerang is out of his possession, Jimmy is back to his normal frail
self.This ultimately puts the concept
in motion that this is no ordinary boomerang; it’s a mystical artifact with
supernatural powers to change anyone who touches it.With all that established, the rest of the
cartoon is set up to show more instances of the concept at work.
At the same time, it further explores the
extent of the boomerang’s transformations.It would be easy to assume that all it does is make everyone act like
the opposite versions of their true selves.
Sarah, who’s usually aggressive and at this point is ready to hit Ed for
messing up her room, becomes sweet and friendly when touching the boomerang.This makes for an amusing moment where the
Eds anticipate a hit, go along with Sarah being nice, and get a surprise hit
when Sarah loses the boomerang.
However,
the boomerang isn’t just about natural opposites.When Rolf gets hit with it, he’s transformed
into a loud opera singer who doesn’t even sing in proper English.That’s not too opposite from his usual
personality who’s talkative and hard to understand being a foreigner.And why an opera singer? That slight
randomness adds to the mystery and intrigue of this boomerang.How does it decide what a character should be
changed to?Where did it even come from?
How did its powers come to be?The remarkable thing is that none of these
questions matters.The main goal is to
show the boomerang at work in how in affects the characters it comes into
contact.Any question is just up to
interpretation as the audience gets to know the concept.
With that, it’s set up to bring about the
grand finale to the cartoon when it works its magic on the Eds.For Ed, it goes for a direct opposite by
making the nonsensical oaf into a major league intellectual writing a novel.It brings excitement from his peers (or at
least from Double D) that puberty unlocked his intellect, but Ed is back to a
buffoon rolling around when he loses the boomerang.When Eddy gets it, he gets somewhat of an
opposite change where instead of being mean and bossy, he’s caring and motherly
to a suitcase he’s carrying.Why a
mother though? And how do his clothes and hair drastically change?
Double D gets the most random change of all
that actually plays up his established neurotic side.He becomes sensitively hot to the point where
he needs to strip himself of his clothes.Even then, being hot was never that big a thing with him, playing into
the randomness of the boomerang.No one
can predict what it can do to people.The spectacle of the ending is how rapid the Eds change from the
boomerang’s transformation to their true selves.Their different personalities and shock at
how they look when they’re normal are so sporadic yet blend together well
nicely with dramatic performance to enhance all portrayals.
Then for a grand finish, all the Eds end up
in a tree with the boomerang holding them by the neck.They close the cartoon in the characters the
boomerang put themselves in, and they all give a well-defined performance to
really sell the work of the forces that compel them.It also works as a hilarious capper to a
well-realized creative concept making for a memorable experience helped by
interesting character directions and sheer absurdity.
A+
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.Hand
Me Down Ed
19.Gimme, Gimme Never Ed
20.Ed-N-Seek
21.Keeping
Up With the Eds
22.Who
Let the Ed In
23.Avast
Ye Eds
24.Flea
Bitten Ed
25.Fool
on the Ed
26.Ready
Set Ed
27.The
Ed-Touchables
28.Who
What Where Ed
29.Dear
Ed
30.Momma’s Little Ed
31.Run
For Your Ed
32.Brother, Can You Spare an Ed?
33.Hot
Buttered Ed
34.Ed or Tails
35.Stop
Look and Ed
36.See No Ed
37.Shoo
Ed
38.Rock-a-Bye Ed
39.Little
Ed Blue
40.Ed
in a Halfshell
41.Scrambled
Ed
42.Pain
in the Ed
43.O-Ed Eleven
44.Vert
Ed Go
45.Ed
Overboard
46.Postcards
from the Ed
47.Oath
to an Ed
48.Ed, Ed, and Away
49.Button
Yer Ed
50.An Ed in the Bush
51.Read
All About Ed
52.Rambling
Ed
53.Home
Cooked Ed
54.Honor
Thy Ed
55.Stuck
in Ed
56.Floss
Your Ed
57.Robbin’
Ed
58.Quick
Shot Ed
59.Look
Into My Eds
60.The Luck of the Ed
61.The
Good Ol’ Ed
62.Is There An Ed in the House?
63.Knock,
Knock Who’s Ed
64.A
Boy and His Ed
65.Eds-Aggerate
66.Three Squares and an Ed
67.One
Size Fits Ed
68.Will Work for Ed
69.Boys Will Be Eds
70.High
Heeled Ed
71.Know-it-All
Ed
72.For Your Ed Only
73.Dim Lit Ed
74.Cry
Ed
75.Eeny
Meeny Miney Ed
76.A
Pinch to Grow an Ed
77.Pop
Goes the Ed
78.Hands
Across Ed
79.They
Call Him Mr. Ed
80.An
Ed Too Many
81.Sir
Ed-a-Lot
82.For
the Ed By the Ed
83.Over
Your Ed
84.From Here to Ed
85.A
Key to My Ed
86.Once
Bitten Twice Ed
87.X Marks the Ed
88.It’s
Way Ed
89.Here’s
Mud in Your Ed
90.In
Like Ed
91.A
Twist of Ed
92.A
Case of Ed
93.Thick as an Ed
94.My Fair Ed
95.To
Sir With Ed
96.Nagged
to Ed
97.Tag
Yer Ed
98.Stiff Upper Ed
99.Sorry Wrong Ed
100.If
it Smells Like an Ed
101.Your
Ed Here
Ed Edd n Eddy Season 4 will conclude with a review of one more full half hour special on growing up and learning not to take childhood for granted.
Next time, it's more DuckTales reviews.
If you would like to check out other Ed Edd n Eddy reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
