First of all, it’s strange that
this cartoon acts as an introduction to Coach Wittenberg even though we’ve seen
him in a previous cartoon which we get an acknowledgement of here. Other than that, what we get here is still
very enjoyable. Much of the enjoyment
comes from what we learn about what Coach Wittenberg got up to after being a
basketball coach. That job ended for him
when he got a lot of complaints about being a harsh coach that resulted in not
only him getting fired, but also getting kicked out of his house since he’s
lost jobs so many times already. Now,
the only thing he can get for a job is a janitor at the local bowling
alley. However, when Arnold’s bowling
team needs a coach, he gets a chance to get back to the job he originally
had. With this interesting information
about him out of the way, we witness the behavior that got him fired on display
as the first day with him as bowling coach is filled with moments of him being
a tough jerk who overworks the team every time they fail to get a strike. Thankfully, unlike in “Benchwarmer” where
Coach Wittenberg’s flaws were so overbearing that they made him unlikable, this
cartoon shows that despite resorting to teaching all there is to know by being
mean, he does have a sense of morality.
When Arnold comes to give him advice on how to be a better coach, he’s
open to learning it. As a result, thanks
to a lesson in “psycho-cology” he earns the team’s respect as a coach as shown
when they start to have fun with what they’re practicing, and even do a lot
better. This shows that Coach Wittenberg
has improved a lot, but in a smart move of humanization, we see that this
lesson has not completely changed him.
When the bowling match arrives, he realizes that the team he’s coaching
is playing against a team coached by his wife.
The following sequence of the match going on ties into Coach
Wittenberg’s desire to win. He starts to
lose his cool and become an unlikable coach again when his wife’s team starts
winning, and in that case, it’s believable that he’d lose his act. In the end though, he’s able to put the
thoughts of the team ahead of his personal desires, and goes on to emphasize
the kids having fun instead of winning…even though this tactic has them win
anyway, not that I see a problem with that. What’s important though is that what goes on
here help make the title character a flawed, yet believable character who is
fully capable of learning what’s right.
He may be a tough coach, but he’s worth spending a cartoon with. In his honor, I end this review with his two
words on getting through life: strained beets. 9/10
Four-Eyed
Jack
For this cartoon, we’ve got another
urban legend-focused story and those are always fun. They’ve got creative premises, make for some
interesting character interactions, and take every opportunity to build a scary
atmosphere which most people associated with family shows rarely do. Anyway, in the case of this cartoon, it
features Arnold and Gerald coming across an old pair of glasses. Grandpa tells them that they belonged to an
old boarder nicknamed Four-Eyed Jack. Jack’s
story is that he spent all his time in the boarding house basement coming up
with bean experiments. One night, he got
caught in an explosion of one of his experiments, and ever since then, his
spirit has haunted the boarding house and continues to do so until he finds his
glasses. That, to say the least, is an
interesting backstory for this ghostly figure, so it’s easy to get behind the
ultimate decision to try and track down Four-Eyed Jack to learn more about
him. During Arnold and Gerald’s pursuit
of the ghost, the rest of the boarders join in and they add their own charm to
the pursuit. We have Oskar being
superstitious of the ghost as he holds onto a horseshoe all throughout, Ernie
messing with the boys’ beliefs in the spirits, and Mr. Hyunh just happily going
along for the hunt while pointing out how ghosts are “very creepy” in his own
foreign way. These character moments are
highly enjoyable, as is the greatly crafted spooky atmosphere, particularly
with how the halls in the boarding house in the dark are drawn, not to mention
one moment where papers start blowing around for no plausible reason. That moment is really the only time Four-Eyed
Jack’s presence is believable because most of the ghost hunt consists of Arnold
hearing noises only for them to turn out to be something else. The atmosphere makes his belief in it being
the ghost understandable, but since the noises constantly turn out to be
something else, it’s easy to predict that the ghost hunt will lead to nothing
of substance. Sure enough, the only
thing everyone learns in the end of the hunt is that the boarding house has
another bathroom. However, the cartoon is nice enough not to
make the ghost story pointless by throwing in an obligatory ending that
suggests that maybe Four-Eyed Jack isn’t as fake as he seems which in turn
further shows off the atmosphere.
Ultimately, this may not be the best urban legend-centered cartoon, but
there’s a lot of memorable moments from the characters and the dark atmosphere
that make it well worth a watch. 9.5/10
The Rankings
1. Pigeon Man
2. Arnold’s Christmas
3. Harold’s Bar Mitzvah
4. Haunted Train
5. Stoop Kid
6. Arnold’s Hat
7. Wheezin’ Ed
8. Spelling Bee
9. Helga’s Makeover
10. Mugged
11. False Alarm
12. Magic Show
13. Tutoring Torvald
14. The Baseball
15. Olga Comes Home
16. Four-Eyed Jack
17. The List
18. Das Subway
19. The Vacant Lot
20. Downtown as Fruits
21. The Old Building
22. Field Trip
23. The Sewer King
24. Coach Wittenberg
25. Hall Monitor
26. Sally’s Comet
27. Roughin’ It
28. Gerald Comes Over
29. Crush on Teacher
30. 6th Grade Girls
31. The Little Pink Book
32. 24 Hours to Live
33. Abner Come Home
34. Arnold as Cupid
35. Snow
36. Eugene’s Bike
37. Biosquare
38. Door #16
39. Heat
40. Helga’s Boyfriend
41. Part Time Friends
42. Benchwarmer
43. Operation Ruthless
44. World Records
45. Cool Jerk
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the 24th episode of the season: "Tour de Pond/Teacher's Strike."
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