Dangerous Lumber
Even if you’re not into sports, cartoons of this show on the
subject can still be appealing, only using a featured sport as a backdrop for the
a certain character's entertaining escapade. That’s the case with this cartoon, and it
does offer an interesting conflict for Arnold to get through, even if it has a
few issues with execution.
The featured
sport is baseball and Arnold proves to be very good at it, getting a hit every
time he goes up to bat. Though this
means he never strikes out, he also has a bad habit of hurting people every
time he hits the ball. This isn’t even
an exaggeration, someone always gets hit with the ball every time Arnold is up
to bat which is why the bat is called dangerous lumber whenever he uses it.
Being a prominently good and moral kid,
Arnold feels bad that he hurts someone every time he plays baseball, and he
even considers stopping playing altogether.
It certainly doesn’t help that he still keeps hurting people in enclosed areas like a ball shooter facility and arcade baseball
games. It’s honestly sad to see Arnold
being such a danger whenever he plays a sport he legitimately likes. However, there's a big issue of the conflict.
Arnold may hit the ball in the direction of other people, but there’s
absolutely no reason why they can’t just run out of the way from the ball. Or better yet, since the outfielders are
meant to try and catch the ball, maybe they’d avoid getting hit if they did
that. The blame shouldn’t all be on
Arnold when everyone around him can easily look out for the ball and prevent
the pain, but that rarely happens. It kind
of gets frustrating when they tell Arnold to stop hurting them even though this
is out of his control and part of the problem is on their accord.
Fortunately, the magnitude is softened when
everyone acknowledges that Arnold’s problem really isn’t a big deal since he
still hits the ball every time he’s up to bat. They also keep convincing him to
play on account that the opposing team they’re up against consists of walking one-dimensional 5th grade bully brute stereotypes, including
Wolfgang, for their next game.
Understandably, Arnold is too moral and concerned for others’ well-being
to play baseball again, and that keeps him likable and sympathetic. We also get a nice play on the
events of the Season 1 cartoon, “The Baseball” when we not only find out what
Mickey Kaline’s been doing since retiring from baseball, but he also helps
Arnold through his problem like how Arnold once helped him. He shares an old
baseball story of another player with dangerous lumber, and how he overcame it
by being confident enough to swing the bat and play his best.
Arnold’s inspired by the story, and shows up
at the big game, ultimately hitting a home run, beating the 5th
graders. It’s unfortunate that he ends
up hitting Mickey Kalie anyway, but at least him not knowing this lets him keep his confidence. That alone is a
great strength to this cartoon. It’s not about the sport, but a story of a
character getting through a shortcoming set against the sport making it
appealing to everyone sports fan or not.
Though not perfect in execution, it’s good enough to enjoy and relate
to. 8/10
Mr. Hyunh
Goes Country
Mr. Hyunh, may not seem interesting apart from being an
immigrant border who stands out from everyone else. However, when he’s the focus, there’s proof
that he’s more complex
than he lets on. While what we learn about him
in this cartoon isn’t as deep as his war-related past revealed in a previous special,
it’s still an unusual yet remarkable thing to Mr. Hyunh that relates more to
him than one may think.
Given Mr.
Hyunh’s nationality, it would be hard to believe that he’d make a good country
singer, but Arnold and Gerald hear him sing a country ballad and he sounds
amazing. It’s almost like a completely
different person from when he talks. He
also writes his own songs, showing that he truly does have what it takes to be
a great country music star. Gerald sees
a huge monetary opportunity with Mr. Hyunh’s talents, so he and Arnold set out
to make the Vietnamese boarder into a star.
They convince him to make a CD of his songs, and in a nice callback to
“Sally’s Comet”, they make it so that the song goes on the radio, and just like
that, Mr. Hyunh hits the big time.
Now’s
the best time to talk about the song that makes Mr. Hyunh a big shot, “The
Simple Things.” I think it’s one of the
absolute best songs written for an animated series, and not just because I
enjoy country music. It has the makings
of a memorable musical sequence with a soothing greatly performed melody immersed in a country aesthetic, the perfect singer to perform it, and creative lyrics to get its universal message
across. It celebrates the pleasures of
living a simple life with only a few necessities and how you can be happy with
just them as opposed to big flashy goods offered you. It’s a great musical work on its own, and it
makes sense that it starts Mr. Hyunh’s popularity boost.
In addition, the song ties into the story’s
direction. Mr. Hyunh is content with his
simple life of living in the boarding house and working in a restaurant, so
when everyone likes his music and he gets big publicity and mobs of fans, he
feels uncomfortable with the whole thing.
Not helping is getting called for bigger gigs in practically no time at
all. He keeps up his skills and is
praised for what he does, but it’s clear that the star life doesn’t suits
him. Mr. Hyunh’s popularity hits its
peek when he makes it to the Grand Ole Opry, the biggest place for country
music concerts, on the verge of going on tour.
He’s about to go through with the plans despite his discomfort, but
confesses to Arnold that he’s really doing this to make his friends happy. Fortunately, Arnold understands Mr. Hyunh’s
feelings and reminds him that in the end, Mr. Hyunh has the power to choose
where he wants his life to go.
So, to
finish, we get a grand finale where he claims to the whole audience that he’d
rather live a simple life than be a star, and as he performs, nearly everyone
looks with admiration, accepting his choice.
It’s incredibly pleasing to see Mr. Hyunh be accepted for who he is and
what he wants to do, and is fitting of the meaning of the song, which we hear all of as the cartoon comes to an end to my delight.
That leaves us with an amazing cartoon with strong development for a
character not often explored, a message for all aspiring stars to do what’s
right for them and not worry about what other people think, and an amazing song
that nicely ties into the plot. It’s
crystal clear I’ll stay right here and have this cartoon to remind me to enjoy
the simple things. 10/10
The Ranking
- Helga Blabs it All
- Harold the Butcher
- Crabby Author
- Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
- Curly Snaps
- The Aptitude Test
- Pre-Teen Scream
- Olga Gets Engaged
- Oskar Gets a Job
- Rich Kid
- Dangerous Lumber
- Helga and the Nanny
- Stinky Goes Hollywood
- Arnold Betrays Iggy
The next Hey Arnold review features Sid claim Arnold's room as his own to impress Lorenzo, and Helga is forced to fight an even bigger bully than her, Big Patty.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is a review of Voltron: Legendary Defender Season 2, specifically "Greening the Cube."
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