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Episode 36
Critical
Condition
Watching and reading reviews of TV shows, movies, and
cartoons is one of my favorite pastimes.
This is a huge reason why I decided to create this blog. In my experience, more critical reviews go
either ways. Some of them are
constructive and try to point out good things in something overall bad. Others have nothing but relentless insults,
belittlement of anyone who likes what they don’t, and hardly any good
explanations of why things fail. The
latter are the negative reviews that hardly ever work, and they’re explored in
this Slappy Squirrel cartoon.
The
critics here are Hisskill and Eggbert, obvious parodies of the famed Siskel and
Ebert who review a Looney Tunes laserdisc.
The setup of their review show rings close to home for anyone with the
slightest Siskel and Ebert knowledge.
The use of actual clips from Looney Tunes cartoons on the laserdisc adds
to the authenticity.
When it comes to
Slappy Squirrel, Hisskill and Eggbert do not hold her in the same regards as all
the other Looney Tunes at all. In fact,
their analysis of her cartoons simply boil down to her not being funny and that
they hate her. This review falls into
the bad types of negative reviews.
Instead of being constructive through explaining how Slappy falls flat,
it's just shallow insults. It feels
like they’re trying to make Slappy look bad instead of giving a fair
review. This is especially felt with
each insult personified as a punch.
Being funny is all Slappy lives for, and since actual critics are just
going to shred her comedy to pieces without any fair pointers, it’s just
disrespectful.
Out of this, the cartoon
goes in an interesting direction when Skippy initiates getting back at the
critics, all with the explosive gags his aunt taught him. It’s a change of pace that shows how
influential Slappy and her comedy are.
From here, it’s just Slappy and Skippy retaliating against Hisskill and
Eggbert through cartoonish physical violence in a cinematic setting of a film
premiere. There are lots of hilarious
ways the squirrels mess with the critics.
Some of them are basic tricks that result in them getting kicked or
falling off a building. Others give
characters a funny edge. Skippy tricks Hisskell and Eggbert into bribing him with
money to get into the theater and later says he’s using the money for Vegas instead of
college. Among the more creative gags is
when Slappy gives Egbert a literal tub of popcorn, and talks to him while
buttering it, soon revealing that the butter was made from his body fat.
“Spew!” indeed.
All these hijinks go to show that
Slappy truly is versatile with comedy, and lead to a grand finish when
Hisskill and Eggbert finally make it to the movie. Getting front row seats not only allow the
critics to analyze the movie better.
It also puts them right in the movie where they’re put through a big
finish complete with a dinosaur chase, a missile explosion, and several visual
gags. All these gags pay off in the end
when Hisskill and Eggbert see that
Slappy’s comedy does work after all. It
could also be that they’re saying it out of fear of getting blown up again, but
the ending works either way. It’s a
great way to bring down egos of haughty critics who relentlessly bash any work they please. Unfolding
in a fitting movie-themed environment certainly helps.
Above all, it makes Slappy, and Skippy for
that matter, long very strong and funnier than ever for daring to challenge
their judges. For sure it’s a cartoon teaching
how to perform proper criticism you’ll never forget.
A+
The Three
Muska-Warners
At this point, it’s pretty much a given that if the Warners
star in a cartoon that has to do with royalty, it’s going to be one of the
show’s best performances. Considering
this, it goes without saying that I really love this cartoon.
As many could probably guess from the title,
it features the Warners in a parody of The
Three Musketeers. Their presence is
required when the king, nervous about his uprising subjects, gets a vision that
a “viper” is coming for him that night.
With the catalyst for the Warners to come in place, they show up for
nonstop hilarity for the rest of what’s to come.
It starts right at the moment they suddenly
show up behind the king while everyone else expects them to enter in time with
their musical introduction. Instantly,
their jokes come at a rapid fire pace working in any random thing. They turn the scene into a game show, add a
complex math problem to the usual “all for one” phrase, and give a lively
musical number they apparently don’t do anymore. It’s just the Warners approaching any
situation the only way they know, and it’s top-notch entertainment all the way.
Along with their antics working off the
king’s over-the-top paranoia, you get a good sense of the cartoon’s
direction. In that regard, the direction
really delivers the goods. When the king
goes to bed and the Warners stay outside to guard him from the viper, strong
comedy is mined from their interactions.
Dot acts scared to go into the king’s dark room, and when he goes in to
check for the “poor defenseless girl,” she and her brothers surprise her by
already being there. Then, they say the
coast is clear but shoot down any possible relief by showing an actual clear
sea coast. Wakko taste test the king’s
sandwich for poison, but then starts acting sick…because it has
mayonnaise. The interactions are topped off
when the king finally decides to retire for the night. The Warners respond to this with a faux
retirement party and a lullaby that starts soothing, but catches the king
off-guard when they mention the monster coming for him. While their attitude is debatable with a
viper after the king while they mess with his fear, it’s hardly a sting. I mean, inappropriate as it may seem, the
Warners’ antics still bring on a hilarious response, mainly because the king’s
fear feels played for laughs too. Plus,
they seem willing to do their job and protect the king despite everything.
However, what makes their light-hearted
approach to their job and constantly messing with the king work is the payoff
to the whole conflict. While guarding
the king’s bedroom door in various ways, they hear the king scream for what
could be the viper. However, there’s a
catch to all this. There was never a
viper after the king at all. It was
simply a harmless window wiper coming to wipe the windows, and he’s apparently
of a nationality where Ws are pronounced as Vs.
This is makes everything the characters went through a complete joke,
which works because it was mostly treated like a joke to begin with. It doesn’t even stop there as the cartoon
fully ends with the whole thing turning out to be a show playing for “Miami
Beach audiences.” Apparently this is a reference to the ending of The Jackie Gleason Show but I can't find the original clip to further explain it. It's a random yet very creative ending though.
The Warners are always at their
best when displaying madcap hilarity in everything they’re roped into. Through effective gags including joke endings
that fit the tone, there’s no doubt that this Warners cartoon plays to their strengths splendidly.
A+
Cartoon Ranking
- Chairman of the Bored
- Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
- Bubba Bo Bob Brain
- Baghdad Café
- In the Garden of Mindy
- Critical Condition
- O Silly Mio
- Phranken-Runt
- The Three Muska-Warners
- Clown and Out
- Jockey For Position
- Sir Yaksalot
- Potty Emergency
- Puttin’ on the Blitz
- The Big Kiss
- Draculee Draculaa
- Babblin’ Bijou
- No Place Like Homeless
- I Got Yer Can
- Astro-Buttons
- Moby or Not Moby
- Noah’s Lark
- Skullhead Boneyhands
- The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
- Hiccup
- Moon Over Minerva
- Katie Ka-Boo
- Mesozoic Mindy
Miscellaneous Ranking
- Animaniacs Stew
- Testimonials
- Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
- You Risk Your Life
- The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
Song Ranking
- The Planets
The next Animaniacs review covers wars with the Goodfeathers in World War I, the Warners in boot camp, and Chicken Boo as a Confederate general in the Civil War.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Barn Mates" from Steven Universe.
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