Wednesday, November 7, 2018

Casablanca Opening/Fair Game/The Slapper/Puppet Rulers (Animaniacs Vol 2 Part 15) - 'Toon Reviews 22


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Episode 40
Casablanca Opening
There have been cold openers that have parodied theme songs of old TV shows.  For this episode, the first thing we see is a parody of a famous movie scene.  That scene is from the famous classic Warner Bros. film of the 1940s. 
Like some of the best parody openers, it starts off one way before completely catching the audience off-guard with a surprise joke.  We begin with the heartfelt and dramatic tone of the actual scene as Humphrey Bogart’s character tells Ingrid Bergman that he has to leave her for her protection.  It’s even a word-for-word recitation of the lines from the actual movie.  However, just as you’re invested in the emotional authenticity, comedy suddenly appears when Berman turns out to be Dot all along.  Since Bogart happens to be handsome, she proceeds to jump in his arms and kiss him like crazy while the director demands a cut. 
It’s surprise comedy that makes these parody openers so successful.  They’re just one of many ways this animated series is truly one of a kind.
A
Fair Game

As endlessly entertaining as the Warners are, it’s important to note that their antics are usually meant to be interpreted as them annoying people.  You’d think that wouldn’t make them very good characters, but from an audience perspective, the ways they annoy people almost always make them so funny.  They’re true annoying lengths are typically reserved for jerks or villains.  In this cartoon’s case, they’re used for an average man just doing his job. 
His name is Ned Flat, host of the game show, Quiz Me Quick where all contestants have to do is answer questions and win frankly lackluster prizes.  The sole exception is the grand prize, a vacation to the Rock of Gibraltar which can be seen as dangerous.  Anyway, the Warners are today’s contestants and as the game goes on, their humor builds.  It starts with their basic introductions, only amounting to them living in a tower, and never expanding on it like Ned expects. 
Their true humorous extent is reached at the first question, that is to say, the anticipation of the first question.  For quite some time, the Warners delight in pushing the buzzers and answering any rhetorical question like if they’re ready to play or if they think what they’re doing is funny.  They also have a comedic bit of answering with a random historical figure, Isaac Newton.  The catch is that when it’s clearly the answer to the question Ned asks, they don’t know it despite saying the name over and over. 
This whole routine can be seen as funny as the Warners’ antics typically are with comedic takes on answering questions and witty banter.  At the same time, the antics honestly aren’t as laughable as they could be considering Ned.  As mentioned before, he’s not really a jerk or villain.  He’s just a game show host being a game show host and isn’t too open for retaliation.  As the Warners’ antics continue, Ned’s raising temper is very apparent.  For a while, he’s able to calm himself down after the Warners act crazy with their buzzing and their nonsense answers, but it gets harder to do as time passes.  Eventually, he simply can’t keep calm at all, and you end up sympathizing with him.  It just feels too relatable to the audience, especially if they’ve ever dealt with difficult people.  I usually applaud relatability, but when the cartoon also expects you to laugh at the Warners’ antics, finding Ned relatable here detracts from the comedy. 
By the time Ned skips ahead to the show’s lightning round and they still play dumb to the obvious Isaac Newton answer, the tone becomes fully confusing.  Do you find this routine funny or feel for Ned having to put up with this ridiculousness?  There are some things that work in the humor’s favor.  When questioned why they’re acting like this, Yakko simply answers that their joking around is what they’re really like.  This can be chalked up to the Warners’ approaching life in a comical way, something the audience should be used to.  Also, at the end, when Ned giving the question’s answer wins him the trip to the Rock of Gibraltar, he’s terrified of going.  This is the closest thing we see to a jerky side to him, suggesting he’s been tricking people to play so they could win a trip to danger.  This could’ve been made clearer, but it’s still the best reason to still find the Warners’ antics funny. 
In the end they still are, but probably would’ve been easier to enjoy if the person annoyed by them didn’t seem so relatable.
A-
The Slapper

Appearing in the middle of the episode makes for the perfect time for there to be a faux commercial bumper. 
It’s a comedic twist on the well-known devise that turns things on and off by clapping.  With Slappy Squirrel testing the product out, it’s still powered by clapping, but it’s a cartoon violence tool that slaps anyone who annoys her.  A few quick demonstrations of the Slapper is basically all there is to this short bumper, so it’s only good for a short laugh. 
This may not be the biggest impact it could leave, but being a strong reflection of Slappy’s character strengths make this product ad stand out a bit.  In fact, I wouldn’t have minded if this show did faux commercials more often.

B+

Puppet Rulers

Sometimes it’s hard to believe how popular pieces of media can become.  No matter how you feel about their oversaturation, it’s not so bothersome when you consider one thing.  There are people out there who genuinely like the given show or movie and complaining too much about it isn’t being considerate of their tastes.  I know from experience that many popular shows and movies have huge fanbases. They consist of abundances of people obsessives with their favorite things to watch.  Many even make constant fan art, attend conventions, and buy tons of merchandise.  If you think fanbase nature is a thing of today, you’ll be surprised to learn that it’s one of the most common pop culture occurrences in history as this cartoon shows. 
It’s another attempt at world domination from Pinky and the Brain as pets of Albert Einstein in 1954.  The plan is inspired by a scene depicting a little known fact about Einstein.  Once again picked up from this DVD’s bonus feature, Einstein would drop whatever he was doing every day to watch Beany and Cecil parodied here as Meany and Treacle.  The apparent love that show gets inspires Brain to get himself and Pinky on there to win over the fanbase and take over the world years later.  Posing as lifelike puppets named Big Ears and The Iconoclast Noodle Noggin, Pinky and Brain quickly become the big shots of Meany and Treacle. 
Analyzing their acts, it’s easy to see why they win over the kids.  Pinky, who always wants to have a fun time, is loved in an instant.  Brain is a hit in his own way, working in physical comedy when his boring anecdotes are responded to with a blow to the head.  After a few scenes of the mice’s performance, the cartoon goes into big detail of how beneficial to shows fanbases can be.  From watching the show every day to kids across the nation crowding stores for merchandise, including Bill Clinton, Brain’s plan appears well thought out. 
This brings me to another thing about fanbases.  From what I can gather, their attachments to shows can be a blessing and a curse.  Because of their devotion, they can get pretty hostile when it does something bad.  They could attack the crew for making a bad episode, doing things that don’t fit their preferences, or going on indefinite hiatuses.  This cartoon shows that even without the internet, fanbase hostility has also been around for ages.  This is something Brain doesn’t consider when, at the height of the Big Ears and Noodle Noggin popularity, he cryogenically freezes Pinky and himself for 40 years.  He has good points about this plan since they’ll be remembered for their best performances, and the fans will be old enough to make them their leaders in 40 years. 
When the mice arrive in the 90s, that’s when not considering the fans’ true feelings comes with consequences.  The now adult fans, humorously growing out of their childhood merchandise, give Pinky and Brain a piece of their minds for abandoning them.  Instead of leadership, they shower the mice with expensive therapy bills and run them out of town.  Surprisingly, this angry mob is less hostile than the mean comments and death threats creators and actors often get on social media today.  It still makes the point of how out of line fans can get over something bad happening over their favorite shows clear. 
As fans of this series, we should appreciate this cartoon as not just another fun time with Pinky and the Brain, but also as a relatable work of how important shows are to their fans.
A+

Cartoon Ranking
  1. Chairman of the Bored
  2. Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
  3. Bubba Bo Bob Brain
  4. Baghdad Café
  5. In the Garden of Mindy
  6. Critical Condition
  7. O Silly Mio
  8. Phranken-Runt
  9. Puppet Rulers
  10. The Three Muska-Warners
  11. Clown and Out
  12. Jockey For Position
  13. Sir Yaksalot
  14. Potty Emergency
  15. General Boo-Regard
  16. Puttin’ on the Blitz
  17. Dough Dough Boys
  18. The Big Kiss
  19. Draculee Draculaa
  20. Babblin’ Bijou
  21. Fair Game
  22. No Place Like Homeless
  23. I Got Yer Can
  24. Spell-bound
  25. Smitten With Kittens
  26. Astro-Buttons
  27. Boot Camping
  28. Moby or Not Moby
  29. Noah’s Lark
  30. Skullhead Boneyhands
  31. The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
  32. Hiccup
  33. Moon Over Minerva
  34. White Gloves
  35. Katie Ka-Boo
  36. Mesozoic Mindy

Miscellaneous Ranking
  1. Animaniacs Stew
  2. Testimonials
  3. Alas Poor Skullhead
  4. Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
  5. You Risk Your Life
  6. Casablanca Opening
  7. The Slapper
  8. The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert

Song Ranking
  1. The Planets
Disc 3 is now covered.  Only two more left, so next time we'll start disc 4 with the Warners starring in a news-themed cartoon that had to be altered for being too mean-spirited, and the Goodfeathers taking up wrestling.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode featuring "Lad and Logic."

If you would like to check out other Animaniacs reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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