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Episode 48
Mobster
Mash
You should know by now that when the Warners set out to do
something, they’ll let absolutely nothing interfere with their plans. This goes for the most dangerous of people,
and with that in mind, it’s very interesting and exciting to watch them dare to
defy those who mean serious business.
The dangerous person they’re faced with in this cartoon is a mafia boss
known as Don Pepperoni. They’re simply
coming in for lunch at an Italian restaurant and take their seats in a vacant
booth. However, this particular booth
belongs to Pepperoni, and he’s not pleased with other people taking his seat.
As possessive and unfair as Pepperoni is being, the expected outcome from most
people would be to feel overpowered by such a threatening man. He looks and speaks very authoritatively, has
a pair of threatening looking goons following his orders, and has dark threats
for anyone. That’s the kind of person
most people would know better than to mess with if they know what’s good for
them. This being a cartoon, messing with
Pepperoni is just what the Warners do, and it’s clear they got everything under
control. Relying on antics to deal with
a mafia boss isn’t necessarily practical in real world, but how the Warners
handle Pepperoni make it seem like the practice can work if one is skilled
enough.
While the audience should be
used to this by now, the Warners are an absolute riot as they fight Pepperoni
for the right to use the booth they beat him to. A large part of their appeal is their
attitude. Instead of letting Pepperoni’s
threats back them down, they’re nonchalant, thinking positive, and keep finding
great joke opportunities. For one thing,
they follow up on their trend of sticking with crazy assumptions no matter how
out of line they are by treating Pepperoni like their dad when they hear he’s
the Godfather. Pepperoni’s growing
frustration over this as he keeps demanding they stop it is the biggest selling
point to the comedy being that he’s the real unreasonable one.
The Warners’ antics especially make
themselves clear as they poke fun at many of the mafia customs. They put a witty spin on Pepperoni’s claps
summoning his goons, say the goons could get germs by kissing Pepperoni’s
hands, and act excited at the “sleep with the fishes” threat. These are all hilarious approaches to the
setup, but they also make the Warners look brave considering who they’re
dealing with.
Running gags are tamer,
but still bring a strong laugh for how fresh they remain despite the
repetition. Pepperoni’s goons frequently
throw the Warners out of the restaurant, but there’s always a slight variation
every time. First the Warners land
outside as expected, but from then on, it’s nothing but off-the-wall outcomes.
Just as the kids are about to be tossed, Pepperoni, his goons, or both land
outside instead.
Another humorous
running gag is when the Warners mess with Pepperoni’s psyche as they completely
change the restaurant’s theme every time he reenters. It makes for a solid variety of backgrounds
and styles and is capped off by Pepperoni getting buried by spaghetti when he
demands it. In the end, annoyance wins
the day with Pepperoni led to drop his claim on the booth, and serve lunch to
the Warners who got there first.
This is
a work where you can’t help but long to have comedy be a feasible weapon
against genuine danger. Through winning
characterization and comedy, a comedic attitude
and showing no fear seems like the ultimate way to bring justice.
A+
Lake
Titicaca
In this show, there are songs that educate and those that
exist for the sake of being silly. This
one is a combination of both, featuring the Warners happily singing about the
lake between Bolivia and Peru, Lake Titicaca.
As it turns out, that little factoid is as educational as this song
gets.
By the end, it becomes clear that
the existence of the song is all because the lake has a funny name. I think you can figure out why this is the
case if you think sexually about the name “Titicaca.” The song is certainly a fun and lively
presentation of a cheap joke, but it’s still not all that impactful for being
incredibly short.
Nevertheless, I can’t
fault the short sweet musical fun it was clearly aiming for, even if one can
get disappointed if they expect a full-fledged number about Titicaca’s true
wonders.
B+
Icebreakers
Talk about a Rita and Runt cartoon that starts with a lot of
promise only to really go downhill with certain plot decisions.
At the start there’s some decent potential
for an enjoyable cartoon as the strays stowaway on a plane with hopes of
finding a home in Florida, well Rita anyway.
However, as is usually the case with these characters, they plan to go
to one place, but end up in a completely different area. In fact, where they end up couldn’t be more
different from Florida. It’s the ever
snowy state of Alaska, meaning that Rita and Runt have to get by in a harsh
perpetually winter environment. At least
in the beginning, the charm of the characters is apparent through entertaining
interactions from their conflicting views on where they are.
Instead of an interesting Alaskan adventure
with Rita and Runt’s friendship at the forefront, they end up separated by, of
all things, Ross Perot running for president.
He happens to be in Alaska and needs a mush dog to take him to his boat
to Fairbanks. The moment Ross appears,
he becomes the biggest driving force of the cartoon. The thing is, he’s not a very appealing
center for a story. While his voice and
character design are kind of funny, Ross’ actual character is pretty boring and
unlikable. All he does is apply
political idioms to every little thing he does. Normally, I welcome a unique
spin on normal tasks, but getting political is really not the way to go. It makes what he does very uninteresting and
overly complicated to an audience coming in for a fun cartoon.
Also, I find it odd that the show even
bothered parodying this figure. When
this cartoon first aired, the biggest thing to Ross Perot was that he was
running for president, dropped out, came back with his name on all 50
ballots, but lost the presidential race.
I personally don’t find that interesting and certainly don’t see the
point of putting him in Alaska. Because
of this and the already lack of appeal to Ross caricature here, it’s concerning
that he turns Rita and Runt against each other.
I don’t mean he makes them enemies.
His political views are annoyingly prejudiced as he sees immediate
appeal in Runt a dog, but is against Rita, a feline, joining them. He does consent with Runt’s desire for her to
come but he still treats Rita very unfairly.
She does all the heavy work on the trip through getting food and fending
off a bear, but Ross refuses to see value in the cat and praises Runt for all
that when he does nothing. The third and
last show of this is unacceptable when Rita saves Ross from getting swept by a
freezing river while Runt keeps slipping on the ice. The kicker is that even though Rita is
clearly the true hero, Ross refuses to see what happened in front of him and
praises Runt.
As annoying as this
occurrence is, there is some good to it.
Rita being the true hero continues to be a welcome change from usually
being the victim. Runt is also kept
likable despite being praised and doing nothing to really deserve it. He doesn’t act full of himself and states an
innocent reason for not being able to help at one point. The cartoon also ends well with Ross missing
his boat as well as a funny jab of how the real figure can’t decide whether to
continue running or not as he slips on the ice.
Runt even brings solid political humor while talking about cutting the
deficit on dog things.
With these strengths, this is a fine Rita and Runt cartoon, but through
the frustrating directions it takes, it shows that politics don’t equate to
great entertainment.
B
Cartoon Ranking
- Chairman of the Bored
- Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
- Bubba Bo Bob Brain
- Baghdad Café
- In the Garden of Mindy
- Video Review
- Critical Condition
- O Silly Mio
- Phranken-Runt
- Puppet Rulers
- The Three Muska-Warners
- Clown and Out
- Mobster Mash
- …And Justice for Slappy
- Jockey For Position
- Sir Yaksalot
- Potty Emergency
- Turkey Jerky
- Survey Ladies
- General Boo-Regard
- Puttin’ on the Blitz
- Raging Bird
- Windsor Hassle
- Of Nice and Men
- Wild Blue Yonder
- Dough Dough Boys
- The Big Kiss
- Draculee Draculaa
- Babblin’ Bijou
- Fair Game
- When Mice Ruled the Earth
- No Place Like Homeless
- I Got Yer Can
- Spell-bound
- Smitten With Kittens
- Astro-Buttons
- Boot Camping
- Moby or Not Moby
- The World Can Wait
- Noah’s Lark
- Skullhead Boneyhands
- The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
- Hiccup
- Icebreakers
- Moon Over Minerva
- Broadcast Nuisance
- White Gloves
- Katie Ka-Boo
- Mesozoic Mindy
- Hollywoodchuck
- Kiki’s Kitten
- Can’t Buy a Thrill
- What a Dump
Miscellaneous Ranking
- Animaniacs Stew
- Testimonials
- Buttermilk It Makes a Body Bitter
- Alas Poor Skullhead
- Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
- You Risk Your Life
- Casablanca Opening
- Carol Burnett Show Parody
- Mary Tyler Dot
- The Slapper
- The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
- Animator’s Alley
- Useless Facts
Song Ranking
- The Senses Song
- Lake Titicaca
- The Planets
The next Animaniacs review is a Christmas-themed episode with a Christmas Carol adaptation, and a unique take on the nativity story.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes "Action News."
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