Monday, November 26, 2018

Mobster Mash/Lake Titicaca/Icebreakers (Animaniacs Vol 2 Part 23) - 'Toon Reviews 22


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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
  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. Video Review
  7. Critical Condition
  8. O Silly Mio
  9. Phranken-Runt
  10. Puppet Rulers
  11. The Three Muska-Warners
  12. Clown and Out
  13. Mobster Mash
  14. …And Justice for Slappy
  15. Jockey For Position
  16. Sir Yaksalot
  17. Potty Emergency
  18. Turkey Jerky
  19. Survey Ladies
  20. General Boo-Regard
  21. Puttin’ on the Blitz
  22. Raging Bird
  23. Windsor Hassle
  24. Of Nice and Men
  25. Wild Blue Yonder
  26. Dough Dough Boys
  27. The Big Kiss
  28. Draculee Draculaa
  29. Babblin’ Bijou
  30. Fair Game
  31. When Mice Ruled the Earth
  32. No Place Like Homeless
  33. I Got Yer Can
  34. Spell-bound
  35. Smitten With Kittens
  36. Astro-Buttons
  37. Boot Camping
  38. Moby or Not Moby
  39. The World Can Wait
  40. Noah’s Lark
  41. Skullhead Boneyhands
  42. The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
  43. Hiccup
  44. Icebreakers
  45. Moon Over Minerva
  46. Broadcast Nuisance
  47. White Gloves
  48. Katie Ka-Boo
  49. Mesozoic Mindy
  50. Hollywoodchuck
  51. Kiki’s Kitten
  52. Can’t Buy a Thrill
  53. What a Dump


Miscellaneous Ranking
  1. Animaniacs Stew
  2. Testimonials
  3. Buttermilk It Makes a Body Bitter
  4. Alas Poor Skullhead
  5. Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
  6. You Risk Your Life
  7. Casablanca Opening
  8. Carol Burnett Show Parody
  9. Mary Tyler Dot
  10. The Slapper
  11. The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
  12. Animator’s Alley
  13. Useless Facts


Song Ranking
  1. The Senses Song
  2. Lake Titicaca
  3. 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."
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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