Wednesday, November 14, 2018

Of Nice and Men/What a Dump/Survey Ladies (Animaniacs Vol 2 Part 18) - 'Toon Reviews 22


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Episode 43

Of Nice and Men
In addition to their social nature compared to that of the rest of the show, a winning element to the Rita and Runt cartoons is the chemistry of the titular team.  One is a melodramatic smart-alack cat and the other is a big dumb dog who never realizes he’s with a cat.  They’re both completely distinct characters with their own approaches to situations.  Put together, the approaches make for interesting stories such as this one. 
Rita and Runt are attempting to find a home in Monterey, and the prospect of that home is elevated to extravagant levels from Rita’s song about it.  The song is another strong example of how well these cartoons work.  There’s a lot of talent and passion here that describe the characters’ main goals and what would be an ideal home for them since they’re homeless strays. 
However, after singing about how great Monterey will be and both of them hopping off their train, Rita and Runt take a wrong turn, completely missing it.  Instead of a luxurious beach home, they wind up at a bunny farm run by a guy named Happy Bob adding to the musical tone by appeasing his bunnies with a jazzy number.  It kind of puts the whole subplot about Monterey to waste since it’s never brought up again, but that doesn’t detract from the main plot’s appeal. 
The main source of appeal is how both Rita and Runt take being roped into the bunny farm to work for Happy Bob.  Rita, being a cat, is assigned to keep rats out of the barn.  Being the smarter of the two, she’s wise to how bad this setup is while also making a solid commentary about stereotypical views on certain character roles.  It’s not a good move for characterization and can be applied to common closed-minded judgements in real life.  Helping the message stand out is yet another song Rita sings in an appropriately agitated tone.  However, she has enough restraint to realize how Runt approaches being on the farm.  He may not be intelligent, but has plenty of sentiment as he easily bonds with the bunnies for how cute they are.  His moments with them are easily among the most endearing of the series and mean a lot more through Runt’s special charm. 
It turns out to be a good thing Rita doesn’t make them leave like she planned.  The next day, Runt finds out that Happy Bob is planning on making coats out of the bunnies.  It is a twist that’s not too hard to see coming, but Runt being so dumb makes it remarkable that he figures this out on his own.  In addition, he also leads an effective takedown of Happy Bob by having the bunnies hide in the barn, and then stampede right over him.  It’s a satisfying ending that the bunnies are saved, but I question why Rita and Runt leave Monterey behind.  The bunny farm wasn’t that and they could’ve gotten themselves, and by extension the bunnies, a home if they went back and made the right turn.  They could’ve gotten what they wanted, but they leave it behind when they didn’t have to. 
Aside from that and other narrative hiccups, the strong songs and distinctive leads places this cartoon among Rita and Runt’s most pleasing performances.
A
What a Dump



I can admit that Mindy and Buttons cartoons suffer from being formulaic.  I can also admit that they can get mean-spirted, especially for how a vast majority of them end.  This cartoon, however, stand out for being more mean-spirited as well as ridiculous than average. 
For starters, you know how Buttons constantly gets scolded with his valiant efforts to keep Mindy safe disregarded?  Well this time, he gets scolded even before the inevitable chase begins, and for something he didn’t even do at that.  The first scene in the cartoon is Mindy digging a big hole in the yard for some reason.  However, her mom catches Buttons trying to fill up the hole and berates him for digging.  It’s one thing for characters to get in trouble with good deeds going unnoticed, but getting in trouble for something someone else did is something I can’t abide.  Considering the usual formula, things are already less pleasing. 
Then there’s the catalyst for the formula ensuing.  Mindy’s mom gives Mindy a brand new doll and throws away her old ratty one.  This is nice and all, but shortly after Mindy receives the new one, she puts it aside and chases after her old doll as it’s taken to the dump.  It’s as if she never even got a prettier doll at all.  Why would Mindy care so much about her old doll after she got a newer cleaner one?  If she wanted both dolls to get together, it would make more sense for her to go after it.  However, since she gets a new doll and nothing happens to it, there is no real reason for her to forget about it and go after her old one.  It’s a huge point of frustration that’s unshakable for the entire cartoon.  You’re watching the usual chase when there’s no weight to it in the slightest. 
That’s a shame because what we get out of the chase does have some interesting elements to it.  Buttons chases Mindy to the dump which offers a not-to-often discussed topic on how trash is sorted.  This includes how some things are taken out of the trash to be used as recyclables which is certainly good for Mindy and her doll.  That said, think of how interesting the cartoon would’ve been if Mindy ended up in a trash incinerator.  The ways Buttons gets hurt while searching for Mindy aren’t too bad either.  Some of them include getting cans humorously placed on his face and my favorite gag of him getting stuck in a glass jar resulting in a pretty funny shape. 
The action really slows down though in an extended sequence of Buttons opening innumerable can containers to find the one Mindy was put in.  It ends when he sees that very container holding Mindy on a truck leaving the dump.  Talk about convenient.  Anyway, the chase being over an old doll Mindy already had replaced makes Buttons’ ending scolding less pleasing than normal, and it already is quite unpleasing. 
This cartoon is borderline enjoyable, but even with tolerable pain gags, it’s held back by more mean moments than usual along with a few boring gags and weak plot decisions.  Mindy and Buttons have always problematic, and this cartoon simply adds to their weak points.
D
 
Survey Ladies
 
These days, you’re likely to come across annoying unwanted amenities in the form of internet popup ads or random phone numbers.  Imagine something like that popping up when you’re just going about your day.  Like in an earlier cartoon, the Warners run into something like this, and it’s an instance where their usual antics aren’t enough to beat them. 
They’re off doing an actually friendly deed of getting a birthday gift for Dr. Scratchansniff at the mall.  However, just as they get in other people’s business to annoy them, someone else does it to them.  Throughout the mall, two women show up out of nowhere asking if they’d like to take a survey on beans and George Wendt.  Of course, the Warners are not interested in that and just want to go on with their shopping.  The catch is that, no matter how many times they turn the survey down, the ladies keep following them and asking if they’d like to take it. 
It really begs the question why they keep following the Warners instead of asking anyone else at the mall to take their survey.  I mean, a few times in the cartoon show they’re willing to ask anyone, so what reason do they have to ask the same people constantly?  Apparently, this is another cartoon drawn from personal experience from the writers according to this DVD’s bonus feature, but I question the logic there too. 
Still, the scenario at play is great fun to see.  It’s at least interesting to see characters other than the Warners show up to surprise and annoy people.  The setting of a mall adds to the variety of the ladies’ methods in how they pop out in surprise.  Some are basic appearances like at the top of an escalator, inside an elevator, or disguised as store mannequins.  However, they’re capable of doing more elaborate cartoonish appearances like coming out of a perfume bottle or showing up in a music box, dancer outfits and all.  They’re all creative and play to the environment of the stores successfully keeping the running joke fresh and funny.  Even if they don’t perform much antics while playing the victims, the Warners are also entertaining as they deny the ladies’ survey request.  There are some funny edgy rejections and even a few sight gags as they try to get other characters to take the survey. 
As for how they finally get out of the situation, it’s a little mixed.  After failing to find a perfect gift for Dr. Scratchansniff, the Warners solve that and the issue with the survey ladies by giving them to him for his birthday.  With how much they were genuinely trying to find a good gift, it doesn’t feel right that they give him something they find annoying.  Why would they give him something they know is annoying after spending the whole cartoon trying to find a great gift?  The issue with the ladies isn’t even resolved, it’s just dropped onto someone else.  At least Dr. Scratchansniff says a line implying that he expected a gag from the Warners, but was just being polite. 
The tone of the ending may be confusing, but the cartoon as a whole is still a fun and relatable story about constantly being offered things you don’t want to be part of.  In fact, it’s crazy how it’s possible to end up with your own kind of survey ladies even today, so make sure you know beans about them.
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. Survey Ladies
  16. General Boo-Regard
  17. Puttin’ on the Blitz
  18. Raging Bird
  19. Of Nice and Men
  20. Dough Dough Boys
  21. The Big Kiss
  22. Draculee Draculaa
  23. Babblin’ Bijou
  24. Fair Game
  25. No Place Like Homeless
  26. I Got Yer Can
  27. Spell-bound
  28. Smitten With Kittens
  29. Astro-Buttons
  30. Boot Camping
  31. Moby or Not Moby
  32. Noah’s Lark
  33. Skullhead Boneyhands
  34. The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
  35. Hiccup
  36. Moon Over Minerva
  37. Broadcast Nuisance
  38. White Gloves
  39. Katie Ka-Boo
  40. Mesozoic Mindy
  41. Hollywoodchuck
  42. Can’t Buy a Thrill
  43. 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. The Slapper
  9. The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
  10. Animator’s Alley


Song Ranking
  1. The Planets
The next Animaniacs review covers an exciting song about the senses, the Brain doing something other than try to take over the world, and Rita suffering a gorilla while Runt sleeps through everything.  There are also a few useless facts that live up to their name.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews are some "Plaza Shorts" from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes.
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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