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Grandpa’s
Sister
Sibling rivalries are among some of the most common plot
threads in media. People may associate
them with young kids, but truth be told, they can transcend to older people
too, including folks as old as Grandpa.
In my opinion, they’re usually not done well with very unpleasing
insults and complaints directed at family all throughout. Thankfully, in this case, they make everything
work with some shred of entertainment in how the siblings fight, and an
emotional reason for the falling out.
This cartoon reveals that Grandpa has a sister named Mitzi (voiced by the late famous actress Phyllis Diller) who we’ve
never seen before. There’s actually a
good reason for this with Grandpa never telling anyone about her nor ever
inviting her to the boarding house because of their rivalry. In fact, the tensions between them are so
big, Grandpa and Mitzi haven’t spoken to each other for 71 years. That’s certainly way longer than your average
rivalry.
As for Mitzi herself, she’s a
very fun character with loads of style and charisma. It’s enough to make you believe that she and
Grandpa are related. Their energy even
shows in the various ways they try to outwit each other. However, rather than equal dominance in the
fight, it’s really Mitzi who triumphs.
Grandpa puts together a lot of insane physical stunts to get Mitzi to
want to leave the boarding house. After
one successful stunt with holes in the ceiling, Mitzi is already onto his act
and is wise to all pranks that follow.
She burns him in the shower, sets up mouse traps meant to get her to
attack him, and spoons yams full of laxatives meant for her onto his plate. Not to mention, she’s constantly telling the
boarders embarrassing stories of Grandpa’s youth which he can’t seem to compete
with. The extreme measures of the elder
siblings’ blows to each other have a strong sense of fun to them bringing
enjoyment to what would otherwise be the usual unentertaining fight.
There’s a whole new level of crazy when
Grandpa puts together a plan to jettison Mitzi into a hornets’ nest. It’s at this point when Arnold finds out the
reason for Grandpa and Mitzi’s rivalry.
With unexpected help from Grandma, Arnold finds a family album showing that
his grandpa and great-aunt used to be very close siblings. They even shared a love for an old family dog
named Pooter. In the present, they
happily remember the good times they had together, suggesting that some love
for each other is still in there. With
these good memories, there’s also the worst memory of Pooter. It was of the last time Grandpa and Mitzi
ever spoke to each other when the dog got out, was hit by a milk cart, couldn’t
be cured, and had to be put down. It
goes to show how strong their love for the dog was since his fate led Grandpa
and Mitzi to not get along for 71 years.
In a relatable sense of grief, talking about the moment and Arnold
consoling them about it plays a part in healing their sadness and their
rivalry. It’s too bad that Mitzi doesn’t stay at the boarding house despite
Grandpa inviting her to stay if she wants to, but them finally getting along is
reward enough. In the end, this is a
funny and endearing story of elder siblings mending their broken relationship
formed not from petty differences, but an effective tragic experience.
A+
Synchronized
Swimming
It’s hard to believe that Coach Wittenberg, a side character,
has had as many starring roles in the series as he does. For someone who isn’t seen as that major of a
character, he shows up quite frequently, though he can be understandably
divisive. Some could not like him for
his attitude and obsession with winning, while others can consider him
enjoyable with his obsession and high energy.
This cartoon is his last time in the spotlight, and it puts him in an
interesting coaching position where the only “sport” he’s able to coach for is
synchronized swimming. I find this hard
to believe since he’s coached so many other sports prior to this and Arnold’s
helped him do a good job of it. You’d
think his better attitude would land him better work. Then again, I suppose it’s believable that
his attitude issues are intact to an extent.
Synchronized swimming is basically like water ballet which requires
delicacy and poise, two things Coach Wittenberg sorely lacks. It’s shown at the beginning when he has to
convince Arnold and his friends to be on his team by attempting to jump off the
high dive. This may not be the toughest
thing he could do to manipulate them into giving him what he wants, but it is
still messing with the consciences. The
training sessions when it comes to swimming, working with water, and complex
dances also highlight Coach Wittenberg’s lack of emotional sense. Heck, he barely understands the nature of the
art in general. It’s some form of
character progression since he barely brings up winning and is more focused on
keeping his job, but he still has attitude issues to work out.
As usual, Arnold sticks around to help him
through it. He suggests that Coach
Wittenberg could understand synchronized swimming better if he thinks of one
emotional moment in his life. For the
coach, it’s of seeing the end of a Western drama of a horse named Wayne riding
away and a boy who was very close to him crying for him to come back. It’s basically a take on an actual movie I’ve
seen referenced but never actually seen, Shane. Sharing this moment is what gets everyone who
admonished synchronized swimming more open-minded to work the routine. It goes to show how impressive it is that a
little emotion and touching the heart can go a long way.
The final routine is also a very exceptional
payoff. After many elaborate water
ballet routines from other groups, Coach Wittenberg’s team show just how skilled they have
become. With very minimal dialog, they
bring out a beautiful routine with triumphant, cinematic Western music playing
in the background. Their precision and
accuracy of their swim moves look just as impressive to the viewing audience as
they are to the audience in-universe.
The way they float towards their designated horse to lasso him up looks
very seamless too. You wouldn’t know
they had to swim towards him and assume they were able to float towards their
target without trouble. Even with a
faulty high dive from Eugene, the performance makes up for it with great use of
water effects. It’s a great attention to
emotion and artistry that wins over the audience, even the boys’ biggest
bullies, and wins them the competition.
For Coach Wittenberg’s last starring role, this cartoon offers a solid
performance from him via an interesting way of overcoming a challenge. For the audience, it’s an effective piece of
how powerful playing to one’s emotions can be.
A
The Ranking
- Helga Sleepwalks
- Monkeyman!
- Veterans Day
- Buses, Bikes, and Subways
- Headless Cabbie
- Grandpa’s Sister
- Back to School
- Helga’s Parrot
- Oskar Can’t Read?
- Dinner for Four
- The Beeper Queen
- Stinky’s Pumpkin
- It Girl
- Polishing Rhonda
- Baby Oskar
- Synchronized Swimming
- Weighing Harold
- Big Gino
- Chocolate Turtles
- Friday the 13th
- Grudge Match
- Fighting Families
- Phoebe Skips
- Eugene’s Birthday
- Weird Cousin
- Egg Story
- Student Teacher
- Love and Cheese
- Jamie O in Love
- Deconstructing Arnold
- Full Moon
The next Hey Arnold review follows Helga try to act nice while posing as the nicest girl in school Lila, and politics become a hot topic as Mr. Green runs for city council.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews, get "Skooled" and become "Booth Buddies" in Star vs the Forces of Evil.
If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.
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