If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
I’m breaking out another DVD set of my favorite animated
series to further show how it’s the one to impress the most through using the
old school cartoon formula as an art:
Animaniacs (Volume 3)
Basic Premise
HELLOOO NURSE and welcome to the start of even more looks
into the original cartoon marvel that is Animaniacs! An undeniable passion project done by
talented writers, animators, voice actors, and musicians, it has brought
successful entertainment to the medium. Granted, some stories and characters are far
more successful than others, but the things that work set a high standard for
how funny, creative, smart, and witty cartoons can be. Each episode always has pure variety to its
content making for one surprise package after another. You could get cartoons with any team of
characters like the madcap Warners, Slappy and Skippy Squirrel in the arts of
violence, Pinky and the Brain’s world domination plans, etc. Other episodes stand out with elaborate song
numbers, respectable parodies of TV shows and commercials, or interesting ways
of tying the content together with a specific theme. If that’s not an ingenious way to show what
animation can do, I don’t know what is.
With this DVD, we’re entering the second half of the entire
series where it’s debatable if the show can remain strong getting so deep into
the production run. On one hand, we’ll
be getting some milestones like the big celebration of a syndication qualifying
65th episode and the first episodes made for the Warner-owned WB
channel. Within the show itself though,
many episodes are going to feature the last time certain elements are regularly
featured. At the end of the look at this
DVD, we’ll have covered certain characters’ last starring roles either on a
regular basis, or in Rita and Runt’s case, in general. In some instances like Pinky and the
Brain, this makes sense since they’ll have moved onto their spinoff at this
point. The content featured will also
bring slight changes in setup and variety feel not just as the episodes generally progress, but also when they switch from Fox Kids to Kids WB. However the quality is
affected by what the content of this DVD brings, I can guarantee it will still
be one of the most satisfactory TV animation experiences ever. So let’s not waste any more time and get on
with the totally insane-y fun in the Volume 3 DVD set of Animaniacs! As I always say,
those are the facts!
Episode 51
Branimaniacs
Just as it’s always good to start the day with breakfast, we
start off this episode with a bumper parodying breakfast cereal commercials
featuring Slappy and Skippy Squirrel.
It’s got all the authenticity of your average cereal commercial. We have clearly staged enthusiastic voices
from Slappy and Skippy, mentions of the healthy stuff in the cereal, and even
the stuff slowly being poured into the bowl.
So to stand as its own thing, there are also a few jabs at how corny
this act is. Skippy wonders if they’ll
get paid since their picture happens to be on the box which Slappy retorts that
he at least doesn’t get paid. Special attention is given to the sugar lumps
shaped like Slappy’s head, the main selling point for most cereals. Then near the end as Slappy and Skippy
mention the cereal’s “get up and go” feeling, there’s a subtle joke about its
double meaning with stomach rumbles heard after one bite.
The following enthusiastic dance routine for
the cereal brings hilarious irony. We
have the Warners dancing their hearts out singing the praises of the cereal, while Slappy and Skippy’s demeanor on the box reflects how one would
really feel after eating it. It’s the
true nature of advertising right there shown to funny effect. That said, Slappy and Skippy seem to build up
a tolerance for the cereal since it shows up in the background a few times
afterwards.
Despite that, this bumper is
a strong start to the episode giving you a get up and go feeling…to see what
great entertainment lies ahead.
A+
The Warners
and the Beanstalk
It’s been a common custom to place the Warners into any
random scenario, sometimes in the universe of a separate one-off story. Common as this setup is, it’s all in the
execution that make these cartoons so dang fun and exciting. This cartoon is no different where we find
the kids taking part in a fairy tale and delivering not just their trademark
in comedy all the way, but also in how they tell the story.
As most can tell from the title, the parodied
fairy tale is Jack and the Beanstalk
and its premise is very straight-forward from the source. There’s a giant stealing goods from a village,
forcing the people into poverty. The
Warners have to sell a cow to get by, but they get swindled and end up with
beans instead of actual cash.
So far,
the story seems all too familiar to the actual fairy tale, but being the great
comedic cartoon characters they are, the Warners give it an edge to stand out. Selling the cow has a good amount of edge to
it, particularly with how they plan on throwing in Wakko because Dot gets more
fan letters. Personally, I don’t get
where that comes from since at this point and continuing onward, Wakko seems
like a very stand out character from the trio.
Then there’s awareness that the Warners are basically roped into the
ensuing adventure. The beans fall through a crack, a beanstalk comes up, and
they’re transported up to the clouds in a pod.
They only venture into the giant’s castle to save the golden harp and
golden egg-laying goose because the harp claims she’s pretty. Well, it convinces Yakko and Wakko to keep
going while Dot, as expected has to be roped into coming along. Even then, laughs abound highlighting the absurdity
of what they have to do given where they’ve ended up. They lower the harp
gently by dropping her on the floor, and when the giant, portrayed by Ralph the
Guard, comes, they give a variety extreme freak-outs before simply saying
hi.
Great gags and self-awareness like
this would typically be satisfactory enough for a Warners cartoon, but then it
goes the extra mile with how the kids take on Ralph the giant. As he sets out to eat them, they dare to turn
the setup of classic fairy tales to Dr. Seuss as they try to convince him to
have gold eggs and meat instead. Through
every outrageous setup to make the new meal more appealing, Ralph keeps
refusing. Speaking of the setups,
they’re a major comedic step up from simply having the new meal in houses, boxes,
and in cars, trains, boats, and the like.
They all play a role in messing with Ralph and inflicting crazy pain
gags on him. He gets electrocuted when
offered to eat the meal with a cod holding up a metal rod. He’s falls through the earth during a quake
and is crushed when offed to have gold eggs and meat with a dash of salt on the
San Andreas Fault. The gags even reach
Japan when Ralph’s offered to eat the new meal with Godzilla and Rhodan who hit
him with fire breath. As you can tell
from my descriptions, there’s humorous creativity in the Seuss-like rhyme
schemes all throughout.
Finally,
continuing to add edge to the innocent story, even when Ralph finally gives in,
eats the gold eggs and meat, and likes them, he falls through the clouds and is
knocked silly. His dim-witted response
to never thinking that the clouds wouldn’t hold his weight after eating sells
the comedy. The same is true with the
Warners’ annoyance when their heroic efforts are awarded with more beans.
In the end, this fairy tale with a touch of
Dr. Seuss turns out to be one simple yet hilariously-executed cartoon.
A+
Frontier
Slappy
This show is tailored so that any character can be placed in
any time period, and fit their styles.
In the case of this cartoon starring Slappy Squirrel, this is very much
the case. Even in the pioneer days of
1700s Kentucky, she treats to the audience to her winning brand of comedy
against anyone spoiling her peace. In
fact, her adversary here is one of the main reasons this cartoon turns out to
be one of Slappy’s best performances.
It’s a personification of the real life frontiersman and “great big guy”
Daniel Boone. His simple design shows
him as all brute strength and a simple and haphazard mindset where all he wants
to do is cut down trees. He’s introduced
on a crazy cutting spree just to show his obsession. Once he gets to Slappy’s tree, he slowly
realizes what this simple old squirrel has against his force.
Even when out of her usual modern time
period, Slappy has everything she needs to face the featured yutz daring to cut
down her home via the old world amenities.
She’s first shown randomly making candles, and pours wax on Daniel Boone
when she first notices him. After
mocking the fakeness of his panther call, she utilizes a butter churn bringing
nicely fluid slips on butter she spreads under Daniel Boone when he’s not
looking. When Daniel Boone comes
charging at her tree with a battering ram, she has him run straight into a
spinning wheel which comically spins him out of sight. Even without the amenities, Slappy brings on
clever wisecracks and creative gags to beat back Daniel Boone. When he has ox pull down the tree, she
surprisingly puts them in a union and they go on strike. When Daniel Boone disguises himself as a
woodpecker, Slappy feeds him disgustingly drawn bugs woodpeckers actually eat
to gross him out enough to break character. For good measure at the end, just as Daniel
Boon is about to blow the tree sky high with gun powder, Slappy surprises him
by telling him she moved it because it was attracting ants. This way we literally end with a bang.
Aiding the comedy is the upbeat and rustic
chorus highlighting Daniel Boone’s push to cut down that tree all throughout. In addition to being really catchy on its
own, it’s also a pretty funny way of messing with the “great big guy’s”
ego. They start by singing his praises
when he’s introduced and when he notices the tree and plans his first few
attempts. By the time it becomes clear
that he’s too bumbling to come up with a competent plan, the chorus starts
acting like wise guys and openly mock Daniel Boone. They call his bird disguise absurd (which it
is), sing about how he loses his lunch after eating Slappy’s bugs, and their
last line calls him a jerk coming up with a plan that won’t work. They frustrate Daniel Boone so much that he
can actually hear them and later has them come down so he can criticize
them. By the way, the identities of the
chorus have the benefit of pleasing classic animation fans. They’re the Dover Boys starring in their
first role since the 1942 Chuck Jones short from over 50 years ago. Needless to say, they make the background
chorus very fun despite its redundancies, meaning it’s a nice touch that they
end the cartoon singing Slappy’s praises.
Overall, this comedic look into the deep past is a true winner with
great gags, strong characterizations, and creative ways of making the humor
work.
A+
Cartoon Ranking
1. Frontier Slappy
2. The Warners and the Beanstalk
Miscellaneous Ranking
1. Branimaniacs
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Wakko and Dr. Scratchansniff spend a cartoon in an elevator, there's a very basic story about a brave little trailer, and the Brain taps into his Orson Welles influence.
No comments:
Post a Comment