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:
Episode 63
With Three You Get Eggroll
On one hand, this Goodfeathers cartoon
has a premise with potential to bring out a softer side to the featured
characters. On the other hand, it’s kind
of mixed in execution where there’s excitement in some areas while other parts
seem a little dragged out.
We have Pesto
being roped into looking after an egg belonging to his sister, Sasha, one of
the Girlfeathers. Just from the opening
interaction between them, it’s all too believable that they’re related. She even stops Pesto just from giving one of his infamous rants over misunderstandings. Typical for the setup of a tough character
needing to be all nurturing, Pesto starts off by dreading it but soon warms up
to what he’s been told to sit on. It
does feel like it goes through the motions though as opposed to genuine bonding
since it happens in the span of a few seconds, but it's still very cute.
Then when Squit and Bonny show up, the bonding stops as the real focus
of the cartoon makes itself known. The
egg rolls out of the nest and the Goodfeathers have to spend the cartoon trying
to catch it knowing what Sasha will do to Pesto if anything happens to it. Then again, if you were a parent and
something happened to your kid while in someone else’s care, you’d probably be just as
aggressive. Now, when a decision is made
to make a cartoon an entire chase scene, there’s potential for great fun and
excitement. However, this cartoon could
have seriously used a faster pace because this chase is not as lively or into
the desperation to get the egg back as it could be. As a result, the whole thing feels like
nothing more than following something instead of a fun escapade. Giving it credit, it does make good use of the
pain the Goodfeathers endure. It’s
plentiful and further showcases people’s negligence on the birds, but it works
given the context. When going after a
loose child, it’s common for parents to put themselves in harm’s way resulting
in them taking several hits for the loved one.
Plus, there are a few enjoyable highlights from the egg pursuit. There’s one fast-paced sequence where the
Goodfeathers end up being sped through a carwash and come out with slightly
humorous designs once hot wax is applied.
As for finding the egg, there’s a clever sequence where they come across
a boy who has a thing for collecting birds’ eggs from across the city. I’m surprised the birds the eggs belong to
don’t revolt against him. Because
there are so many eggs, the Goodfeathers can’t find Sasha’s egg, though the
Godpigeon suddenly shows up to suggest just bringing them all back. They do just that, and they hatch into a
bunch of babies, possibly the cutest thing to ever come from a Goodfeathers
cartoon.
However, the ending isn’t too
satisfying and doesn’t make too much sense from an emotional standpoint. They have all the eggs, so Sasha’s egg should
be among them, yet she’s still mad at the sight of them all. I somewhat get why she’d go on a rant towards
Pesto when word gets out that her egg went for an eggroll, but shouldn’t she be
glad that her egg is all right? Also,
why do Squit and Bobby get beaten up?
They didn’t do anything wrong.
In
spite of a weak conclusion and dragging somewhat in what could have been a
really fun chase, this cartoon has enough positives to make it as enjoyable as
it is.
B-
Mermaid Mindy
I honestly don’t know what the point
of saying that the change in location doesn’t change the fact that this is
still the same old thing with Mindy and Buttons. This time around, they’re mer-creatures
living at the bottom of the sea, but since they just do the same old thing,
there really isn’t a point to this.
I do
give credit for at least immersing itself in the underwater setting. From a design standpoint, the ocean itself
looks and feels very inviting and convincing with its use of blue and green
colors. The music also has a nice tempo
that matches the mood of the setting through the beats of the swimming motion, the establishing music at the start and Mindy first following a jellyfish. Speaking of which, that’s the catalyst for
this cartoon’s obligatory reason for Buttons to go after Mindy and ultimately
get hurt in a variety of ways.
The
things they encounter throughout the whole affair have a good way of showing
how vast under the ocean can be as a setting.
This gives the usual collection of pain gags a special touch, as if the
setting does make somewhat of a difference.
They start off simple and under Buttons’ own volition like when he swims
right into a porthole on a sunken ship and gets himself stuck. It does lead to a creative neck stretch out
of another porthole though. From there,
the occurrences get slightly more inventive.
For pain gags, Buttons gets spit out of a clam in an unusual shape.
There’s also a rare moment in these chase
scenes where Mindy actually helps someone she comes across while wandering
about. She finds a porpoise caught in a
net and is happy to help it by getting the attention of fishermen on the
surface. It’s a different side of Mindy
that shows she’s more than just a simple little kid attracted by anything that
looks pretty. She’s perfectly capable of
being a good friend and offering legit help.
That’s only for one scene though, as she’s soon back to chasing that
jellyfish after Buttons saves her from the net and briefly encounters the
fishermen himself. There is at least one
really creative gag to come from this involving the creative shapes Buttons
morphs into when electrocuted by an electric eel. One involving smaller fish getting eaten by
bigger fish thus leading up to a shark chase are just okay to me. They simply lack the creative spark other
gags in this cartoon provide.
They also
show how wonkily structured the cartoon is when Mindy is picked up by Neptune
who praises her for helping the porpoise long after that happened. It also kind of devalues her helpful scene
with Mindy constantly calling Neptune, Beardy Head, no matter how much he tells
her not to. I know this is no different
from her calling her mom Lady, but somehow it’s just not as cute.
As for Buttons’ scolding, it’s appropriate
since he does run through the kelp garden without thinking, but it still hurts
that his heroic efforts aren’t acknowledged.
At least Mindy showing love for him is effective in making the ending
better, if only a little.
This cartoon
further shows that Mindy and Buttons are nice to watch for atmospheric
experiences. If you want something fresh
and thoroughly inventive in premise and comedy though, to say the least, you’ll
have to look to other characters in the cast.
B
Katie Ka-Boom: Call Waiting
Now this is where Katie Ka-Boom
officially starts getting pretty ugly.
Without a change of scenery or guest characters working their funny
formula on this problematic one, her cartoons are doomed to bring some of the
show’s worst experiences. Every time she
gets mad or annoyed over something, no matter how insignificant it is, her
whole family has to suffer and cower in fear.
As highlighted by this cartoon, when Katie isn’t going on a rampage,
she’s just a typical teenage girl doing stereotypical teenage girl things.
When we first see her, she’s yakking away at
the telephone for innumerable hours, hogging the phone lines her family needs
at the moment. To the cartoon’s credit,
Katie is at least considerate enough to sacrifice her phone time so her dad can
make his important call. Although that
call is made, her dad does tell one call meant for Katie to hold on.
The moment Katie learns about this, that’s
when she goes on rampage mode and the suffering begins. The very basis of her rage is very shallow and
doesn’t need to happen. Katie thinks her
life is over because one of her boyfriends couldn’t hear from her right
away. Why would he break up with her
over that? I’m sure he gets that she’ll
get to him later when she can, so what’s the problem? Plus, what of Katie’s other boyfriends? If things don’t work out with the one boy,
she has others, right.
Either way, the
panicking scenes are not very successful entertainment-wise. The fear from Katie’s monstrous
transformations and desperation to reason with her feel far too believable to
find the potential humor in exaggerations of teenage tempers. It feels like a real threat instead of a
satire. At least it’s kept watchable by
the creative telephone monster designs Katie keeps turning into. In fact, they’re some of her best designs
ever in my way of thinking.
To end it
all, Katie gets a call from that boyfriend who just wanted to ask an incredibly
minor question. I suppose there’s some
mild humor from Katie’s rage being over nothing and that the phone is the only
thing left standing and working, but it doesn’t matter. It’s hard to find humor if innocent people
have to suffer. At least it’s only a few
minutes long so it’s unable to leave a huge impact. Nevertheless, while she’s not a total failure,
so many things work against the appeal of Katie Ka-Boom, and there’s still more
to come from her.
D+
Cartoon Ranking
1. Baloney and Kids
2. Ragamuffins
3. Frontier Slappy
4. Woodstock Slappy
5. Wakko’s Gizmo
6. The Warners and the Beanstalk
7. Brain Meets Brawn
8. Meet John Brain
9. Yes, Always
10. Drive Insane
11. Karaoke Dokie
12. Witch One
13. Of Course, You Know This Means Warners
14. Meet Minerva
15. The Chicken Who Loved Me
16. Scare Happy Slappy
17. Smell Ya Later
18. A Gift of Gold
19. Ups and Downs
20. The Helpinki Formula
21. Les Boutons et le Ballon
22. Gold Rush
23. Up a Tree
24. Cranial Crusader
25. Mermaid Mindy
26. Katie Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson
27. With Three You Get Eggroll
28. Kung Boo
29. The Brave Little Trailer
30. Girlfeathers
31. Super Buttons
32. Katie Ka-Boom: Call Waiting
Song Ranking
1. Schnitzelbank
2. I’m Cute
3. Dot’s Quiet Time
Miscellaneous Ranking
1. Branimaniacs
2. Macbeth
3. Oh, Oh, Ethel
4. Spike
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Warners have to endure Elmyra from Tiny Toons making a guest appearance, and Slappy Squirrel goes for plastic surgery.
No comments:
Post a Comment