Thursday, August 22, 2019

A Glass of Warm Ed / Flea Bitten Ed (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 1 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 33


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A Glass of Warm Ed





As I often say, a major factor to the success of a cartoon is having it center on a creative concept.  Doing so allows a major understanding of what it means to do something in animation.  Anything that’s strange, or even impossible to do in reality, can easily come to life, and with proper execution, the experience is not just believable but potentially funny.  There’s certainly a creative concept at play in this cartoon, and it comes off as a series highlight. 
It starts of normally one night with Double D being awoken by noise coming from his kitchen.  Upon investigation, he finds Ed not just sleepwalking, but eating all the food in his home.  This right here is a very crazy set of events, and the animation medium is the perfect place for them to unfold.  This also can’t easily be stopped as Ed has no idea that he’s eating everything, and just keeps on doing so.  He’s not even phased by eating part of Double D’s cactus, Jim. 
Eventually, Double D wakes Eddy and informs him of the matter, making for a clash of two radically different perspectives on what’s going on.  Eddy finds what Ed’s gotten up to hilarious and treats him sleepwalking into people’s houses and performing tricks when eating the food like a big event.  Double D is practically freaked out by Ed sleepwalking and gorging all at once as expressed by entertaining reactions.  Both perspectives are very appropriate if you ask me. 
This is very exciting and hilarious, but Ed eating everything while sleepwalking is still a problem that needs to be dealt with, especially when he starts eating other people like Jimmy.  Ed does end up going back home after a while and is informed of what he’s been doing, although because he was asleep the whole time, he has no memory of this.  He also gives funny reactions to his more extreme measures as he views the cactus he ate as it getting a haircut, and panics when he’s told he ate Jimmy even if he actually spit him out.  Like with most uncontrollable tendencies, Eddy and Double D sleep over to prevent Ed from setting off again while he’s also strapped to his bed.  Unlike most instances of this trope, they successfully wake up and rush to stop Ed when he does set off again to eat some more.  They implement a successful strategy to get him home, even if he does end up stuck in his window due to how fat he’s gotten. 
Out of this situation comes one of the Eds’ most successful scams ever.  There are actual consequences to Ed’s actions as the cul-de-sac kids wake up with genuine hunger and pains of empty stomachs that are easy to feel.  This serves as a foundation for a scam where the Eds set up a supermarket, and sell back all the food Ed ate by reaching into him and giving the kids what they ask for.  Of course this is completely unsanitary, but in a cartoon where outrageous things to reality are a norm, this is not a setback by nature.  With how hungry these kids are, they’d settle for just about anything. 
With something so off-the-wall coming to life with believable staging and filled with plenty of hilarious moments, this cartoon isn’t just one of the show’s best works.  It’s also a comedic animation wonder that I believe everyone should see.
A++
Flea Bitten Ed

This is another cartoon whose premise centers on a creative concept.  While not as memorable as the cartoon it’s paired with, it does turn out to be a solid showing of the Eds’ team dynamic. 
Their scam here is a pet boutique, and given his status as a foreigner with a vast farm of animals in the middle of the suburbs, Rolf is the kid they inform about it.  They’re given the task to freshen up all these animals, and even if this is a scam, the efforts to do a good job are easy to see.  There’s an elaborate machine to clean and press chickens, Victor the goat is given a thorough rinse from a sprinkler, and Ed has the means to doll up a cow with makeup.  With the latter cleaning procedure met with mixed reception to say the least, Double D has Ed take care of bunnies instead.  Although the extent of the scam has a lot of impressive elements to it already, this is where the cartoon really gets fun and creative. 
As Ed proceeds to clean the bunnies, there’s a funny take on rabbits’ tendencies to multiply.  He starts out with two, but as they crawl around in this clothes, four smaller bunnies suddenly appear, and this is only the beginning.  However, the extent of the sudden appearance of bunnies is put on hold because of the actual conflict.  Their presence makes for many extreme reactions from Ed.  His eyes water immensely, when he sneezes certain body parts inflate to comedic effect, and most of all he suddenly inflates and gets purple bumps all over.  Double D and Eddy have to get him under control through tying Ed up like a balloon and holding him down which is an occurrence only possible in the realm of cartoons. 
This is clearly a major setback to what was easily one of their most productive scams yet, but that’s when you consider a very appealing factor to the cartoon.  Ed has a very extreme ailment and is in need of fast medical care, and his friends know that tending to that is far more important than making money.  It’s their conscious decision to treat Ed and hold off on the scam which shows genuine value in the friendship of these guys.  Even Eddy doesn’t complain too much of leaving the scam on hold, even if he does get bored of how long the treatment ends up taking which is impressive.  There’s still enjoyable chemistry with Double D taking on the role of a doctor while Eddy, in a deadpan tone, acts as his assistant and gets annoyed when referred to as a nurse. 
Also making this sequence stand out are more ways of how the Eds make several functional products out of random bits of junk around the house.  Double D constructs a computer that confirms that Ed is allergic to rabbits, hence his swollen, lump covered appearance, though it is pretty easy for the audience to get.  There are also creative ways of recovering this condition like using a paint roller to apply cold cream, and a shifter for talcum powder.  However, the only thing effective in bringing down the swelling is a conveniently big ice bag Double D ends up filling with a ton of ice.  Even Eddy points out that they should have done this in the first place.  I mean, if Double D knew ice would reduce the swelling and that was the clearest problem, what was stopping them? 
So, Ed is now recovered, but there’s still time for one last creative occurrence.  The Eds arrive back to the animals only to find their boutique overcrowded with bunnies, the fullest extent of how rabbits multiply.  They pour out in an avalanche all over the cul-de-sac, making for an interesting kind of apocalypse as we end with all the kids forced onto their roofs as bunnies populate the street.  Keeping things funny is how only the Eds are unmoved by all this. 
This cartoon turns out to be a creatively staged, funny, and all around entertaining way of showcasing the effects of a productive scam and the Eds’ status as a team.


A+


The Ranking
  1. A Glass of Warm Ed
  2. Laugh Ed Laugh
  3. Dawn of the Eds
  4. Ed-N-Seek
  5. Flea Bitten Ed
  6. Fool on the Ed
  7. The Ed-Touchables
  8. Vert Ed Go
  9. Read All About Ed
  10. Quick Shot Ed
  11. Look Into My Eds
  12. A Boy and His Ed
  13. A Pinch to Grow an Ed
  14. Pop Goes the Ed
  15. An Ed Too Many
  16. Sir Ed-a-Lot
  17. Over Your Ed
  18. It’s Way Ed
  19. Nagged to Ed
  20. Tag Yer Ed



The next Ed Edd n Eddy review is a memorable experience of the Eds needing to do favors to get what they want, and creative concepts are at it again as they make all the lawns in the cul-de-sac into a jungle and use a goat to mow it all.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Together Alone" from Steven Universe.
If you would like to check out other Ed Edd n Eddy reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

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