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Dawn of the
Eds
When
a cartoon is built around characters’ imaginations going wild, the result could
run the risk of making the whole thing juvenile. However, with proper execution with
creativity, character, and comedy, it can be easily universally appealing. This becomes somewhat of a strength of the
whole series starting with this cartoon where the Eds believe they’re marooned
on a robot planet.
Following a fairer
than average way of getting cash through dumpster diving for bottles to
exchange for coins, they find out about an awesome-sounding robot movie coming
out. Although the description sounds
perfectly fine for crowd-pleasing blockbusters by modern standards, the film is
deemed to be only suitable for adults.
Plus, it seems like they don’t have any cable channels on their TV
package as Ed laments all the good stuff will be cut out when it airs on TV in
a year. Somehow though, Eddy has a plan
of just going to the theater with all of them posing as adults to see the film. I don’t get how that will work, but misguidance
and overconfidence is kind of a thing with Eddy.
From here though, the cartoon becomes Ed’s
show through and through as his interests in robot movies not only drives the
story, but influences the world around him.
For such a dim-witted guy, when it comes to his interests, Ed is
practically an expert. While the Eds
ride to the movies, he informs them of what to expect from the film, showcasing
his knowledge on the genre with his description tying into the world around
them. A wrecking ball is like an
asteroid. Going through a big pipe is
like a time portal. Their bike getting
destroyed is like the space outlaw’s ship getting destroyed.
Speaking of their bike getting destroyed,
they don’t get to the theater, but they do land in the junk yard which they
treat like a robot planet. It
practically allows them to live the movie as they let their imaginations run
wild. For that, even if the audience
knows they’re just stuck in a junk yard, it gives the feel of actually being
marooned. There are major shocks like
big machines crushing cars right in front of them. They find shelter in a run-down RV. The random junk they use for armor and ray
guns feel very authentic.
If that’s not
enough, being under the impression that they’re on a robot planet allows for
legitimately brave moments from the Eds. Ed actually gets the upper hand
against the Kanker sisters, who torture Kevin for a change, by scaring them off
in his get-up. This is refreshing considering how often those creeps win. Double D’s building talents are given a solid
showing as he puts together a functional rocket out of all this junk. Since it’s actually a prototype, Eddy’s
impatience and lack of listening are the only things that get it destroyed.
For the climax of this whole affair, when Ed
notices something resembling robots coming, the staging really gives the feel
of a grand-scale battle. There’s a
moment of silence as Ed plans the attack, and the Eds go all out with attacks
from what little things they have. Then
to finally bring them back to reality, the robots turn out to be Sarah and
Jimmy calling them home for dinner. That
said, considering that Ed is still lacking in intelligence and any he does have
is driven by his interests, he’s still living the fantasy as the cartoon ends.
Through going all out with the atmosphere
from things the mind envisions, this cartoon proves that building a cartoon
around imagination isn’t just for little kids.
A+
Vert-Ed-Go
It’s
going to be a bit of a series formula where the Eds come up with a scam, they
put in a lot of effort into making it impressive, but one jerky decision undoes
all potential. It may feel repetitive,
but there’s always some different way to make the formula stand out from
cartoon to cartoon. Also, the backfires
are kept funny because while they are brought on by bad decisions, they’re
mostly a result of relatable social misguidedness as opposed to boneheaded
moves. There’s really a lot of fun to be
had in this setup, and this cartoon features it to its basic extent.
After attempting to get themselves a quarter
from a sewer with a rope and gum only to lose it to a bird, Eddy is struck by scam inspiration. A plane with a sign
for a clubhouse gives him an idea for the Eds to make their own clubhouse. This leads to much of the cartoon following
them through the construction process.
First they try finding a good spot that lead to several funny
occurrences. A spacious yard turns out
to belong to Kevin who yells at them to get out. An unsanitary junk pile is filled with more
birds who have a taste for cream puffs.
There are even creative choices for clubhouse spots inside a
mailbox…though this isn’t ideal either.
Eventually, they find a tree where they can build the clubhouse on top,
but character-driven entertainment from the construction process
continues. They have a clever bribe of
getting Johnny to show them where to find wood by threatening to use Plank in
the clubhouse, though he gives all credit to Plank. Then in the actual building process, there’s
a sequence of going to different phases as they’re marked by Ed always managing
to fall off the tree and need to be pulled back up. It’s one of those gags that could get old
fast, but turns out to be funnier the more it’s repeated.
With the clubhouse completed, the Eds are all
set to advertise it for the cul-de-sac kids to come check it out. It’s here where social misguidedness starts doing
the Eds in when Eddy promises that the clubhouse will have events they clearly
can’t afford. He says they can happen
with 25 cent membership fees, but Plank apparently has a good idea that they’ll
only be spent on jawbreakers. This
suspicion doesn’t faze Eddy though and he and the others go ahead and show
everyone their product.
Then comes the
consequences of Eddy’s overconfidence when he finds the clubhouse taken over by
the Kanker sisters. While the kids just
laugh at this, the Eds spend the rest of the cartoon trying to get back what’s
theirs. However, as antagonists, the
Kankers turn out to be too good, as they outwit all their attempts whether they
tightrope walk on a clothesline or fail to hit the girls with water
balloons. It’s times like this when it’s
hard to tell if they really love the Eds or are just being thugs tormenting
them with passive aggression.
Either
way, the Kankers turn out to be so good that the Eds fail to get their
clubhouse back, their attempts ending with Eddy being thrown into thorn bushes. Still, his desire for money prevents him from
learning anything, showcasing how stuff like this is going to be a series
norm. Thankfully, the character
decisions make the story beats work and proper care is taken to keep everything
fresh and humorous.
A
The Ranking
1. Dawn of the Eds
2. The Ed-Touchables
3. Vert Ed Go
4. A Pinch to Grow an Ed
5. Pop Goes the Ed
6. Sir Ed-a-Lot
7. Over Your Ed
8. Nagged to Ed
The next Ed Edd n Eddy review puts the Eds on a paper route, and sees them infringe on people's privacy in an obsessive attempt at making a calendar.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the endearing Steven Universe cartoon "Can't Go Back."
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.
Dawn of the Eds:
ReplyDeleteThis was a fan favorite for good reason. It was just the Eds messing around and having fun in the junkyard. That's it, that's the whole episode, just eleven minutes of the three friends hanging out and having a ball, and it's great.
Not much else to say about this episode, it had great comedic timing with both animation and dialogue. I sometimes wonder what Robot Rebel Ranch would really look like and if the way the Eds played it was any accurate.
Virt-Ed-Go:
The first scene of this episode perfectly illustrated the rest of the episode with the Eds working hard to reach their goal, just to have it taken away from them. The Eds spent almost half of the episode (about six minutes) building the clubhouse... and then the Kanker Sisters easily took it over off-screen for NO REASON aside from them being the "Cheap Antagonists" of the show.
Sure, there was a lot of good slapstick in it, but the plot of the episode itself kind of backed into a corner and needs to rely on the Cheap Antagonists to get them out. What did the Kankers want/need from the clubhouse aside from just screwing the Eds over?
It probably would've been funnier if the scam failed because the kids just didn't like their clubhouse and they all got into the clubhouse the Eds built, but it falls apart because the Eds did a poor job on it and it wasn't meant to hold all the kids in it.
The idea of a character or group of characters constantly failing is done well in this show, but this is one example where it isn't done well because really. Because, if the Eds just EASILY lose, the humour just falls flat and isn't as funny as usual. Though by the end, Eddy had come up with a new idea, so it's good to know that the Eds learned to roll with the punches relatively early compared to other cartoon characters.
It's interesting to note that the clubhouse appeared only once more in the Season 3 episode "The Day the Ed Stood Still", and it got destroyed, pretty much a sign that nobody liked this episode.