Thursday, August 15, 2019

Fool on the Ed / A Boy and His Ed (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 1 Episode 8) - Toon Reviews 33

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Fool on the Ed

It’s not uncommon for the Eds to make fools of themselves, but here’s a cartoon where they intentionally mess around for the fun of it.  Factoring in how this show utilizes the animation medium for all its creative potential, it’s nothing short of fun. 
The main idea is that Eddy is pretty much a king of pranks when it comes to pulling off elaborate traps to get others in an intense comedic setup.  He’s also completely aware of the attempts of others to prank him as the start of the cartoon shows.  Ed tries to get him hit with a huge weight while getting glue, but Eddy not only drops the weight on Ed, but also all his glue which gets him stuck to everything. 
Double D tells Eddy to get the phone, but Eddy pretends to get a normal call asking for Double D who’s sent roller skating down the hall into water, flour, and bubble gum.  With how elaborate Eddy is with pranks, these scenes serve as what could be great build up for even more that he has in mind for the entire cul-de-sac.  Plus, it’s made very clear that there’s no real malice in the pranks for how humorously executed they really are.  Since it’s also made clear by now that cartoonish antics are part of the nature of the show, it’s not even too worth it to worry about the pranks going too far and hurting people.  In the mindset of this series, everything goes too far. 
As for Eddy’s reign of a king of pranks, it’s soon thwarted when the other kids get caught in even more elaborate pranks than Eddy could pull off.  There’s Rolf ending up in a barrel, Jonny falling from a tree into a diaper, Jimmy opening a present with a scary balloon creature, a bear trap biting onto Kevin, and more.  A lot of these pranks actually do feel malicious and are from a mysterious figure known as the Prank Master marked by a joker card with the joker figure and name crossed out.  Needless to say, Eddy and the others are very intimidated by the Prank Master and the kids’ genuine reactions to his pranks and make sure to be alert to when they’ll get it. 
While staying alert, they find a jawbreaker that just happens to be lying in the road.  Eddy gives a believable response that it could be part of one of the Prank Master’s trap, so although he loves them, he advises everyone not to go near it.  However, Sarah and Jimmy come by, just take the jawbreaker, and nothing happens.  As it turns out, there never really was a Prank Master and all the pranks the Eds saw were fabricated by the other kids.  In other words, they pranked the Eds not by catching them in a trap, but by messing with their minds and by extension legitimately injuring themselves.  On their part, this is actually a smart twist since you can’t really predict this coming based on their reactions to their pranks seeming legit and not feeling like they’re an act.  Still, this is undoubtedly shady business and Eddy is determined to get back at them with a real prank. 
 
At the end of the cartoon, he and the others construct a huge stink bomb to blow at the other kids.  The very size of the bomb and staging of its launch highlight the grand scale of the prank as it promises to close the cartoon with a bang, so to speak.  Success is threatened by the small garage door, but it does still go off.  Even if its odor does engulf the Eds, it still reaches out to all the kids in the cul-de-sac technically meaning that this plan was a success even if the masterminds are effected too. 
That’s just the antics that define this show at play with grand scale staging and top notch humor to keep the whole cartoon fun and enjoyable.

A+

A Boy and His Ed


As social outcasts, the Eds’ actions can be seen as attempts to be well-liked by other kids as well as get money for jawbreakers.  This cartoon shows a big extent of this setup as they try to get accepted by one of their biggest rivals, Kevin. 
It’s hard to form an opinion on Kevin with his stereotypical cool guy persona that defines his character and somewhat overbearing tendency to call the Eds dorks.  At the same time, unlike other easily temperamental, or rude characters, Kevin often acts out when the Eds’ eccentric behaviors provoke him.  For that, he usually doesn’t leave much of a sting with his unpleasant traits though this cartoon does highlight the best and worst of him. 
With how the Eds provoke him into turning against them, it turns out to be a shame this ends up happening at the start of the cartoon.  They try to seduce him into one of their scams when he’s trying to give them something in a box.  The Eds’ behavior becomes so much for them that he just forgets about it.  Then other kids in the cul-de-sac are revealed to have jawbreakers which they all got from Kevin.  If that’s not enough, his dad has a new job at a jawbreaker factory, and his garage is filled to the brim with the famed candy sphere.  To the Eds, this is easily an opportunity they should never have passed up, and now Kevin has no intention to provide them with any of his family’s supply. 
This doesn’t mean the Eds are easily beaten though as they soon get the idea that the only way to jawbreakers is to befriend Kevin instead of scamming him.  There’s an entertaining sequence where Double D sets up a classroom just to educate the others on Kevin.  Ed and Eddy act as unruly students with funny ways of messing around instead of paying attention and Eddy stating plans to steal the jawbreakers which gets shot down.  The point of this complex class is that the way to bond with Kevin is to look like him. 
The later sight of the Eds wearing Kevin’s clothes while trying to get his attention is certainly interesting.  Plus, they’re completely genuine when trying to bond with him.  They ride up to him on a bike like his, perform a cheerleading session in front of his house, and offer to do one of his chores.  However, Kevin is completely unmoved by all of this, although the extent of this is a little concerning.  Unlike other times when the Eds antagonize him and throw off his groove without consent, this time they’re trying very hard to get him to like them.  Actions like slamming them and their bike into a pole and giving a harsh review to their cheer just don’t feel warranted.  At least this can’t be said when they get in the way so much that they bring down part of his wall by using Ed to clean his chimney.  Property damage isn’t something that can be taken so lightly, and it’s believable he’d chase the Eds down in rage. 
In the end, the Eds just go with a plan to dig under the garage and steal the jawbreakers though it doesn’t make sense that Double D goes along with this.  The school scene showed he’s aware of the dire consequences.  While not exactly dire though, they do miscalculate big time. Via coming out with darkened color schemes before other shots of the location, there’s an impressive reveal that they ended up in Kevin’s bathtub.  With Kevin inside it at the time, their eccentric behavior gets the appropriate response of having them sent down the drain. 
The retribution to the lack of good social cues don’t always fit, but for the most part, this cartoon is solid character-driven entertainment between a cool jock and three outcasts.

A-

The Ranking

1.      Dawn of the Eds

2.      Ed-N-Seek

3.      Fool on the Ed

4.      The Ed-Touchables

5.      Vert Ed Go

6.      Read All About Ed

7.      Quick Shot Ed

8.      Look Into My Eds

9.      A Boy and His Ed

10.  A Pinch to Grow an Ed

11.  Pop Goes the Ed

12.  An Ed Too Many

13.  Sir Ed-a-Lot

14.  Over Your Ed

15.  Nagged to Ed

16.  Tag Yer Ed
 

 
The next Ed Edd n Eddy review shows the Eds behind on so many fads allegedly, and there's a look at what the Eds do when there are no kids to scam.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the amazing Steven Universe special, "Reunited."
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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