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Episode 72
Previously on Animaniacs
Some shows are known to have recaps of
previous episodes to prepare the audience for what’s going down in the current
episode. They’re typically seen on
action shows or soap operas. The goal of
this parody intro is to poke fun at how over-the-top those types of shows can
be.
It’s an entire montage of scenes that
weren’t actually part of any previous episode and the only substance they have is
really just the abundance of explosions and forced drama. Characters are seen doing things you’d never
expect them to do like going into battle, having tense confrontations with a
court, getting caught in violent crashes, and more. Keeping in the show’s tone, there’s plenty of
room for humor. For instance, there’s Yakko being called out for doing
something insane which is nothing new for him, and Dr. Scratchansniff breaking up
with his hand puppet. Even some dramatic
bits like a court case and Wakko as a cancer patient invoke a laugh for being
overdramatic and coming from funny cartoon characters. The action also makes for a successful
running gag with random explosions happening whenever some guy tries to say “Oh
my God” with the last part cut off. The
funny part is that something so serious happens so regularly, or maybe the
opener’s self-aware that these things do happen regularly in action shows.
As the montage ends with the Warners’ water
tower getting blown up, they easily shake it off saying they’ll rebuild it to
look exactly like the old one. The
perfect response is cutting immediately to the theme song with zooming in as always on the tower intact.
Sometimes the dramatic parts of life just need to be made fun of, and
this opener provides plenty of that.
A+
Deduces Wild
This cartoon features the Warners in
the setup that perfectly suits them.
They’re featured doing a random activity, and pop in on a random moment
whether it’s their home time period, a moment in history, or a pop culture
scene. They’re annoying to who they come
across but successfully funny to the audience, thus bringing a winning formula
of entertainment.
For this cartoon, the
random activity is a scavenger hunt with roles on Baywatch as a prize that lands them in the home of Sherlock Holmes
who’s in the middle of the case. As far
as portrayals go, he has a hilarious ego and attitude problem driving him all
throughout. All his deductions and
spurts of frustration bring about an explosive showing of character where even
if he’s not the nicest person, he’s a thrill to watch regardless. Plus, he has a perfect foil in his assistant
Watson who’s much more cheerful albeit somewhat of a dope who’s constantly out
of Holmes’ cases. Regarding his case, he’s
gotten reports of thefts from one of his rivals Mariachi, a Mexican mariachi
man who wears a Scottish kilt and flies around in his makeshift
gyrocopter.
When the Warners show up on
their scavenger hunt, there’s plenty of annoyance and frustration-based comedy
from Holmes. His explosive tempers are
at their most dynamic as the Warners ask him for crazy items, misinterpret his
requests to leave, and keep coming back when he throws them out. As for the latter annoyance, I’m surprised
the tables are never surprisingly turned with Holmes being thrown out instead
like what’s happened in the past. I
suppose it works for the gag of Wakko learning the meaning of the word
“keister.” The frustration does make
sense given Holmes’ concentration on the case, but it’s hardly a detriment to
the cartoon. Every way the Warners find
a way back inside and the witty comeback lines they have for what Holmes has to
say when belittling them and wanting them gone.
The annoyances have believable after effects too, for when the Warners mock
and interrupt Holmes so much, he eventually breaks down and helps the Warners
with their scavenger hunt. Here’s the
big twist to all of this though. You may
think that Holmes turning away from his case for something total strangers want
is a huge detriment, but that’s not so.
The very thing the Warners are up to has a surprisingly huge tie to
Holmes’ pursuit to Mariachi. The things
they’ve picked up are mostly pop culture references, but some of them are the
same things he’s stolen. This means he’s
on the same scavenger hunt and makes for a pretty fun climax where the next
thing to find is a fat chubby sidekick, i.e. Watson. Granted it’s sudden when we go from the
Warners in Mariachi’s sack to retrieve Watson to them back inside while
Mariachi grabs Holmes and the police.
Then again, that’s the point for comedy’s sake as we end with the old
Holmes reference that the reason for the sudden change is just elementary. Given what the Warners are like, it can also
amount to good old cartoon logic where anything goes with them.
It’s that very elementary and logic that make
this another strong show of comedy and character banter from this one-of-a-kind
animated series.
A+
Rest in Pieces
It’s often said that violence should
never go too far or else it could result in the ultimate consequences such as
death. This is truer for real life and
shows that are grounded in reality, but in a series of wacky cartoons where
anything goes, that’s just it.
Characters in cartoons can do whatever they want to each other, and it
comes off as extreme reactions or comedic shapes from physical impacts. Of course that depends on how the reaction is
executed, but that’s going into a little too much detail.
This is why it’s a shock that there’s a
cartoon where Slappy Squirrel is informed that all her years of blowing up her
cartoon nemesis Walter Wolf has gotten him killed. It doesn’t take a lesson on cartoon violence
from Slappy to figure that something’s up with this. Walter and his cartoon villain cronies have gotten
beaten up by Slappy many times and have turned out fine. It just doesn’t make sense that he’d get
killed now. There turns out to be a
logical explanation with the whole thing being an act from Walter to ruin
Slappy’s reputation as well as blasted as she’s saying the eulogy. It’s no surprise that Slappy knows the truth
too given her inherent knowledge of how cartoonish physical violence is
supposed to work. It’s practically
pointless to catch Walter in the act just before entering for the eulogy.
One thing working against this setup is how no
one notices the holes in logic from Walter’s supposed demise. Everyone attending his funeral is an
anthropomorphic cartoon animal, so they should have an understanding that
extreme gags don’t kill beings like them. They’re so quick to blame Slappy for the death
and even have major sympathy for Walter, but why? If he’s the antagonist in cartoons, his death
shouldn’t mean much to them. I suppose
murder is murder which is the only excuse I can think of for Skippy to turn on
his aunt as well. Fortunately, for
Skippy’s sake, he’s not totally against her and acts more of a guide for her to
be respectful to Walter during the eulogy.
During that part of the funeral, Slappy does her great self-aware thing
of every trick Walter has set up, mostly bombs and booby traps set to go
off. She frequently names them as
mementos to mark the great things Walter was known for in life, and insists
he’d like to be buried with them constantly.
As much justice as this does for her character, it’s concerning that the
funeral attendees still don’t see anything up with obviously rigged bombs set
up all around her. At least when Walter
finally snaps and exposes himself everyone isn’t dense enough to see sense, so
while easily blaming Slappy is a problem, its sting is not huge at all. We then close with one last reiteration that
there’s no dying in cartoons which would spoil the push for comedy just in case
it wasn’t obvious to the average viewer.
An explosive gag that blows up Beanie Bison into a grave only for him to
pop his head out alive later proves this.
This may not be a perfect story, but I admire the credit it gives to one
of the key things to remember should someone tackle cartoon comedy.
A-
U.N. Me
The songs just keep coming with these
Kids WB episodes, and they continue to bring interesting topics to cover. It’s a big showstopper set to the traditional
tune “Down by the Riverside” only this case it’s down by the East riverside
with the United Nations being set in New York.
Like most educational songs, it packs in a lot of interesting details
about the topic in such a fast tune, yet it’s all so easy to understand. There’s mentions of basic information like
how many countries meet there, what they discuss, and the general assembly leader at
the time, Boutros Boutros Gali.
This is
just at the beginning though as everything after that covers the more tourist
pleasing elements of the place.
Descriptions of the gift shop, pastries at the cafeteria, and Japanese
tour guides turn the educational angle on its head for just a humorous
escapade. I mean through all the singing
about what the U.N. has to offer, we’re seeing the Warners just messing around
there before getting kicked out for spilling soda on Brazilian art. Then there’s a ridiculous scene at the end
with the foreign representatives fighting with liverwurst.
Now whether you look at this as a funny
recount or an educational song, both tones are successful at doing what they
set out to do. However, it feels like
two topics of the U.N. merged into one without really finding common
ground. At first it wants to be educational
then it suddenly wants to be a funny Warners cartoon set at the U.N. portrayed in song. It just feels inconsistent.
Nevertheless, the tune is still fun, the
information you get is presented way better than it would from a lecture or
reading in a book, and it’s a musical experience that really sticks. With that, we may not have one of
the musical highlights of the series here, but still a fun energetic musical
number on a topic you wouldn’t expect to see put to music. You can kind of factor it as finding musical
potential in just about anything.
A-
Cartoon Ranking
1. The Warners’ 65th Anniversary Special
2. Super Strong Warner Siblings
3. Baloney and Kids
4. Ragamuffins
5. Frontier Slappy
6. Woodstock Slappy
7. Deduces Wild
8. Wakko’s Gizmo
9. The Warners and the Beanstalk
10. Brain Meets Brawn
11. Morning Malaise
12. Meet John Brain
13. Yes, Always
14. Drive Insane
15. Lookit the Fuzzy Heads
16. Take My Siblings Please
17. Wakko’s New Gookie
18. Karaoke Dokie
19. Nutcracker Slappy
20. Witch One
21. Of Course, You Know This Means Warners
22. No Face Like Home
23. Meet Minerva
24. The Chicken Who Loved Me
25. Scare Happy Slappy
26. Bingo
27. Smell Ya Later
28. A Gift of Gold
29. Ups and Downs
30. Rest in Pieces
31. The Helpinki Formula
32. The Mindy 500
33. Les Boutons et le Ballon
34. Bad Mood Bobby
35. Whistle Stop Mindy
36. Three Tenors and You’re Out
37. Gold Rush
38. Up a Tree
39. Cranial Crusader
40. Mermaid Mindy
41. Katie Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson
42. With Three You Get Eggroll
43. Kung Boo
44. Pigeon on the Roof
45. The Brave Little Trailer
46. Girlfeathers
47. Super Buttons
48. We’re No Pigeons
49. Miami-Mama Mia
50. Fake
51. Katie Ka-Boom: Call Waiting
52. Katie Ka-Boon: The Blemish
53. Katie Ka-Boom: The Broken Date
Song Ranking
1. A Quake! A Quake!
2. Variety Speak
3. Schnitzelbank
4. I’m Mad
5. I’m Cute
6. U.N. Me
7. Dot’s Quiet Time
8. Coo
Miscellaneous Ranking
1. Branimaniacs
2. Previously on Animaniacs
3. Macbeth
4. Oh, Oh, Ethel
5. Spike
The next Animaniacs review features a Beatles parody, Slappy Squirrel enduring action movies, and a commercial spot that can relate to obsessive fanboys of today.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Escapism" from Steven Universe.
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