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Episode 70
Super Strong Warner Siblings
A big thing to this episode is that
it’s the first one to air as part of the TV block known as Kids WB. Oddly enough, every prior episode aired part
of not a Warner Bros block, but rather Fox Kids in accordance with syndication
allowing it to play on any network.
Despite this move bringing low ratings from young kids and less reasons
for more episodes, the show airing on a Warner-owned network feels like justice
has been settled. It only makes sense
for a show so devoted to Warner Bros be a mainstay of a network named after the
company. I mean next to Michigan J Frog,
the Warners practically headlined the entire block, and rightfully so. They’ve got the charisma, the animated roots,
and of course the names to do it.
As for the first episode to air as
part of Kids WB, how does it kick things off?
Well, in a fitting manner, it features a cartoon parodying
another huge hit from Fox Kids it would never get away with mocking on that network, Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers. I was never into that show, but in
preparation from this review, I watched a few episodes of it we happened to own
on VHS to better understand what was being parodied. From what I saw, that show is honestly wide
open to be made fun of. It’s just about as
cheesy as you can get with fast non-cohesive editing, obviously fake special
effects, lackluster acting, overuse of electric guitar, and more. A lot of it has to do with the show,
originating from Japan, being hastily redubbed and reorganized into a basic
more child-friendly narrative. Little
kids may enjoy it, but even that’s debatable given how messy, hyper and
directionless the final product ends up becoming.
With all these factors in place, this Power
Rangers parody has all the material it needs to put itself together. Even if
you have the slightest knowledge of the source material’s cheesiness, there’s a
lot of fun to be had here. Like the actual
rangers doing healthy activities like going to the gym, the Warners perform
uncharacteristic community service acts before their adventures. As they do however, they give a rather
mocking and condescending tone as they sing about serendipity to little kids, or
do complex math at a lab. It’s total awareness of how lame it is to do these
things as a pastime complete with a gag of offering one kid a bag of money and
another a worthless fat free yogurt.
As for the action, the main antagonist is a
total goof on the Power Rangers’ major antagonist, Rita Repulsa. With a ridiculous design, constant screaming,
and especially the bad lip sync from her and her animal henchman, she’s an
element this parody totally nails. The
fast ways they come up with plans to attack the Warners is also quite mocking. This brings on the action scenes that are
just as exciting as much as they are a hilarious kind of stupid. There’s constant shouting of the word
“RIGHT!” from the Warners, incessant electric guitar and background singing,
and frequent shots of jumping around.
None of this even matters when a simple use of cartoon props like giant
tennis rackets save the day.
When Rita Repulsa sends down a giant bug, the
action-themed gags keep coming which do their part to mock Power Rangers’ odd
production decisions. Dr.
Scratchansniff comes posing as Zordon, complete with a pixelated mouth and he says even points out that his mouth is all fuzzy.
In addition, unlike the original rangers calling on the power of dinosaurs, the
Warners call on non-threatening animals, an anteater, platypus, and
blowfish for the ridiculous costumes.
Even then, it’s a robotic version of their water tower that takes out
the bug with plenty of random action shots of sword clashing and building
smashing. It’s just like all the staging of
Japanese stock footage spliced into the film in the actual Power Rangers series.
The fight is capped off by an explosively fast outburst from Rita Repulsa,
and Thaddeus Plotz furious over the studio damage. At least he has that fat free yogurt. Finishing the parody is a bogus lesson on how
playing with giant bugs isn’t cool, as if to say it’s a waste to try and force
a moral into an episode when you don’t need one. That’s a huge lesson the show being parodied, and
other kids shows for that matter, ought to learn.
This cartoon puts the transitional
cartoon to a new network off to a great start.
Mining its target for all its lame production decisions, it’s a fun
mockery filled with sarcastic pleasantness, humorous takes on action scenes, and a
distinctive show of comedy. Other
parodies of this show can never top the genius craftsmanship of this one.
A++
Nutcracker Slappy
Throughout the Kids WB episodes,
Slappy Squirrel is going to start moving away from using cartoonish violence to
get through life and deal with common annoyances around her. Still, her extreme measures to make things
peaceful are very fun for the most part, and her relationship with Skippy is as
endearing as ever. Plus, creative things
can be done with her cartoons even without the explosive physical violence,
such as with this cartoon.
It’s a
dialog-free cartoon in which Slappy tries many random measures in the name of
opening a simple walnut shell. Setting
the mood is the use of Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite accentuating every
movement and gag she and Skippy use to open that nut. In accordance with the music there’s also a
bit of dancing, which is enough to get Slappy to protest to the director. By that, I mean the in-universe director
Charleton Woodchuck who’s as snobby and pretentious as he was in his lackluster first appearance. He gives some poetic
nonsense about why he’s making his directorial debut several minutes of opening
a nut even if it goes against Slappy’s nature.
She only goes along with it under the threat of not getting paid, a
believable reason to goad actors into putting up with weak scripts.
After that humorous detour, the music
continues, though Slappy does put her own spin on the setup. Her aggression towards using sharp objects to
open the nut clash with the dainty nature of the melody, yet still fits
in. It’s impressive that a few notes
from the shower scene in Psycho
meshes with a bit of Tchaikovsky as well as it does. Also adding in humor’s favor is setting the
Chinese dance to croaking frogs whose pond the nut later lands in. This is the most in line with the tone though
because after that, Slappy completely makes the dance routine all her own as
the Russian Dance starts playing. With a
vast assortment of explosives and heavy vehicles, there’s high energy and fast
timing as she goes to the extreme with getting that nut open, although none of
them work.
This would be perfectly
investing if there weren’t so many cuts to Charelton freaking out at what he’s
seeing letting it be known that what we’re seeing isn’t real. It would’ve worked better if his reactions weren't in time with the music and all we saw of
him was Slappy’s protest and the end.
Speaking of the end, there’s one last funny interaction to close
everything where after all that trouble, the nut opens with nothing inside, at least
until Slappy shoves Charleton in. I bet
it’s something most actors wish they could do with frustrating “nuts” of
directors.
Ultimately, this is a great
fun outing with Slappy putting up with an uncharacteristic setup yet still
managing to make it her own. If you’re
into classical music, this cartoon is all the more worth checking out.
A
Wakko’s New Gookie
Do you ever notice moments in shows
where changes that nobody asked for are added, or if normal customs are given
something new despite being fine as they are?
One thing to appreciate this cartoon for is teaching the message on how
there are times when changing things up isn’t always necessary.
Wakko has been known for several outlandish
behaviors throughout the series, one of them being his trademark funny face
known as a gookie. In this cartoon, as
it is the start of a new season for Animaniacs,
Wako believes he needs to change up his gookie for the audiences. Truth be told, he brings a plethora of funny
faces before settling on an open smile with his tongue hanging. Like most people with changes, Wakko takes a
logical route to see what the majority thinks of his change. However, despite everyone saying the new
gookie is good, it just doesn’t have the same appeal as his old one.
Enhancing Wakko’s interviews on his new style
are exactly who he approaches for opinions.
Most of them are celebrity caricatures that are more well-known for all
time than solely of the decade of airing.
We have Dick Clark on the golf course, Catherine Hepburne
recounting Spencer Tracy while giving her opinion, and Larry King asking his
viewers to give their thoughts. It’s a
vast galaxy of stars to broaden the appeal of movie buffs of all ages thus
making the cartoon resonate so well. The
sole exception to opinions Wakko gets is Michelangelo in a reference to one of
the most acclaimed cartoons of the series, “Hooked on a Ceiling.”
With all these references said, the main
point remains regarding the message of change.
By the end, Wakko learns to not be down about people not being really
into his new gookie. Everyone likes his
old one and it therefore does not need to be changed. That right there is an entertainment
philosophy to live by. Things may
change, but change should really only happen if necessary. If things are fine as they are, there’s no
need to update. In a world of rebooting
old properties in an unsuitable medium and adding in elements no one really
wanted, this is a cartoon that should be looked into. With its insightful message and universal
ways of teaching it, it may be very short, but it could also very well be
beneficial for all time.
A
A Quake! A Quake!
The songs of this show are at their
best when they have an interesting subject behind them. It’s also a plus if it turns out to be just
as entertaining as it is educating. With
this song, it looks into a fairly obscure natural disaster, mainly by today’s
standards as opposed to the 90s when the episode it was part of first
aired.
It’s all about the 1994
Northridge Californian earthquake and the destruction the populace was faced
with. Just about everything about the
musical composition is a big winner through what it sets out to
accomplish.
It’s introduced with a
dramatic ominous narration from Yakko which describes a normal night in Los
Angeles in January of that year. The
moment the earthquake happens, that’s the cue to shift into lively musical
number mode. Setting itself to a piece
known as “The Happy Farmer” there’s a fast-paced melody that perfectly
captures the shaking sensation of quakes.
In fact, just from the tune alone, you feel like you’re a part of the sensation
known to cause so much destruction for innocent civilians. With the visuals though, the feel of the
event is much better realized with shots of homes falling and ground
shaking.
For the show’s sake, it even shows
the vastness of its own universe. Rather
than just focusing on the Warners and the main players of their world, they go
around highlighting how the quake effects other members of the cast. Buttons rushes to save Mindy from a falling
house, Pinky and the Brain are almost crushed by a book, and everything except
Slappy’s favorite chair gets destroyed.
The fast nature of the song not only takes the audience through the
motions of the quake, but also how it’s effected by others.
Keeping up with the tempo are random factoids
about how earthquakes happen, with the main point being that it's unpredictable
forces that cause the ground to shake.
There’s also a message that for how great L.A. is, the Northridge quake
is just one of many natural disasters it’s endured throughout history. It could be said that it makes natural disasters
that can kill people seem too fun, but I can’t think of any other way to
capture the earth-shaking field. Plus,
through emphasis on their destruction, there is awareness of the bad things
they can cause. It also avoids being too
discouraging when as the song calms down at the end, the Warners decide to move
to Beirut which according to research is a bad if not worse place to live. Consider it a way of saying that bad forces
of nature can happen no matter where you live, so don’t let them keep you from
visiting or moving there.
With all this
said, this is easily one of my absolute favorite songs of the series. The topic is interestingly out of the
ordinary, the plentiful education fits the fast music perfectly,
there’s a great use of characters, and the sense of fun is very apparent. Trust me when I say it’s one of the songs in
a cartoon you must check out if you haven’t already.
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. Wakko’s
Gizmo
8. The Warners
and the Beanstalk
9. Brain Meets
Brawn
10. Morning
Malaise
11. Meet John
Brain
12. Yes, Always
13. Drive
Insane
14. Lookit the
Fuzzy Heads
15. Take My
Siblings Please
16. Wakko’s New
Gookie
17. Karaoke
Dokie
18. Nutcracker
Slappy
19. Witch One
20. Of Course,
You Know This Means Warners
21. No Face
Like Home
22. Meet
Minerva
23. The Chicken
Who Loved Me
24. Scare Happy
Slappy
25. Smell Ya
Later
26. A Gift of
Gold
27. Ups and
Downs
28. The
Helpinki Formula
29. The Mindy
500
30. Les Boutons
et le Ballon
31. Bad Mood
Bobby
32. Whistle
Stop Mindy
33. Gold Rush
34. Up a Tree
35. Cranial
Crusader
36. Mermaid
Mindy
37. Katie
Ka-Boom: The Driving Lesson
38. With Three
You Get Eggroll
39. Kung Boo
40. Pigeon on
the Roof
41. The Brave
Little Trailer
42. Girlfeathers
43. Super
Buttons
44. We’re No
Pigeons
45. Miami-Mama
Mia
46. Fake
47. Katie
Ka-Boom: Call Waiting
48. Katie
Ka-Boon: The Blemish
49. Katie
Ka-Boom: The Broken Date
Song Ranking
1. A Quake! A
Quake!
2. Schnitzelbank
3. I’m Mad
4. I’m Cute
5. Dot’s Quiet
Time
6. Coo
Miscellaneous Ranking
1. Branimaniacs
2. Macbeth
3. Oh, Oh,
Ethel
4. Spike
The next look into Animaniacs starts a look into the final disc on the set where all the
episodes give a further taste of what the show is really in for as part of Kids
WB with a song about Variety magazine, a tenor concert at a baseball stadium, and Wakko playing bingo.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Legs From Here to Homeworld" in Steven Universe.
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