Tuesday, August 27, 2019

Who What Where Ed / Keeping Up With the Ed (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 1 Episode 11) - 'Toon Reviews 33

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Who What Where Ed


This cartoon is probably the Eds at their most innocent.  Scams aren’t on their mind at all, and they’re instead doing a simple pastime that requires direct interaction and cooperation from other kids. 
While Eddy is cooking one of his famous omelets, he asks for eggs, but when Ed gets a hold of them, in his usual fumbling mannerisms, he breaks them all.  Deciding that a chicken is what they need to get all the eggs necessary, the Eds go to get one from Rolf.  Rolf is hesitant to offer them a chicken, but is far more willing to give them an egg they can use to hatch a chicken.  However, this offer puts into motion a crazy sequence that goes on to escalate. 
The Eds need to trade for the egg, and the thing that Rolf has in mind is, of all things, sawdust.  As a matter of fact, trading is somewhat of a trap the Eds find themselves with everyone in the cul-de-sac.  This is mainly because with Jonny around, they can’t just easily get their own sawdust.  Kevin has sawdust, but his usual jerk moves make the Eds’ progress even more difficult.  He clearly wants to get rid of the sawdust before the Eds arrive, but when they give him a chance, he says they have to paint his shed to get it, and he doesn’t even have paint. 
Even if jerkiness is part of what places the Eds in the situation they’re in, it’s executed well enough to not spoil any of the fun.  Every kid the Eds come across has something they want, but there’s always something the Eds have to give them in return.  To make things truly out-of-the-ordinary, some of the things the kids request are very outlandish.  Jimmy for instance wants clams in exchange for some of his paint for the Eds to use to paint Kevin’s shed.  Jonny conveniently has clams from the sewer as doing peculiar things with Plank is something commonly associated with him, however, he wants an anchor in exchange.  The catch is that the only people who have such a thing are the Kanker sisters.  There’s a funny sequence where the Eds where a disguise to try and get an anchor without letting them know it’s them, but Ed spoils it by happily proclaiming himself as the legs.  The Kankers proceed to try and kiss them, but out of it is a remarkable instance of a rare time the Eds get away from them unsmooched. 
So an anchor is impossible to get and the trading sequence reaches a believable instance where the Eds have to admit this to Jonny.  You’d think that things would be easier when Jonny allows them to trade for something else, but more trading is inherently more difficult.  The Eds even have to go back to kids they already talked to like Jimmy and Rolf to get more amenities.  Out of this, one unusual object Ed had at the start, a yo-yo, is what brings things full circle. Then comes a sequence of everything falling into place as the Eds run back and forward bringing everything they traded for to their proper places. 
Finally, the egg is achieved, but in accordance with Eddy’s bad luck, Ed just happens to get his hands on it, and naively breaks it open, thinking that the chicken is cramped inside.  I suppose that if everything the Eds went through had to be a waste in the end, this is the best way to execute that through misguidedness instead of malice.  Plus, it doesn’t take away from the enjoyment of how big something as simple as bartering can become. 
I could question why Eddy’s parents can’t just buy more eggs or why they don’t think to mention Sarah when asking Jimmy for something she wants though.  Those points aside, this is all very fun and memorable material.

A

Keeping Up With the Eds



Relatable slice-of-life shows always seem to stand out when they also find ways to work in strong comedy and unique visual aesthetics.  It should be fully recognized by now that this show fits those qualifications easily.  Out of being incredibly hilarious and visually appealing are several cartoons built on creative off-the-wall concepts.  This cartoon is one to have many of these concepts that keep getting bigger and more interesting by the minute. 
First, it’s a formal introduction to a major part of Double D’s background.  His parents communicate with him through sticky notes all over the house, usually to remind him to do chores. Double D is usually fine with this, but breaks down when he finds out that one of the chores he’s been assigned is mowing the lawn which he hates doing.  I’d like to think that one of the reasons for this is because the only lawn mower his parents have is an old push mower which makes it far more difficult.  Ed is able to do it very quickly, but there’s a catch to all this.  In rushing around with the push mower, he ends up destroying much of Double D’s yard creating even more setbacks. 
Eddy has the solution which is where the creativity of this cartoon really starts kicking in.  In fact, cartoon logic is what drives everything going forward, making for great enjoyable execution of events hard to find anywhere else.  He has a huge sack of manure that’s shown to cause things to grow instantly.  Out of it comes an idea to put it all over Double D’s and everyone else’s lawns so the grass will grow, and they can mow it for cash.  With Ed at the spreading, the manure is put over the lawns quickly and true to its nature, the grass instantly grows too. 
Before business can start though, cries for help from Sarah and Jimmy are heard as they’re trapped in the tall grass.  This brings about a hilarious kind of endearment as Ed spends the entire cartoon freaking out over Sarah’s well-being.  She may hate him, but it’s very nice that Ed clearly doesn’t think the same way about his own sister.  Factoring in his lack of intelligence is a collection of desperate cries for her as he aimlessly rushes into the grass calling for her.  The solution to cut down the grass and save Sarah is not just productive, but also very genius when it comes to cartoon logic and comedy.  By offering to mow his lawn for free, they manage to get Rolf’s goat Victor to eat all the grass. 
Once Rolf gives the signal, Victor is off in a flash acting as the best grass cutter animation can bring.  The timing of the sequence from his incredibly fast speed, how the tall lawns of the cul-de-sac instantly go down, and the fast music factor into the great excitement.  Thanks to this exaggeration of the fact that goats eat grass, the job is done instantly.  I do wish there was a solid explanation for how Sarah escaped the grass, but the reveal to her safety is nicely led into by another bit of Ed’s crazy concern for her. 
The overall excitement doesn’t even stop here.  When getting the now very fat Victor back to Rolf, there’s one last exciting chase scene as he rolls all the way home with the Eds on top.  They may end up in mud as a result and Victor is still incredibly obese, but this is still an interesting way of showing the Eds technically succeed with what they set out to do. 
Furthermore, it makes the cartoon another strong example of how successful this show is at being relatable to life, and getting creative when executing its challenges.
A+

The Ranking

1.      A Glass of Warm Ed

2.      Laugh Ed Laugh

3.      Dawn of the Eds

4.      Ed-N-Seek

5.      Keeping Up With the Eds

6.      Flea Bitten Ed

7.      Fool on the Ed

8.      The Ed-Touchables

9.      Who What Where Ed

10.  Vert Ed Go

11.  Read All About Ed

12.  Quick Shot Ed

13.  Look Into My Eds

14.  A Boy and His Ed

15.  A Pinch to Grow an Ed

16.  Pop Goes the Ed

17.  An Ed Too Many

18.  Sir Ed-a-Lot

19.  Over Your Ed

20.  It’s Way Ed

21.  Nagged to Ed

22.  Tag Yer Ed

 
 
Be sure to stay runed for the review of the next episode where the Eds get into trouble when telling a white lie, and are introduced to the Urban Rangers.
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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