Monday, September 30, 2019

Timberly Loves Arnold / Eugene, Eugene! (Hey Arnold Season 5 Episode 17) - 'Toon Reviews 34

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
Timberly Loves Arnold


From the looks of things, this cartoon follows the simple trope of someone becoming the love interest of a child who is much younger.  Looking deeper into the material, it’s actually important to the development, or rather deconstruction, of one of the most prominently seen relationships as of recently. 
It all begins with Gerald’s little sister Timberly.  In line with what’s been seen from her in her few appearances, she wants to join in on what her brother and his friends are up to, but Gerald sees her as a pest.  She only comes along because Arnold vouches for her and insists that simply inviting a little girl along will be no harm.  They even bond significantly while hanging out which justifies what happens later. 
For Timberly, all it takes is Arnold being nice to her to decide she’s in love with him and she's in the clear to call him her boyfriend.  She goes all out with her affection meeting him outside his class, having him hold her hand crossing the street, and putting effort into free Arnold poems coming with lemonade.  All throughout, unlike other instances of a child crushing on someone older, Timberly never feels like she’s overbearing or taking it too seriously.  It’s just a childish thought she’s simply rolling with, and like most of Arnold’s classmates, it’s easy to find it all cute from an audience perspective. 
Nevertheless, Arnold is understandably embarrassed over Timberly constantly following him around and showing affection.  Just getting near her is enough to make him feel uncomfortable.  Given the circumstances, it’s impressive that the story gives Arnold a way out of this so early on instead of waiting until the end to give it to him.  All he has to do is be honest with Timberly and have her end treating him like her boyfriend. 
This is where things get interesting by factoring in Arnold’s ongoing crush on Lila.  Surprisingly, problematic as him going after someone not romantically into him is, this crush has not been seen in Season 5 as much as it was in Season 4.  What ends up happening is that she finds it adorable that Arnold is letting Timberly act like he’s her boyfriend.  Arnold seizes opportunity through this and lets Timberly carry on with the act just so Lila will keep on being interested in him.  For someone so mature and considerate, this is very low and somewhat discomforting to see from Arnold and shows how badly his crush on Lila is effecting him. 
For the story’s sake, the problems stemming from this move soon make themselves known.  Starting on a minor scale, Arnold’s focus on keeping Timberly and Lila interested in him distracts him from other obligations like ball games.  On a more personal level, Arnold himself realizes a bigger issue with what he’s doing; in getting closer to Lila, he’s neglecting Timberly, making it obvious that he’s using her.  He soon admits this to Timberly with great remorse.  Thankfully because she’s young, she blissfully doesn’t understand and is fine with him not wanting to be her boyfriend anymore.  Lila, overhearing Arnold’s confessions gets his hopes up that she’s impressed with his honesty. Then she shoots it down with appropriate but unwelcome disappointment which finally convinces Arnold that he just can’t win with Lila.  He declares that it’s officially over with Lila which at long lasts ends his worst habit and helps him move towards learning what true love is. 
If you can handle a nice character’s controversial decisions, the payoff greatly makes up for that and the basic story setup.

A-

Eugene, Eugene!


For a show that isn’t a musical, the few times it does incorporate music and songs into a story, the efforts to make something grand and memorable really show.  For this cartoon, the use of music here is no exception in one of the show’s most theatrical works.  Plus, it does justice as the best showing of the character traits of Eugene. 
The school is chosen to put on a production of a musical with his name right in the title, and it’s one Eugene is clearly a huge fan of.  Even disregarding sharing the name, he also shares the title character’s good-natured, optimistic spirit.  For that, he’s all set up to obtain the starring role, and as a solid turn of events, that’s just what happens.  Eugene is cast as the star of the play alongside Lila as the love interest and Arnold as the jealous suitor trying to steal the girl away from him.  Coming after a cartoon where Arnold puts a stop to going after Lila, it's very appropriate and pleasing that he thinks nothing of Eugene starring alongside her instead of him.  
As you can tell, the play is a standard boy meets girl story, but from the sound of the songs at the auditions, you can tell it’s having fun with execution regardless.  However, the fun is soon stagnated when Eugene reads through the play and discovers that they changed the ending.  Instead of the hero getting the girl, he meets a tragic demise of getting hit by a trolley while the bad guy wins in the end.  Apparently, the ending was changed out depression from the production’s director.  Because of a sad break-up with his old girlfriend, he sees no benefit in a happy ending, even if it would be much better suited for such a light-hearted extravagant musical. 
Though Eugene, and even Arnold, resent this decision, Eugene insists to look on the bright side of the affair like he usually does.  This brings to mind a big thing that tends to hold Eugene back as a character.  While there’s nothing wrong with being optimistic, he never allows himself to be honest with how bad things really are which can get grating and even corny.  That said, he can’t bring himself to ignore what’s wrong with what’s meant to be an uplifting musical.  After fun optimistic musical numbers, getting hit by that trolley and Arnold performing a depressing villain song to close the show is hard to not feel bad over.  In fact, Eugene responding to the new ending with a sad performance of the original intended happy ending number practically perfectly reflects this mood.  It’s in this moment where he actually reflects on what’s wrong with the circumstances.  For that, instead of just accepting this, he strives to do something about it in the most believable way actors can. 
On the night of the play, there’s a grand theatrical showing of musical numbers playing to the feel of an old-school style show.  The cast of kids even turn out decent singing performances.  When the big ending comes, Eugene prepares to surprise everyone where just when it looks like the director’s vision will win out, he restores the original ending, improv style.  He survives that trolley blow and wins the girl, and the audience instantly responds to it.  The last performance of that happy number of keeping ‘your sunny side up’ Eugene has been wanting to sing for so long is perhaps the best note to go out on. 
The only thing I have concerns over is the director’s girlfriend suddenly coming back to him and him instantly accepting him.  It may support the message on the importance of optimism, but it probably would have been better if he took the healthier option and looked for better love.  That’s an incredibly minor offense though, for with a grand musical spirit, and a healthy approach to optimism, it’s another impressive song filled work for this show.
A

The Ranking

1.      Arnold Visits Arnie

2.      Chocolate Boy

3.      Married

4.      Beaned

5.      Helga’s Locket

6.      The Racing Mule

7.      Eugene, Eugene!

8.      On the Lam

9.      Ghost Bride

10.  Grandpa’s Packard

11.  Ernie in Love

12.  Rhonda Goes Broke

13.  Big Bob’s Crisis

14.  Timberly Loves Arnold

15.  Sid and Germs

16.  Family Man

17.  Phoebe Breaks a Leg

18.  Rich Guy

19.  Principal Simmons

20.  Harold vs Patty

21.  Fishing Trip

22.  Sid the Vampire Slayer

23.  Old Iron Man

24.  Gerald’s Game

25.  A Day in the Life of a Classroom

26.  Suspended

27.  Stuck in a Tree

28.  Big Sis

29.  Gerald vs Jamie O

30.  New Bully on the Block

31.  Phoebe’s Little Problem

32.  Curly’s Girl

33.  Bag of Money

 

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode, an April Fool's Day special of all things.

If you would like to check out other Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Sizing Up Omi (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 6) - 'Toon Reviews 25

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
Sizing Up Omi


This episode follows one of the most common plot threads in family shows in which a short character longs to be bigger, but things go wrong when the wish is granted.  It’s as formulaic as ever in execution, but that doesn’t mean it still has some charm when mixing in the unique qualities of this show.  Plus, there’s a legit reason for the featured short character, Omi, to want to change size. 
During a Shen Gong Wu hunt, the Xiaolin Warriors learn that Jack and Wuya have recruited a new minion to help them along, the ancient one-eyed monster Cyclops.  He may be a total infantile brute, but Cyclops’ size and strength really proves to be too much for the Warriors to beat.  Because of him, they easily obtain a fascinating-sounding Shen Gong Wu, a pair of wings that leave a rainbow trail called the Wings of Tinabi. 
Realizing what’s at stake, Omi believes that the only way he and his friends will have a chance against this beast is if he were to grow a lot in size.  The quickest way to do this is with the older Shen Gong Wu, the Changing Chopsticks and the Reversing Mirror.  Together, they allow Omi to grow a lot in size, but there are a lot of holes in this setup.  First, Omi’s size is ridiculously big for getting around in life when there’s no battle to be fought.  There’s really no reason he has to be so gigantic all the time.  Second, he’s so big, he can’t ride on Dojo to Shen Gong Wu with the others.  This could have been avoided if he just increased his size at the Shen Gong Wu sighting.  There are ways this plan could have worked, but dumb decisions in accordance of teaching that being bigger isn’t everything are what really botch it up. 
After another Xiaolin Showdown is lost, Omi decides to return to normal, but just happens to use the Changing Chopsticks a little too much. As a result, he ends up becoming much smaller than normal which has even more points of concern.  This also could have been avoided if Omi didn’t use the Changing Chopsticks too much.  I mean, they’ve been used many times before.  Also, it’s said that he’ll need the Reversing Mirror which was lost in the showdown to grow since the Changing Chopsticks on their own shrink.  If that’s the case then how were users able to grow back to normal before and after this episode? 
There are so many leaps in the show’s logic, but the rest of the episode is enjoyable if you’re able to overlook them.  Stakes are legitimately risen when Jack says he’ll give the Warriors the Reversing Mirror for all of their Shen Gong Wu, and Omi must change back in a day or he’ll be small forever.  Omi also ends up being a big hero during another Shen Gong Wu hunt as foreshadowed by scenes of him keeping up his fight skills against usually small creatures like ants.  Starting a Xiaolin Showdown, he grabs hold of the Wings of Tinabi when no one’s looking, and puts them and his signature Orb of Tornami to good use in the challenge proper.  Not only is this an exciting physical challenge we’re come to expect, but it’s also an effective way of showing size really doesn’t matter.  I mean, we have a rice-sized monk beating a gigantic monster in a race and winning several Shen Gong Wu for the side of justice. 
So, everything goes back to normal from here, though it’s still hard to shake off the contrivances and boneheaded moves that start this whole conflict.  Even so, what we have is still a nice little episode so to speak.
B-

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      Days Past

3.      PandaTown

4.      Crystal Glasses

5.      The Shard of Lightning

6.      Sizing Up Omi

 

 
The next Xiaolin Showdown review showcases what happens when Dojo turns out to be the source of destruction to the world.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Timberly Loves Arnold" and "Eugene, Eugene!" in Hey Arnold.

If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

PandaTown (Xiaolin Showdown Season 2 Episode 5) - 'Toon Reviews 35

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:
Pandatown


There’s a lot of very effective character growth, interesting storytelling, and exciting action with this episode.  It really goes to show how even with simplicity in characterizations and morals, a lot of thought goes into the show.  In addition, the episode turns out to be one grand shining moment for the only Xiaolin Warrior who still hasn’t become an Apprentice, Raimundo. 
Considering that not being promoted with the others led him to go bad, it was a nice turn of events that when he redeemed himself, he felt he should work to earn the title.  Even with this mature mindset, it’s easy to feel for him when all the other Warriors look down upon him because he’s not up to their level.  This is also where Omi’s egotism becomes a problem where, while it’s funny at times, he comes off as rather condescending to someone beneath him who’s trying hard. 
As for the interesting concept, it’s when something other than a newly activated Shen Gong Wu calls them to action.  A team of henchmen are using Shen Gong Wu in Jack’s possession to commit robberies all over a shady level of Hong Kong.  Apparently, Jack had traded all his Shen Gong Wu to their leader, PandaBubba, to get a supply of special robot parts.  On the robot end, this is a productive trade considering he has a new robot who’s keen to serve him and praise him through cognitive speech rather than his silent warriors. 
Overall, this is obviously a very stupid move on Jack’s part, not to mention careless.  He does think he ripped him off by not mentioning that his supplies are magical, but carelessness undoes him again when he leaves a clue revealing the truth.  That’s why Jack is easily ambushed when he tries to steal his Shen Gong Wu back.  His path eventually crosses with the Xiaolin Warriors out to beat PandaBubba in the name of justice.  Jack claims he wants to help them since PandaBubba stole his own Shen Gong Wu. The Apprentices follow him, which makes sense considering their team-up in the season premiere.  However, it turns out to be a trap where Jack steals their own Shen Gong Wu, but PandaBubba’s ready for them all as he has them captured, including Jack.  By the way, it’s very impressive how intimidating and successful at crimes PandaBubba can be in such a short, panda-like appearance. 
Now, Raimundo was the only one hesitant not to trust Jack, and it feels like his friends were foolish to look down on him just because he’s not an Apprentice.  It’s here where Raimundo really proves his worth by going back to the Xiaolin Temple’s Shen Gong Wu vault where he knows PandaBubba’s henchmen will strike next.  He lets them capture him, and surrenders a supply of junk posing as fake Shen Gong Wu, while he steals back a backpack of the real ones. 
The third act comes with a lot of exciting Shen Gong Wu action from everyone, even before the inevitable Xiaolin Showdown.  It’s also a shining moment for Raimundo where during a boat race, even when he’s knocked off his boat, he gets a strong handle on his wind powers to beat Jack and PandaBubba.  So, it’s all because of Raimundo that the notorious crime boss is arrested and the Xiaolin Warriors get a large supply of Shen Gong Wu in their arsenal.  I can’t think of any bigger act to finally grant him the Apprentice title, especially after all he went through from his friends as well as enemies. 
This episode has key factors of success through engaging the audience with a fascinating story and action scenes, and ending with satisfaction of a character making legit progress.
A+

The Ranking

1.      Citadel of Doom

2.      Days Past

3.      PandaTown

4.      Crystal Glasses

5.      The Shard of Lightning

 

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Omi stars in a standard story about wanting to be taller.

If you would like to check out other Xiaolin Showdown reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.