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Ed in a
Halfshell
Giving the show a more endearing center is how much of the
characters were influenced by people the creator, Danny Antonucci, knew in
life. A few fans know that the Eds
themselves are based on parts of his own personality, but given the many
distinctive kids in the cul-de-sac, he clearly had a vivid childhood. A character like Jimmy is especially
noteworthy in this case. He's based on
one of Danny's male cousin who preferred to play with girls and dolls and was
easily fragile. That’s the perfect way
to describe Jimmy in the show, and his overdramatic outbursts to fate’s painful
tolls he endures and extents of his injuries sell those traits. At the same time, it’s sort of refreshing
that this cartoon gives Jimmy a much-needed backbone through spending time with
the Eds.
They’re pulled away from the
day’s scam when Sarah gets Ed and the others to look after Jimmy by threatening
to destroy one of his prized possessions.
Eddy ends up taking charge of this task and at first is very sore about
being forced into this. It shows from
how he goes about it throughout the cartoon.
He starts by forcing Jimmy to play violent games like dodgeball which
easily freaks him out, albeit nothing compared to Double D who’s moved to screaming
over such a game. During this game
though, Jimmy actually starts warming up to the Eds, particularly as Ed and
Double D treat him well by making it easy to hit Eddy with the ball. In fact, Ed seems to warm up to looking after
Jimmy as they bond over his odd mannerisms.
Eddy’s practically jealous over this, but decides that if Jimmy can
imitate Ed’s behavior and enjoy it, the same thing could happen if he exposes
him to what he does best, scams. There’s
a dialog-less montage showing Jimmy go from his usual delicate scrawny self to
someone able to put his own spin on Eddy’s customs. When it comes time to
actually having him put on a scam, everyone expects Jimmy to fail easily. The truth is, the scam Jimmy puts on is
easily more successful than most that the Eds have put together. It’s a legitimately fun trampoline carefully
constructed for the ultimate bouncy sensation with a well-organized time table
to make sure everyone gets a good bounce.
Jimmy even adopts an edginess to his attitude because of this scam as
well as aggressiveness when Eddy tries to get his cut of the profit.
As a brawl between them gets out of control,
Ed pulls out a whistle meant for Jimmy to use to summon Sarah if the Eds gave
him trouble. Ed seems to forget this by
blowing it himself making Sarah think that something’s wrong with Jimmy. Jimmy probably could have taken the Eds on
his own, but is clever enough to make Sarah think the Eds did mistreat
him. They get beaten up, and the cartoon
ends with Sarah and Jimmy walking away with all the money picked up from Jimmy’s
scam.
In spite of feeling too sorry for
the Eds for not getting the credit they deserve for helping Jimmy get more
assertive, there’s still a welcome change for his character here. This direction leaves plenty of solid comedy
and clever character dynamics for a thoroughly entertaining cartoon.
A
Mirror,
Mirror, On the Ed
It’s easy to get so caught up in the setup of the Eds trying
to scam other people that cartoons about them just having fun can catch you off
guard. This cartoon is one of the
simpler stories of them just doing an activity, but it’s very effective given
the execution and emphasis on character.
Following a take on cartoon logic where they try to cross a gap even
though they can easily walk on thin air, the Eds find the kids playing truth or
dare. They want to join in the fun, but
they leave just as they spin the bottle.
Despite this uncalled for rudeness, the Eds are content playing the game
by themselves. The dares they have in
mind are what drive the cartoon from here and really enhance the fun. With their dares, the Eds have each other
swap personalities with Eddy acting nerdy and feeble like Double D, Double D
acting dumb like Ed, and Ed acting aggressive like Eddy.
This is really all there is to the cartoon
from here, but the simple setup is mined for all comedic possibilities as the
Eds take their dares very seriously.
This especially shows as they follow their personality changes while
going about their daily lives and interacting with the other kids. Some of them fall for the disguises, while
others like Rolf are able to tell that the Eds are not who they claim they
are. He needs Ed to help him squash
raspberries with his large feet, but Double D, who insists he’s Ed, comes off
as an imposter to Rolf. Such confusion
leads to a major creative scenario where Double D squashing raspberries in Ed’s
place leaves Rolf frustrated that his raspberries are cursed to the life of
salad dressing. Topping it all is both
of them getting juiced and ingested by Eddy posing as Double D.
It’s not just the scenarios though. It’s just plain fun watching each Ed acting
as something they’re not. Double D tries
to fabricate Ed’s lack of intelligence as well as his posture which is even
more difficult. Eddy uses his dare to be
Double D as an opportunity to mock his brainy mannerisms, weaknesses, and even
physical attributes. Ed also gets well
into character through being loud and painful, though he often slips into his
usual behaviors at the sight of things like Rolf’s chickens. A lot of this is awkward,
but with how dynamic the Eds’ personalities are, I say this is a rare funny
kind of awkward.
There are also good
consequences to going this far with their dares connecting to the different
perspectives of the personality swaps.
In a case where it’s known that they’re playing around, Eddy, acting
brainy, ends up annoying Kevin so much that he gets chased down. He tries hiding in Double D’s house, but the
dare can’t hide the truth from his apparent security system leaving him open to
Kevin’s beatings. As for those who fall
for the switches, Sarah believed Double D is actually Ed based on what he’s
wearing, and is forced to endure the horrors of Ed’s room Sarah forces him to
clean. That said, Ed gets some success
through this dare by agreeing to a dare from Jonny and Plank. Having Plank be Eddy and Ed be Plank is
implied to give him a quarter, and as long as Ed is happy with this, I can call
this ending satisfying.
It’s the perfect
feeling to go out with after spending a fun time with the Eds actually enjoying
what life has to offer for once.
A+
The Ranking
1. One + One = Ed
2. Rent-A-Ed
3. Urban Ed
4. Mirror, Mirror On the Ed
5. Who Let the Ed In
6. Ready Set Ed
7. Dear Ed
8. Stop Look and Ed
9. Shoo Ed
10. Ed in a Halfshell
11. Scrambled Ed
12. Rambling Ed
13. Home Cooked Ed
14. Honor Thy Ed
15. Floss Your Ed
16. Knock, Knock Who’s Ed
17. Know-it-All Ed
18. Eeny Meeny Miney Ed
19. Hands Across Ed
20. A Key to My Ed
21. In Like Ed
22. To Sir With Ed
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Eds and the cul-de-sac kids have a beach day, and the Eds try to come up with the perfect scam for girls.
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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