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:
Fa La La La
Ed
As a show whose first four seasons take place in summer,
I find it really impressive that it manages to work in a Christmas cartoon at
this point without having it feel out of place.
At the same time, it comes off as a very entertaining and very telling
of the truth of the Christmas spirit.
You can’t help but notice the world slowly transitioning into
celebrating that holiday at certain times of the year like from late September to
December. It brings the impression that
the only time to express the spirit of the holiday is when it’s around that
time. As this cartoon shows, there are
ways to keep the joy of Christmas alive at any time of year, even the middle of
July making the final product stand out all the more.
The whole approach to
Christmas stems from a scene of Ed and Eddy playing around in Double D’s
parents’ room despite all his protests.
In their scuffle, they wind up in the closet where they find an
ancestral fruit cake. All it takes for
Christmas to get involved is for Double D to just say that it’s used every
Christmas. Ed is instantly ready to
celebrate at that mere mention while the other Eds go on with their lives,
particularly Eddy taking advantage of the day’s actual holiday, Piggy Bank Day. All the other kids have gathered around at a
party to break open their piggy banks and count all their money, the very thing
Eddy lives for.
As he and Double D put
on a scam to break the other kids’ piggy banks for them and take some of their
money though, Ed is off spreading the spirit of Christmas. How he goes about it is very charming and
very reflective of the day. Others may
point out it’s July, but he’s out dressed as an elf, hanging
decorations, giving his own fabricated gifts, and making sure everyone’s
good. This includes sparing Double D and
Eddy from going through with their scam and not be seen as naughy. However, it only takes one
showing of the spirit to allow it to grow.
The other kids put aside what time of year it is and are enjoying all
sorts of favorite activities too. Things
like Rolf giving what he has as gifts, including the clothes off his back, and
Jimmy attempting to be generous to the Eds truly enhance the holiday feel. It’s also a rare instance where the Eds start
a trend in mindsets, and the other kids easily go along with it which is just
as nice.
Even when Eddy misses the point
that the spirit of the Christmas is of generosity, joy, and good will, there’s
still good spirit to be seen. He leads
the Eds in his own scam of caroling with altered lyrics to Christmas songs to
get the kids to pay them cash, and it’s actually really funny. However, even Eddy shows some Christmas like
generosity out of this as he cashes in his jar of Christmas cheer for a bag of
jawbreakers to share with his friends.
Ed, however, takes this act a step further by giving away all the
jawbreakers to the other kids, except for one apparently. It’s unfortunate for the Eds, but it is technically
still a good act fitting for Christmas’ true meaning, so I can't totally complain.
For a Christmas story that
doesn’t take place at Christmastime, it says a lot that it can still bring out
the joy of the season with just one innocent kid starting the trend. It turns out to be a very great Christmas
story, but this show does have a special that takes place on the holiday
proper. That, however, is for another
day…
A+
Cry Ed
Further fitting this show’s slice-of-life roots, the last
cartoon of the second season is a random escapade that doesn’t feel big or
game-changing. It’s a typical act for
the Eds to try and improve their social status that could honestly go anywhere
else in the season and not change a thing.
Despite this, it’s a solidly fun cartoon that causes the simplest of
events to really escalate.
For one
thing, the Eds’ actions stand out as not really being in the name of
money. Just Eddy showing impressive skills
and getting attention for it is enough for him as an opening scene with him on
a bounce bubble shows. It’s all fun to
watch, but something is quick to divert the kids’ attention. The ever-fragile Jimmy soon gets an injury
and everyone goes to his aid. In a more
pathetic than average circumstance though, his injury is over a clothes pin
lightly tapping his foot. I just cannot
believe that he’d get this injured over a simple tap. Could he just be acting to deliberately
attract attention away from Eddy? It’s
never made clear but I hold onto that possibility.
Anyhow, Eddy won’t stand for losing attention
to someone else and spends the rest of the cartoon trying to upstage Jimmy. Since the kids went for him because he was
injured, it’s only natural that he would fake his own injury with heavy casts
to attract attention. He even wins them
over with a story of how he got so hurt in the first place, mainly thanks to
Ed. Even as Sarah calls him out for
being a big faker, Eddy is still tended to more. With the strong possibility that Jimmy was
being overdramatic with the clothespin, what’s even the difference? It’s only when Jimmy visibly gets another
injury that’s real this time with a tree falling on him when Eddy loses his
newfound love.
He tries to make up for
this by getting a real injury on his own, right down to trying to convince
Double D to hit him. Though Double D
profoundly refuses, Ed doesn’t hesitate to drop an entire house on him. It’s also here where Double D is vocal about
Eddy’s ridiculousness with his plans and plots to stop them, something that
will really become regular from hereon.
He and Ed go to help Jimmy by putting him in a protection bubble where
he can bounce around as he pleases and not get hurt. It also seems to be miraculous enough to heal
the painful looking injuries he already does have. Eddy, stubborn for attention as always, still
finds a reason to compete with his own safe suit made from the less appealing
heavy iron and metal. I mean, scenes of
the kids bouncing around Jimmy in his suit are convincingly much more fun, and
with Jimmy not getting hurt, it’s an unqualified success. However, the suit isn’t dog proof as
off-screen, one bites a hole in Jimmy’s suit, causing him to deflate like a
balloon.
Though he fails first, Eddy
isn’t lucky either. He is safe when he
crashes into Kevin and Rolf, but by chance, Rolf knows how to sense weak points
in metal. This breaks Eddy’s safe suit
and leaves him open for a thrashing, though he thinks how hurt he is will still
get him all the other kids’ attention.
This overall makes the story somewhat petty and repetitive. Thanks to comedy, strong character moments,
and hints at the truth to the Eds’ actions, it’s still an entertaining end to
Season 2 that doesn’t hurt in the slightest.
A-
The Ranking
1. One + One =
Ed
2. Rent-A-Ed
3. Fa La La La
Ed
4. Urban Ed
5. Mirror,
Mirror On the Ed
6. Who Let the
Ed In
7. Ready Set
Ed
8. Dear Ed
9. Hot Buttered
Ed
10. Stop Look
and Ed
11. Shoo Ed
12. Ed in a
Halfshell
13. Scrambled
Ed
14. Rambling Ed
15. Home Cooked
Ed
16. Honor Thy
Ed
17. Floss Your
Ed
18. Knock,
Knock Who’s Ed
19. High Heeled
Ed
20. Know-it-All
Ed
21. Cry Ed
22. Eeny Meeny
Miney Ed
23. Hands
Across Ed
24. A Key to My
Ed
25. In Like Ed
26. To Sir With
Ed
Final Thoughts
Some second seasons of shows merely build upon what worked
the first time around. In the case of Ed
Edd n Eddy, it does just that and more.
There’s a clear sense of passion and fun gone into the series with just
about every cartoon offering something great and impactful to walk away
with. If that’s not proof of devotion to
a product, then I don’t know what is.
All the important elements of the series with the premise,
character personalities, and style of comedy have already been introduced in
the previous season. Since they work so
well, it makes sense that they’re all replicated for this second season. All the same, it constantly feels like more
is being done with them than ever before.
A lot of times, the Eds’ scams are so elaborate and so grand-scale, they
make for excellent creative means to drive the plots. Selling turkey basters as Canadian squirt guns
brings on an authentic Wild West atmosphere from the simple capabilities of childhood. Though they fake a lot of things, the power
of illusion gives good reputation in the form of rocket car ride around the
world. Great use of cardboard boxes
become an elaborate city taking up the local lane. Taking advantage of one of the kids’ annoying
qualities make them certified a pest control.
There are even times where scams as circus performers, repairmen, and sauna operators build upon each other to humorous effect. Even if most of the scams fail for the Eds,
the sheer craftsmanship, and chaos that results from them make up for all of
that for how entertaining they’re executed for the audience.
It also helps that the Eds are kept likable despite the
questionable ethics of their scams with plenty of material showcasing them
trying to enjoy what life has to offer.
Some cartoon focuses have them try to find a place to watch a movie marathon, loose a tooth, play with imaginary friends, explore a haunted house,
switch places with each other, rebel against parents’ rules, spending a day at the
swimming hole, and even spreading the spirit of Christmas in summer. Sure, things still don’t always go their way,
but it does show that they have interests in things other than scamming
kids. Plus, with inventive gags and
sharp writing, these simple activities are given an identity all their own from
this show. If you want to see the
seasons biggest creative concepts though, check out “One + One = Ed.” It’s a true work of surrealist art coming
from the Eds’ simple desire to know everything.
What’s more, it offers a major perspective of the show’s world in which
the Eds tearing apart reality basically reveals that everything they see is a
cartoon. This feel is realized in a
variety of ways that must be seen to be believed.
On another subject, the cartoons are also enhanced for how
involved many other kids in the cast are involved. There’s expansion on Jonny’s traits of
befriending inanimate objects with faces despite being confused by concepts of
imaginary friends, and tendencies of being a pest. There are clever depictions of Rolf’s life in
his old country, as well as what it takes to get truly miffed by the Eds’
antics, and what he can tolerate from others.
Jimmy actually has a nice moment of bonding with Eddy who builds him up
to be tougher like his older brother did for him. In fact, it isn’t long before Jimmy surpasses
Eddy with better scams and talents of haggling.
While Nazz is still portrayed as just a generally nice character, it’s
still nice that we get a lot more of her this season than we did in the
previous one. While other characters are
jerky and cynical, her presence feels very fresh especially as she’s the most
willing to give the Eds a chance in certain fun affairs. She does have a few aggressive moments of her
own here and there, but that can also help to make her character feel better
rounded. Some of the worst characters
are also handled pretty well. Kevin is
still a major jerk with his use of the word ‘dorks’, but he’s reasonably
provoked more often than not. Sarah is a
loud and unpleasant brat, but somehow I can get a laugh out of her aggression a
lot of the time. Of course, the Kanker
sisters bring a lot of discomfort, but not only is there at least one time the
Eds beat them, but they’re surprisingly not used a lot this season. It goes to show that even in an eccentric
environment like this cul-de-sac, there’s a fun time to be had with the Eds and
the kids they star alongside.
A lot of Season 2 is so good, I’m pleased to say
that even the weak cartoons are well-executed.
In other words, not all cartoons end up great with a few being
particularly problematic. However, the
passion going into this season is so big that any of its cartoons with noticeable
problems are still watchable and enjoyable to an extent. The closest the season gets to being poor is
with “To Sir With Ed.” This is mostly due to its incredibly far-fetched premise
of Nazz coming to babysit Eddy even though they’re the same age, and Eddy
getting humiliated for no good reason.
Despite that, there are still plenty of funny lines, character moments,
and visual gags to make up for any legit problems and have the cartoon be a
decent time. Other than that cartoon, no
other is nearly as flawed or even bad.
There are times when the Eds’ scams like a telethon and stunts like
spying on the kids which leads to them ruining a birthday party can be a little
much for the audience though.
Nevertheless, the emphasis on strong comedy from the featured characters
and the gags makes up for these issues and makes the viewing experience
positive overall. It’s not easy to make
even very heavily flawed stories work, but Ed
Edd n Eddy Season 2 finding a way around this is impressive.
With creative premises, character development, and allowing
all cartoons to work to some extent, Season 2 of Ed Edd n Eddy is one of the closest things to TV perfection. It brilliantly showcases the capabilities of
the series and has the dignity of a cartoon work of art. Works like those from this season are
practically one of the best reasons why I was so attached to it growing up and
why I still get a kick out of it now. If
you’re like me or have never seen the show before, check out many of Season 2’s
cartoons and prepared to be amazed. It
will be a while before I explore the show again, but the high quality will be
pouring into the next season just to let you know…
Highly Recommended
Since this last episode for Season 2 had a Christmas cartoon, that's a good sign to look forward to reviews of a few selected Christmas specials this coming December. Until then.
Stay Animated Folks!
I don't really like "Cry Ed" that much, to be honest. I found Jimmy ungodly annoying in that one.
ReplyDeleteOther than that, I agree with a lot of your opinions! Great job with these reviews!