Sunday, November 17, 2019

Know-It-All Ed / Dear Ed (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 2 Episode 1) - 'Toon Reviews 37

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It’s been just a few months since I finished reviewing the first season of my favorite old school Cartoon Network show.  Now it’s back in the spotlight for more reviews of a season that doesn’t just continue its strengths, but practically perfects them.

Ed Edd n Eddy (Season 2)

Basic Premise

You’d really be hard pressed to find an animated series reflective of childhood memories that’s as wild and crazy as Ed Edd n Eddy.  Just the look, feel, and comedy styles give it an identity all its own.  It’s all the key components to make the lives of three misfit boys with similar names constantly trying to scam their way to fitting in with the crowd as fun as it can be.  The ensuing antics from the off-the-wall escapades that Ed, Double D, and Eddy get themselves into alone make everything that happens worth it.  Also making everything stand out is an art style that makes all elements come alive and each character instantly recognizable with boiling lines, elaborate gags and solid colors.  Helping its case is that no other series has attempted such a look and ultimately makes the whole series stand as immensely entertaining as much as it’s relatable.

With all this said, there’s a lot of appeal behind this Cartoon Network classic, and reviewing the first season a while back has certainly been highly rewarding for me.  After all, the series was one of the animated shows I was obsessed with growing up.  It’s practically a given that it would hold up so well more than 20 years later.  Now the time has come for me to look into another season.  It really expands upon the creativity of the Eds’ scams and the characteristics of some of the neighborhood kids.  I’m even excited to name a lot of the oncoming cartoons of Season 2 as some of my favorites.  Let’s not waste anymore time and get into them.  Get out your money, grab some jawbreakers, and hold on tight because the Eds are at it again!

Now on with the reviews:

Know-it-All Ed



Despite being created in the name of money, there’s undeniable creativity that goes into the Eds’ scams.  They can even offer chances for them to get into different roles associated with them.  Truth be told, the scam they put together in this cartoon offers plenty of insight and charisma. 
While playing around, they find a box of discarded turkey basters.  Eddy demonstrates one of them and sees potential for something greater and much more fun.  He fills one up with water, gives a squeeze at the rubber part of the baster, and decides to sell them as Canadian squirt guns.  I find it ironically interesting that this show pulls off a stereotypical statement about Canada despite being made there by the way. 
The big thing about this squirt gun discovery is that it’s not really based on a lie or even exaggeration.  It’s all about creative interpretation of something totally unrelated repurposed for something other than its intended use.  The turkey basters are even legitimately effective in their new role as squirt guns as demonstrated when Eddy sells them to the other kids.  For that, the Eds have the right to get money from what they’re selling, and they actually work too. 
The proposed squirt guns start a Wild West trend throughout the cul-de-sac, and even the Eds get in on the fun.  However, instead of playing around, they socially shoot down their chances to fit in.  Eddy stands as marshal of the kids, only exploiting them for even more cash off of makeshift fines and taxes with Double D and Ed going along with them.  This makes the kids’ newly formed impressions with their products turn into frustration, but the story gives the Eds a chance to go back to deserving their respect. 
The Wild West theme of the kids’ activities brings outlaws in when the Kanker sisters show up and mess around with everyone.  The Eds prepare to use their Canadian squirt guns to stop them, but in typical character hierarchy fashion for this show, the Kankers are somewhat always ahead of them. They steal their squirt guns and fill them with overly ripe perfume which they use on the Eds and the other cul-de-sac kids.  Since Eddy declared himself as marshal, it only makes sense that he and his friends take on the Kankers no matter what threat they pose. 
The result is a western style climax with all the appropriate staging.  The Eds are stationed on one side of a construction site with the Kankers on the other.  The build-up to the showdown consists of close-ups of the main players’ faces accompanied by bars of battle music. 
Then action comes in with onslaughts of the Eds firing water out of their squirt guns staged like the adrenaline of gunshots in an actual western.  However, even with this excitement, the Eds fail to get a single shot, while the Kankers come out strong.  They stick them to the ground with squirt guns filled with rubber cement and end the cartoon with aggressive kissing.  There’s always an air of disappointment when they come out on top at the end of a cartoon, but it just stands out even more here when the Eds had all the potential to rise as heroes. 
Ending aside, this cartoon is still driven by one of their most clever and atmospheric scams.

A-

Dear Ed



While the first season was a good one to introduce the characters, as the series goes on, they turn out to be more interesting and multi-layered than you may think.  Of course, the Eds are a given to get more development since the show’s all about them, but this applies to the neighborhood kids too.  One of the weirdest and more interesting kids is Jonny, known for his friendship with Plank, a literal hunk of wood with a face drawn on him.  It’s certainly an oddball mannerism, but the friendship between Jonny and Plank is honestly endearing especially since Plank feels more lifelike as the series goes on.  This cartoon takes Jonny’s fascination with inanimate objects and at the same time shows how none can take the place of his true best friend.  
It all begins when the Eds are surprised to find Plank with Jimmy instead of Jonny.  When confronting Jimmy, they learn that both Jonny and Plank were separated after having a horrible tiff.  This right here is the only true weak point of the cartoon.  It’s never revealed exactly what caused Jonny and Plank to separate.  In fact, the first time Jonny is seen, he already misses Plank suggesting that their tiff was really baseless thus making the conflict feel shallow.  It’s not a deal breaker though, especially as the cartoon proves to be very fun and enjoyable from the following story directions. 
Seeing a golden opportunity for cash, Eddy decides to pull off a scam where Jonny can buy a new inanimate object with a face for a friend.  All the way there are several memorable moments in the process of the scam.  Some are good for comedy’s sake like how Ed reads off signs to convince Jonny to come to the scam.  Others showcase how deep Jonny reads into inanimate objects.  A traffic cone somehow turns out to be a jerk to him and this perception feels justified through how he plays ping-pong.  In Ed’s basement, they find an old boot that already looks like it has a face.  When the Eds give Jonny and the boot privacy, the boot, according to Jonny, appears to have messed up the whole room despite standing where he was left.  You really can’t tell if it’s just Jonny’s imagination or if there’s just something about these objects the other kids don’t notice. 
The centerpiece of the cartoon is when Eddy sets up something like a party designed for Jonny to mingle with all sorts of inanimate objects with faces.  There’s a good blend of feelings to get from this sequence.  Jonny’s fascination with inanimate objects leads to drama as he gets uncomfortably nervous from all of them ‘starring’ at him.  All the while there’s still a lot of fun to the sequence when the other kids basically crash Eddy’s room and join in on the party.  It makes for some good energy and action amidst a rocking music piece in the background.  Ironically, it’s too much for Eddy despite the fact that this is attention he usually wants and he typically insists on crashing parties. 
For the sake of the plot, their arrival resolves the conflict as it gets Jonny officially reunited with his true friend, Plank.  They go home happy, but the Eds get a decent conclusion too as they decide to just put the scam aside and dance in what remains of the party in the last seconds.  It’s an interesting ways of showing that friendship is something you can’t buy.  It has to feel right for everyone and not cost a cent.  Centering it on a character with interesting tastes in friends to say the least make this cartoon stand as strong as it is.
A

The Ranking

1.      Dear Ed

2.      Know-it-All Ed

 

 
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Eds need a place to watch a movie marathon, and the show takes animation to new heights when the Eds end up breaking reality.
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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