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Rent-A-Ed
As scams are what the Eds typically do, naturally many
cartoons would be completely driven by them.
This one is so scam-driven that it cleverly works in three of them, yet
they all flow into each other very nicely.
It also helps that through how one scam builds off of another, there’s
imaginative storytelling and greatly executed comedic moments and situations
all throughout.
First, the Eds put on a
circus show for the kids which seems very uneventful at first, but picks up
with Ed’s great energy and athleticism.
However, it’s these very traits that lead to this scam’s downfall. At one point, Ed jumps from atop the very
tall slide onto one end of a teeter-totter planning on launching Eddy and
Double D who are standing on the other side into the air. This only breaks the teeter-totter and causes
the kids to leave the circus unimpressed.
Rather than worry over how they’re going to fix the teeter-totter, Eddy
shows off major creative thinking. Out
of this blunder, he quickly comes up with an idea for a new scam. When things break, he and the others are
going to repair them.
This brings on a
repairmen scam with their first assignment involving fixing Jimmy’s toy oven
which for some reason won’t open as his cookies are done. The comedy of the situation comes from how
the Eds don’t really know what they’re doing.
Ed and Eddy bang the oven around, then Ed breaks it even more when
pulling the knob off, and when the oven does open, Jimmy’s cookies burn through
the ceiling. Jimmy’s reaction to the
destruction sells the humor of the situation.
This is just one example of how the Eds can get laughs over making
difficult situations even more difficult.
It only continues when they find Jonny stuck between branches, and when
they go into the kitchen for dish soap to free him, Ed ends up breaking the
sink. After doing a shoddy job in fixing
the sink, Ed breaks even more things by pulling out a heat radiator. Once again, Eddy gets another scam idea by
using Jonny’s sweltering house as a sauna.
Of all the scams pulled in this cartoon, this one is the most
competently constructed as Eddy and Double D appeal to the masses with an
authentic sauna atmosphere. They even
take care of Ed by making him a literal towel rack. Everything goes so well that only a totally
unforeseen event ruins everything.
At
one point, Rolf turns the heat up so high, his towel comes off, everyone runs
off grossed out by his nudity, and Rolf doesn’t understand why. It’s an effective way to raise tensions as
they build even more when Ed even fails to be a towel rack by breaking from his
post, wrecking the support beam to the house.
This action brings Jonny’s house down completely, and to make this
cartoonish and over-the-top show feel real, the destruction is treated like a
big deal. While making someone homeless
can be hard to live with, the cartoon still finds a way to be solidly fun at
the end. The Eds actually get away with
their money, and even as they end up on the wave of an exploding fire hydrant,
the kids are more entertained than disgusted with them.
As you can tell, while the Eds may
continuously break things, they put together great entertainment with the
events of this cartoon.
A+
Shoo Ed
Though the Eds are often seen as the real overly eccentric
kids of the cul-de-sac, at least one other kid rivals their testing of everyone
else’s patience. Jonny certainly has
some of the most outlandish customs of the kids in the cast through talking
with inanimate objects and having an overactive imagination. Still, there’s a charm and good sense of
charisma to keep him entertaining, at least from an audience perspective. In-universe, let’s just say that this cartoon
is where his obnoxious side starts getting noticed.
It starts with Kevin minding his own business
when Jonny suddenly shows up for nonsensical reasons leaving Kevin extremely
annoyed. The final straw is when Jonny
takes Kevin’s prized bike and later crashes it.
The Eds take notice of how much of a pest Jonny is being, and Eddy gets
a very clever scam idea. They’re going
to make Jonny even more of a pest than he already is designed to purposefully
annoy kids so the Eds can get rid of him as a pest control. They start by keeping Jonny away from Kevin
for a nickel quarter.
In crafting
a pest, the Eds each have different bizarre qualities to make Jonny totally unpredictable
and annoying by design. There’s a tacky
purple suit, his teeth brushed with revolting anchovy paste, a block of wood
glued to his foot, and telling him to constantly say ‘why’ and poke people on
the head. Jonny even adds to the
nuisance by letting out a big dose of his anchovy breath. As you can see, there’s a lot of randomness
gone into the craftsmanship of Jonny’s fabricated pest role, and it’s very
effective.
When he goes to annoy Sarah
and Jimmy, they’re certainly annoyed by how he disrupts their innocent
birdwatching activity. There’s also
great comedy from Jonny ending up in their birdhouse as his annoying innocence
clashes with Sarah’s explosive temper.
Through it all, Jonny never feels malicious when annoying, but actually
pretty charming. It’s perfectly
understandable why Sarah would want him gone though.
The Eds’ plan soon hits a snag when they
bring Jonny to Rolf, in a cage like an animal I might add. What’s annoying to others is perfectly
acceptable to Rolf, and he and the ever annoying Jonny get along well. Even so, the Eds still find a way to test
Rolf’s patience by getting Jonny to majorly crack his knuckles. In truth, Rolf ends up frightened as the
sound of the cracks cause all his animals to stampede. In the end, the Eds seem to get somewhat of a
consequence for making a pest on purpose as they end up in Jonny’s pest cage
with the animals. They could easily get
out if they pay Jonny a quarter, but Eddy’s stubbornness keeps getting them all
mauled by animals with every crack Jonny makes.
Despite everything, it’s still impressive, that Jonny comes off as this
entertaining as a pest, and uses his annoying traits to his advantage at the
end. You do have to admit that he does start pushing it from an audience perspective though. Regardless, the audience is at
least in for a fun character-driven time with this cartoon.
A
The Ranking
1. One + One = Ed
2. Rent-A-Ed
3. Urban Ed
4. Who Let the Ed In
5. Ready Set Ed
6. Dear Ed
7. Stop Look and Ed
8. Shoo Ed
9. Scrambled Ed
10. Rambling Ed
11. Home Cooked Ed
12. Honor Thy Ed
13. Floss Your Ed
14. Knock, Knock Who’s Ed
15. Know-it-All Ed
16. Eeny Meeny Miney Ed
17. Hands Across Ed
18. A Key to My Ed
19. In Like Ed
20. To Sir With Ed
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Eddy reshapes Jimmy into another version of himself, and the Eds switch places during truth or dare.
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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