Thursday, April 2, 2020

Wakko's 2-Note Song / Panama Canal / Hello Nurse / The Ballad of Magellan / The Return of the Great Wakkorotti / The Big Wrap Party Tonight - (Animaniacs Vol 4 Part 7) - 'Toon Reviews 39

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Episode 82
Wakko’s 2-Note Song
Music has always been a key element of the series, working in time with the gags and antics, and standing as its own highlight. That’s why it’s just wonderful to observe that the episode we’re now looking into is all about music.  Kicking it off is this short cartoon that may not be the most grand-scale or funniest, but makes a good effort to showcase how quality material can come from anywhere.  

It starts with Dr. Scratchansniff taking the Warners out for another road trip. I have to assume that he’s assigned to do this since I can’t imagine him willingly doing so after a certain song.  In regards to the actual plot, Wakko passes the time by playing two notes on an accordion.  Dr. Scratchansniff is annoyed by this and writes Wakko’s work off as nothing but noise.  Through wise guy conversations, the Warners are insistent that despite what Dr. Scratchansniff says, two notes can be enough to write a song.  

That said, Wakko does need some help in convincing Dr. Scratchansniff of his point as Yakko and Dot use what they have to add in some percussion.  This slowly starts to work, but what really starts convincing Dr. Scratchansniff of the two-note song’s potential is the most creative moment of the cartoon.  The Warners suddenly change the scene from inside the car to various places suitable for any music genre Wakko’s song can convey.  It can be a country song, a blues composition, or a polka.  Regardless of where they play though, there’s clear progression to Dr. Scratchansniff warming up to what Wakko has composed.  By the time the Warners bring up a parade to play the song as a big band number, he’s practically joining in.  

Then afterwards, Dr. Scratchansniff is off making his own song with his own minimal materials even if the outside world doesn’t get it.  However they feel though, it’s undeniable that there’s well-staged progress to Dr. Scratchansniff seeing benefits in the oddball ways the Warners operate.  Above all, it’s another cartoon that gives a strong lesson of what makes great entertainment while being solidly fun all at once.
A+
And now it’s time to talk about the many songs of this episode starting with:

Panama Canal
Some of the most memorable songs of the series are those that manage to be educational as well as fun to listen to.  Not only that, but what the songs teach are unusual facts to the average person.  Putting them to music makes for an exciting way to learn them that can’t be replicated anywhere else.  With this song for instance, I believe that nothing else can make learning about the details of the Panama Canal as enjoyable. 

It follows Yakko on a boat with a shipment of low-cal sodas ready to pass through the Panama Canal as part of his journey.  That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s certainly enhanced a lot with a song worked into everything.  Set to the tune of a song about another well-known canal, Yakko applies all the key details of how the Panama Canal works in a solid well-paced manner.  There’s how it’s the best pass through the Caribbean Sea, how the water levels of different locks raise and lower, and even how ships are given a decal when paying to go through.  This is honestly the best way to get what’s needed to be known about how the Panama Canal works.  It never gets too complex nor does it overpower the fun had with the upbeat music scores.  That said, most of the important education is in the middle verse while the others merely describe the journey, so what you learn isn’t all that plentiful.  

Thankfully, what is taught in the song is all that’s necessary, and it ends up being another great musical work from this one-of-a-kind animated series.
A


Hello Nurse
It’s no secret that this show’s songs don’t need to be educational to be great.  They can easily stand out as fun musical numbers on their own, especially as they highlight major elements of the series.  

This song is a very soulful number about the woman Yakko and Wakko are easily the most interested in, Hello Nurse.  Of course, her attractive figure is enough for characters like them to fall for her, but the song sets out to showcase how amazing she really is.  Backed by Wakko going all out with a passionate singing voice, there’s an extensive character study of Hello Nurse.  A few past works have presented her as smart and pro-active, though those traits have not been as prominent as her appearance.  This song is easily the best place to see those smart qualities on display.  

According to Wakko, Hello Nurse has a high IQ and many awards and college degrees, is politically correct, knows how to stay healthy, and generously takes up community service.  With all this said, it’s no doubt a far cry from her usual portrayal as a nurse simply known to look good.  Those achievements and qualities combined with her legit attractiveness certainly earn her the title of ‘woman of the year.’  Wakko clearly seeming impressed by these qualities as well as her beauty also develops his crush on her somewhat, as it implies he sees Hello Nurse as more than eye candy.  It kind of does feel like it’s too bad he’s only seven, not to mention a different species.  

At the same time, everything in the song feels too hard to believe given that looking good is what Hello Nurse is more known for than any accomplishment.  However, at the end of the song, both Wakko and Yakko say that if Hello Nurse is not everything they said, lightning should strike them dead.  Lightning does indeed strike them, but they’re clearly not dead.  In other words, the song ends ambiguously if Hello Nurse really is as amazing as the song makes her out to be.  I’d like to believe she is, or at the very least, a role model for any female to be the best they can be.  That’s enough to make the song all the more empowering, though it’s enough that it comes off as passionate character study with the perfect music style and performance.
A+



The Ballad of Magellan
Education is once again at the forefront as this song looks into the voyage of one of the best known explorers in history, Magellan.  Simplifying his most famous voyage to find the East Indies down to a few verses, the result isn’t just a great song, but one of the most entertaining stories from this show.  

Backed by the Warners singing his tale in perfect harmony, the song expertly divides the phases of Magellan’s voyage.  Out of the music is a noteworthy routine of his biggest challenge.  Magellan would think that he found the East Indies, but it always turns out that he landed on a completely different island.  With each verse ending with him finding the wrong island, he relentlessly lets out frustrations, sometimes to extreme degrees of chopping down the mast of his ship.  

All the while as the voyage goes nowhere, the Warners are ever nonchalant over Magellan’s frustration, yet it works in keeping them funny and likable.  It feels like they know what’s going to go down after reading all about it somewhere and are just along to watch history play out.  It’s practically appropriate that all they do is stand around and sing about what’s happening while getting Magellan to relax while he’s going nowhere.  

That’s not even mentioning that they emphasize all the important historical beats of the journey as they sing.  It’s not just about the wrong island Magellan ends up in, but also details of how his ships are diminished from a storm and how long it takes to get to certain islands.  Their historical awareness is also apparent at the end of the song which brings the whole story the darkest of dark comedy.  Magellan reaches an island, the natives come to attack, he’s slow to figure it out, and is swiftly taken out with a spear.  A death just happened, and the Warners feel half-hearted in their mourning of him.  Then again, it works given its historical accuracy, and at least Magellan’s ghost gets to see the East Indies even if he can’t sell anything.  

With this song, the historical content is made interesting with great music, harmonious performances, the facts easily sticking, and fitting comedy all the way.  It’s no doubt one of the show’s musical highlights.
A+


The Return of the Great Wakkorotti
I’ve enjoyed the Great Wakkorotti segments for what they are, but I do know of one major drawback to them.  It’s basically the same routine every single time.  The only thing that really stands out are the different kind of classical music pieces Wakko belches to.  With all this in mind, it’s no wonder why we haven’t gotten one of them since Episode 50.  

When bringing the Great Wakkorotti back for this special music-themed episode, there is an attempt to do something new with the concept.  The setup is that Wakko gets laryngitis which means he can’t burp.  To let the show go on, he goes for another lowbrow action for a highbrow setting, hand farts.  As a side note, instead of Yakko playing the music on a piano, he conducts an orchestra consisting of familiar faces in the cast.  

Now regarding Wakko’s performance, it’s a bit of a reminder that just because you change a formula up doesn’t mean it’s going to be the better way to go.  The hand farts aren’t too disgusting by themselves, but they really don’t lead to anything big or especially hilarious.  With the burps, there’s a plethora of expressive funny faces to go with the music.  Here, it’s just Wakko in the same pose for the entire piece making the whole concert mundane.  Even the break with Dot freshening Wakko up to perform more doesn’t make as much sense.  With the burps, pouring a lot of soda into Wakko fits because you can see its tie to the bodily function.  It’s hard to see how pouring hot dog stuff into Wakko’s glove easily means more hand farts.  At least they are well timed to the featured classical music piece, the Chinese Dance from “The Nutcracker Suite.”  Also, the ending of the performance is confusingly disturbing.  Wakko doesn’t do anything, but the last hand fart sounds like all the others.  Is the segment trying to imply that it’s a real fart?  If so, this isn’t the best way of showing it, and is slightly discomforting.  

This concert is all right for what it is overall, but in my views at least, it’s below the standards of the earlier Great Wakkorotti concerts, repetitive as they were.

C
The Big Wrap Party Tonight
Really, a good thing to go with an episode consisting mostly of songs and music-themed segments is a grand finale.  A wrap party is the perfect subject for such a thing.  In context of the show itself, the featured wrap party can be a celebration for a lot of things.  It can signal the end of the episode, by extension the end of the third season, and a few months prior to airing, it marked the end of 1995 as “New Year’s Party Tonight.”  

The song also has all the makings of a grand finale.  There’s a lively tune, great performances, and populating the scene are several cameos of celebrity cameos, and members of this show’s cast, and other franchises.  Everything seen gives an authentic feel of an actual party that you just want to be a part of.  Even the Warners have the time of their lives as they sing all about the party.  However, in highlighting the party, there seem to be two elements that stand out above all others, the guests present, and the different types of food. That seems to give the impression that the party is only there for people to eat.  I’m sure that’s how most people approach parties, but there’s got to be more to a celebration than that, at least in my opinion.  

All the same, it’s a solid excuse to see how many cameos the audience can spot, and their rhymes with the food they’re eating are solidly written.  Of course the more prominently featured members of the cast like the Warners, the Warner Bros Studio staff, Slappy Squirrel, and Pinky and the Brain are featured.  However, this song is a good opportunity for the more obscure members to play a role.  They include characters without huge starring roles at this time like the Goodfeathers, and Rita and Runt, and that’s not all.  Characters like the Randy Beaman kid, the Flame, and even Vina Walleen from “Bumbie’s Mom” show up for a verse.  There are also noteworthy interactions with characters from other Warner Bros TV cartoons of the era.  There’s Freakazoid randomly popping up, and the Warners shaking hands with the cast of Tiny Toons.  The use of celebrity cameos also make the party feel very authentic.  I in particular manage to spot the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Robert DiNero, Dick Clark, William Shatner, and Siskel and Ebert, and I bet other people can recognize even more.  

As you can tell, this is a song with a lot to take in, making it great fun to listen to every time you come to it.  
A
Cartoon Ranking
1.      This Pun for Hire
2.      Wakko’s 2-Note Song
3.      Go Fish
4.      Valuable Lesson
5.      The Sound of Warners
6.      Dot’s Entertainment
7.      Buttons in Ows
8.      Star Truck
9.      Our Final Space Cartoon We Promise
10.  Yabba Dabba Boo
11.  The Party
12.  The Girl with the Googily Goop
13.  Gimme the Works
14.  My Mother the Squirrel
15.  Hercules Unwound
16.  Belly Button Blues
17.  Oh Say Can You See
18.  Soccer Coach Slappy
Song Ranking
1.      The Ballad of Magellan
2.      Hello Nurse
3.      The Big Wrap Party Tonight
4.      Panama Canal
5.      Multiplication
Miscellaneous Ranking
1.      Gunga Dot
2.      The 12 Days of Christmas

3.      The Return of the Great Wakkorotti





Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with Slappy Squirrel in a very rare dramatic role.

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

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