Pranksters
April Fool’s Day is hardly a holiday I feel is worth giving a lot of attention. Without any merit to its customs of pranking and many sane people being considerate enough to not go too far, it’s practically baseless in its existence. To me, the only places worth making something out of April Fool’s Day are shows that are highly comedic and prank-based by design. As many can probably guess by now, this show is one of the most ideal places to do it, and it really delivers the laughs.
This April Fool’s Day, Rocko and Heffer enjoy it immensely, having fun with pranks while going about their day, and also making sure they don’t take things too far. All throughout, there’s good chemistry between these friends that seemed lacking in the season premiere. In fact, their pranks don’t seem harmful at all, and it feels somewhat unnecessary for Rocko to warn Heffer of going too far. Then more of a plot takes shape when just as Rocko arrives at his job, he hears that his grandma is coming for a visit this afternoon. He tries to get someone to pick her up for him, but everyone takes his requests as a joke, and it happens so much, you question why he doesn’t say the opposite of what he means. The only option left is Heffer, and Rocko reluctantly lets him pick up his grandma while fearing he’s still in too much of a silly mood to take the task seriously. He certainly has a point on Heffer’s mood, but he still hasn’t done anything too drastic.
Anyway, the cartoon then goes into an amusing direction as Heffer picks up Rocko’s grandma. She seems like a standard old woman, being a short elder version of Rocko, and she never stops talking about whatever random thing is on her mind. Nevertheless, these familiar character traits are given a hilarious execution from the ongoing rambles from what’s essentially Rocko’s voice as an old woman. There’s even good enjoyment out of insisting that Heffer is actually Rocko. In fact, the humor of this setup is so strong, it makes up for what feels like Heffer getting disproportionate comeuppance for his prankish attitude. His frustrations with putting up with Rocko’s grandma is all too understandable because of this.
Then another big turn is taken when Heffer gets the feeling that this grandma is actually Rocko in disguise trying to prank him. He then sets out to get Rocko back with an elaborate prank of his own involving a big rocket to drag him in all directions when fired. Before it’s carried out, the real Rocko arrives and his grandma comes in to confuse him for Heffer, who’s now left in a world of guilt. He tearfully takes Rocko’s apparently real grandmother’s spot for the prank which is again disproportionate to what he deserves, but also immensely fun. The prank goes off, and it’s just a blast to watch how far the rocket drags Heffer from all corners or Rocko’s house, to space, to through the Earth’s crust. Also, considering the creative director at this point, I wouldn't be surprised if this was a huge inspiration for the huge prank in SpongeBob’s April Fool’s cartoon.
After that
excitement, it turns out Heffer was right all along, albeit the grandma was
actually Filburt in response to a prank he got at the start of this
cartoon. Just as he majorly overreacted
there, he does so here as he revels in his victory over his pranksters. It’s still debatable if it’s ok that he went
too far when Heffer never really did despite getting the warning, but it
doesn’t dispel the fun of the overall experience. In fact, it shows that if done on the right
kinds of shows, there really is a place for April Fool’s stories.
A-
From Here to Maternity
In its run, one of the things this show has often had a strong handle on was putting a comic spin on hot topics. This cartoon is one to fit that criteria greatly, and is a clear example of topics that kids would certainly not have a strong understanding of, which is certainly remarkable for Nickelodeon.
What’s more, it connects to one of the biggest events of the series, the marriage of Filburt and Dr. Hutchison. While most cartoons are self-contained and don’t carry over throughout the series, this occurrence is treated as a major life change for both characters. This cartoon features what is probably the biggest outcome of the marriage, having kids and nurturing them. In keeping with the cartoonish aesthetic, the birth of Filburt and Dr. Hutchison’s child has a few cleverly creative touches. Filburt, Rocko, and Heffer rush to the hospital to meet with Dr. Hutchison as she gives birth like expectant parents typically would at labor while trying to beat a stork. You’d think the stork is just another driver, but given their mythos, the stork getting to Dr. Hutchison is to be interpreted as her giving birth. She apparently does so by getting an egg that needs to be hatched, and since she’s tied up with work at the hospital she got the egg at, Filburt has to hatch it.
Rather than the usual cartoonish setup of the father not wanting to hatch eggs like the mother usually does, Filburt is hesitant because he doesn’t have the right rump to sit on the egg. To be fair, he has a point as his behind clearly isn’t designed to properly cover such a delicate ellipse, unlike Heffer’s which is much bigger and softer. This in turn turns out to be a good way to get Rocko and Heffer involved in Filburt’s responsibility with Heffer sitting on the egg while the three shop for baby supplies. There are a few gags and one-liners when checking out cribs, Filburt and Heffer have heated arguments over whether the kid will be a boy or girl, and even a Barney knockoff. In fact, the latter occurrence brings an interesting atmosphere where who seems innocent and kid friendly is actually very shady as the guy in the purple bison suit steals Rocko’s wallet.
Shadiness continues in a convenient parenting class the group decides to attend to better nurture the egg. There are quite a few parents there, mostly birds, learning proper exercises from bunny instructors. The moment they tell the parents to close their eyes, you suspect something’s up, and Rocko, who doesn’t keep his eyes closed uncovers it. To have the episode tie into another spring holiday, it’s all a scam for the bunnies to steal the eggs, and paint and sell them as Easter eggs. If this is a parallel to what could happen to real life newborns, I’d say this cartoon is pretty bold. Rocko calls the bunnies out and stops them, but because his wallaby ears look like rabbit ears and his stolen wallet, he and his friends end up arrested.
Then, all these antics get their endearingly amusing payoff just as Dr. Hutchison comes to bail everyone out. The egg hatches revealing her and Filburt’s children who happen to be turtles and a cat already resembling their parents. It even extends to those beyond the family with one kid being a steer like Heffer, the hatcher, and constantly insists that Rocko is his father. Along with Filbut and Dr. Hutchison’s relatable reactions to the birth, this last scene is a humorous kind of wholesome.
In fact, with its comedic
approaches to complex adult life topics, it’s an entry for this season that
quintessentially defines the appeal of this series.
A+
The Ranking
1. From Here to Maternity
2. Sailing the 7 Zzzz’s
3. Pranksters
4. With Friends Like These
No comments:
Post a Comment