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Rock-a-Bye
Ed
One of the best ways for animation to go all out is through dream sequences or nightmares. Even in real life, random things going on in one’s mind can end up compiled together in total insanity as people feel thrown into the middle of everything. Easily, the best way to capture the feeling of dreams is using animation where anything an artist imagines can happen. At the center of this cartoon is such a nightmare which isn’t just one of the most surreal ever, but has a lasting effect on its victim.
It starts out pretty normal for the most part with Ed minding his own business with a paddleball while Sarah sits annoyed by his innocence. That’s nothing out-of-the-ordinary, and the same goes for Sarah aggressively threatening to cut the paddleball when she has enough. As Ed protects his property, Sarah goes to tell their mom, and it’s at this point where the dream starts getting crazy in a frightening way while revealing a lot to Ed’s family dynamic.
The first instance is how instead of being hidden as usual, Ed’s mom is fully shown, albeit from the back, and given the show’s setup, this is a good first sign to show that something’s off. Character-wise, the rest of the dream reveals several details to what seems like normal life for Ed. All the past instances of him begging Sarah not to tell on him to their mom that felt overdramatic in the past now have a legit threat to them. Sarah acts all innocent like the victim when telling on Ed, and then their mom turns around to face him. Making the dream more bizarre is the face of their mom, our very own Jonny.
From there, the dream is now completely separate from reality with all kinds of random imagery. What’s not so random is the symbolism of it all; everything that happens is Ed’s interpretation of how badly his mom controls him and harshly punishes him. His mom appears as a giant interrogating him causing his mouth to disappear so he can’t speak for himself; there’s a trial complete with a jury of Sarahs demonstrating total biasness; and to top it all is a very cruel punishment of Ed thrown into a pit of Kankers as smooching sharks, almost like punishments of similar tone and magnitude are a norm. All the while, with Jonny’s head on his mom’s body, this kid, a random symbol from Ed’s life, stands for the sorry sight of his parental abuse.
Eventually, Ed is awoken and joins his friends for the day’s events of trying to get ribbons at a gymnastics event they were invited to for once. Although Ed shows promise in various ways he can get a ribbon, the memories of his nightmare persist. Since Jonny stood as a symbol of what he endures, seeing him in real life only reminds him of the pain. There’s still some comedy in his over-the-top line deliveries and forms he gets into, but the implications make it a serious enough issue. As is discussed by his friends, a bad dream can have everlasting effects on people.
After a deal of antics of Ed freaking out
over Jonny at the gymnastics event, it’s attempted to resolve his fear by
leaving him with Jonny. The scene is
staged with both of them in an isolated red and blue space. Jonny sits confused while Ed is on the brink
of freaking out again. Eventually,
enough pressure inside Ed snaps as he embraces Jonny and fearfully says he
loves his mom. Before anything big can
happen, the scene suddenly cuts to Jonny waking up in his own bed, just having
a nightmare of his own; that is the events of the entire cartoon. This has things end abruptly and leaves
confusion over what happened, or rather what didn’t happen. Arguably though, that’s the way it is with
dreams, and this cartoon captures them well through creative imagery and the
deep psyches of deceptively simple characters.
A
O-Ed Eleven
Like its companion, this cartoon has interesting ways of revealing background to the characters. Working in its favor is how through doing so, it develops one of the series biggest mysteries.
It begins with Eddy revealing to his friends his brother’s room. Now, Eddy’s brother has been mentioned several times at this point and is said to be a big influence for him. Since his brother hasn’t actually been shown at all, there’s no way outsiders can really get to know him. Exploring his room is the best course of action to learn anything about him, and what’s revealed here presents this enigma of a character as somewhat interesting. Among the more peculiar qualities is how the room itself is very concealed, as in the door to it is hidden behind wallpaper to make it seem like it isn’t there. It’s like Eddy’s family wants to act as if his brother never existed. More strangeness is found inside the room, as most could probably guess. There are intense booby traps for anyone who enters such as a safe falling down; an actual car taking up space; a preserved camel with authentic dust; bricks laid in an open window; and actual beach sand. Along with several anecdotes of random accomplishments from Eddy to make him seem cool, it’s hard to know what to make of Eddy’s brother. He could be very talented and adventurous, but certain visual clues make it seem like he’s very unhinged and carelessly dangerous and aggressive to others.
The most important thing found in this room is an apparent map Eddy believes leads to a secret treasure of his brother’s. In reality, the map is very vague for just including a dashed line representing a path and no symbols to indicate exactly where the treasure is. Even Double D, the brains of the trio, can’t figure out where it’s hidden. Oddly enough, Ed, though unintelligent, is able to get an idea of an exact location through aligning the design of Eddy’s head to a map of the cul-de-sac. This is seemingly from being a brother himself.
Then things get really shady when it turns out that the map says the treasure is buried beneath the trailer park, home of the dreaded Kanker sisters. Knowing how dangerous they are, the Eds have to stage an act to keep them from being spotted and smooched. Their construction work ploy is made authentic especially with a smelly gym bag, so the Kankers buy it, allowing more focus on avoiding them instead of anything disturbing. However, hiding the truth is harder when calculations lead the Eds to dig for the trailer underneath the Kankers’ trailer.
Now Eddy’s brother becomes even shadier, through how it seems like no coincidence that this map leads to the Eds’ most dreaded enemy. He may even know more than he seems since what’s known implies that he went away before the Kankers even moved to the cul-de-sac. Let’s just say all this, earlier questionable attributes, and a claim from Eddy that his brother always messed with him offer solid foreshadowing for his eventual reveal. For now, the hunt leaves the Eds nothing but a useless treasure of a suitcase full of wishbones the Kankers somehow knew about. Then to top it all, the Kankers come on top again, for while Double D and Ed bribe their way out, Eddy is left to face their many smooches, which doesn’t feel deserved.
The treasure hunt may have been a joke, but
it’s still disappointing that it has no real payoff. Still, the overall cartoon is strong as it is
by revealing backgrounds and still leaving a lot to ponder about characters.
A
Series Ranking
1.
An Ed is Born
2. One
+ One = Ed
3. A Glass of Warm
Ed
4.
It Came from Outer Ed
5. Rent-A-Ed
6.
Once Upon an Ed
7. Fa
La La La Ed
8. Urban
Ed
9.
Laugh Ed Laugh
10. Dawn
of the Eds
11.
Wish You Were Ed
12.
Dueling Eds
13. Mirror,
Mirror On the Ed
14.
Gimme, Gimme Never Ed
15. Ed-N-Seek
16. Keeping
Up With the Eds
17. Who
Let the Ed In
18. Avast
Ye Eds
19. Flea
Bitten Ed
20. Fool
on the Ed
21. Ready
Set Ed
22. The
Ed-Touchables
23. Who
What Where Ed
24. Dear
Ed
25.
Momma’s Little Ed
26. Hot
Buttered Ed
27.
Ed or Tails
28. Stop
Look and Ed
29.
See No Ed
30. Shoo
Ed
31. Rock-a-Bye Ed
32. Ed
in a Halfshell
33. Scrambled
Ed
34. O-Ed Eleven
35. Vert
Ed Go
36. Oath
to an Ed
37.
Ed, Ed, and Away
38. Button
Yer Ed
39.
An Ed in the Bush
40. Read
All About Ed
41. Rambling
Ed
42. Home
Cooked Ed
43. Honor
Thy Ed
44. Floss
Your Ed
45. Quick
Shot Ed
46. Look
Into My Eds
47.
Is There An Ed in the House?
48. Knock,
Knock Who’s Ed
49. A
Boy and His Ed
50. Eds-Aggerate
51.
Three Squares and an Ed
52.
Will Work for Ed
53.
Boys Will Be Eds
54. High
Heeled Ed
55. Know-it-All
Ed
56.
For Your Ed Only
57.
Dim Lit Eds
58. Cry
Ed
59. Eeny
Meeny Miney Ed
60. A
Pinch to Grow an Ed
61. Pop
Goes the Ed
62. Hands
Across Ed
63. An
Ed Too Many
64. Sir
Ed-a-Lot
65. Over
Your Ed
66.
From Here to Ed
67. A
Key to My Ed
68.
X Marks the Ed
69. It’s
Way Ed
70. In
Like Ed
71.
My Fair Ed
72. To
Sir With Ed
73. Nagged
to Ed
74. Tag
Yer Ed
Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Ed forgets where he hid Eddy's interesting magazines, and Eddy starts a rumor that his brother's coming home while revealing deeper meanings behind his usual behavior.
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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