Animator's Alley/Can't Buy a Thrill/Hollywoodchuck (Animaniacs Vol 2 Part 17) - 'Toon Reviews 22

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Episode 42

Animator’s Alley (A)

This may be mainly a comedy show, but given its clear respect for animation, segments genuinely teaching about its history is a great idea. 

At first, these bumpers seem to go in that direction as the Warners host a talk show about animation history.  Their guest is a really old man who was part of the first Warner Bros. cartoons, Cappy Cap Barnhouse.  However, instead of teaching history, the whole point of these bumpers turns out to be the Warners being bored by an old man rambling on.  The moment Cappy says something about the studio making pies before making cartoons is a huge disappointment since from my research, I can confirm this isn’t true.  If he told actual animation history, there’d be much more weight and appeal. 

There could still be decent comedy from the Warners being bored out of their minds.  We do get one legit animation factoid when Cappy brings up actual names like Harman, Ising, and Freling as well as their first characters being Bosko and Honey.  However, that’s the only time the history is genuine.  Everything else we’ll get in these bumpers turns out to be complete nonsense thus justifying the Warners not paying attention. 

By the way, being animated by the least appealing studio, Freelance, does not work in these bumpers’ favor at all.

Animator’s Alley (B)

This featured image is a huge example of how visually unappealing these bumpers are.  To be fair, while Freelance’s style doesn’t really work for the Warners, it does feel appropriate for old people like Cappy. 

Anyway, they continue right after the theme song and prove these bumpers as even more of a rip-off.  Cappy recounts the creation of a finicky tapeworm and a bunch of fish cartoons.  Not only can you tell this isn’t true by simply researching, but it’s easy to see that no one would see appeal in such characters.  Well, fish have a lot of entertainment potential, I’ll give Cappy that. 

At least the Warners give the right attitude towards this fake history.  Even through their guest's recounts, they have what it takes to keep them entertained.  They pull out a TV and bring on the first cartoon…starring the Hip Hippos.

Can’t Buy a Thrill

I can’t really blame most people for claiming the Hip Hippos, Flavio and Marita, as their least favorite characters on the show.  I don’t hate them, but nothing about them stands out as truly entertaining characters if I can be honest.  They’re a simple happy hippo couple who live their lives in the city, and that’s just about it.  They don’t add any creative edge to what they do, and their only comedic gimmick is being oblivious to the pain their huge weight causes others.  Right there, you can see how out of place they are in this series. 

This cartoon does attempt to make them more exciting as they decide to try different dangerous activities.  Sadly, even with the promise for fun, the cartoon barely delivers.  No matter what thrill Flavio and Marita try, no activity leaves any significant impact.  Whether they’re bungie-jumping, running with the bulls, or diving into shark-infested water, all there is to them is a repeated gag, a flash-and-pan gag, or nothing at all.  The hippos just do a bunch of things and go right back to where they were at the start of the cartoon.  Any potential for excitement or comedy falls flat before it can reach its full potential, making the experience really dull. 

At best, there’s a slight attempt at comedy from the zoologist studying them, Gina Embryo.  Like in an earlier Hip Hippos cartoon, she follows the hippos around to keep them safe, but constantly gets herself hurt in the process.  There are a few funny pain gags with her such as an elaborate fall from a building, getting comically flattened, or trying and failing to ward off bulls.  Despite some mild humor, it gets tiresome that Gina is only here for getting hurt over being over protective.  Plus, her role is really disposable.  Flavio and Marita are completely oblivious to her obvious presence, and they’re perfectly fine no matter what they do, so there’s no reason for her to follow them at all. 

As you can tell, this cartoon is both very problematic and boring, though it’s still harmless and watchable.  Along with a few funny gags and lines, there’s a sense of warmth and endearment from the Hippos themselves, even if they’re not very interesting.  They’re not bad, but the series proves that they can’t really hold a cartoon on their own, and are much more enjoyable alongside other characters.  Gina simply isn’t one of them though and that makes the fact that this cartoon is her final appearance all the more appropriate.  Things look up for the Hip Hippos in their next starring roles though, but they won’t come for a long time.

D+

Animator’s Alley (C)

Once again, we have Cappy rambling about animation history that doesn’t actually exist.  Seriously, how can anyone buy that there were cartoons about a bunion and a sickly lemur? 

Fortunately, it’s made entertaining by how the Warners’ boredom is depicted as they melt into puddles of ink and paint.  This is the kind of stuff that benefits from Freelance’s animation style.  They also do the wise thing and run away from the talk show when they have the chance.  I bet you wish you could easily do that if you had to sit through something so boring and tedious.

Hollywoodchuck

This cartoon stars a character who’s technically a one-off since this is his only starring role, though he has made sparse appearances afterwards as the butt of jokes.  With the plot of his introductory role, it’s easy to see why this is the case. 

His name is Charlton Woodchuck and all throughout the cartoon he’s not very friendly or pleasant.  He’s going to Hollywood thinking he has a chance to make it big.  It’s a very simple scenario and it’s made flimsy by Charlton’s attitude.  He’s completely full of himself and doesn’t hesitate to belittle anyone he meets.  Not to mention, he frequently has people write down their names so that he’ll know not to like them when he’s famous. 

The thing is, it isn’t convincing at all that Charlton is actor material at all.  He’s small, scrappy, and has a very shrill voice.  He also has an immense lack of hard work behind him, thinking he can get into Hollywood by reciting the old “how much wood could a woodchuck chuck” tongue twister.  I’m no expert on show business, but I’d imagine you have to do a lot better than that to get into Hollywood.  In fact, the only reason Charlton gets the acting job at all is because the director wants a more realistic chipmunk.  All the other applicants have far more apparent acting experience than Charlton who can barely recite the tongue twister.  Basically, we’re following an unlikable protagonist in this cartoon.  Charlton is especially bad for being a character who acts like the best yet has no talent to show for himself.  Those are some of the most annoying characters to put up with. 

For that reason, the ensuing pain gags feel kind of appropriate.  In the role of a common chipmunk, Charlton is assigned to not talk, but do whatever the narrator says.  What follows is nothing but Charlton getting maimed by every animal in a forest.  In addition to constantly getting flung into a bear who only exists to hurt him, he’s also pecked by a woodpecker, swallowed by a snake, and stung by bees.  The wholesome background narration as Charlton gets hurt is the bulk of the comedy.  It presents the story as something sweet and innocent for children everywhere while what’s seen is very sadistic and painful.  Dictating Charlton’s thoughts and reasons for the animals to hurt him adds to the humor. 

However, the narration is really where any bit of humor lies.  On its own, there isn’t anything funny about Charlton getting hurt from the images or his reactions especially as they continue when he asks to stop.  Also, even if he does deserve to be brought down a peg, what he endures does go on too long and isn’t proportionate to his bad attitude. 

As for how it ends, it honestly doesn’t really do that.  It kind of stops when Charlton says he quits and suddenly he’s back home.  His ego is still as big as ever with one last funny bit of holding a stack of names of people he doesn’t like.  He didn’t learn a thing, but that’s what justifies what his following appearances put him through, even if they also won’t come for a while. 

The pain gags go on a bit too long, but what makes them justifiable is the unlikable protagonist.  It’s not the best or funniest work from the show, but it has merit, particularly in showing that those with bad attitudes usually don’t prosper.

C

 

Animator’s Alley (D)

Closing off the bumpers is one last bit of senility where Cappy, who barely stays awake, brings up the bogus factoid about Warner Bros. making pies before falling asleep again.  However, his audience is already gone and he’s talking to no one.  This adds to the disappointment that you don’t get any real animation history like the title promises, but it’s a pretty funny scene to go out on.

If you’re looking for humor from how the Warners approach a boring talk, these bumpers are decent for that, albeit not that hilarious.  However, even if it was the point, they don’t live up to the potential of a talk show with an old animator with the history explained being nonexistent.  It could still be insightful while still being funny with the Warners being bored, but Cappy’s talk instead goes for jokes about what old people stereotypically think of.  What Cappy brings up is kind of funny, but when the title suggests animation history, it’s hard not to feel ripped off when you don’t get any.  The material is fine as it is, but it could’ve been better.

C+

Cartoon Ranking

1. Chairman of the Bored
2. Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
3. Bubba Bo Bob Brain
4. Baghdad Café
5. In the Garden of Mindy
6. Critical Condition
7. O Silly Mio
8. Phranken-Runt
9. Puppet Rulers
10. The Three Muska-Warners
11. Clown and Out
12. Jockey For Position
13. Sir Yaksalot
14. Potty Emergency
15. General Boo-Regard
16. Puttin’ on the Blitz
17. Raging Bird
18. Dough Dough Boys
19. The Big Kiss
20. Draculee Draculaa
21. Babblin’ Bijou
22. Fair Game
23. No Place Like Homeless
24. I Got Yer Can
25. Spell-bound
26. Smitten With Kittens
27. Astro-Buttons
28. Boot Camping
29. Moby or Not Moby
30. Noah’s Lark
31. Skullhead Boneyhands
32. The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
33. Hiccup
34. Moon Over Minerva
35. Broadcast Nuisance
36. White Gloves
37. Katie Ka-Boo
38. Mesozoic Mindy
39. Hollywoodchuck
40. Can’t Buy a Thrill

Miscellaneous Ranking

1. Animaniacs Stew
2. Testimonials
3. Buttermilk It Makes a Body Bitter
4. Alas Poor Skullhead
5. Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
6. You Risk Your Life
7. Casablanca Opening
8. The Slapper
9. The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
10. Animator’s Alley

Song Ranking

1. The Planets

The next Animaniacs review has Rita and Runt take a wrong turn and end up on a bunny farm, Mindy chases after her old doll thrown away even after getting a new clean one, and the Warners meet ladies who keep asking them if they want to take a survey.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews, from OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes it's "OK Dendy! Let's be K.O."

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

'Toon Reviews 14: Animaniacs Vol 1 Part 19: Meatballs or Consequences/A Moving Experience

Episode 19

Meatballs or Consequences

Cartoons starring the Warners are always sure to be hilarious and feature great portrayals of the siblings.  This particular Warners cartoon is as great as it is because of a rarely seen moment of heart between the siblings amidst their funny ways. 

Wakko, who’s always been known to “pack away the snacks,” ends up eating too many meatballs, even for him, and that’s enough to call upon Death himself.  When he comes to take Wakko with him, both Yakko and Dot quickly insist he take them too so the siblings can stay together.  Through it all, they’re loud and whiny which could make them annoying and hard to sympathize with.  However, through their tone making all their whining highly exaggerated, and that they often break to crack a one-liner, they’re entertaining, and can engage you in their conflict.  You’re sympathizing with the Warners to find a way to stay together and laughing your head off at the same time, which is a special cartoon viewing experience.  Plus, it’s just astounding to see the Warners face something as big and threatening as death itself like it’s nothing and never let up on humor.  Through expressing excitement of going to a never-ending plain of death and casually talking with Death, it’s once again a different approach to a situation with their lives on the line, in which most people would be scared or angry, brought to life, and you just can’t get enough of it. 

Death himself is also a major highlight.  While we do see a bit of what we’d expect from him such as him personified as a skeleton in a black robe and summoning dark magic to scare people, he’s mainly portrayed as someone not uncommon to real life.  He treats his job of taking the living-impaired away like a businessman striking a deal with a client, referring to the rules and clauses that go along with the job and getting annoyed at those who don’t get it.  It’s all the more interesting that it’s a side of him most people wouldn’t see since they’re not as brave to face Death as the Warners. 

The dynamic traits of the Warners and Death are further shown when Yakko and Dot fight to get Wakko back by challenging Death to a game of checkers.  The kids work their usual antics on Death to trick their way to beating a being who’s never lost a game of checkers since time began.  However, Death, in his by-the-rules fashion twists things around to make it so that all three Warners are dead instead of just Wakko.  Still, it’s the humor of the Warners that wins in the end when they all continue to approach Death with extreme happiness and wit of being with him as a family.  The following scene of them treating Death as their dad as he’s led through many painful obstacles is both exciting and funny considering that three mere kids are putting the ultimate threat towards life through torture. 

This great show of character reverts back to the status quo where the Warners are alive once again.  Going back to the cartoon’s heart mentioned earlier, it’s meaningful that even with all this hilarity literally in the face of Death, all that happens is part of the effort for the Warners to stay together as siblings.  It really shows that there’s an undeniable sense of family love between them, and that in addition to being incurable pranksters, these kids are just as endearing as any good person.  For that, along with the top-notch entertainment in general, it’s one of this show’s most masterful cartoons. 10/10

A Moving Experience

This is the cartoon that was meant to officially introduce us to the Hip Hippos, even if it didn’t air first.  As an introduction, it’s all right and does what it needs to do, but like Flavio and Marita themselves, there’s very little to it that makes it stand out as a one of this show’s best works. 

Speaking of the hippos, right from their first moments, we get a taste of them as a loving married hippo couple who want to live by the latest trends.  The catch, however, is that apart from Marita being the vocal one about what she wants with Flavio doing the work of making it happen, they’re both very identical personality-wise.  They’re both soft-spoken, laid-back, and completely oblivious to the destruction their heavy hippo weight causes, and the destruction is mostly all there is to humor with these characters.  While it can be amusing to watch things dent or buildings and piles fall over, the fact that moments like this are as interesting as these characters get really sells just how weak they are amongst the cast’s other characters with far more impactful layers and humor styles.  Instead of a large variety of humor like a combination of witty lines, surprise physical gags, or over-the-top reactions, all we follow throughout the cartoon’s plot is the many messes of two oblivious hippos which really gets old. 

The plot mainly continues to set up the premise for cartoons starring these characters by showing how Flavio and Marita move to the city to keep up with the trends while, in the process, they’re tailed by a zoologist named Gina Embryo who wants to keep them from moving to the city to save them from extinction.  What we get out of the plot is solid enough and flows at a good pace, but since it mostly consists of the hippos not knowing that they're causing destruction to all potential homes Gina, disguised as a housing specialist, plans to make them want to go back to the jungle, it’s not as entertaining as they could be.  The destruction scenes themselves are fine, but they don’t stand out as anything special or filled with creative setups.  Maybe if it was done as an overdramatic opera like "La Behemoth" it would be more memorable and have more appeal. 

There’s also a frequent occurrence of Gina getting injured by the hippos’ obliviousness.  I get why it’s in place since she does need to be brought down a peg for wanting to direct the hippos away from their move to the city even though they can clearly take care of themselves, but the cartoon goes too far with how she’s treated.  The injuries she bears come not just from getting knocked into things while hanging onto the hippos’ helicopter or getting crushed by buildings and junk, but also from outside sources like getting strangled by a snake or hit by a truck.  I can at least give credit that they don’t make her pain too realistic for the most part, except for ending up in a cast at one point, so it doesn’t ruin the experience despite it being not all that special to begin with.  As for how the cartoon wraps up, the hippos conclude that the best way to move to the city is to bring their old jungle house too, but they’re still unaware of the presence and the pain they’re bringing Gina as she continues to trail them. 

Overall, this is simply a cartoon that’s way too mundane for this show that specializes in the great things that can be done through animation.  It’s relatively harmless though for its well-told story, the likable moments of Flavio and Marita together, and some light laughs from the destruction their huge weight brings, even if they can get boring put together.  You can watch it fine and mildly enjoy it, but there’s no reason you NEED to. 7/10

Cartoon Ranking

1. King Yakko
2. Hello Nice Warners
3. Meatballs or Consequences
4. Slappy Goes Walnuts
5. H.M.S. Yakko
6. Hooked on a Ceiling
7. Temporary Insanity
8. Bumbie’s Mom
9. Les Miseranimals
10. Space Probed
11. West Side Pigeons
12. Battle for the Planet
13. When Rita Met Runt
14. De-zanitized
15. Win Big
16. Taming of the Screwy
17. Chalkboard Bungle
18. La La Law
19. Nothing but the Tooth
20. Piano Rag
21. Pavlov’s Mice
22. Cookies for Einstein
23. The Big Candy Store
24. Garage Sale of the Century
25. Wally Llama
26. Where Rodents Dare
27. Roll Over Beethoven
28. Hurray for Slappy
29. Cat on a Hot Steel Beam
30. Operation: Lollipop
31. No Pain No Painting
32. Chicken Boo-Ryshnikov
33. Goodfeathers: The Beginning
34. The Cat and the Fiddle
35. La Behemoth
36. A Moving Experience

Song Ranking

1. Yakko’s Universe
2. Yakko’s World
3. The Monkey Song
4. What Are We?
5. Little Old Slappy from Pasadena

Miscellaneous Ranking

1. The Great Wakkorotti: The Master and His Music
2. Gilligan’s Island Parody
3. Nighty-Night Toon
4. Flipper Parody

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode in which the Warners take an Apocalypse Now approach as they attempt to stop an over-budget film from being completed, and the Goodfeathers' attempts at stardom in a parody of The Birds bring them constant pain.

If you want to stay updated for more reviews, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter.

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