Born to Spawn/Uniform Behavior (Rocko's Modern Life Season 2 Episode 9) - 'Toon Reviews 24

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Born to Spawn

This cartoon is on one of the more natural parts of life.  It’s something that everyone goes through whether they like it or not, and that’s facing adulthood.  Despite being a so natural, there’s plenty of room for the show’s ways of creatively portraying things. 

Filburt is usually neurotic, but in this cartoon, facing adulthood makes his usual physical trauma worse.  He gets overblown with rashes and develops a huge bump on his head as the planets align.  When he arrives for his 21^st birthday, his strange behavior is given a reason as he sculpts a cake into his birth island, Kerplopitgoes Island.  Being a turtle, he’s naturally drawn to return to his birthplace upon turning 21, which I believe is loosely based on migration patterns of real turtles, sea turtles to be exact.  If this is true, then this is an ingenious way to show that despite being anthropomorphic, the characters of this show are still technically animals at heart. 

Nevertheless, Filburt’s human-like traits of neuroticism are intact.  For his own nerdy reasons, he fears going back to face adulthood which feels somewhat believable, prompting Rocko and Heffer to keep an eye on him so he doesn’t go.  For that, the cartoon mostly consists of their attempts to have Filburt stay put from there.  However, as long as the planets are aligned, the natural order is in force.  This means, whether it’s against his will or not, Filburt constantly pushes to get out of Rocko’s house to go to Kerplopitgoes Island.  The ways around the attempts aren’t anything special though.  Filburt just puts on disguises to take advantage of Heffer’s unintelligence and somehow convinces Spunky to use power tools to get him out of a cage.  Even if these aren’t impressive ways around having him stay put, these moments uniquely show adulthood happens no matter how much people try to stall it.  Plus, they lead to a funny outcome when Filburt does finally escapes.  There’s a news report of him using a boat-themed seafood restaurant to get to Kerplotitgoes Island while clamoring for fish sticks.  Rocko and Heffer find out about this on a TV when they run errands which admittedly begs the question why they left Filburt alone to begin with. 

Anyway, they travel to Kerplopitgoes where we get another clever visualization of adulthood.  With the planetary alignment, all sorts of turtles come to party for the occasion of Filburt’s 21^st birthday.  They all look handsome and have a strong desire to party with an upbeat background tune selling the tone of affairs.  The tone of the moment sets itself up as emotional as Filburt acts like he wants to stay and party and Rocko and Heffer being forced to deal with it.  The fun party continuing and the music still playing further shows that life goes on despite all emotional events. 

However, all that emotion is devalued when as soon as the planets stop aligning, Filburt and the other turtles turn back to normal and go home.  It’s really devaluing that they built up so much genuine emotion only to retcon everything.  Then again, I guess this can be seen as growing up and never feeling older.  Plus, while it was said that Filburt had to return to his birthplace, it was never confirmed that he had to stay there.  Basically, even if it makes a waste of apparent emotional weight, the ending has merit when all is said and done.  It also can’t be faulted for being an interesting look and depiction of what growing up is like and how the whole universe is powerless against it.

A

Uniform Behavior

Dumb characters sometimes provide little to no good to the people around them, but that doesn’t always hurt their appeal.  Sometimes, this direction can offer a dumb yet imaginative approach to one of life’s challenges.  That’s where Heffer comes in.  Sometimes he’s a total freeloader who makes things worse, and sometimes he’s helpful in his own way. 

This cartoon is simply on a misguided way he operates on a normal day.  He causes a problem to his family’s finance with his weight and disregard for safety rules by wrecking the car after not wearing a seatbelt.  His best option for a job to get the money to fix the car is as an evening security guard at Conglom-O. 

The first point of interest to this direction is how seriously Heffer takes this job.  It may seem hard to believe since he’s already really dumb and his earlier disregard for seatbelts.  However, in Heffer’s own bizarre, dumb, yet creative way, he grows to understand the importance of adhering the law.  He has a dream of being visited by a group of udders of justice whom he vows to remember the teachings of as he takes on the role of security guard.  Also of note is how he seems to follow the basic rules of being a security guard from watching the monitors and going out to patrol the halls on a trike right on schedule.  He even has a believable opinion on the assignments through finding watching the monitors dull and 12:00 patrol to be more exciting with a lot of action. 

That’s not to say Heffer’s completely devoid of being dumb.  He applies his security guard mindset even when he’s not on duty, giving tickets to Rocko and Filburt for menial deviant acts and sees nothing wrong with it.  He also has no knowledge of who works at Conglom-O as he arrests Ed Bighead, a well-known employee, for taking a few lightbulbs home.  This right here is typical letting power go to Heffer’s head along with his principal trait.  He’s clearly not doing things right even if the effort he shows is big and genuine. 

For all his havoc, he’s interestingly punished in different manners of speaking.  Some consequences are self-inflicted as Heffer takes a soda break.  Everything is tinted a hellish red making it seem like he’s selling his soul for a soda.  If that’s not enough, everyone he wrongfully gave a ticket to appears in the seats behind him as if to suggest he’s a little aware that he’s gone mad with power.  While it’s a small sign, the staging is enough to show that this scene is all in Heffer’s head.  What’s clearly not in Heffer’s head is his consequence from outside sources.  His unintelligence has him run out into the streets naked which gets him arrested. 

Ultimately, while Heffer was ultimately a detriment to the well-being of society, he’s still a fine character to take the starring role.  He’s appropriately punished, shows that he was at least trying to do his job well, and while he remains in prison, he has genuine acknowledgement of what he did wrong.  It isn’t easy to successfully make a problematic dumb character a likable lead, but this cartoon stands as a good example of how with the right execution, it can be done.

A+

The Ranking

1. Rocko’s Modern Christmas
2. Tickled Pinky
3. Boob Tubed
4. Uniform Behavior
5. Kiss Me I’m Foreign
6. The Lounge Singer
7. Road Rash
8. I Have No Son
9. Commuted Sentence
10. Cruisin’
11. Born to Spawn
12. Down the Hatch
13. Pipe Dreams
14. She’s the Toad
15. Hut Sut Raw

The next Rocko's Modern Life review is of Rocko having a bad hair day and Ed Bighead facing the consequences of being a jerky bowling coach.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the DuckTales episode, "Jungle Duck."

If you would like to check out other Rocko's Modern Life reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 16: Hey Arnold Season 3 Episode 14: Grandpa's Birthday/Road Trip

Grandpa’s Birthday

This cartoon has a pretty interesting premise given the title.  Rather than focusing on a mere birthday, more emphasis is put on what the birthday means for the person in question, and it really pays off as funny and heartfelt watch. 

With his birthday coming up, Grandpa is in a particularly bad mood, getting tense with every little thing that happens.  I find these moments enjoyable for how exaggerated they are, not to mention when Arnold investigates Grandpa’s behavior, it turns out that there’s a legitimate reason for it.  His upcoming birthday is his 81^st, and no one in his family has ever lived past 81 creating a family curse, so he’s preparing to “buy the farm.”  He may not seem sickly, but considering how old he already is and his background, it does make some sense for Grandpa to feel the way he does.  He has a lot of energy when he’s berating others, and does incredibly well at his physical, but even this isn't enough to convince Grandpa to not worry so much.  To him, age 81 is when his time is done, and no amount of good strength is enough to change that. 

Now while Grandpa’s beliefs in the family curse mostly consist of comedic outbursts towards difficult people, there’s also time for heartfelt moments.  One of them is one of the quieter moments of the cartoon where Grandpa discusses to Arnold some of his most pleasing memories in which he sounds like he’s talking from the heart to someone he has a good relationship with while still holding onto the death anxieties that drive his angst.  His memories come into play when Arnold tries to take Grandpa’s mind off of the family curse by taking him on a day of fun to give Grandpa a chance to relive his glory days.  It’s a very pleasing montage of any fun thing imaginable set to an old-time music piece that instantly makes you think of being with a grandparent.  It could be said that this turns out to be a great way for Grandpa to spend what’s apparently his last day on Earth, especially since despite having a good time, he hasn’t forgotten that he’s supposed to croak in accordance with the family curse. 

So, you can imagine the mood whiplash when after such a nice montage, we cut to the whole boarding house come to watch Grandpa pass at the stroke of midnight.  The eerie mood of everyone watching with an organ playing and a storm outside is perfectly fitting for the drama of the moment capped off with a bell tolling for every individual reaction just as a bedside candle blows out with Grandpa’s last breath.  It’s a chilling yet greatly constructed way to bring about a death…at least until Grandpa suddenly gets up, hilariously shocked that he’s still in the boarding house.  It turns out there was a simple mathematical error in the family curse (he was 10 years off in fact) which leads to a great cause for celebration and annoyances from the boarders who stayed up so late for nothing. 

It does leave a mystery if the family curse is real and if Grandpa will buy the farm at age 91, but through his range of feelings on the matter and resulting memorable moments, what we have is a great way for him to appreciate the good health he has at such an old age.  With all this said, we’re left with a birthday cartoon unlike any other. 10/10

Road Trip

Cartoons focusing on Helga’s family life are worth looking forward towards.  They give interesting background on Helga’s mean behavior, and show potential for development from her parents beyond just being neglectful, and in this regard, this cartoon is no exception. 

Helga is roped into going on a cross-country road trip with her mother, Miriam.  Now, Miriam’s usual neglect is being driven to make and drink “smoothies” which make her lackadaisical resulting in her being anti-social, passing out a lot, and especially not providing her own daughter the care she needs.  It’s no wonder why Helga has many problems with Miriam and is not pleased with being trapped in a car with her. 

During the road trip however, Miriam does prove to have some likable qualities.  She makes genuine attempts to socialize with her daughter such as recounting stories of her past, and attempting to show she enjoys being with Helga.  These moments show that even if Helga’s parents are bad at being parents, they’re not neglectful on purpose and can show effort at being good parents, and this is easily seen in Miriam.  Still her faults are on full display as Miriam is very careless through dropping and spilling things, leaving her purse on top of the car causing it to fall off and get run over, and losing the directions.  To top it all, Miriam fails to pay attention to the road, and through veering out of the way of a huge truck, she drives off the road, through a field, into mud, and what an awesome crash scene it is.  Even if she means well, it’s clear that Miriam’s neglect is very prominent in everything she does, allowing the cartoon to be blunt about how unqualified she is to be a parent. 

At the same time, Helga is presented very well.  She’s clearly annoyed by everything her mom does which understandably prevents her from seeing Miriam’s attempts to bond with her, yet doesn’t go too far with her angst.  Even when they’re at their lowest point with a broken down car, no money to fix it, and being stranded in the middle of nowhere, she restrains herself from getting too mad or hurtful and is simply blunt with the hard truth that Miriam is a lousy mom.  However, because of her earlier good efforts, it’s easy to care when Miriam finds a way to redeem herself.  In an interesting turn of events, she finds an ad for a mechanical bull riding contest and enters it to get the money needed to fix the car.  It makes sense that Helga wouldn’t think her mom could do it after all the trouble she caused and can’t bring herself to watch Miriam.  The scene of Helga walking out on the competition is particularly touching, with no dialog and only a simple music piece to take in the lonely and hopeless feel of what’s happened and how she has to take on the responsibilities her mother can’t.  It’s truly one of Helga’s most sympathetic moments.  Then comes a surprise when Miriam ends up with the best mechanical bull riding time and wins the cash, proving she CAN do something right after all, and it even makes for a nice ending as she and Helga have a nice civil conversation all the way home. 

The only problem with this is that Miriam’s shining moment is hardly expanded upon after this with her going right back to her old habits in her next major appearance.  Fortunately, this cartoon by itself is a great heartfelt character-driven adventure. 9.5/10

The Ranking

1. Helga Blabs it All
2. Harold the Butcher
3. Cool Party
4. Grandpa’s Birthday
5. Crabby Author
6. Mr. Hyunh Goes Country
7. Road Trip
8. Helga Vs. Big Patty
9. Hey Harold!
10. Curly Snaps
11. The Aptitude Test
12. Pre-Teen Scream
13. The Pig War
14. Olga Gets Engaged
15. Oskar Gets a Job
16. Phoebe Takes the Fall
17. Best Man
18. Career Day
19. Gerald’s Tonsils
20. Rich Kid
21. Dangerous Lumber
22. Casa Paradiso
23. Arnold’s Room
24. Helga and the Nanny
25. Roller Coaster
26. Stinky Goes Hollywood
27. Sid’s Revenge
28. Arnold Betrays Iggy

The next Hey Arnold review covers the start of a running trope of Arnold crushing on the cute girl, Lila, along with a more slice-of-life driven cartoon about a grand prix.

Next time on MC Toon Reviews is the Steven Universe episode "Sadie's Song."

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 Hey Arnold reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Review 9: Star vs the Forces of Evil Season 1 Episode 10

St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses

St. Olga’s Reform School has been built up as a place no one would want to end up in for several instances this season.  Now we’re finally seeing it, and what the episode consists of really delivers.  Everything unfolds when Star calls her friend who was sent to the reform school, Princess Pony Head, for her birthday, and notices how close she is to losing her individuality.  Feeling sorry that her friend has to suffer like this, Star and Marco decide to give Pony Head the best birthday gift they can by busting her out.  The whole episode is an exciting jailbreak plot with many things to make it a season highlight.  Some of them include the many designs of the characters, not just of the unruly and rebellious princesses whose appearances clash with the traditional princess look the school pushes for, but also Star and Marco’s disguises, particularly Marco wearing a dress.  The biggest aspect of the school is how it works.  The headmistress, Ms. Heinous, and her robot guards are strictly against princesses who doesn’t comply with the traditional princesses standards, so they proceed to put them in never-ending classes on etiquette, singing with animals, and dressing nice to strip them of their individuality.  Really, this is one of the cruelest things anyone could be put through.  Even if some traits can cause problems for others, they should be given better control, not stripped entirely.  It prevents people from being who they really are which is never a good thing.  With this dark setup in place, Star and Marco go through their jailbreak their own way.  Star is overwhelmed with fear of the place and what it does, but pushes on with great devotion to her friend.  Marco is the strongest and most confident of the duo, knowledgable on jailbreak movies and even helps the school’s wayward princesses rebel with the memorable chant, “It’s not criminal to be an individual!”  Even then, it’s clear that some princesses like Pony Head have some individuality in them.  You see, Pony Head has slowly lost the fun and wild traits that defined her the more she stayed at the school, much to Star’s distress.  There are some times when she reflects her true self, but they’re not strong enough for her to snap out of what was forced on her.  Fortunately, she pulls through when Marco needs rescuing from solitary conformant where he’s forced to watch slides of proper behavior and helps Star rescue Marco.  This scene is then capped off with a grand finale of all the princess breaking down the gates as well as a tower preventing the use of interdimensional scissors making the school’s entrance a wild party area which is really rewarding for Pony Head and everyone stripped of their true selves.  Still, Pony Head makes the noble decision to stay at the school so what happened to her doesn’t happen to anyone else, yet is grateful for Star and Marco getting her back to normal, leaving her in a mature, yet wayward state.  We also end with some tension with Ms. Heinous finding out that one of the rebel princesses is from Earth, showing that this isn’t the last we’ll see of this school.  The buildup to the reform school really paid off here with a dark environment, huge stakes, and some of the absolute best moments from the characters involved. 10/10

The Ranking

1. St. Olga’s Reform School for Wayward Princesses
2. Blood Moon Ball
3. Mewberty
4. Diaz Family Vacation
5. Fortune Cookies
6. Sleep Spells
7. School Spirit
8. Party with a Pony
9. Freeze Day
10. Quest Buy
11. Monster Arm
12. Cheer up Star
13. Star Comes to Earth
14. Brittney’s Party
15. Matchmaker
16. Lobster Claws
17. Pixtopia
18. Royal Pain
19. The Other Exchange

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Star realizes that monsters have feelings too on "Mewnipendence  Day" and her literal-mindedness is put to hilarious effect during "The Banagic Incident."

If you would like to check out other Star vs the Forces of Evil reviews on this blog, click here for the guide made especially for them.

'Toon Reviews 6: Steven Universe Season 1 Episode 13

So Many Birthdays

So far, the tone of this show has been lighthearted and comedic for the most part.  With this cartoon, it really starts mastering playing the audience’s emotions, or make it easy to feel all kinds of emotions without making the shift feel jarring.  It’s a trait that some of the best animated works possess.  Leading into the story, we have Steven learn that Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst are 1000s of years old, much older than any human.  As it turns out, although the Gems look like average women, the appearance of their bodies is just a manifestation of light from the respective gemstones.  Being made from light, the Gems can avoid death from aging and can live forever unless their gemstones are broken.  It’s additions like this presented in a clear, to-the-point manner that make the ways of Gems so fascinating, creative, and understandable.  Keeping with Steven’s childlike mindset, he feels that since the Gems can live for so long, they deserve to celebrate their birthdays to make up for all those 1000s of years without any.  So for a while, the tone is mostly lighthearted and fun as Steven puts on several birthday parties for the Gems complete with favorite birthday activities like treats, piñatas, balloons with faces, and clowns.  The Gems don’t really get these birthday rituals, which makes for some funny confused, or overly emotional in Pearl’s case, reactions.  They also feel that the parties are more suitable for children, and the more they show their disinterest, the more depressed Steven feels which makes the tone shift from fun to emotional smooth and natural.  The emotional stuff comes in when Steven walks through Beach City and his gem makes him age rapidly, stating how everyone’s going up so fast and will have to put childish things behind them all the way.  It’s emotional enough that the usual happy-go-lucky Steven is now lamenting life after the Gems showed little appreciation for the nice thing he did for them, but the tone gets just plain sad when Steven ages to a dying old man.  Watching Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl break down as they scramble to try and get Steven younger is really heartbreaking stuff.  It’s relatable to anyone who’s ever come close to losing a loved one and shows how strong their love for Steven is.  It all works out in the end though when the Gems get Steven to feel like himself which gets Steven’s gem to change him back to his real age and cleverly showcases a message that even though you get older, you can still feel younger.  Still, the heartbreak from the Gems almost witnessing Steven’s death is very impactful.  That moment along with the natural tone shifts, character moments, and the new information on how Gems work make this cartoon another package of greatness for this show’s first season. 10/10

The Ranking

1. So Many Birthdays
2. Bubble Buddies
3. Laser Light Cannon
4. Giant Woman
5. Steven’s Lion
6. Gem Glow
7. Cheeseburger Backpack
8. Serious Steven
9. Cat Fingers
10. Tiger Millionaire
11. Together Breakfast
12. Frybo
13. Arcade Mania

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where we learn that even the jerks of this show truly have a heart in "Lars and the Cool Kids."

If you would like to check out other reviews on this blog, click here for the guide to all the reviews posted so far.