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Episode 34
Clown and
Out
Being antic-driven characters, the Warners’ approaches to
life are much more creative and entertaining than normal. One such approach is reacting to their fears. Here, Wakko deals with someone people either
find funny or creepy, clowns.
This
particular clown is modeled after the comedian this show loves targeting, Jerry
Lewis. Thaddeus Plotz hires the clown to
perform for Wakko’s birthday. Before the clown gets to the water tower, we see
what we’re in for. Like Jerry Lewis, he
speaks in a childish tone, and frequently talks at the top of his lungs
including the comedian’s brand of nonsense words. He’s also very in everyone’s face with his
acts causing discomfort. His attempts at
calming them down with sappy nonsense songs often fail to help. The clown’s creepy factors are made so clear,
even Plotz is freaked out by him. There
is some comfort to the clown’s introduction when Dr. Scratchansniff tells Plotz
that fearing clowns is perfectly normal.
The moment also foreshadows what’s to come as Dr. Scratchansniff
explains that Wakko has the biggest fear of clowns of all.
Regarding the clown’s full personality, while
he is annoying, there’s one surprising trait to him. He’s actually endearing with the pain of what
he’s ultimately put through made sympathetic mostly from his childish tone of
voice. This makes the gags of how Wakko
fights back bring a wide range of feels.
The gags themselves are executed hilariously, but it’s easy to feel bad
for the clown at the same time. That’s
not easy to pull off successfully.
Normally when someone who means no harm endures pain, it would be hard
to find it funny. However, the humor of
the gags works because of the nature of clowns, especially when they appear
before someone who’s scared of them. I
believe Wakko’s reaction to a loud, creepy looking-clown appearing at his door
is accurate to how people in real life would approach the scenario.
Some gags are creative like asking the clown
to make a balloon cannon that blows up at him, or having the clown drive
through a backdrop of the water tower in a tiny car. These and simpler gags like slamming the door
on the clown or having him fall off the tower are capped by his pathetic
childish matter-of-fact statements. It’s
these moments where the clown getting hurt is funny and sympathetic all at once
especially show.
By the time the clown’s
in realistic-looking pain with bandages and crutches, the cartoon is in danger
of becoming too mean-spirited.
Fortunately, the ending works everything out. Wakko sends the clown into space to stop
what’s been scaring him from coming once and for all. However, he also gets some punishment for
harming a clown who meant well by joining Plotz for a therapy session from Dr. Scratchansniff.
It’s also pleasing that the clown ends up content in a place that likes
his acts, Mars, inhabited by baby multi-colored Marvin the Martians. It shows that while many people fear clowns,
there is an accepting audience for them out there, making things not so black and
white.
This is why the cartoon works for
what it is. It gives a hilarious display
of how feared clowns are, while also showing that they have feelings too with
the ending being appropriate for both sides of the conflict. It’s a fleshed out point of view making for a
great mix of sympathy and comedy.
A+
Bubba Bo
Bob Brain
Even when going through the motions, Pinky and the Brain
almost always turn out top-notch material.
This is a formula where no matter what you do with the characters,
everything works. These characters can
be placed in anything imaginable.
With the creative possibilities this open, many cartoons go all out with
setups, and this one does it the best.
It’s an ingenious mix of science with any random thing.
Brain plans to use the power of subliminal
messages, or quick messages only picked up by the subconscious, to have the
world make him the leader. The cartoon
gets creative when Brain notices the popular trend of country music. Ultimately, he turns to country music to get
his subliminal messages across.
Through
it all, there’s a clash of views and approaches to the rural music art. Pinky feels right at home with the music,
genuinely enjoying it right at the start, and knowing it takes time to become a
star. This contrasts with Brain who acts
smart, but doesn’t really get how rising to country music stardom works. Brain views country music as a logical plan
to follow, making for an out-of-the-ordinary perspective. This results in Brain looking ridiculous as a
tiny mouse on abnormally tall skinny stilts prone to walking into
doorways.
Even his song lacks any
creative spark. It’s very blunt about
who he is and his goals, and only has a few verses. This is a dull unpassionate approach to
something as lively as country music, but that’s what makes the cartoon so
fascinating and entertaining. It’s
noteworthy that someone lacking the spirit of country music to make it so big.
With his subliminal message, Brain instantly
becomes a huge star from his first performance in Nashville. It’s funny to watch Brain in the country
music environment. He doesn’t even try
to act like the rest of this music’s crowd, often remaining his old
intellectual self no one understands before feebly uttering a country idiom.
The standout instance of this is when he’s on
a talk show, and remarks how puberty was “inordinately kind” to a woman
interviewing him. It’s a huge
intellectual, not to mention risqué, remark that no one gets, but Brain is
still at the top of the country music world easily. With his subliminal message in mind, the whole cartoon impresses
that Brain comes this close to world domination.
As for the obligatory failure, it’s by far
the strongest instance of the belief that maybe Brain isn’t smart enough to
take over the world. Throughout the
cartoon, Pinky keeps saying Brain’s performer name, Bubba Bo Bob Brain, wrong
while praising him. Any logical person
would ignore this and let Pinky enjoy himself.
However, Brain keeps letting the harmless mispronunciations bother him
and never lets it go. When he’s one
performance away from achieving his goals and Pinky says his name wrong, Brain
gets fed up and tells Pinky to forget his name after playing the subliminal
message. The audience hears Brain shout
that, and his high status is gone.
It never ceases to amaze how the plans fail from Brain’s insight more
often than the suggested factor of Pinky’s lack of intelligence. It’s an intriguing twist.
In fact, just about every factor of this
cartoon makes for an inventive entertainingly-executed setup and is a testament
to Pinky and the Brain’s appeal…Y’all.
A+
Cartoon Ranking
- Chairman of the Bored
- Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
- Bubba Bo Bob Brain
- O Silly Mio
- Phranken-Runt
- Clown and Out
- Jockey For Position
- Sir Yaksalot
- Potty Emergency
- Puttin’ on the Blitz
- The Big Kiss
- Draculee Draculaa
- Babblin’ Bijou
- I Got Yer Can
- Astro-Buttons
- Moby or Not Moby
- Noah’s Lark
- Skullhead Boneyhands
- The Good, the Boo, and the Ugly
- Hiccup
- Moon Over Minerva
- Mesozoic Mindy
Miscellaneous Ranking
- Testimonials
- Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
- You Risk Your Life
- The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
Song Ranking
- The Planets
The next Animaniacs review is on a very special episode where much of the cast is mixed up in an Animaniacs Stew.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is an OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes episode "Back in Red Action."
