'Toon Reviews 7: Hey Arnold Season 2 Episode 12

Eating Contest

This cartoon fits into the category of Arnold doing a basic life activity, but like most cartoons of this kind, it makes its basic setup feel like so much more with the characters involved and the quality of the storytelling.  As the title implies, a food festival is coming which includes a contest where all contestants are challenged to eat large assortments of food.  These types of activities always astounded me growing up, though I’ve grown to realize that eating contests are good ways to make a fool of yourself especially since shoving piles of food into your mouth isn’t exactly healthy.  It’s one of those things best suited for animation.  Anyway, the appeal of the first part of the cartoon is how the contest presents a conflict for Arnold.  He writes it off as something ridiculous to even try and doesn’t even see the point of trying to win when he hears of the reigning champion, Seymour “The Disposal,” who can practically eat everything without trouble.  At the same time, he’s constantly told of how competing in the eating contest is the family legacy as shown in an adorable flashback of Grandpa impressing his father through winning the contest in his youth.  Basically, Arnold has good reasons to take part and to not take part.  Although his final decision to be in the contest anyway is a bit on the manipulative side involving Grandpa fake-napping, the following scenes of Arnold training are fairly entertaining anyway, especially considering that they involve Arnold needing to eat a lot.  The intensity is also appropriate when you consider what Arnold’s put himself up against.  Then everything seen in this cartoon comes down to the actual contest.  It’s a fast-paced breeze through different meals from tacos and kielbasa to more bizarre ones like peppers apparently stuffed with socks aided by the music and animation of everyone eating and dropping out in their own way.  Speaking of dropping out, each time a contestant loses the urge to keep eating, the stakes are higher for Arnold to win, especially with Seymour still feeling fine.  When they reach dessert though, Seymour finally makes himself full, and the moment of him passing out in the ice cream cake makes for a dramatic moment of the supposed unbeatable meeting his demise, though he’s most likely still alive....right?  As for Arnold, he wins it all with just one bite while feeling full himself.  Overall, everything the contest provides shows that it was worth the build-up and is full on memorable moments with so many feels mined from something as simple as Arnold and the contestants eating a lot.  It may be basic and not all that important, but the cartoon is executed as a helping you’ll never forget. 9/10

Rhonda’s Glasses

This cartoon is where Rhonda starts getting material completely devoted to her, and that’s great because she’s an interesting character to write for.  True, she does fall into an archetype that makes rich and popular people look bad coming off as vain and judgmental to anyone who isn’t in her status, but that poses as a strong basis for her to be taken down a peg and improve herself.  The opening scene here demonstrates this as she talks down to one girl for her appearance, particularly her glasses, and makes her sit in the back of the bus with other kids she deems geeks.  Then, Rhonda’s attitude gets the better of her when she ends up needing glasses herself.  As a result, she falls victim to all the judgmental practices she set up herself such as sitting in the back of the bus, grouping with the rest of the geeks, and being ridiculed from joining the other cool kids.  Although Rhonda did bring her hardships onto herself, it’s still easy to feel for her.  The taunting she receives from the kids for her glasses as well as other ways she messes up her appearance while trying to get by without her glasses really is no better than what she gave the geeks.  In fact, in some ways it’s harsher from the kids.  She never tries to redirect the taunting and is capable of understanding how hard the geeks have it since they’re excluded to good bus seats, good lunch tables and playground areas.  All the suffering she lives through and witnesses others live through are a major driving force to Rhonda realizing everything wrong with how kids are judged and excluded for their appearances and deserve equal treatment.  It shows that amidst her opinionated persona brought about by her rich status, she really does have a heart and is capable of learning acceptance.  This side of Rhonda’s is especially put to the test when she refuses to go to the back of the bus despite qualifying as a geek.  Once she makes her point of how being judged is wrong, everyone agrees that all kids should have a right to sit where they want, with Rhonda even letting the “geeks” sit in the front with her, further demonstrating her appeal despite her vanity.  One other major thing to note about what Rhonda goes through is how well it ties into the real-world issue of prejudice.  While some might not be aware, people are constantly being judged not just for their appearance, but also race, religion, and sexuality among other things.  It’s only oppressed members who are brave enough to take a stand to push for equal rights throughout history that stands a chance.  Material like this cartoon serves as a strong reminder for anyone dealing with prejudice today to keep fighting the good fight, and that’s why it’s so amazing.  Sure, Rhonda’s glasses themselves don’t appear again, which strongly hints that she went on to get contacts, but that hardly matters given how inspirational it is by itself.  It’s a great first starring role for Rhonda, and its relatability to anyone suffering prejudice out there make it one of this show’s most powerful entries. 10/10

The Ranking

1. Rhonda’s Glasses
2. Harold’s Kitty
3. Helga’s Love Potion
4. Monkey Business
5. Eugene’s Pet
6. Freeze Frame
7. Steely Phil
8. Gerald’s Secret
9. Save the Tree
10. Phoebe Cheats
11. Gerald Moves Out
12. New Teacher
13. Eating Contest
14. Mudbowl
15. Quantity Time
16. Ms. Perfect
17. Big Caesar
18. Ransom
19. The Big Scoop
20. Best Friends
21. The High Life
22. Hooky
23. Arnold Saves Sid
24. Longest Monday

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode when "Eugene Goes Bad" after seeing what goes on behind the scenes, and the show takes a creative and musical turn in "What's Opera Arnold?"

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

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 10

Hand-Me-Downer

 

 

 

 

 

 This is a really fun cartoon that offers a different perspective on life, particularly when it comes to receiving gifts, or as is common in a family as big as Lincoln’s, hand-me-downs.  Lincoln is revealed to have had quite a history with receiving hand-me-downs from his older sisters, and being rather unsatisfied with them, which I believe is common for people his age.  Most recently, Lincoln receives an incredibly girly bike from Lori, and it’s a hand-me-down he can’t simply hide under his bed.  Feeling embarrassed by the bike, Lincoln goes on to do something about it by taking Lynn’s cool bike for a spin without her knowing.  Despite Lincoln being in the wrong for taking a bike that isn’t his, it’s still easy to enjoy yourself as you watch Lincoln have some actual legitimate fun with the bike, and even get to hang out with a group of cool kids.  I think it's worth noting that one of the cool kids, Rusty Spokes, interestingly becomes one of Lincoln's friends.  It makes you wonder what happened between that and him hanging with these judgmental cool kids.  Of course, because of Lincoln being in the wrong, he ends up getting himself in trouble when Lynn’s bike ends up stolen and she needs it for a competition.  Once Lincoln fails to find the bike and ends up being kicked out of the biker team , he tells the truth where we get that different perspective on life I mentioned earlier.  While most people would simply store gifts they don’t like away, this cartoon shows that there’s a way to get a lot of enjoyment out of any gift you get, even if you don’t like it.  All of Lincoln’s sisters reveal that Lynn’s cool bike was one that was handed down to sister after sister who fixed it up to fit their needs.  I should also mention that we end get cute and somewhat humorous flashbacks of some of the sisters when they were younger.  I especially see a lot of charm from those that show a young Leni and Luan.  This is a truly good moment of sibling love here where the sisters offer this meaningful advice to Lincoln to just do something with hand-me-downs instead of lamenting over what he gets and Lincoln goes on to do just that after getting back Lynn’s bike.  There are a few stumbling points with this cartoon though such as how everyone who praised Lincoln on Lynn’s bike before act judgmental of him when he does the same thing on the pink bike and the fact that we never see who took Lynn’s bike much less see his/her comeuppance, both of which are kind of frustrating.  Those points don’t stop this cartoon from being a piece of enjoyment with something nice about life to keep in mind when the cartoon wraps up.  9/10

Sleuth or Consequences

 

 

 

 

 

If you want a cartoon of this show that’s both fun and features a great amount of love between siblings, this is a good candidate to some extent anyway.  The whole story takes the approach of a crime scene investigation which is made even more fun by the fact that it’s over something as simple as Lincoln trying to figure out who clogged the toilet as a comic convention he wants to go to draws near.  Aiding in the fun of the investigation is Lucy serving as Lincoln’s second-in-command.  She’s already proven herself as one of my favorite Loud siblings for how her interest in death and darkness and her near-emotionless personality make for a perfect clash between the other siblings and the environment of the Loud House in general.  Seeing a large dose of her as she and Lincoln interrogate the other sisters is certainly really welcome.  Many of the interrogations have a lot of entertaining qualities too as they all explain why they’re innocent, especially those of Lynn, which serves as a nice setup to the ending gag, Lori, Luan, Leni, and Luna.  The cartoon’s heartfelt part comes in with a good bit of character development for Lucy.  It’s later revealed that as much as she loves the darkness, she sometimes needs a break from it by reading an overly saccharine book called Princess Pony. To avoid being made fun of, she threw the book in the toilet to try and hide it, but it ended up clogging the toilet.  This adds some good depth to Lucy’s character with this newly revealed vulnerable side making her come off as more than just a spooky little girl.  We also get one of Lincoln’s best brotherly moments where he willingly takes the blame for the clog, sacrificing his chances of going to his convention and opening himself up for teasing, but saving Lucy’s reputation and his actions are deservedly rewarded with a handmade comic by Lucy.  This moment of heart gives the cartoon a lot of value for feeling genuine and successfully making the audience care about what the characters involved go through.  There’s lots to love, though I do show concern of how the rest of the sisters come off as jerks for teasing Lincoln for his interests and appearance even if it does greatly foreshadow Lincoln’s actions at the end.  For how heartwarming Lincoln and Lucy's sibling bonds are shown to be here, it's really unfortunate that his bonds with the others aren't shown to be nearly as such.  It's like they're an opposing force delighting in being mean and judgmental instead of decent human beings and loving siblings we know they can be.  It's a good thing there are plenty of moments in other cartoons to show that even with their tendency to tease, they do still love him and that the moments of teasing among other bad times are just off moments that anyone can have no matter how good they are.  Even with the teasing parts though, this cartoon is one of the best forms of proof that this show can do so much with what seems like so little. 9/10

The Ranking

1.      Undie Pressure

2.      Project Loud House

3.      Space Invader

4.      Driving Miss Hazy

5.      Left in the Dark

6.      Picture Perfect

7.      Sleuth or Consequences

8.      Hand-Me-Downer

9.      No Guts No Glori

10.  Changing the Baby

11.  Sound of Silence

12.  A Tale of Two Tables

13.  Overnight Success

14.  In Tents Debate

15.  Linc or Swim

16.  The Sweet Spot

17.  Heavy Meddle

18.  Get the Message

19.  Ties that Bind

20.  Making the Case

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode with one of the most out-there cartoons, "Butterfly Effect," and an environmental plot gone wrong in "The Green House."