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Episode 33
Cartoons
in Wakko’s Body (A)
The centerpiece for this episode is a set of bumpers that
tell their own mini-story put together.
They’re basically the same gag every time, but the gag itself is so
inventive an entertainingly delivered it hardly matters.
In this one, Wakko complains to Yakko and Dot
posing as doctors that he has a pain in his head. Yakko looks into his head and discovers that
Wakko has a cartoon stuck in his ear. The camera zooms into the ear and said
cartoon begins.
It’s a simple yet
creative way to introduce the episode’s featured cartoons, and the overactive
line deliveries, particularly Wakko in pain, add to the comedy. Before we move onto the next bumper, let’s
analyze exactly what was in Wakko’s ear:
Noah’s Lark
You just know this show is calling in the big guns when it
turns to religion for a cartoon’s backdrop or subject matter. Having turned to the Bible for inspiration
before, it’s all set up to give another effective humorous take on a sacred
story.
This time, the story tackled is
of “Noah’s Ark” and instantly this interpretation has an effective humorous
take. The reason for the ark to be made
is shown through scenes of the world partying like modern teenagers in a
burning village and the narrator bluntly saying everyone was being jerks. It’s silly and light-hearted, but works for
getting the basic idea across.
Noah
himself is also an enjoyable feature of the cartoon. He’s assigned by God to take on this huge
task of helping create a new world. However, rather than wise and serious like
a saint most would expect, he’s neurotic, whiny, and is very open about his
fear of spiders. This direction works
because it enhances the idea that even though many people have done great
world-renowned feats, they were still human and open to faults. This makes this Noah well-rounded and likable
enough to follow through the whole cartoon.
As he goes through the motions of building that ark and summoning two of
every animal, his pathetic portrayal makes for solid entertainment. He’s enjoyably clueless and reluctant going
along with the plan, and often gives snide remarks and solid one-liners to the animals going
onboard.
Eventually, established members of the cast come aboard, and they’re
unfortunately some of the weaker characters, the Hip Hippos, Flavio and
Marita. Treating going on this ark like
a modern day couple taking a cruise is mildly humorous from them. Still, what we get is most of the traits that
bring them down. They’re a likable
couple who act as friendly as possible for sure, but it’s not all that
funny. Also working against them is how
oblivious they are of all the problems caused by their enormous weight as well
as how much they’re annoying Noah, the “captain.”
Unlike most of the Hip Hippos’ starring
roles, their antics actually don’t affect the entertainment too much. Because they’re generally nice and
well-meaning, they have potential to work off of funnier and more dynamic
characters. Noah happens to be just
that. Despite the Hip Hippos’ presence,
Noah feels like the more major character with more scenes of him going through
God’s plan than Flavio and Marita enjoying the cruise. This is good because Noah is clearly the most
sympathetic of the bunch. He’s thankfully not too sympathetic for the sake of
the comedy. Noah being whiny about what
he’s put through despite its importance makes the humor from his banter with
God and enduring the Hip Hippos work.
It’s a good use of negative character traits helping an overall product
instead of hurting it.
Still, when the
40 days and 40 nights are up, even after Noah being a total joke character
throughout the voyage, it’s a nice moment when he finally settles down in the
new world. It’s so nice, I feel the last
moment of the Hip Hippos showing him the two spiders from the ark and him
running scared is a little uncalled for.
At least it’s decent as a punchline.
While not the funniest thing from the show, this is a fun watch with
well-defined characters and a well-executed light-hearted approach to a major
Bible story.
B+
Cartoons in
Wakko’s Body (B)
This is basically the same as the first bumper, only this
time Wakko’s pain is in his eye. Redundant as this may be, the hilarious line deliveries and the creative
concept make it work.
Now onto the
cartoon that was in Wakko’s eye:
The Big
Kiss
Of all the formulaic Chicken Boo cartoons, this is one of the
most effective ones. It’s got an interesting
setting, mines the premise for its comedic potential, and everyone turning on
the giant chicken makes more sense than usual.
This time, Chicken Boo is a professional movie star called in to take
part in a film’s climactic kiss scene.
The setup to the whole cartoon nicely plays to what makes Chicken Boo
work on a comedic level to begin with, boiling down to his disguise. There’s usually some extravagance to them to
hide his true identity, but this time, all Chicken Boo is wearing is a mustache,
and a thin one at that. Because the
disguise takes flimsy to a whole new level, it’s hilarious that Chicken Boo is
considered such a huge movie star.
All
the while, as the crew prepares to film the kiss, there’s actually some
build-up to Chicken Boo’s identity getting exposed beyond the usual single detractor. Since that’s not the usual case, the cartoon
further stands out. For one thing,
there’s a brief mention that Chicken Boo is a vegetarian when offered a chicken
salad sandwich. An even bigger example
is a running scene of the director having sneezing fits due to an allergy to
chicken feathers. With this in mind,
you’re led to wonder how Chicken Boo isn’t exposed sooner.
This is where the kiss scene the cartoon was
building up to happens, and it's already huge given what the cartoon is able to show
of the featured actress. It’s a sexy
kind of funny when she puts a lot of passion into the kiss,
completely unaware that her costar’s a chicken.
When the mustache comes off as a result of the kiss, it’s also amusing
how quickly she goes from seductive and restrained to totally freaking out that
she kissed chicken lips. It’s this
factor that makes Chicken Boo getting belittled for who he is work. He may have apparent skill, but humans and
chicken germs do not go well together and can honestly lead to of
health hazards. The director’s allergies
also support this. If all Chicken Boo
cartoons brought this point up, they’d probably be a lot better.
As this one shows, with the right direction,
Chicken Boo can be winning cartoon material despite his redundancies.
A
Cartoons in
Wakko’s Body (C)
Wakko’s operations turn to dentistry when the next cartoon is
in his mouth this time. It’s the same
premise as before and funny for the same given reasons.
Hiccup
Cartoons starring the Goodfeathers go either ways. They’re either interesting takes on the
Italian mafia genre with creative potential and character banter or endless
collections of pain gags which aren’t always very enjoyable. This one is of the former category, but is
mostly basic and lacking anything truly noteworthy. That’s saying a lot since most plots to this
show are basic and at times formulaic, but they’re usually executed well to
feel like something more.
This cartoon
is executed to be no broader than its simple concept. It’s just about Squit getting the hiccups and
turning to Bobby and Pesto for help to cure them. For the most part, the cartoon is nothing
more than that. They go through many of
the basic attempts to cure hiccups used in most shows, especially those made
just for kids. There’s Squit holding his
breath, drinking, and getting a pigeon-styled Heimlich maneuver from Pesto. The fact that not one of these attempts work
despite their effectiveness in real life makes the cures very dull and too
long. It even makes the cartoon feel
repetitive at times, particularly when Bobby and Pesto frighten Squit with
stories of pigeons who got hiccups so bad they croaked. At least they mean no ill-intent and are
still keen on genuinely helping Squit.
In that regard, the cartoon can be seen as an edgy approach to a typical
day-to-day problem. This especially
benefits the cartoon because the biggest strength of the Goodfeathers is their
characterizations. They’re all distinct
in personality as a street gang would be.
Their portrayal as street pigeons adds an interesting and funny layer to
the dynamic. This strength often tends
to get lost in cartoons bent on hurting them violently. Here, there are hardly any pain gags at
all. In fact, most of the humor comes from funny
expressions to emphasize certain points or the effects of Squit’s hiccup cure
attempts, thus keeping the cartoon enjoyable.
The characters prove so entertaining that they themselves bring all the
comedy we need. As usual, Pesto is a
riot for finding insults in Squit’s innocent remark resulting in a rant that
builds up to a fast-paced beating. Bobby's tempers also have an enjoyable edge to them as seen every time Pesto badgers him with remarks that his cure attempts won't work. It's like proportionate retribution for how much Pesto's always whacking on Squit for similar reasons.
In the end, it’s a surprise appearance from
the Godpigeon that solves the problem while also adding to his already
mysterious character.
Instead of just
talking in his unintelligible language, he shocks the Goodfeathers with a
surprise monster face brimming with more character from him than expected. The old saying that a good scare gets rid of
hiccups wins out with Squit finally cured, though one last Pesto rant truly
ends it all on a good joke.
Even if this
is a very basic and mostly uninteresting cartoon, it’s one of the better
showings of the Goodfeathers’ dynamic and appeal. It’s not one I’d continually watch, but I
commend it for actually doing the featured characters justice.
B
Cartoons in
Wakko’s Body (D)
Another great thing about the “Cartoons in Wakko’s Body”
bumpers is that they lead to something instead of just being creative
transitions.
At the very end of an
episode is a scene that brings all of Yakko and Dot’s treatments of pulling
cartoons out of Wakko’s body full circle.
They take the abstract concept to creative extremes by announcing their
findings to an entire auditorium, treating Wakko like their own personal
science project. This is honestly an
appropriate thing to do with such a bizarre occurrence. Wakko essentially being a cartoon transition
is something so creative, how can you not treat it like a science project?
Also, if you think about the cartoons pulled
out of his various body parts, it kind of makes sense that they emerged from where
they did. The one in his ear is about
someone being annoyed, the one in his eye features people not noticing the
obvious, and the one in his mouth is about the hiccups. The cartoons may seem random, but tie into
the framing device better than you’d expect.
With this in mind, I’m personally grateful that we don’t see the cartoon
causing pain in Wakko’s bottom.
These bumpers successfully do more than just what they’re
intended to do. They may tell the same
joke, but keep it funny every time and what they lead to in the end is very
satisfying. While not all the cartoons
they lead into are the best of the series, it's interesting that they have their ways of fitting the
framing device. Not to mention, the
framing device itself is still immensely entertaining. It’s a unique approach to the episode and a
testament to the series’ versatile approach to the art of cartoons.
A
Cartoon Ranking
- Chairman of the Bored
- Hot Bothered and Bedeviled
- O Silly Mio
- Phranken-Runt
- 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
- Testimonials
- Cartoons in Wakko’s Body
- You Risk Your Life
- The Great Wakkorotti: The Summer Concert
- The Planets
The next Animaniacs review features Wakko dealing with a clown that keeps scaring him, and Brain try his hand at country western singing.
Next time on MC Toon Reviews is "Gem Drill" from Steven Universe.
