'Toon Reviews 12: DuckTales Vol. 2 Part 11: Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While this episode isn’t as exciting or creative as a part of the story arc, it still is a good continuation of what goes on with plenty of admirable qualities.  It features Scrooge man a salvage vehicle called a Gold Digger to reobtain his money trapped at the bottom of the Marinara Trench in the previous episode.  Much of his underwater voyage consists of him getting majorly annoyed by the shipmates coming along with him. They include the Gold Digger’s inventor Gyro Gearloose for praising his inventions and not pointing out their flaws until too late, Launchpad for his usual incompetence, and of all characters, Doofus Drake for constantly eating and being distracting while communicating with dolphins.  Scrooge’s annoyances make for some humorous interactions and reactions between this interesting set of characters, and how he views how they’re failing to cooperate with him is clearly identifiable.  With his fortune lost due to circumstances, it must be hard for him to work with such incompetence even if he can be harsh at times.  However, neither Scrooge nor his accomplices are as bad as the mermen they come across shortly after finding the money.  Throughout the episode, they’re constantly making the air-breathing visitors look bad as they explain how people constantly dump garbage and toxic waste into their kingdom of Atlantis.  They retaliate against the air-breathers with intense labor charges to clear away all garbage from their kingdom for 400 years, including Scrooge’s money.  In addition to the mermen’s behaviors fitting the human-vilifying traits of annoying, preachy environmental stories, they are some of the most unenjoyable antagonists this show has had.  It’s bad enough that they’re harsh to all air-breathers thinking that air-breathers actually enjoy throwing trash down to their city and that they're all like that.  Scrooge even says that some of the trash, his money, belongs to him and is going to take it anyway, but the mermen still won’t listen to reason. Sadly, we see a lot of this not just from them pushing the group to work, but also preventing their escape by taking away their air helmets and sending a sea monster after them when they head towards the surface making the viewing very frustrating.  Through the frustration though, Gyro, Launchpad, and Doofus get a good shot at redemption when Scrooge is imprisoned, and they come up with a plan to not only free him, but also raise his fortune and all of Atlantis.  Gyro’s intellect puts a fizz solution shown earlier to good use, Launchpad spreads it around Atlantis in exciting chase scene as he rides a dolphin with the mermen in hot pursuit, and even Doofus’s newfound way of talking to dolphins plays a significant role.  The conclusion is ultimately satisfying not just because Scrooge’s money is reobtained, but because he’s left learning that even people who seem incompetent can be useful at times.  The mermen are even grateful that their actions rids them of all the trash.  Too bad this is their only moment of decency here.  Also, doesn’t Atlantis being resurfaced defeat its established status as a lost city?  Well, it’s no matter because in spite of some annoying density from some of the characters, this comes off as a highly enjoyable rescue mission with a poignant message on trust. 8/10

The Ranking:

1.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 5: Too Much of a Gold Thing

2.      Catch as Cash Can Part 2: A Whale of a Bad Time

3.      Catch as Cash Can Part 1: A Drain on the Economy

4.      Back to the Klondike

5.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 2: Wronguay in Ronguay

6.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 4: Cold Duck

7.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 1: Don’t Give up the Ship

8.      The Treasure of the Golden Suns Part 3: Three Ducks of the Condor

9.      Catch as Cash Can Part 3: Aqua Ducks

10.  Scrooge’s Pet

11.  Horse Scents

 

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the conclusion of the "Catch as Cash Can" arc when the moment of truth comes with the weighing of Scrooge and Flintheart's fortunes for the firefly fruit in "Working for Scales."

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

'Toon Reviews 4: The Loud House Season 1 Episode 23

One of the Boys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming off a cartoon where Lincoln got his own figurative big brother, here’s a cartoon that further explores how hard it is to live with so many sisters.  It follows him being put down by the cons of the lifestyle, even if one of them contradicts the continuity of "In Tents Debate" with all the sisters turning down an offer to go to Dairyland even though 5 of the sisters, especially Lana like it.  Anyway, Lincoln is led to wonder what life would be like if he had 10 brothers.  The bulk of the cartoon gives a Lincoln a chance to see that life with the aid of a watch that can allow him to travel to different dimensions and at first, life there seems great for him.  The brothers themselves are basically male versions of the sisters, except they all share the same interests and gross habits as Lincoln just turned up to 11.  This makes the brothers stereotypical making it seem like all boys like being gross.  Well, for one thing, I'm a boy and I don't enjoy the gross habits these brothers partake in, and for another, we already have male characters like Clyde and Bobby who aren't gross, brutish figures, so why enforce stereotypes like these. Well, I suppose stories could make a lot of worse decisions than this.  However, the stereotypical portrayals get worse when shortly after Lincoln decides to stay in this dimension, the cartoon’s entertainment goes down as the brothers start bullying Lincoln, not caring that they’re causing him actual pain.  These scenes are very hard and uncomfortable to watch after the legitimately nice moments Lincoln got up to with the brothers.  Worse than that, they further enhance the stereotypes that all boys are like this when that's completely untrue, even in the context of this very show. Still, there is a somewhat positive to all this when Lincoln realizes how good he has it in his real life.  After all, from what we’ve seen this season, his sisters may have their moments, but he still has a good relationship with all of them, so Lincoln really shouldn’t have even thought to give his old life up.  Eventually, Lincoln does successfully get back to where he belongs, first by arriving in a dimension which shows that the brothers would be a lot nicer and respectful to him if he was a girl which admittedly is a pretty nice scene, and him realizing that the whole experience was just a dream.  Yes, it’s a cheap decision to explain what we saw, but it still makes for a nice satisfying end where the sisters, despite later calling out Lincoln for acting weird, show how much they care for their brother by comforting him from his nightmare, and Lincoln showing that he’s learned his lesson.  The decisions made with the story and characters may hurt the entertainment factor and contradict a lot of what the show has established, but thanks to its good display of the show’s theme of appreciating what you have in life, in my eyes, it narrowly avoids turning out bad. 6.5/10

A Tattler’s Tale

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’ve already seen how Lola can be entertaining despite falling into a character archetype that usually isn’t enjoyable.  While being entertaining is all fine and good, it’s great that we have this cartoon to let us know that Lola is capable of being a strong character in her own right, making this one of the best cartoons of this show to date.  We start off with a set of scenes that demonstrate her entertaining qualities as a bratty character when she picks up secrets her siblings tell each other in their own club which they won’t allow her to join due to her status as a tattletale.  By the way, the scenes of the secret club show some nice sibling love with everyone knowing they can trust each other with holding secrets they don’t want to tell their parents really adding to this cartoon’s appeal.  Back onto Lola, her entertaining qualities come through where she gets her siblings to do things for her by silently and ominously reminding them of their secrets, subtly threatening to expose them if they don’t do as she says.  It’s a great contrast from what we usually see from brats who often act the opposite way to get what they want, and it’s also funny to see such a creepiness factor come from a girly and pink character.  Plus, a lot of humor comes from the siblings doing Lola’s bidding.  All these moments lead up to the ending where Lola surprises her siblings and all in the audience with how great and mature she’s capable of being.  It happens when she realizes that her blackmailing has turned her brother and sisters against her when they manage to dig up major dirt on her and threaten to tell on her.  You might think, given her nature, that Lola would just go ahead and rat them all out to end it all.  Instead, she actually gets herself grounded on behalf of her siblings’ wrongdoings.  If that’s not enough, she goes onto say that she blackmailed everyone so they could hang out together regretting that she went about it the wrong way, showing off a vulnerable and lonely side to her character.  It’s just amazing that a character of Lola's kind has all these endearing layers to her.  It helps make you view her differently in the future, and also show genuine sorrow for her getting grounded, not to mention happiness when her actions appropriately reward her with her siblings’ trust.  The way this cartoon plays with your emotion delivering laughs, tears, and great character moments make the whole viewing experience insightful and heartwarming.  It does so much so well, I gladly rank it near the top. 10/10

The Ranking

1.      For Bros About to Rock

2.      A Tattler’s Tale

3.      Undie Pressure

4.      Project Loud House

5.      Space Invader

6.      A Fair to Remember

7.      Driving Miss Hazy

8.      Left in the Dark

9.      Toads and Tiaras

10.  Picture Perfect

11.  Dance, Dance Resolution

12.  House Music

13.  Save the Date

14.  Sleuth or Consequences

15.  Hand-Me-Downer

16.  No Guts No Glori

17.  Roughin’ It

18.  Attention Deficit

19.  Changing the Baby

20.  Along Came A Sister

21.  April Fools Rules

22.  A Novel Idea

23.  Sound of Silence

24.  Butterfly Effect

25.  A Tale of Two Tables

26.  Cereal Offender

27.  Cover Girls

28.  It’s A Loud, Loud, Loud, Loud House

29.  The Waiting Game

30.  Overnight Success

31.  Raw Deal

32.  In Tents Debate

33.  Lincoln Loud: Girl Guru

34.  Out on a Limo

35.  Linc or Swim

36.  The Sweet Spot

37.  Heavy Meddle

38.  Get the Message

39.  Come Sale Away

40.  Ties that Bind

41.  One of the Boys

42.  Making the Case

43.  Chore and Peace

44.  The Loudest Yard

45.  Two Boys and a Baby

46.  The Green House

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Luan proves to be more than just a pun machine in "Funny Business," and the Louds have fun with snow days, snowballs, and Peanuts references in "Snow Bored."

'Toon Reviews 1: Hey Arnold Season 1 Episode 11

Benchwarmer

 

 

 

 

 

Here we see more of how skilled Arnold is at sports, in this case basketball.  In fact, he knows so much about it that he’s got it down to an art if you can believe it.  This is why it’s very unfortunate that he’s placed in such a mean and unforgiving environment of a basketball team.  All the meanness comes from the man in charge, Coach Wittenberg who’s mostly completely unaware that he’s teaching the team poor basketball tactics, namely always passing the ball to his son, Tucker.  Now, Tucker isn’t exactly the best basketball player out there, especially when making foul shots.  Basically, this whole thing is a case of favoritism, and Coach Wittenberg doesn’t grasp how wrong this is.  His real jerky moment comes in when Arnold doesn’t pass the ball to Tucker, despite being for good reason, and he blows up at Arnold for not following the “rules” and makes him sit out of the game as a benchwarmer.  It’s really annoying as to how dense Coach Wittenberg is in this scene.  If he wants to win so badly, he should get in his head that there are times when his son just won’t be able to get the ball.  Some may see it as him loving his son too much, but to me, he’s hard to get behind if these flaws are going to make him disrespectful to the other players.  Anyway, regarding Tucker’s inability to make foul shots, he learns the way to do it from Arnold, and like I said earlier, he has the sport down to an art.  He actually gives Tucker Zen advice about the ball, which includes meditations while standing on top of the ball.  This may seem crazy, but knowing me, I admire a unique perspective of a common element of life.  The training gets Tucker to “trust the ball” and he’s able to do foul shots a lot better during a game.  However, the poor treatment of Arnold still doesn’t stop when Tucker flat out says to Coach Wittenberg that he taught himself to get better at basketball without giving Arnold credit.  It’s bad enough that Arnold was unfairly banned from playing, but him not getting the credit he deserves is really unwarranted.  I get that Tucker wants to impress his father, but from what we saw of him to this point, he seemed too moral to do something like this.  Thankfully, things work out for Arnold in the end when Tucker fakes a sprain, and Arnold wins the game for his team and Tucker gives him credit for helping him leading to a change in heart for Coach Wittenberg.  Still, the unfair punishment Arnold endures bring the enjoyment down, and this cartoon as a whole becomes pointless because we never see Tucker again after this, but he honestly wasn’t very interesting anyway.  So, there’s some glaring issues with the entertainment of this cartoon, but it’s still decent for what it is. 7/10

Cool Jerk

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know how people always say that you shouldn’t talk to strangers and that some people aren’t always what they seem?  That’s an important thing to remember in life, and this cartoon demonstrates that lesson greatly, but they also seem to enforce a stereotype that anyone who acts cool and is popular is a bad guy.  The story features Arnold getting the attention of a guy said to be the coolest person in town, Frankie G.  He acts all friendly to Arnold and even takes him for a ride on his motorcycle.  He also takes him out of school for a day of fun, shows him his home, and even considers him to be a part of his group.  Everyone at school only cares about how Arnold hanging out with the cool kid makes him cool while only Gerald actually learns more about Frankie to get the hint that Arnold shouldn’t be trusting him.  This is where we get to the biggest problem of the cartoon.  Frankie’s moments with Arnold really seem genuinely nice and it really feels like he considers him to be his friend, but at the same time, he’s a guy Arnold doesn’t even know, yet he sticks by him over everyone else he knows in his life.  Now with the reveal that he’s bad news, he still sticks with Frankie, believing that there’s some good in him.  It just seems so unlike Arnold to not listen to reason and trust people he actually knows as opposed to this dude who’s a total stranger to him.  Honestly though, his behavior would be tolerable if Frankie really does consider Arnold a friend.  Like I said, their moments together really are nice, and Arnold even says that Frankie is like the big brother he never had.  Instead, we find out that Frankie really is scum when he and his gang reveal that they befriended Arnold to steal a tweeter on account that he has the right head to fit through the window.  This moment just destroys everything that could’ve been great about this friendship between Arnold and Frankie.  I must ask, why spend so much time with these guys acting like the best of buds if you’re just going to make him the bad guy?  Now, we’re left with Frankie as a one-dimensional bad guy with nothing about him to like, and any depth he could’ve had is now gone.  Yes, Arnold goes back with his old friends and we’re left to learn to be careful of who to trust, but Frankie and his gang never get the comeuppance they deserve, so the conclusion is not as satisfying as it could be.  With all this in mind, despite some nice and fun moments, for mostly being built on non-existent character depth, I have to name this as one of the show’s weakest entries.  5/10

The Rankings

1.      Haunted Train

2.      Stoop Kid

3.      Arnold’s Hat

4.      Helga’s Makeover

5.      Mugged

6.      The Baseball

7.      The List

8.      The Vacant Lot

9.      Downtown as Fruits

10.  The Old Building

11.  Field Trip

12.  Roughin’ It

13.  6^th Grade Girls

14.  The Little Pink Book

15.  Arnold as Cupid

16.  Snow

17.  Eugene’s Bike

18.  Door #16

19.  Heat

20.  Benchwarmer

21.  Operation Ruthless

22.  Cool Jerk

 

Be sure to stay tune for the review of the 12th episode of this season: "Das Subway/Wheezin' Ed."