Stiff Upper Ed / Here's Mud in Your Ed - (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 4 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 52

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Stiff Upper Ed

It might not seem pleasing that the Eds usually lose in the end, but a big factor making this direction work is when they’re set up to deserve it. Whether they go too far with annoying others, legitimately hurt them, or overlook a specific detail, it only makes sense that they get some comeuppance.  Factors that make it an issue are when they’re all punished when only one or two of them was truly in the wrong, or if everyone just mistreats them unprovoked.  Unfortunately, this cartoon is an instance where this setup doesn’t work as the Eds are mistreated by everyone for no good reason, and it comes off as a bit of a bore in the process.  

Now, the first few minutes of the cartoon have probably the best entertainment value.  They follow the usual setup with the Eds preparing a scam for the neighborhood kids, in this case, selling bubble wrap as mini trampolines.  It stands out with Eddy dressing up as a number of kids acting excited over what’s being promoted; and the actual demonstration set off by Ed sending Double D bouncing on a bunch of bubble wrap piles by popping some himself.  This action uses up all of the supply, so the Eds have to get some more.  

This circumstance leads to the main plot when they pass through Ed’s backyard to get more bubble wrap, and discover that Sarah and Jimmy have set it up for their own purposes.  They’ve turned the backyard into their own personal club for “rich people” and designed it for members only, and it’s easy to tell that the Eds are not among them.  From here, Eddy calls for the group to abandon their planned scam and set out on joining this rich club, and it’s here where the cartoon takes a turn for the worse.  It becomes nothing but a drawn-out routine of the Eds presenting themselves as rich to try and prove eligible for the club, only for Sarah and Jimmy to turn them down or just ignore them.  Without them doing anything to motivate such mistreatment, everything they do is simply futile.  Because they get nowhere as Sarah and Jimmy remain very stubborn and judgmental, nothing of substance ever happens, making the experience as dull as it is unpleasant.  There’s at least one amusing sequence with the Eds trying to look rich with a cardboard yacht, only for Ed’s antics to “sink” it, but other than that, it’s pretty unremarkable.  

The setup gets even more frustrating when Sarah and Jimmy welcome the other “members” of their rich club, basically every other neighborhood kid.  This is a huge giveaway that their club isn’t really exclusive and is neglecting the Eds for the sick sake of it.  Some kids don’t even look rich with Jonny and Plank just wearing colanders on their head, and Kevin arriving in his usual clothes.  It’s at this point when one must wonder why Eddy is even bothering with trying to join this club when they’re deliberately excluding him and his friends.  They’re also clearly pretending to be rich considering they use toy boats for yacht races, rocking horses for polo, and the rich clothes are just costumes.  An argument can be made that this does tie into a deeper desire to just be included with others and be well liked, which admittedly is commendable.  However, with no real progress being made, the experience is just a big frustration.  

There is something to be gained when a heated discussion does bring a slight change in direction.  The Eds ultimately do get accepted into the rich club like they were aiming for, but while that seems like things will pick up, there’s unfortunately another catch.  Rather than actual members, they’re assigned to be total servants or busboys to the rest of the club and are assigned to the most demeaning tasks.  Literally the rest of the cartoon is nothing but Ed being tasked to tie Kevin’s shoe; Double D providing members shade and later providing food to Rolf who’s near impossible to satisfy; and Eddy having to carry everyone around in a cardboard box on his back.  Basically, it’s just the Eds being mistreated and nothing else all the way to the end.  Nothing stands out as particularly funny, there are no standout qualities other than the kids being relentless jerks, and nothing big is gained from any of this.  Making this especially known is the cartoon just kind of stopping instead of reaching any natural conclusion.  Eddy makes a comment about the situation after collapsing from everyone’s weight, and then suddenly, the cartoon’s over.  

When all is said and done, the cartoon ends up being one that just exists, being fueled by an unremarkable story with nothing of substance.  There are solid humor beats here and there, but they’re not enough to make up for a mostly dull and unpleasant experience, especially one that’s unwarranted.

D

Here’s Mud in Your Ed

A major issue in the previous cartoon was that the Eds were faced with ridicule and mistreatment, yet they did nothing to deserve it.  This alone is a benefit to this cartoon where there is a legit reason for them to have others turn against them, and really only for the one Ed who’s in the wrong.  At the same time though, it comes with making that Ed notably worse than he usually is.  

Everything unfolds with things going ever so miserably for Jimmy.  A pleasant leisurely activity with Sarah takes a nasty turn when Jonny appears, and antics lead her to get involved in a very aggressive argument.  As it’s never resolved, this moment is solely meant to serve as a catalyst for Jimmy being extra intimidated and depressed.  Once the Eds become aware of this, Eddy sees this as an opportunity.  

To feed into Jimmy’s desire for happiness, Eddy devises the scam for the day; a theme park all about smiles with some promising attractions to it.  Considering the usual way the Eds’ scams work, one might expect the cartoon to be an explore of exactly what the Eds created for the scam.  However, when Jimmy goes in expecting a fun time with a huge dose of smiles, all he finds is a desolate alley which isn’t a happy sight at all.  In other words, this was all a cruel joke in which this scam actually feels like a legit scam, and honestly, it’s very off-putting, even by the Eds’ usual standards.  The way they typically work is that they’re designed as legit attractions and products kids would want to buy, and the time and effort put into each creation is clear.  It feels like the Eds are actually trying to deliver on what they’re promising their customers.  There’s absolutely no reason why they wouldn’t try putting together the attractions promised when they’ve proven capable of the effort in the past.  They’ve even done something like this through making a city with all sorts of attractions made entirely of cardboard.  But no, this is all instead a cruel elaborate trick to get Jimmy’s money just so the Eds can get a jawbreaker, because that’s all that matters.  

Now, to be specific, Eddy is the only Ed who’s truly at fault for the whole thing, deliberately organizing the whole thing to be a trick and nothing more.  Ed just naively goes along with it due to his lack of intelligence, and Double D is shown to be unaware of his true intentions which makes this scam even worse.  As out of line as Eddy is, these factors definitely set him up for some welcome consequences for the rest of the cartoon, and it delivers with that, albeit with more concerns.  

A big cause for this comes from Jimmy getting some much-needed sympathy from Rolf who’s going around as a being from his culture known as a guardian pigeon.  As Jimmy laments about his day, he gets his own guardian pigeon in the form of Rolf who hears of Eddy's trick.  He sets out to help Jimmy by getting back at Eddy, and given the nature of that whole stunt, it all feels warranted.  In fact, Eddy already starts getting some comeuppance when he isn’t able to use Jimmy’s quarter to get a jawbreaker as Ed ends up spending it on a rocket ride.  Then again, it’s all because he gave Ed the quarter in the first place which highlights another detracting factor to Eddy’s overall portrayal here.  

It becomes apparent when he comes across a tree sprouting money that’s said to belong to Rolf.  As part of his payback towards Eddy, Rolf appears claiming ownership of this money tree, and says he’ll give away the seed to it if Eddy gives all his possessions.  Being easily desperate for cash, Eddy is quick to comply, literally giving Rolf everything he owns in exchange for that seed right down to leaving his bedroom bare and empty.  

Now, the issue here is that a huge factor in making all this work is Eddy having to be significantly unintelligent.  It’s incredibly obvious that the money tree is fake, and the money it grows are really soup labels with money symbols painted on another side.  Along with Eddy letting Ed hold the quarter, it’s not hard to see that this is an incredibly stupid mindset that really isn’t like him.  In fact, one doesn’t even need to view the following scenes of Double D investigating the tree, concluding that it’s fake to figure out that this is the case.  

As much of a downside to the cartoon this is though, it works fine enough considering that Eddy feels worthy of some sort of punishment.  Jimmy’s overt happiness over Eddy falling for the trick is most reflective of this sentiment as is how attached he becomes to Rolf.  Now, while Eddy may have been dumb enough to fall for the trick, even when Double D shows him what the money really is, he still has some sense.  When looking at the seed itself, he soon understands that it’s actually an empty spool which makes him totally livid.  

Just as Rolf is about to have too much of Jimmy, Eddy prevents that sentiment from developing further late at night, banging Ed on his door with rage in response to being tricked.  This whole scenario plays out believably and feels entertaining, though the way Rolf deals with this isn’t too remarkable.  

He offers to give Eddy the real money tree seed, though it’s clearly not a seed but a bolt.  Eddy plants it genuinely believing he’ll get a tree this time, and then the cartoon just ends, no real resolution, just Eddy getting screwed over and nothing more.  That said, Double D does have a pretty amusing line to mark the abruptness of the ending, making for a clever fourth wall break.  Still, this abrupt ending with nothing to show for it as well as portraying Eddy as too cruel and dumb ultimately work against this cartoon.  Thanks to everything he gets feeling right and entertainment from featured character dynamics and some funny lines, it’s still overall a solid watch.

B

Series Ranking

1.     An Ed is Born

2.     One + One = Ed

3.     The Day the Ed Stood Still

4.     A Glass of Warm Ed

5.     It Came from Outer Ed

6.     Rent-A-Ed

7.     Once Upon an Ed

8.     Fa La La La Ed

9.     Urban Ed

10.  Ed…Pass it On

11.  One of Those Eds

12.  Laugh Ed Laugh

13.  Dawn of the Eds

14.  Don’t Rain on My Ed

15.  Wish You Were Ed

16.  Dueling Eds

17.  Mirror, Mirror On the Ed

18.  Gimme, Gimme Never Ed

19.  Ed-N-Seek

20.  Keeping Up With the Eds

21.  Who Let the Ed In

22.  Avast Ye Eds

23.  Flea Bitten Ed

24.  Fool on the Ed

25.  Ready Set Ed

26.  The Ed-Touchables

27.  Who What Where Ed

28.  Dear Ed

29.  Momma’s Little Ed

30.  Brother, Can You Spare an Ed?

31.  Hot Buttered Ed

32.  Ed or Tails

33.  Stop Look and Ed

34.  See No Ed

35.  Shoo Ed

36.  Rock-a-Bye Ed

37.  Little Ed Blue

38.  Ed in a Halfshell

39.  Scrambled Ed

40.  Pain in the Ed

41.  O-Ed Eleven

42.  Vert Ed Go

43.  Ed Overboard

44.  Oath to an Ed

45.  Ed, Ed, and Away

46.  Button Yer Ed

47.  An Ed in the Bush

48.  Read All About Ed

49.  Rambling Ed

50.  Home Cooked Ed

51.  Honor Thy Ed

52.  Floss Your Ed

53.  Robbin’ Ed

54.  Quick Shot Ed

55.  Look Into My Eds

56.  The Luck of the Ed

57.  The Good Ol’ Ed

58.  Is There An Ed in the House?

59.  Knock, Knock Who’s Ed

60.  A Boy and His Ed

61.  Eds-Aggerate

62.  Three Squares and an Ed

63.  One Size Fits Ed

64.  Will Work for Ed

65.  Boys Will Be Eds

66.  High Heeled Ed

67.  Know-it-All Ed

68.  For Your Ed Only

69.  Dim Lit Ed

70.  Cry Ed

71.  Eeny Meeny Miney Ed

72.  A Pinch to Grow an Ed

73.  Pop Goes the Ed

74.  Hands Across Ed

75.  They Call Him Mr. Ed

76.  An Ed Too Many

77.  Sir Ed-a-Lot

78.  For the Ed By the Ed

79.  Over Your Ed

80.  From Here to Ed

81.  A Key to My Ed

82.  Once Bitten Twice Ed

83.  X Marks the Ed

84.  It’s Way Ed

85.  Here’s Mud in Your Ed

86.  In Like Ed

87.  A Twist of Ed

88.  A Case of Ed

89.  Thick as an Ed

90.  My Fair Ed

91.  To Sir With Ed

92.  Nagged to Ed

93.  Tag Yer Ed

94.  Stiff Upper Ed

95.  Sorry Wrong Ed

96.  If it Smells Like an Ed

97.  Your Ed Here

The next episode faces Eddy with a loss of ideas for scams, and we're introduced to Plank's parents.

Next time is more DuckTales reviews.

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

McMystery At McDuck McManor - (DuckTales 2017 Season 1 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 51

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

McMystery At McDuck McManor

In an adventure-based show, especially one with a sizable cast, one might expect to see mysteries pop up every so often.  This episode presents such a mystery with its own brand of standout twists and unique touches, making this mystery a memorable experience.  

The whole thing kicks off with a reveal that it’s Scrooge’s birthday, but there’s a catch as seen from much of the McDuck mansion staff leaving.  Scrooge is not keen on parties and a big reason for that comes with a reveal on the status of one notable missing character in this reboot.  In the original DuckTales, one figure on the McDuck mansion staff was Scrooge’s butler Duckworth (who is oddly not a duck). Considering how this reboot has brought back a lot of familiar faces, it’s hard not to wonder why Duckworth hasn’t appeared at this point.  It turns out that he was part of the reboot’s canon, but is now deceased, and his passing is a big reason why Scrooge is against parties as no one could throw one like Duckworth. 

Those new to knowing this fact, Huey, Dewey, and Louie, however, are keen of giving their uncle a party out of consideration anyway.  In actuality though, it’s really Huey who wants to go through this plan, insistent that it’s what Scrooge needs to heal from the loss of his butler.  This is also an exercise of Huey’s prominent individual character trait of being overly strategic.  He has a whole agenda on what makes the perfect party with entertainment, guests, and an itinerary for all events.  While he does have the right idea for sure, the episode highlights a number of notable drawbacks to his plan.  For one thing, even though the point is to throw a perfect party, it’s hard to expect that when it’s so haphazardly thrown together with little time.  At least, for entertainment’s sake, there are some funny bits from this misguided plan with Louie only managing to invite Scrooge’s enemies; and Dewey serving as a DJ only to have his head stuck in a helmet for most of the episode, only being able to communicate with a synthesizing keytar.  The real issue though is how Huey is clearly inconsiderate of Scrooge’s desires.  Sure, he’s unaware of this and means well, but Scrooge clearly isn’t enjoying the affair, and it was explicitly stated that he doesn’t like parties.  From an audience perspective, it’s glaringly obvious that Huey is making the party more about him than the person the party is for.  But the whole point of parties for someone is to be considerate of what they want, which overall becomes very distracting.  

Before it has a chance to take away any good from the viewing experience, things get interesting when the lights go out, and Scrooge is mysteriously gone when they come on.  From there, the whole episode goes into an entirely mystery-based direction as the nephews try to figure out who was responsible Scrooge’s disappearance.  Since all the guests are his enemies, and the costumes they wear to the party can’t hide their identities, the logical belief was that it was one of them.  All the while, the entire mystery proves to be an effective showcase of Huey’s over-analyzation, hyper-fixation, and strategizing skills, further showing the nephews’ individuality.  

His first suspect is a magician whose magic trick Scrooge took part in before his disappearance, but he turns out to be a Beagle Boy named Black Arts.  There’s an interesting twist where for all his talk and flare for the mystical, he was here specifically to help Ma Beagle steal the deed to Duckburg.  The other guests are chosen out of process of elimination, and each have a different motive.  Mark Beaks had come to get humiliating footage of Scrooge for his social media accounts, but this move raises suspicions for the remaining guest picked up from his recordings.  That guest being Flintheart Glomgold, although his intentions weren’t to kidnap Scrooge, but to just flat out kill him, further showcasing his more demented side in this reboot.  With all the guests seemingly innocent, Huey shows a more irrational side by saying it has to be one of them anyway.  However, it does turn out that another guest was in on the whole scheme all along, making for a clever play on expectations.  

As the lights go out, causing all the guests to go missing this time, Black Arts Beagle remains, and goes on to summon a ghost.  This results in a chase through a painting leading to an uncharted room in the mansion that nicely raises the stakes.  During this time, there’s room for shining character moments as Huey points out that the only one clever enough to kidnap Scrooge is Scrooge himself.  This proves true as they find their uncle in a surveillance room having watched the whole event that he planned himself, for someone who hates parties would go on to sabotage their own.  If that’s not enough, the summoned ghost happens to be Duckworth himself who helped hide Scrooge away.  Not only that, but this proves to be a creative way of keeping this character part of the cast while having the reboot be its own thing.  Ultimately, the conclusion to this whole mystery proves satisfying with Huey becoming more considerate of Scrooge’s feelings on parties, and Duckworth remaining part of the cast.  

This episode ends up being a fun creative takes on mysteries with a good dose of surprises, interesting character reveals, and range of personalities (even if some can be frustratingly misguided at times).

A

Series Ranking

1.     The House of the Lucky Gander

2.     The Beagle Birthday Breakout

3.     The Impossible Summit of Mt. Neverrest

4.     Terror of the Terra-Firmians

5.     McMystery at McDuck McManor

6.     The Living Mummies of Toth-Ra

7.     Daytrip of Doom

8.     The Great Dime Chase

9.     Escape To/From Atlantis

10.  Woo-oo

11.  The Infernal Internship of Mark Beaks

The next episode is a nice array of creative world building and character moments during a golf game.

Next time, it's back to Ed Edd n Eddy Season 4 with "Stiff Upper Ed" and "Here's Mud in Your Ed."

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

A Case of Mistaken Identity ( DuckTales Vol 4 Part 10) - 'Toon Reviews 50

If you like this review and want to stay updated for what else I have in store, become a follower of this blog, click here to like the official Facebook page, and click here to follow me on Twitter. Now on with today's review:

A Case of Mistaken Identity

When stories involve superheroes, a common thing for them to deal with is their secret identity, mainly making sure it stays secret for the protection of themselves and others.  Sometimes, the matter exists for the purposes of drama in their relationship with loved ones or to create a personal drama in simply how hard it is to keep it secret.  In the case of this episode, the matter of the secret identity of this featured superhero, Gizmoduck, is central to a story about jealousy of someone else mistaken to be him.  Ultimately, the execution is mixed. 

With how popular Gizmoduck has become at this point, Huey, Dewey, and Louie become curious as to who he really is.  Through an investigation, there's a chance encounter with Scrooge and Launchpad, the latter of whom they come to believe is definitely Gizmoduck.  Fenton Crackshell also happens to be there, and despite being cool with keeping his status as Gizmoduck secret before, he becomes visibly upset at this assumption.  Scrooge tries to assure him that it’s better the nephews think Launchpad is Gizmoduck to protect his identity, but to no avail.  

It’s at this point where the plot of the episode is established with Fenton setting out to prove that Launchpad is not Gizmoduck, and the results have a good deal of frustration and contrivance.  The frustration comes from how it’s already well established to the audience that Launchpad isn’t Gizmoduck. To have the world around Fenton stick to believing falsehoods doesn’t sit right.  

Following Fenton putting up with ridiculous reasons for the nephews’ claims such as a piece of metal at Launchpad’s allegedly being part of Gizmoduck, there’s a Gizmoduck party.  It seems like an easy place for Fenton to show up as Gizmoduck while Launchpad appears as himself, all set to disprove the theory.  However, as Gizmoduck, Fenton has to put up with all sorts of ineptness from people thinking that he’s wearing a costume.  Some fans who are also wearing a Gizmoduck costume even have quirks that seem to be more impressive than that of the real hero which is kind of sad.  Then there’s an incident with fireworks where Fenton rushes to dispatch a box of them when they’re accidentally lit while everyone else, including Launchpad, runs away.  Fenton finishes the job, but everyone still believes Launchpad is Gizmoduck when he comes back all banged up.  Is that really enough to be so sure? How do they know that this outcome is definitely what happened?  

Because of this setup, Launchpad is then constantly bombarded with people who are more convinced than ever that he’s Gizmoduck, something he’s desperate to deny.  In that regard, it’s interesting that both he and Fenton are on the same page to prove that’s not the case despite the latter’s jealousy.  It seems like they have a chance when Launchpad is captured by the Beagle Boys, and Fenton comes to rescue him as Gizmoduck.  However, since he and Launchpad weren’t both there when Gizmoduck got the Beagle Boys arrested, this does nothing to break the belief.  Also, since a lie detector used on the Beagle Boys says they’re telling the truth, now this false belief is 100% confirmed, dragging things out even more.  

It’s at this point where the episode becomes very monotonous with its story where just when it seems to be getting somewhere, something always keeps it going.  It would be appropriate for the audience to just want it to get to a resolution.  Thankfully, that turns out to be well-handled.  Launchpad, in an interview where the crowds expect official confirmation that he is Gizmoduck, ends up saying the password to get the Gizmoduck suit on himself.  His inexperience on how to actually work the suit leads into several mishaps and eventually a spectacle of a runaway through the series.  The most standout element though is Fenton’s role in this circumstance.  Even though he’s not the one with the power, it’s nice to see Fenton’s natural wits be what saves Launchpad from every mishap his mishandling of the suit causes.  Then, after much ineptness from the public, there’s something rewarding with them noticing Fenton’s heroic efforts in addition to finally realizing Launchpad can’t be Gizmoduck.  There’s even some solid humor with Huey, Dewey, and Louie now considering Fenton a likely candidate albeit shockingly placed below Mrs. Beakley of all characters.  While a good laugh to end the episode on, it’s perplexing to see how Fenton is upset about people not knowing his identity, a mark against this story as a whole.  

This secret identity story has a fair share of things to hold it back from the long time everyone believes a fallacy, and contrivances to keep it going.  Still, it’s entertaining, and a solid number of moments have good heart, humor, and character, so while it’s far from great, it’s certainly not bad.

B

The Ranking

1.     My Mother the Psychic

2.     Allowance Day

3.     The Big Flub

4.     The Land of Trala La

5.     The Good Muddahs

6.     Dough Ray Me

7.     A Case of Mistaken Identity

8.     Bubba’s Big Brainstorm

9.     Metal Attraction

10.  Bubbeo and Juliet

The next review steers us to the reboot where Scrooge goes missing during his birthday party.

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