MC 'Toon Reviews

Friday, November 12, 2021

Gimme, Gimme Never Ed / My Fair Ed - (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 3 Episode 10) - 'Toon Reviews 47

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Gimme, Gimme Never Ed

They may be scams, but the things the Eds come up with to get money are almost always exciting spectacles in their own right. In the right circumstances, they can even be considered a highlight. The scam in this cartoon is one of the most exciting of the series in fact as they’re all about thrill rides, the most fun a lot of people can have. At the same time, it’s a great contender for something to look into the nature of the show’s most intriguing enigma, Plank.

On the surface, Plank is nothing more than a board with a face that Jonny made to be his own personal friend, but it may not be that simple. His thoughts dictated by Jonny upon seeing the Eds in the middle of one of their scams, Plank’s apparent desire for thrill rides drives the ensuing events. The claim that he, a wooden board, also gets an allowance he loves to spend on thrill rides is especially a big incentive. From there, the cartoon becomes a showcase of various fabricated rides that manage to function impressively well and lead to humorous sequences.

In a way, the rides kind of build upon each other when it comes to intensity, size, and antics. That said, the first one, bumper cars made from wheeled stands and inner tubes around them, has a big effect of his own. Plank’s bumper car is given a simple push, and it sends the Eds’ bumper cars in all directions. It could be argued that such an extreme reaction from an inanimate object means it has more life than one would think, or maybe this is cartoon logic talking.

Anyway, the next thrill ride is still a significant setup, and Eddy raising the price reflects this. It has Plank get shot into the air while riding a roller skate over a pit of termites. The magnitude of this ride comes in both its creative setup as well as the genuine danger too it. Jonny’s worry over Plank’s safety as he’s set off feels very genuine, which helps make Plank feel real. For Jonny’s sake, Plank is saved by a parachute which lands him in a tree. Getting Plank out gets him to safety, but the Eds are given a particularly extreme after effect when retrieving him. Their termites backfire on them as they eat the tree, and send them into a creek which in turn has them go over a waterfall.

As extreme as this is, one more ride tops them all. In accordance with most amusement parks, it involves their biggest attractions yet, roller coasters. This is the best demonstration of the Eds’ scams’ craftsmanship of the cartoon. The various junk that makes the track and a shopping cart to serve as the coaster cart impressively works to be a functional attraction. To really show it has a lot going for it, Plank is said to pay 5 whole dollars if the Eds ride with him.

This leads to the biggest instance of Plank seeming to have a mind of his own. Before joining the Eds, he’s suddenly out of Jonny’s hold and at the control needed to release the roller coaster. He was said to be looking for kicks, and gets them by sending the Eds down the roller coaster themselves. The ensuing ride has all the speed, thrill, and fun of a real roller coaster. It’s a grand old time watching the Eds in action, and even if they’re screaming and want it to stop, it’s easy to wish you were joining them. Again, it’s impressive that a random assortment of junk ends up feeling like a real roller coaster. There is a dangerous drawback from the Eds being launched at the end and them losing the money they got from Jonny is a real misfortune, but the authentic feel of the ride sill persists.

It shows that despite the nature of scams, setups like this can have them make a cartoon, even when a plank with a face is involved.

A+

My Fair Ed

This may be obvious, but characters with a lot to themselves are far more compelling and enjoyable than those defined by single prominent traits. The Eds themselves, for the most part have a lot to them where they can be aggressive but still look out for each other, and smart and calculating but able to get ahead of themselves. However, there are times when characterization goes a simpler route which negatively affects their portrayal. Putting it bluntly, Double D is moralistic and logical, so he’s automatically the good guy. Ed and Eddy, however, are more aggressive and prone to causing trouble, so they’re nothing but a nuisance. Such a portrayal devalues a lot of complexities and layers the dynamic has been shown to have throughout the series; for example, isn’t it true that Ed has a good heart? Sadly, this comes up frequently in later seasons, but this cartoon is where it starts becoming more apparent. It’s certainly not the worst instance of this though, as it does have a lot of strong comedy to it.

The opening demonstrating Double D as the sane one in the trio and Ed and Eddy as totally reckless especially gets solid laughs. After the two mess around with Double D’s groceries, they go around the cul-de-sac chasing each other while trying to get one of them to eat broccoli. There’s a lot of variety to the off-the-wall chaos they cause as they carelessly interfere with the lives of the other kids. They smash Jimmy into a fence after he has painted a unicorn on it, his specialty; they give waste to Rolf’s garden of eggplants putting him into mourning; they destroy Kevin’s bike in the middle of a wheelie; and they almost separate Jonny and Plank. It’s a wide assortment of ways to show the ways Ed and Eddy inconvenience everyone, and while childish, the extreme lengths over something like eating broccoli is worth a good laugh.

Not so funny is how Double D takes the heat for everything they did which hardly feels fair. He may be the most sane Ed, but normally the kids would attack the Eds who were the real instigator, or all of them. Also, if they’re acting this way because Double D is the better of the three, why do they not treat at least him as one of them on a regular basis? Is it only when it’s convenient for them? Along with the implications from the characterizations, this is a sure way to hurt the cartoon going forward.

Anyway, through Double D’s treatment, he gets his hat tied in a pretzel, and is threatened to have the same thing happen to his legs if he doesn’t reform Ed and Eddy. In a good portrayal of the Eds’ dynamic, Double D’s friends would see what’s at stake and make an effort to have him avoid the neighborhood kids’ wrath.

At first it seems like that’s the direction when Double D sets Ed and Eddy up for etiquette training. He has an interesting approach to it where he serves his friends soup, and whenever they behave badly, he rips off one of three bandages to let them know their faults. The pained reactions of every bandage rip are greatly timed and exaggerated to comedic effect, so even when Ed and Eddy are unruly, it’s easy to enjoy what’s happening. This exercise also seems to work as both Ed and Eddy realize that behaving well will keep them from getting hurt from the bandage rips. This in turn convinces Double D that they’ve changed for the better, so they test out their reformed selves by helping the neighborhood kids with various problems.

Sadly, the apparent progress doesn’t translate as more problems arise. All of Ed and Eddy’s help wrecks the kids’ property and puts them in awkward and painful positions, and one instance is concealed in a bag. If that’s not enough, it’s even worse than their first round of chaos in the cartoon as they’re aware of what they’re doing and act like their doing good. Once again, the unfair tone of the story persists with nothing changing for the better and Double D taking the heat for his friends’ actions. Worst of all, it later turns out that all of this was a prank for Ed and Eddy to think that Double D changed them, which is messed up. This only seals the feeling that basing likability on who’s reckless and who follows the rules really hurts a cartoon. It lacks depth, makes it seem like Ed and Eddy don’t care for their friend which hasn’t been the case before, and is on the whole unpleasing. At least Double D kind of gets the last laugh by sending his friends running away from broccoli again…even if he’s left at the mercy of Kevin when his friends re-wreck his bike.

With unfair dynamics and making it seem like predominant traits are certain characters’ only traits, much of this cartoon sadly falls flat. It’s the weakest of Season 3, but even at that, with solid comedy and energy, and some instances of justice, it’s still serviceably entertaining. However, this dynamic of simple traits is going to become more apparent in seasons to come, so it’s best for the audience to brace themselves.

Series Ranking

1. An Ed is Born

2. One + One = Ed

3. A Glass of Warm Ed

4. It Came from Outer Ed

5. Rent-A-Ed

6. Once Upon an Ed

7. Fa La La La Ed

8. Urban Ed

9. Laugh Ed Laugh

10. Dawn of the Eds

11. Wish You Were Ed

12. Dueling Eds

13. Mirror, Mirror On the Ed

14. Gimme, Gimme Never Ed

15. Ed-N-Seek

16. Keeping Up With the Eds

17. Who Let the Ed In

18. Avast Ye Eds

19. Flea Bitten Ed

20. Fool on the Ed

21. Ready Set Ed

22. The Ed-Touchables

23. Who What Where Ed

24. Dear Ed

25. Momma’s Little Ed

26. Hot Buttered Ed

27. Ed or Tails

28. Stop Look and Ed

29. See No Ed

30. Shoo Ed

31. Ed in a Halfshell

32. Scrambled Ed

33. Vert Ed Go

34. Oath to an Ed

35. Ed, Ed, and Away

36. Button Yer Ed

37. An Ed in the Bush

38. Read All About Ed

39. Rambling Ed

40. Home Cooked Ed

41. Honor Thy Ed

42. Floss Your Ed

43. Quick Shot Ed

44. Look Into My Eds

45. Is There An Ed in the House?

46. Knock, Knock Who’s Ed

47. A Boy and His Ed

48. Eds-Aggerate

49. Three Squares and an Ed

50. Will Work for Ed

51. Boys Will Be Eds

52. High Heeled Ed

53. Know-it-All Ed

54. For Your Ed Only

55. Dim Lit Eds

56. Cry Ed

57. Eeny Meeny Miney Ed

58. A Pinch to Grow an Ed

59. Pop Goes the Ed

60. Hands Across Ed

61. An Ed Too Many

62. Sir Ed-a-Lot

63. Over Your Ed

64. From Here to Ed

65. A Key to My Ed

66. X Marks the Ed

67. It’s Way Ed

68. In Like Ed

69. My Fair Ed

70. To Sir With Ed

71. Nagged to Ed

72. Tag Yer Ed

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where Ed hassome strange yet telling nightmares, and the Eds follow a map from Eddy's brother to an interesting treasure.

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.

Friday, November 5, 2021

Is There an Ed in the House? / An Ed is Born - (Ed Edd n Eddy Season 3 Episode 9) - 'Toon Reviews 47

Is There an Ed in the House?

In spite of his lack of social graces and healthy habits, Ed has many good-hearted moments within his community. His dumb demeanor may be the reason the Eds' scams fail a lot of the time, but that never stops him from being a good lovable individual. This goes for people who don’t deserve it like his own sister who’s, to put it bluntly, a total brat.

This example of care and love towards a total burden starts with the Eds in the middle of a scam when Jimmy suddenly appears asking for things to treat Sarah who apparently has a cold. The moment Ed hears that Sarah is sick, he abandons the scam to tend to her. Throughout the cartoon, it feels almost as if it’s a natural instinct of his as a big brother to be there for his sister. Keeping the setup interesting, it’s not just Ed tending to Sarah that gets focus.

The cartoon also shows the impact of Sarah’s condition on other fronts. Because of Ed’s need to look after her, scams are more subject to failure whenever he suddenly leaves or carelessly reveals them as a fraud. This certainly isn’t taken well by Eddy. As for Double D, his concern is the contagiousness of Sarah’s cold. He’s paranoid to the point of insisting on observing the ailment, which from his perspective could just be a minor cold at best. He also gets a rare aggressive moment when he sets up a bell for Sarah, and she blows a raspberry at him, spreading her germs.

These approaches to the situation help make the premise amusing, but the main focus of Ed rushing to look after his sister has strong entertainment too. In doing what he can to take care of Sarah, Ed reveals a more competitive side to him against Jimmy. Whatever Jimmy has in mind to treat Sarah, Ed always rushes to do the same, and at times, one-up Jimmy’s treatment. In fact, trying to one-up Jimmy is where the cartoon gets especially fun in the ways Ed tries to offer better care. When Sarah needs to blow her nose, while Jimmy has a tissue, Ed tries to unstuff Sarah’s nose with a vacuum cleaner. For food, Jimmy has a single grilled cheese sandwich, but while Ed initially has soup, when he drops it, he lets Sarah have a whole refrigerator. There’s even an amusing clash in taste in stories to treat Sarah too with Jimmy reading something cute and innocent while Ed reads one of his gory comic books. All of this makes for an interesting setup with one treating Sarah as a genuine friend while the other seems to be doing it out of obligation despite not being well-liked.

This even ties into other parts of the cartoon as this still means Ed is distracted from the daily scams. To ease his competitiveness, Eddy ropes Jimmy into being a part of the scam so Ed won’t have to worry about him treating Sarah better. However, Jimmy manages to escape causing Ed to keep on letting Sarah occupy his priorities and a second scam of a driving lesson to crash. Finally, Eddy convinces Ed to be tough on Sarah to squash any threat of distraction, and it’s a force to be reckoned with. Ed is assertive for Sarah to stay in bed and even straight-up throws Jimmy out the window. As dramatic a shift as this is, Ed shows he can’t keep up the demeanor for long. When Sarah cries out of sadness, he’s quick to console…even if he ends up getting beaten shortly afterwards. With this conclusion as well as Double D catching Sarah’s cold after all, there’s a surprisingly fitting end to all this with Eddy just deciding to go watch TV.

While this cartoon is very basic in setup, it still says a lot when it comes to character portrayals and craftsmanship of scenarios.

A-

An Ed is Born

This entire series is, to put it simply, something all its own. Like many great animated shows, it stands out with a dynamic cast and a way of bringing major entertainment out of relatable areas of life. Setting it apart from the rest, however, is how far it goes with interpreting how crazy things can get while getting by and making a name for oneself. The over-the-top antics, staging, and even the visual style perfectly compliment the random things the stories center on and sell the characters as an ultimate experience of personality. At the center of it all are three misfit boys with similar names serving as the personification of three parts of a single relatable unit. Consider this cartoon as the ultimate celebration of this show’s strengths.

It sets itself up with an antic to serve as a running gag that also establishes the Eds’ status as a nuisance to the neighborhood. Rolf tracks Ed and Double D stealing his chickens for their own crazy stunts, resulting in justified, yet hilariously staged rage releases. This first instance of the gag is cut off when Eddy suddenly arrives with a package from his older brother, someone he’s been shown to idolize and try to emulate. Unfortunately for him, the package is full of baby stuff, indicating that he’s looked down upon as immature and far below his brother’s leagues. As a bonus point of interest, while it will be a long time before Eddy’s brother is introduced, this instance serves as a solid introduction for a shocking truth to their relationship. Anyway, wanting to prove his maturity to his brother and present himself as a true big shot, Eddy decides to make a movie of his life in the cul-de-sac. Lucky for him, via an example of this show’s randomness, Ed keeps a video camera in his drier, and so, film production can begin and take up the entire cartoon. The ensuing chaos that results from the filming is what makes the cartoon.

The concept of filming a home movie is captured very well. There’s no background music except from an occasional onscreen source; the camera is often shaky as it would be if someone was holding one; and there are constant cuts to static. It really gives the feel of something being filmed on the fly and goes well with all the attempts to make Eddy look cool and powerful. They all backfire, but the extreme failures go hand-in-hand with such an unusual way of looking at them. For one thing, it has a creative way of demonstrating all the ways the Eds function. Eddy, as the star, perfectly demonstrates a desire to be seen as cool and be longing for attention and validation; Double D, serving as the cameraman, pays close attention to shot composition while giving snide remarks and occasional behind the scenes reveals in response to Eddy’s boasting; and Ed as somewhat of a stagehand, is in his own little world along for the ride, mostly getting mileage out of the baby rattle Eddy’s brother sent. Put together, this attempt at a movie already succeeds as a celebration of the humorous appeal of the Eds’ daily lives, and it goes well with everything in the actual movie.

The first scene shows the kind of person Eddy wants to be and what he wants to be seen as, living as a king, growing a mustache, and of course being rich. In reality, unsurprisingly, what he presents himself to his brother is a total façade with shag rug for a mustache, and his piles of money being full garbage bags with dollar signs on them. Double D is even so thrown off by the outrageous claims that he films Ed taking out the garbage bags, destroying the façade.

When that scene is a bust, others try to present Eddy as a big shot amongst the other cul-de-sac kids. The thing is, even though he tries to act as the popular big shot, Eddy really can’t escape the truth, in turn giving the audience a sense of every character’s true personality at play. He slyly tries to write Kevin off as the “neighborhood dork,” but then Kevin gets back at him with an extreme gag. Grabbing Eddy’s underwear and placing it on the back of his bike, Kevin speeds off resulting in amusing shape distortion on Eddy’s upper body as he clings to a fire hydrant. Only when he lets go of the hydrant does Eddy ultimately feel the effects of Kevin’s speeding; such is a consequence for cockiness.

However, it doesn’t stop there as in the next scene over at the playground, still trying to look cool for his brother, Eddy keeps up his big shot persona. To make matters worse, it’s in front of more kids who can’t stand him, Sarah and Jimmy. He doesn’t hold back in telling them to pay him if they want to play on the swings. Once again, this show of cockiness does nothing to prevent the truth from showing itself as Sarah’s usual aggressiveness shows as a result. She makes Ed beat Eddy back thus allowing her and Jimmy to swing to their heart’s content. This scene also marks an impressive use of the scene-staging aesthetic where at one point, Sarah punches the camera out of Double D’s hand, and the angles change without any cuts. It successfully holds onto the feel of actually watching something from a handheld camera, which can’t be easy to capture on purpose.

It’s after this scene when the cartoon really gets creative with presenting itself as an actual home movie. While Eddy and Double D are stumped for what to do next about the task at hand, Ed gets hold of the camera and plays around with it. This in turn leads to what may very well be the highlight of the cartoon. Ed could film just about anything with the camera, especially since it’s his, but what he chooses to film is very interesting to say the least. Actually, he straight up eats the camera, and the cartoon goes all out with the details. The sequence starts with the camera going straight into Ed’s mouth. Then when Double D demands him to open it, there’s a brief shot of an actual path from the inside of the mouth to deep in Ed’s stomach. It’s certainly something you don’t often see portrayed in animation, but that’s what makes this whole excursion something all its own as well demonstrative of what the show can do. That said, it’s hard to imagine Double D would still be comfortable using the camera after getting it out, but that’s just me.

After that, the filming gets back in a groove with Eddy still trying to look like he’s the most popular kid in the cul-de-sac with the truth leading to all kinds of backfires. He acts as Nazz is his girlfriend while she’s minding her own business painting her nails, and that gets him punched as the love interest stands up for herself. Jonny grabs the camera and messes around with it, though interestingly enough, Plank appears to be the one grabbing it.

Then Eddy tries looking cool around Rolf with Ed dressing as him. However, the chicken scene from earlier comes back to haunt all the Eds when the real Rolf catches them, and there’s a sudden cut to a spontaneous runaway.

Even a usually unpleasant scene from the Kanker sisters is played well here. It happens in a scene where Eddy tries to stage the junkyard as his own private hideout where he even has his own car. Then he stumbles upon some sort of machine that looks interesting, but one with a completely unknown purpose. In acting like he knows what he’s doing to the point of branding it as a “hard egg boiler,” Eddy opens it up to find the Kankers inside it. The screams of his friends pointing them out is what gets him aware of what he’s uncovered, and chaos ensues. It lasts long enough to show what the Kankers are like as they proceed to smooch Eddy collectively, but short enough to not bring down the fun of what’s going on. What's more, it's something Eddy brought on himself instead of the girls just barging in to ruin everything like they always do, further making the scene more watchable than normal. If anything, it adds to how this cartoon works of the liveliness of everyone in Eddy’s life.

For the last scene in the movie, Eddy has one more go of portraying the life he wants to live, and in the process is another elaborately staged scheme on part of the featured characters. As dance music plays from a background boom box, Eddy acts as the ultimate popular kid giving out autographs to everyone, with all the cul-de-sac kids walking about his room. Actually, the kids are nothing more than cardboard cutouts which easy to tell, but nothing too revealing is shown. Ed saying that “they’re hungry” as he pours Chunky Puffs on the floor is the closest indication, but even then nothing’s given away. The actual reveal though is greatly staged as the real Rolf shows up, seeming to track something down like he did at the start of the cartoon. Eddy, so caught up in his delusions of grandeur, autographs Rolf’s face without seeing he’s not a cutout, and the sudden timing is enough to snap him back to reality. Rolf gives one more hilarious burst of rage over Eddy writing on his face; his chickens being stolen again (they’re the reason the cutouts could walk around); and the Eds apparently “stealing Rolf’s soul with [their] film box.” Consider his ultimate violent rage and chase of the Eds around Eddy’s room the grand finale. The ending may be sudden with the cartoon just stopping after the camera battery runs out causing the camera to turn off, but it works in context. The whole cartoon was set up to be a home movie, so it only makes sense that it ends like one with the filming stopping when it just can’t go on any longer. It also fulfills its intention of showing a day in the life of the Eds, though for Eddy’s sake, I hope he can fix a lot of the footage in editing.

This entire cartoon brings to light everything great about this show. Almost all the characters get a memorable moment; the comedy is top notch; many moments stand out for how far they go with what animation can portray; and in staging everything as a home movie, it offers creative ways of perceiving life. Plus, there’s something to be said about the whole thing covering someone trying to be seen the way they want to be seen, but can’t escape the grasp of the reality of things. It’s both immensely entertaining, and can get the audience to ponder a lot of things if their minds are open enough. In the end, this cartoon, at least from my perspective, is the show’s magnum opus that shows why this series has endured for so long in the eyes of many.

A++

Series Ranking

1. An Ed is Born

2. One + One = Ed

3. A Glass of Warm Ed

4. It Came from Outer Ed

5. Rent-A-Ed

6. Once Upon an Ed

7. Fa La La La Ed

8. Urban Ed

9. Laugh Ed Laugh

10. Dawn of the Eds

11. Wish You Were Ed

12. Dueling Eds

13. Mirror, Mirror On the Ed

14. Ed-N-Seek

15. Keeping Up With the Eds

16. Who Let the Ed In

17. Avast Ye Eds

18. Flea Bitten Ed

19. Fool on the Ed

20. Ready Set Ed

21. The Ed-Touchables

22. Who What Where Ed

23. Dear Ed

24. Momma’s Little Ed

25. Hot Buttered Ed

26. Ed or Tails

27. Stop Look and Ed

28. See No Ed

29. Shoo Ed

30. Ed in a Halfshell

31. Scrambled Ed

32. Vert Ed Go

33. Oath to an Ed

34. Ed, Ed, and Away

35. Button Yer Ed

36. An Ed in the Bush

37. Read All About Ed

38. Rambling Ed

39. Home Cooked Ed

40. Honor Thy Ed

41. Floss Your Ed

42. Quick Shot Ed

43. Look Into My Eds

44. Is There An Ed in the House?

45. Knock, Knock Who’s Ed

46. A Boy and His Ed

47. Eds-Aggerate

48. Three Squares and an Ed

49. Will Work for Ed

50. Boys Will Be Eds

51. High Heeled Ed

52. Know-it-All Ed

53. For Your Ed Only

54. Dim Lit Eds

55. Cry Ed

56. Eeny Meeny Miney Ed

57. A Pinch to Grow an Ed

58. Pop Goes the Ed

59. Hands Across Ed

60. An Ed Too Many

61. Sir Ed-a-Lot

62. Over Your Ed

63. From Here to Ed

64. A Key to My Ed

65. X Marks the Ed

66. It’s Way Ed

67. In Like Ed

68. To Sir With Ed

69. Nagged to Ed

70. Tag Yer Ed

Be sure to stay tuned for the review of the next episode where the Eds set up thrill rides for Plank, and Double D is forced to take responsibility for Ed and Eddy's chaos regardless of how unfair this is.