The Greatest Western Animation Episode Ever

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

"Fish-N-Chumps" (Rocko's Modern Life) - 6
"Heart of Ice" (Batman: The Animated Series) - 13
"Clarence's Stormy Sleepover" (Clarence) - 9
"When OMAC Attacks!" (Batman: The Brave & The Bold) - 12

"Heart of Ice" and "When OMAC Attacks" move on to round 2! The next match will be up shortly.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Round 1: Match 6


"Space Mall" (Voltron: Legendary Defender)

VS.


"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor" (Fleischer)

VS.


"Starcrossed" (Justice League)

VS.


"The Rickshank Redemption" (Rick & Morty)

[Avaitor]

"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor"
"Starcrossed"
"The Rickshank Redemption"
"Space Mail"

[LumRanmaYasha]

"The Rickshank Redemption"
"Space Mall"
"Starcrossed"
"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor"

Spoiler

"The Rickshank Redemption" is just so memorable for a lot of reasons. Obviously, the thrill of its surprise broadcast on April Fools day this year was such an exciting treat that watching it for the first time not knowing what to expect remains a fun memory. But I've since rewatched this episode several times, and it's among my favorite episodes of the show if not my favorite. A lot of that has to do with how the show pulls a middle finger to its status quo, killing off the Galactic Federation and the Council of Ricks and having Beth and Jerry divorce. Rick's fake backstory and elaborate plan to raid and get the council and federation to destroy each other was action-packed and awesome, and I love the bait-and-switch with Morty arguing and shooting Rick only for it to turn out he's fine. And of course, the schezuan sauce rant was glorious.

"Space Mall" is full of a lot of great character moments for everyone, both funny and dramatic. Just the premise of the Voltron gang getting into shenanigans at a Space Mall is a great concept, and each character gets into their own brand of hijinks that culminates in a hilarious escape at the end. Shiro bonding with the Black Lion, learning its past with Zarkon and dueling him, finally severing his connection was really strong character development for him and the taste of Zarkon's backstory was set up really well (even if the payoff we got in season 3 sucked). I enjoy just about every scene and joke in this episode, and its a great showcase of how entertaining these characters are.

I have to admit, I was never in love with "Starcrossed." Like, the big deal about this three-parter is supposed to be that Shayera was lying to Jon and the League and they think she's betrayed them and the League becomes fugitives, finally reveal their civilian identities to each other, and save the earth from a massive armada of Tharnagarian soldiers. I just never really cared I guess? I like Jon and Shayera's relationship but him acting butthurt the whole three parter over her lying isn't exactly endearing. I sympathize with Shayera because she was conflicted with where her loyalties and love really lie, but how she doesn't see how obviously suspicious and duplicitous Hro is being from the start is a little frustrating. Even more frustrating is how everyone suddenly turns on Shayera and calls her a traitor even though she never knew what Hro's true intentions were and they should know she'd never go along with that. I gotta be honest, I found myself annoyed with how most of the characters behaved during this three-parter, making really dumb decisions like Batman pointlessly trying to sacrifice himself for cheap drama. And I don't care about the Thanagarians. The three-parter tries to portray them as morally grey because they aren't inherently bad people, just soldiers willing to sacrifice the earth in order to save their home. But the characterizations are anything but. Hro is possessive egoist who does not care about anyone but himself and is really just using the excuse of saving Thangar to get his personal vengeance, and his lackeys don't have much characterizations beyond being assholes. I do find Jon and Shayera's fight with him satisfying, mostly for how tough it is and Jon's beat-up face at the end selling it, but overall the action leaves little impression on me. I don't think it's bad, because the premise is at the very least interesting and there are some good moments, my favorites being Alfred reassuring Shayera she's a hero at the end and Flash hugging her when she resigns from the league. There's Justice Leage episodes I enjoy a lot more and have less problems with though.

"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor" is a really fun short, but a little lopsided in enjoyment. I love the first five minutes where Sinbad is singing about how great he is and beating up his pets/slaves like an asshole, but when Popeye shows up the story becomes him fighting a bunch of Sinbad's pets/slaves before he eat spinach and beats him up, which is okay but nothing that interesting. There are a lot of great visual gags here and the animation is incredible, so I was struggling where I should rank this. Ultimately, though I have a lot of frustrations with "Starcrossed," I do think there was more things I enjoyed in it than this short, though I do really love those first five minutes.

[close]

[Spark Of Spirit]

Pass.

[Dreamer2]

Starcrossed
The Rickshank Redemption
Space Mall
Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor

[VLordGTZ]

"The Rickshank Redemption"
"Space Mall"
"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor"
"Starcrossed"

[LumRanmaYasha]

Results:

"Space Mall" (Voltron: Legendary Defender)  - 9
"Popeye Meets Sinbad the Sailor" (Fleischer) - 8
"Starcrossed" (Justice League) - 10
"The Rickshank Redemption" (Rick & Morty) - 13

"The Rickshank Redemption" and "Starcrossed" move on to round 2! The next match will be up shortly.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Round 1: Match 7


"I Remember You" (Adventure Time)

VS.


"Mister Rogers' Revenge or Please Don't You Be His Neighbor" (Black Dynamite)

VS.


"History" (Home Movies)

VS.


"Bravo Dooby Doo" (Johnny Bravo)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Opposite of listed.

[Avaitor]

"Bravo Dooby Doo"
"History"
"I Remember You"
"Mister Rogers' Revenge or Please Don't You Be His Neighbor"

[Dreamer2]

Bravo Dooby Doo
I Remember You
History
Mister Rogers' Revenge or Please Don't You Be His Neighbor

[LumRanmaYasha]

Finally got around to rewatching these!

"I Remember You"
"Bravo Dooby Doo"
"History"
"Mister Rogers' Revenge or Please Don't You Be His Neighbor"

Spoiler

"I Remember You" is a heart-breakingly uncomfortable exploration of Ice King and Marceline's relationship, and really resonant if you've dealt with a family member with alzheimers. The ending where Marceline and Ice King sing Simon's apologies to Marceline for his slipping memory and how it segues into a flashback showing how they first met always gets me.

"Bravo Dooby Doo" is one of the best and funniest parodies of Scooby Doo tropes and cliches and it's a lot of fun seeing Johnny interact with the cast.

"History" is a classic for the Starboy stuff, which is all gold. The evil versions of George Washington, Picasso, and Annie Oakley are always hilarious and the Mr. Katz song is classic. The parallels between Brendon's lack of historical knowledge in the film and real life is strong stuff too, and the conversations he has with McGurick about Area 51 and Nixon are funny. But really, the Starboy bits are what make this episode so memorable.

"Mister Rogers' Revenge" is a fun action-packed BD with a really fun parody of Mr. Rogers that makes him a deranged ex-soldier so obsessed with protecting children from violence he's willing to make them complicit in his violent rampage against adultkind. Hearing Mr. Rogers say "BAM BAM BAM BAM BITCH I'M BUSTING AT IM!" is unforgettable. It just speaks to how memorable the other episodes in this match are that I have to put and episode like this last by default.

[close]

[gunswordfist]

Whoops! Hold on, give me a day. I know this round has been here forever but Hulu actually has 3 of these shows and I've seen the Bravo episode multiple times anyway.

[LumRanmaYasha]

Do you still plan to vote on this match GSF?