11.16
This series is the highlight of my weak. My only problem is finding the time to do it.
Dexter’s Laboratory:
“Double Trouble”
And here is the first appearance of Dee Dee’s best friends, Mee Mee and Lee Lee, who are pretty much like Dee Dee, except black and Asian, respectively. I’m sure that you are familiar with these characters.
Well, the episode starts out innocently enough, with the girls playing in Dee Dee’s room. Except when has Dee Dee ever been innocent? The girls crash into Dexter’s lab and raise hell, as per usual. I don’t know about you, but a lot of the time, I can’t stand Dee Dee, and most of those times occur when she raids the lab and causes pain to Dexter with nothing returned in the favor. This is closing into one of those times.
At least Dexter hardly ever lets that happen. As evident by the title, he clones himself, so he has a copy of himself to attempt to catch each girl.
The Dexter’s end up chasing the girls… right into the cloning machine again, causing a boatload of clones of everyone. Dexter now has to influence his clones to fight to capture each and every clone of the girls, even taking inspiration from General Patton in his speech. (ooh, shot time! I didn’t mention this drinking game? Well then, every time you see a pop culture reference in one of these shows, take a drink)
Of course, the Dexter’s don’t catch the girls, but the short does end on a high, funny note., if extremely odd. It’s a cute short, and Dee Dee wasn’t as malicious as I was expecting her to be. The episode is young, though.
“Barbequor”
If you watch the show on TV or the DVD now, you’d probably catch “Dexter’s Lab: A Story” during this half hour. A fine short, but one that didn’t originally air until season 2.
What did originally air was “Barbequor”, a Dial M for Monkey short featuring a parody of the Galactus storyline during the original Lee-Kirby Fantastic Four run. It comes complete with a Silver Surfer caricature, too!
A homosexual stereotype of one, at that. One that was apparently so controversial that CN only aired the short for a few runs before replacing t with the aforementioned season 2 short. The strange thing is, even though recent repeats and the DVD do not contain the original short, it has surfaced on iTunes, so it is easy to watch in good quality.
Is it worth the ban? This is the first time I’ve ever seen “Barbequor”, at least in memory, so I’ll be the judge of that. Also, have one drink now, because the whole short is basically going to be a Marvel reference.
Anyway, the short starts off with Monkey flying to Agent Honeydew after receiving her distress call, only to find out that she, the people of her agency, and the Justice Friends are throwing a birthday barbecue party for Monkey! A lot of the super heroes from “Rasslor” show up, along with a couple of new ones, which include a tiki man similar to the Human Torch and an unknown woman who looks strikingly similar to Scarlet Witch.
Just when the heroes are all going to sit down and enjoy some hot dogs, a Silver Surfer-like character comes and takes all of their ketchup and mustard packets and flies away. Monkey would fly off to stop him, but the Commander insists that Monkey stays here and enjoys his birthday, while the rest of the agency takes care of this.
A few ships follow the Surfer, until he tells them to stop, for the Barbecuor. And just like Tartakovsky’s influence, Barbecuor wants to eat up the Earth, only this time cooked up. The agents fail, as well the Justice Friends when they all try to face the barbecue-obsessed giant, so now it’s up to Monkey to obviously save the day.
Is this flamboyant parody of the Silver Surfer offensive? Eh, not really. There have been more blatant stereotypes of homosexual personalities in animation. I mean, this came from the same studio behind Snagglepuss, after all.
But then, is “Barbecuor” a good short? It ain’t bad. It might be just like in “Rasslor”, when my love of Marvel comics just outshines my ambivalence for Dial M for Monkey, but there’s some sharp gags here, even if the plot really goes nowhere. I’m glad that I finally got to see this shot, even though there’s no reason that it should have been banned.
“Changes”
Well, here’s the pilot short for Dexter’s Laboratory. It’s funny, I attempted to do a First Impressions Are Key article for a lot of the Cartoon Network pilots, but for some reason, I just couldn’t get much out of this one, so I gave up very soon.
I’m not even sure why, maybe it’s because the short is so atypical of Dexter’s Lab, but that shouldn’t be a problem. I could just as easily say that Dee Dee fucks shit up, until Dexter retaliates, and end it here.
I’m pretty crunched for time now too, so I might just do this.
Episode 4 of Dexter’s Laboratory is good. if nothing spectacular overall. I enjoy each short about equally, and right now, there just isn’t much more to say.
Did Krunk get drunk in the second short? Because it’s up to Honeydew, and later Monkey, to take him home in this episode’s highlight.
Johnny Bravo:
“Date with an Antelope”
Don’t you just hate when you talk to a nice girl online and think you have something going on, and when you get to meet her in person, she ends up being an antelope?
So does Johnny, as you can see in this episode.
Johnny discovers the joys, and curses, of online dating during its infancy, as he hooks up with a nice-sounding babe, and becomes severely disappointed when she comes over in all fours. And not like THAT. At least Carol seems nice, though.
But yeah, the episode becomes a bit of a one-joke cartoon from here, the joke being that it’s SO WACKYYYY that Johnny is dating an antelope. Also, Johnny gets hurt. But that’s just par for the course of an average Johnny Bravo episode.
Things take a turn for the (even more) bizarre when it turns out that Johnny’s lobster dinner turns out to be Carol’s boyfriend, whom Carol the antelope is cheating on to teach a lesson. Anddddd it gets even stranger from there.
“Date with an Antelope” is another Seth MacFarlane contribution, and like last week’s MacFarlane script, it shows merit. In hindsight, I think this short is more bizarre than actually funny, which isn’t always a good thing, but it’s worth watching regardless.
“Did You See a Bull Run by Here?”
In this short, Johnny heads over to Pamplona in hopes of getting some fine Spanish coño, but instead, meets up with a bull. And Ferdinand he ain’t. This bull has got an attitude.
As well as a fan or two. Now, Johnny hopes to gain the attention of a hot mamacita in a bull fight.
It’s funny how we have two cartoons in a row with Johnny conversing and dealing with talking animals, but here you go. Strangely, despite how much of an influence the works of Termite Terrace were on the staff for these series, there are no nods to “Bully for Bugs”, which also means no shot yet.
As the short goes… I really don’t know how to describe it. This practically ends around the same time it started, with another weird ending. But at least you can make up for the lack of drinks lately by taking either one or four shots at the end.
This one is just odd, and while the previous one was strange in a good way, I can’t even say that about this one. “Did You See a Bull Run by Here?” is too forgettable and oddly paced to really say anything about. It’s not even Lynchian in it’s oddness. This is too dull to be Lynchian.
“Cookie Crisis”
Now we’re talking.
This is a short done entirely in rhyme, a tribute to Green Eggs and Ham. Turning Lil Suzy into Sam I Am, as she attempts to sell Johnny her girl school cookies. Johnny, who is obsessed with his muscular figure, refuses to indulge into such sweets, and constantly ditches Suzy’s efforts.
That’s pretty much it, but at least it works. While not every line is a scream, the whole episode is just too pleasant and clever to not love. I don’t really have more to say, so watch and enjoy your day. Until it’s time for Powerpuff, a show you can never have enough.
…of. Sorry, I had to. But hey, take another shot, since Dr. Seuss is definitely a part of popular culture.
But yeah, episode 4 of Johnny Bravo isn’t too strong. The third short saves it, but I’m not huge on the first two. Nor to say that they’re awful, but their concepts get old too quickly for their own good.
Check the blog title for this episode’s highlight.
The Powerpuff Girls:
“Buttercrush”
Another early week of Powerpuff Girls, another villain indtroduction. This time we become introduced to the Ganggreen Gang, a group of five low-lifes whose skin all happen to be literally gangrene. Don’t worry, they’re more along the lines of the Amoeba Boys than Mojo Jojo when it comes to evil- punks that wreck hell, but aren’t particularly strong or intelligent.
The girls still won’t stand for their actions, though, and take the gang on at every turn.
In a strange turn of events, it seems like tough little Buttercup falls for Ace, the Ganggreen Gang’s smooth-talking leader. She even helps the gang out after a while, when Ace’s charm helps to win Buttercup over.
Now the group’s strongest girl has her first boyfriend, even flying over to the gang’s junkyard lair and spending her bedtime with them. It’s a little romantic, but mostly sad, to see Buttercup and the Ganggreen Gang play around and team up with each other over the night.
No. Definitely sad, because this has been Ace’s scheme all along. With Buttercup on the gang’s side, they can trap Blossom and Bubbles, and eventually take over Townsville.
Of course they don’t succeed, and of course the girls turn out just fine. And of course Ace gets a particularly rough beating, just like he deserves. This is a cute, if overly predictable, short. I think one thing that makes it a little above average has to be the fact that Buttercup doesn’t ay one single line of dialogue in the episode, but is able to convey her emotions by her actions and expressions perfectly fine. Not bad for the fourth episode.
“Fuzzy Logic”
And here is the show’s debut of Fuzzy Lumpkins, but not his actual first appearance in the history of The Powerpuff Girls. “Meet Fuzzy Lumpkins” was the very first Powerpuff short made for What-A-Cartoon, but like its follow-up short, has never aired on the show. Fuzzy probably told Cartoon Network to get offa his property before they could have asked him to air it.
Fuzzy is so obsessed with his “properta”, that he even shoots butterflies that try to get in his way! But hey, all he really wants is some peace and quiet, and a chance to play his banjo.
But Fuzzy’s anger gets the best of him, as he chases a squirrel arriving in his property all the way to Townsville. Alll the way to the front of an 18-wheeler. When Fuzzy wakes up, he sees a nice old lady attempting to give him back his fallen hat.
Fuzzy’s response? He decks the woman. And then another person. And another. Soon enough, Fuzzy takes on a bunch of Townsville citizens who get in his way, along with a buttload of property.
The girls are called into action to find out who did all of this damage, which causes Bubbles to show off her great secret power- she can speak squirrel! She converses with the furry little critter, who tells her just who was responsible.
The girls and the squirrel (which is apparently a flying squirrel) head over to Fuzzy’s actual property. Even this is enough to set off Lumpkins, who attacks each of the girls, until Buttercup grabs a hold of his banjo. Now the odds are in her favor, but Buttercup isn’t THAT bad of a person, right?
Well, Fuzzy learns his lesson at the end. For now, at least.
Not a bad week. Neither episodes are classics, but they’re both fun entries, and prepare us for more, greater episodes starring their respective baddies.
Highlight of the week? Hearing grotesque Ganggreen Gang member Grubber attempt to caricature Buttercup’s voice in the first segment.
Ed, Edd n’ Eddy:
“Dawn of the Eds”
It’s just another week for the Ed boys. This time, Double D and Eddy have Ed hung from a rope as they prepare to wrap him up in ceramic wrap and have him fish for loot.
Any luck? A few unrecycled bottles. Score.
This would be a perfect incentive for the boys to get some jawbreakers, and they nearly do, until something else captures Ed’s eye- a poster for Robot Rebel Ranch, a Roger Corman-esq sci-fi flick. Except this one is for Adult’s Only, which makes sense, since the title makes it sound like a porno more than anything. That, or my mind is just THAT dirty. Want another drink? Take a shot here. Ed, Edd n’ Eddy was never one for direct pop culture references.
The Eds ride on their way to the theaters, in an attempt to fool the theater (or skip in). We just assume that the boys cashed in their bottles and go along with the ride, as Ed describes how he envisions the movie. Ed’s, who’s peddling, description sounds so exciting that the boys don’t notice that he peddles away from the route to the movies, and leads them into the junkyard instead.
Except Ed is so stuck on his science fiction kick that he seems to think that the boys are stuck in his expressive futuristic world, and they must escape it or fall peril to the rebel robots.
We also get to see the Ed’s dude-mobile for the first time, an old van with flamed painting on its side that contains a nice enough habitat for the Eds to chill in when they need a place of their own. What I’m saying is, this won’t be the last time we see of this van.
Not too far away, the Kanker Sisters have Kevin tied up to a loose car wheel, and spin him around in pleasing their sick desires. The girls ask Kevin for what color his underwear is almost like a creepy tumblr anon, with less success. Especially when the Eds scare the girls away for once.
While Ed looks for robots, Double D works on a rocket ship for the Eds to ride on, but only a prototype. Sorry, Eddy. I bring this up because the ship, as well as the “armor” the Eds are in, were featured in a sick-looking statuette available from DC Direct that I would kill to have.
The robots arrive, and the Eds fight them off. When they “succeed”, Eddy and Double D head home, leaving /Ed to ponder the humanity of his crimes, and ends a classic short. This is just a blast to watch, and proves that there’s more to the series than just the Eds scamming the kids of the Cul-De-Sac. It’s just a lot of fun.
“Vert-Ed-Go”
This one starts off with the Eds fishing for a quarter in the sewer, using the ol’ gum and string trick. They succeed… until a bird comes and takes the quarter away.
In hopes of finding the bird, Double D looks through a binocular and finds a flying ad instead, for some guy named Joe’s clubhouse. This leads Eddy to think that if Joe can have a clubhouse, why can’t he?
The boys look for the ideal place to find a clubhouse, and after a couple of classic missteps, they choose a random tree to start it up on. The whole of the episode consists of comic scenarios with the Eds attempting to succeed, with misdirected results. There’s some strong gags, but not much of a story to report on.
Things make a turn for the structured when the Eds complete their clubhouse and not only does it turn out to be pretty okay, but it raises the interests of the kids of the Cul-De-Sac. That is, until the Knakers take over it and totally girlify it. Take it as revenge for the previous short, boys.
But that doesn’t stop Eddy from trying to win back Club Ed numerous times. The Eds don’t win back their clubhouse, but hey, at least they do have their van from the previous episode to inhabit, right? Again, light on plot, but hey, at least it’s funny, right?
Here’s a fun episode of the show with two solid shorts. It isn’t among the best the series can offer, but I get a lot of enjoyment out of it. “Dawn of the Eds” is my preferred choice of episode, though.
Nothing like seeing Jimmy getting smacked with a can on the head in the first short, all for this week’s highlight.
Overall:
So the drinking game was a total bust. This week. Trust me, you’ll get some more buzz from later weeks if I remember to bring it back.
This week’s selection was okay, but not too great. I’d probably give my vote to “Cookie Crisis” or “Dawn of the Eds” for short of the week, not sure which. Although a randomizer tells me to go with the latter, so yay, Ed boys!