DUCKTALES RETROSPECTIVE: Episode 9, "Pearl of Wisdom"

"Pearl of Wisdom" is a very "1950s" sort of DuckTales adventure, for both good and ill, though the former hugely outweighs the latter.  Stereotypes and crystal-clear morals abound and are punched over with only a faint trace of irony.  A classic character who was a near-constant presence during the days when Dell Comics truly WERE "Good Comics" makes an unexpected appearance as the villain of the piece.  Even the pastime in which Donald's Nephews indulge -- one that, as GeoX correctly notes, sets up the main conflict of the episode in a somewhat contrived manner -- harkens back to the days of Ike and sock hops and clashes amusingly with other eps' depiction of HD&L as enamored of trips to video arcades (which are themselves pretty dated by now) and the like.

Our little Wayback Machine sojourn begins in the ep's very first scene, with the completely unanticipated return of Black Pete (writer Michael Keyes calls him "Sharky," but the Italian dub, among others, gives Mickey Mouse's indefatigable foe the proper ID).  Granted, this is a pretty "decaffeinated" version of the character, with voice actor Will Ryan clearly emphasizing Pete's comical aspects, as opposed to the sinister elements on display during Pete's superb "costume role" as the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come in Mickey's Christmas Carol.  When Jim Cummings took over the role for Goof Troop, he continued "bringing the funny" but gave Pete a little more of a nasty, conniving edge.  "Sharky," by contrast, is completely believable when he confesses to having been "a failure as a crook," or when he digs through his version of Felix the Cat's Magic Bag to come up with a disguise to fool the natives of Banana Island.  But Ryan's take on Pete is immensely enjoyable and clearly presages future appearances (of which, alas, there were arguably too few).

Pete also loads up the nostalgia-laden ep's visual cues right off the bat by appearing in the sailor's outfit that he sported in numerous MICKEY MOUSE adventure tales of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, many of which were written by Carl Fallberg and drawn by Paul Murry.  Artists Mike Royer and Rick Hoover chose to include "Sailor Pete" as one of three iconic "images of Pete" displayed in the opening panel of Marv Wolfman's "What's Shakin'?" (Disney Comics MICKEY MOUSE ADVENTURES #13, June 1991).  (In case you're wondering, the other two are the "original version" of Pete from the era of "Steamboat Willie" [1928] and the intimidating, authoritarian Foreign Legionnaire Pete from "Mickey Mouse Joins the Foreign Legion" [1936].)  Did Royer and Hoover pull that image out of their joint consciousness all by themselves, or did a viewing of this episode jog their memories?

With the introduction of Pete's partner Yardarm, we go several steps beyond a "mere" sentimental journey.  The serrated-snouted sidekick serves as a stand-in of sorts for Scuttle, the lop-eared retainer who accompanied Pete in many of those MICKEY tales of the late Dell and early Gold Key eras.  Strangely enough, despite the close association of these characters with Fallberg and Murry, the closest comics analogy to Pete and Yardarm may have been "Parrot for Plunder," a 1974 story drawn by Bill Wright, in which Mickey, Minnie, and Captain Churchmouse race Pete and Scuttle to an island populated by natives... with giant pearls supposedly available for the taking.  Since I highly doubt that Keyes knew anything about this exquisitely obscure, never-reprinted Watergate-era epic, the coincidence is quite remarkable indeed.  

In 1987, we didn't have the "good sense" to be offended by the multi-colored, idol-venerating natives from whom Pete and Yardarm swipe the pearl in the lengthy, cleverly staged opening sequence.  But who cares -- these are classic, "garland-variety" natives from a 1950s adventure tale, who even look like they were designed by Paul Murry (especially the native chief voiced by Hal Smith), and it's hard not to get roped in by the sheer, unadulterated innocence displayed by these genial folks.  Nonetheless, it is a little troubling that Pete's cheesy native disguise fools the locals so easily.  You'd think that the appearance of any new figure on this remote island would stand out like the proverbial sore thumb... and Pete is a pretty darn massive "new figure."

In a sense, Scrooge's role in this episode is almost as passive and tangential as it was in "The Money Vanishes," at least in a psychological sense.  Granted, he does purchase the pearl from the disguised Pete, goes to the Explorers' Club to find out more about the bauble, goes in search of Webby when he discovers that the pearl is gone, and then pursues Pete and Yardarm to Banana Island, where the two have their climactic sunrise surfside grapple.  But the ep doesn't really seem to be ABOUT Scrooge; Pete, Yardarm, HD&L, and even Webby are the characters who attract our attention and get most of the really good spots.  We quickly get a sense of this when Webby uses her "google-eyed" phone to mimic Scrooge's reaming-out of the hapless Mr. Waddle.  It's almost as if Keyes is purposely allowing Webby to step on Scrooge's lines here.

I agree with GeoX that the frequent "pitching" of Webby as "much younger than HD&L" was probably a turn-off to some people.  In this episode, however, Keyes seems to have been more committed to this characterization than any other writer.  Perhaps it's the use of "kiddie props" to jackhammer the point home.  Along with using the toy phone, Webby rides a Big Wheel, rather than a bike, to Duckburg Park for the marbles competition.  The Wise Webbina(tm) who verbally schooled HD&L on several occasions during the "Rightful Owners" serial seems light-years removed from this portrayal.  Keyes seems to be as committed to the notion of Webby as an extremely young child as was Vic Lockman to the idea that Doofus had to be older than HD&L (and hence a higher-ranking Junior Woodchuck) simply because he was larger than them.  Perhaps it was just a coincidence, but, in the rest of Keyes' other scripts, Webby makes only one non-speaking, background appearance.

A trope of much hardier duration makes its first appearance in this ep -- HD&L's epochally messy room.  I can't recall Carl Barks ever doing anything with this, but DT really pushes it hard right from the get-go, when two of the boys dive into a giant pile of dirty clothes in an effort to locate the "Great Masher."  Just as Rescue Rangers Dale's and Quack Pack Donald's Hawaiian shirts were intended to show how "wild and crazy" these characters could be, I imagine that "The Room of Ruin" was an attempt to establish the Nephews' "regular kid" bona fides.  In truth, that shouldn't really be necessary, but, at least at this early stage of the series, the "everyday-guy" characterization of the boys is yet another pleasant reminder of the classic age of Duck comics.  The DuckTales HD&L ogle the studiously unhip "Great Masher"; the Quack Pack HD&L reserve such reverential reactions for "cave babes," extreme sports aces, and the like.  Thus do we progress.

While the boys' "regular-ness" is familiar to Duck fans, the episode's focus on Huey as a marbles champion is a departure.  It doesn't have the impact of Dewey's rebellion against the triplets' identical nature in "Duck in the Iron Mask," but it's nibbling at the edge of hitherto unexplored distinctions between the boys, just as Louie's friendship with salesman Filler Brushbill will do in "Much Ado About Scrooge."  If one is following the Dan Haley template, one might expect that Louie, the most "athletic" of the trio, would be the marbles whiz, but I'm certainly not complaining about the use of Huey in the role.  Heck, I'm not even bothered by the show-boaty way in which he acknowledges the cheers of the crowd at Duckburg Park.  After all, it's not as if his ego is sufficiently large that he would take advantage of an opportunity to control others and thereby take over the... uh, wait.

For my money, Huey earns his true stripes in this episode when he sacrifices the "Great Masher" and quite literally risks his life to prevent Scrooge's ship from being sunk by Pete and Yardarm's torpedo.  This remarkable display of courage is passed over with virtually no commentary as to its true nature, which seems like a serious oversight to me.  What was that about the DuckTales creative crew being reluctant to put the kids in danger?  The ice-slide in "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" was a casual water slide compared to this.

Unfortunately, the sense of fun and innocence that successfully sustains the episode for most of its length betrays it (at least in part) at the climax.  The "true wisdom" vouchsafed to Pete and Scrooge could be seen coming from several parsecs away, and the chief's post-lecture invitation to "party" isn't nearly enough to lift the heavy hand.  Even before Pete and Scrooge undergo their melodramatic "road-to-Banana-Island" moment, we get to see such silly bits as the disguised Scrooge and HD&L moving their bush-cover into the water next to Pete, the marbles-flummoxed Yardarm literally blowing a hole in his own submarine, and Scrooge getting hit point-blank by gunfire and sustaining no lasting injuries at all, as if he were a "common Toon."  Taken as a whole, the scenario is sufficiently unserious that I'm almost willing to take GeoX up on his suggestion that Scrooge's enlightenment consist of "a more far-reaching vision -- something about the ultimate hollowness of the eternal pursuit of money."  In order for that to have seemed at least somewhat consistent with the rest of the episode, though, we would probably have had to make several earlier scenes a bit less light-hearted.  It's probably better that "Pearl" maintained its old-fashioned conceits right to the bitter end, even as they forced us into a somewhat less than satisfactory ending.

Keyes does tie the ep's remaining loose ends into a neat knot at the very end when Scrooge has his brainstorm to solve his cargo problem and help the Banana Islanders get rid of their surplus bananas.  Keyes was "in and out" as a DT writer, but Joe and I flagged "Pearl of Wisdom" as his best work of the series 25 years ago, and I think that the description still holds.

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DuckBlurbs

(GeoX)  Funny little scene where Duckworth coolly catches the urns that the ducklings have knocked off their pedestals.

I regard this as a very "Cadbury-esque" moment.  The Rich family's "perfect butler" couldn't have pulled it off with any more aplomb.  

(Greg)  Yardarm and Sharky enter the submarine as Yardarm wants to look for a buyer and Sharky has the perfect one in mind as one who never asks questions and never backs down from a deal.

This description of Scrooge doesn't ring right for some reason.  "Never asks questions"?  The guy who takes pride in "making it square" and has fifty quintillion booby traps around his Money Bin to prevent someone from sneaking up on him?  Does not compute.

(Greg)  Scrooge sees this as a way to increase his wealth infinitely. They have a jolly good laugh as Battmountan [sic] proclaims that it's only a legend. Scrooge wraps up the map as Battmountan [sic] thinks they are far too civilized to believe in such nonsense.

I'd think that it would have been far more likely for Battmounten to have taken this "legend" seriously, given that the Abominable Snowman... er, woman... turned out to be real.

(Greg)  HOLY CRAP?! I got to admit; [shooting the "Great Masher" at the torpedo] is a pretty dangerous thing to do for Huey. I've seen Kit do a lot of crazy things; but Huey is showing that he can do his fair share once in a while. How he turned into Quack Pack Huey; I'll never know.

Ask the "babes."  They probably know.

(Greg)  Scrooge and the nephews (wearing ski masks and looking like commandos. I see where the commando thing came from.) climb down on the raft and Scrooge states that he will be fine. 

Perhaps I should have included this as another example of a silly moment at the climax.  Sure, the Ducks' wearing of commando garb is "cool" and all that, but, given that Scrooge and HD&L subsequently hide behind foliage, the exact purpose of the camouflage escapes me.  At least it looks "cooler" than the gear HD&L and Webby wore in DuckTales: The Movie, or even the Rambo-style duds that the Quack Pack Nephews wore during "Feats of Clay."  Scrooge came well prepared for all contingencies, I'll give him that much.

 

Next:  Episode 10, "Master of the Djinni."

RIP Shasta "McSchnoo" Barat

We fought the inevitable as long and as creatively as we could, but, this morning, we had to go to the vet to put Shasta down.  Her kidney problems had gotten slowly but steadily worse since my last post on the subject.  Her appetite came and went but had mostly been absent during the past several weeks.  She also had become quite listless and was having nervous tremors which made it difficult for her to stand up or go outside on her own.  We took her to the vet last night for blood work and learned that several of her "key indicator" levels were way out of whack.  We changed her medication as directed and planned to bring her back for a checkup this coming Wednesday.  Early this morning, however, she appeared to have some kind of a seizure and was obviously in considerable pain after that.  The vet theorized that her kidneys were shutting down and that her body was trying to compensate.  Whatever the cause of the seizure, there was no real hope of improvement.

In truth, Shasta was never the same after Harry died in May.  She seemed to miss the companionship, and I don't think that she took too well to being all by herself when Nicky and I were out of the house.  Shasta's medical problems simply made things worse, but she was at least holding her own on that front until very recently.

Nicky says that this is the first time in at least 25 years that she hasn't had a dog.  We'll certainly get another one at some point in the future, but, for the moment, we need some time to recoup and regroup.

Bottom Out of the Tub?

It's been quite some time since I reviewed a "traditional" comic, and I'm beginning to wonder when (if?) I ever will again.  The American Disney comics license remains in limbo despite Disney's ownership of Marvel.  This is disappointing, but, in all honesty, not surprising.  At the moment, I personally believe that the best bet for a new Disney line would be for Disney to strike some kind of deal with IDW Publishing.  IDW's handling of POPEYE and ARCHIE material has earned praise, and the folks who work there have certainly demonstrated a sufficiently sharp "eye for history" to handle the Disney comics well, should they have the chance to do so.  Unfortunately, Marvel's hogging the front of the line and doesn't appear to have the faintest sort of interest in checking out.  Indeed, it's sprawled on the floor, snoring contentedly in a sleeping bag until the next Marvel feature film is released.

As for Ape Entertainment's RICHIE RICH titles, well, I'm beginning to wonder about the viability of the ENTIRE Ape enterprise.  Several weeks have passed without any Ape releases turning up on ComicList.  At last check, the most recent note posted on Ape releases on the Ape home page was dated August 13.  No RICHIE RICH titles are listed among the "Kizoic" September and October releases (assuming that said releases ever actually APPEAR, of course).  What is going ON at the Monkey House?

It appears that I may have reached the same "tipping point" that Joe did in February...  the end of my new-comics-purchasing days.  The main difference, of course, is that I am still getting all of those classic comic-strip reprint volumes.  This seems apropos given that I'm within a month of celebrating a half-century on God's green Earth.  I've always had a bent for nostalgia; the undertow just seems stronger than normal at the moment.

DUCKTALES RETROSPECTIVE: Episode 8, "Lost Crown of Genghis Khan"

As this RETROSPECTIVE grinds on, I'll occasionally post DuckTales-related findings that I've gleaned from Internet searches.  Today, I'm offering you a DT commercial of exquisite rarity.  Most of us have probably seen the commercials featuring Launchpad ("It's me, Launchpad McQuack!") and Scrooge ("He's the original million-dollar duck..."), plus perhaps the "Lights -- Camera -- DuckTales!" bit with the Beagle Boys.  (If some of you haven't, just let me know and I'll be sure to post them.)  This Webby-focused commercial, by contrast, I have no clear recollection of seeing at all.  I MUST have seen it at some point, but, if so, it was at most once.  It's of canonical significance because it marks only one of two times that Webby's last name, Vanderquack, was ever revealed; the other came during next week's featured episode, "Pearl of Wisdom."  It's curious that the beans were spilled so early in the game but that Webby's cognomen was never referred to in any other episode.  Perhaps the other writers simply forgot to pick up on the hint?

With its adaptation of Carl Barks' 1956 adventure "The Lost Crown of Genghis Khan" -- why the definite article was dropped is a mystery to me, too -- DuckTales replicates its success with "Scrooge's Pet" even as it takes far more liberties with the Barks story than it did with "The Lemming with the Locket."  I agree with GeoX that a number of the alterations are for the better; in fact, I'm willing to go him one better by heartily wishing that we'd seen more of The Explorers' Club, the gaggle of adventure-lovers that are competing with Scrooge to find Khan's fabled diadem in Shadow Pass.  Putting aside antagonist Sir Guy Standforth for the moment, Percival and the never-named "thin explorer with the monocle" might have played the same role in future Explorers' Club stories that Jackson and Finch do in the Egmont TNT stories, with their efforts serving as a comical contrast to Scrooge's during the course of various races for riches.  (Significantly, when we visit the Explorers' Club HQ early in the episode, a line of portraits depicting various adventurous exploits is shown, and Scrooge's is the only one not showing a slapstick "impending disaster" gag.)  Elderly Lord Battmounten appears to have been reduced to the role of "armchair expert" by this time, but he could have advised Scrooge as to the existence of treasures and otherwise served as a genteel kibitzer.  Scrooge has always had more than his share of foes; a group of adult characters who are at worst "friendly rivals" of his would have been a refreshing addition to the stable of supporting players.

This episode also takes a few notable chances by not being afraid to show the characters -- very much including the youngsters -- in legitimate peril.  As well-told as Barks' story was, you never got the feeling that Scrooge, Donald, and the boys were in any real danger; the Himalayan setting was as climatologically benevolent as such a setting can reasonably be expected to be, and the somewhat pathetic appearance and nature of "Gu," the Abominable Snowman who had the crown and imprisoned the Ducks only to be bought off by a ticking watch, made the Ducks' travails in the ice cave seem something a bit South of serious.  In the DuckTales version, by contrast, our gang survives sabotage and a plane crash, then endure a fierce mountain storm and an avalanche... and, in the gender-bended "Snowy"'s frigid subterranean home, Scrooge, Launchpad, and HD&L come within a feather's breadth of freezing to death!  The scene in which LP and the boys face their gelid fate seems more disturbing today than when I first saw it.  The "blue beaks" are a bit of overkill -- we've never seen the Ducks suffer that malady in other stories set in ultra-cold climes -- but the quartet's valiant efforts to stay awake and avoid falling into what might be an eternal sleep are truly nothing to chuckle at. Some real polar explorers, as we know, were not so lucky. 

The lengthy ice-slide sequence that lands LP and HD&L in this predicament is still visually impressive today, but I've come to appreciate the above sequence a lot more.  As feather-raising as the sliding business is, it's all of a piece with a good deal of more or less "conventional" cartoon action, with the only true frisson arising from the presence of children.  It took a lot more guts to show kids on the verge of hypothermia.  I believe that it was Greg who complained at one point that WDTVA seemed unwilling to skin HD&L up in the manner in which Kit Cloudkicker was often imperiled during TaleSpin.  A revisit of this scene might oblige him to do a rethink. 

Earlier in the episode, of course, our heroes aren't in much better shape.  Occasional gags -- Scrooge duplicating Kimba's "man-shake" of "The Day the Sun Went Out" comes immediately to mind -- lighten the mood just enough to make us temporarily forget that the Ducks are stranded in the mountains with few provisions.  Tellingly, one incident that writer Anthony Adams, about whom more later, did preserve from the Barks original involved one of the Nephews shivering with fear.  Remind me again... even if Scrooge DID intend to leave Webby and HD&L behind in the village while he and Launchpad headed for Shadow Pass, why did he bring the kids to the village in the first place?  Wouldn't it have been simpler to have left them in Duckburg?  Perhaps he remembered "Dinosaur Ducks" and figured that he'd be better off if the kids were under his watchful eye at all times, as opposed to being tempted to stow away.  Whatever Scrooge's rationale was, it's safe to say that it blew up right in his face.  He admits as much by deciding to abandon the search for the Crown and get the kids back to safety, only to have those plans fatally disrupted by Sir Guy's TNT-powered avalanche.  Those looking for prima facie evidence that the DT Scrooge is "softer" than Barks' Scrooge should probably make this episode one of their first stops... though the "softness" displayed here is entirely rational.

The substitution of Launchpad for Donald is this ep's third major advantage over Barks' story -- and here, unlike the series of insults that Scrooge shot LP's way during "Scrooge's Pet," the strength of LP's contribution seems as solid today as it did in 1987.  DT fans are well aware of the numerous references to Launchpad as a "ladies' man" during this episode, from the Russian dance that he does for the village females to the quip "Usually, it's the girls chasin' me!" to his ultimate fate of being pursued by the amorous "Snowy" after having rescued the snow beast from a fall off a cliff.  Less noticeable, but just as funny, is LP's stashing of dozens of glossies of himself in the airplane lockers where the parachutes would normally be stored.  That sounds much more like something Darkwing Duck would do.  (Perhaps all of that egotistical "life force" got sucked out of LP during those years of playing sidekick to DW?)  Adams cleverly pairs these examples of exalted self-regard with more than the usual number of situations in which LP makes a mental and physical fool of himself -- banging his head on an airplane wing, forgetting the chutes, plopping face-first into a snow bank.  LP even flirts with "hero hypocrisy" when he teases finking out of the Ducks' search for the missing Webby because he's scared of the as-yet-unseen "Snowy."

As for Sir Guy Standforth, I think that he makes a reasonably solid villain, a claim that is at least partially supported by his successful "return to action" in kaboom!'s DUCKTALES #4.  Sure, Pat Fraley's voice for the character is whiny, but then, you're supposed to dislike this guy.  If I have one complaint, it's that he would probably have seemed a stronger adversary had his villainy not come served with so many Looney Tunes-style trimmings.  Pulling cages of bunnies, sticks of TNT, and badly designed Yeti costumes out from behind one's back make it just a scoche harder to take one completely seriously.

As enjoyable as this version of "Lost Crown" is, a few logical lapses prevent me from awarding it the "Full LP" (you can only get the "Full Monty" when Rescue Rangers eps are involved).  Even with Launchpad operating at less-than-optimal mental capacity, I think that even HE should have been able to see that the gasoline was draining out of the plane -- and I'm truly shocked that none of the other Ducks picked up on it.  It's never made clear why "Snowy" has amassed such a stockpile of gold in addition to the Crown; "Gu" didn't seem to have a need for all that additional bling (quite the opposite, in fact).  Perhaps I should just mumble something vaguely offensive about "women needing accessories" and let it go at that.  Plus, of course, there's the old "attenuated ending" gambit that I really hate.  How on Earth did Scrooge get back to Duckburg quickly enough to literally pursue Sir Guy through the door of the Explorers' Club?  Since Scrooge and Launchpad both appear in this closing scene, are we to assume that the kids were simply left behind to fend for themselves? 

On balance, though, this is a splendid debut for Anthony Adams, who will turn out to be one of the series' most consistently successful writers.  Adams himself appears to be a rather fascinating individual; he's the head of his own entertainment company and has produced several well-received documentaries on the music of the "Summer of Love" and the history of the guitar, has written several TV movies, has produced a couple of feature films, and has composed and performed his own rock operas and musicals, including the oh-so-early-70s concoction excerpted below.  In his scripts for DuckTales, Adams seemed to have a particular predilection for exploring myth and legend.  I suspect that a combination of his personal artistic interests and (I'm purely speculating here) a youthful interest in Barks' Duck comics contributed to this bent.

For whatever reason, starting in 1987, Adams began writing cartoon scripts, but his contributions to series like Popeye and Son and Fraggle Rock were modest indeed compared to his commitment to DuckTales.  After 1989, however, he left the field for good.  A shame; I would have liked to have seen him tackle a Tale Spin episode or two, or perhaps even a Darkwing Duck episode featuring Morgana Macawber.  But I'll be forever grateful for his fanciful and frequently elegant contributions to DuckTales -- and I'm even willing to include THIS notorious scene in the credit column.  Fanciful and elegant it's not, but it's certainly become... um, mythic.

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DuckBlurbs

(GeoX)  [T]he ending, where the yeti comes back to the explorers' club with Scrooge [sic; Launchpad] and chases around evil-dude? Egregiously silly, no question about it.

I kinda agree, though for different reasons.  See above.

(GeoX)  [P]ortraying the yeti as a more sympathetic character was definitely a good idea--I thought making him into a her would end up being kinda dumb, but it actually works, and most of the original's condescension is removed. 

I could have done without some of the female stereotyping -- the lips, the rouged cheeks, the skill at cooking (cooking soup in an ice fireplace, though??) -- but "Snowy" is certainly a more memorable snow beast than "Gu."  She bonds with Webby (one can see the "Webby's way with animals" theme taking real shape now) and interacts with the Ducks far more, and in far more varied ways, than did "Gu."

(GeoX)  There's also a lot of good character stuff--as when Scrooge finds the crown, excitedly declares himself "King of the Explorers once again!" and then wilts as he realizes that, having lost his entire party in the process, this is a hollow victory. Finally, there's a very atmospheric night blizzard scene, in which the ducks are sleeping in their tend as the winds howl until they are awakened by the yeti, who they can just make out heading off into the storm.

And this last scene makes me very suspicious of the role that Herge's TINTIN story, "Tintin in Tibet," may have played in Adams' development of this adaptation.  The presence of a "misunderstood" Yeti, the theme of a youngster falling in with the Yeti and being searched for by the heroes, and the central role played by a crashed plane are all suggestive of the fact that Adams may have been aware of Herge's famous story... and the blizzard scenes featuring "Snowy" are exceptionally suggestive.  I couldn't make a really good screen grab from "Lost Crown" to show "Snowy" trudging away after having pillaged the Ducks' camp, but here are several scenes from the animated version of "Tintin in Tibet" that may look somewhat familiar:

Need I point out (since Greg already did) that "Snowy" is the English translation of the name of Tintin's dog?  Very suggestive, ver-r-r-r-r-y suggestive.

(GeoX)  The persistence of Scrooge's anger at the yeti is somewhat inexplicable.

Not to me.  Scrooge was probably feeling guilty for bringing the kids with him, so it's entirely understandable that the pendulum has now swung in the opposite direction and he's being overprotective to a fault.

(Greg)  Launchpad goes over to Snowy and Snowy grabs his hand and of course she's just TOO FAT. However; Launchpad manages to do the old wrestling flip over his head and manages to get Snowy up over and landing safely. Now THAT is an amazing feat of strength on par with Kit getting Baloo up in L[a]st Horizons from LP there.

Yep, that was pretty amazing, almost on a par with Bubba Duck heaving Tootsie over his head and into the "Millennium Shortcut" at the close of "Marking Time."   It's almost enough to cancel out the egotism and stumble-bumble-itis from the earlier part of the episode.  Almost. 

Next:  Episode 9, "Pearl of Wisdom." 

*croak*

Wouldn't you just know it... Just as the fall semester started, I came down with a major case of "frog in the throat," with a side order of aches and chills.  I was barely able to make it through my Monday and Tuesday classes, but I persevered with the help of bottled water, lozenges, and bags of Craisins.  I think that I may need the full Labor Day weekend to recover.

"One Dead in Ohio"?

Oh, how I wish this were a parody on the order of something in THE ONION.  But, no, it's apparently clipped from a "straight" online news report.  This gives the phrase "I don't believe the liberal media!" a whole new meaning.