The Week(s) in Pony

This is in the manner of a "clearance" article, reviewing some recent doings on the animated and print-centric My Little Pony scenes.  I normally dislike doing "sack articles" like this, but I had to put a lot of things on the back burner during the snow-choked run-up to spring break, which begins this weekend.  Those waiting for my new DUCKTALES RETROSPECTIVE have nothing to fear (see what I did there?); I should be able to take care of the remaining chapters of "Super DuckTales" during break.  It only seems as if I've been working on the Bubba and Fenton debut stories for months...

** ALL KINDS OF SPOILERS **

You know, there are certain advantages to a creative product's having a small and intensely devoted fan base, as opposed to a large and somewhat diffuse one.  I don't recall having many irrationally negative reactions to any of the post-first-season DT episodes.  Sure, some episodes were disappointing and some downright rotten, but never once did I complain that the new eps were "betraying the spirit of the show" or threaten to turn in my "fanbership card."  My primary emotion was gratitude at the fact that we were getting new episodes of ANY sort.  Judging by the wildly mixed reactions to the last four new MLP:FIM eps, that sort of "steady-as-she-goes-and-we'll-ride-out-any-storms-together" attitude seems to have become somewhat passe.  Now, each new offering is either an opportunity to crow over the "justification" of one's view of the series or to bitch about the subversion of same.

Most people really liked "Filli Vanilli," in which the perpetually-crowd-shy Fluttershy helps out Ponyville's a cappella group, the Ponytones, by surreptitiously filling in for its bass, Applejack's brother Big Macintosh, who has lost his voice.  (No, Fluttershy can't naturally sing bass.  In order to understand how she could possibly go so low, you'd have to watch the episode "Bridle Gossip" first.)  The singing is great (with leader Rarity displaying another one of her myriad talents -- again, is there ANYTHING that mare can't do?), and the ep displays a refreshing sense of realism in that Fluttershy eventually does manage to conquer her stage fright... but only up to a certain point.  Perhaps they are holding her big professional bust-out in abeyance for some future adventure.  However, even amongst the plaudits for this generally successful endeavor, there was controversy a-hoof over the characterization of Pinkie Pie, who, to be frank, acted like an oblivious douche here, thoughtlessly bringing her friend Fluttershy to tears not once but twice.  So, was this a natural extension of Pinkie's over-the-top character, or was this a case of a writer "Flanderizing" Pinkie beyond all reason?  Cue the (virtual) brickbats.  Myself, I made the point that Pinkie was the one thing that kept this ep from being truly great and then, Fluttershy-like, slipped quietly off the stage.

"Twilight Time" saw the Cutie Mark Crusaders attempt to use their friendship with Princess Twilight Sparkle to gain popularity with their schoolmates, a gambit that works about as long, and about as well, as you might expect.  I found the effort fairly dull and somewhat questionable in that all of the youngsters in Ponyville seem to have just recently learned that Twilight had become an alicorn, a transformation that occurred some time ago.  The one meme that seems to have been carried forward from the episode is that Twilight likes to eat -- messily -- in Ponyville's equivalent of a fast-food joint.  Suffice it to say that no one was rushing to the barricades to attack or defend that particular position.

But, oh, how the howls did ascend to the rafters when the Breezies, characters created for MLP's generally despised "third generation," were retooled and re-trotted out for the episode "It Ain't Easy Being Breezies."  This is the rare case in which I wound up liking an episode more than a number of the series' well-established critics did.  To many of them, the tiny, spindly-legged flying characters were pure "toy bait" mandated by Hasbro, and their complaints do have a point, especially considering that the "Mane 6" themselves are turned into Breezies near the climax of the story.  The bigger problem, in my view, is that the details given about the Breezies' lives and habits (many of which are dispensed by Fluttershy in a convenient "info dump" during the opening credits) quite literally don't make sense.  For example, we're told that they carry pollen, but to what end?  We never do find out.

As rickety (as in: "highly liable to topple over with the next Breeze") as the setup is in this ep, the moral and the payoff are first-rate.  Despite the fact that Fluttershy's name isn't in the title, this turns out to be Fluttershy's "key episode."  She teaches the crabby lead Breezie a useful lesson about the difference between aggressive and assertive leadership, while she, herself, learns that "kindness" sometimes means doling out "tough love" (in this case, ordering the pack of indolent Breezies to leave her home and get back to their own home before they lose the chance to do so).  The "key" turns out to be a flower (a perishable item, unlike the other "keys" that we have seen -- hopefully Fluttershy keeps it safe in a book, or something) and so now, we have only Applejack and Twilight's "keys" to go.  I have already made a guess as to when the former's will make its appearance, while the latter's will probably be "kept back" until the Equestria Games story arc that is expected to conclude the season.

Today, we got another salmagundi of an offering in "Somepony to Watch Over Me," which goes the route of taking a character trait (Applejack's strong sense of responsibility to her family, in this case) and stretching it to, and possibly beyond, its limits.  As in, Applejack becomes so concerned that Apple Bloom can't take care of herself that she makes her little sister wear a crash helmet, covers the edges of pieces of furniture with plastic wrap, etc.  Seeing as how Apple Bloom and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders are clearly starting to age before our eyes (not to mention in our ears), this sudden attack of overprotectiveness comes off as forced... yet not entirely out of the realm of possibility, since AJ has shown similar concern for AB's well-being before.  Hopefully, there will be no threats sent to the writer of "Somepony" because of this slightly sticky characterization, as there were to the writer of "Fill Vanilli" over the portrayal of Pinkie.  (You think I'm kidding... Nope.)  I liked the episode, on balance, but primarily because I like the character of Apple Bloom so much.

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Now, with apologies to Joe Torcivia and the tradition laid down by his THE ISSUE AT HAND, "let's crack those covers" and look at the latest MLP comics offerings from IDW.

I don't actually have very much to say about the latest two-issue arc in the MLP flagship title (issues #15 and #16), primarily because I must confess that I don't entirely understand the narrative.  The thing isn't even given a formal title, which certainly doesn't help.  It concerns a bookworm that begins eating Twilight's library, and mysterious pods that start raining down on Ponyville, and Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie's plunge into "The World of Books" to piece the ingested tales back together, and characters from the consumed stories popping up in Ponyville, and... at some point, I figuratively threw my hooves up.  The pirate arc in MLP #13-#14 was crystal clear compared to this muddled mess.  At least Amy Mebberson's artwork is nice to look at, as always.  Storywise, though, Katie Cook can't return soon enough for me.  Thankfully, she and Andy Price will be back with a promising-looking four-issue arc starting in MLP #17.

On the positive side, MLP: FRIENDS FOREVER #2 was a decided improvement on #1.  I had some concerns about how well Discord would translate to the printed page, given his predilection for quick transformations, the creation of chaos, and so forth.  Writer Jeremy Whitley and artist Tony Fleecs provide the snarky draconequus with a solid vehicle for his printed bow-in, and even have a little fun at the goofy guy's expense; the "off-the-wall" ideas that he creates to help the Cutie Mark Crusaders discover their "hidden talents" turn out to include more than a few notions that the ever-imaginative CMC have already tried in the past.  The story manages to match the "tweener" approach that the TV series has taken with Discord ever since his "reformation"; you're never quite certain whether he's really trying to help the girls or setting them up for some kind of major fall.  Fleecs' artwork is clunky in places (what's with drawing character with detachable mouths there, buddy?) but is still a considerable improvement on his work for the MICRO-SERIES comics.  Hopefully, this fine effort will represent the "new normal" (if such a term can be used when Discord is involved) for future issues of the team-up book.

Nail Shut the Peach Baskets, Janitors

Both the men's and the women's basketball seasons at Stevenson are now complete.  The men's team advanced to the finals of their conference tournament and played off at home last weekend against Alvernia for an NCAA bid.  (This was the "Barat Employment Bowl," as Alvernia was the other school at which I interviewed in the Spring of 2003 before being hired by what was then Villa Julie College.)  The gym was packed and noisy, and things looked good for the Mustangs as they built a 15-point lead early in the second half.  The game got away down the stretch, though, and the Crusaders won 70-69 on an off-balance shot with a couple of seconds remaining.  SU did not get an at-large bid to the Division III tournament.

The girls finished 14-13 but have little to be ashamed of.  Without a senior on the roster, they finished fourth in their conference, upset a Top 20 team for the first time in their history, and rallied to beat Lycoming in the first round of the playoffs before losing to Lebanon Valley.  They will probably be one of the favorites in the conference next year.

All in all, this was the best hoops year at Stevenson in more than half a decade, and both programs appear to be on the right track.

DUCKTALES RETROSPECTIVE: Episode 73, "Super DuckTales, Part Three: Full Metal Duck"

We're in "full hunker" mode here as yet another winter storm appears set to screw up yet another week... 

Is this the most "active" title card DuckTales ever presented?  Usually, the opening scenes are relatively sedate, to the extent that simple scenes like the Nephews walking to Gyro's ("Sir Gyro de Gearloose") or Scrooge's limousine traveling through Duckburg ("Down and Out in Duckburg") come across as relatively lively.  I guess that Launchpad trying to escape the Lost World with the Booby Bird ("Dinosaur Ducks") would be a close rival to "GICU2 Meets All Quiet on the Western Front," but not a terribly close one.

Living up to this initial promise, "Full Metal Duck" never seems draggy, despite essentially being "Super DuckTales"' equivalent of "Bubba Trubba," an episode that is supposed to get us comfortable with the existence of a new figure in Duckburg.  What "Trubba," with its hollow core of aimless "Bubba causes trubba" gag sequences, got wrong, "Metal" gets right.  Before the Beagles use brainy brother Megabyte's remote-control device to gain sway over the Gizmosuit, we see just enough of Gizmoduck in action -- both in casual and in more "formal" battle settings -- to leave us wanting more.  We also see Fenton Crackshell, bereft of the lost instruction manual -- yet another "small detail" in a DT ep the working-out of which has immense ramifications -- "learn by doing" in his efforts to gain more knowledge about the supersuit.  As a result, despite being relatively plotless (a scenario which led to some fairly substantial chunks of footage being deleted for the Magical World of Disney broadcast), the episode never comes across as simple filler.

Greg is just one of a number of folks who have expressed the opinion that they find Fenton to be a much more sympathetic character than Drake Mallard.  I agree with them, and I would also argue that the advantage is "certified" in this very episode.  In the previous two installments, we were quickly filled in on Fenton's hyper, go-getting nature and some of the demons that drive him, but it has to be admitted that he brought a lot of his troubles on himself: dumping Scrooge's cash in the lake, falling for various Beagle Boy ruses, accidentally causing the dam to be destroyed, and bungling through all those efforts to regain the Old #1 Dime.  In "Metal," by contrast, Fenton doesn't sin (by either omission or commission) so much as he is sinned against (not to mention skinned up).  We start, of course, with Gizmoduck getting beaten to an iron-plated pulp by the GICU2:

Seeing as how Fenton still knows very little about the workings of the Gizmosuit, I'm surprised he lasted as long as he did against this supposedly invincible robot guard.  The "state of the art Duck" ultimately resorts to "pushing all his buttons," a gimmick that, if anything, was underused during the series.  One can imagine the animators having all sorts of fun trying to come up with new and creative outcomes for this "punch and pray" desperation option.  Here, it results in Gizmoduck turning into a sphere (which has apparently increased in mass??  How is that possible?) and ultimately a projectile that renders the GICU2 harmless.

The victory results in Scrooge giving Gizmoduck the job as his security guard... a decision that, as GeoX correctly notes, raises all sorts of intriguing questions regarding the double-dipping Fenton's prioritization of his McDuck Enterprises-related duties.  The series used the "Fenton has to be two individuals at once" trope to complicate Fenton/Gizmo's love life in "Metal Attraction" but never did explore the idea in a strictly "business-related" context.  The creators did, however, seem to come to an unspoken conclusion that the character of Fenton took precedence over that of Gizmoduck.  In only one post-"SDT" episode ("The Unbreakable Bin") did Fenton appear primarily in the guise of Gizmoduck.  He made several brief appearances there without the suit, but the vast majority of the time, he was in uniform.  Most other future Fenton/Gizmo eps involved Fenton in the story first, bringing in Gizmoduck later as needed.  This had the advantage of grounding Fenton more firmly as a "real character" with problems and crises to which the audience could relate.  Drake Mallard, by contrast, never came across as "his own Duck" as much as he did Darkwing Duck in civilian dress, with all the famed stubbornness and waffle-brainedness of his caped alter ego.  As for Fenton/Gizmo's priorities from Scrooge's perspective, my guess is that Scrooge probably ultimately decided to retain a number of his regular security guards and called upon Gizmoduck to assume primary guard duties only when a serious imminent threat (such as a raid by the newly-freed Beagle Boys) presented itself.  It would be just like Scrooge to have such backup security plans; how else would you explain those famed "overkill traps" inside the Money Bin?

Gizmo's reaction to Scrooge's job offer, and his later reaction to HD&L's formation of the Gizmoduck Fan Club, display a certain sense of humor and perspective that Darkwing Duck rarely evinced, even on his more selfless days.  He lets the flags and rockets do (most of) the talking for him when accepting Scrooge's offer...

... and then lightly mocks his newfound status re: HD&L by coming up with some overblown titles for himself.  His "advice" to the boys has a similar nudge-nudge-wink-winkiness to it.  A lot of the success of these scenes depends upon Hamilton Camp's skill at delivering the lines, but the writing itself bespeaks a lighter touch than would typically be used for either Drake or Darkwing.

HD&L's immediate hero-worship of Gizmoduck doesn't emerge from a vacuum, quite.  True, they have always had a somewhat more realistic view of Launchpad's fallibility than their erstwhile buddy Doofus (Remember him?  You'll get a reminder before long), so it may seem a little strange that they would fall so hard for the new superhero on the block.  But based on their love of Courage of the Cosmos, their excitement at discovering that Scrooge has become "The Masked Mallard," and their canonical enjoyment of the comic books starring Super Snooper, they do seem to have something of a weak spot for costumed crusaders.  It makes one wonder what they thought of "The Webbed Wonder" during the latter's crime-spree; did it affect their attitude towards costumed heroes, and, if so, then for how long?  Based on the available evidence, the effects must have been rather short-lived, as the boys essayed the long-underwear bit themselves (albeit only briefly) after Scrooge retired "The Masked Mallard" for good.  ("T-Squad"?  Never heard of such a thing, sorry.  The particular memory cells in charge of that reminiscence must have been scrambled when I had my unfortunate accident last Fall.  Ducks?  "Scrambled"?  See what I did there??... Um, let's move on.)

To no one's surprise, Mrs. Crackshell is far less enthused about her son's new identity than... well, just about anyone.  We get not one but two "coming-home-to-the-trailer scenes" in this episode, making three for the serial to date (with one big one still to come in "Money to Burn" -- were all those re-dos intended to be a running gag of sorts?), and, in all of them, Mrs. C.'s reactions are pretty much interchangeable.  The only truly meaningful "actions" that she performs in any of them are her accidental discovery of the "secret word" that activates the Gizmosuit and her equally fortuitous use of the remote to set Fenton free.  The latter leads to the frankly depressing line, "Too bad your father didn't see this -- he thought I was worthless!"  For the NBC broadcast, this was changed to "I'm not the only thing that falls apart around here!".  On the surface, this seems like less harsh of a line, but it also seems somewhat less believable coming from Mrs. Crackshell.  Unknowingly pointing up the emptiness of her existence by ridiculing the words of her ex-husband seems like the sort of thing a completely self-absorbed character would say, at least at this point in her development.

Having surmounted his first true "secret identity career crisis," Fenton/Gizmo proceeds to earn Duckburg-wide hero status by taking out the Beagle Boys, who have hatched a plan that seems a little out of character for them: holding hostages (including HD&L) in the Statue of Duckburg until Scrooge, presumably, hands over the key to the Money Bin.  ("Give us what we want!" could have been made a little plainer, fellas.)  Fenton proves that he has thoroughly internalized his lesson from the end of "Frozen Assets," taking advantage of Burger's food-philia to lay the Beagles low.  Darkwing Duck's "learning curves" should have been this shallow.

Even as Duckburg is at his feet -- or, should I say, beneath his wheel -- Fenton manages to maintain some perspective, dutifully going to work in the finest time-clock-punching tradition after receiving an emergency hot-wiring from "M'Ma."  (This entire sequence was cut from the NBC airing, which made sense; it didn't really move the narrative forward in any meaningful way.)  Unfortunately, Gizmoduck soon becomes Duckburg's Public Enemy #1 thanks to the treacherous tech of Megabyte Beagle, a character I should dislike but can't (at least not anymore).  Normally, I dislike such obvious "this guy is a genius" stigmata as bow ties, mortarboard hats, and over-sized glasses, but it's just so, well, refreshing to see an unfamiliar Beagle Boy at a point in the show when (despite the briefly seen mass Beagle confab that planned the Statue of Duckburg caper) the predictable quartet of Big Time, Burger, Bouncer, and Baggy have established their hegemony.  I also like Mega's matter-of-fact attitude, which is punched over nicely by Frank Welker's vocal performance (and is a nice echo of the cocksure demeanor of Bomber Beagle in "Top Duck").  To be sure, Mega isn't the most ingenious bit of cast-building DuckTales ever produced, but he's a lot more memorable than Vic Lockman's "specialty Beagle" Intellectual-176, whose name always reminded me of an interstate highway spur route.

Judging by the number plate, I guess that all those months in stir with Megabyte made the pig prisoner an honorary Beagle Boy.

Uh... so why is there no front gate where the front gate of the prison should be?  City budget cuts?

Gizmoduck's involuntary "shopping spree" includes the first, canonical appearance of an ATM in Duckburg...

... and a brief but effective encounter with a peeved Gandra Dee, whose voice here abruptly changes from the one heard during "Liquid Assets" to the breathy, Marilyn Monroe-inflected one that will hereafter be associated with the character.  Changing a character's voice in the middle of that character's debut adventure seems a bit peculiar.  I can understand the voice directors wanting Miriam Flynn to give Gandra's voice a more ethereal, "unapproachable" sound -- the better to emphasize the fact that she is idealized in Fenton's eyes -- but why was the initial version of the voice retained in that earlier scene?  It was probably a production oversight.

Gizmo's climactic tying-up of Scrooge and Duckworth seems like overkill (I agree with Greg; what WAS the point of this?), but the ep ends on a good cliffhanger, with the helpless Gizmo driving the "big machine" and the attached Money Bin up to Ma Beagle's door.  Megabyte may have provided the tech-related brainpower, but it was clearly Ma, who made the initial discovery of the lost manual and gained inspiration from it, who set this grandiose, and above all successful, scheme in motion.  Remarkably, her most memorable moments of the serial (and, some would argue, of the entire series) are yet to come.

Despite its status as a "bridge" episode of sorts, "Full Metal Duck" maintains "Super DuckTales"' narrative momentum and generally high quality.  Clearly, WDTVA made the right choice in using this serial, rather than "Time is Money," to showcase DuckTales to the NBC audience.  Whether the train will keep rolling in the last two parts remains to be seen...

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Bumper #8: "Carpet" (or, Aladdin's pal's previous gig)

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"DuckBlurbs"

(GeoX) Fenton's mother seems to be emerging as a rather delightful character. Her saturnine line delivery is comic gold (her only response to her son showing up in his new outfit: "Fenton--did you join a heavy metal band?" a line that works pretty much entirely because of how she says it...

Oh, I have no complaints with Kathleen Freeman's performance here.  I think that Mrs. C. still has a little ways to go before acquiring enough of a patina of likability to be described as "delightful," however.

(GeoX)  "You wouldna torture innocent people!" "Oh yeah? We'll make 'em listen to bagpipe music!" "Oh, this is worse than the terrorists who held the city attorney hostage with an accordion!" Seriously, the only people who think bagpipe and accordion music is automatically bad are either completely tone-deaf or lazy hacks who don't know anything about either instrument but are eager to pile on for the sake of dumb jokes because they have the vague sense that it's the "cool" thing to do. 

I happen to be "subjected" to bagpipe music on a fairly regular basis.  One of the music professors at Stevenson plays the instrument and always "pipes us in" when the faculty and students process at the Opening Convocation.  I can attest to the fact that bagpipe music isn't that terrible.  The bagpipe and the accordion have been the butts of musical humor for so long, though, that I think you are fighting a losing battle. 

(GeoX) Brief, non-speaking appearance by Doofus. I hadn't even noticed his recent absence, which gives you an accurate picture of how much I'm into the character.  

And he doesn't even get addressed by name; Dewey calls him "Super Buns"!  I suspect that someone (Ken Koonce and David Weimers?) was getting what they considered to be "even" with a character who had already been condemned to be phased-out.  Doofus did have his moments as a character and certainly deserved a more dignified sendoff than this.

(Greg) [Fenton] goes inside his room (complete with crimson red door) and then struggles off-screen badly as there is clattering off-screen which Mrs. Crackshell blows off and goes into the room as Gizmo takes a back drop right into the dresser with a MAN-SIZED bump. Mrs. Crackshell blows him off and suggests a crowbar and she provides one OUT OF NOWHERE and gets on Gizmo Duck and tries to unpry the suit while Fenton protests. No dice so Mrs. Crackshell runs out of the room and returns with her jackhammer...ERRR...I mean makeup remover. Even Fenton thinks she is crazy; so you know she's CRAZY man. Nice to see them playing around with the obvious symptoms of CDS. Gizmo gets dropped and jack hammered to hammer the point home. We go to the outside shot as the suit doesn't come loose; but her false teeth did. And even those have holes in them.

You know what's funnier than anything else in these scenes?  The decorations in Fenton's room.  The clown poster behind the door seems an unusually whimsical touch for a go-getter who's determined to break into the business world...

... while a small picture on Fenton's dresser suggests that Fenton's pre-Gizmoduck love life may not have been as barren as we have been led to believe (or as it will be if Gandra Dee ever sees that portrait!)...

... and the presence of THIS on Fenton's wall raises some unpleasant questions that it would probably be better not to ask.

"Big M'Ma is watching you... during the commercials, anyway."

(Greg) So we head back to in front of the Money Bin in the morning as Gizmo Duck wheels around guarding it. Gizmo sees someone coming and then buzzes and invokes his 2,367 PROJECTITLES OF DOOM for the kill; but it is only the nephews as they cower in fear.

I don't see the infamous skunk in there, do you?  Poor little guy... he would be brought in during "Money to Burn" just to be given the "privilege" of running away to what one would presume to be certain doom.

(Greg) We head inside the damaged building in a room as Big Time is on his wooden crate proclaiming to the Beagle Boys (I think there is Babyface Beagle and Bebop there along with Burger, Bankjob and Bouncer) that they cannot steal Scrooge's money with Gizmo around as Burger seconds the motion and Bankjob stammers on the fourth degree. HAHA! Big Time wants Scrooge to give it to him instead. Riiiiiggggghhhtttt. You have truly lost your mind there Big Time and even Burger sounds smarter. Big Time gets flustered as he has a MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN as they huddle together.

I know that this scene isn't TECHNICALLY the last appearance for some of these guys -- their appearance on the TV monitors in "The Good Muddahs" is still to come, and there's also the scene in "The Billionaire Beagle Boys' Club" in which some of them serve as Scrooge's "hanging jury" -- but I have always regarded it as writing a final chapter, of sorts, to the DuckTales Beagle Boys saga.  How often did they all get together in this manner, anyway?

(Greg) Fenton... goes over to Mama and grabs the remote control to try to change the channel to get the suit back on. Mama grabs it back and asks what station and Fenton picks channel five and that turns on the monitor on the suit as the music plays and we see an island with palm trees and a turkey with the Gilli[g]an cap on. Mrs. Crackshells calls it Gilligander's Island as Fenton wants channel seven and that is football (Frank Welker), so he tries channel eight and it's a police drama show. Fenton is in trouble so he wants PBS. HAHA!

Actually, these clips are: 

• (Channel 7) A snippet of a Vin Scully broadcast of a Dodger game (which would make some sense, seeing as how "Sport Goofy in Soccermania" previously used Chick Hearn and Scully is even better known as a broadcaster);

• (Channel 8) Jimmy Stewart speaking a line from It's a Wonderful Life (1946) (you know Koonce and Weimers and their love of the classics!);

• ("PBS") Some kind of speech, or conference, or something similar by Richard Nixon.  (I'm the least sure of this one, but, from what I could make of it, it sure as heck sounded like Nixon's voice.  Given K&W's penchant for taking pokes at the likes of Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, plus the use of "Miss Woods" as the name of the evil HD&L's secretary in "Duck to the Future," why wouldn't they do something like this?)

Next: Episode 74, "Super DuckTales, Part Four: The Billionaire Beagle Boys Club."   

DUCKTALES RETROSPECTIVE: Episode 72, "Super DuckTales, Part Two: Frozen Assets"

"Frozen Assets" my ass...ets!  This episode should have been called "Lo, A Gizmoduck Cometh," or something similar.  That seems far more appropriate for a production featuring the debut of a high-powered, famously histrionic superhero. 

Jymn Magon may have supplied the teleplay for this effort, but the fingerprints of Ken Koonce and David Weimers are all over the narrative.  They play up the obvious borrowings from the live-action Robocop (1987) to the hilt and (in what will become something of a trend-setter for them) may even have swiped from themselves, turning several key portions of the story into what seem for all the world like semi-homages to their first-season classic, "Hero for Hire."  Basically a giant series of set-pieces -- the Ducks' recovery of Scrooge's "cash-flown" funds, Fenton's increasingly desperate attempts to retrieve Old #1 from the Beagle Boys, Fenton's inadvertent accession to the Gizmosuit, and Gizmo's ultimate recovery of Scrooge's cherished coin -- the ep isn't a storytelling masterwork by any means, but it gets its job done in workmanlike fashion.  It also lays to rest any lingering doubts that, in joining the main cast, Fenton/Gizmo has permanently altered the humor dynamic of the series.

The last, lingering bits of borrowing from Carl Barks' "Only a Poor Old Man" are quickly dispensed with in the opening scene, in which we learn that the Beagles have planted sandbags so that Scrooge's cash will wind up in Ma Beagle's yard.  The Beagles pursue the draining dough in the same jalopy that they used to try to escape from Launchpad at the climax of "Hero for Hire"; the rattletrap vehicle will be put to similar chase-related use in this ep before too long.  "Dripping dunderhead" Fenton (so saith Duckworth, making his first truly significant contribution to either of the second-season five-parters) returns to Scrooge's "Worry Room," there to display his continuing literal-mindedness... and to give Scrooge the notion that will salvage the latter's fortune.  I suppose that Fenton's inadvertent "ray of brilliance" was the only reason that kept him from getting fired immediately.  Scrooge's slight delay in pulling the trigger actually displayed more understanding and patience than I would normally have expected from him under the circs.  Then again, Scrooge took the possession of the Money Bin by the Beagles in "Bubba Trubba" surprisingly well, so perhaps this is yet another manifestation of the "kindler and gentler" nature of the DuckTales version of the patriarch.

Koonce and Weimers' gift for media parody serves them well during "Operation Ice Tongs," as they directly reference the famous Ride of the Valkyries helicopter-assault scene in Apocalypse Now (1979).  Actually, this is one or two levels of "awesome" higher than K&W's usual resort to such popular parodic targets as The Wizard of Oz (1939).  It ranks right up there with My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic's insertion of a Big Lebowski (1998) reference into the episode "The Cutie Pox." Not even the later reuse of the notion in a comparatively trivial scene with Magica and the Quackanyeeka Yeekers in "The Unbreakable Bin" can spoil the poetry of the original moment.  By the bye, Greg, Fenton can be seen flying on the giant ice cake with Scrooge and HD&L, so he certainly wasn't forsaken here.

 

Alas, Fenton proceeds to piss away all the good will he'd just banked with his employer by spending Old #1 on an "emergency phone call"... and, here, I'm going to take exception with GeoX's claim that this mistake is another display of "excessive dumbness" on Fenton's part.  Given Fenton's already-well-established literal-mindedness, it's certainly in character for Fenton to think that the dime had been isolated from its brethren for some "special purpose."  Granted, he certainly ought to have checked with (for example) HD&L to determine what that "special purpose" WAS, but I'm willing to give K&W credit for laying sufficient groundwork for this gag to "work."  And "work" it certainly does; I can recall howling with laughter when I first saw it.  My (then) ongoing education in Barks' works was partially to blame for this; the gag took all those notions I had built up in my head about the immense psychological significance of Old #1 for Scrooge and rudely chucked them out the window.

 

It'd be a fun chore to try to explain the pay-phone and phone-company-HQ scenes to someone raised in the age of cell phones.  I suppose that pay phones can still be found fairly easily, but, unless you explained that Kathleen Freeman was parodying the over-exaggerated tones of a live operator in her voice for the desk lady, then the young modern viewer would probably assume that the poor woman had some sort of bizarre speech impediment.

More "Hero for Hire" callbacks follow as "The First Interfeather Bank" turns out to be one of the banks that "Webbed Wonder" Launchpad robbed.  Also note the reappearance of the armored truck that LP and Doofus used to escape Ma Beagle's place at the end of that earlier episode.  Like the "Wagner-copter sequence," these "small details" will also be returning in future eps.

Speaking of callbacks, of the really, REALLY classic variety... Welcome to Acme Acres, the Southwestern American desert, the Warner Bros. Studio lot, or some combination thereof!  Fenton's failed dime-recovery schemes already seemed like a lengthy homage to a certain genre of WB cartoon BEFORE the decision was made to change his "post-first-failure" comment from "Okay, so they're looking for a skirmish!" to "Of course you know this means a skirmish!".  Or perhaps, as suggested by kenisu in his comments on my review of "Liquid Assets," the more obvious Warners homage was the original statement, and it was altered for NBC broadcast because Warners would be more likely to get wind of it there.  I don't know; since the syndicated version of the ep was the one that was repeated over and over, one would think that WDTVA would want to play it safer with that one.  Whatever the truth might be, one can legitimately question Fenton's use of this particular phrase.  "You know this means war!" is indelibly associated with Bugs Bunny, the epitome of coolness under exaggerated fire, whereas Fenton is... well, not quite the exact opposite, but reasonably close.

(You were expecting a scene from some other Bugs cartoon, Joe?)

The censors also had a snip at this sequence when candy-machine Fenton's reaction to an assault by Ma Beagle -- "Right in the goobers!" -- was removed for Toon Disney broadcast.  The truly peculiar thing about this line was that it was also absent in the Magical World of Disney broadcast (I suspect that 1989-era rules about "family prime-time content" were involved in this excision) but WAS included in the initial syndicated broadcasts. Since kids formed a high percentage of the viewership in both the syndicated and Toon Disney cases, why would the line have passed muster for so long, only to be jettisoned later?  Was there a gun involved in this scene that nobody noticed?

Despite these annoying alterations, the coin-seeking debacle remains an entertaining little diversion, and a significant moment for the show as a whole.  After Fenton is allowed to get away with using his goofy get-ups in his attempts to fool the Beagles, there's no turning back; Warners-style humor will now be an acceptable part of the series as long as Fenton is involved.  It won't often be as off-the-wall as it is here, but it is now officially part of the series' creative "toolbox."

Gyro's creation of the "GICU2" guardian robot -- which goes just as well as might be expected, given the inventor's spotty series track record -- sets the Robocop portion of the episode in motion with a vengeance.  The "GICU2" mutters mechanical dialogue that is based squarely on the live-action film's "ED-209" (e.g., "You have five seconds to leave the premises" vs. "You have 15 seconds to comply") and even provides a bonus by displaying the morphing capabilities of a Transformer.  At one time, I thought that relying so heavily on material from a then-popular movie would cause "Super DuckTales" to date rather quickly.  As things turned out, between the ongoing series of live-action Transformers films and the recently-released Robocop remake, the Robocop aspects of "SDT" are aging with unexpected grace.  Lawrence Loudmouth and "MEL" should have been so lucky.

The badly-beaten Fenton's offhand use of an expletive that "nobody uses" turns out to be the only reason why he becomes the master of the Gizmosuit (which will forever betray its original moniker thanks to the retention of the stylized "R" on the breastplate).  Actually, Gyro's definition of blatherskite as "foolishness" only tells half of the story; the word can be used to describe a foolish person, as well.  Fenton isn't foolish all the time, of course, but here the notion, as well as his literal-mindedness, redounds to his benefit; a "fool" attains superhero status by literally saying a word meaning "fool" or "foolish."  It's as if the word Shazam! literally did mean "big red cheese."

Gizmoduck rolls up to Ma Beagle's house just as the mistress of the place is pitching her latest fit at the loss of Scrooge's fortune.  One of the less noticeable, but nonetheless important, subthemes of "SDT" is the implied contrast between the Ma/Beagles and Fenton/Mrs. Crackshell relationships.  In both instances, the children are doing their best to please parents who are, to say the least, less than wholeheartedly appreciative of their efforts.  The DT Beagles may be crooks and bumblers, but the whole plot of the serial was set in motion by their desire to give their Ma a fitting birthday present.  It was a nice touch to permit the villains, as well as the good guys, to participate in such a family dynamic.  (It's also impressive in view of the fact that Ma has a track record of abandoning her boys in time of need.  See "Robot Robbers.") 

The climactic chase routine plays out as the climax of "Hero for Hire" in reverse, with Gizmoduck chasing the Beagles' jalopy.  Some halfway-decent gags are strewn along the route, such as the Beagles' rough ride down the hotel hallway and the still-inexperienced Gizmoduck's frantic efforts to locate the directions for his "helmet-copter."  (It does seem a bit awkward for the user of the Gizmosuit to have to carry around that big instruction manual.  If "SDT" were produced today, the manual would almost certainly be digitized and made accessible inside or on the suit itself.)  The final business at "Mickey-D's," or "Oswald-O's," or whatever the heck it is strikes me as painfully contrived now, but in a good way.  It's the first time that the "feeble-headed" Fenton has consciously used his brains to score a success and suggests that coming into possession of the Gizmosuit may be a tonic for the mallard's shaky self-confidence.  The only question is, what will happen to this new mojo if and when Fenton loses control of his newfound powers and has to rely on his own abilities?

Overall, "Frozen Assets" rates a thumbs-up despite the ever-increasing instances of Cartoon Duck Syndrome (thanks, Greg).  As a stand-alone, it certainly doesn't rank with "Time is Money"'s "The Duck Who Would Be King," but, given that, unlike "King," it's very much a piece of an overarching narrative, it winds up contributing more to its serial.  At this point, of course, "Time is Money" pretty much went off the rails.  Will "Super DuckTales" suffer the same fate?

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Bumper #7: "Gorilla"

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"DuckBlurbs"

(GeoX) "Frozen Assets" is nicely congruent with last episode's title. I wish they could continue this "assets" theme, but alas, 'tis not to be. Not that I really can think of any more "assets" phrases that would be of use...

Well, Fenton certainly got pounded by the Beagles here, so could we get away with "Compounded Assets" at some point?...  I didn't think so. 

(GeoX) Now, Fenton's efforts to get the dime back ARE fairly amusing, especially when he pretends to be "Bermuda Beagle" and tries to infiltrate the family, and Ma Beagle has to flip through the photo album to verify whether or not she has a son named "Bermuda" (again with the lame disguises that work). The problem I have, though, is that...well, Warner Bros cartoons can be highly entertaining, but the characters don't have the emotional range or depth that the best Disney characters do, do they? So if that's the way it's gonna be with Fenton from now on, he's going to be a decidedly limited character.

Thankfully, the series didn't make that mistake.  Fenton isn't the deepest character ever invented, but, by the time DuckTales is over, he will have flashed enough complexity to (IMHO, at least) merit symbolic inclusion as a worthy member of the "Duck Gang." 

(GeoX) Seriously, the kids are toting Scrooge's cash back to the bin one coin at a time? Come on, now! 

From the evidence provided, they had hacked out the vast majority of Scrooge's fortune by this time and were just picking out the hard-to-reach coins and bills.  It still does seem somewhat inefficient to take one coin per trip, though.  Louie's wish that the Money Bin were "in a valley" also seems strange, since he would still have to make one uphill trip and one downhill trip to go to the Bin and back under such circs. 

(Greg) And in comes a sulking Fenton Crackshell dripping like a dunderhead. Fenton pleads for an explanation to his actions before he gets kicked in the ass back to Boston.

Why not "Barkston"?  It would have been SO easy, Jymn... 

(Greg) Bankjob [actually, Baggy] is buried in gold coins (still wearing his regular outfit minus the shoes) as Big Time is building a sandcastle which is made of..sand? Doesn't that kill the CONTINUITY the writers were shooting for?

No.  Big Time was merely decorating a "real" sand castle with coins.  Since the "cash flow" didn't include gold dust -- at least, none of which I am aware -- this seems like a logical extension of the "rich beach" idea.

(Greg) Scrooge throws the phone down and orders it back or he is fired as a gunshot goes off on Fenton's side of the phone. I wonder if Toon Disney cut that one out?

They never did as far as I know.  So I'll give them credit for a bit of common sense.

(Greg) He didn't mean it as the electricity engulfs the entire suit and the armor force fits right on Fenton's chest. Fenton tries to force it off of him; but no dice as the rest of the suit dances around the room and force fits onto Fenton's arms and torso; followed by the helmet and unicycle as Fenton comments on being canned like a tuna. Funny spot: When he transforms fully; they actually SHOW a blue background with a can of tuna for a split second.

The tuna bit was not used in the NBC broadcast.  I suppose WDTVA figured it might freak people out.  (Weirding out kids in syndication, now that's another story...)  Also note that Fenton's yelps as he's being "canned" are recycled from the scene in "Liquid Assets" in which he's hanging onto Scrooge's desk for dear life.

(Greg) We then head to a Merry Go Round Hamburger Joint and...HOLY CRAP?! Those mascots holding the burger look like Oswald the Rabbit. Seriously! I know it's a moot point now; but this was 1989 for goodness sakes. I wondered how they got away with without Universal suing their asses. I doubt Toon Disney cut this out; but HOLY CRAP! 

WDTVA did go right up to the proverbial "line" here, didn't they?  Though more so with Mickey than with Oswald, I deem.  If Mickey had ever had a love child by Oswald's girlfriend, then this burger mascot might have been the result.  Given that the WDTVA of 1993 couldn't even bear to show or name Mickey (aka "The Mouse") in the Bonkers episode "I Oughta Be in Toons," I suppose that we should be grateful for that one clear, full-figure shot of the critter.

Next: Episode 73, "Super DuckTales, Part Three: Full Metal Duck."