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The Sinister Sculptor/Zummi Makes It Hot
Reviewed: 07/07/2007
Doing Double Duty Is Not Hot Zummi!
Well; this is my first official rant where I will rant on two episodes instead of just one. The reason is because many episodes in Gummi Bears are less than 12 minutes long. So when each episode begins I'll reveal the episode name in bold in the actual rant so you can tell the difference. Each episode will have a separate rating ; but one Review Line summarizing each episode. I just hope this takes less time than the last episode which took six episodes to complete. Okay; so let's rant....
The Sinister Sculptor is written by Michael Maurer and Zummi Makes It Hot is written by Doug Hutchinson. The story editor for both episodes is Jymn Magon and until I get to Disc Three; I will no longer be mentioning the story editor because it is always going to be Jymn Magon. I'll start mentioning them in the episode Too Many Cooks. As for Michael Maurer he wrote episodes beginning in 1976 with the Loveboat episodes, Captain N The Game Master, TMNT the 1987 edition and more recently wrote episodes for Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures, The Zack Files and Harry & His Bucket Full of Dinosaurs.
Interesting Moment #1: No episode narration preview in this one which is odd because the Gummi Bears opening is still there. Must be a syndication episode.
The Sinister Sculptor: We begin inside the kitchen of Gummi Glen as Gruffi is forced to dodge the frying pan because he and Grammi are arguing over a puzzle piece. Which of course logically turns into a fight containing enough short jokes on poor Gruffi. Considering that Gruffi's height isn't all that short color me unimpressed. See; he found the puzzle first therefore he shouldn't have to share with his wife. I smell domestic violence in their future if this keeps up. The table of course tips over off screen as puzzle pieces and fruit almost MURDER a tiny little mouse in the process. Nice bumps off-screen as Grammi complains that the puzzle is ruined. Gruffi tries to call Grammi a stubborn old bitch and he gets the apple lodged in his mouth to shut him up. Remember in 1985; even shut up was not allowed. Grammi tells him that he'll never speak to her again, and she gets 100% custody of the children and Gummi Glenn. Okay; maybe not. She storms off and slams the door shut which takes a MAN-SIZED bump in the process and it doesn't break at all. TMS is super-sizing every little bump in this series. No wonder DARKWING...DUCK looks so lame. Gruffi takes the apple out of his mouth because it's in his contract to annoy me with that stubborn pose. As I said earlier; Gruffi would be all right if it wasn't for that pose.
Gruffi takes the apple and opens the door to throw it right into Grammi big fat head; but the power of words stop him from committing domestic violence on her and he closes the door behind him. Geez; what a wuss Gruffi is. I mean she did deserve it for stuffing an apple in his mouth and oppressing his freedom of speech. Besides; Grammi can be a stubborn old witch herself since it all rubs off from him anyway. Gruffi decides to mock her by REPEATING THE SPOT and he gets the PASTA OF DOOM right in the back of his stubborn pinhead. Good going Grammi! That'll teach everyone who is even thinking of repeating spots. Grammi does the infamous spot that she stole from Barf of You Cannot Do That On Television (I heard that!) while chopping the frying pan Must be her spare one when the other one is being more stubborn that she is. We head outside as the rabbit runs in the forest because a human called the Great Davini (Bill Scott and Michael Rye in a double voice) is trying to MURDER him with the FAIRY GODPARENT KILLING BUTTERFLY NET OF DEATH.
That outfit is so cute that if it was worn today; it would be outlawed by the FASHION POLICE OF LAW. What is so great about Davini; he clearly is no great hunter since the rabbit is clearly winning this one. He catches the rabbit in the end though and grabs him by the ears (OUCH! That's going to hurt!) as he walks away talking so loud that even the Gummi Bears in the forest picking Gummi berries should hear him...and of course they don't. Logic Break #1 for the episode as we go to the Gummi Bears who are picking their berries; well except for Tummi who is eating them to see if they are ripe. Zummi is not happy with that as we head to Angelo Davini's wagon which TMS drawer drew completely off-model with the rest of the scene. While I have no problem with being off-model once in a while; there is a limit to doing it before it becomes contrived for the sake of being off-model and TMS crossed that line with that moment.
Angelo (no relationship with the dirty and perverted Angelo from Dragon Quest VIII) goes over to it and takes out his pouch and let's the rabbit go. For about two seconds as he unleashes the holding Satanic dust which turns the rabbit into a real life statue of himself. Angelo laughs with an evil snicker as he opens up his cart and puts it right between a statue of Donald and Mickey. Well; that wasn't very sporting of him. Well; this explains that people think Jymn Magon was such a meanie when he apparently had Zipper the Fly eaten by a fish in Louie's Last Stand. What a bunch of fools?! He then hears the bear traps spring and he goes to it as we see The Gummi Bears trapped inside the cages. Get use to it Sunni; you'll be in one singing in Gummi In A Glided Cage later on. How stupid are those bears to fall into an obvious trap like that anyway? Intelligence wasn't a strong point for the writers at this point either. Zummi and company try to con Angelo out; but Angelo doesn't bite. See what I mean about smarts?! And it was Sunni who blew the con up; what a shock?! Apparently Angelo has never seen a Gummi Bear before since he talks about fairy tales as well. Never mind about that; let's continue on....We head back into Gummi Glen and the further adventures of domestic violence between Gruffi and Grammi as they wonder where the others are and decide to go find them while blowing their rival off for being so lazy and ungrateful.
They were Baloo and Rebecca's teacher I see which is little surprise to me since Cubbi was Molly's teacher as he head to the forest as Angelo sizes up the Gummi Bears and tells them that it is an honor to be locked in a cage because he's a great artist. Well; most con artists think so; so I guess it is apporos here. He's going to immortalized them in stone (which is silly because the dust merely make them not move anything at all.) and Sunni likes that. So Angelo invokes the holding pixie dust and the Gummi Bears are immobile just as Gruffi makes it to the scene behind the bushes. Sunni of course gets the honor of being played around by Angelo as he calls her a masterpiece. UGH! That was disturbing to say the least as Gruffi goes into action without saying a word towards a tree with a rope as Grammi gets behind the FAIRY GODPARENT BUTTERFLY NET OF DEATH to fix his wagon because kill is still not allowed yet in DTVA. Two MINI JOKE ZONE PLANS by two different people?! That is got to be some record even for DTVA..and we're not even in the third episode yet.
Angelo gets Tummi down last (like all good workers do apparently) and he ducks just in time for the MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN TIMES TWO to fail in terrible fashion as Gruffi gets netted by Grammi in the process. They yell at each other as Angelo and his wagon drives away. Angelo's hearing is as terrible as Gummi Bear hearing in this show...and they both still manage to get into the cart in spite of their differences (which are very few at this point) to end the segment almost four and a half minutes in. I guess this was the second episode in the group judging by the commercial break being placed here. This is going to be MURDER on my senses; I just know it.
After the commercial break; we head to Dunwyn (already?) as the Great Divini is showing off his collection of statues to the foolish denizens of Dumbwin. Sir Tuxford looks at the holding brown eagle and wants it with the wings spread. Angelo sezs that it can be arranged more or less. He goes inside the cart and casts the Esuna spell of doom and that allows the eagle to be free as Grammi and Gruffi look on. The spell words suck; so I won't mention them here. He then in one split second manages to uncork the holding pixie dust to immobilized him again this time with the wings spread. Now that's an effective business there and it only cost 1/5 of the price to do it with more animals. He is a good business man. An evil one yes; but an effective one at that. Angelo comes out quickly as the musical flourish beckons and Cavin arrives (as the King's Page now) with King Gregor and Princess Calla. Angelo greets them and he looks good doing it. At least his manners are as good as his magic is because his morals are unbecoming of a mage. Angelo calls Gregor a fine lover of art and Angelo pulls up the magic curtain to reveal the Gummi Bears. King Gregor and Call love the new statues as they admire Sunni Gummi thinking that they are almost alive. You don't know the half of it King Gregor and that is THE GUMMI WAY.
Cavin isn't fooled as they are the Gummi Bears as he knocks on wood with Cubbi's head and then motions to the left side of the cart to exchange notes with Gruffi and Grammi who are still hiding. King Gregor of course decides to buy the statues and the knights and Cavin take them away towards the castle. Cavin tells Grammi and Gruffi who are now hiding inside the BARRELS OF LAUGHS to wait for nightfall to arrive and that's where our story goes as we head to Princess Calla's room as she and King Gregor talk about the Gummi Bear statues as they are locked away inside the wooden cages for them to see. Princess Calla then states that there are two empty spaces left and that's logic break #2 for the episode since there is only one empty space left. Someone in script land should have noticed this gaffe. King Gregor leaves the room to ask the royal SATANIC ARTIST OF EVIL for more statues as Cavin practices the art of not being seen and having more success doing so as King Gregor knocks on Angelo's room door. Angelo (in night gown complete with goofy pink heat with the green feather) looks at the coins inside the sack and wants the king to go away. However; the king reveals himself and he hides the money away in the pink bags. Why?! He hasn't really done anything to screw the king even if he screwed the Gummi Bears.
Angelo opens the door and he exchanges notes with the king as he lets him in. Cavin has the candelight (which he didn't have before; but he could have grabbed it during the sequence so no logic break there) and drops it out the window to nail the enclosed BARRELS OF LAUGHS. Gruffi and Grammi open up as Cavin informs them to climb up the vines towards Angelo's room while he runs interference with the King since he's always done the lifting part last episode. And of course; Gruffi and Grammi get into an argument as Grammi bops Gruffi right on his head with the GRAMMI FOOT OF LAUGHS as she climbs up. This MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN is going to work really well; I just know it as we go up to Angelo and Gregor inside the room as Gregor wants Angelo to crave two more Gummi Bears. Except that none of his works are done with craving; they are done with magic which makes it a problem. He should be thankful that there are two Gummi Bears left to immobilized or he would be executed right now. Gregor will get his wish at any price which at least makes Angelo feel better and states that he's get on it at once. Gregor leaves and closes the door behind him. Logic Break #3 rears it's ugly head because he didn't see Gruffi and Grammi so how does he know that they exist? Again; the writer should have noticed that and adjusted the script so he said I have to find two more bears instead of I have to find those two bears. Thankfully; Gruffi and Grammi land with a wussy bump on each other and the floor right on cue from the open window and then scatter like the scalded dogs that they are.
Angelo does manage to catch a glimpse of them; but the door knocks once again so Angelo has to deal with that as he goes to the door. Gruffi and Grammi hide under the bed which explains why most kids are afraid of the checking under the bed and it's MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN TIME! They focus on the chair where his pink coat is and of course; Gruffi wants to get the tablet as Angelo goes to the door and there's Cavin with a tray of goodies such as truffles, cheesecake and pies, blintzes, fruit, warm milk and such. Half of the stuff isn't even on the tray so Cavin is clearly trying to con him in order to run interference. If you are going to do that spot; make sure you have what you say so speak. Gruffi goes to the pouch to check for the tablet and gets it which is not a script malfunction. However; Grammi grabs the tablet because it's safe in her hands. Unless she's being tickled of course and then it's safe in Gruffi's hands. Time for them to argue once again. This is turning into a TaleSpin episode now which is a good thing thank you very much. The distraction is working; so at least Cavin's plan is half working and of course the two stupid bears fight over the tablet and it slips out of their hands and breaks. That blows their cover as Angelo sees them which means Cavin goes to Plan B and that is to dump the contents of the tray over Angelo's hand. Ouch!
There was some glass on that tray young man that was pretty violent. Gruffi and Grammi grab the pieces of the tablet and make a run for it as they knock Angelo on his butt as they leave. Angelo is blinded for the powerful force of stupidity and chocolate pudding as he crawls around claiming that they will ruin everything. Hey; it's THE GUMMI WAY, what did you expect?! I have my new pun for this show. Angelo crawls away as we head to Princess Calla's room and she's asleep as Cavin opens the door as quiet as a loud boar. She is a heavy sleeper after all. They tip-toe in and Cavin orders them to put the tablet together while he distracts Angelo and not wake up the princess. Judging by your sounds; I don't think that waking up is going to happen. Cavin leaves as Angelo opens the door and it's the old lady screams and throws pillows in the head spot that was pretty cute back then; but it is really lame now. Nice bump from Angelo though as we return to see that the opening sequence is repeat here with the tablet being the puzzle now. Where's the PASTA OF DOOM when we need it here?! Cavin thankfully tells them to work together because their voices are going to wake up Princess Calla. The couple shakes hands and the final piece of the puzzle is put into place. If they were going to show how to work together; Gruffi shouldn't have done all the work there of fixing the tablet. And I don't think that string is going to help keep it together in real life guys. Thankfully; Grammi gets to chant the spell; how nice of her to fit right into the stereotype. If this were TaleSpin; it would be the exact opposite with Rebecca doing all the work and Baloo chanting the spell. And the spell works as the Gummi Bears are back to normal after a big flash of light and stars cover them.
Cubbi nearly blows his cover by wanting back at that mage and Cavin has to close his mouth to shut him up. However; it's too wake because Calla is waking up. Must have woke up since her voice is the same as Cubbi's and probably heard an echo. Sadly; she sees nothing out of place and goes back to sleep as Cavin hides in the fireplace and gets all dirty in the process. Nice place to hide as Cavin orders the Gummi Bears out of the window and they sell without incident. However; Cavin tries to leave and he gets SQUASHED right against the wall with the door. Kit would recycle that spot for the Plunder and Lightning movie as Angelo storms in really ticked off and Calla finally gets out of bed and she's ticked off as well. She's beating Angelo in the who can get mad department and she tries to inhale some voice substance to call the guards. However; Angelo invokes the holding pixie dust to stop her in her tracks.
Angelo leaves as Cavin climbs away from the door and apologizes to the princess; but then knocks on wood to realize that she is frozen solid. Angelo runs into the courtyard at night and he stops to see that Grammi and Gruffi are at the well; floating the tablet over the well as they taunt him. Angelo tries to con them with the money and looking less and less creditable by the second. They don't bite of course as Cubbi swings like Tarzan and grabs the holding pixie dust which pretty much ends Angelo's plan right there. Angelo wants it back and they are ready to give it to him literally so Angelo scatters back as now he's playing the victim (sort of). Now nice of them to give him a sporting chance as Angelo gets onto his wagon and whips the horse to escape. However; they chant the spell of undoing (oh the irony!) and the animal basically pounce on him like a disruption tiger pouncing on Sony and Microsoft fan boys.
Angelo falls out his wagon and he runs away as the animals basically try to make a meal out of him and fail because cannibalism is not allowed in a DTVA cartoon. Gruffi dumps the holding pixie dust on the ground to end the nightmare. Grammi tries to throw away the spell of undoing but Cavin jumps into the air OUT OF NOWHERE and grabs it because he needs it to undo Calla's statue. Grammi and Gruffi whisper sweet nothing in their ears and they invoke the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE in order to bounce Cavin up into Princess Calla's room. Now that is service with a bounce! Cavin walks into the room as the Gummi Bears bounce out of the castle. Cavin invokes the spell of undoing and Call is back to normal as she manages to call the guards. Call thinks that Cavin stole the Gummi Bears and Cavin tries to defend himself as King Gregor, Sir Tuxford and the guard enter the room. Cavin explains to them that the dirty, rotten Angelo stole them in order to screw Gregor out of his money and he couldn't stop them. Gregor takes him at his word and orders the knights to go after Angelo. Well; I can accept that lie as Calla loved those bears and think they are real. Cavin almost blows his word but recover to say that they exist in her imagination to end the episode at 10:40. .Wow; they packed in a good enough simple story in that 11 minutes. *** 3/4 ( 60%)
Zummi Makes It Hot: We begin this one as Zummi is in the book room reading from the Great Gummi Book while humming to himself. Before I continue; I should note that all the episode title cards are done in old English type. Pretty neat eh?! Cavin enters through the door asking if Zummi is busying and Zummi sezs he's not and welcomes him in. He is truly part of the family now. See; Zummi has learned his first spell today; which Cavin kindly blows off because he's seen him do magic even though he never saw Zummi actually cast a spell (unless you count the pilot and he didn't seen the casting from Zummi). It's not really a logic break; but it still annoys me. See; Zummi's previous spells are from notes; but this one is from the heart. Oooookay... It's the Light spell from Estpolis II (Lufia II) as he tells Cavin to stand back and let himself hum to prepare. Cavin sells and Zummi twirls around like a goof saying the following:
Zummi: Lumight....Cumman....Dummie....Nummow!
Translation from Bullcrud to English: Light Candle Dummy Now!
It sounds better in Bullcrud actually and it works as he manages to light one tiny little candle to show just how weak his magic really is. That is the allegory of the Level 1 Mage indeed. Cavin is HAPPY for Zummi though and wants him to show and tell the rest of the Gummi Bears. Zummi doesn't seem to be interested in doing that because he's such a weak mage; but since Cavin's got his arm; he plays along. We head into the kitchen as Grammi gives Tummi so many pots that they are bigger than his body weight (if that was gummy-ling possible) which is a great change from the usual small fry getting that spot. Tummi seems to be half way between a child and an adult with him. Tummi puts the stuff onto the other pots which look like it's going to collapse as Grammi complains about the mess they made and of course the pots come crashing down off-screen just to prove her point. Zummi and Cavin enter as Zummi explains that he found something in the Great Book. Zummi nearly gets blindsided by Tummi as he leaves to grab a stray rolling pot. Zummi gets off religious reference #2 of the series (Oh; heavens) while stuttering to remember what he was talking about. Cavin has something to show Grammi and Grammi doesn't want to hear it because the Gummi Berry Juice is gone due to spoilage.
I wonder who's responsible of that?! Probably Tummi considering that she is mad at him and he's her man slave for this operation. Grammi goes to the sink and unscrews the spout (EWWWW!) and there is no water. You know you are screwed when that happens as Cubbi, Sunni and Gruffi enter as Cubbi was brushing his teeth and sounds funny. Grammi forgives him kind of as Gruffi believes that it's a clog in the pipes. Gummi Berry Juice needs pure water to make even though I know that is a fib. Zummi thinks it's the source that is the problem; but Gruffi is in stubborn mode again and thinks it's a clog. He also needs everyone to work on this one. Grammi likes Zummi's idea because she cannot stand Gruffi; I guess. Grammi states that they don't even need to tear things up; but Gruffi blows it off because he fixes things around here. Grammi blows him off in response. The crack Disney captions team sezs foof which is what Grammi says in voice. Don't ask me why. Gruffi just stands there like the stubborn jerk that he is.
We head to Zummi's book room as he looks over his books at the bookshelf as Grammi arrives with the VIALS OF ROIDED JUICE. Sadly; they only get one each and should only be used in an emergency. Cubbi, Zummi, Cavin and Grammi are going on this trip which means Sunni and Tummi were bullied by Gruffi on this one. I say Gruffi lost that battle in a majority decision. Zummi finds the map and it shows a pumping station thirty miles northeast of Gummi Glen. He had to say it twice because he got the pumping station words wrong. In real life that would be a bad sign of Alzheimer's. Cavin thinks it will take a long time; and Zummi has a solution to that: The Quick Tunnels; which of course Cavin hates with a passion. However; he's outnumbered three to one so it's Quick Tunnel sequence time much to Cavin's disdain and screaming. Bobsledding is not his forte it seems as they ride for a while. They get out somewhere which isn't shown (as the writers lost thirty seconds due to time constraints) and we see them walking towards the end of the cave as Zummi explains that there is a little waterfall up ahead when they exit. Which is a bad sign of his perception being bad because they walk out and it's the biggest waterfall area in the history of Gummikind! He... needs... help... right... now!
The station is on the other side which is connected only by the worst made rope bridge in the history of Gummikind! Zummi then gets absolutely scared stiff because he's afraid of heights see! Cavin doesn't like that and states that he can wait here. One problem though: Zummi is needed at the pumping station. Why?! They don't say as Zummi just gets on the rope bridge. Wow; it only took him ten seconds to face his fears here. No wonder people think cartoons are unrealistic. Zummi gets about halfway as Grammi tells him not to look down as he is looking down. Finally; the spot makes sense as Zummi closes his eyes and looks towards the goal. However; somehow the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE flies out of his procession and falls into the drink. That gives new meaning to the power of suggestion right there. Otherwise; it's Logic Break #1 for the episode. Now Zummi is frozen with panic as Grammi suggests a kick in the butt of course. Cavin has other ideas as he climbs over Zummi which gives new meaning to the term dry humping. Oh come on; you knew Disney would do a mild sex spot in there. Cavin grabs Zummi to carry on his back and Zummi grabs onto Cavin's throat to hang on for dear life as Cavin walks slowly to the other side. Hey; it's 1985 and it is slow for a 11 minute short.
They are on the other side without any further incident as Cubbi wonders off even though Grammi tells him not to as Grammi blows off Zumm for no real reason other than to annoy me. Zummi goes to his green book and states that there should be some stairs down a gorge past the wooden sign which says Drekmore (visitors will be pummeled which was Sabin's Blitz move in Final Fantasy VI The Ted Woolsey edition. It was changed for the GBA version earlier this year) and they are appalled because that's Dukie's province with an ogre behind every bush. Man; that must be a small province since he had only about 200 ogres give or take tops. Cubbi appears and sezs that this is a neat adventure. Any episode involving Cubbi is a neat adventure so take the credit before you become like Kit does in A Bad Reflection On You Part One. They take cover as a yellow ogre appears eating the chicken leg which seems raw for some odd reason.
He doesn't suspect a thing as he walks away without further incident. The Gummi Bears pop out and crawl carefully away from the ogre village as the orange one MURDERS a fly against a tree and ogres lay around doing nothing but acting like dirty rotten ogres which is eat, sleep and clean. Just like Dave THE CLEANING BARBARIAN OF LAUGHS. Nothing to see here; keep moving on.... We head to the cave as the babyfaces walk down the stairs as water is heard. Well; this is turning into a nothing adventure; isn't it?! Zummi then nearly slips and need assistance to get him away from the edge as they are close to the biggest drop in Gummikind! Cubbi is pleased because it's rope time as the segment ends right there less than five minutes in. Again; excitement and suspense was still not in the writers blood yet..
After the commercial break; we see that they made it down safely without any trouble. WHAT THE HECK?! No suspense?! No Zummi fear?! This is getting really dull now as they check around and see nothing..AND THE ROCK SEZS NOTHING unusual. Maybe Gruffi was right after all which would be a rare moment even for him. Grammi checks the water and it is pure...full of 10% water and 90% steroids as it should be. Cubbi notices a passageway cave next to the area and they follow inside for a while until they find the entrance to the master door which is followed by the GRAY BRICKROAD. This is like a dreadful version of the Wizard of Oz here. It has the GUMMI SEAL OF APPROVAL so Zummi opens it up with the medallion and it opens without incident. Yeah; this is getting boring now as they enter. Now Zummi wants to show them the Light spell and Grammi decides to accept as she shows him the torch.
Zummi tries to cast the spell; but he forgets it completely. HEE HEE! Grammi of course has had enough of this and he cracks two rocks together and lights the torch and then takes it away from Zummi. That was a useless spell and I should have known better. True definition of a Level 1 Mage right there. More walking follows as they look at the pumping station up above as the Gummi Bear feel really bad that they ignored all of this history and Zummi knows it too because he doesn't know where to start while stammering. Which is slightly better than stuttering I guess. Cavin points up to the heaven and we see the real problem as a tree log has jammed the water wheel. Then again; Gruffi is gleefully been proven wrong once again. Cubbi wants to bounce up there with the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE but Grammi advises against it of course since that juice is only to be used when absolutely needed. Huh?! This would be the perfect plan. Zummi asks about Cavin's climbing ability and Cavin stays on the fence (Okay; I guess). When it comes to underestimating your own abilities; look no further than Cavin.
Kit would say that he is awesome and I would believe it. Cubbi decides to follow him as we get the exciting sequence of climbing up ala Batman The Live Action Series. Except it doesn't have the illusion of walking across a floor while making it look like they are climbing so the effect doesn't quite work out. Cubbi climbs faster than Cavin while being behind him for some reason as Zummi gasps for good luck as Cavin climbs the pipes and gets up to the top rather easily. See; he underestimates himself as expected. Cavin is smiling as now all he has to do is dislodge the logjam so to speak. Cavin drinks up the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE and it's ROID RAGE time on the log. This looks so easy....until he tries to lift the log out and set his feet because he hydroplanes on the water and slips down from the gorge. How does that work?! Never mind; I liked that spot.
Cavin grabs onto the tree branch on the log which is stupid because his hand is stronger than the branch due to the roided juice. Cavin does manage to climb up anyway which is Logic Break #2 for the episode. Cubbi tries to get Cavin to lift the log before the juice wears off and he lifts it up. However; the juice wears off right on cue and Cavin is forced to let go and the babyfaces are sad..for about three seconds as the log sways to the right and dislodges from the waterwheel and the pumping station now officially works. Everyone laughs and jumps for joy; except for me because this is so boring.
We return to Gummi Glen as Gruffi is digging a hole to bury himself I guess. Gruffi has the wrench with him as Sunni calls out his progress. Gruffi taps on the wooden pipe as he blows off Grammi which is a big no-no as the white wash wave absolutely MURDERS him. HEE HEE! Tummi and Sunni help Gruffi out and of course he denies that Zummi was right all along of course. Well; that one moment I liked from this episode as we head back to the gorge as Zummi, Grammi, Cubbi, and Cavin climb up the rope to safety. For about three seconds as the ogres grab the Gummi Bears and Cavin is screwed as he's next to be caught. There are three ogres in case you didn't notice as one of them pulls the rope up and Cavin does the LEAP OF FAITH and leaps away from the group as he tells Grammi to throw a VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE to him and she does. Cavin drinks up but it does nothing..AND THE ROCK SEZS NOTHING! Zummi explains that the juice only works on humans once a day. Actually; it only works twice a day since the pilot allowed Cavin to get strong on two occasions.
I'll let this one slide since Cavin could have done it before. Cavin blows Zummi off and runs stage right and hides behind a rock. Hey Cubbi; use your juice and bounce everyone to safety. That would work as Cavin puts the rolling log underneath the green ogre's foot right on cue (Nice animation timing there TMS) and green ogre takes a nasty bump onto the ground which frees Cubbi from bondage. Cubbi now wants to use the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE and Grammi sezs yes. Cubbi drinks up and it's ROID RAGE TIME as Cavin blows off the ogres. Memo to Cavin: The only one that comes close to their size is you and you're only half their size so there is no one but themselves to fight. Cubbi does the helmet blinding eyes spot and everyone is now free. Cubbi tells them to go on as he bounces to interference with the ogres. The bouncing motion here is downright funny; so I'm getting some entertainment from this episode at least. Cubbi clears the camp as the gang mows right through behind him. So we make it to the rope bridge and once again; Zummi freezes with panic; so Cavin has to carry him like an invalid. They make to the other side without incident as Cubbi hasn't made it yet since he's still running interference so to speak.
Grammi states that they won't make it unless they cut the bridge. Zummi wants to set the bridge on fire; but Grammi blows him off. Cavin thinks that's a great idea and they wait until Cubbi shows up. Cubbi gets onto the rope bridge as Zummi tries the Light spell; but he still has forgotten the spell. He feels flustered until Cavin grabs on his shoulders to snap out of it and cast the spell. Zummi calms his nerves and casts the Light spell successfully (nice anime sequence from TMS) as the rope bridge catches on fire. Cubbi bounces about three quarters of the way and then the rope bridge does multiple rope snap spots (NOT THAT SPOT AGAIN!) and Cubbi starts to free fall; but Cavin manages to grab him by the skin of his teeth which TMS slightly screws up since Cavin looked really dangerously close to the edge. The ogres free fall into the water and are never seen again. EEEEEEWWWWW! Ogre germs ...YUCK! That sterowater is so tainted now. TMS's animation is so funny as the ogre freefall in dramatic anime style. HEE HEE! We return to the plain where Gruffi, Sunni and Tummi plug up the hole as the babyfaces show up with Cubbi being hyper in delivering the good news. How sweet of he to do so. Gruffi blows him off because he fixed the water and of course Grammi blows him off in kind which causes him to stammer...AGAIN!
Well; that's the second thing that entertained me in this episode as we head inside Gummi Glenn as Sunni asks Zummi if he mastered the light lighting spell and of course Zummi snaps his fingers and now all the candles light up in the room with flame. Good work Zummi; you are now a Level 2 Mage. I hope you are proud of yourself. Zummi laughs as the episode ends at 10:38. Well; that episode wasn't good as it wasn't terrible; but it was pretty dull which at times can be a lot worse since with bad episodes; at least it's fun to mock. I had NOTHING to work here in order to mock. And crap; the DVD does have the closing credits after all meaning that I wasted my time asking Chris Barat for them. I feel so dirty now. ** (40%).
THE REVIEW LINE
A pretty mixed bag for my first rant with two episodes in them. The Sinister Sculptor was a good short with a decent fight between Gruffi and Grammi to show us that they aren't exactly a happy couple to say the least. Angelo was all right; but he's nothing special. Gummi Bears had only one really good one shot villain in the Bounty Hunter Clint wannabe later on but nothing else. TaleSpin had a dozen villains which were really good (along with a dozen babyfaces to balance it out.). Good animation for the most part and the finish was fitting for Angelo's evil ways. Zummi Makes It Hot wasn't so hot as it was boring. There was no real danger until the ogres start capturing Gummi Bears and in the end it was a pretty easy victory. Plus; Zummi's fear of heights and lack of spell casting weren't really shown in full bloom here. It just looked like they were going through the motions here. There were a few entertaining moments and Cubbi did well enough for me; but again it was a dull episode. Thankfully; Can I Keep Him is next along with Someday My Prints Will Come and I enjoyed at least the second one. I'll let you figure out which is which. Until then....
Thumbs in the middle for the first episode and thumbs down for the second episode and I'll see you all next time.