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The Secret of the Juice
Reviewed: 07/21/2007
The spot that would be recycled a million times.
Another rant; another full episode of Gummi Bears. This one is pretty historic as this was the very last episode of the ultra-cool Duke Igthorn as he was able to do what no one has been able to do thus far: defeat the Gummi Bears. And he would do it with the spot that many shows would recycle afterward including Don Karnage later on in TaleSpin. Sadly; the way the show was designed (good guys winning) would also expose Igthorn as weak and therefore this is the first episode where he starts losing heel heat as a result pretty much until Just A Tad Smarter when Igthorn would be exposed as really a weak villain. So how did this episode do quality wise? Let's rant on shall we...?
The following episode was written by Michael Maurer who has done some pretty good episodes but nothing awesome at this point. I believe this is his second last episode with the Gummi Bears writing team actually.
We begin at Castle Drekmore as we see Dukie ordering his ogres and the ultra cool sidekick Toadie to put baskets of Gummi Berries into a dark room. However; Toadie gets the whole ball rolling by running and bumping into Dukie committing MOLLY VIOLENCE in the process. Dukie's expression is absolutely priceless when he screams on that spot. Toadie apologizes as Dukie seems to want to MURDER Toadie as he grabs him by the vest; but he claims that he's tolerant today which is a word that no one thinks is good enough for a peaceful world nowadays. I wonder if Dukie saying that had any effect on those people? Dukie asks why he is almost nice and Toadie responds that Dukie is sick. Hey; I'll buy that statement and of course Dukie blows him off harshly. Yeap; Dukie is sick after all and not in the flu sense either as he drops Toadie like a bad habit as TMS animates it in a cute way. See; Dukie needs to complete his ultimate weapon of destruction which involves Gummi Berry Juice of course because Gummi Berries are involved. He goes into his dark room which is actually his Gummi Berry Juice Factory which is one of the most animated factories I have ever seen in my life. I'll let the animation speak for itself as the ogres are cleaning up the berries. I see that they watch How It's Made which is a Canadian Television series about how stuff gets made. In fact the show still runs with new episodes as of this day; which isn't hard since the number of products we make is in the millions. See; Dukie wants super strong ogres to smash Castle Dumbwin...ERRR..Castle Dunwyn but he's missing one small ingredient.
Toadie asks what that is and Dukie gets right in his face in a position that no normal human being could ever do without steroids and yells at him to catch him a Gummi Bear of course. Great spot there and pretty insane if you ask me. We head outside to the Gummi Berry bush as everyone (except Grammi and including Princess Calla (!!)) is picking Gummi Bears because the ogres might take them away. Did that PINK CHOCOBO OF DOOM tell the ogres where the bushes were to get back at them for tricking her? I SMELL A FANFIC COMING! I guess Grammi's blowing off skills won the day over Gruffi since he's usually the pushy one. Zummi is picking as well remembering to get off religious reference #6 of the series and wonders why they want the berries anyway. It's Gummi Berry Juice; what else could it be since there is no other use for them. They want to be ROIDED in time for smashing Castle Dunwyn. Gruffi of course isn't picking berries (What a shock?!) as he is setting up a trap of them with the wooden wrench inside a log which Grammi gleefully blows off.
See; he'll make them tell which pretty much foreshadows Grammi's future in this episode right there. Sunni of course is groaning because she's tried of picking these things which signals that the diva effect is in full force in this episode already. Calla of course blows it off because she thinks it is fun which means she was Kit's teacher when it came to responsible behavior that Kit didn't have to be responsible for. See; Sunni wants to be a princess and have servants do all the work for her which indicate that she has learned absolutely nothing from A Gummi By Any Other Name. A true sign of a teenybopper right there. Grammi gleefully blows her off for me which makes her the over Gummi Bear by default in this episode. Calla shrugs as we cut over to the token joke from Tummi as he is carrying a basket which is bigger than his body weight. Is that possible? I could just hear Kim Possible saying that right now as Tummi cannot see and therefore is about to step on the spring trap and it is a trap since Gruffi is panicking now. Tummi steps on the spring trap and it fires the grappling hook from the log. So that's where the Air Pirates got those guns from. Those wacky Great Gummi's!
Tummi of course trips on the rope and takes a spill as Gruffi gets a basket full of Gummi Berries on his hard and they are as fragile as blackberries are in the Fence Sitter. Nice CONTINUITY TMS as Tummi rolls around in a funny fashion right into the baskets of Gummi Berries stacked in a bowling formation. What?! No bowling pin sound effect?! It doesn't work with that sound. The berries go splat on that spot and the bump was pretty good on Tummi's part. Well; Gruffi has no one but himself to blame for Tummi's misfortune since it was his idea to create traps in the first place. Grammi blows Gruffi off as her berry supply is DYING on her as she removes the basket from Gruffi while blowing him off. Gruffi then blows off Tummi because it's NEVER his fault and it's always Tummi's fault. Since Tummi cannot stand up to Gruffi; he sells it as if he's sorry.
We head to just outside the Gummi Berry bush inside the forest (as you can clearly see the master tape is fill with dust particles and required massive remastering which didn't remove them for some reason) as Toadie is looking around for Gummi Bears. Memo to Toadie: Check inside the Gummi Berry bushes; I'm sure you'll find one of them inside. Toadie then goes over to the ogres who are creating a fake Gummi Berry Tree in order to catch one of them. This will NEVER work since all Gummi Berries are uniform and therefore really small. They hear someone and hide behind the tree as Toadie proclaims that Dukie would be so proud of him as one of the ogres drives a sign on the ground which completely misspells Gummi Berries so badly even Baloo would blush at the sight. They need Detective Thursday a lot more than Baloo at this point as we see Grammi blowing off everyone because she's mad that there is no Gummi Berry Juice left. She sees the tree and of of course she sees one of the ogre's feet which pretty much gives away the secret right there. She tells them that their shoelaces are untied and they sells it. Ahh; I see the ogres were Dumptruck's teacher there.
Toadie is ticked off and tells them to get her calling them idiots. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Grammi runs away complete with Hanna Barbera running sound and animation looping effect (check the legs) and the Scooby Doo chase IS ON BABEE! Toadie gets squashes by the ogres because revenge is sweeter and funnier when Toadie is getting MURDERED by the heels. That's why he's the ultra cool sidekick. Grammi tries to use the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE; but it's empty to show that yes there is no Gummi Berry Juice left. Nice CONTINUITY from the writers there as the shadows loom over her. The yellow ogres jumps with the wooden basket and captures Grammi inside. However; when he pulls up the basket and she's gone. That's the worst logic break I ever...Ah forget it; Grammi appears and bops him on the nose showing Molly how to do that to Kit. Molly's version was better though and that was a neat spot as Grammi scatters again. Grammi runs yelling as Gruffi comes in between them to stop the yellow ogre (only one?) and puts his ankle out and we get the cross the line spot from Bugs Bunny. This would be the first Bugs Bunny spot in DTVA it should be noted and of course Gruffi dares the ogre to cross the line.
The yellow ogre sells because he's REALLY STUPID and his ankle gets lassoed and he's hanging upside down. Gruffi is so right about them being the dumbest creature in the forest. Remember that for later on as Gruffi leaves. Grammi calls the troops to retreat because the ogres are coming. Everyone grabs the remaining basket they got left and they head underground into the Glenn like a bunch of scalded dogs. Toadie and Red Ogre come over to their stupid yellow friend and Toadie blows him off before stepping backwards into the LOOP OF BANE TO ALL OGRES EVERYWHERE (Could that be anymore contrived and somehow still be funny?) as Toadie is upside down hanging around as he gets MURDERED with the tree version of Put Out The Darkwing spot Steggy got over in Just Us Justice Ducks. It's funnier when Toadie does it as he looks like he's being broken in half there.
We head inside Gummi Glenn's living room (just outside the kitchen of course) as Grammi is grabbing baskets from Tummi and Zummi and looking around. Princess Calla puts a basket of Gummi Berries into a room as Grammi states that she needs Gummi Berry Juice right now and Sunni must help her sort them because apparently the men cannot do that either. See the stereotypical female roles coming into play and wonder just how important Gadget and Rebecca were to DTVA. Sunni is in full diva mode as she hates sorting berries because they are boring. This is going to be painful for both me and Grammi if Sunni is engaging in full teenybopper mode. She puts her basket in the room as she looks at her hair (in her reflection of the frying pan which she's coming very close to having it smacked right in her kisser) like Disco Inferno does during a match which shows how much of a diva she really is. Calla suggests that she change her hairstyle and Sunni looks at a red Gummi Berry thinking this would be a great idea as we head to the living room as Grammi is sitting on a wooden chair with a white cloth on her forehead as Gruffi keeps blowing her off because if the ogres got her then they would lose her cooking skills.
They need her which shows just how selfish these bears are. Gruffi means it because there's no one left to make their Gummi Berry juice so that earns some towel violence right in the kisser and a Grade S blowoff from Grammi. Although Gruffi is right about that because Grammi is the only character who is the female version of Dave the CLEANING BARBARIAN OF LAUGHS. Grammi of course realizes it and it time for the secret recipe of Gummi Berry juice to be passed over to someone else. Kind of like life insurance really. However; Gruffi doesn't like cooking, Cubbi's too young and monster over to be doing that cooking stuff; Zummi would screw it up and Tummi would eat it up before it gets started which means that it is left to Sunni by default which shows just how bad this family really is. Gruffi doesn't want her to because she has no respect for Gummi traditions. Quite frankly; she has zero respect for anyone at this point other than royalty and even that is suspect at this point.
She is a full diva and even Gruffi realizes that. Grammi defends her because she's down to earth. The fact that Grammi's attempt to praise her is laughable and made even more so when we see Sunni surprise her with the PINK HAIR OF DIVAS which is so teenybopper of her. I think you should consider Cubbi as a possible contender for the recipe now Grammi since he's the only one who has the best chance not to screw it up. Plus; you can beat Flight School by about five years and give them a template. That annoying pose from Sunni ends the segment about six and a half minutes in. I guess NBC's positioning of the commercials are different; otherwise it's a post production glitch.
After the commercial break; we head back to Drekmore and the dining area where Dukie, Toadie and the two stupid ogres exchange notes on the situation. Apparently; rocks are too smart for them and that Grammi will fall for the trap as he and the ogres laugh it up. Dukie is so insane and even the ogres think so too judging by the fact that they stopped laughing and than just looked dumbfounded. We head back to Gummi Glenn as we finally see Cubbi appear almost seven minutes in. See today is the big day as Sunni is going to have a right of passage to making Gummi Berry Juice by herself. Nobody likes this since Sunni is such a diva if you check the faces when Grammi announces this fact. Grammi calls for Sunni and she comes down the steps with beautiful music wearing Grammi's shorter clothes. Sadly; she screws up the mimicking process because she's still wearing her elf boots on. Personally; I would have left her barefoot to add suspense to the scene involving Grammi and Dukie later on, but then again the writers were still keeping the show as simple as humanly possible which is fine since it's easier to rant on. Cubbi instantly blows her off and Sunni blows him off in kind because she does look like Mini-Grammi. HA HA!
Cubbi hides behind Tummi. Why?! She doesn't look any more ticked off at you than in previous episodes. Although she looked ready to MURDER him when she raised her fist so that was probably the reason. Sunni doesn't want Calla to see this because she would crawl down a rabbit hole. Memo to teenybopper: You are already in a giant rabbit hole; so quit complaining you diva! Grammi blows her off as we go straight into the kitchen. I guess they wanted to add some suspense since it looked like Grammi was taking her on a field trip outside with that basket in hand. We go to the pan shot with the baskets of Gummi Berries all sorted to perfection. I guess Sunni did that after all. I also see that Gummi berry juice also wears off quickly even in hair as well. Grammi takes her spoon and starts the rite of passage with the speech which even I think it's pointless; but this is GUMMI TRADITION and I don't like Sunni as a teenybopper; so she deserves it. Sunni of course blows it off because she hates this tradition of making Gummi Berry Juice. Because Grammi is older than dirt at this point and she's going to be captured by Dukie later on so take your punishment and LIKE IT! Grammi of course answers Sunni's question of writing down the recipe with grace as she points to her head and rubs her heart like a Care Bear rubbing her Care Bear tummy symbol. Sunni takes the spoon and the recipe shall now begin as Gummi reveals the recipe: Six handfuls of Red berries, four handfuls of orange, three purple...and of course Sunni screws up by dumping four red and six orange which gets Grammi's dandruff up.
How can Sunni make that simple mistake since she said it slowly. Thankfully; Grammi stops Sunni's hand before she can do any damage to the recipe. Grammi corrects her and Sunni throws in four orange as expected. Grammi then states to add four blue ones and three green and a yellow one and of course she goes on and on until the Gummi Berry Juice is boiling like a kitten. Well; at least Sunni hasn't completely screwed up here. Grammi then proclaims that there is one more step to the recipe: The THREE STEP STIR OF DOOM as Princess Call arrives (with bow & arrow) and waves hello to Sunni which distracts Sunni which earns a blow off from Grammi. This is not going to end well for Sunni; I just know it. Sunni sells it like she's bored and doesn't take Grammi's warning seriously. Grammi then shows the THREE STEP STIR OF DOOM: Stir slowly to the right; then slow to the left and then a slow bang to the black pot to get out the bubbles without MURDERING yourself. This shouldn't be hard since it's the complete opposite of doing a mayo making recipe (In mayo you stir one way or else the mayo breaks and then you have to start all over again according to Pasquelle.) Sunni sells it and she doesn't even come close to getting it because Calla is distracting her. Sunni stirs the juice to the right; but much too fast and even Grammi sounds like she's starting to regret ever doing this stunt and the Sunni bangs the pot so hard that the whole juice recipe explodes right on cue and the whole kitchen is a mess of course. Great full-screen effect from TMS as Grammi is officially screwed. Grammi rightfully blows her off as I'm SHOCKED that the entire floor isn't covered with juice and Sunni of course acts like a teenybopper saying that it's not her fault because there is too much to remember.
Even I could remember to stir the thing properly which proves that Sunni is infinite times more irresponsible than Kit EVER was when he was babysitting Molly. He was only merely late to the party. Grammi blows that off for me and decides to take Gruffi's side as she steals back her spoon and storms out with a basket to pick more Gummi Berries. Princess Calla steps into the room and feels sorry for Sunni and Sunni blows it off showing absolutely zero remorse for what she did back there. This is the number one reason why I don't like Sunni and it shows her diva image in full bloom. And when Grammi gets caught in a few moments; everything that happens to Grammi is all Sunni's fault. Remember that as Sunni and Calla exchange notes on Calla's new bow as she is going hunting. And of course; Gregor doesn't like Princess Calla shooting things with it so she stole it out of the castle. Why do I get the feeling that the bow will be used as a plot device at some point. Sunni is full diva mode as she wants to leave to shoot arrows with Calla which even Calla is taken aback since Sunni refuses to clean up the kitchen. Sunni speaks in POP CULTURE MODE (later-UGH!) since Grammi won't be back for a long time to care.
What a irresponsible girl Sunni is and Calla is a part of this conspiracy...I mean Kit Cloudkicker had a great excuse for being late with Molly's ice cream run in It Came From Beneath the SeaDuck since the Air Pirates attacked them and Molly was too moronic and tilted her head back so the wagon will ride down the hill. Kit even showed some remorse for being late and didn't want to be late either. Sunni doesn't even have that excuse. We head back to the Gummi Berry patch where Grammi basically blows off Sunni for being irresponsible and quite frankly I don't blame her for that since Sunni's a full diva now. She makes it to the fake tree and even Grammi thinks it's lame; so she walks towards the camera and of course they outsmart her (Ogres?! Growing a brain?! Me not know how those two go together as Toadie would say.) and falls into DA...HOLE. Ah; I see the ogres were Team Rocket's teacher as well. Dukie arrives as Toadie cheers victory and Dukie blows him off because he screwed up. Cannot argue with that point as Grammi is scared stiff in Dukie's presence as the segment ends nearly nine and a half minutes in. Remember this: Everything that happens to Grammi from this point on is all Sunni's fault. Got that? Good...Let's move on...
After the commercial break; we head back to the Gummi Berry patch where there is almost no Gummi Berries left except for a few colored ones and mostly green ones since they are unripe ones apparently. Cubbi notices something and sees that Grammi's basket is now gone as the Gummi's wonder where she went. Booming footsteps allow Gruffi, Zummi, Tummi and Cubbi to scatter and hide like Pablo's dogs as two ogres talk about Grammi being captured while walking. That wasn't contrived in the very least; no siree! They grab the basket and start tearing the bushes apart which seems to only allow the Gummi Bears to be placed in the wagon the ogres have without them being noticed. Yeah; they are that stupid. The Gummi Bears are placed into the baskets harshly as the ogres shake the bushes to get rid of the Gummi berries. That there's an effective way to use an ogre. They wagon the basket of berries away as Zummi, Cubbi, Tummi and Gruffi pop up and Zummi takes out his red feather and uses the sharp end to use a yellow Gummi berry as a paint brush. He then steals Cubbi's hat (BOO HISS! USE YOUR OWN HAT!) and writes a message to tell Sunni that Grammi is captured and they have gone to rescue.
She is to bring the Gummi Berry Juice which indicates that they have no knowledge on why Grammi was in the berry patch in the first place. Zummi throws Cubbi's hat onto a pile a bushes and they leave towards Castle Drekmore as the real fun of the episode really begins now. Inside the hallway we see Grammi being grabbed by her arms (OUCH!) as two ogres walk her to see Dukie as Dukie greets her along with Toadie at they enter the Gummi Berry Juice factory. Grammi's struggle is downright funny as Grammi blows off Dukie because the factory is dreadful. I'm sure How It's Made fans were really happy to hear THAT one..Or maybe not...Grammi refuses to cook which earns a blow off from Toadie which Dukie heads Grammi's chin and proclaims that Toadie must show real respect to a Gummi Bear as he asks her to give him the recipe while basically raping her face in a neat but disturbing spot. That was so funny that Grammi asks if she refuses and of course Dukie shows an orange ogre basically crushing her to bits. That convinces Grammi to cooperate as Dukie proclaims victory and shows Toadie how it is done and then he really blows off Grammi because he wants a test batch. Ah; Dukie's getting down the concept of being a windbag since this episode needs more of them because Drake Mallard isn't around to do so.
We head to the black pot over a hot flame as Grammi adds the ingredients as usual while blowing off Dukie in the process with the yellow ogre behind her to make sure that there is no funny business other than her blowing off Dukie. Toadie repeats the spot by writing it on paper with the white feather. More of those to come; I assure you. Grammi of course changes the recipe by throwing berries away from the pot and right into Toadie's face which miss by about six feet. Man; TMS was OFF on that spot. So we cut quickly to the Gummi Berry patch as Princess Calla and Miss Evil Diva herself walk after basically shooting everything in sight to blow off some steam. Okay; maybe she merely used a wooden target with apples (since one of her arrows has four apples attached to the arrow). Sunni then realizes that she needs to clean up her mess and then notices Cubbi's hat in the bushes. Sunni panics and sits down on her duff like a diva because she spoiled the whole batch of juice and this is all her fault because Grammi is captured and the rest of the Gummi's have no juice to work with. Well; sucks to be you Sunni. Maybe acting like a teenybopper is a dangerous thing that buries people in this time period. Calla of course tries to help her get back on her feet and to try again like real Gummi Bears do. Problem is; Sunni has no respect for anyone; let alone tradition. Sunni agrees with her and it's off to the Quick Tunnels as we get some more bobsledding to waste some more time. Well; that was rather pointless...
We head back to Drekmore as Grammi taps the pot slowly and Dukie takes the spoon to prepare himself for some taste testing as the juice is done. He takes a spoonful and of course doesn't taste it because Gummi Bears hate Dukie so Toadie has to drink it which Toadie doesn't want to. So Dukie grabs his mouth and forces the BLOATED JUICE OF DOOM right down Toadie's throat. He gulps it down as Toadie is set back on his feet and Toadie proclaims that it is working rather well. Which really means that it is not working at all as Toadie becomes a ROIDED FREAK. Now we await the ROID RAGE that comes with the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE. Dukie loves this; so he takes some of the BLOATED JUICE OF DOOM and he becomes a ROIDED FREAK. What message are we sending here?! That drinking juice gives as muscles?! The ogres drink up for fun as they drink right out of the pot as Grammi gladfully helps them bottom up which officially makes Dukie look like a real suck me up when he cheers on for victory. And of course; the BLOATED JUICE OF DOOM lives up to it's name (get it?) as the heels rise up to the sky like balloons. HEE HEE! Grammi of course shows what happens when purple berries do not get involved and she runs away as Dukie wants that Gummi Bear of course. Grammi leaves as we go to the shot as Sunni and Calla are in the sewers below the ground floor where Calla hates it. However; Sunni is bent on rescuing Grammi because it's all her fault.
They open a steel door above them to try to enter as we see more running from Grammi. She of course steps right on the steel great and trips and falls down which causes Sunni to fall right on her can and re-lock the door. The yellow ogre grabs her as she is unable to get away. Sunni is so screwing Grammi and it's getting on my nerves. Sunni and Calla open the gate just as the ogre runs back to Dukie. Calla and Sunni pop out of the grate and hide behind a wall as they look in horror at Grammi being captured because of them. We head outside as the ogres are unloading the basket of Gummi Berries into the conveyer belt with Gummi Bears in tow. The ogres do not suspect a thing as Cubbi just isn't cool without his hat on while Kit looks awesome without it. Must be the front hair. We then get a sequence which is so worthy of How It's Made material (a **** ¾ show by the way on Discovery Channel Canada twice runs every day; four times on Tuesday) which ends with them falling into the giant bucket. The animation was spot on too. The Gummi Bears pop out for a word before ducking again as the ogres come in and rake the berries like cranberries which I saw on an episode on How It's Made a few months back. I LOVE THAT SHOW! Gruffi of course gets out which allows for him to blow his cover on the orange ogre. Curses! Foiled Again! The Gummi Bears get out and they begin to run away as the ogres try to get out. We head to an yellow ogre banging on the top of the BARREL OF LAUGHS as the male Gummi's run into the room and hide right into the barrel that is still open.
However; Tummi slips and land on his knees and I'm amazed he didn't break both kneecaps in the process. Tummi hides behind the barrel as Zummi proclaims that the ogres are too stupid to notice them in there and of course he's right because the yellow ogre nails the lid shut on them while not even suspecting a thing. Gruffi gleefully blows Zummi off on that spot. TMS does a coloring mistake as the yellow ogre changes to green when he rolls the Gummi barrel to the yellow ogres and tells him to take it to some room while Tummi looks on while still hiding. We now head to the hallway while Tummi hides behind a column which is a few feet away from the door which sezs BARREL ROOM OF LAUGHS on top of it. Okay; just Barrel Room. Tummi quickly opens the door without any trouble and enters inside the room and of course he's screwed because there are about 500 BARREL OF LAUGHS in the room give or take. So now Tummi has to check everyone of them. So Zummi, Gruffi and Cubbi are locked in a barrel; Tummi has to get them out and Grammi with Dukie; leaving Sunni and Call left to do nothing. Typical diva. We head to the juice factory as Dukie blows off Grammi who is grabbed by her wrists by two ogres just to give her more pain and suffering...and she hasn't suffered enough apparently.
Grammi then calls him Iron britches as Baloo is calling his lawyer on speed dial as we speak..and not because he's crank calling him either. That was a lame blowoff even for her and Dukie is unimpressed by that and so Dukie orders the ogres to take her to the Torture Room...ERRR....Dungeons as the creepy music beckons while the ogres open the iron door and take her down the step to her certain demise. Grammi is finished right now as the segment ends more than 15 minutes in...It's that moment now as you are about to see the spot that would be driven to the ground in animation for the rest of time. I'll give you a hint: Dragon Hunter did this same spot a few years ago with the lead babyface male. The buildup for it was pretty dramatic as they teasing cutting the male's toe's off and then ended with the real comical spot.
After the commercial break; we see the two ogres walk Grammi right into the Torture room with Dukie and Toadie close behind causally walking with their hands behind their back in a cute spot as they lock the door. They don't suspect Calla and Sunni getting up close to the iron bar window to see what they are going to do with her. I think anyone who has seen children's animation knows what it is but the buildup to it is still a funny thing. We head inside the torture room as Dukie thinks that two turns on the rack should make her squeal. Sadly; since the Great Gummi's aren't sadistic freaks she needs to know what it is. The yellow and orange ogre demonstrates by using Toadie as they stretch him to hell.
Toadie of course got the horse version of it in my MXC scripts after Elimination Idol when he did the Duke Igthorn Torture Song (basically I'm A Little Teacup bastardized). I'm DYING watching this. Grammi gulps but isn't selling yet. Dukie decides that it's not manly enough so she'll get the old dunking machine. I doubt that would work since it only works on witches and Toadie is no witch. Of course he get strapped in the seat and get dunked to death basically. Too funny and great selling from Toadie. Dukie doesn't think that's manly enough either and then he becomes inspired as he orders the ogres to strap her down onto the wooden table and they sell as Grammi is tied to the table. I don't even need to see the footage because tickling sites everywhere KNOW WHAT THIS SPOT IS! (Darn it! I gave it away!) Dukie then reveals the red feather (How fitting eh?) and now Grammi is selling fear and so are the ogres. Dukie basically tickles her feet and Grammi is really dead meat now as there is no escape. Watch TMS's animation as the GRAMMI FOOT OF LAUGHS is in full effect here. This is the same spot Kit Cloudkicker was in when Polly Wants A Treasure happened. However; there are two major differences: One; in this episode the spots don't miss like Sun Woo's animation (which the feather only touched Kit's foot once and the sound people screwed up when they go to Baloo's horror shot response) of Polly did and did badly and Two; June Foray's selling isn't as good as R.J. Williams was. Grammi's laugh was great; but when he speaks she still doesn't sound like she's laughing. R.J. Williams on the other hand when he was screaming; it still sounded like he was laughing and was completely struggling to speak before basically be forced to laugh for the rest of the scene. It's like someone was legit tickling him when the scene was done in Polly Wants A Treasure.
The horror shot comes from Sunni: Oh No! She'll give in for sure! As one Youtube commenter said concerning Kit's tickling scene: Why don't she trade places with Grammi?! I'm sure she would be HAPPY to see you get it so all the teenyboppiness is tickled out of your body Sunni! To me that would be main event anywhere in my house you little diva! Toadie sings his She's Telling song for more dramatic effect as Dukie blows him off and tells him to get something to write it down as Sunni and Calla watch on in horror. And that my friends is the point which Dukie's coolness was at it's zenith as it is downhill for him from there as you will see his heat slowly die on us. In my opinion; the last five-eight minutes should have been used in the grand finale when Dukie successfully invades Dunwyn for real. But they didn't probably because the writers didn't expect the series to last beyond 13 episodes and they were still learning..and sadly it would cost them dearly. So we head to the barrel room as Tummi knocks on wood to find his friends while inside a barrel Gruffi blows off Zummi and Cubbi because he cannot get the lid off with Gruffi and Zummi holding onto his ankles in a Gummi Bear ladder spot. Cubbi tries to get the WOODEN SWORD OF PIN PRICKS to pry the barrel open; but the sword break and everyone loses their balances and falls down taking some pretty nasty bumps in the process. Zummi brings out his SPELL NOTES OF SATAN and proclaims that he will shrink the lid and Gruffi of course blows him off. Thankfully; he has some light from a hole in the barrel to work with as he casts the spell...
Zummi: Shrumikke, uhmit nomow!
Translation: Shrink oven mitts now!
And of course the barrel shrinks and the Gummi Bears are now canned so to speak. HAHA! This series is fun and easy to rant on. Darkwing Duck was hard because of the bad episodes and TaleSpin was hard because the writers made it so complex and great on the senses. The later was fun still while the former was not. Tummi goes over to the small barrel and still doesn't suspect a thing. Boy; the lack of ROIDED JUICE is getting on the brain for this poor fat bear. And I don't mean Baloo. Tummi sits on the barrel as Zummi tries again...
Zummi: Mummate, uhmit, bummi!
Translation: Mommy Oven Mitts Bite Me!
BWHAHAHAHAHA TIMES TWO! The barrel return to full size as Tummi falls down and takes a MAN-SIZED bump on his can. Tummi yelps out as Gruffi realizes it's Tummi outside and demands that he get him out. Tummi doesn't know how so Gruffi tells him to use his head. Tummi then gets is MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN as he backs up a bit and and rams his head right into the barrel getting his face to blush. Too funny as Gruffi blows it off. Tummi gets his head unstuck; but the barrel rolls onto it side and rolls away from Tummi quickly. Tummi is forced to follow shouting for it to stop and it doesn't stop of course. We head back to outside the Torture Room as Sunni and Calla scatter and hide behind a wall as the door opens and out comes the heels with Grammi in tow. They take her stage left as Dukie orders Toadie to go to the Juice Factory and make some ROIDED JUICE. Toadie sells it as he skips away stage right singing like a goof. That is just great as Sunni and Calla decide that it's time to make some juice so they go after Toadie because he's the small fry and he's still ultra cool now that Dukie has risen to the peek right now.
Toadie skips along (With recipe in his hands) singing; when Calla calls him out to give her the recipe or she will MURDER him! (Knock your block off) Oooo... that is so scary! NOT! Toadie panics and runs away like the ultra-cool heelish coward sidekick at he is. Calla and Sunni follow her naturally because in a diva's world; picking on small fry is cool. They run for a while off-screen and then the tables turn on the babyfaces as the heels start chasing them stage left since Toadie got two more big ogres to trump them. Did that BLOATED JUICE grow a brain as an after effect or what?! More running and now the heels scatter back because apparently barrel trumps three ogres. Cannot argue with that fuzzy logic. The heels get crushed of course (despite the total combined weight of the barrel being about 200 pounds) and Calla steals the recipe from them as Sunni and Calla continue to run. The barrel explodes of course and the Gummi Bears are free (which Sunni instantly realizes them) and knocked out. Toadie tries to order them to get them; but Tummi squashes Toadie's little pinhead and he is knocked out. Calla tells Sunni to make the juice while they run interference. Zummi is concerned because they NEVER do it with the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE. Sunni runs and opens the double doors leading to the juice factory.
Sadly; there are two ogres left to defeat and they notice Sunni right away. Except that they see her as Grammi Gummi. Sunni decides to play along with them as she orders them to bring her the tools to make Gummi Berry Juice. The ogres sell and run off. Yeah; they are THAT stupid and something is actually escaping from that door where Sunni is standing...Oh; that's Dukie's heat! Bye, Bye heat; fare thee well. Sunni loves being a slave driver which is diving right into diva material right there of course. We head to the MILLION METER TOWER OF DEATH (Look at the height of that thing!) as the yellow ogre ties Grammi's midsection to the rope as Grammi is hanging on for dear life. Well; Dukie wanted to bounce someone off his castle; now he gets that chance. Sadly; he's unaware that his heel heat is flying away from him which is fine because he's still pretty cool right now. And than Logic Break #1 rears it's ugly head as Toadie cuts the sand bag (helpfully labeled in old English style as such) and when the sand runs out so does Grammi's life basically as she falls to her death. Insert evil laugh here.
Grammi blows him off in such a matter that Dukie cannot help but be thrilled to hear it from her. It's so sad that Dukie coolness is slowly wearing off because he is truly making an effort to rule here. I would blame the writers; but that's hard to do when they are still learning how to do a series past 13 episodes (The Wuzzles lasted only 13 episodes I should note and this is episode 14. Chris Barat thinks it's Episode 12 though.). So I'll blame it on Sunni since she was the one who got Grammi in trouble in the first place. We head back into the Juice Factory as Sunni is doing the recipe properly and then she notices that the three step stir is not in there. Ooops! Dukie's heat is flying away even more now. How could Dukie have forgot to torment that out of Grammi?! See what I mean?! Sunni orders the ogres away so she can cook. The sand bag is getting smaller and smaller just like Sony's fanbase and creditability at this point. Even Dukie's creditability at this point is better than Sony and Microsoft's put together. Nice animation from TMS though.
Back to the Juice Factory as Sunni decides that it's time to stop acting like a diva and start using her brain. She nearly screws up the stirring; but she corrects herself and bangs the pot hard. She cowers down to hide; but the pot doesn't explode. WOW! SHE DID IT! She made Gummi Berry Juice and sadly Sunni bops Grammi's hat off which completely blows her cover. Even the ogres aren't going to fall for that. Sunni takes a jar of the ROIDED JUICE and drinks up. It's BUTT BOUNCING TIME as she bounces away from the ogre heels towards the door as we see Toadie skipping along like an idiot. Sunni and the ogres basically MURDER him as they leave. Too funny and Toadie deserved that one even if it was really funny. Toadie recovers quickly and notices that the ROIDED JUICE OF DOOM is ready. Toadie still rocks though as we head outside with the babyfaces running as they see Grammi hanging around in the MILLION METRE TOWER OF DEATH. Thank you Cubbi for pointing out the obvious. We have about two minutes left in the episode at this point. And of course Grammi's time is up as the rope is cut and Grammi free falls to her certain doom.
Plunder and Lightning Part Four did it better since Kit fell for at least thirty seconds before Baloo catches him. Sunni bounces out of the window barely getting away from the ogre and gives Calla the JAR OF ROIDED JUICE. Calla drinks up and it's ROID RAGE TIME as Grammi continues to fall. Calla throws up the jar to Grammi and she catches up without any problem. She drinks up and it's BUTT BOUNCING TIME as she bounces up into the air on the ground which pretty much kills the suspense right there. Then again; the writers were still learning. If this was Darkwing Duck; then I would be really upset. The babyfaces cheer on that spot as Grammi bounces up and basically rearranges Dukie's nose. Oy vey; what was the point of that?! Are they seriously trying to intentionally destroy Dukie's heat?!
Grammi bounces down and both she and Sunni embrace in a sweet moment. The ogres then surround them in a circle and everyone in deep trouble now. They then decide to wait for Dukie which is the biggest mistake they would make as Toadie is fiddling with the pot and stirring like an idiot. I think Dukie's hope chest is gone in this episode as Toadie is about to go with the BIG BANG OF DEATH as we cut quickly to Dukie proclaiming that he will NEVER again have egg on his face. Bye Bye Dukie as we hear an explosion and it the GREAT GUMMI BERRY JUICE FLOOD right out of the window which MURDERS the heels. The rest of the bears drink up and it's BUTT BOUNCING TIME! Calla cannot bounce of course so the Gummi carry her and bounce for her. Now that is called working together! The rest of the ogres who didn't get MURDERED by the ROID RAGE FLOOD OF DOOM chase the bears who bounce right over the castle walls as the ogres basically MURDER themselves right into the castle walls basically knocking them out. The bears bounce down the ledges (I think) to safety and the nightmare is over and so is Duke Igthorn's chance to stay hot as an awesome villain.
We head back to Gummi Glenn as Grammi and Sunni are on their knees scrubbing the floors and cleaning up from the explosion Sunni left earlier. Which makes little sense since the floor was pretty much clean. Bad CONTINUITY ERROR from TMS. They exchange notes as Calla enters with the fencing sword because she would like Sunni to have a fencing lesson. Sunni doesn't feel like it because she's got chores to do; but Grammi decides to let her off the hook. Huh?! It was Sunni's fault that this episode EVER happened, so I think these chores should be her punishment. No wonder Sunni is a teenybopper diva. It was Grammi's fault all along! Sunni storms out slamming the door and of course TMS makes another coloring mistake as the pink hair on Sunni's head is back (when Sunni undresses). Grammi praises her sort of to end the episode at 21:18. Great episode; but some CONTINUTIY ERRORS and animation mistakes from Sun Woo marred the episode. This is the peak of Dukie's awesomeness and from now on his character is going down the crapper so to speak. **** 1/4 ( 85%)
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; that is that so to speak on another historical episode in DTVA history. It was a really good one despite the full teenybopper diva Sunni being in bloom throughout most of it. Great performances from everyone; but I couldn't help but think that Duke Igthorn's character has begun to show the dents in the armor; more so near the end where Grammi basically bounces up (after almost dropping to her death no less) and squeeze on Igthorn's nose. I found that pointless and a weakening of his character. Sadly; I believe that the writers didn't have any idea that Gummi Bears would last five years because they wrote the episode as if it was their last and therefore once Duke Igthorn got his recipe; it was downhill from there. I mean even after this episode; I didn't see the recipe destroyed in the flood so I can only speculate one way or another.
So; Igthorn in theory should have been ready to make juice at anytime and yet they waited until 1990 before doing that episode where Igthorn invaded Dunwyn for real. However; they forced him to redo the Grammi spot in a much more lame way that it sucked even more air out of Duke Igthorn. I call that writing yourself in a corner because the producers had no choice and by that time they were unable to rebuild him as a monster heel since many episode after this one weaken him to the point where he couldn't be taken as a heel seriously. Just a Tad Smarter was the tipping point into that where Dukie basically DEPENDED on the Gummi Bears to save himself. This is not due to overuse as much as it was sloppy writing. All in all though; the episode was great despite several logic breaks and several coloring mistakes by TMS which is unusual for them. Next up is the remaining two shorts in the first disc: Sweet & Sour Gruffi and Duel of The Wizards. So.....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.