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Sweet & Sour Gruffi/ Duel of the Wizards
Reviewed: 07/22/2007
Nowadays that kindness spell on Gruffi would be a mental illness.
We are at the end of Disc One of the Gummi Bears DVD set with two more episode shorts. One of them involves Gruffi and his anger while another is basically a fight between Zummi and the WIND GENIE OF DOOM from Dragon Quest VII. How will these shorts do? Let's rant on shall we....
Sweet & Sour Gruffi is written by Randal Case while Duel of the Wizards is written by Doug Hutchinson. I have NOTHING on Randal Case as a writer unless he was the music coordinator of the movie Drugstore Cowboy in 1989. This I believe was his only writing credit for the Gummi Bears series and maybe his entire writing career actually.
Sweet & Sour Gruffi: We begin this one with an outside shot of the forest after a tropical rainstorm (or something like that) which includes the side pan shot of the forest and the outside of Gummi Glen which has gained about four feet of water since the rainstorm I see. We head inside to the living room with the shot of the glass ceiling (which makes me bitter since I know Michael Eisner put it there to remind DTVA shows of the 65 episode rule..Or maybe not.) which is leaking. As the babyfaces is mopping the floor while Gruffi barks out orders. Wow! He finally won a blowoff contest against Grammi. There is no other possible reason for it. Gruffi also has the SHANE DOUGLAS MOP OF DOOM which explains why he looks so angry and bitter I guess. Grammi has the bucket as she goes to Gruffi presuming that she's going to put the bucket of water over Gruffi's head to make him the official Buckethead of DTVA in order to show a real good blow off (because she's a sore loser natch!); but Sunni The Teenybopper arrives showing the pink raincoat. Oh swell; now she's ruining that raincoat Drake needs for Dirty Money. It's bad enough she has to ruin her own show; now she's ruining other DTVA shows?! Please blow her off Gruffi; and do it well. Cubbi actually loves it because it matches the color of her skin I guess. Gruffi blows it off and he does a lame job of it which Sunni tries to defend herself by blowing Gruffi off because he isn't nice at all.
Umm; that's because the rainstorm nearly FLOODED Gummi Glen to death by chance?! Sunni: The reason why teenyboppers got so cool to it's audience and got so annoying to everyone else who decided that Wii was much cooler. Gruffi blows it off as Grammi taps her GRAMMI FOOT OF LAUGHS (I presume to get the feeling back after the last episode) as Gruffi works like Kit Cloudkicker with a super ball up his butt. And here comes Cavin to inform them that a hill had collapsed outside of Gummi Glenn and he's doing even more work than everyone minus Gruffi is right now. I see Kit was taught well after all. Cavin and the babyfaces go into the book room that isn't used by Zummi as the place is almost completely destroyed that there is a huge hole which leaves the Gummi's completely exposed to the elements and the sight of King Gregor who is going to inspect storm damage and come in this path at noon so sezs Cavin. This is not good. Disney Caption missed the part which Grammi sezs Mr. Know It All continuing their batting average of missing details in the script. If I'm one of the millions with no hearing; I would be very upset right now. Gruffi proclaims that they will do it his way as he and the rest of the Gummi's storm out along with Cavin. Except for Zummi who thinks that it can be solved with magic. I see he's getting prepared for the duel in the next episode rant. We now head to further inside the Glen as Cubbi, Sunni, Cavin and Tummi are working harder than any bear in history; minus Kit of course on the problem. You know; right now they should just try to fill the hole and deal with the prospect of King Gregor's arrival than worry about a bookshelf caving in; but that's Gruffi for ya.
And of course Sunni the diva only gets to carry the bucket of dirt while Cubbi nails with a hammer despite being at least six years too young to be using tools like that without killing his own fingers. Gruffi calls out Grammi for more wood and of course Grammi blows him off because Sunni wouldn't give her the chance earlier. Gruffi blows her off in response because Grammi's speed is too slow even for him. Grammi's expression is I WANT TO MURDER THIS CRETIN as she storms off. Gruffi demands Tummi to give him the hammer and step on it. Stupid command there Gruffi as Tummi grabs the hammer and goes towards Gruffi. He drops the hammer and then steps on it! HAHA! Gruffi gets mad of course. You have no one but yourself to blame for that spot Gruffi! Tummi grabs the hammer and decides to help because Gruffi is a bully and Tummi cannot stand up to them unless he's an oracle screwing Dukie. Now Gruffi is picking on poor Cubbi to fetch him more wood and hustle. Cubbi grabs the wooden planks which is much more than his body weight. Why do monster over kids get that spot?! Why not have Sunni do it since that would help her diva image a little bit and make me like her just a bit?! And of course; Cubbi gets a splitter and is forced to drop the wood. Amazing; it didn't MURDER his beautiful pink feet. He has the second cutest feet in Disney history. Kit is number one in that area.
Gruffi jumps down presuming to help Cubbi and he does by grabbing the wooden plank. Considering that I hate monster over kids get that bigger than body weight spot; I don't see why Cubbi should complain. Yeah; I know that Gruffi was supposed to help him remove the splinter; but then again why do I need to see Cubbi REPEAT THE SPOT again when I HATE THE SPOT to begin with?! Gruffi of course yells at Sunni as she has the shovel and where she got it I don't know and therefore I don't care. Sunni blows him off and I think she sucks doing that. Besides; she deserved it since she's such a diva. Gruffi speaks in POP-CULTURE TALK (later, later) because he's got a deadline. Now there's a slave driver at work Sunni. You are just a lame teenybopper. Gruffi continues to work as everyone drops their weapons and storms out. Okay; Tummi and Cubbi I can understand..and this isn't Cavin's business to begin with; but Sunni's lack of work ethic shows up right here and makes me want to like her even less now. Gruffi doesn't suspect a thing which is good because I shudder to think what damage he could do with that attitude. Sunni should only be so lucky.
We head inside the real book room as Zummi flips through the Book of the Great Gummi for a magic spell to help them solve this problem. I see Timmy Turner was watching this show to crib ideas from for his really stupid show Fairly Oddparents. The babyfaces enter the room (minus Gruffi of course) as they basically blow off Gruffi. Zummi defends Gruffi's honor because that's what he is like in these situations. Zummi has to be the smartest Gummi of them all in order to avoid Gruffi; or Gruffi is really stupid to not notice Zummi working. Both answers work just as well. The Gummi Bears don't care because Gruffi is already like that and Sunni wonders if there is a spell to make him nice. Grammi thinks it's a wonderful idea. I think it's a stupid idea since we need that windbag in order to allow for the battle between Grammi and Gruffi to commence. You don't want Baloo and Rebecca to think that you were bad role models now do you?! Grammi steps up and flips the pages to look for a spell and Zummi forbids the spell because they are really dangerous. In fact more dangerous than any violent media EVER COULD BE. That's why moralists think magic is satanic.
Grammi manages to find the spell which has please and thank you as magic words. Ummm; that's not magic that's behavior engineering Grammi...and of course in storms Gruffi and he is ticked off now. Gruffi storms in as Grammi demands that Zummi cast the spell while doing her usual Grade A blowoff of Gruffi calling him a half pint dictator. Ooooooo...those are fighting words! Gruffi blows off her and pulls right on the dress as he walks away demanding for her to go back to work. Geez; that dress is so strong, Justin Timberlake should have used it and then there would be no halftime WARDROBE MALFUNCTION if you know what I mean, Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge!
Gruffi bounces back and takes a MAN-SIZED bump on the steps. Zummi is panicking because they are too close to the Great Book of Gummi complete with usual misspell before correcting himself. Gruffi gets behind Grammi and starts pushing her. DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IS COOL! Or not. Gruffi manages to push Grammi down the steps; but he slips and loses his balance basically grabbing onto a page of the Great Book of Gummi and tearing it RIGHT OFF IT'S SHOULDERS! UH OH! Everyone gasps in horror as Sunni's voice sounds like someone nailed her right in the nuts. Great acting job there Katie because I personally want to nail Sunni right in her Gummi family jewels. Cubbi hides to add more dramatics as Gruffi stammers like an idiot. Zummi is now REALLY PISSED! AND I DO MEAN REALLY PISSED! He grabs the page and cast the spell in a fit of rage...
Zummi: Plmease a-mand Th-mank y-mu!
Translation: Please Repent! Thank You!
Wow! The spell not only worked; he looked good doing it. If he got mad like this all the time; he would be a Level 99 Wizard by the time Duel of the Wizards came along and MURDERED that genie. Well; you cannot win them all. Zummi then shows remorse because Gruffi's eyes turn blue into a Smurf. I think it's safe to see that Gruffi and Grammi were both to blame for this mess since Gruffi is a slave driver and Grammi was too stubborn to move. Memo to Zummi: You had to do it; Gruffi must learn the hard way. Now the episode pretty much goes downhill from here. You like seeing mental illness at work; watch the next six minutes or so. He asks Gruffi to say something remembering to say the word please and Gruffi's eyes change to white and he sounds so nice and happy. Gruffi acts like an idiot wanting to go on a picnic and everyone declares that the spell works.
Everyone decides that repairing the room would be eaiser as they go to the door and Gruffi opens it and allows everyone to leave. He even allows Grammi to go before him. Grammi bows to her master and sezs Thank You; which turns Gruffi into EVIL GRUFFI~! Gruffi puts out his foot and trips Grammi allowing her to fall flat on her face with a decent bump. I take it back; this episode is going up in stock right now. Gruffi is about to literally kick her butt but Grammi (who doesn't even know Gruffi tripped her since she was knocked silly) asks Gruffi to help her up and sezs please which Gruffi changes in MENTALLY ILL GRUFFI~! Gruffi helps Grammi up and they leave the room. This might actually be good...
We head to the destroyed room as Cavin is back to work with the shovel along with work from the other Gummi Bears. Gruffi enters the room as the room is progressing nicely. Maybe Gruffi was the problem after all. Gruffi is playing skip to my loo and praises Tummi and Zummi for their actions and work. He even offers them a break to go fishing which is silly because King Gregor is coming at noon. Even Zummi realizes that and Gruffi agrees to help them. Tummi thanks Gruffi and it's EVIL GRUFFI TIME~! EVIL GRUFFI grabs onto the wooden beam and shakes it like Shaken Baby Syndrome. Zummi manages to say please while blowing him off and it's MENTALLY ILL GRUFFI~! Gruffi stops and admits that he shouldn't be doing this and that they are better off doing it themselves. Cavin is dumbfounded as Gruffi tries to leave the room. Gruffi sees Cubbi and asks him how the finger is and Cubbi sezs it's fine and thanks Gruffi of course. EVIL GRUFFI TIME~!
I love it when he looks like he's from the Dark Ages. He then kicks the wagon and basically destroys it of course which Cavin completely sees. All the Gummi Bears and Cavin (minus Gruffi and Sunni) gather inside the book room to exchange notes on the situation Grammi loves the spell; but Cavin thinks Gruffi is acting weird and wants to follow him. Zummi agrees to it as they go inside the dining room and it is completely destroyed of course by the WRAITH OF EVIL GRUFFI~! EVIL GRUFFI is ripping out pages from another book; probably to tick off Zummi. Wrong book you idiot! Zummi calls Gruffi insane to further cement my theory on this being a schrizo episode. Gruffi goes to the vase on a coffee table and is ready to MURDER it into a million pieces; but Cavin sezs please to change him into MENTALLY ILL GRUFFI~! Even in nice mode; he's blowing off the bears for his action. Which is irrelevant because he decides to clean up the mess and we see a sequence where Gruffi cleans up the mess quickly much to the disbelief of Zummi.
Cavin claims that he's not responsible (HA!) because it's the please and thank you spell. Umm..Cavin?! You said it right in front of him loudly and he didn't change at all. Logic Break #1 for the episode. Cavin demonstrates the effects of it; and almost gets MURDERED by a chair in the process. GOOD GRUFFI sees a smudge and decides to buff up the wooden chair. Actually; it's dusty which is Logic Break #2 for the episode as Cavin shows his efforts. Zummi doesn't like these events as he decides to walk out to find the torn page to undo the spell completely. He also tells Cavin to inform everyone not to say thank you; and of course bring Gruffi to the canvas outside. Zummi runs to the book room to get the reversal spell. He runs inside and of course Gruffi destroyed his room of course ripping out every page he could find in the book. Apparently; the Great Book of Gummi is undamaged. Even EVIL GRUFFI knows better than to tick off Zummi at this point. Zummi is horrified of this of course as he wades in the sea of pages. We head outside to the canvas area where Gruffi is working on nailing the canvas while Cavin tells the Gummi's (with whisper yell no less) not to say thank you because he'll go berserk.
Grammi of course hates them because the spell had a flaw. There is dramatic music in the scene as Gruffi drops down to nail more canvas to wood and Tummi and the rest agree to help out of course. So we cut to see Grammi nailing nails into the canvas and wood with the hammer along with Tummi and Gruffi praises him for having style and grace. He is asking to be EVIL GRUFFI right now. Tummi tries to say thank you but Grammi covers his mouth in time and everyone holds their breath and mouths on that spot. Gruffi doesn't change of course. Tummi apologizes and everyone breathes a sigh of relief of course. Tummi and Gruffi go to the hole to add the canvas panel as Grammi wants Zummi with the spell now. Sadly; Zummi is still fishing through the sea of pages to find it. Now we cut to inside the forest as Sunni is carrying a wagon full of bushes towards the canvas area as she cheerfully declares that she has the stuff to hide the hole from. Gruffi is gushing over to her like a pervert and praises her to end. Remember that Sunni is the ONLY ONE who hasn't been told about the effects of saying thank you through out this episode?!
Gruffi decides to surprise her and walks away as Sunni is charmed by Gruffi's new outlook in life. Cubbi is mad because Sunni doesn't know about the real Gruffi. Cavin and Grammi try to tell her not to say thank you and Gruffi interrupts them with a bunch of daisies as he gives them to Sunni and he praises her raincoat. Sunni is so thrilled that she hugs Gruffi in an awesome spot (Cavin adds some realism by ordering Sunni not to say it) and Sunni yells out Thank You at least seven times (seriously!) and EVIL GRUFFI goes absolutely berserk!! For once Sunni Gummi isn't to blame for this. The rest of the Gummi should have told her sooner; even if it risked saying the word out loud once since Sunni said it seven times which I believe just increased his level of chaos. I think saying please seven times reverses the effect. Sunni jumps away (in a rare feat of skill from her) as Gruffi storms towards the canvas with teeth clenched so you know he's SERIOUS BABEE!
Cavin tries to stop him; but Gruffi rips the canvas right from it's foundation and covers Cavin in it to drop him on his can. Cubbi tries to repeat saying please seven times along with Grammi; but no effect. Umm; that's Logic Break #3 guys! Everyone scatters as Gruffi invokes the hammer and pounds on the canvas like HHH using his SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT to MURDER someone. Gruffi does a better job than HHH of course. He goes inside and destroys some wood of course. Man; this guy has worse issues than I EVER DID at my peak of insanity. A chair gets destroyed of course (to maintain CONTINUITY of course) and then he hits the low bearing beam as the dirt and ground are about to collapse the room completely. I don't ever want to get on Gruffi's bad side...EVER! The Gummi Bears are horrified as Zummi runs with spell notes in hand and falls down on his face right behind Gruffi (while Gruffi's is banging on the beam all this time) in an awesome spot. Zummi then casts the reverse spell...
Zummi: B-mack, s-mah, s-mave, Gruffi!
Translation: Back Smite Sir My Gruffi!
The translation wasn't that good; Zummi sounded a little peeved and didn't quite get it right. The whole room collapsed on itself of course and we get the dust clearing spot as we see Gruffi holding the SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT (which grew about seven inches natch!) buried to his hips in dirt. Everyone pops out as they do a dramatic spot where they wonder if Gruffi is back to normal. Cavin dust himself off and tests Gruffi. When he sezs please Gruffi the spell officially wears off and Gruffi does an awesome Grade-S blowoff on everyone. He's back to normal of course. However; the horses are neighing as noon has commenced and King Gregor is coming. Cavin climbs out of the hole in order to run interference as Zummi asks Gruffi for their orders and even Gruffi realizes that the original plan would be too slow even for him; so he's unleashes his MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN: Bring the mountain down. The rest of the Gummi's are taken aback at this as we head outside in the forest as Cavin runs towards King Gregor and his knights on horseback to stop them. Cavin informs them that there is a flood up ahead and not to go this way. Sir Tuxford blows him off because the whole point of this mission is to find flood damage from the storm.
Silly old Cavin as the horses advance. Cavin runs with them as we return to the Glenn as everyone drinks their VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE and it's BUTT BOUNCING TIME THE LINKED HANDS EDITION. They bounce up and start kicking the dirt on top of the hole in order to get the mountain down. Geez; TMS is overdoing the bumps here because dirt's too soft to be doing a MAN-SIZED bump. Cavin tries to divert attention to another path; but Sir Tuxford blows it off and they leave Cavin to sulk. It looks like the Gummi Bear's cover will be blown. More bouncing as it works to perfection as Cavin continues to come up with fake damage; but Sir Tuxford looks around and sees that the area was hit with a landslide as Cavin opens his eyes and sees the entire damage done by the Gummi Bears. Gregor and Tuxford agree that the damage is worse than they thought as Cavin looks to his left and sees the babyfaces waving at him and feeling relived.
We head back inside Gummi Glenn as Gruffi is still acting like a drill master and then tells them to halt (complete with LEGAL HAND OF GOD) and then he starts to talk. Grammi knows that they are going to be blown off and they know they deserve it. Gruffi turns around and tells them that they all worked hard and did a terrific job. He thanks them and the Gummi Bears are absolutely dumbfounded. They cheer just as Gruffi invokes the shovels TIMES FOUR and basically blows them off because they need to dig that room out. The Gummi Bears laugh at him as Gruffi just looks peeved as the episode at 10:40. Hey; they handled this episode pretty well despite the obvious mental illness plot line. **** ( 80%)
Duel of The Wizards: I think it's clear who the focus character is in this episode....We begin inside the book room with enough vines to assure that Zummi becomes a Level 10 Mage. Oh; they are natural as Gruffi and Zummi are clipping weeds with the hedge clippers. Zummi believes that he can solve the problem with a magic spell. Didn't he learn ANYTHING from the last episode? ! Timmy Turner would be proud of him. Gruffi blows him off because he KNOWS what happened last episode because he was the victim of Zummi's mumbo-jumbo. Zummi doesn't believe that as Gruffi claims muscle and brains are more trustworthy. Zummi blows him off as he attempts to cast his magic spell to remove these fiendish weeds....
Zummi: Plu-mant, lum-ife, grumm-o!
Translation: Plant Life Grow More!
No wonder Gruffi thinks Zummi is an idiot. And of course; the plants grow. Should have been nomorre Zummi as Gruffi blows him off. That spell was cast in thirty seconds which is a new record low even for Zummi. We head outside the forest as we get birds chirping and they leave because here comes the no longer as cool monster heel Dukie and his still ultra cool sidekick Toadie walking from the bushes. Toadie ups his over level using the Y wooden stick to amuse me as he looks like he's in the driver seat. His first jettison episode is about two rants away though so we get this episode. Toadie claims it's a Gummi Bear finder. HEE HEE! Dukie blows him off because he doesn't care about what Toadie thinks. Toadie bows to his master because he's too stupid to do anything else. Besides; it amuses me so there you go. Dukie orders him to march and Toadie sells. Dukie walks for a bit and than the wooden door appears OUT OF NOWHERE. Dukie almost swears for real (hell); but holds back and scatters into the bushes with Toadie as thunderclaps can be heard.
Even if there is no thunder and lightning to be seen. The door opens and out comes from the twilight realm: THE HELL GENIE OF DOOM from Dragon Quest VII. Okay; he's only human, not a monster on a cloud. I need something to amuse me. Dukie notices him right away as the famous wizard: Dom Gordo of Gent. Works for me as he is voiced by Bob Holt which is a recurring theme as they used basically the same voice talents in the regular cast as for the guest characters. Thankfully; next episode will change that in a hurry. Dom locks the door to his world with the golden key as Dukie wonders why he is here. Probably figures his realm is too peaceful for him not to get any practice in his training. The door disappears as Dom blows off the kingdom of Dunwyn as primitive. Oh; I don't know about that since we don't see his world another than a night sky with stars. He needs some herbs and they grow here. Thief! He then invokes the yellow wand and uproots some plants to get their herbs. Don't ask me what they are; because I don't get the names and they aren't real to my knowledge. It uses the same sound as the Gummi Bear's bouncing effect. Dukie eyes on the Dom's golden key which he plans to use as an international object once his gig is up here to go to WCW. Okay; he's not.
He demands that Toadie get the key as he grabs onto Toadie's vest. Toadie doesn't want to do it because Dom will MURDER him more or less. Dukie rightfully blows it off because Toadie is already too ugly to improve his looks and he throws Toadie so badly that even a girl would be blushing. Oh great; the heel heat is flying right out of Dukie as Toadie sneaks from behind practicing the art of not being seen. Again; the HB twinkle toe sound effect was still HB's property at this point so there's no sound effect. Toadie manages to grab the key and blow his cover. Toadie runs away as Dom turns his cloud around in a 360 and goes after him. His yelling is absolutely awful I should note. Toadie dodges the spell blast with ease as he hides in the bushes. Geez; he's already destroying Dom's heat which is fine because it gives Dukie some of his heat back even if the wound is too deep to be saved at this point. You do what you have to do as a monster heel character to flourish even if you are doomed to second rate Don Karnage status. Toadie throws the key to Dukie and then drops it into the tree which drops down right into Gummi Glen right on Zummi's little pinhead. I suspect Zummi is officially screwed now. Nice expression from Zummi though. Zummi looks on the ground; grabs the key and puts it in his pocket. He grabs the ax and continues his work on the vines. We head back outside to the forest as Dom stops right in front of Dukie and Toadie as Dom is ready to MURDER both of them for stealing his key.
Dukie greets him and Don responds with the spell blasts which turns Dukie into a tadpole. Oh great; now the guests are leeching off of Dukie's heat now. Toadie grabs him as Dom demands his key back before he turns Toadie to a tree frog. Dukie threatens him to turn him back or he'll never see his key ever again. Dom growls a bit before officially changing Dukie back to his former self. Dukie demands in exchange for the key to knock Dumbwin...ERRR...Dunwyn flatter than a pancake. Dom doesn't like it; but he sells anyway. Dukie likes this as he runs away with Toadie in tow to get his ogres to raid the castle. Dom lets them go out of sight and then he realized that he NEVER promised not to look for his key and starts zapping the forest ground looking for it. Now that's a clever wizard. The zapping of course makes a lot of noise and does some damage to Gummi Glenn as Zummi and Gruffi bounce around. They go up topside as Dom splits a tree in half (the same one that Dukie dropped the key in) as Zummi invokes the stink eye from a fake rock as he sees Dom ripping up the forest. No Zummi; he's zapping the forest to pieces. More zapping on the ground from Dom as Zummi comes out into the open and asks him to stop zapping because he's destroying Gummi property.
I'm sure Captain Tanmeal would have the perfect blow off for Zummi on that spot. Dom blows him off because he's looking for something. Zummi wants to help; but Dom accuses Zummi of being selfish. Zummi is taken aback and Gruffi calls Dom a pussyfoot and orders Dom to clear out at once. Ooooooooo....He just called Dom a pussy. I thought that word was banned in DTVA?! Dom is in Vinnie Mac mode and Gruffi blows him off calling him a fatso. Oh man; Gruffi's mouth is so dirty in this episode. Rebecca would be proud. Dom introduces himself and Gruffi blows him off and orders Dom to stop wrecking his home. Dom invokes the tornado wind blast which completely uppercuts Gruffi's kisser and he flips backwards falling on his face like he was doing a bad shooting star press. Nice bump from Gruffi too as Zummi blows Dom off for being so mean. That earns Zummi a blast to his midsection to knock him with a wussy bump on his can. Zummi gets up and he's ticked off now. Zummi takes out his SPELL NOTES OF SATAN and casts the following spell....
Zummi: Come-ate, Flummy, umma!
Translation: Come eat Tummi's Mama!
I guess it was Zummi that started all those jokes on Cooking Mama after all. Live and learn unless you're Zummi. Then he just screws up the spell as Dom flips around and he is blinded by his own purple cape. Gruffi blows him off on that spot. Dom zaps his gay cape back into it's proper place and he is ticked off and the urge to eat Gummi Bear candies is rising. He blows Zummi off as he cuts a cloud with his wand which float over to Zummi and Gruffi and thunderstorms rain down on the faces. Gruffi is unimpressed as Zummi goes to his spells...
Zummi: Drum-eye, wu-mand, flummo!
Translation: Dry Eyes Wand Man Flood!
Now the writers are just drawing straws here. That creates a windbag (which all Drake-less episodes need) which blows the thundercloud away. It also blows our faces into the bushes taking decent bumps in the process. Nice injury effect from Zummi as Dom floats away laughing. Gruffi gets up and demands Zummi can no longer use magic. Stick in the mud! Gruffi wants to brawl and Zummi blows it off because you can only fight magic with magic. Umm..Zummi?! In RPG's magicians are so weak and frail that a sword could kill them in one shot. Gruffi uproots the beet and throws it at Dom and it whacks Dom right in the back of the head. OUCH! Now you are going to get it you dumb ox! Dom turns around ticked off and zaps the ground with his wand as it create a huge BOTTOMLESS PIT OF DOOM. Zummi slips and falls right into the bottomless pit with Gruffi yelling at him to end the segment five minutes in.
After the commercial break; we clearly see Zummi holding on to a tree root about six feet below ground level. Suspense is clearly not the writers forte at this point. Gruffi runs off to get a rope but Zummi doesn't think it's needed because he has magic. More zapping from Dom as he does some grass lifting with his wand. He still cannot find his key. Hey Dom; why not strip search Zummi?! That might get some results. Zummi casts his next spell:
Zummi: Lum-mox, umma, humm-at, um-air!
Translation: Run Momma, Hum At My Air!
Yeah; the writers are just making up the spells at this point with no context at all now. Zummi turns into BLOATED ZUMMI and float into the air. He then cast the next spell when he sees Dom....
Zummi: Humm-at, homm-i, comm-en, comm-a!
Translation: Hum at Horny Common Coma!
Okay; that one was pretty funny and that puts the kettle pot on top of Dom's head. Dom might be MURDERING Zummi in quality; but Zummi's winning on sheer creativity alone. I'd say it is a draw at this point. And here comes Dukie with his ogres and Toadie just as Dom removes the pot from his head. He wishes not to be bothered because he's fighting a Gummi Bear. Dukie sees him and orders Dom to stop as he casts his wand the same time Gruffi invokes the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE and that misses Zummi and splits another tree into tree. Zummi floats away as Gruffi hangs on and blows off Dom. Dukie orders the ogres to grab those Gummi Bears. Dom lights the rope in fire like a TNT fuse and it turns into a snake as Gruffi throws it away and dodges an ogre. The ogre grabs the snake and swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (darn). Dukie demands that the Gummi Bears remain alive which Dom blows Dukie off with the second shut up in the series. Dom's blowing off is really lame though. Tower of Flim-Flam?!
Dukie sounds angry; but then reminds Dom that he has his key. Dom doesn't care and basically cover's Dukie's legs with a cement block. Dukie orders the ogres to go after the wizard as Zummi uncorks his balloon spell and of course he flies around like a balloon leaking air from it's bottom. Zummi drops behind the bushes with Gruffi and Gruffi blows him off because muscle is winning this fight since the ogres grab onto Dom. Dom of course invokes the wand and the ogres turn into butterflies just to amuse me. Zummi rightfully blows off Gruffi on that spot as Dom absolutely MURDERS the bush with his wand blast to expose Zummi and Gruffi. Dom must really hate plants and vegans if he does THAT spot. Gruffi flees; but Zummi cannot as Dom invokes the spell blast to change the branches into a prison cell. Dom challenges him to a magician duel and of course Gruffi ruins it as he bounces forward and basically pulls out his facial hair and pulls down his hat. I call Logic Break #1 for the episode since Gruffi didn't drink his VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE.
Gruffi bounces away as Dom pulls his hat up and now he's ticked off. Oh; he's calling Gruffi Mr. SmartyBear so you know it's serious! He invokes the fireball to burn Gruffi to ashes but Gruffi dodges it easily as the fireball burns a few branches. While Gruffi tries to outrun the dumbest fireball in history; we cut to see Dukie's feet being freed by the clubbing fist of an orange ogre. The orange ogre gets a pat on the head as Toadie follows Dukie as he cheers for victory as he sees Zummi in the wooden cage. He get Dunwyn and a Gummi Bear thrown in for free. Dom of course hears that and turns around to blow off Dukie. The deal is off and Dukie's dead now. However; he comes Gruffi bouncing back past Dom as the fireball clips him right in the kisser! OUCH! That's got to leave a mark...on Logic Break #2 for the episode. Dom falls off his cloud of course. Kit Cloudkicker should teach him the fine art of saying on the side of the cloud. The wand drops from his hand as everything poofs back to normal. One of the ogres squashes Toadie in the bushes just for the usual laugh from him. Zummi is free from the wooden cage as Dom is TOO FAT to even grab his wand so Dukie grabs it instead. Dukie cheers for victory; just as Zummi produces Logic Break #3 for the episode and bounces to steal the wand from him.
Zummi bounces and gets caught by the orange ogre which the wand slips from Zummi's hand and returns to Dom. He zaps the scene in anger and now he is PISSED! He waves his wand to create a dark world and cause the MUD GOLEM OF DEATH to rise from the grave. Everyone is horrified as everyone scatters like scalded dog up the tree (In Dukie and Toadie's case) and beyond. Zummi and Gruffi stay because they are brave bears and not coward ogres. Gruffi actually orders Zummi to use the same spell from the beginning of the episode on the flowers to make it grow before it buries them in a dirt tomb. Zummi casts the spell...It's the same one; no need to redo the translation here. The flower grows from underneath Gruffi's butt and he rises up to the sky and uproot's Dom's cloud. Gruffi grabs the wand and breaks it in two. We get the fireworks sequence as everything returns back to normal. Except for the flower of course since that was Zummi's magic spell. Dukie and Toadie admit that Dunwyn is safe; so he decides to cut his losses and catch a Gummi Bear.
Dukie and Toadie sneak up from behind Zummi as Gruffi blows of Dom. However; Gruffi notices Dukie trying to be sneaky right away. Zummi runs away just as Dukie's head is bopped off by Gruffi's can. Dukie's heat is fading before my very eyes here. Dom pleads for Dukie's help and Dukie manage to retain some of his fading heat back by blowing him off rightfully as walks out on him. Zummi and Gruffi help Dom down as Dom pleads for his key. Zummi shows him the key from his pocket and basically blows him off because he refused help the first time and could have avoided this trouble. Dom admits that Zummi is right basically destroying his monster heel heat and turning into a wimping babyface. Dom wants his key back as he apologizes and promises never to bother anyone again, except Dukie of course. Zummi accepts and they give Dom his key back. Dom swear on his bloody honor and uses the key to reveal the wooden door. He opens it up as Zummi apologizes for Gruffi's destroying his wand. Dom forgives him because he's got a spare one as he enters his realm and the door disappears forevermore. Gruffi and Zummi walk back to Gummi Glen as Gruffi blows Zummi off because magic wasn't enough Zummi opens up the fake rock and Gruffi hops in telling Zummi that he never admits when he is wrong. Speak for yourself Gruffi! Zummi enters without saying anything else.
We head back to Castle Drekmore at Dukie's throne room as Dukie is angry that his plans to invade Castle Dumbwin... ERRRR ....Castle Dunwyn went up in magical smoke so to speak. Dukie blows him off because he'll NEVER get home. Just as the door reappears and opens up to reveal the spell blast as Dukie's face turns into a monkey. BWHAHAHAHAHAHA! Be careful what you say in front of wizards Dukie! Toadie stares at him giggling as Dukie blows him off. Dukie proclaims that if he were that wizard; he would NEVER look at himself in front of a mirror again. HEE HEE! WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?! HEE HEE! Go to outside shot of Drekmore and fade to black to end the episode and Disc One at 10:38. That is the first good Zummi focused episode as it was tons of fun for everyone. Too bad Dukie is losing so much heat that he doesn't realize the truth of this last statement. WHAT ARE YOU STARING AT?! HEE HEE! **** ½ (90%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Ah; these last two episodes of Gummi Bears DVD Disc One were really good for a change. I didn't think Sweet & Sour Gruffi would age well due to the obvious swinging mood angle that made me feel a little offended due to my mental illness; but they handled it somewhat well, much to my surprise. I thought evil Gruffi was cooler than good Gruffi and for once; Sunni Gummi could be forgiven for not knowing any better. Grammi and Gruffi deserve the share of the blame for Zummi's book of Great Gummi being torn and it was done really well for the most part. Hearing Sunni horrified like see was hit square in the nuts was priceless. Not to mention Sunni basically creating the berserk Gruffi when she hugged Gruffi and said thank you seven times which was pretty surreal and was an awesome spot. Still; there were a few logic breaks (one glaring when Cavin explains the spell and somehow Gruffi didn't change on the spot right there) and it had a somewhat boring finish; but it was a better episode than I thought it would be.
Duel of the Wizards started slow; but it really heated up with Dom got involved and pretty much hated everyone. The main thrust of the story was that Zummi's belief was you can only solve problems with magic and Gruffi's belief was that you can only solve it through muscle. In the end; they worked together and proved that they were both right and wrong at the same time. Sadly; it also involved turning Dom into a whimpering babyface; but he's in for one episode so burying him wasn't a big deal. It's Duke Igthorn's heat that was draining despite a great effort from him..and I LOVED the ending as Toadie gets in a giggle as Igthorn truly was made to look like a monkey after all. If you're going to lose heel heat; give it to Toadie. A few logic breaks marred an otherwise great episode and Zummi's spell casting need more creative and contextual meaning now. I think the writers were grasping at straws in this episode to try to make Zummi sound cool and the result was he came off lame.
So that ends Disc One as I ranted on 16 episodes. I gave two thumbs down, five in the middle and nine thumbs up for this disc. Really impressive start. Only one episode was below ** which is better than Darkwing Duck did in the same number of episodes. TaleSpin still beats it to the punch; but again, that's not really fair to either series or any other series other than Gargoyles to compare Gummi Bears to TaleSpin. So....
Thumbs up for both episodes and I'll see you all next time.