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Mirthy Me/Gummi Dearest
Reviewed: 08/25/2007
Talk About A Lack of Humor Here....
I have a feeling that Mirthy Me gives new meaning to the term bad jokes. I wonder if I was watching this show when I created the Oniz Mecha character? Never mind. It's time for the final rant of Volume One of Disney's Adventures of The Gummi Bears. Will these two shorts sink or swim? Let's rant on and find out....
Mirthy Me is written by Bruce Reid Schaefer and the story is edited by Tad Stones. Gummi Dearest is written by Bruce Talkington and story edited by Tad Stones. So it's the Tad Bruce show today. HA! I MADE A BAD FUNNY! HA HA!
Interesting Moment #1: For the second straight episode; the first opening sequence is used. This DVD must be in production order since this must have aired BEFORE the second opening sequence change over.
Mirthy Me: We begin this one as we go into the ultra creepy ruins (because it's dark and it's creepy) as Sunni is inside complaining like the teenybopper diva that she is. See; there is no rain and both Sunni and Tummi want to go to a fun place but Cubbi wants to visit a ruins. True sign of a diva: No respect for the past or past cultures. The ruins are actually a recycled version of Flint Shrubwood's hideout from For A Few Sovereigns more when we hear Cubbi scream his head off and go to the downward pan. It looks almost to the brick like Flint's former hideout. Some say recycling; some say CONTINUITY. I'll pick the later in this case since Cubbi KNOWS Flint's former hideout. Sunni and Tummi scatter into another section of the ruins (which wasn't shown in For A Few Sovereigns More); but they are cornered by the LIVING ARMOR OF DEATH...and there is pink blood on that statue! I guess in this world; dried up blood turns pink; since in the real world it turns black. Rather odd as Tummi and Sunni try to back up; but the living armor's head comes off and collapses to reveal Cubbi on a column laughing his ribs off and blowing off the other kids for being so stupid to fall for that trick. Sunni is really ticked off because Cubbi made a practical joke that was too funny for her to handle and goes over to Cubbi's column and shakes it. True sign of a teenybopper diva: She cannot take a joke.
There are the babyfaces staring from a dark door which I'll bet will be used as a plot device in this episode. Sadly for the kids; the rain begins pouring again as Tummi gets some drops of rain on his dumb pinhead and everyone runs out of the ruins (showing a static shot of the ruins from outside while they are running). Cubbi complains because it's been raining for week. In real life; Gummi Glenn would have been flooded out of house and home by now. Sunni blows off Cubbi because he wasted time with his jokes as we see a red mushroom like figure fly with fly wings behind them. I betcha it becomes the plot device for this episode as we head to the oak tree entrance to Gummi Glenn while it was still raining as Cubbi accuses Sunni of not having a sense of humor. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments as the doors opens and the kids along with the flying mushroom figure enter inside. The kids don't suspect a thing. We head to the GLOOMY STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM as it is pouring hard outside. We cut to Gruffi waist deep in trouble inside the Quick Tunnels as the kids arrive in the Quick Car onto the water and swamp Gruffi with the water wave. HA HA! Gruffi blows them off because the foundations of Gummi Glenn are being washed away and they are building a dam to divert the water from the foundations and the kids are needed to help built it. Cubbi blows off Gruffi because he is making things worse than they are and pops out of the Quick Car. He basically dives in water about three feet over his head which forces Tummi to grab him and blows him off for getting over his head. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments as Sunni giggles on that spot. We cut over to Cubbi entering his room selling badly the work he had to do in the Quick Tunnels and flops on the bed proclaiming that he'll never move again. So Corey Burton's voice beckons and Cubbi rises up to see the red mushroom figure with fly wings, red overalls and red shoes fly up and Cubbi calls him a gremlin.
The figure calls himself a Gigglin (according to the crack Disney Captions-Close enough to Chris' Giggalin) and he is the master of jokes as he wants to shake hands with Cubbi. Cubbi sells it like a fool and grabs Gigglin's hand and his palms are full of purple stuff. Cubbi doesn't like that spot as the Gigglin laughs it off. See; he is a master of really bad jokes (and even admits that his jokes aren't as good as Cubbi's.) and unless the jokes are so bad that they are funny then this COMEDY BABY is going to sink worse than an average bad Darkwing Duck episode. He's got yellow teeth too as the Gigglin calls Cubbi a funny bear. Geez; inflate Cubbi's ego why don't ya?! Cubbi goes over to his wash basin and cleans his hands in it as he admits that he got Sunni scared in the ruins. Gigglin asks what Cubbi should do as a joke next and even Cubbi is taken aback of this as he wipes his hands on the towel. He clearly did a bad job of wiping his hands because most of the purple stuff landed on the towel instead of the wash basin. Cubbi then recoils and decides to do a joke for his new friend as he is going to put a fish in Sunni's dresser to make her clothes smell. Okay; now Cubbi is getting out of character here and being a meanie guys. Gigglin doesn't think that joke is bad...ERRR...good enough for a real laugh and Cubbi dares him to come up with something better. Gigglin whispers in his ear of the plan. Memo to Drake and future characters: This is how you whisper. Cubbi is liking this so that logically leads to...
....Sunni's personal washroom (I think) as Sunni is washing her hands in the wash basin on a stool dressed in a purple dress. She looks older and taller for some odd reason here. She then screams like a wench for Grammi because her face has turned blue as if she was dying. She needs to take a chill shower baby..Bum..Bum..Ching! We cut to see Cubbi and the Gigglin hiding behind a closet door laughing at her expense. Worst... hiding... place... ever.... guys! Sadly; Gigglin's jokes have bite like Braq's soda because it will be a full moon before that blue substance comes off. Cubbi is even taken aback by that sick joke but Gigglin likes it because they get to laugh at her for week. Call me cynical if you like; but I had 45 episodes to mock her and Cubbi's had many times already to mock her (intentional or not) so maybe this is going way too far and getting really stupid now. We cut to Sunni's room as she rightfully blows off Cubbi for his mean spirited practical joke while getting into bed and blows out the candle to fall asleep. Then the Gigglin enters Sunni's room from the back of the bed and whispers brainwashing commands on Sunni to pay back Cubbi for his mean spirited tricks. So; the Gigglin is an equal bad jokester now as we cut to the hallway in the morning as Sunni has the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE. She places the loop of the rope near Cubbi's door and sneaks away blowing off Cubbi. However; in a twist of fate, the Gigglin arrives OUT OF NOWHERE to grab the loop and place it at the front of Tummi's room and knocks on Tummi's door. So much for honor among bad jokesters as Tummi opens the door and steps into the loop. You can guess what happens next as the writers seem to recycle that spot more often than TaleSpin's snap rope spot.
Tummi twirls around like a bad figure skater (but since it's all upside down it's very creative) and bumps into the COMPLEX TRAP OF DEATH. Does Gruffi teach these kids these stunts? Because I still don't get them at all. Tummi lands in the cart and slams right into Grammi's kitchen and into the giant bowl filled with bad tasting oatmeal right on Tummi's head. Sunni storms into the kitchen to blow off Cubbi or his misdeeds and of course Tummi lifts the bowl to show himself. Now I would apologize for getting the wrong bear here; but Sunni blows him off for ruining everything. Now do you understand why she is annoying and does diva like things? Tummi apologizes anyway and tells Sunni that her face is blue in his usual funny deadpan humor that Sunni storms out with a sneer. He is the funniest guy in this episode by default as the Gigglin laughs his head off and calls them funny bears. Now I know that the jokes are supposed to be intentionally bad; but there is no excuse for making them unfunny. Just because they are bad jokes; doesn't mean that they cannot be funny.
Tummi's deadpan humor on Sunni is the only funny joke in this episode while the bad jokes are really mean spirited. Cubbi enters looking concerned for Tummi's safety as Tummi does his usual deadpan humor on Cubbi. Gigglin enters telling him to pay her back for her mean spirited ways. Tummi and Cubbi exchange notes on the Gigglin as the Gigglin is now completely annoying me in such a bad way now. Cubbi states that playing jokes will have to take a backseat since the dam is more important now. However; the Gigglin blows it off because the dam will still be there and playing a joke on Sunni is more important now. So we head to the living room as Cubbi, Tummi and the Gigglin are painting glue right on the bottom of the JOKEY SURPRISE OF DOOM and place it on the table. Sadly; there are probably no bombs inside of the surprise either.
Gigglin want to up the stupidity levels as he paints the chair which Sunni might sit on with glue. Ummm; guys, that glue is going to harden BEFORE Sunni arrives so she wouldn't be able to lift her present from the table anyway. Logic Break #1 for the episode. The male man children leave to find Sunni; but the Gigglin decides to really make this episode get silly as the present is really for Grammi. Gigglins: They'll make bad jokes out of anyone regardless of age, sex, talent or stereotype. The Gigglin leaves as we see Grammi enter the living room and grabs the present like an idiot. I wonder if Jokey Smurf and Gigglin exchanged notes before Gigglin got the role for this episode? Grammi of course cannot get her hands unstuck from the present..DUH!! Grammi struggles and lands into the glue painted chair and now she's completely stuck in her seat with no where to go. She trips over and falls onto the ground as Sunni enters to help like a good little blue faced stereotype should. Grammi accuses Cubbi of this act as she tries to pull Grammi out of the chair and succeeds despite ripping the stuffing out of a pillow and being half covered in feathers with a decent bump. Cubbi and Tummi enter to laugh at Sunni's expense and Sunni is ready to MURDER Cubbi's feathers as the Gigglin puts the pot of glue right in front of an entering Zummi who grabs it like a fool.
This is the first truly good joke that the Gigglin has done actually as Grammi un-pulls herself from the present and she is ticked off as the kids try to pin the blame on someone else. Zummi enters with pot of glue in hands and Grammi accuses him of gluing her to death. Remember that Zummi and Grammi used to pull off jokes on each other and get into trouble when they were kids? See Little Bears Lost. Zummi is aghast by the accusation. We head to the dam as Gruffi is banging on the dam with the wooden mallet blowing off the babyfaces for deserting him and that is payed back by the spray of water from a hole right into Gruffi's kisser. HA HA! That is the best joke of the episode so far and the Gigglin isn't responsible for it. We head inside the hallow halls of Gummi Glenn as everyone is attacking everyone else for their stupid jokes. That is so contrived only a Gigglin could pull it off...and this is still more mean spirited than the infamous flood episode from the Nelevana version of the Care Bears. Funny spot from Cubbi and Tummi as they literally ram into Sunni's room and they crash and burn much to Sunni's delight. Zummi is using the little pots to defend himself from stereotype Grammi Gummi as Gruffi enters to extreme horror. Zummi's magic screws him of course which earns him a tomato in the kisser. Okay; that was different and now Zummi has had enough and casts a spell Grammi's way....
Zummi: Pa-more, na-mow!
Translation: Pound More Now More!
And of course; the magic spell is screwed as Zummi's pots pour water all over his head. Nice to see that the You Cannot Hurt Other Gummi Bears with Gummi Magic rule is still in effect even though his spell would only get Grammi wet. I guess wet dresses are still too taboo even for Disney. The Gigglin is loving this as he his hiding behind a blue curtain while Gruffi is ordering everyone to stop in the confusion and that is not working. Gigglin doesn't like Gruffi's interference and must stop him some how. So Gruffi is standing on the conveniently placed rug on one side; so the Gigglin comes in from behind and pulls the rug from underneath him which Kit would later steal in the Idol Rich. The Gigglin races over and puts the rug over Grammi's head to cover her like a bloody. Ooooo..this should be good since they simply cannot get along without blowing each other off. Gruffi gets up and notices Grammi with the rug and accuses her of almost injuring him for life. Grammi defends herself and earns a jug of water right in the kisser while blowing her off in kind. Now that's more like it. It may be mean spirited; but that is what these two are known for. Grammi counters with the tomato; but Gruffi ducks and Cubbi gets in right in the kisser. Gigglin laughs as Cubbi invokes the mean look at him. Hey Cubbi: TELL THE BABYFACES who is really responsible and point to the Gigglin. More fighting with food from Grammi as Gruffi bounces away.
This episode is getting out of hand right now and it's tell to mercy kill it. And Cubbi has had enough of Gigglin's jokes; but Gigglin has only begun as his talking in third person is getting on my nerves. No wonder Relm never got to speak that way in the American version of Final Fantasy VI. Cubbi goes over to Tummi who is hiding behind the BARREL OF LAUGHS (which is funnier than 80% of the jokes in this episode I should note) and tells him it's time to mercy kill this episode. Okay; not exactly but still. Cubbi goes over to Grammi and Gruffi who are ready to MURDER each other and tries to talk them out of fighting each other. However; they continue fighting each other as Grammi earns another bucket of water in the face and they run off bumping into Cubbi and knocking him down. We cut over to the Gigglin yawning as he is loving the really ugly mess made by the babyfaces. Cubbi of course enters with the toolboxes as Gigglin starts taunting him to play more jokes and Cubbi blows him off every time while power walking towards the dam. He is going to the dam to fix the dam because if he doesn't then Gummi Glenn would be a terrible mess beyond repair. Gigglin calls this the biggest joke of them all and flies away as Cubbi smiles. I thought Cubbi had enough of jokes for a lifetime...I knew he was faking all along...
We get the bad scene changer of doom and we head to the dam as the babyfaces have apparently stopped fighting and is working on the dam. We cut to Cubbi hammering nails as the Gigglin arrives. Cubbi pleads for him to stay clear; but Gigglin fails to listen of course and flies to the top of the dam. He tries to pull a plank away to create the biggest joke of them all and destroy Gummi Glenn in the process. However; Cubbi invokes the LASSO OF BANE ON ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE and ties Gigglin's leg to the dam as Gigglins manages to pull one of the planks away. Cubbi then explains that some of the boards are giving way and the Gigglin is begging for mercy as the babyfaces starts becoming mean and nasty at Gigglin while fixing the dam at the same time (while Gigglin pleads for them to do it now). Sunni trips and gets the blue paint (while still blue faced) on the Gigglin as she taunts the Gigglin. The babyfaces have apparently got it despite the fact that we NEVER saw the scene where Cubbi convinced them of such. Gigglin wants to fix the dam and he earns a bucket of water right in the face from Tummi as he does his usual deadpan humor.
This episode is actually getting better; maybe the mean-spiritness was worth it after all. Grammi pours glue all over Gigglin from the pot of glue as Gigglin is getting what he rightfully deserves for thinking that bad jokes can get anyone over. Gigglin starts painting the dam with glue and is in full hysteria mode as Zummi decides to feather him to complete the tar and feathering of the poor Gigglin. Gigglin has such a mental illness as he is pleading for help to stop cracks and leaks. The babyfaces then scatters because the dam is giving way and they abandon the stupid looking Gigglin as he is pleading for mercy now as he gets more water drenched on him and he is helpless as the babyfaces laugh at his expense. That is the funniest thing I have seen in this entire series bar none and Gigglin deserved every bit of it.
Well Cubbi too; but he already got his from the fight earlier on. See; they built the dam in full last night which makes no sense; but who cares anyway as Cubbi unties Gigglin and he falls with a thud. Gigglin didn't see it as being very funny. Gigglin doesn't have a real sense of humor after all (and even Sunni agrees with me on that one) as he storms out and walks right into the storage closet proclaiming that he doesn't want to see the bears again. Cubbi blows Gigglin off because he walked right into the storage closet. Cubbi walks to the door and does a knock-knock joke which allows Gigglin to blow him off and crash right into the stuff that Gruffi keeps inside. Cubbi opens the door and the final joke is on Gigglin as he is buried inside a machine tomb of gears and springs. HA HA! Everyone laughs at Gigglin's expense as Gigglin's eyes turn from anger to happiness to end the episode at 10:46. Most of the episode was too mean spirited to give me a laugh; but the finish redeemed this episode at the end so the mean spiritness was probably intentional on the writers part. *** ( 60%).
Gummi Dearest: We begin this one with a Quick Tunnel sequence as Gruffi is blowing off Cubbi for wandering off again. We get the water spot of course because it wouldn't be a Quick Tunnel sequence without it as the Quick Car lands in front of a water wheel. Gruffi uses the water wheel to climb up as we cut to the pool on the above shot in front of a water fall as the water pillar shoots up and pan over to see Cubbi fishing with a fishing pole. He wasn't wondering off; he was showing his fishing skills. I betcha Gruffi's mad because Cubbi isn't using _Gruffi's techniques_ in how to fish properly. Cubbi claims that he caught another one apparently (check the fish beside the eggs). He is sitting on three giant eggs which will probably be the plot device for this episode no doubt. Cubbi apparently has caught the big one as Gruffi enters from the rock door behind Cubbi (so much for a funny entrance) as Cubbi manages to lash onto a fish which is at least three times bigger than his own body weight. Cubbi is having trouble with the fish (DUH!) so he invokes the automatic line up feature of his wooden fishing rod.
Geez; Gummi technology is so 1800's compared to the 1200's this cartoon is. Cubbi auto-reels the fish as Gruffi walks up from behind to blow off Cubbi for wandering off; but he gets nailed by the fish which has shrunk about 90% of it's size now. Bad animation perception there TMS! The fish invokes the tail swipe to whack Gruffi's face of course. Cubbi asks Gruffi what he is doing here and Gruffi ignores the obvious question because he's an adult (with a green painted tinfoil hat) and therefore his question comes first. Cubbi explains that he is fishing because someone has to do it and Gruffi blows him off because it's dangerous. See; Cubbi is fishing at Grimtooth Inlet which seems hardly scary at all. I guess the fish is stinking up Gruffi's tinfoil hat because that's the only reason why he's so paranoid here. Cubbi asks what could happen and of course his feet kept that egg so warm that it is hatching before our very eyes. Gruffi blows him off because Cubbi was at a griffon's nest and one of her mervyns is about to hatch. 1:1 odds that the writers made up that one. Gruffi grabs the backpack of fish and Cubbi has to butt in and tackle him down as the mervyn egg rolls around the ground like a goof.
The egg is about to fall into the water and die; as Gruffi tries to grab it but no dice. Cubbi steps on Gruffi to try his luck; but the egg falls into the lake before Gruffi and Cubbi can grab it in time. Gruffi calls this terrible; but the egg manages to fall into the tree branch about thirty feet down from the cliff. Gruffi breathes a sigh of relief as he grabs Cubbi and the back pack of fish to try to get out of here. However; Cubbi no-sells because they cannot leave the egg because it's a baby. Gruffi doesn't like it since the mother could come back; but agrees to climb down to save the egg while Cubbi goes up topside. Gruffi climbs down the cliff slowly and even then he slips on some rocks and is in serious trouble as he is dangling on for dear life now. Gruffi claims that careful is the GUMMI WAY and now more trouble as the two remaining eggs are hatching as Gruffi still manages to climb down and make it to the tree branch where the egg is. We get the old balance yourself in dangerous spot (and you thought Cubbi was in more danger by himself?) as the egg is hatching on the tree branch as well and opens up to reveal a pink mervyn (baby griffion) chirping. Both the babies and mother griffon are voiced by the animal voice god himself Frank Welker.
So every voice in Volume one is now present and accounted for. The baby griffon hops onto the tree branch which makes Gruffi lose his balance and he's forced to grab onto a smaller tree branch to save himself (after a long pause to make it dramatic- nice touch!) as we go topside with Cubbi trying to defend himself from the two mervyns with his fish which are getting smaller by the second. And now their mother's squawking beckons so Cubbi tries to call for him; then realizes that it would do him no good. So Cubbi grabs to his VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE; but the mervyn shatters the vial to bits with his beck. You know you are screwed when THAT happens. The SHADOW OF DOOM beckons as the red mother griffon flaps down to the ground. So Cubbi foolishly hides inside one of the eggs to pretend that it is a baby. We cut over to Gruffi as the baby mervyn is licking Gruffi and tickling him while sitting on his back. Gruffi doesn't have the decency to sell the tickle properly. That's why TaleSpin used actors instead of cartoon voices..because they could act. How do you explain Kit's spine-tingling laugh?
Gruffi is about to climb up as the baby mervyns cuddle with their mom topside. However; the mother notices one of her eggs is only half hatched so she goes to it and pecks at it while Cubbi blows his cover to tell her to go away. The mother pecks into the hole and decides to do the old sit down which would squash a bear in real life; and the first time pops away from the nest onto the ground as he pleads for Gruffi's help. Nothing coming as the mother tries again; but Cubbi bounces a bit to miss. More bouncing and missing from the mother to the egg as Cubbi shouts out for help. Gruffi is still climbing as he pushes the mervyn down into his shirt and tells him not to tickle him. Good plan since Corey Burton cannot sell that move properly as the Cubbi egg meets a dead end and the mother basically squashes Cubbi with the SIT DOWN OF DEATH. Cubbi screams that he cannot breathe so the mother gets up as Cubbi looks like he was in a car crash there. Cubbi has a bonding moment with the mervyns as they are licking him some more. Gruffi gets over the cliff and realizes that Cubbi is in trouble.
He calls out for him and Cubbi runs to greet him. However; the mother grabs him with her beak and tosses him back behind her as Cubbi takes a really bad bump on the ground. OUCH! Now the mother griffin is ticked off as Gruffi and Gruffi tries to reason with her because Gruffi's got her real baby back. You know; calling her lady is not a good way to get in her good graces there Gruffi Gummi. Gruffi tries to get the baby mervyn out; but now it is scared of it's mother as it's struggle to the front of the shirt. If this were Molly; she would be laughing her butt off on that spot. Mother tries to bite Gruffi as his back is against the cliff. Cubbi then foolishly finds a conveniently placed staff (oh come on! That was so contrived it wasn't funny) and bashes mother's tail with it which causes Gruffi and baby mervyn to free fall off of the cliff. Cubbi tries to go after him; but mother grabs him by the beak again. Gruffi manages to fall onto the tree branch as it is starting to give way. Then we see Cubbi and the mervyns being flown to the opposite side of the cliff as Gruffi calls out to Cubbi that he will save him as mervyn blows him off. Gruffi gets off shut up for the seventh time in this series (I think) as the branch is uprooted and Gruffi falls into the rapid river.
We get a pretty lame falling down the river and over the waterfall sequence as the mervyn manages to climb onto the tree branch as Gruffi pops from the water wondering if things could get worse...and now he wishes he kept his mouth shut because the GHYSER FROM HELL shoot water into the air and Gruffi does the bounce water spot that Kit would lift for All's Whale That Ends Whale. Gruffi and mervyn fall back into the water and Gruffi is officially screwed of course. Wow; I'm not 1 ½ pages into this rant and we are already at the six minute mark here. We cut to the opposite side of the inlet as mother griffon lands to feed fish to her babies and Cubbi. The babies take it rather well; but Cubbi no-sells because he claims to be full. Mother doesn't buy it and whacks the fish on top of Cubbi's little pinhead so Cubbi is forced to sell which involves having the fish stuffed in his mouth. The mervyns have seconds of course because they aren't fat enough I guess. Cubbi spits out the fish and proclaims that he'll never eat fish again. What is the problem with kid characters when it comes to raw fish? I saw it with Kit in Pizza Pie In The Sky and now here. They have no problem with cooked fish; but raw fish...YUCK! Shaggy at least had the excuse of being a vegan because it's voice actor wanted it that way. Sadly; Cubbi is forced to take another fish to the mouth from mother. Thankfully; they don't show his reaction as we cut to Gruffi and mervyn out of the water as Gruffi squeezes his green-painted tinfoil hat of course. Oh come on TMS! It's very clear what we see as the next danger in this scene: A rock with a log attached to it. It's as clear as day. You are not fooling anyone here. Gruffi explains to the mervyn the situation because he is the boss here and he's a stubborn mule.
He also explains his plan to make the switch with Cubbi if you didn't notice. The mervyn doesn't care as it licks Gruffi's face in a cute spot. Gruffi blows it off because it's a pest and the mervyn is crying which Gruffi doesn't even care about. Gruffi mean-spiritness is lame here for some reason as we cut to Cubbi throws out some fish over the river in disgust and one of them lands on the rock beam which makes it teeter and totter in dramatic fashion while mervyn notices the entire time as the mervyn tries to grab onto Gruffi's shirt twice; but no go so it decides that one bite on the bum wasn't enough for this series so it bites Gruffi on the bum making Walt Disney France look like a bigger pussy than it already is. Gruffi chases after the mervyn in protest as the rock falls down and crumbles to dust as Gruffi turns around and realizes the mervyn saved his hide. Gruffi is forced to apologize while stuttering like Honker after a bully spree from Drake. However; the mervyn licks him which is enough for Gruffi to nicely blow him off for going mushy. So it's climbing time as we cut back to Cubbi looking down the cliff as he is doomed without the VIAL OF ROIDED JUICE. See what I mean when I say that it is a crutch for these bears?!
Cubbi crawls backwards as the mother decides to nudge the babies over the cliff and it's flying lessons time much to the dismay of Cubbi. Cubbi does a prayer on the ground pleading at the mother saying that he is not one of their babies. However; the mother whacks Cubbi over the cliff and he freefalls towards his doom. However; the mother realizes that Cubbi cannot fly so she swoops down and catches him and brings him back to the nest. Cubbi believes that this will finally convince her. However; as the mervyn's fly again; Cubbi is whacked over the edge by the mother AGAIN! Cubbi is just getting tortured here and not in a funny way; a dramatic way. At least the writers aren't turning this into a comedy act and it's just the mother not knowing any better. We cut to Gruffi and mervyn arguing because Gruffi refuses to climb the cliff because the mervyn has wings in order to fly. The mervyn doesn't sell of course and Gruffi slaps himself in a funny fashion since he is so screwed. So Gruffi invokes the old Cubbi swimming lesson (showing his back to demonstrate the flapping his wings) and throws mervyns into the steam lake below. Gruffi is such a poor parent! No wonder fans wanted him jettisoned from this series. Gruffi is in panic mode as the mervyn has done nothing but free fall and orders him to flap his wings. No response so Gruffi is forced to climb down to save him. However; he barely gets down the cliff when the mervyn appears OUT OF NOWHERE flying like a champion.
Too funny as Gruffi gets onto the hill and declares victory for the baby griffin as the mervyn flies like it's got an ego problem. So Gruffi blows him off while doing his annoying pose. We cut back to the nest as Cubbi is sitting on a rock feeding them fish as Gruffi appears behind a rock to greet Cubbi. Cubbi is happy to see him as they have a bonding moment. Cubbi tells Gruffi that mother has gone fishing and it's time to leave. However; Gruffi isn't leaving just yet as he introduces the stray mervyn to the remaining mervyns. We get a dramatic moment of truth to see if they will accept each other and of course they do in the end as they fly into the sky and do some flying sequences which only TaleSpin airplanes could do. Gruffi and Cubbi decide to go home; but here comes Mother and she's not happy to see Gruffi as she lands to attack Gruffi. Cubbi stand in between them to defend Gruffi from her; but mother pulls Cubbi away as Gruffi is left to stand and fight her. However; the pink mervyn flies down to chirp to the mother that he's the real baby of the family and the mother finally gets it. Gruffi pats mervyn on the hand telling it that it belongs with her mother. That's a bit overkill if you ask me as mervyn licks Gruffi's arm and then has a bonding moment with it's real mother.
Gruffi shed a tear and then blows it off as dust as Cubbi is glad that he is able to go home now. Gruffi proclaims that Cubbi is old enough to take care of himself as the griffins fly around while Gruffi states that it's tough to let go. With Gruffi around that is an understatement. Cubbi proclaims that he is staying with Gruffi unless raw fish is served of course. HEE HEE! Gruffi and Cubbi hug each other and laugh it up to end the episode, Season 3 and Volume 1 of the Gummi Bears DVD at 10:46. Not as good as Loopy Go Home since the whole moral of kids taking care of themselves was squashed by the mother griffin; however, there were fewer mistakes than in Loopy so it all balances out somewhat. *** ¼ (85%).
THE REVIEW LINE
So we end Season three and Volume One of Disney's Adventures of The Gummi Bears with two middling episodes. Mirthy Me could have been great; but the bad jokes were more mean-spirited than funny. Tummi's deadpan humor was a lot funnier than the pranks Cubbi and company were performing for the Gigglin's benefit. The Gigglin was basically a nothing character because while his jokes were supposed to be terrible; they were not so-bad it's funny. More like so bad they were mean. Even I felt sorry for Sunni in this one. And the whole Gummi Bears agree to blow back the jokes on the Gigglin makes no sense since there was no indication that the babyfaces were going to change after they were fighting around. The fighting wasn't funny either. However; the finish was awesome (partly in part due to the mean-spirited jokes that the Gigglin was telling them to do) since the Gigglin deserved every one of the jokes...and the ending was funny because it buried Gigglin and I don't have to deal with him ever again since he was a poor character.
Gummi Dearest was basically a repeat of Loopy Go Home with Cubbi taking care of himself as the plot thread. It was a pretty fun episode for the most part and with fewer errors than Loopy Go Home; but the whole Cubbi can take care of himself didn't quite click since the mother griffin was basically slaughtering his character to allow for such a thing. The tickling spots were also botched as Gruffi wasn't game to sell. I thought Corey Burton was a good actor; but this scene proved that he is not good at laughing. Janna Michaels would have completely laughed her butt off if the mervyn went inside Molly's shirt. Most of the episode involved climbing and falling which was done well. However; I just didn't feel much sympathy for Cubbi since he didn't prove that he could take care of himself to the end. Thank goodness this wasn't a stand up for yourself episode or it would be much episode. Good animation for the most part in both episodes so I end with two middling shorts.
This officially ends Volume One of Disney's Adventures of the Gummi Bears. This was a much better series to rant on since only one animation company was handling the animation and the writers didn't take a lot of risks in the writing. This was a lot easier to rant on and I only suffered burnout near the end compared to Darkwing Duck or even TaleSpin where I either suffered burn out in the middle of the series; or it took a few month before I finished the remaining episodes. Still; I'm worried about Season Four onward though as the writers really forced the issue and introduced new characters and there were more full episodes than shorts. I'll find out when and if Volume 2 is release. In the end; I found 24 thumbs up, 4 thumbs down and 19 thumbs in the middle. That's pretty good compared to Darkwing Duck which had six thumbs down already in just 27 episodes. I still have the Gummi Bears Volume One DVD to review left and then it's a month vacation before I start Darkwing Duck Volume 2 up for the beginning of October. So....
Thumbs in the middle for both episodes and I'll see you all next time with the Darkwing Duck DVD Volume 2 episodes.