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Top Gum
Reviewed: 08/06/2011
Riding In Cubbi's Danger Zone!
So we come to near the end of season four as we head to another Cubbi focused episode and this one is a doozy. It's Cubbi Vs. The Aerials. So who are these creatures? Let's rant on and find out shall we...?!
This story is done by Jymn Magon, Mark Zaslove and Alan Burnett. The teleplay is done by Alan Burnett. The animation is done by TMS.
We begin this one in the sky as the storm clouds open as Grammi is doing monologue as we see three winged human warriors fly in the sky. They are the Aerials according to Grammi as we get the floating castle in the sky. Geez; this is not hyper-referencing Ghibi Studio's Castle In The Sky in anyway, no siree. We then pan up the castle to see Cubbi in awe (and in regular gear) as Grammi declares the story over and Cubbi is in bed in his red pjs. Cubbi asks what it would be like living in the sky and Grammi calls it windy and not as cozy as the Gummi as she kisses him on the cheeks and blows out the candle on the desk which brings lazy animation #1 as the light source doesn't change at all. Cubbi cuddles up as he talks in his sleep about the things he can do in the sky. Grammi closes the door as Cubbi ponders about a way to fly as we fade to black to turn Michael Eisner on again. Geez; we're not even a minute into this thing too?!
We return with a shot of a blue bird on a branch of a tree as a second blue bird joins us. We then pan south to see Cubbi with his birdmen wings as he does the moon landing promo and flaps the wings and not getting off the ground. At least back then; the nature of flight wasn't so noted so there you go. We then cut to the bottom of the hill as Gusto Vaino is pondering about painting another full of himself picture again. Arte Deco is with him on a tree branch; in case you cared about him. Gusto has nothing to paint as his inspiration is less than zero at this point. Arte thinks that it will hit him as Cubbi yells and MURDERS Artie off the branch and they roll like a bowling ball to a MAN-SIZED bump off-screen as they forgot to WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE! Arte blows Cubbi off for that one as Cubbi apologizes. Cubbi proclaims that he wants to fly as Arte tells him that his posture's all wrong and his flapping is a joke. Cubbi asks if Arte can teach him how to fly and Arte decides to do just that for him.
So we scene change as Arte is grabbing onto Cubbi's hat as they flap their wings in stereo and jump off the cliff. Arte tries to keep Cubbi in sync with the flapping; but the cap is ripped and Cubbi freefalls to a wussier bump off-screen right into the branch. Arte DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) #1: Never stop flapping. Well; that is good to know Arte. Cubbi DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) #2: Look before you plunge. Even better to know Cubbi. So we scene change as Cubbi and Arte are standing in a tree as Arte tells him that he needs extra zip. Cubbi takes out his vial of roided juice and drinks it. It's BUTT BOUNCING TIME! Cubbi flaps his wings and bounces off the ground as Arte follows him proclaiming that he'll get it real soon. Sadly; the juice wears off in about thirty seconds flat and Cubbi freefalls. Ah; I see that batch is weak sauce as we cut to Gruffi driving a makeshift wooden Gummi Berry Harvester Machine which sticks out like a sore thumb technology wise. The rest of the Gummi's minus Gusto are there to watch as Gruffi jumps off the Hopster (What a lame ass name there on par with half of the names in The Wuzzles) as he explains that it picks double the berries in half of the time. In other words; four times as many berries, no fuss, no must.....and Cubbi falls right into the berry basket part of the machine and Gruffi's tinfoil hat gets splashed. HAHA!
Cubbi pops up and Gruffi is not amused as he gets Cubbi out of the harvester and proclaims that Gummi's were not meant to fly. Ah; I see that Gruffi has wiped all memories of A Gummi In A Glided Cage already. Character development? What's that? Me not know how that can be possible in a DTVA cartoon. Gruffi of course doesn't want anyone to see them and Grammi takes Gruffi's side for once. You know it's a special day when Grammi and Gruffi can agree on something. Sunni calls losing their home horrible which is continuity and funny from There's No Place Like Home all rolled into one. Cubbi proclaims that he'll be careful; but Gruffi doesn't want to hear a debate and demands that Cubbi hang up those wings and get back to work. Cubbi sulks stage left taking the wings off; as Arte perches on the basket of the Hopster and proclaims that what goes up must come down and then gets blown away by the Hopster engine into Cubbi's chest. Cubbi then gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and there is his extra oophm. So we scene change as Cubbi is wearing the wings with a jetpack of two vials of Gummi Berry Juice. Oookkkkaaayyyy. Cubbi runs and jumps and the jetpack thrusts him into the sky. Arte is impressed; but for about three seconds as Cubbi is out of control!
Cubbi flies out of control almost smashing into a cow, into the barn top and then somehow coming out the other side on the back door on ground level spitting feathers out all the way. We also get a shot of an old bearded farmer inside the kitchen noticing Cubbi flying and calls to Francine that one of the pigs is flying. HA! We cut into the sky with Cubbi as Cubbi thinks Gruffi was right all along; but Arte Deco blows it off and tells him to follow his lead. So Cubbi does and Cubbi's flying is a lot more smooth. It must pain Kit that it took him an entire episode to pull this off instead of the six minutes Cubbi was given here. We fly for a long time around the clouds; with the flock of gooses, and do some barrel rolls as Cubbi calls Arte a slowpoke and really wants to floor it as Arte panics. Cubbi flies into the clouds and up into the sky as he wants to see how high he can get (Oh boy...); as Arte gleefully answers that one for me.
Cubbi then stops allowing Arte to crash into him again and Cubbi flaps and notices that there is a floating island in the sky. Yeap; Aerial Island is real. Cubbi mocks Arte as he flies towards the island and Arte now wishes that he would sing first. So we scene change to the island as Cubbi lands on it easily as thinks he is dreaming. Arte wishes he would wake up because it's way too quiet and the castle looks like a mountain side now. And then we hear mumbling and a bunch of goblin notices Cubbi and the goblin all chant to get the bear and smack their lips as Cubbi isn't liking this at all. And then we fade to black again...and cut to a side shot of Aerial Island. Was that a commercial break? Because that would be the dumbest time to do one. We return onto the island as Cubbi backs away and tries to run; but the three Jewish stereotypes grab him and we get the bowling ball spot again. We get a fight in the bushes much to Arte's surprise and then they grab Cubbi and do the football victory spot and bounce away stage right. Huh? Cubbi seems as confused of this as I am.
So we pan east to the temple which looks absolutely NOTHING like in the story Grammi told which pretty much gives away the fact that they are not the real Aerials. We then head to the throne room of the temple as we see the Aerial King (which is basically a goblin with Gregor's dress and the longest Jewish nose) as he exchanges notes with Cubbi sitting next to him. They haven't seen a Gummi in over 500 years, blah, blah, blah. I think you can pretty much say that this is turning into a template for Last Horizons. Only a different kind of racism. And the denizens nearly blow their cover right away by giggling under their breath much to the king's dismay. The king is voiced by Jim Cummings by the way. Cubbi asks about the wings and the goblins blow their cover by implying that they aren't angels and laugh in Cubbi's face. Cubbi of course is merely a child so he relates to the storybook and we scene change to a field where they fly wooden machines and one of the Aerials looks like a cross between Rocky J. Squirrel and Launchpad. Seriously; he does. I believe he's voiced by June Foray. Cubbi likes the machines and would like the Gummi's to see them. The king agrees with him as Cubbi asks why the Ancients stopped seeing them. The king claims that they lost touch with them and the closeups of the second Aerial's face make it clear that he looks like a goblin version of Launchpad. The king unstraps Cubbi's jetpack as the kings offers Cubbi a grand feast tonight and the Aerials all clap their hands in unison.
So Cubbi gets the football victory spot again as the goblin Aerials all lead him into the temple. We then pan over to Office and King talking about the jetpack as they call it their lucky day. You know what; now I remember why I forgot all about Top Gum years ago. It wasn't the racism of Last Horizons; it was because Last Horizons erased Top Gum from my mind since Last Horizons was so much better. Mainly due to Last Horizons being a lot more suspenseful as long as you didn't watch the Disney Afternoon cut of it. They seem to have evil intentions as they walk off stage left with the jetpack to refuel their flying machines I guess. Arte was watching on the whole time (oops) as he flies off towards Cubbi stage right. So we head to Gummi Glen as the door opens and in comes Gusto Vaino with his latest masterpiece. Now THAT will get me back in the right mood. Sadly; the Gummi Bears aren't in the right mood as Gusto thinks Gruffi is on the warpath again. Close, but not quite Gusto. They are worried about Cubbi as Gruffi storms in and is on the warpath since Cubbi is gone with his wings. Grammi cannot believe that he would risk such a thing. See; the problem with this is that after 60+ episodes and several Crimson Avenger episodes; you would think Gruffi would have realized it by now. Gruffi wants to force Cubbi on the ground for good.
Scene changer as we return to Aerial Island as Cubbi is sitting on the throne eating cakes and pies. Arte tells him that he doesn't trust these vultures; but Cubbi blows him off because he's the guest of honor see. The king arrives as he has a matter elsewhere (!); but he does have a final meal for him as it's a Gummi Bear Ice Cream Cake. Yum! Cubbi is impressed with this as Arte just blows it off of course. So we head to the flying machines as they pour some of the roided juice into the flying machines. The Aerial King wants him not to use all of it so that Cubbi can fly home. Yeap; it's a template to Last Horizons as the Launchpad Aerial #2 has changed outfits since I last saw him. No logic break there; just weird. Now he looks similar to that pilot from The Littles. We see that Arte has somehow teleported from the throne room all the way to behind the bushes. That ends the segment at 11:03. I'm just not feeling this episode as much as I should. Maybe that TaleSpin bias is starting to infect me.
After the Youtube break; we find out that the Aerials were defeated by the Gummi's once before according to the king and they were high in day. Aerial #2 insists that there's nothing to worry out as they are going to kidnap a few bears and make them make Gummi Berry Juice for them. Which indicates that Grammi is going to be kidnapped soon. Arte is in shock and blows them off; however, Aerial #2 somehow has teleported BEHIND Arte and grabs him. Did we really need this Rescue Ranger late season crap? The king notices Arte protesting this outage as he calls Arte a little bird with a big mouth. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. So we scene change to the Aerials as they say their goodbye as Cubbi wants to go home now and has his wings back I see. After all; he doesn't want his family to think he's gone. Cubbi is going to wish he didn't come back. Cubbi asks about Arte and the kings claims that he left to polish his beak. Cubbi and King walk away stage left as Cubbi ponders what is wrong with Arte as we see a guard holding a cage behind his back with Arte in it muzzled so to speak. So we scene change again as Cubbi gives his goodbyes to them as the king proclaims that they will meet again; soon then he thinks.
So we see Cubbi break logic as he now has a switch on his jetpack (WHAT? Since when?) and he flies into the sky. We then pan south to see the Launchpad goblin looking on with his binoculars made from wood. We then zoom out as LP Aerial calls him a foolish bear as the six flying machines (which three are shown on the closeup; five in the air and then six on the side shot with the crowd cheering) start up and they fly into the sky. They call it freedom in the air. I call it something else guys. Cubbi floats down and then starts going out of control for whatever reason as we see Gruffi in a tree wanting to get his hands on that bird brain bear (Hey; stop insulting Arte....Oh wait...) and then gets MURDERED by Cubbi on the tackle. Not quite Kit's MISSILE OF DEATH on Pop-A-Bear; but damn close enough as they drop to the ground. Nice effect of the leaves making an angel out of Gruffi. I think we all know where this is going now considering how much of a jackass Gruffi can be. So we see Gruffi drop Cubbi into the tunnels as the Aerials watch on with the binoculars as we have dropped to just three flying machines now.
So Cubbi is forced into his room and is basically grounded forever. Cubbi pleads his case; but no one wants to hear it. No one saw him except for the Aerials; but no one is buying what he's selling as they slam the door shut. Quite frankly; I don't think it would have mattered in hindsight since the only one who saw him is a farmer and he's too clueless to notice anything and this is just a contriveness to get Cubbi out of the way for the Aerials to attack. Again; after the close calls in previous episodes; one which involved Gruffi of all Gummi's; I think Gruffi is seriously projecting here and it makes the contriveness even more obvious. That is reason #3 as to why I like Last Horizons better. So we head to the living room as Gusto Vaino is painting up a storm on his canvas. Gruffi comes in with the jetpack wings as Gusto asks him if the prisoner has been soundly thrashed and Gruffi blows him off. Oh sod off; you did the damage Gruffi; take the damn joke and LIKE IT! It's not as if Gusto was taking Cubbi's side on this one anyway. Grammi cannot understand why Cubbi tells tall tales. Answer: Look in the mirror Grammi; you were the one who TOLD him that story at the beginning of the episode. Gruffi calls the tales sky high as he tries to destroy the jetpack by throwing it against the wall; but no dice. We then hear a whole lot of buzzing as everyone wonders if it's bees. Then the ceiling of the living room crumbles and here comes the Aerials on flying machines as the Gummi's are in shock and that shot ends the segment nearly 14 minutes in.
After the commercial break; we get some running and bailing as everyone realizes that Cubbi was telling the truth. And whose fault it was for giving Cubbi such notions in his head to fly to Aerial Island? Grammi and Arte, DUH! At least Gruffi can take solace that it wasn't HIS fault for being such a jackass for a change. Sadly; the bailing doesn't work as Gusto and Sunni get netted first. Damn; I thought Grammi would get it first as Zummi's NOTES OF SATAN and tries to get halfway through a spell; but gets the net as well. Gruffi tries to grab onto Zummi's net; but gets whipped into Tummi and gets buried under some more rubbles. Then we see Launchpad Aerial head into the kitchen and grabs the barrel of roided juice which is conveniently on the shelf right in clear view. Grammi runs in with her spoon because apparently; spoons are a weakness to Aerials. Which is proven false as Grammi gets netted and taken away. So we now have four flying machines in the Glen even though we saw three. For goodness sakes animators; MAKE UP YOUR MIND! The Aerials fly away stage left as Gruffi and Tummi pop up from the carnage and chase after them.
We then see Cubbi in his room hearing the wind whoosh as he heads to the door and notices the Aerials are in the hallway as one of the flying machines cuts through the wall frame and causes the door to be barricaded. Explain THAT one kids?! Gruffi and Tummi follow as I guess even the writers think Cubbi's been punished enough. Cubbi coughs dust and opens the door as he throws rocks away calling for Gruffi. We then see the flying machines flying away in the quick tunnels as Gruffi and Tummi follow taking the front Quick Car and then things get even more absurd as somehow; one flying machine has all four Gummi Bears in net. Okay; the spot is cute, but it makes no sense. And then it somehow changes to four as we do the loop-de-loop for only 15 cents. I see where the creators got the Sonic sequence from actually. Gruffi gets onto the Quick Car front with the most lousy looking spear ever (It looks like a walking crop that he was going to use to spank Cubbi with or something) as he calls them flying freaks. He whacks on the back of the flying machine with Sunni netted (At least they kept the sequence continuity straight here) as the flying machine uses the props to cut into the rock ceiling. Gruffi loses his balance much to the panic of Sunni and Tummi grabs Gruffi's ankle to keep him from falling behind. Gruffi takes some spikes to the face before finally getting pulled inside. HAHA! It's the jackass gift that keeps on giving. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm.
So the Quick Car pops out of the ground into the air; and two Aerials were lying in wait as they net Tummi and Gruffi in midair in a neat spot as now we have five flying machines rather than six. The LP Aerial proclaims that the king will be pleased. I know this because he has the barrel of juice which has shrunk about half of it's size since we last saw it. Sunni wonders where they are taking him and Zummi doesn't know because he's still afraid of height. Nice continuity from Zummi Makes It Hot; but still silly since character development should have taken over. We hear Cubbi's voice echo over the sky as we return to the ransacked Gummi Glenn as Cubbi paces around wishing he listened to Gruffi instead of Grammi's toxic stories. Okay; I made the last part up. Cubbi kicks a bottle (I think) as he wishes he never put on those stupid wings...and then he gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY. So we head to the meadow as Cubbi has his jet pack wings on and runs proclaiming that he'll save them all. So he jumps off the springs and rockets into the air with ease. So we cut to the island as we see Sunni in the net shedding a tear wanting to go home. Tummi agrees to what is left of it. The king comes in stating that this is their home now and they will be forced to make juice for them. Zummi no sells that; so two guard grab him and go to the edge of the island and tease throwing him down just to see him bounce. Zummi naturally is still afraid of heights as Gruffi demands them to let him go. Ummm; that would be the dumbest idea right now jackass. Grammi decides to give in to their demands as the guards return Zummi back with the group. The king orders the Aerials to find fresh new berries for them as we see LP Aerial refuel some of the flying machines as we see a white airship which looks like a cross between an airship and a blimp.
…..And then here comes Cubbi; the Top Gum. HAHA! Hence the episode title as he swoops in and steals the barrel of roided juice away. The Gummi Bears are actually relieved to see him. And then smashes it right in front of the king. Okay; that was a pretty stupid move on Cubbi's part because not only does he lose a source of energy for the jetpack; it splashed onto the king and it would be ROID RAGE time. And just to break even more logic; Arte is no longer muzzled just so he can crack another pun to annoy me. Cubbi grabs the cage with his feet as he swoops up again as the king demands to have Cubbi's wings clipped. The Littles Aerials bail as Cubbi lands on a mountain rock ledge and frees Arte as he admits that the Aerials are bad news. So it's payback time as Arte and Cubbi fly up to free the others just as the five Littles pilot Aerials start up their flying machines as we now have six flying machines. Dammit guys; settle on a fixed number already! They chase after Cubbi as we do some dog fighting; but none of the flying machines crash into each other. I'm guessing this episode inspired Jymn and Mark a lot since we would see this again on TaleSpin a couple of years later. Anyhow; we cut to the Gummi's netted on the ground as Tummi wonders how Cubbi could fly like that and Arte comes in admitting that he is the teacher while snapping the net of Gusto Vain. How fitting indeed.
So we cut to Cubbi in the air as the Aerials try the squeeze play on Cubbi so Cubbi flies up into a white cloud as the six flying machines foolishly go after him and they crash right into each other into the cloud. Okay; that was a neat way to please BS&P's mandate without making it looked contrived. Cubbi flies free and thinks he has won as pieces of the flying machine tumble down with the Aerials using the props as parachutes. Okay; that was a neat BS&P spot there as the king and his denizens all bail as the pieces drop onto the ground and explode as we break logic again as the Gummi's un-net themselves easily and run to the Airship blimp. I'm surprised that TaleSpin didn't steal this design for their show. It would be revenge for all the Little's stealing and LP stealing on the Aerial character designs. We head inside as Gruffi blows off the suggestion that he doesn't know how to use one of these. Funny how Gruffi's “Gummi's Were Not Meant To Fly” mantra is gone when someone is threatening him? Maybe Cubbi needs to threaten Gruffi more often as the heels all blitz the airship since it's the last one with fuel. Zummi and Gusto barricade the door as Tummi finally shows Gruffi how stupid he is by showing him the gray button which actually starts the airship. It is pushed as the airship rises up and flies away as it's as unsteady as Jake Roberts after a night of binge drinking and Grammi blows Gruffi off for his bad driving (death reference #1) as Gruffi blows her off in kind. This is truly opposite day! The airship does some loop-de-loop's for only 15 cents but it is off the island as Cubbi cheers for victory and tells Arte to fly home...
..and then LP Aerial on a flying machine grabs Cubbi. WHAT THE HELL?! Didn't the king proclaims that the airship blimp was the only one left with fuel? Wow; what a dumbass logic break this is?! LP Aerial calls him a fly boy; so Cubbi presses the switch and rockets with LP Aerial in tow. Good; I hope this is payback for such an obvious logic break too. We get a shot of the flying machine crashing into the mountain and exploding as LP Aerial demands that Cubbi puts him down. Cubbi agrees with him and undoes his jetpack and flies away on wings as he free falls and crashes right into the king (How convient eh?) off-screen with a MAN-SIZED bump. Cubbi mocks them on the way out as he flies away as the king begs for mercy. Cubbi mocks him some more proclaiming that they'll meet again in another 500 years as the king screams and almost calls Cubbi a pervert as the cloud mask his voice just before he calls him such. Cubbi proclaims that that is that as he joins Arte and hopes everyone lands safe.
And speaking of Mr. Jackass we see the airship blimp coming down and Gruffi should have WATCH OUT FOR THAT BIG ASS TREE as it crashes into the tree in front of Gummi Glen. We then see Gruffi doing his trademark pose with his shirt caught in the prop spinning around. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now that was too funny and Gusto Vaino drops onto the branch nearby to gleefully sum it up for me. The rest of the Gummi's apparently hit the ground as they pop up from the trees. Everyone is glad that they are safe and sound; but Tummi isn't to happy with the airship's condition though. So we head to Gummi Glen AFTER HAPPY HOUR (After dark) as everyone cleans up the Glenn (except for Cubbi of course) as Grammi thanks Cubbi for saving them and their home. Gruffi is sweeping with the broom as he admits that one thing good came out of it since Cubbi has decides not to fly anymore.....as Cubbi comes in with swimming gear and he wants to swim like a fish as he shows a book about an underwater city of mermaids. One small problem: We already did that angle with Water Way To Go Gummi Bears Edition with Sunni and Gusto...sort of. Cubbi thinks that they wrestle octopi as Gruffi is flustered and that ends the episode at 21:18. Good effort; but the breaks of logic and silliness of it all dragged it down. I'm sorry; but Last Horizons is clearly the better episode here. *** ½ (70%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; the template to Last Horizons was a bit of a disappointment. It certainly wasn't due to a lack of effort on Cubbi's part as he redeemed himself quite nicely and the flying sequences were pretty good for their first attempt in dogfighting pre-TaleSpin era; I just wasn't feeling it like I did with the Last Horizons. The suspense just was not there as I knew that they were heel almost from the start. I mean the first time Cubbi met them looked heelish. Then the whole capture the Gummi Bears sequence was shot continuity wise as we had three, four, five or six flying machines in different shots. Then there was the lifting of the Littles character designs and giving them heelish Jewish noses which demonstrates that the ultra scary Manga Messiah doesn't have a monopoly on Jewish noses. Thankfully; that nose was the only thing present in this episode. However; that doesn't help with killing the Jewish stereotype in general. Finally; the final logic break was the dumbest thing ever since all the flying machines were destroyed in the previous sequence. Still; the whole Cubbi as a bird man was fun to watch and it was a fair expectation of what would be to come a few years later; but it is not as awesome as his early Crimson Avenger episode; nor the epic Last Horizons which was better storyline; but the racism was off the charts literally. So next up is Gummi's At Sea which will conclude Season Four. So......
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you all next time.