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Kim Possible: Crush
Reviewed: 11/10/2012
Call Me, Beep Me If You Can Reach Me!
Welcome to the last major show in the Fall Assortment and this one is the best of them all. I have waited many years and many moons to do this show in some form. The show that gave us the best female lead character ever, the best lead female heel ever, one of the best sidekicks ever, the best animal character ever and the best finale in history. If you don't know what that is; let me take you back to an editorial that I wrote called Kim Possible Does The Impossible. To wit...
For people who don't read my editorials in sequence. I do remember writing that in my first ever editorial back in 1998 that Disney has a very unique way of giving us something special; something that makes us go back to them even if they don't even deserve it. I do remember saying this; unlike the popular: "TaleSpin is the show in which all Disney shows are to be measured." That I believe is based on a conclusion of the same editorial created by someone else (See Jeffrey Mika). Still; I cannot deny this: It's been 13 years since TaleSpin aired. There has been at least 30 or so shows from Disney both live action and animated that have tried and failed to win my heart. Five shows have come close: Darkwing Duck, Gargoyles, Rescue Rangers, Gummi Bears and Teacher's Pet; but only TaleSpin could be said in the same breath as Batman: The Animated Series (Warner), The Simpsons (FOX) and Pokemon (Anime)...13 years and the wait is finally over. The TaleSpin killer has finally arrived and it shows just why Disney has been in so much trouble over those last 13 years....
Kim Possible....The spy girl herself.
If you think TaleSpin is balanced; Kim Possible does it better..and that's the hardest thing to do. The animation is top-notch as well; the animators did their homework in this area. While I enjoy TaleSpin's traditional cell animation and art deco style more; Kim Possible's artwork is still very good in it's own right. Kim does fall short in the heart department (due to the repeated use of valley-girl talk which is not what most valley girl's talk); however it's heart is very close to TaleSpin. Again; this is the hardest thing to do: Pass the TaleSpin standard. It makes me so happy; 13 years of disappointment having to become very bitter every time I saw Disney bring show after bad show. There were a few good ideas; however, none of them were executed properly. (Most so Team Surpremo, 101 Dalmatians and Quack Pack; it makes me ill every time I talk about it.) It always makes me wonder to this day, as to why it took 13 years to bring back a return to the glory days of 1990. As much as I was reflecting on how to be that Kim exists now. (Filmore's not too bad either).
Welcome to the Rant Shack; Kim Possible. Your time has finally come to shine on my website. I mean that too.
Sure; a lot has changed since I last wrote that editorial. I would add Ducktales and erase Rescue Rangers from that elite group that came close. However; all the rest of what I said is pretty accurate. Kim Possible was the TaleSpin killer that pretty much succeeded. However; it wasn't because it was balanced (even though it was); it's not because the animation was good (even though it was). And it's not because Kim Possible and company have a lot of heart (even though they do. Do I sound like a broken record?) ; it's because of two things (1) The lead (note that I didn't say "a lead") is female and (2) The female lead got so monster over that it ended the era of boy focused entertainment at Disney. This would have been perfect; if Disney didn't suddenly go even narrower in demographics then they already are. This is the one show that Disney didn't completely screw up for once in the One Saturday Morning era: It got a great beginning; it got over; it got awesome ratings; it got naked mole rat, it got great characters, great storyline, great use of naked mole rat, it had the best finale ever (which was sadly screwed up; but not because of the show believe it or not), and did I mentioned it had a NAKED MOLE RAT?! This show also reminds me of another show currently getting monster over on The Hub: My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic. In that boys enjoy the show as much as the girls because it is a great show. Although I think Kim Possible is better because the show features a balance of both gender characters instead of the more lop sided My Little Pony; MLP:FIM is so over now; even Kit Cloudkicker got the BRONYIZATION OF DOOM in some artwork I have seen from Deviant Art a while back. It's a huge deal; even more so than Kim Possible, although I thank the Internet for that explosion. As much as the Internet amplifies hate; it also works the other way too.
Kim Possible debuted in June of 2002 on the Disney Channel with this episode which is the official series debut. While Recess ran longer; Kim Possible had the longest run on Disney Channel ever; getting four seasons and 87 episodes over a five year span. It spawned five DVD sets (which we will see all of them), including the best finale in DTVA history "So The Drama". Also; there were complete DVD's of season one and two from Disney; but that required some contrived dealing there, so it didn't quite sell all that well. There were also six video games; all but one was on a non-Nintendo platform; with the last one being in 2007. What bugs me is that it got only one nomination for an Emmy which was for sound mixing. It deserved better than this from the critics; because it was the most historic DTVA show up to that point and it got over in a big way. My guess is that the execs who run Disney still believe that unless you are PIXAR; a female lead who is focused in the show without needing to be a princess in which a prince sweeps her off her feet will not put butts in seats. I mean; look how people treated the lead character in Brave. We had a girl who didn't want to be married nor a princess; she wanted to be herself. This is the kind of thing that wrestling organizations and guys like Jim Cornette have been saying for years; that the most over people in wrestling are the one who are themselves with the volume turned up. The problem is; when it comes to a female; the general public acts like a bunch of sexist morons and think she's a lesbian. The problem with saying that is; you have to prove that she has a loving relationship with a woman; when she doesn't. Again; sexist morons. But; logic breaks like that don't exist in entertainment (in other walks of life; yes. Which includes critiquing movies); because if they did in the actual entertainment; entertainment would cease to exist because the point of something other than to amuse would come up and no one would be able to answer it rationally. Okay; enough logic reasoning...
So we'll begin this Fall Assortment with a sample of the show. Don't be shocked if you see a lot of episodes hit near or over **** in this small portion of the series. The show is THAT damn good. I'm going to start with the debut episode here; then do Gorilla Fist (only because of the lead heel in that one); then I'll do the OAV's starting with The Secret Files first and even do a bonus rant on the music video "Say The Word". Then it's The Villain Files and we'll end all this with So The Drama and bonus rants on two music videos from that OAV. I hope the Naked Mole Rat Rap is on one of them because I remember that one being absolutely hilarious. So let's take a deep breath and let's begin one of the top three DTVA shows ever made; shall we...?
This episode is written and story edited by Bob Schooley and Mark McCorkle. The animation is done by Rough Draft which is the very first time I have ranted on their animation. Now I will be doing tributes for both writers and voices this time because there aren't as many of them as in Recess; and I can actually tell who is who in this series unlike Recess.
We begin this series proper with a shot of a high school (or junior high school) as the sign on a pole which reads "Spirit Week: Dance Friday" and some animated kids walking in front of the school. I should note that there is a large purple/red border M on the sign which is probably the school's logo. I'm guessing this is Middleton District High School in "Anytown, USA". Well; "Any Liberal Town, USA" anyway. So we head to the hallway as we see a brown shirt male kid with blond hair, brown pants and white shoes throwing stuff out of his locker (which is full) looking for someone named Rufus. In comes a red haired female with a green belly shirt which gives her a bare midriff, blue pants and white shoes. She also has a backpack on as she addresses the boy as Ron. Ron shhs the girl and we exchange notes since Rufus has gone missing. He addresses her as Kim as we see that these are the two lead characters of the show: Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable. I think this duo is better than the Baloo/Kit relationship because it's between two kids about the same age. Kim is the female Kit Cloudkicker; only with a feminine side, and Ron is Baloo but funnier and much easier to mock, but also healthier too. While Ron Stoppable is better than Baloo; Kim isn't quite Kit Cloudkicker's level of awesome, but that is mostly due to her Valley Girl dialog which does annoy me from time to time. Nevertheless; Kim Possible was and still is a huge deal because there was finally a female kick ass character who could be gentle and have a lot of heart; while outdoing almost every male character in DTVA history. Now I'm not ready to pencil her in a position since it's been years since I have seen this show; but as a kid and young adult, I thought she was originally #2 on the awesome kid character list next to Kit Cloudkicker in the DTVA pecking order; although Kim is pushing 16 and thus I had her off the list since both she and Ron are close to adulthood now. Kim Possible according to the creators means "She can do anything" and Ron Stoppable means "He cannot do anything". In the case of Ron; this caused a backlash indicating that they designed Ron to be so stupid as to embarrass every boy in the audience. I disagree with that notion because Ron has proven throughout the show that he can perform well. It's more like "He cannot do everything"; while Kim can which is a lot more accurate. And Ron Stoppable had some of the most funniest moments and catchphrases ever. Also he has a pet named Rufus. Once you see him; I'll explain him as well because even he has a back story of sorts. So let's go to the voices...
Kim Possible is voiced by Christy Romano and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Romano began her career at the age of six in New York when she was cast in several national tours of Broadway shows, including Annie, The Will Rogers Follies with Keith Carradine, and The Sound of Music with Marie Osmond. In 1996, she made her first feature film appearance as a singing "Chaquita Banana" in Woody Allen's Everyone Says I Love You. She continued with acting in independent films with famed directors Hal Hartley in Henry Fool (1997), and Martin Davidson in Looking for an Echo (2000). In 2002, Romano became the first person to act in three Disney Channel projects simultaneously, supplementing her work on Even Stevens with a starring role in a movie named Cadet Kelly, alongside Hilary Duff, and voice acting as the title character in Kim Possible, for which she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy. Her show inspired an adventure ride at Disney's Epcot which ran for over 5 years at the theme park, as well as two Disney Channel movies Kim Possible: So the Drama and Kim Possible: A Sitch in Time. She is also the voice of Yuffie Kisaragi in the English version of the movie Final Fantasy VII Advent Children, as well as in the Disney/Square game Kingdom Hearts and has continued success as a voice over actor on shows like Family Guy and The Penguins of Madagascar. Throughought her teens and twenties, Romano starred in movies for 'ABC Family and Disney Channel, including Campus Confidential, Taking Five, The Cutting Edge: Going for the Gold, and The Cutting Edge 3: Chasing the Dream. Various other appearances include MTV's Kaya, CW's Joan of Arcadia and Summerland, and TNT's Hawthorne. In 1998, Romano made her Broadway debut in the musical Parade by Alfred Uhry and Jason Robert Brown as Mary Phagan.[1] On February 17, 2004, Romano began a 31-week run of playing Belle in Disney's Beauty and the Beast on Broadway. She left the production on September 12, 2004, after raising ticket attendance from 30% to 99%.
She starred in the Broadway company of Avenue Q, beginning her run on September 29, 2008. [2] She most recently starred as Michelle in an Off-Broadway show, White's Lies, which began previews at New World Stages on April 12, 2010, and officially opened on May 6, 2010. [3][4] The show closed on June 13, 2010. She also penned a novel, Grace’s Turn, for Disney literary subsidiary Hyperion, which received accolades by the New York Public Library (NYPL) as the 2007 Teenage Book of the Year. In 2012, she directed a music video for Steph Gold's "THE SUN" which was accepted into the Los Angeles Shorts Fest 2012. While working at Disney, Romano has recorded songs in the soundtracks of some Disney movies and TV series such as Kim Possible and Teacher's Pet. Romano first sang on the Disney Channel on a musical episode of Even Stevens which led to more singing on the series and with Disney in general. In 2004, Walt Disney Records released Romano's debut album Greatest Disney TV & Film Hits, featuring her new single "Dive In", "Teacher's Pet" from Disney's movie Teacher's Pet, "Just Bounce" from Disney's Princess Diaries and "Could It Be" from the television movie, Kim Possible: So The Drama. Soon after her success with Beauty and the Beast on Broadway, Romano signed a record deal with Jason Flom at "Atlantic Records". Flom was fired before Romano released her first album and Romano's deal wasn't honored. She continued to write music with the likes of "Kara DioGuardi" and "The Matrix" and placed her songs in several movies. She sang the song "Circle of Life" with the Disney Channel Stars. She started in Everyone Says I Love You as a trick or treat child; and the television move The Many Trials of Tammy B as Dani. Kim Possible was her DTVA debut; and also appeared in Teacher's Pet as a singer, and in the Rufus crossover with Lilo & Stitch. Fickle is her most recent credit. She has 44 titles to her resume (not including Broadway and record debuts), directed The Sun short and 22 self credits.
Ron Stoppable is voiced by Will Friedle and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): He is best known for his comedic roles, most notably the underachieving elder brother Eric Matthews on the long-running TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000. More recently, he has voiced a number of animated characters such as Terry McGinnis/Batman, the titular character of Batman Beyond, and Ron Stoppable of Kim Possible. He also does the voice of Doyle in The Secret Saturdays, Lion-O in the rebooted ThunderCats series, and Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) on Batman: The Brave and the Bold.[1]. After co-hosting Nickelodeon's Don't Just Sit There for 3 seasons (1988–1991), Friedle was cast as the likeable but underachieving elder brother Eric Matthews on the long-running TV sitcom Boy Meets World from 1993 to 2000. In 2004, he co-starred with Chris Owen (American Pie) in the independent film National Lampoon's Gold Diggers (originally titled Lady Killers). He also appeared in a supporting role in the 2005 ABC Family movie Everything You Want. Friedle was cast as "Mike" in the WB sitcom Off Centre, but could not accept the role because of a previous commitment to the UPN series The Random Years. The role ended up going to Eddie Kaye Thomas from the American Pie series.[3] Friedle voiced Seifer Almasy in the English version of the video game Kingdom Hearts II, Gideon Wyeth in the English version of the video game Advent Rising, and Jaster Rogue in the English version of the video game Rogue Galaxy. He started as the host of the Don't Just Sit There in 1988 and then as Eric as part of ABC TGIF (Thank God/goodness/gosh It's Friday) in 1990. Kim Possible is his DTVA debut and he appeared in the Rufus crossover for Lilo & Stitch (and as a L&S character in said series), plus American Dragon Jake Long as Cousin Groggy and a cameo appearance in Gravity Falls. Mad in various roles, Thundercats 2012 edition as Lion-O/Leo, and Ragnar of Green Lantern: The Animated Series are his most recent credits. He has 61 acting credits, one writing credit (Thundercats 2012), and four self credits (Totally Kids Sports, Politically Incorrect and The Wonderful World of Disney (including Walt Disney World 25th)).
So Ron proclaims that Rufus will be crushed if he missed Spirit Week as the entire locker gets emptied out in Ron's own little way. Ah; I see that they are building the "Ron Factor" already. Oh man; the Ron Factor is quite funny too as Rufus is inside Ron's shirt and we get the animal tickling spot. Sadly for Ron Stoppable; he cannot surpass Molly's version of it in Mommy For A Day. The effort was there though; so we get logic break #1 as somehow a pink naked mole rat is inside Rufus' pant pocket. Although you can argue that Ron has a hole in his pocket so we'll call that one minor. Speaking of Rufus; Rufus is a naked mole rat which has to be the most hilarious pet ever made and Rufus really puts Zipper to shame in this show. The back story of Rufus is that he became Ron's pet because Ron Stoppable's old man is allergic to pet hair/fur and so a naked mole rat (which has no hair) was the pet to go because it's original. Also Rufus the name was a character made up in Ron's head and apparently became projected into the naked mole rat he got in the sixth grade in a shop called Smarty Mart. Yeah. Now real naked mole rats cannot live alone and are blind; so Rufus comes off as a tongue less Lickitung with oversized buck teeth. Doesn't matter; Rufus is still awesome. He even has his own song called the Naked Mole Rat Rap. Rufus is voiced by Nancy Cartwright whom was Pistol in Goof Troop which we saw earlier in the Fall Assortment. Kim asks why he wouldn't get a normal pet; someone who is not so naked as Rufus gives Kim a decent raspberry in response. HA! Ron goes into a promo about not being normal and apparently this causes Kim to have that dazed look on her face complete with heaven's music. Kim is so amazing; she doesn't even blink while freezing her face perfectly in position. Ron tries to chop the air in order to make Kim stop acting like she just had a Slurpee and drank it too fast in some sick sadistic game; and we discover further down the hallway as we see a blond haired male in a black suit with red trim around the neck putting up a poster. He ponders the poster as Ron addresses him as Josh Mankey and Ron has no love for him because his last name is close to Monkey.
Isn't that a teeny weeny bit racist there guy considering that Josh has darker skin. Basically; Josh is the template character that would be used for Steve Jackson in Fish Hooks; only Josh doesn't have the awesome Steve Jackson blond hair flowing jackhammer to back him up. Josh Wendell Mankey is voiced by Breckin Meyer and according to the USIMDB: Breckin went to grade school with Drew Barrymore and attended Beverly Hills High School with Alicia Silverstone, Joshua John Miller and Branden Williams. It was Barrymore who introduced Breckin to her agent, after which he started doing commercials and the game show "Child's Play" (1982). After being accepted to California State University at Northridge, Breckin decided to put school on hold and pursue acting. He has always wanted to be a kindergarten teacher and may still do that in the future. Breckin was the drummer in the Streetwalking Cheetahs with his brother, Frank, which recorded a demo in 1995. He was the lead vocal on two songs, "Carnival" and "Dave". During 1995-1996, the band played about 10 gigs around Los Angeles. The Streetwalking Cheetahs' second album, "Overdrive" and their new album, "Live on KXLU", feature songs written when Breckin was still in the band. These songs include "None of Your Business", "All I Want", "Peppermint", "Thought that Crosses My Mind" and "Turn Me Down". After the Streetwalking Cheetahs, he started his own band, Bellyroom, with Seth Green and Alexander Martin, Dean Martin's grandson. They played a few gigs around Los Angeles in 1996. Currently, he doesn't play in any band. Breckin's friends include Josh Holland ("USA High" (1997)) and Seth Green. His best friend is Ryan Phillippe, with whom he starred in 54 (1998). Breckin is married to Deborah Kaplan, who wrote and directed Can't Hardly Wait (1998), in which Breckin had a cameo. Breckin's hobbies include playing drums, video games and sometimes sports. He's a big fan of Sean Penn, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino and Richard Dreyfuss. He spends most of his free time with Kaplan, and also with Seth Green and Ryan Phillippe. He started as Spud on Potato Head Kids in 1986 (!!). Kim Possible is his only DTVA appearance. He has 62 acting credits, eight writing credits (mostly with Robot Chicken), one producer credit (Men At Work) and 24 Self credits to his resume. 3 Geezers as Breckin is his most recent credit. If those geezers aren't ninjas; then that film is toast creditability wise. So Rufus calls him stinky and we fade to black...Oh; so this DOES have the opening?
Opening Moment #1: Ah yes; a tradition is born to have a one minute opening scene and then have a one minute opening sequence. The song is called "Call Me, Beep Me"; if you want to reach me and sung by Christy Ramano also. Ummm; yeah. For those who hate Hannah Montana; Christy Ramano is completely to blame for planting the seeds into Disney's head thinking that only girls watched this because of their singing. Thankfully; Disney has since started to try to act like they aren't a demographics company; even though it's going to be a long road to haul. This is a good song and the opening has some neat special effects (including scanning and film effects); but it still doesn't compare to TaleSpin because it doesn't stick in my head like TaleSpin did. Also of note; get used to the THREE BEEPS OF DOOM, Ron Stoppable losing his pants and Kim cheerleading (Who sezs Kim is a "man in drag"?) because there is lots of that in this show. Also Chris Bailey is the director of this episode in case anyone cares and no; he's not going to get a tribute because this is going be 100KB at this rate. We also get Kim Possible first major catchphrase of the show "So what's the sitch?" which is "So what's the situation?" which is one of the better slang terms I have ever heard. And considering that The Jersey Shore has completely made it so saying "What is the situation?" sounds incredibly stupid that "sitch" sounds more and more natural.
So we return to Josh pondering as Ron doesn't see anything in Josh and neither does Rufus. But Kim teleports to Josh and stammers like an idiot. Well; the opening sequence does say that she's an average girl so this is not out of the realm of believability. It also puts a deep dent into Nightflight's conspiracy theories about DTVA that is for damn sure. Josh does praise Kim Possible for saving some public official from certain doom and thinks it's cool. Kim giggles it off as Josh leaves. Anyone who sezs that Kim Possible is absolutely perfect to the point of Mary Sue should kiss Curt Henning's dead ass right now. So we scene change to a hallway as Kim is talking about how she stammers around Josh. Well; at least she is self aware about her faults, which is vast improvement over Family Guy. Ron tells us that he is going to Spirit Week together with Kim; but Kim wants to do a date to Spirit Week. She is still stammering at this point as Kim asks which person Ron will ask for a date and Ron already has one in mind. However; in comes the THREE BEEPS OF DOOM and Kim takes the transmitter out of her backpack and we discover that she is talking to someone named Wade Load who happens to be black and a computer nerd par excellence. He has black curly hair and a blue shirt drinking a container of soda. He asks for Kim and Ron to meet him at his locker. So we head to Kim's locker and she does the combination and opens the locker to reveal a computer with a printer as Wade proclaims that she will not believe the number of hits as some printer paper comes out. See; Kim can do anything and apparently one of the jobs on the paper is feeding eight cats in seven days. Ron then notices that there is a offer from Tokyo, Japan; which he loves the French. Was that a BS&P decision or not? Either way; it's funny as Wade can also hack into security cameras. Now that is service and it shows that geeks secretly rock and no jock wants to admit that the geeks are better than them. So we get a shot of a high rise building in Tokyo, Japan with spotlights and chaos as a blue skinned man with black hair and a blue suit (with black gloves and boots) swing from a rope like Tarzan and kills the security camera.
Kim calls for a slow motion replay and we see the figure as Kim addresses him as Doctor Drakken. Think Don Karnage without the accent and what that purple skinned sociopath kid from The Cramp Twins would grow up as. Only Drakken is great; although not Don Karnage great, he does make up for it with his "friend" if you can call her that. More on that later. Drakken is voiced by John DiMaggio by the way; whom you saw as Mr. Vickie and Jocktopus in Kick Buttowski and Fish Hooks. Wade Load is voiced by Tahj Mowry and according to the USIMDB: Tahj Mowry born in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA, is commonly known for playing the young prodigy on the Disney sitcom, Smart Guy. Tahj Mowry was born to Darlene Flowers, who eventually ended up managing the siblings early-career, and Timothy Mowry a police officer and a veteran of the war. Tahj Mowry made his acting debut at the age of four, in 1990 on the television series, Who's The Boss as a one-time guest star character,Greg. After that followed several other roles on memorable television sitcoms like Where I Live,Out All Night,Aladdin,Sonic The Hedge Hog, and his most memorable role in 1990 as Teddy on the hit-sitcom, Full House. Tahj Mowry had accomplished all these reprising guest and recurring roles before even reaching the age of ten! In 1994 Mowry joined his twin sisters, Tia and Tamera Mowry on their ABC hit-sitcom,Sister,Sister as the role of Cousin Taj,Sammy and TJ Henderson. By the time he had joined the Disney sitcom Smart Guy in 1997, he was already an accomplished actor starring in movies,sitcoms,and even cartoon series. Every sibling in the Mowry family during the late 90's were stars of hit-sitcoms on different television networks. The show ran for fifty-one episodes and three seasons.
The show was cancelled as Mowry stated several years later due to a "contract-dispute". What came next for Mowry after he starred on a hit-sitcom was the star of several Disney movies such as Seventeen Again which he co-starred with his twin sisters, Tia and Tamera Mowry. Other Disney movies such as Hounded in 2001, with actor Shia Labeouf as well as The Poof Point. In 2002 Mowry once again returned as a voice actor by starring in the successful animated show, Kim Possible as the computer-genius Wade Load. Mowry's character on Kim Possible was inspired by the character he played on Smart Guy. Several Kim Possible movies were released during the syndication of the series all of which Mowry starred in. The Kim Possible series and franchise ended in 2007 after winning several prestigious awards. Tahj Mowry in 2007 also starred in a movie with rapper/actor/comedian, Ice Cube called, Are We Done Yet. Mowry played the role of Danny Pulu. Mowry in the late 2000's signed into a label, and began to pursue a singing career, citing he wanted to do more than be an actor and had other passions. Mowry will be forever remembered as a versatile entertainer and as one of many favorite child stars. He started out on Who's the Boss as Greg in 1990. He was Teddy in Full House and Young Sonic in Sonic The Hedgehog ABC edition. Timon & Pumbaa as Nefu is his DTVA debut and was crossed over with Lilo & Stitch The Series as Rufus #607. Baby Daddy is his most recent credit as Tucker Dobbs. He has 28 acting credits and 12 self credits to his resume. We are now at the ninth paragraph and not four minutes into this thing. Ron calls it Kim's archenemy because apparently; Drakken doesn't even know Ron's name. And yes; this angle does get paid off believe it or not. More on that in So The Drama. So Ron is loving this because he's going to Japan on a school night; which sadly doesn't involve stealing a Nintendo DS prototype; sadly. Ron then asks how they are getting to Japan and Kim is going to call a friend...
So we head into the skies as we see a white jet flying. We head inside to see Rufus and Ron drinking and relaxing like they are in Hawaii. Or something as Kim thanks Britina for the ride as we discover that Britina is a blond haired girl who is a rock star. I should also point out that Kim is now wearing her main outfit which is brown pants and a black belly shirt with a slightly more revealing bare midriff. I would be so offended if I didn't see this with Kitten Kaboodle in A Star Is Torn (Girl with map in For Whom The Bell Klangs Part 2); and Kim is at the age of informed consent. Apparently; Kim gets her outfit tips from her as Britina is doing this as a favor for Kim saving her show in Chicago. How can you NOT love Kim Possible after this? She has already saved two people in just four minutes. Slang phrase #2: Kim calls it "no big". Sometimes this annoys me because it's basically an excuse to sound like a pop-culture kid when Kim doesn't need that because her sense of cool is already earned. Did I mention that she saved two people in just four minutes? Britina proclaims that nothing scares her and Kim sounds humble. Ron blows it off because she wrestled a shark. Now how can that not be cool? Kim explains that she has trouble with meeting Josh as Britina tells her to go all out. What could co wrong here? Hmmmmm... So Ron butters up Britina on the dance on Friday and she no sells the deal complete with the crush buzzer of death. HAHA! Face it Ron; it's 2002. You are not going to get away with tradition that easily. Kim has the Gruffi pose and calls it hard to watch. I beg to differ Kim. That was easy enough. So we head to that high rise building I mentioned earlier as the black helicopters have spotlights on. The artwork here is not all that hot; but the animation makes up for it somewhat making it easier to watch. The building is orange and has the initials N.T. on it. I assume this is the Nakasumi Toy Company Limited.
We pan down to the gate as Kim and Ron exchange notes with a Japanese lady and an old Japanese man in business suits (the lady has a red suit which looks awfully nice). The man is Nakasumi himself while the lady is known as Miss Yoshiko Kyoko who appears only three times in this series: The first episode, the Christmas special and So The Drama. Sadly he doesn't speak here at all; doing the Gibber gimmick of whispering his dialogue in Kyoko's ear. I guess Disney found that too offensive; so they had him speak English in the later episodes. I'll mention the voice actor in So The Drama. Yoshiko Kyoko (or vice versa) is voiced by Lauren Tom whom you saw in Fish Hooks at Barb. Ron tries to seduce her with the slick backed hair and moves which are so lame that Lance Storm would look at this and say: "Am I watching Dave The Barbarian with bleach blond hair?". Kyoko whispers in Nakusami's ear and he's shocked as he whispers back and Kyoko tells us that Ron was implying that Nakusami cannot come to the dance because of the current crisis. HAHA! Ron tries to point out that he wanted Kyoko to go to the dance; but Kim butts in as we get sitch #3 of the episode. We discover that someone has taken over the factory and there are only two hostages. Ron thinks it's 200; but it's only two since it is the most automated factory in the world. If only Foxcomm was this automated; then they don't have to hire 14 year olds to make Nintendo and Wii U look bad...
...allegedly.
So we do a sequence as Kim Possible using the grappling hook to get up onto the top of the building. Ron tries to use his; but it somehow wrapped around his pants and his pants rip off. HAHA! Kim blows him off for screwing around. Who; Ron or the grappling hook? Does it really matter at this point? So Ron tries again and it was wrapped against his shirt and his black shirt ripped off screen. Kind of pointless since we see Ron in his underwear on the next shot with the grappling hook wrapped around his chest now. Sadly; we never get to see if Ron's underwear rips off as we are on the glass roof of doom as Kim and Ron look down in a pretty impressive sky shot. So Kim notices Drakken pacing around while two of the workers in black outfits are tied up and sitting in a chair. Kim wonders why Drakken is in a video game store? Ummm; he's a hardcore dork Kim? Which is perfectly accurate for him as Ron talks about Nakasumi's most awesome video game system ever: The Z-Board which is not coming out until Christmas 2002. Sadly; it got delayed and got changed to Wii when Nintendo bought out Nakasumi for a song because they both have the same values. Okay; maybe not. Impressive gadget #1: The laser pen. Good for cutting glass and dealing with Star Wars fanboys. Allegedly. So Ron and Kim get into an argument on what Drakken is doing. Ron picks stealing Christmas; while Kim picks taking over the world. I pick both actually because taking over the world would surely ruin Christmas for 99.9% of the population. This goes on for a long ass time as they climb down a conveniently placed ladder near the hole where Kim cut the glass with the laser pen. Ron keeps the pressure going until Kim gives up and tells him to be quiet. I should point out that the Z-board logo on the cardboard boxes looks like an alien from New Zealand and it's smiling. Kim brings out a pocket mirror and sees the hostages tied up. Ron and I agree: This isn't the time to do a throwaway spot about a zit that doesn't exist. So Kim is going to free the hostages while Ron gets the transmitter (that big ass blue device which would become the smart phone) and gets to run interference. Ron is not amused by this and I say: Get use to it guys!
So we go to the How It's Made shot of computer boards being made with the JAWS OF HALF LIFE. The television screens with the Gedo yellow alien yelling Koishi Wa! I'm guessing it means "passed inspection". But I don't speak Japanese; so what do I know? SOMEONE THROW ME A BONE HERE?! So we see Drakken at last complaining about cartoons even though he is in one in one of those ironies that makes older viewers laugh at him. He demands this to be switched off; but the workers insists that it cannot be done. We see one of the goons who looks like Crimson Chin; only without the triple chin using a big ass wrench to try to do something; but no yuke. Well; we are in a Japanese factory; and I do know a few Japanese words, so there you go. Drakken gets tapped on the shoulder by a black haired female wearing a green body suit with a really neat design of lime green on opposite limbs to black and it's opposite sides on both arms and legs (green on the left arm/black on the right arm, black on the left leg, green on the left leg). She has green eyes and she looks somewhat like Kim Possible. Drakken addresses her as Shego who is the sidekick of Drakken; although she doesn't like being a sidekick to anyone and has a lot of apathy to life in general. So Drakken is the evil Ron Stoppable only the leader and Shego is the evil Kim Possible; only she's the sidekick of the team. Lovely. Makes perfect sense here since both are great foils for Kim and Ron. Shego is voiced by Nicole Sullivan and according to the USIMDB: Nicole Sullivan' career started in the mid-90s when she guest-starred on shows like "Models Inc." (1994), "Party of Five" (1994) and "Herman's Head" (1991). In 1995, she beat out several people for a starring role on the sketch comedy show, "MADtv" (1995). The show became a big hit and Nicole was obviously the breakout star of the show. During her run on "MADtv" (1995), she guest-starred on shows like "Family Guy" (1999), "Suddenly Susan" (1996) and "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999).
Sullivan kept busy in 2000, juggling four shows, "MADtv" (1995), "Baby Blues" (2000), "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" (2000) and "Talk to Me" (2000). She left "MADtv" (1995) in 2001, and starred in several television movies. In 2002, she joined the cast of the hit CBS sitcom, "The King of Queens" (1998) alongside Leah Remini and Kevin James. Throughout "The King of Queens" (1998), Sullivan joined two more shows, "Clone High" (2002) and "Kim Possible" (2002). "Clone High" (2002) failed, but "Kim Possible" (2002) is still in production. She broke into the celebrity circuit, guest-starring on shows like "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" (1992), "The Sharon Osbourne Show" (2003) and "Dennis Miller" (2004). Nicole spent 3 years on "Hollywood Squares" (1998) from 2003 to 2005. Now in 2005, she continues to film episodes of "Kim Possible" (2002), stars on "The King of Queens" (1998) and has been cast with Gail O'Grady in the ABC pilot "Hot Properties" (2005). She began on Herman's Head in 1991 as a young woman. She has written 41 episodes of MADtv. Buzz Lightyear of Star Command as Mira Nova is her DTVA debut and was in the crossover in the episode Rufus on Lilo & Stitch The Series. She was also Gerri on Brandy & Mr. Whiskers. She has 83 acting credits and 34 self credits. Wendell & Vinnie as Wilma is her most recent credit. So Shego gets on Drakken's case and Drakken claims that a ninja makes more noise than her. I beg to differ as the television screen changes and we see Ron messaging Rufus' face and making a total ass out of him in the process. It's time for Naked Mole Rat Television. Shego realizes that it's Ron Stoppable as Drakken proclaims that he doesn't remember the name of Drakken's dopy sidekick despite Shego telling him his name outright. Drakken = coma induced Mr. Burns.
Kim frees the hostages with the laser pen; but Ron has problems as he forgot to bring a wireless camera with him as he is hiding somewhere within the boxes of Z-Boards. Drakken notices the wires and invokes the FORK LIFT OF DEATH to pin Ron to the wall. Wow; even Ron cannot buy a break in this show. Which was what many people were complaining about when this show started. So Kim notices this right away and Drakken remembers him as Drakken is pissed off and Shego pleads for him not to tell her the Krackpotkin Plan which Drakken blows her off in kind. Shego points out that every time he explains the plan; she always wins which is a rib on the predictable booking of average cartoon. Nice one there Shego. Drakken realizes this and goes for the transmitter and we get a long ass sequence of the entire factory room being pulled from the hinges and taken up into the sky by helicopters and grappling blue drill hooks. Nice one there Drakken; even down to the stylist color choice there. Kim is not happy about this as Ron asks about the helicopter and Kim admits that they don't have on. D'OH! So we get a piece of glass falling down and shattering on cue as we end the segment eight and a half minutes in. Wow; 16 paragraphs in just eight minutes? Pretty good episode thus far...
After the commercial break; we head to a really cool looking house complete with law mowing sounds in the background for a nice added touch. It overlooks a hill towards a lake I do believe as we head inside the kitchen which the backgrounds look not so impressive. The artwork outside the characters is one of the biggest weaknesses in the entire show; and it's covered up by great animation as Kim is stirring her cereal/oatmeal as her old man wearing a white shirt and gray pants (the usual dad attire) reading the newspaper called the Examiner. Huh. He also has the gray strip hair showing his age too. This is James Timothy Possible who is a rocket scientist and an astrophysicist. Did I mention that Kim's parents are 100% the opposite of Timmy Turner's parents in Fairly Oddparents; and infinity better than the Turners could ever be? You think James is great; Kim's mother Ann Possible is ever MORE amazing. Doctor James Timothy Possible is voiced by Gary Cole and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Cole began his professional career in 1983 as a stage actor in Chicago, where he joined the ensemble of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company in 1985. He also appeared in several off-Broadway productions in New York City. In addition to his film and television credits listed below, he has done voice work on several animated series (Family Guy; Kim Possible; Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law) and had a recurring role on the drama The West Wing as Vice President Bob Russell. He also starred as Captain Matthew Gideon on the short-lived Babylon 5 spin-off Crusade, and had notable guest appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and Arrested Development. He also played Joe Maxwell on DCOM Cadet Kelly and appeared as real-life astronaut Edgar Mitchell in HBO's recreation of Project Apollo, From the Earth to the Moon. One of his most notable roles in 1991 was as General Custer in the much acclaimed television film Son of the Morning Star.
Between 1988 and 1991, Cole became popular on TV for playing the part of Jack "Nighthawk" Killian in the series Midnight Caller. In 1999, Cole starred in the film Office Space, in which he portrayed office supervisor Bill Lumbergh. He played The Brady Bunch patriarch Mike Brady in the 1995 film The Brady Bunch Movie, the 1996 sequel A Very Brady Sequel, and the 2002 television film The Brady Bunch in the White House. Cole starred as Lt. Conrad Rose on the TNT series Wanted, is the voice of the title character on the Adult Swim series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, and starred as Sheriff Lucas Buck on the one season 1995 show, American Gothic. Cole also appeared in the films Talladega Nights, Forever Strong, and American Pastime. Cole played Katherine Mayfair's ex-husband Wayne on Desperate Housewives[4] and has more recently played the dangerous drug lord Ted Jones in Pineapple Express with Seth Rogen and James Franco. He also appeared in an episode from the third season of the USA Network series Psych as S.W.A.T. commander Cameron Luntz. Cole also played Bill Owens, Sy Parrish's (Robin Williams) boss, in the film One Hour Photo. In 2008, Cole appeared on Chuck as Sarah's con-artist father (in "Chuck Versus the DeLorean"), a role which he reprised in 2011 (in "Chuck Versus the Wedding Planner"). He also appeared in the fifth season of HBO's Entourage playing Ari Gold's old pal Andrew Klein for a 3-episode story arc prior to joining the regular cast in the sixth season. Cole has joined Fox's comedy pilot, Tagged.[5] In 2011, Cole reprised his role as Bill Lumbergh for several State Farm Insurance commercials.[citation needed] Cole will have a guest-appearance on the fourth season of the HBO hit series True Blood, playing Sookie Stackhouse's grandfather. He started work on Heart of Steel as Lee in 1983. Kim Possible is his only DTVA appearance. Cotton as Clay Peaks, Vamp U as Arthur Levine, Gay Dude, Audery as Ian, Royal Pains and Pound Puppies 2012 edition (as Slick) are just some of his most recent credits. He has 131 acting credits and 12 self credits to his resume.
James is not happy with Drakken stealing; but is happy that Kim Possible saved two hostage; upping the total to four already. Kim isn't impressed because Drakken got away and must figure out his Krackpotkin plan before he rules the world. Then he brings up Josh and James asks about Ronald (Ron Stoppable or Ronald Stoppablald. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) and Kim considers him just a friend while Josh is a hottie. I see Disney is stooping to the low of pop culture talk here. James at least agrees with me as he changes the subject and hopes Kim can catch Drakken and not bring up hotties anymore. However; we see a older female version of Kim Possible dressed all in white pouring coffee from a coffee pot into a mug. James doesn't want to hear about hotties anymore as Kim admits that it's Josh. In comes two twin boys wearing green and red mocking Kim for having a boyfriend. So we have Jim and Tim Possible; Kim's annoying twin brothers and we have neurosurgeon Ann Possible. Told you she was awesome; she works with issues of the brain; the most complex part of the human body. How can you NOT like her?! Jim and Tim are the least over babyfaces in the show because they are a one trick pony and make the nephews from Ducktales look like they have Kit Cloudkicker character development. Jim Possible & Tim Possible is voiced by Shaun Fleming who started on Cyberkidz as Kyle Cooper in 1996; then Operation Splitsville in 1999 as Ernie. He is known as Max Goof in Mickey's Once Upon A Christmas and Twice Upon A Christmas (I think that was Max's last appearance on a Disney show. Teacher's Pet is his DTVA debut as Leonard Helperman (both movie and series), and also appeared The Legend of Tarzan as Tarzan, Lilo & Stitch as Koeni Jameson and Filmore as various cameo roles. Kingdom Hearts: ReCoded as Young Tidus is his most recent credit. He has 20 titles to his resume and was the lost boys in The Lion King 3.
Doctor Ann Possible is voiced by Jean Smart and according to the USIMDB: Blonde, buxom and noticeably tall Seattle native Jean Smart was born on September 13, 1951. Not your average-looking ingénue, she earned her stardom taking another route. Attending the University of Washington after high school, she received her BA degree in fine arts. Her first professional season was with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival where she performed in "Much Ado About Nothing," among others. During this time she built up a strong resumé in regional theater with such companies as the Hartford Stage Company, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Alaska Repertory Theatre and Alliance Theatre. Her first significant break came with a starring role in the potent, critically-acclaimed lesbian drama "Last Summer at Bluefish Cove," which earned her an Off-Broadway Drama Desk nomination in 1980. She capped this honor with a Los Angeles Drama Critics award in 1983 when she repeated her triumph on the West Coast. Jean made an auspicious Broadway debut in 1981 playing Marlene Dietrich in "Piaf", and it was the subsequent TV taping of that show that brought about Hollywood interest. She struggled for a time in unsuccessful sitcoms ("Teachers Only" (1982), "Reggie" (1983) and "Maximum Security" (1984)) before hitting gold as the feather-brained Charlene Frazier on "Designing Women" (1986). She met future husband Richard Gilliland on the set of the hit show; he played the recurring role of Annie Potts' boyfriend for a few seasons. Jean and Richard's son Connor was born in 1989. Feeling confined and typecast in light material, Jean left the show in 1991 to branch out and drew major acclaim in such made-for-TV movies as Overkill: The Aileen Wuornos Story (1992) (TV). She gave a chilling portrayal as the well-known serial killer more than a decade before Charlize Theron copped an Oscar for her cinematic version.
On the other side of the coin, Jean offered gentle, heartfelt performances in such TV films as The Yarn Princess (1994) (TV), in which she played a mentally disabled mom, and the TV remake of The Yearling (1994) (TV), allowing audiences to rediscover her amazing versatility. On stage she earned a Tony nomination for her delightfully madcap part in the Broadway farce "The Man Who Came to Dinner" opposite Nathan Lane, and on TV won bookend Emmy awards for her guest appearances on the sitcom "Frasier" (1993). Films would never be a reliable venue for Jean, who made her big-screen debut in Flashpoint (1984). She did, however, receive an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her part in Guinevere (1999). Diagnosed with juvenile diabetes at age 13, Jean has played an active part over the years in public awareness. She started on Hoodlums in 1979 as Carol. Kim Possible is her only DTVA appearance. Walking as Dr. Hinton, Warren as Claire and When Calls The Heart as Frances are her most recent credits. She has 85 acting credits, one producer credit (A Stranger In Town) and 32 self credits to her resume. Anyhow; Kim responds by threatening to hurt them legit. I see this show won't be on Disney Junior anytime soon. Ann tells the boys to eat their cereal and they eat their cereal and do some crunching sounds. Ann and Kim exchange notes on Josh the hottie while Tim and Jim drink from the cereal bowl and burp just to annoy Kim. James does like golden over hottie as slang though. Kim trying to explain that Josh is smart is so hilarious though because Josh look like the template to Steve Jackson from Fish Hooks that it's not funny. So Jim and Tim proclaim that Kim should send a love letter without signing it through e-mail and have it re-routed to Sweden so it cannot be traced. James counters this with saying that the principal has been getting e-mails from Sweden; and the two boys finish up and run away. HA! Thankfully; we only have two more new voices to tribute and both are about five lines long combined. So Ann does a cool swimming pool analogy to cheer up Kim and we end the scene with Ann touching Kim's chin.
So we head to an outside shot of Middleton High School as the sign sezs "Need A Date? Call Ron." BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! This better lead to a payoff involving the school principal; because if it doesn't I'll be so disappointed. The bell rings of course and I should mention the fact that Rough Draft is still continuing the tradition of not drawing the current American flag properly. So Ron and Kim walk up the stairs to the wall where the poster for the dance is being shown. Nice style on the poster as Kim is back to her school gear as seen in the opening. I should note that Kim and Ron's cover has already been blown and no one cares that two 16 year olds are skipping school to save the world. Of course we don't care; because Kim gets the job done with style and grace. Anyhow; Kim wants to ask Josh to the dance and Ron proclaims that he'll ask someone. Kim sarcastically claims that Ron's standards are high and wishes him luck as Ron claims that he needs no luck. Of course not Ron; you have the RON FACTOR OF DOOM. Oh boy; if we somehow rant on that famous episode, I won't be able to contain myself. So Kim sees Josh putting up another poster and takes a deep breath while Ann's voice is in her head. She walks towards him; but the bell rings and we have the high school stampede spot to block Kim's progress. Kim still manages to pull the Spongebob Trick and make it to the other side (I would call this cheap animation; but this is Kim Possible after all.); and Josh has teleported out. HA! One thing about Kim: Even the logic breaks seem good. So we head to the library as Ron is looking around for some girls and being a stalker; only a lot less whacky than Jackie Wackerman. A red haired blue dress girl takes a blue book from the shelf and Ron tries to greet her; but the girl slams the book back into the original position. HAHA!
So we go to the lunch room as Kim is sitting with a bunch of girls no one cares about as she is going to spit it out as she drinks some orange juice and Josh appears. And she spits it out literally and somehow no one gets wet. HAHA! Kim drops below the table in shame for that blown spot as Josh looks as confused as I am. Meanwhile we see Ron at a separate table with members of the cheerleading squad as Ron offers his right arm and all the girls flee right on cue. HAHA! I don't know if it was because they don't like Ron in general; or Ron's sideways middle finger at 10:37 of the DVD. And Ron does it again to the left arm with the other sideways middle finger and no dice there either. Yeap; they hate Ron in general. So we head to the gym as we see Josh on the floor with poster paper painting blue paint on it. So we see Kim near the door taking a deep breath; but the door gets blocked by a brown haired girl who has the height of Kim; but all the dumb jealousy Kim didn't get. Probably the worst character of this series and that isn't saying much: Bonnie Rockwaller. A thorn in Kim and my side. Such a jealous girl. Bonnie Rockwaller is voiced by Kirsten Storms who started off with Second Noah in 1996 as Ashley and then Kid #2 in The Cape. She was in some nothing television movies and was Laura Cummings in 7th Heaven. She also appeared regularly in Days of Our Lives as Belle Black, Clubhouse as Betsy Young and her most recent credit General Hospital as Maxie Jones. Kim Possible is her only DTVA appearance. She has 26 acting credits and 14 self credits to her resume. Bonnie is mocking Kim for having a crush on Josh and Kim denies it like a heel. Did I mention that they are wearing the same cheerleading outfits which are purple? Yeah. Anyhow; Bonnie tells us that Kim will crash and burn because Josh had denied many of a girl higher on the food chain than Kim. Kim doesn't care and is going to ask away and then walks away because she'll ask after practice. So we get some cheerleading practice to waste some time and give me the wig-wams on the use of banana yellow garland pom-poms...
..and here comes Ron with the MEGAPHONE OF JIMMY HARTS acting like Gunther Magnumson from Deadman's Drop; only Ron is much more over than Gunther will ever be. I just noticed that the sports mascot is a bulldog and Ron is going to get very up close and personal with it in this show. Yeah; I told you this show produced a lot of great memories for me, once I remember what they were. Ron proclaims that on the record; he is not dating Kim Possible. Remember that one for later and for the rest of the Kim Possible portion of the series. Josh is on the step ladder putting the banner up and I won't bother to show what it says on it as Ron proclaims that Josh is totally free to date Kim as Kim looks like she has been embarrassed. Yes; Ron is making an ass out of himself; but at least he's up front about it. Ron proclaims that he's an awesome dancer and goes to the bleachers as the cheerleaders all giggle. To Ron's promo; or discovering that Kim might be putting the hots on Josh? I cannot tell here. Kim ignores it as we do the dog delta formation as Ron notices Kim's backpack and we get the THREE BEEPS OF DOOM again as Rufus somehow is out of the backpack. Ron grabs the transmitter and yells in the megaphone for Kim. Kim gets startled; loses her balances and has to grab and rip the banner Josh made before falling down in a heap with the other cheerleaders. Kim gets blown off as Josh shrugs as Ron gives Kim the transmitter and it's Wade. So you know who to blame for this mess. Hint: He's telling us that he has a hot lead on Drakken's whereabouts. Kim wants to get the hell out of cheer leading right now which is a smart move.
So we head to a snowy place as a snow plow bulldozer is plowing snow. We head inside as Rufus is shivering like crazy since he's a naked mole rat and has no fur to protect him from the freezing cold. Ron wraps Rufus with a brown scarf and tells him that him and snow don't mix. Kim wants a recap of Drakken; but Ron confuses it with a picture of Josh. HAHA! We discover that his middle name is Wendell...allegedly. Kim mocks Ron's research and Ron claims that it might be; but the rest of the research is completely factual. Kim counters claiming that it was just a bunch of gossip. Memo to Ron: Know what citations mean and then come back to her about future boyfriends. We discover from Ron's research that he has rejected about a half dozen girls including Julia Roberts (no relation to Julia Roberts the movie star and Julia Roberts the cartoon writer; which I think that was what the writers were shooting for here) and Bonnie Rockwaller. And of course Ron has to sketch Bonnie out since no picture is available. HAHA! Kim is shocked to hear that one and apparently likes it. So we hear from the male driver who is named Heimrich and ironically; he looks similar to Captain Storm of Quack Pack. He is wearing a gray winter hat and a blue sweater like coat. Kim has her snowboard as they stop and the babyfaces get out. Kim Possible save count up to at least five now. Saved Heimrich's village from an avalanche last year. So Ron asks Heimrich about any girls and Heimrich yells nine and Ron doesn't know German which nine means no as Heim shoves a blue snowboard into Ron's face and drives off. Prick. Ron claims that he helped in that avalanche and Kim points out that he started it. So we get a snowboarding sequence as Kim slide down towards the cliff and turns on a dime. Ron on the other hand; hops and then does the Ron Tussein spot (Oh; the irony!!) and Rufus has stop selling the shivering as Ron wants Rufus to shut up about it. HAHA!
So Kim uses the lime green x-ray vision binoculars and they show Drakken's new fortress which looks really, really cool in more ways than one. Kim talks to Wade on the transmitter and Wade proclaims that this is Drakken's fortress and the security camera are hacked and security is tight. He cannot hack into the beam sensors; but he can juice them to make them appear. So Wade does this silly typing spot with both keyboards and we can see the red beams now on the next shot. So Ron bumps and he slides down the hill backwards and then tumbles into Kim Possible just after Kim proclaims that they can not touch the red beams and we slide down the snowy mountain of doom for a bit while Kim is playing Shaggy to Ron's Scooby Doo. So this all ends with Kim dodging red beams and sliding in safe as Ron bounces and slides on snow and manages to miss the beams by about two feet. This of course is the telegraph for Rufus to screw everyone and hit the beam on cue. I check the DVD...Damn; I'm good. AROOGA! AROOGA! Camera, delta steel barrier, and ID spy shots ensue as we fade to black and end the segment almost 15 minutes in. See; this is the type of build up I have missed so much in the One Saturday Morning Era and I wish they did more of in the new Disney era.
After the commercial break; we head inside a room with about three dozen of Drakken's goons as Kim blows off Ron for setting the record for getting captured quickly even in cheer leading practice. HAHA! Ron counters that they got in though as here comes Shego on the catwalk wanting to watch the goon uses the BLUE WII BEAMS OF DEATH on them. Yes folks; I don't think you'll be seeing bullet shooting guns here. Another downside to this show over TaleSpin; but it's minor anyway. Kim then does her back flips and manages to get on the cat walk. Japanese music ensues and we have the first of 5,635 rounds involving Shego and Kim. Ron and Rufus of course get the outnumbered goons because according to the critics, these writers hate men. Which is hilarious considering the creators are also MALE. Kind of self defeating isn't it? So Ron is screwed until Kim does another back flip on the catwalk and throws to Ron a container of Kissy Lips; which is addressed as lip gloss according to Ron. Oooookkkkaaaayyyyy. Ron shows the container and Goon #1 blows it off (he's voiced by Dan Castellantea by the way) and the goon squad laughs as Kim dodges and punch some more on Shego; before telling Ron to open the damn thing. Ron holds his breath and opens the thing and this green smell comes out and overwhelms the goons and knocks them out. Ron replaces the cover and asks what the hell was that? We discover that it came from Wade Load's socks as Wade's mother is in Wade's room blowing him off about the smelly socks. She's voiced by Roz Ryan by the way who was seen in Kick Buttowski as Mrs. Fritzpatrick. We discover that Wade's smelly socks are part of a top secret formula. USE THE SOCK~ indeed.
So we continue the Kim/Shego fight as Shego misses by a mile; but the power of suggestion (at least her fists are glowing; so the power of suggestion is more believable than usual) forces Kim to hang on for dear life on the catwalk. Shego taunts her and tries to stomp her hand; but Kim grabs the foot with the other hand (which is green; but was black on the next shot) as Kim pushes Shego down onto the floor of the catwalk. Kim calls for the lip gloss and Ron throws it to her. Kim opens it and holds her breath as Shego gets overwhelmed and faints dead away. Ron and Rufus slap skin and steal Shane O'Mac's Boo Yah catchphrase and here comes Drakken on a crane from the shadows. Drakken greets everyone as Ron grabs one of the frisbree's on the conveniently placed conveyer belt and accuses him of stealing Christmas. Drakken grabs it and proclaims that it isn't close. Kim blows Ron off for being wrong as usual. Drakken then does a sequence where we have a red robot assembled like a Gundam from Victory and/or Double Zeta (THIS IS NOT A CARTOON! It's all true!) ; and the computers yells "Koichi Wa!" The computer voice is done by the same voice that does Shego's by the way. Ron proclaims that the robot is so cool; but it will MURDER them. So we shoot red lasers to start as Kim and Ron hide behind a wooden crate as Kim doesn't want to panic. Ron on the other hand does as Kim gets on the transmitter to Wade as he tells us that there is an over-ride modulator on the assembly line. Huh; betcha Drakken didn't take that into consideration. So the wooden crate explodes as Kim and Ron are stopped for no reason and Drakken opens up the cannons which are targeting Kim. Kim bails stage right with a beautiful target shot of her running. Kim dodges all the laser and Drakken is pissed because Kim is a rigid gender role character and not an enlightened character because if she was; Kim would be dead. Oh joy!
Kim dodges more lasers and then slides underneath the robot's legs as the robot shoots from his groin (which is the most disturbing visual Disney could ever allow) and there is holes in the floor. Is our heroine dead? Not according to Drakken as this is impossible. Ron blows him off because she's Kim Possible. Notice that Ron doesn't have the odd hesitation like Kit did in Plunder and Lightning when Ron does the James Bond routine on Kim? Non verbal cue sezs Cloudkicker is not his real name. So Drakken shoots more lasers as Ron bails behind the crates and blows off Drakken because he's the distraction. Drakken of course is too dumb to realize this as Kim is using the suction cups (I see Gadget was an inspiration) to climb to the back of the robot. The robot has a back camera which Kim punches into the lens and breaks it. Drakken tries to use the claw arms to back scratch Kim to death; but Kim dodges and that exposes the override modulator. Kim is pleased; so she takes her transmitter which now has a port on it and it plugs into the back. Wade is now in as he types like crazy and the thing is password protected. Wade tries Nakasumi; but access is denied. So we cut back to Ron trying a flying kick; but the long arm of the heel claw grabs him and Ron is upside down. So Rufus falls from Ron's pocket and Kim does a sequence where she uses the grappling hook and saves Rufus and places it in her pocket. Remember that for later. Kim dodges some more; do I sound like a broken record now? That's what you get with action sequences that the kids are supposed to enjoy according to the clueless execs. Anyhow; she is in the wrong place as Drakken proclaims that she should have stayed in a rigid gender role because she could never defeat him. He's sadly right here as Wade is still having problems with the password; until he hears the phrase "Koishi Wa!" and he types that in and he gets access to the robot as the laser cannon dies and the arm claws grab Drakken and goes upside down. By the way; Koishi means pebble and wa can mean peace; so I'm guessing "peace pebble". Which is so damn ironic for that robot; so that is what they were shooting for there.
So Shego somehow revives and fires the blue pale flare plunger arrow on the robot and destroys the override as Drakken and Ron play "Dexter & Mardock sissy slapping of doom" for a bit. Shego and Kim fight inside the middle of the robot while Drakken and Ron spin around like they are on the merry go round. This leads to some destruction as Ron is dizzy and almost ready to throw. Kim pushes Shego into the blue levers (WRONG LEVERS!) and Drakken and Ron are let go. Drakken grabs onto the middle; while Ron slides down the leg like a pole and then bounces about three times onto the ground; taking some really good MAN-SIZED bumps along the way. So Shego pushes Kim out of the middle of the robot while Drakken comes aboard. Kim invokes the grappling hook and ties up the robot's legs. The robot trips and is about to squash Ron Stoppable; but Kim invokes the rocket skates and does a neat visual sequence of saving Ron from getting murdered and the robot falls onto the ground dead as a door nail. Drakken and Shego are hanging on for dear life on a pipe as Drakken demands to know is Kim thinks she is ALL that. Answer: yes. Unless you count her future killer robot boyfriend; then maybe not. So we go to the hallway to wrap things up as Ron still thinks Drakken was going to ruin Christmas. I think Kim should realize that if Drakken succeeded in ruling the world then he is going to ruin Christmas next. This is foresight; and probably is part of the RON FACTOR OF DOOM. Kim isn't sure how to do this; but Ron assures Kim that she can handle him like a superfreak robot; and we do the THREE BEEPS OF DOOM and Wade informs us that Josh Mankey is coming towards her. So Kim hides in the storage room and WHAT?! Why is she doing this now? Ron proclaims that Kim has crossed the line on this as Kim claims that she cannot do it as Josh is now on top of her (which is disturbing) as Ron uses the megaphone and shoves Kim out as Josh is about ten feet away from her at his locker.
Kim stammers as she apologizes for tearing down his banner and Josh is all cool and that. Kim continues to stammer as she finally gets it out that she would like to see him at the dance with her and Josh sezs he'll meet at 7 pm. Kim feels relieved despite acting so random (which here makes perfect sense to use as a word since she gave out mixed messages) as Ron comes to the door with the megaphone as he wants a drive; so Josh slams the door without even touching it. HAHA! Ron continues to act like a silly little idiot as no one cares about his needs anyway. So we go to the dance as everyone is having a good time and Kim and Josh are dancing together on the dance floor. Bonnie on the other hand is sitting down with the Gruffi pose looking like she wants to hurt someone with her tiny green umbrella. We get the THREE BEEPS OF DOOM and Kim turns off the transmitter and continues dancing. We discover that it's Ron who is still stuck in the storage room as he wants someone to let him out. We get a final shot of the door leading to the storage room AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) and that ends the episode at 22:25. Yes, Ron did get treated like a piece of meat; but who cares? Kim Possible had an awesome debut; they build up the story well, they had a wicked fight sequence, they had Ron being an idiot which made me laugh and we got the premise across and the storyline was done almost well. Some mistakes in animation and breaks in logic marred it a bit; but this episode got the job done as I want to see more Kim Possible kicking ass. Why should it matter if Ron was a piece of meat here? He got his due later on; and after all the male leads taking the spotlight, it's about time a female showed her stuff. **** (80%).
Bonus Rant - Say The Word: Hear Christy Romano sing and completely blow away Miley Cyrus and the Jonas Brothers (and virtually everyone at the new Disney) with one song. This basically contains clips of the show and we see Christy Romano sing. It also contains Christy singing with a metallic voice indicating that they used voice sweetener to enhance the sound. At least it gets the job done here as Rufus joins us on the stool (NOT THAT ONE!); and we even get the Nintendo DS shot and binocular X-Ray shot to boot. The song is about how to save the world and just saying the word. Which is Kim Possible of course in case anyone didn't notice. As a new Disney song; this was ***** on that scale; my scale it's about a *** 1/2. Good; but not great. It was basically to sell the Kim Possible soundtrack which was mentioned at the end of the music video and it gets the job done. If anyone knows if the Kim Possible TV Soundtrack CD includes background music; please let me know.
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; that was a long rant; although it didn't take up all that much time. What else can I say? This episode was great and Kim Possible had the monster debut she needed to get monster over. She was awesome in spite of the boyfriend issues; she beat Drakken and Shego; and she got the boy at the end. What more could you want? I mean Ron Stoppable was treated like a meat shield here; but so what? At least Ron Stoppable as a meat shield is funny and besides; it was really Wade who saved the day by stopping the robot with his nerdiness. From what I saw thus far; there were only a few nitpicks I have about this show just on this one episode. [1.] Jim and Tim are annoying, [2.] Bonnie is annoying, [3.] animation mistakes that were minor; but did annoy me including the some notable color mistakes and a logic break where Rufus somehow teleported from Kim's pocket to Ron's pocket, and [4.] Kim's fear of boys as an ending was weak; and probably slightly weaker than Rebecca's snap back in I Only Have Ice For You where unlike Kim; Rebecca knows her skills are in finances (which is very noble), but works to improve to the point where she could fly a plane herself. Other than that; this episode was fun to watch and I look forward to Gorilla Fist tomorrow featuring Lord Monkey Fist and DNAmy. I cannot wait. But 94KB for one 22 minute episode? Seriously? So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.