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Peppa Pig: Series Five #7 Rant

Reviewed: 12/23/2018
Additional Commentary: 11/30/2019

Let The Australian Holiday Begin!

Okay fans; I have now decided to rant on this series full time, because I do in fact like this show enough that I can handle the best and worst of the Pig family from Great Britian. Okay; so we finally finish the remaining episodes of Series 5 as we start as the gloves are finally off of this show as it turns from just a normal pre-school show into a legendary pre-school show. Most of these episodes are from the Peppa Pig Cinema Movie as Peppa and Family go to Australia to meet Kylie Kangeroo and make Mr. Kangeroo pay for trying to come to the Pig family unanounced. Also; we finally have the payoff to those secret coded messages Mummy Pig was typing on her computer and we finally end Series 5 with Grandpa Pig getting screwed out of his prized stamp by Peppa. Yeah. So; how do these episodes fare? Let's rant on shall we..?!

All the episodes are done by Neville Astley, Mark Baker and Phil Hall. Animation is done by Astely Baker Davies animation; with the two mentioned creators and Phil Davies.

Mummy Pig's Book: So, first up is episode #223 on the animation paper as the episode opens at the house on the hill as we zoom into Mummy Pig's office as Mummy Pig is working on the paper, and apparently typing another secret e-mail to someone. Peppa and George walk in and ask if they can play Lucky Mrs. Chicken and Mummy Pig says not now because she is finishing some sort of important book. Oh; so that is what she has been writing all these years. I betcha it's a cookbook, too. Jump cut to downstairs with Daddy Pig making dinner complete with salad and pizza. He is chopping up cuecumbers or zucchini depending on the artwork being not clear enough. He then chops some tomatoes as Peppa and George asks when they can ruin...ERRR...play on the computer; and Daddy Pig proclaims that it will be when Mummy Pig is finished. In comes Mummy Pig literally seconds later stating that her book is done. Peppa and George cheer and then run upstairs to go play Happy Mrs. Chicken. Problem is; the document is still there when Peppa and George change the screen to play their game. Uh-oh! Daddy Pig then asks Mummy Pig if she saved the document and Mummy Pig said no. Ooops! Problem #1: Mummy Pig should have saved the document and #2 They didn't buy a computer that can multi-task nor allow Auto-Save features?! This show is like the timeline is 1986; not 2016! Also; she said this while tapping a glass of sparkling apple cider. Mummy Pig panics and runs upstairs as George new high score is 476,859,312 points; even though the score showed zero the entire time George was playing. People would point to that and say THAT WAS FAKE~! Peppa of course mangles the entire moment with her promo alone. Peppa was the previous high score of just over three milion. Who is OOP and why does this person suck at this game at 142 points?! Mummy Pig runs in, closes the game, and the work is still there. Whoops! On me this time! So she saves the document, puts it in the e-mail and sends it to the publishing company. Judging by the letter; the company is clearly about learning Spanish. I'm guessing she's the ghost writer for Dora The Explorer.

So, Daddy Pig comes in and we are informed that tomorrow at Playgroup; Mummy Pig is going to read the book to the kids as this book is going to be sold to book retailers everyone. So; yes, this is the payoff to Mummy Pig on her computer all this time. Jump cut to the school house on the hill as the car arrives with Peppa, George and Mummy Pig getting out. Mummy Pig carries a full box worth of book and heads inside. Jump cut to inside with Gigi addressing the students as Molly Mole and Gerald Giraffe are absent today. Mummy Pig is introduced as Mummy Pig gives out the books and apparently; she has never opened the books to read them. Gigi then instantly tells the kids not to be too hard on her and the quality of the book. This would have been the perfect moment for the "wah-woo" sound; but it doesn't play. The story of this book is a children's book based on an onion anthro. The first page is all in English (so it isn't about learning Spanish after all; and the book publisher is in Spain) and starts off well as the character in question is known as "Funny Onion". So far, so good. Then they turn the page; and the book turns into a Happy Mrs. Chicken number fest. Uh-Oh! When she saved the document; she also saved the scores and sent them to the publishing company. Even funnier; the book publisher approved of the entire thing, without even seeing it. Peppa of course snitches out George, even though it was Mummy Pig's fault for not sending the e-mail of the document BEFORE George started playing. Mummy Pig's book career is over; but she does remember the story of Funny Onion orally; so Gigi suggests that Mummy Pig just tell the story by heart. So, we begin with the dream sequence of Funny Onion walking on a grassy road with clothes on a stick, skipping and giggling as he meets Mrs. Carrot and the gimmick is that Funny Onion cannot make people laugh. Not because his jokes sucks; but he was an onion and he made veggies cry. This is only the fifth time someone has cried in Series 5: George cried three times, Gerald shedded a tear and Mrs. Carrot cried because Funny Onion is an onion.

One problem: Onions produce the chemical irritant known as syn-propanethial-S-oxide. It stimulates the eyes' lachrymal glands so they release tears. Scientists used to blame the enzyme allinase for the instability of substances in a cut onion. Recent studies from Japan, however, proved that lachrymatory-factor synthase, (a previously undiscovered enzyme) is the culprit (Imani et al, 2002). In other words; Funny Onion has to be cut in order for the crying to trigger. It doesn't work if there isn't any exposed white onion parts. So, the spot doesn't work. So, Gigi claps on cue and the story is over; only the story is not over. That's typically a sign that this story sucks because good stories don't cause people to cut you off like Gigi just did. The story is not over, so says Mummy Pig as we continue on as a tomato and a banana anthro both suggest that he dress like a clown. Magically out of nowhere; a jester hat and clown shoes come out and both anthros cry on cue. Is this a fictional story or Pedro's autobiography?! Because if it's the later, that's a troll move. So, Funny Onion meets Mrs. Pineapple and she whispers into Funny Onion's ear and Mummy Pig asks what did Mrs. Pineapple suggest to Funny Onion to the class? The kids claim to wear a funny nose or a funny wig; but Mummy Pig says, no. Mrs. Pineapple told Funny Onion to be a clown; not dress up like one basically. So; that is what Funny Onion did and all the anthro fruits and veggies except Funny Onion do the backsplash laugh and that ends the story. I suspect Mr. Potato will steal this story and be in court within six months for copyright infringement. Gigi claps and acts like this was good; but in way to tell us that it was no good. In come the parents, including Mr. Rabbit and Mr. Wolf as they bought the book from the store and are questionning this new fangled form of writing. I call it the Happy Mrs. Chicken Score narrative myself. The adults don't care and think it's awesome and pro-modern. Of course! Everyone except Mummy Pig does the backsplash laugh to end the episode at 4:30. Sadly; this book is a one hit wonder at best. Funny Onion was just there compared to the final print. *** (60%).

Opening Moment #1: The biggest change to the opening is the sun and the bushy area where the Pig family makes their introductions. I should note that this four part episode was part of Peppa's "My First Cinema Experience" which debuted before the actual episodes aired on television. The DVD set contains those episodes along with a number of Series 5 episodes. The movie summary is as follows: A 72 minute theatrical release composed of previously unreleased episodes from Series 5, with musical interludes featuring the stage-show puppet versions of Peppa and George, and their friend Daisy. Daisy is basically a legit human friend of Peppa Pig; who is not based on a title like Father Christmas nor the Queen of England. Emma Grace Arends is the one who plays the role of Daisy and outside of Isobel in Ratted Out; Emma has been mostly in cameo roles and has 4 Acting credits and 1 Music Department credit to her resume. I will only be reviewing the actual episodes during the Australian holiday itself and not the stage show.

The Outback: Here is episodes #231-#234 on the animation paper as the episode opens on the Outback house on the hill, so there is no build up to the moment during the actual airing on television. I'm going to hazard a guess that the build took place during the interludes in the movie in cinemas months before the debut on television. The Pig family walks up the hill with their summer gear (which is all hats by the way) and their luggage as Daddy Pig rings the door bell and out comes Mr. Kangeroo as he is shocked, SHOCKED I SAY to see Mr. Pig here. Daddy Pig calmly points out that they can drop by anytime to visit and didn't tell them. HAHA! If anyone recalls; Mr. Kangeroo and his family did the exact same thing to Daddy Pig and his family in Series 4. So; this was Daddy Pig's revenge on them basically. The teeth smiles give that point away even more so. So, Kylie Kangeroo (who wears the same style of hat as Peppa's, only in different colors) meets and greets Peppa; along with Mrs. Kangeroo complete with pouch which I believe houses Joey. Joey has Mr. Crocodile with lime green hat as he and George cosplay their plastic toys for a while. So, the guise of this is that Mr. Kangeroo and family were going to have a picnic and they invite the Pig family to come along. Jump cut to them walking towards the conveniently placed airplane. At least this one looks less like a submarine sandwich wrapper. Mr. Kangeroo is carrying a box of bottled water during this. Everyone hops into the plane and Mr. Kangeroo takes off into the sky. Peppa asks where this picnic spot is and Kylie states that it's a secret spot only accessible by airplane. Apparently; there is some law in Australia that prevents Peppa Pig from singing the lead because Kylie is invoking the TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM. Peppa follows up by singing in kind with Kylie; and then everyone joins in; which is hilarious considering George can not speak complete sentences; so I'm guessing he's an awesome lip sync actor. So, then Peppa gets confused and asks what the Outback is. Mr. Kangeroo points out and they are flying over it now, which is kind of like a desert, but with lots of bushes, so it's not completely devoid of water. The airplane lands as Mr. Kangeroo calls it a magical place. I wish Suzy were here and say: "It's science, right?!" and Mr. Kangeroo says "Yes"; because that would have been money! There is a large tree in the middle of nowhere and the only one in miles says Mrs. Kangeroo. I find him saying miles a little off since I thought Australia used the metric system like most former British colonies and then I realize that Mrs. Kangeroo was clearly born and raised before 1970 when Australia was using the imperial measurement system. Everyone gets out as Daddy Pig is already blushing because it's hot. Thus the need for the box of bottled water. Mr. Kangeroo warns Daddy Pig to conserve water; because water is limited in the Outback, and Daddy Pig just pours water over his head like a goddamn idiot. Mr. Kangeroo panics as Peppa tells Daddy Pig to drink it, not splash it. Daddy Pig is dumb!

So, Mr. Kangeroo is not worried (well; it is only one bottle of water) as Mummy Pig is looking for sticks to make a camp fire; but just because we are in the middle of nowhere, doesn't mean Mr. Kangeroo is an ancient old man because he has his BBQ ready to give the food some gas, BABEE! So, we BBQ some corn for a while as Peppa proclaims that the stips for a picnic are that Mrs. Duck shows up; but we are in Australia, so it won't happen. However; Mrs. Duckbill Platypus shows up and as usual, everyone feeds her just to annoy me. I don't like corn on the cob as the families eat corn on the cob. So, after that it's time for a game of cricket; which Mr. Kangeroo claims he was born to play. Yeah; I'll bet! If you own a Nintendo Switch and have access to the eShop; there is an arcade game based on cricket called Big Bash Boom now available in North America. I believe this is the only time a cricket game was released in North America on a Nintendo platform. It's games like this that make me happy that Nintendo has their new policies in place; even if it runs the risk of overflooding the market with games. Anyhow; the rules of engagement for this cricket game are if someone catches the ball after hitting it, the batter is out. Demonstrated by Mr. Kangeroo and Kylie. So, Peppa has her turn and she whacks it so hard that they somehow teleported to the left of the tree and the ball gets stuck in the tree. Uh-oh! If anyone has seen -- oh, four episodes --; this is the general signal that Daddy Pig is going to climb the tree. I wish Suzy was here; just to suggest that they chop the tree down. I would love to see Mr. Kangeroo's reaction to that. Everyone giggles and Daddy Pig actually lifts Peppa up so she can see the ball in the tree. The ball is stolen by a kwola; which Peppa mistakes as a teddy bear. Kylie corrects her of course. Peppa calls the kowla the sweetest animal in the world; and Mrs. Duckbill is sad; so Peppa has to remind her that she is sweet too, and all is forgiven. So, Mr. Kangeroo grabs the box of water bottles because it's home time and Kylie offers Peppa to stay at her place for the night. Everyone cheers as we head back to the Outback house on the hill AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as Kylie and Joey are sleeping together in her room sharing the same bed. George and Peppa are sharing a mattress on the floor as they exchange pleasure thoughts on the entire Outback picnic as Peppa asks if they can do more Australian stuff tomorrow. Kylie says that there are tons of stuff to do tomorrow and they all go to sleep as we zoom out to end part one at 4:30. This looks like an olive branch extention to the country for scaring the censors silly with Mister Skinnylegs more than anything else; but as an holiday episode, it was just there so far. ** 1/2 (50%). The ending contains colored backgrounds and various holiday items.

Surfing: So, the episode opens at the Outback house on the hill with generic surfing music (of course!) as Mr. Kangeroo's RV is ready with surfboards on it. This surfboard has no secure ropes around it to keep sliding from the RV. Luckly; the RV is parked on a flat surface for the moment; but these Australian sure don't respect the laws of physics, that is for sure. The front door opens and out comes Kylie Kangeroo, Peppa and George giggling. Peppa asks where they are going this time as the families are bringing out coolers and shoveling baskets which is the universal signal that they are heading to the beach this time around. Peppa loves the beach and everyone gets into the RV and after Mr. Kangeroo asks if they are ready and everyone agrees that they are ready; it's time to go down the hill onto the Outback boring road; which as I mentioned in the next rant, is much more exciting than the boring road in Peppa's world. So we head to the beach filled with sea water, sand and palm trees. Not much different from the British beach in previous episodes. So, Peppa is in a full piece swimming costume; which is kind of dumb since they are wearing lifejackets (known as lifevest in Britian and Australia) anyway. Kylie's swimming costume is purple and she has a white surfboard with three hearts drawn at an angle as Kylie explains how a surfboard works to Peppa. Peppa and Kylie run into the water with their surfboards. Peppa's surfboard is green with flowers on it and both kids (Kylie and Peppa) bounce the surfboards for fun, to show how bouncy and floaty they are, I guess. So, Kylie gets on her surfboard and does the "ready, steady, go" bit and let's the wave raise her up and she surfs the waves and lands perfectly on the sand without incident. Peppa repeats the spot and gets the same result. They get up as Peppa proclaims that surfing is the best thing ever...and the narrator agrees with Peppa as the kids go back into the water for round two. Surfing fun and all; but it's not as impressive as cloud surfing. Although; letting a 12 year old surf the clouds without safety equipment isn't going to be allowed on Peppa Pig; and thank the creators for small favors. So round 2 ends as the waves are getting too big for Kylie and Peppa; so George is pretty much out of the running, because he's too little (you mean too young; Mummy Pig?!). George at least looks disappointed and doesn't bawl his eyes out. Daddy Pig thinks it's home time; but Mr. Kangeroo thinks it's a joke. Of course!

You see; it's time for Mr. and Mrs. Kangeroo to surf the waves on their surfboards now. Mr. Kangeroo has a cyan blue board with a sun and a rainbow on it; while Mrs. Kangeroo is purple with a tidal wave on hers. Ready, steady, go! And they surf the water, Kit Cloudkicker style. Mrs. Kangeroo; the cheeky reckless parent; has Joey in her pouch during this entire thing. The Pig family and Kylie are enjoying themselves as Mr. Kangeroo and Mrs. Kangeroo finish their surfing. So, the Kangeroo family offers Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig a go; Mummy Pig no sells the deal. Daddy Pig says yes to the deal; and then the waves screw him out of it by calming down. Everyone is disappointed; except George since he can go into the water now, as Mummy Pig points out. Daddy Pig grabs George and walks into the ocean. Daddy proclaims that George cannot surf; but he can sit on Daddy's big tummy; which George does. I betcha the waves come back and George surfs on Daddy Pig as a surfboard, that's the only way this makes any sense and is an awesome payoff. George is giggling and kicking his feet; which is the universal sign that the giant wave of death is coming. And Crikey to heck if I'm not right! Mrs. Kangeroo panics and Peppa calls for Daddy to listen as everyone chants wave. Daddy Pig; the dumbest pig in the area, waves to the crowd. Curie~! Up comes the giant wave to sweep Daddy Pig towards the shoreline as George stands up and starts outclassing even the Kangeroo family in surfing. Daddy Pig plops onto the sand and everyone cheers for George. Even Mr. Kangeroo wants George to teach him that trick as everyone laughs and Peppa calls George the best. George giggles as we head back on the Outback boring road with the RV and the surfboards are still not tied down. The RV finally makes it to the Outback house on the hill as the Pig family gets out as Peppa loves this surfing thing. The Pig family wants to know what will happen tomorrow and Mr. Kangeroo is confused; because this means that they are staying another day tomorrow. Daddy Pig proclaims that he could stay here forever; which indicates to me that this was payback for last year. Oh; and Mrs. Kangeroo has work tomorrow and Kylie offers the family to join her on work tomorrow. Which is odd because this is the same writing crew and it was a movie; so the next episode has them repeating the spot in order to make sure everyone knew what was going on. Everyone does the backsplash laugh to end part two at 4:30. This was the best part of the holiday special; if only due to Daddy Pig being a surfboard for my amusement. **** (80%).

The Great Barrier Reef: So, the episode opens on the Outback house on the hill as we zoom in for Day 3 of the Australian holiday with Peppa and her family are at the kitchen table eating breakfast while Mr. and Mrs. Kangeroo are cleaning dishes. Mummy and Daddy Pig are having tea as everyone loves staying at Kylie's house and Daddy Pig wants to stay here forever. Not happening, Daddy Pig, not happening. Mrs. Kangeroo sadly, will not be able to play around today because she has a job to do; as she is a marine biologists. Hmmm; I wonder what Peppa's next adventure in Australia is going to be. Personally; I would never bother a marine biologist and her work; but this is Peppa Pig we are talking about here. Mrs. Kangeroo explains her job as she has a fish tank; only much more advanced than what we see with Goldie. And there are two different kinds of fish in the tank. Daddy Pig's creditability streak continues as he claims that the coral bridge and treasure chests are just props for human amusement. Remember that for later as Mrs. Kangeroo offers to bring the kids to her workplace as Peppa hyper references Daddy Pig's Office for a while, showing Daddy Pig at his table office answering the phone as Mrs. Kangeroo thinks her office is pretty fun, too. You don't say?! So, we jump cut to the Australian version of the boring road; it is much more exciting than the British one and not just because everyone is in an RV with Mrs. Kangeroo driving. Thankfully; Daddy Pig is not the map guy on the tour; that would have been no fun. So, the RV makes it to the beach and stops. Everyone gets out as Mrs. Kangeroo declares this beach to be her office; which confuses Peppa. So Mrs. Kangeroo has a remote control; which looks similar to those you see in car door unlocking button controls. It's red as she introduces her yellow submarine complete with two JAWS OF HALF LIFE~! So, we hop into the submarine, close the glass dome and dive into the sea. I'm sorry; but the Dive Man jokes are too lame for this show; so none will happen here. The bottom of the sea is the best artwork and animation in the entire series. I know it's not saying much; but by Peppa Pig standards; this was Disney Feature quality compared to the rest of the show. So, Peppa is in awe about this as the Kangeroo family explains what coral is and here's the Edmond version of this: Corals are marine invertebrates within the class Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically live in compact colonies of many identical individual polyps. Corals species include the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton. Wikipedia is a clever clogs! Mr. Kangeroo explains that this is the Great Barrier Reef and Mrs. Kangeroo's job is to protect it from evil poachers. Or something to that effect. Peppa of course wants coral and Mrs. Kangeroo no sells it. Look; don't touch! Basically; this turns into a moral lesson about not letting anyone take the coral or anything. Remember that one for later as well.

So, we see the same fish from the fish tank in a school of fish mode for a while. The white/orange fish are clown fish; even though they look nothing like clowns. They look more like candyfish to me; although they don't taste like candy. POW! OUCH! Ummmm...We see a blue starfish and this one has a face and then a tiny red one, also with a face. Hmmm; who's been dumping Dora The Explorer artists into the Great Barrier Reef recently? Daddy Pig spots a spiky green starfish, with a face. Then we see a giant version of Tiddles; which almost made me wonder if Peppa Pig is going to be a DLC fighter in Smash Ultimate. Of course not! They talk for a while as Mrs. Kangeroo is really starting to show off the place. And speaking about remembering what I said about Daddy Pig and the fishtank; there's the coral bridge for real. Daddy Pig admits in a roundabout way that he is wrong; but the treasure chest thing is still correct. George points to some area; and Daddy Pig is not correct about the treasure chest thing. The treasure chest is filled with gold coins and has a blue starfish planted on the side; which will likely be written out by teleport soon enough. And of course; Peppa has to remind Daddy Pig of his words as well. Daddy Pig is dumb. So, Mrs. Kangeroo goes over to the chest and uses the JAWS OF HALF LIFE to pull it out of the ground. Now; if you recall, Mrs. Kangeroo said that nothing should be removed from the ground in the GBR. In fact; even Peppa Pig is pointing out the exact same thing I am right now! So, Mrs. Kangeroo does what I call an endaround to get herself out of her own words; by stating that natural things cannot be touched; but the treasure chest never belonged here in the first place, so it's perfectly all right to remove it. Of course! I'm not so sure about that; because when she spoke about the treasure going towards the cost of funding research; she smiled like she was selling the a lie to justify her decision. Everyone cheers anyway and we jump cut back to the boring Outback road as the chest is closed and on the RV; with no secure ropes around it whatsoever. And somehow; this chest never moved nor slid down when they proceeded to go up the hill heading to the house and park on an angle. Physics in Australian Peppa Pig's world really are very wonky. So, everyone gets out as Mummy and Daddy Pig are loving this holiday and Mr. Kangeroo asks if they will be going now; as Mrs. Kangeroo rewords it and basically they assured that the Pig Family will stay home another day. Their teeth smiles tell the entire story. Still better than Monty though. Kylie and Peppa hold hands as Peppa loves this holiday and everyone does the backsplash laugh to end part three at 4:30. This was surprisingly fun for the most part; but the Kangeroo family needs to put it's foot down once in a while. Luckly for them; tomorrow is Peppa's last day on holiday, so no worries. *** 1/2 (70%).

Boomerang: Here is the final episode of the holiday in Australia as the episode opens at the Outback house on the hill as we zoom at the adults of the Pig family are trying to pack up in the bedroom; but George, Peppa and Kylie are playing in the suitcase and catching soccer balls. Mummy Pig suggests that they go into the garden while they pack and all the kids agree and we jump cut to the front door of the house and the kids run out without further incident. They go into basically the same area as the opening sequence as Peppa is sad because she has to leave; but Kylie has a present for Peppa as an offering. She shows the out of nowhere banana yellow packaged boomerang as Peppa mistakes the present as a banana. Of course; George thinks it's a dinosaur; but it's not sadly. It's a boomerang which Peppa calls a thing. Kylie thankfully explains what it is and what it does. Kylie explains the magic of the boomerang and Peppa grabs it declaring it impossible; and then throwing it so wrong that it's not wrong to prove her point. Kylie claims that you got to throw it harder and lets George try it out. George drops the soccer ball and grabs the boomerang and tries to throw it. It's a worse throw than Peppa's throw. So, Peppa declares this thing doesn't work and Kylie claims that she isn't throwing it right and must throw it harder. Peppa grabs the boomerang and throws it so hard that the boomerang flies perfectly and almost nails Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo in the fact before going around the house and back towards Peppa. Peppa catches it; so yes, it took only TWO attempts before Peppa got it right and somehow not break anything. Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo appear at the garden as Daddy Pig asks what this thing is. Peppa explains what it does and Mr. Kangeroo decides to demonstrate the boomerang to Daddy Pig and Mr. Kangeroo throws it hard eastward and it disappears without a trace. Daddy Pig asks when it comes back and we hear a faint glass shattering sound and some pans banging. This is the universal signal of a boomerang breaking a glass window. Also known as Austalian baseball. The fools all walk and find the house which has the broken window clear as day. The front door opens to reveal a wallaby wearing a mustache, glasses and a blue shirt.

His name is of course, Mr. Wallaby (thanks narrator!) who is voiced by Sam Simmons and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): Simmons has appeared on Conan, 8 Out of 10 Cats, Room 101, Adam DeVine's House Party, and is currently developing his own sitcom in the UK. Network appearances include NBC, BBC, Channel 4, ABC, and all other Australian networks. Previously, he was a regular host on Triple J as well as jtv interviewing bands, he developed his style of non-sequitur and surrealist humour. This led to his first television show, The Urban Monkey with Murray Foote, in 2009. In 2012, Simmons followed up with a sketch-style TV series Problems, with a tone more similar to that of his surrealist stand-up shows. He performed at TEDxSydney in 2014[2] and is now on a new a US pilot filmed in Albuquerque with David Quirk. Simmons described it as "a reality show about animals".[3] Simmons regularly appears on the comedy quiz show Dirty Laundry Live. In 2015, he won the Edinburgh Fringe Comedy award after being nominated 3 times previously. He also won the 2015 Barry Award at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival. In 2017 he provided the voice of Mr Wallaby in Peppa Pig. He made his debut as a writer for The Ronnie Johns Half Hour in 2006. Squinters as Lukas was his most recent credit; along with several Self appearances. Letdown was his most recent writing credit. He has 8 Writing credits, 12 Acting credits, 34 Self credits and 1 Archive Footage credit to his resume. Mr. Wallaby gives back the boomerang as Mr. Kangeroo profusely apologizes for it; but Mr. Wallaby forgives him. Listen; I abide by the principal of: You broke it; you bought it. All Mr. Wallaby had to say is that no worries; I'll just send you the bill for payment later. That would make him a nice neighbour; while at the same time not let Mr. Kangeroo get away with his reckless actions as a consequence. Daddy Pig is given the boomerang and he decides to throw it towards the Outback house on the hill this time; which is a smart move. Daddy Pig throws it hard and the boomerange does it's thing perfectly. One small problem: Daddy Pig threw it way too high; no one can grab it on the rebound and the boomerang breaks the second window on Mr. Wallaby's house. The best laid plans and even Daddy Pig screwed it up. OUCH!

Mr. Kangeroo has the teeth smile on in that he wants to leave before Mr. Wallaby decides to sue him; but Mr. Wallaby grabs the boomerang and it's no worries; because it's his turn to throw the boomerange and according to Mr. Wallaby, you must throw the boomerang upright. Ooookkkkaaayyyy. So, Mr. Wallaby throws the boomerang hard and it looks like a perfect throw. It's perfect all right because Mr. Wallaby panics as no one can catch this one, either; and the boomerang breaks the final window as Mr. Kangeroo clearly wants to be somewhere else. Mr. Wallaby grabs the boomerang and Mr. Kangeroo asks about mending the windows; but Mr. Wallaby says no because this one was his fault this time. At least make Mr. Kangeroo pay for two of the windows. So; the kids and the dads return to the Outback house on the hill with Mummy Pig, Joey and Mrs. Kangeroo as we exchange notes for a while. Peppa is worried about Mr. Wallaby's windows and Mr. Kangeroo cuts Peppa off almost instantly on that one. Suddenly; Peppa gives up and the kids say yes and giggle. Of course! Kylie gives Peppa the boomerang as Peppa gets her luggages as Peppa and Kylie say their goodbyes and the Pig family walks down the same side of the hill as they walked up four episodes ago. The Kangeroo family giggles and says their goodbyes at the back door as the narrator says it all to end the episode at 4:30. This was fun; but Mr. Kangeroo is going to have a huge bill on his hands very soon. *** 3/4 (75%).

Stamps: Here is episode #264 (and the last episode in Series 5) on the animation paper as the episode opens on the white house on the hill. We zoom into the kitchen at the kitchen table with Grandpa Pig with a book with a diamond symbol on it, Peppa and George with nothing and Granny Pig having a cup of tea. Grandpa Pig opens the book and is showing off his stamp collection as most of the designs are basically props from the show. This is still enough for Peppa and George to be in awe over this. Peppa claims that Grandpa Pig has every stamp in the world and Grandpa Pig claims that he has more than a few, which Granny Pig asks if he doesn't need to buy anymore stamps, implying that Grandpa didn't find the stamps, he was buying new stamps and Granny Pig thinks this is an expensive hobby, or something. Grandpa Pig is virtually slient on the matter, but we head outside as it's clown horn time with Mr. Zebra's post office truck arriving. Mr. Zebra jumps out and puts a post card into the letter slot on the door as Peppa, George and Granny Pig run in and grab the post card. Peppa gives Granny the post card and Granny claims that it was a friend who wrote it, but she didn't reveal her name. Peppa is not amused that she hasn't had a post card, but Granny Pig has an idea: She'll write a post card to Peppa and mail it. Cheap, but effective enough, I suppose. So, we head to the kitchen and apparently, Granny Pig has a table that has drawers inside the tables to bring out stuff, like a postcard containing flowers. Granny also has a blue pen and asks what should be written on the card. Peppa says: "Dear Peppa and George, Wish you were here, Peppa & George!" That was funny. So basically, Peppa wrote a letter to herself, only it was written by Granny Pig. Peppa wants to post it now; but Granny says not yet, since you have to write the address. Grandpa Pig asks what the kids' address is and...Okay, this is almost 100% a coincidence since this episode aired long before I started reviewing this show, but Peppa proclaims that the address of her residence is called and I quote "The Little House On The Hill". I should note this because I have been writing the term "House On The Hill" pretty much since reviewing this show! Also funny. Granny writes the address and Grandpa calls it good as Peppa wants to post it now, but it still missing something; so Peppa gives the post card a kiss. HAHA!

Granny Pig points out that it also needs a stamp and Peppa is already eying Grandpa Pig's stamp collection; which Grandpa Pig no sells and closes his book on that one literally. So, Granny, Peppa and George go upstair to find a normal stamp, according to Granny Pig. Oh come on now! There are far worse hobbies than stamp collecting. How about loving concrete for starters?! So, the doorbell rings and Grandpa Pig walks to the door and answers said door. It's Mr. Zebra outside with a huge box for Grandpa Pig. Now, if you saw the episode with the shipping box involving Daddy Pig, Mr. Zebra and the lightbulb; then they have basically repeated the spot, only with the stamp. It's so dumb because at least the world's tinest lightbulb was also somewhat fragile. It is not believable when it comes to a mere stamp. So, this shipping company is the most wasteful company in all of Peppa Pig. The stamp is basically a stamp of the queen, only it looks nothing like the Queen of England on this show. Mr. Zebra is even questionning this and claims that the stamp is expensive and Grandpa Pig tells him to hush up because he doesn't want Granny to know he's buying expensive stamps behind her back. I'm shocked and appalled of this behavior. No, not really. Jump cut to the computer room as Granny is checking the computer desk drawers for stamps and cannot find any for some reason. Methinks Grandpa Pig is doing more than buying expensive stamps behind Granny's back if you catch my drift here. Granny decides to go downstairs to find them as we jump cut back to the kitchen table as Grandpa Pig is looking at the stamp (with the shipping box on the table, mind you) with a magnifying glass and aweing at it. So, here comes Granny, Peppa and George and Grandpa Pig is BU--; oh wait. He grabs the shipping box and bails with it to take it to recycling, leaving the stamp on the table. Uh-oh! I'm sorry; Peppa Pig might be a troll, but it's not her fault in this case. Peppa and company were looking for a stamp to put on the postcard and Grandpa Pig was stupid enough to leave the stamp and try to bail with the shipping box in order to not get exposed for buying the stamp. Personally, I'm more worried that Grandpa Pig might have been stealing stamps from Granny Pig's computer desk. So, screw Grandpa Pig's hobby in this case.

George gets to lick the stamp and stamp it in the most awkward way possible on the postcard. Granny and the kids walk outside and down the hill and place the letter in the post box which comes out of nowhere. Mr. Zebra and his post truck backs up and Mr. Zebra comes out to collect said postcard. Jump cut to the front door as Grandpa Pig is looking for the stamp, because he is a idiot since Peppa Pig is as honest as she is a troll. I think you can figure out the answer Peppa gives without me telling you. Mr. Zebra leaves with the postcard and Grandpa Pig panics like crazy, and he's officially BUSTED~! Grandpa Pig runs down the hill protesting as Mr. Zebra drives away stage right as Granny walks in and asks if it costs a lot and you have never seen anyone blush so hard outside of Rebecca Rabbit about that as Grandpa Pig says it wasn't much and Granny Pig is all right with that. HAHA! I guess she was more worried about him stealing stamps than buying them. Granny informs him that it's not lost since it's going to Peppa Pig's house. So, Grandpa Pig runs --like the wind -- an easterly wind -- into the park -- out of the park -- until he reaches "The Little House On The Hill" and he's still protesting like crazy running up the hill and down said hill. I wasn't talking about the residence in that though. Grandpa Pig makes it to the back door and knocks on said door to reveal Daddy Pig. Grandpa Pig asks about the postcard and you wouldn't guess what happens here: Mr. Zebra arrives in his truck with the postcard a good twenty seconds later. Yes folks, a senior citizen who is completely out of shape outran a post-office truck. I can get an hour head start on my parent's car walking from the store and they would still make it home first. The amazing part is: This is still faster than 18th class in Your Baloo's In The Mail from TaleSpin. Yeah. Mr. Zebra comes out and Grandpa Pig is relieved, but the card is for Peppa and George as Grandpa's car arrives a good ten seconds later after that. Yes, Grandpa Pig outrun the post-office truck AND his own car. Maybe it's time for them to stop using cars since they are much faster running. Out come Granny and the kids as Peppa grabs the postcard and gives it to Peppa since it is his stamp after all. Grandpa Pig is happy because it's more important to him now that it was posted by his grandchildren; as everyone but Grandpa Pig does the backsplash laugh to end the episode and Series 5 at 4:30. Much better than expected, mostly due to Grandpa Pig looking like a dolt and Mr. Zebra's truck and his own car being slower than a running old man. **** (80%).

THE REVIEW LINE

So, we finally finish Series 5 with an average Mummy Pig's Book; which wasn't all that great. The Australian Holiday was really decent, as the surfing episode was really great, and even Boomerang was fun once the adults started breaking windows, making Peppa look like a saint in comparsion. The remaining episodes were just there; Outback was the standard picnic episode done in an Australian motif and Great Barrier Reef was perfectly acceptable. So; that officially ends Series 5 of Peppa Pig; and there were some awesome episodes in it. The narrator has vastly improved, George's crying has been reeled in a lot (the veggie/fruit anthro cried as much in one episode as George did in two episodes!); Peppa is getting better, Miss Rabbit needs to retire and Pedro Pony is still clueless as usual. The final episode of series five has really grown on up now, especially the finish where Grandpa Pig made me laugh by outrunning his own car and the post truck. Sadly; Series 6 is likely going to not be reviewed for another couple of years at least. (2019 Gregory Weagle Says: Nope, just under a year since I have completed 14 episodes of Series 6 and have eight more episodes left forthcoming that I'm doing next.) I'm just glad to be caught up to date on this show. So; next up is the remaining Teddy Ruxpin episodes which will debut in January. So...

Thumbs up for Surfing and Stamps; thumbs in the middle for everything else and I'll see you all next time.

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