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The Adventures Of Teddy Ruxpin: Father's Day

Reviewed: 06/16/2013

Come Dream With Me Tonight!

Welcome to the 2013 edition of the Father's Day Specials. Now normally I just pick something at random that might be good (or not) and just rant on it without even relating to the theme. However; this time, I have a perfect Father's Day special of sorts because this happens to be about the reuniting of someone's own father to his son. It is also my first trek into a Canadian made show and based on an icon from the 1980's who half of the public thinks it's the best thing since sliced bread; and the other half think it's creepy and over the top goody goody. Welcome to the rant shack; the Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin! Come dream with me tonight. My dream: To see Teddy Ruxpin meet Kit Cloudkicker and try to deal with him. That would be a match made in booker's heaven. It's just not going to happen; but we can "come dream with me tonight" on this now can't we? The 1980's were known as the "toy show era" where many cartoons were made not for entertainment purposes; but to sell toys without any regard for the merits of the show itself, or with any regard towards the wallets of parents. This was one area where Peggy Charmon was actually solid in the making of her points about the wasteland of children's television. I mean; how many 1980's cartoons sounded like a 22 minute toy commercial? Many of them! Then we have Teddy Ruxpin, who is the most straight up bouncing babyface in the history of that era. In 1985, Ken Forsse debut a toy (developed by RKS Design and later sold to Worlds of Wonder) which is like a teddy bear (he isn't called that by the way, but that's not the point), only you could insert cassette tapes (what kids used in Ancient Egypt) into it's back and when you play the tapes; the doll can actually speaks and move it's mouth and eyes. To be fair; it was a really neat way of using a teddy bear, and let's face it: As children; we all wished our teddy bears could talk for real, so we had to role play them talking. Sometimes even adults do it. See Mick Foley and Mr. Socko. However; thanks to the bane that is the horror movie industry, they were responsible for infusing into the minds of people that when you see a talking doll, it's automatically creepy and you should shun it or destroy it because it will come alive and kill you. I mean; how many pieces of artwork and pop culture reference have I seen on the internet where I have seen Teddy shown as a horrible, murderous, deranged killing machine doll? Lots.

Let me put some of the myths to rest: the doll is not creepy at all. There are thousands of dolls in stores right now that are creepier than the Teddy Ruxpin doll. You want creepy? Try Chucky from Child's Play (who was annoying Rick Steiner in WCW at one point). I think the real reason why they see Teddy Ruxpin as creepy is that he promotes a worldview that is unrealistic and seen as too idealistic. A world where nothing bad happens and everyone is nice. Unrealistic, yes. Not enough nuance? Certainly. However; I have heard this complaint before. Where? The new Disney. At least Teddy has an excuse because the world he inhabits in is not real; and the producers don't try to pretend otherwise. It amazes me how the irony is lost on people when they talk about realism in absolute terms. The problem is with that worldview is that there are hundreds of television programs that fill the "realism" void, and that's before reality television comes into play. I mean; we even have adult and mature cartoons now along with animation from Japan and if you live in Canada like I do; a lot of productions from Europe and around the world. Second; while Teddy's worldview is unattainable; it doesn't mean everything he believes in has no merit. Being nice is a good thing; as long as it's being honest and has true empathy behind it. Then again; as I mentioned before; empathy is hard work and most kids and adults are not going to invest time in caring for characters; more so when there are real humans in the real world to practice empathy; which matters most. See celebrities. Anyhow; the doll did have a really decent following in the mid 1980's and Teddy also became a spokesperson for the National Center For Missing And Exploited Children during this era which was gutsy at the time. I should point out that when the animated series was launched; the episodes were book-ended with PSA's featuring Teddy somehow coming into the real world and introducing special guests who were child actors at the time this show was produced (Sadly, no R.J. Williams though because of budget issues) and they talk about how to protect yourselves from strangers and people who wanted to hurt you. I stated before that this was really noble; but in my fisking of "Cartoon Qualities Goes Down"; I noted that no one cared about them because they were put there to please moral guardians and not for the entertainment of the kids. To make matters worse; Barney & Friends actually tried to make an angle out of this for their preschool show; and everyone crapped on it for fear that it glorified the exploitation of children .

What are my thoughts on the storybook "Adventure Series"? I didn't like them much mostly because I felt that they were seriously lacking continuity wise; and looked too episodic to be taken in a serious way. To be honest; I saw the cartoon before I even knew about the doll and the cartoon is a million times better then the doll; or even the ABC Weekend Special (which I called it the Jim Henson version; since it was animetronic in nature which looked awfully goofy; although I thought the opening of it was better than how the cartoon opened) which was the original plan for Teddy's debut as a series. While the ABC special was fine; it was costing way too much money and they went up to Canada where tax credits are better and Canada was slowly becoming a haven for joint production animation. A company called Atkinson Film-Arts along with LBS Entertainment and later DiC (who was a part of Disney at one point of it's life; at least in licensing, now known as Cookie Jar Entertainment) developed the show and 65 episodes were ordered for September of 1986. Only two of the voice actors from the storybooks made it to Canada due to budget issues (It's Canada, we're not THAT rich!) Strangely; the show lasted until December 1987; and it appeared that Atkinson wanted to expand the series (or even give closure with one last stand between Teddy and Quellor); but apparently, the money and the fad wore out and the show ended on a cliff hanger. Worlds of Wonder filed for chapter 7 in 1988; and then the brand got bounced around for a long time; but never had any success, mainly because many people were either repulsed by the doll; or repulsed by Teddy's idealism of a perfect world. Still; there is a fan following on the net (not as big as TaleSpin's but still big enough for me to notice), and the series did get on DVD so at least it wasn't forgotten. However; I doubt that a cartoon remake will ever be made. My thoughts on the series were posted back to Piratesy Under the Seas when I made mention of the plank spot where I thought the writers there were trivializing Teddy's fall in Captured. I thought Teddy Ruxpin was a good show that would have been much better if it was made in America by Disney. The elements were there. The animation was almost there. The world is wonderful; albeit needs better booking names. Teddy is a really good character as is Grubby and Gimmick. Quellor is a perfectly fine heel. Tweeg is a prototype heel version of Darkwing Duck in terms of personality. Phil Baron can sing. I mean; for eight years, Teddy Ruxpin was my favorite character ever...

...and then I watched TaleSpin for real in 1993; and saw Kit Cloudkicker. I looked at Teddy Ruxpin and felt conned. And it wasn't Teddy Ruxpin's fault either. He was a really good character with a strong sense of pacifism. However; Phil Baron cannot act well enough and Kit Cloudkicker's character was so unique at the time that I saw him, that Kit made Teddy Ruxpin look second rate. Teddy became ordinary; and that's a bad sign for the character. The last few years leading up to this rant made me wonder how Teddy and Kit would get along. Can you imagine Teddy in "Escape From MAVO" doing his song at the beginning of the episode with Wooly and Leota if Kit was in the room? Would it surprise anyone that Kit's response would be: "While you were singing for no reason; I have a way to rescue your friends."? That would be extremely rude (and Teddy is not above scolding Grubby for that); but I would take Kit's side because Kit actually cared for Teddy's friends despite the fact that he did not know them. That's the nature of Kit's character. He's the Grubby, Grubby wishes he was. And why do I feel conned? Because for all the good elements the show had; it was still used to sell the Teddy doll like a lot of 1980 shows. The difference is that Canadians were more talented enough to rise above it. Not all the time of course; as this series had it's fair share of really bad episodes, but it was proof that there are a fair share of Canadian shows that do not suck either. And while TaleSpin had toys; the show wasn't sold as that, which proves to be great in a quality sense and ratings; but it didn't sell toys and therefore ended at 65. And people are suddenly surprised when the character based shows rarely get over. Teddy Ruxpin I felt was a hybrid that could go long on both ratings and buy rates; but the money simply ran out. Okay; we are really rambling too much here.

For the Father's Day specials; I have decided on this show because this episode in particular is perfectly suited for the holiday: The reunion of Teddy Ruxpin with his father. The show is also pretty different in that at the time; there was a storyline and very few of the episodes being episodic; which was the template for what Gargoyles would become. Now thankfully; most of the story is split into small sub-arcs like a lot of anime is, and since Father's Day is the beginning of the final arc which I call the "Reunion Arc"; that is where I will start. This arc is basically three episodes long with the payoff to LB and Buffy's relationship and a clip show that doesn't use actual clips. I might do this series in full later on; but for now I'll just do a matchbox recap of the show below and then work from there. So let's begin shall we...?!

Sadly; this show is like some shows that I see in Canada where they did only one ED with credits instead of 65 ED's with the same background; just different credits. So I have zero clue who exactly wrote and story edited this episode. The credits on IMDB say that Mary Crawford, Derek Diorio, Ken Forsse (creator of Teddy Ruxpin and fuddy duddy wet blanket; well, until Ted came along and he basically shrugged it off), Dan Lalande, Mary Mackay-Smith, Patrick A. McCarthy, Carole Bruce Mendelsohn, Ken Ross, Doug Stratton. Brian Jeffrey Street, Alan Templeton, Patrick Granleese, Stephen McLoughlin and Rick Jones (who I do believe does additional voices for this series. He was Bad Bird in Samurai Pizza Cats). Story editing is done by Jack Mendelsohn, Doug Stratton, Brian Jeffrey Street and story consultant is Phil Baron (who is the voice of Teddy Ruxpin and his dad as you will see). Most of the writers are writers and story editors for various Canadian productions and it will take way too many paragraphs to do tributes to them; so I won't. And most of them don't have specific credits anyway. So; I will not be repeating the story credits for the next four episodes of this series. According to the incomplete Co-Productions Database I used for my Sunwoo Animation supplemental (and various other animation history sources for the 20 Years of Spin); the animation was done by Shin Won Animation. I have no clue on who this animation company is and the web is no help to me on this issue. I'm certain this was not the only animation studio; and some of the animation seems to be done in house. I wonder if Shin Won did some of the ink & paint? Because that would partially explain why Teddy sometimes doesn't match the original doll perfectly (the soles of his feet sometimes are brown; sometimes white (like the doll); sometimes early TMS Gummi Bears style etc. This also applied to Illana; but Teddy's childhood friend and his dad stayed constant in design; save for one hilarious mistake which I'll get to soon enough.).

One Final Note: Because of the nature of freelancing and research; there are two people from this show that worked on TaleSpin. One of them is not all that surprising which is John Flagg (although he did layouts instead of storyboards here) who basically did layouts from The Faded Fobs to the end of the series. John did storyboards for Sheepskin Deep by the way. The second one is Peter Bielicki who did layout for five episodes between Take A Good Look (first episode after the big pilot send off) to The New MAVO Member (basically the beginning of Tweeg's ascent into being a evildoer.); which is only 5 episodes tops. Peter worked on layouts for The Incredible Shrinking Molly, Bygones and Pizza Pie In The Sky I do believe for Walt Disney Animation UK in London at the time. That one surprised me because it was completely out of nowhere.

Opening Moment #1: "Come Dream With Me Tonight". I don't think I need to explain the opening. Weirdly; the opening shows Teddy and Grubby at his house finding a secret map with the crest during this. In the Jim Henson version; we actually get a back story which is narrated by Teddy's mother Illana who is in her rocking chair with Teddy who is about five years old in that scene. Strangely; Illana in the Jim Henson version, looked like a stereotypical grandmother while in the animated series; she looked like a middle age lady with blond hair during the time Teddy was five years old and wearing red overalls. One thing about Phil Barron: He is an excellent singer, he sings really good even when he doesn't sound all that great during recording, but at least he knows how to pour emotion into the song. I should also point out that Quellor in the opening is colored slightly differently and could shoot lighting from his fingers which would have been really cool and give him a great edge in the series; but Quellor didn't have legit magic in the show; although he did have a misadventure with a science like electric claw device which he finds out why BS&P wouldn't let him have that magic either.

The Complete Recap Of The Show: Since The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin is mostly serial in nature (like Gargoyles is) with a few episodic episodes in between (Teddy's Birthday is one obvious example since it aired right in between the Ying Zoo arc for no real reason that I can think of); allow me to give the matchbox version of the first sixty or so episodes. The beginning started with Teddy & Grubby leaving Rillonia after finding a map and half of a crest inside Teddy's house somewhere in a treasure trunk. The adventure truly starts in Grundo as they get attacked by Bounders who are red turnip like creatures with legs and horns. Gimmick runs in and uses the logs to stop them from biting (he was collecting firewood). So we go to Gimmick's house and they both agree to go find a ruined place called the Hard To Find City to find the treasure of knowledge (although in reality; it might as well be called Illiopolis; more on that later). Gimmick also seems to stutter a lot as he is an inventor who invents almost everything in this series including the fabled airship. Of course he has a problem with suspension of disbelief as evidence shows when he is schooled by a wood sprite named Leota ("There is no such thing as a wood sprite; or an elf!". Which is funny considering that he never said the same thing about an Octopede; or an Illiop. Grunges, Bounders and Trolls are a different story thought...). Anyhow; LB goes back to a tower where he is a slave (although in the most loosest sense of the word) to a green troll like Grunge named Jack W. Tweeg; a vain loser who cannot be a heel to save his life. So after a series of misdirections that led to the trio babyfaces getting captures by mud golems (Mud Bulps - weakness: sunlight) and joining up with a knight who is known as Prince Arin; whose sister Princess Aruzia was kidnapped by a bunch of green monkeys with masked armor and spears called the Gutangs. They escape and meet up with a purple Yeti like beast named The Wooly Whats-it. Ponder that booking name for a moment. They meet a bunch of jungle Grunges (And there are the Surf Grunges who would become a big plot point later on); whom get their strength from a soup brew with a supplement called Vitamin Z. Must be Larson & Gary's monster formula because Arin gets dunked in there and changes into a monster knight from Dragon Quest I; only much more inclined to kill someone. Did I mention Tweeg is involved in trying to steal the treasure of knowledge. This leads to finding the princess; including a wizard who is not the wizard, and ends with the near death of Wooly. In the end Teddy and company found the treasure of knowledge which not only have the typical gold stuff; but also the biggest plot device of the series: Six crystals where were arranged on the pillar like a Dreamcatcher. That is the first major story arc.

The second major arc involves the introduction to Fuzz who is called a Fob (a fuzzy creature with talons and a tail); and we discover that first crystal is basically what became the Mini/Size spell in Final Fantasy III/IV. We have our shrinking/expanding episode (Take A Good Look) which got Fuzz over as a cute little monster; and then he switched colors from purple to green. I don't believe they ever explained the change; although I do recall an episode where the Fobs lost their colors and got them back by swimming into Rainbow Falls which is literally an ocean of rainbow (and Wooly sits there a lot). Anyhow; Tweeg's mother gets involved because she is tired of Tweeg failing on her and she wants him to be serious in being evil. However; during a trip using Gimmick's portable reducing machine (I call it the Mini Sizer myself) to turn small and go to a festival involving bugs where Grubby finds love in a future sultry butterfly; LB (because Tweeg can never get his hands dirty; although after the giant strawberry incident, it's understandable) goes to Gimmick's house (the story: Tweeg hates Gimmick; although Gimmick hates Bounders even more) and steals the remaining five crystals in a bag (justifying Teddy making a belt for the crystals); and Tweeg's mother thinks that Tweeg might be able to get into an organization called the Monsters and Villains Organization (MAVO). So we head to the creepy temple and we introduce the Supreme Oppressor Quellor to the masses who was actually a really good heel; but the problem was that they already had the Gutangs as monster heels; and Quellor wasn't quite that. Personally; if I did a remake of this show, I would start Quellor as a heel at first until the end of the Captured story arc; and then slowly turn him to show that MAVO was really an outcast organization with a bunch of really bad apples (with the biggest one being the Great Understander (Whom I call Euno in my remake; but that's just me) who is doing the "Doom to all monsters and vagabonds (Yeah; I would change the meaning of the V word; although I would not reveal that until when GU turns on Quellor for good and takes over) if the crystals fall into an Illiop's hands." doom chant to regain the crystals and rule all of Grundo; monster or otherwise. More on that later.) who wanted to forget the slaughter of their kind (and would it be shocking if they believe it was the Illiops? I mean that would make a lot of sense for them to fear Teddy even if in the end; it was a scam by greedy fiends who can shape shift into such creatures. Yeah; Forsse would have nixed that in one second; but I'm writing the remake from an entertainment perspective; he's doing this from a "sell the doll" perspective. Anyhow; Teddy and company finally find out who stole the crystals from them and thanks to Grubby being an idiot; he created huge salt crystals (from the sea with the Mini Sizer of course) which look like the real ones. Since Tweeg only stole five crystals; they decide to play misdirection on him and Tweeg gets one of the salt crystals. So Tweeg in the end becomes a member of MAVO and while they party; Teddy and company come in the Mini Sizer Airship and grab the real crystals and replace them with the salt crystals (only five of them of course) on the walls of the temple and then leave. Second story arc over.

The third story arc is basically Tweeg trying to be evil; but either he screws up; or ends up cheating MAVO or MAVO's tax collector Miss Maggothart. She's actually a another really good heel and she really shines during the "Hate Plague" story arc. Meanwhile; Teddy and company do mostly episodic stuff bringing such issues as sign language (and making Deafula into a bigger joke than it already was); and introducing one of my three favorite guest characters: Kathy who is clearly deaf mute. Wooly goes to school: of elves and wood sprites taught by Miss Leota. Tweeg gets sick and is helped by the trio (because Teddy is not evil see) and Tweeg repays them with giving them lemonade that puts spots on them (because Rainbow falls' water creates such spots); and tries to make the babyfaces turn on one and other (first Grubby and Gimmick; and then the elves and wood sprites); but Teddy's pure essence prevents that. Then we get a sub arc where Teddy and company finally go to Nogburt's castle to visit and this is where we find out how Teddy met Grubby (and one of only seven appearances for Teddy's mother); meet up with the parents of Prince Arin and we discover that they have a food shortage problem. Then we have a feast which causes King Nogburt to be knocked out because a jester with a mask (never mind that his legs are Gutang like) is a mole for the Gutangs to attack. To counter; we discover just before this sub-arc; that the trio discovered that the second crystal can make spiritual illusions of objects; in this case Grubby. That lead to some to point out the horror that when the double fizzled out; instead of mourning it (because the implication was claimed that the double was in fact real; and thus died out), they broke out in song. I don't see that at all. It's basically similar to the Blink spell in Final Fantasy IV; only in the case of the guards of Nogburt's castle, they use as many images as the animators could animate. There were so much going on (Tweeg and LB as artists, Beally being forgetful as usual, the bard doing this song which teased the Illiops, more on that in the very last episode) that the takeaway was that they found a book with a lock which seems to open with the crystals, but the language is unreadable for now. And yes; this will get paid off in the second to last episode.

The fourth story arc basically puts Tweeg on trial for failing to be evil; but Tweeg is given a second chance, only Elinore (oh boy! If there was ever a back story that was awesome; it is the Tweeg Wuzzle Birth angle.) is in charge. We have Grubby saving some baby Fobs and doing the Three Men & A Booby angle; while being called Uncle Grubby. Then Tweeg challenged Gimmick to a baseball game which if Gimmick lost; he would give up his house (Did I mention that Tweeg has a cannon fetish and his hit rate on that house is equal to the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team?). Tweeg lost despite managing to sicken the Grunges with a plant called a Belly Bomb. And yes; the Mud Blups were used in this one. Did I mention that Tweeg abandoned Elinore to them before this and she got back at Tweeg? Finally; the end of the story arc involved Tweeg in desperation, finally stealing what was supposed to be the Crystal Book (only it was a book about Fobs) and got back in the good graces of MAVO. The trio sneaks in and manages to get it back; but it's raining for the first time at MAVO headquarters and the water is pouring into the walls containing the salt crystals. And then in one of the most laughable blowing of covers ever; Teddy is not looking where he is going and manages to trip over a little kid monster with a lollipop; even though he missed the boy by at least three feet; but oversells as if he tripped. Cue creepy music, thunderclaps and the start of the Teddy/Qulleor feud. Needless to say; Teddy cannot/will not fight to save his life and he tumbles a lot before GU distracts him because she went up to check on the crystals and found out that MAVO has been had; allowing Teddy to kick the tray into Quellor and take the bump over the pews. Tweeg and L.B. are caught and thrown in the dungeon after this; but Elenore somehow doesn't despite failing to help his son be evil.

MAVO started to become unstable at this point (and how could they not? GU basically dehumanized Illiops despite the fact that we never knew why she was doing this in the first place) and started rampaging in Grundo while Teddy and company went to the mushroom forest and found some shape shifters who were outcasts and called themselves Nothings. They remind me of a bunch of Popple rejects and after some hide and go seek; they get accepted and are now called Anythings. Meanwhile; one MAVO members manages to steal from Gimmicks plans for the airship (proving that Bill Cosby's response to Theo shirt was sound advice: Make one and then BURN the pattern.) which prompts Quellor to reconsider Tweeg as he basically puts Tweeg on probation for a while; while MAVO decides to channel the Air Pirates three years before TaleSpin existed. So while the ship was being created (called the Eclipse; which would have been better if they added Total beforehand); Teddy is helping some of the Anythings from being put into the jungle Grunges stew pot. When in doubt; SPEAK UP~! So the trio and the Anythings try to return to the Mushroom Forest; but the MAVO sky pirates arrive in their airship and subdue Teddy (who gets thrown around like a rag doll), Grubby (who taunts) and Gimmick has a blackjack. Teddy hid the crystals in the mouth of the Eclipse's demon statue; and he goldbricks on MAVO's demands. Personally; I hated Teddy response because, if I were an honest, swell guy, I would ask him the obvious question: Why do you need the crystals? Two things happen here: One: Quellor blurts out the whole plan; or two Quellor refuses. Either way; it puts the pressure on the heel to justify his position against Teddy; and then have Teddy refuse. I found Teddy's response to be downright hilarious here because there is an obvious price on the crystals because Quellor wants them so bad. For what reason; we never really know. So Quellor threatens to destroy Gimmick's airship; but the Anythings cut the tow line before that can even happen; so Quellor does the dumbest thing possible: make Teddy walk the plank (although I'll give Gimmick bonus marks for his humanity when he offered to give up the crystals to save his friend which is really noble of him; although I don't recall Teddy ever telling Gimmick nor Grubby where he hid them (which is a smart move in this chess game).) It ends with Teddy falling and managing to grab a rope which Grubby throws down (which makes MAVO look weak); and Teddy tries to swing to the edge of the ship; but he slips and falls to his death...or so we think.

Now; I have said that this was three years before Kit was thrown off the Iron Vulture by Dumptruck (on Don Karnage's orders) in Plunder and Lightning part four. This scene in Captured was the inspiration for Kit's free fall. Back when I was a fan of Teddy Ruxpin; I was stoked because in spite of the contrived nature of having Teddy slip and free falling to what could have been his death; it was still amazing because you have to remember that this is a Ken Forsse character and I would have thought Ken would have disallowed it completely. I think this shows that Ken isn't the wet blanket a lot of people think he is. His reaction to the movie Ted adds more evidence against the wet blanket theory. MAVO is dumb here because GU wanted Teddy alive; and second, there are lots of children television approved torture methods that would have gotten what Quellor wanted and no one gets up from "the feathers". Ask Kit Cloudkicker about it; and Mad Dog wasn't even extracting information from Kit no less. In 1994 when I saw Kit's free fall and before that, Kit's betrayal of Don Karnage, my view of Teddy made Teddy look like a coward. Not because of anything Teddy Ruxpin did in the show; but because Kit Cloudkicker made Teddy Ruxpin look third rate and low rent in comparison. And Dumptruck didn't make him walk the plank; he took Kit and basically threw him off the Iron Vulture to the water below. Yes; Baloo saved Kit at the last moment which was something Teddy didn't have, but the fact that he fell into the river and got washed down made the whole thing less believable. However; the writers book themselves into a corner because if Teddy died; the series is over. So they had to make it like Teddy did live through the fall and wash away. Teddy is nursed back to health in the woods by a hermit who looks like an old Illiop with bandaged boots. The fact that he is the only other Illiop in Grundo alive, and the fact that we only saw Teddy's mother so far, it was pretty clear from the start who the hermit really was. The airship with the Anythings drift to Nogbert's castle; Grubby and Gimmick are tied up in Quellor's dungeon and Tweeg is still a prisoner of MAVO. Leota and Wooly find out about Teddy's fall via the Wizard; and they decide to rescue the remaining prisoners as a way to remember their fallen friend; and then find him alive (and the Hermit disappears which I'm sure we will _never_ see again. Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge!) so they sneak into MAVO and free Gimmick and Grubby who were reduced to being Drake Mallard in prison escapes (and forgetting to do the dance of doom to boot.). And they destroy the Eclipse with popcorn. Yes; you read that right, popcorn. The Eclipse went down over Leeke Lake (And people say Ken is a wet blanket?!) and sank with the crystals. That ends the biggest arc up to this point which is what I call the "Death Of Innocence" arc; and somehow, Teddy has no real bad feelings for Quellor, although Quellor keeps annoying him for a long time to come. Also; the final episode of the arc debuted Quellor's black box which contains the legendary seventh crystal.

The sixth story arc actually playing some catch up since only two of the crystals powers were discovered; so Teddy has to return to find the crystals and does; along with meeting the hermit again; playing with the Subwater Boat, trying to foil an octopus (later stolen for It Came From Beneath The Seaduck) as he was starting to be more interested in this old Illiop than usual. Meanwhile; we discover the third crystal has the same powers as Vanish from Final Fantasy VI and Tweeg is now free (because he escaped natch) and he kidnaps Fuzz; only to be foiled by the clear status. Tweeg counters by having LB steal the black box and then he goes into MAVO headquarters and shows the box; which makes him the leader of MAVO and the heels turn on Quellor for a bit before LB realizes that Tweeg is a worse ruler than Quellor was and offers to help him get back the black box. He agrees and this pretty much ends with a big stand off between Tweeg and the Gutangs at the Hard To Find City. Somehow; Teddy and company get in the middle of it and in between these episodes; we find out that the fourth crystal grants air to the user underwater without the use of scuba gear (which we see in this show); although the application seems to be too limited. Quellor flying a Gutang flying machine is kind of neat though and Tweeg threatens to use the black box on him; but he aims it at himself and pushes the button, basically scrambling his brains and making him look like a brainless drunk. So at this point; we know five of the seven crystals powers so to speak. The seventh story arc is basically all about the Ying Zoo and the Wizard of Ying's fetish with caging monsters, beasts and Illiops. The Octopede Sailors (led by Zelza) make their debut and we discover Grubby hates water and wishes it wasn't so wet. Teddy makes friends with a goblin when he is imprisoned in the zoo and Teddy discovers that his name and his mother's name are scratched on the floor; which proves that Teddy's dad might be still alive (although in hindsight; most of us figured this one out through sheer logic); the babyfaces all escape with another complex plan, Quellor got called tried out the Thunder Claw Device of Doom which short circuited and fried him good; and they somehow find Tweeg because LB thinks Tweeg made buttermilk into gold for real. He's the hilarious alchemist. Also there was a birthday party for Teddy sandwiched in between which was out of nowhere (it is supposed to air after escaping the Ying Zoo; but when it was aired on Canadian television, it aired before the escape; but just after Teddy and Grubby were taken prisoner.).

The eighth story arc was basically the Wizard Week angle which all the babyfaces and heels competed for prizes and bragging rights in an Olympics style event because the wizard of Grundo was either bored or out of money. The only reason the trio got into this mess was because Tweeg taunted them into it. So we got a lot of hilarious moments including the return of the Iron Warrior and Princess Aruzia becoming her Vitamin Z form the Aluminum Amazon (weakness: water). They were trying to protect the jungle Grunges from MAVO thugs trying to kill Tweeg because his formula for gold out of buttermilk was a fake. What a shock that was?! Also Grubby discovered the hard way that the fifth crystal does the Slow spell and the Haste spell from the Final Fantasy games; as he almost gets grabbed by Mud Blups. So Teddy's team won and the grand prize was a Merri-Go-Round using all the transportation devices in the final race, which was absolutely useless (except for making money for the wizard of course), but it still looked cool. Oh; and LB has the best singing moment with his pals as they sing while Tweeg sinks into the goo. Then comes the fall (in more ways than one) as we slowly treck into the final story arc before the reunion arc. At this point; Quellor seems more interested in leaving Teddy alone than the crystals; so the GU pulls a coup and has a majority of heels turn on Quellor and lock him in the dungeon for failing to take Teddy's presence (and having six of the seven crystals) in Grundo more seriously. So we have a science show with Gimmick demonstrating a bridge which was on the fly due to an incidence involving Grubby's biggest Fob fans (no, not Zena). Gimmick and Nogburt get involved in an underground tunnel and we have a harvest feast and somehow Wooly is forgotten again. MAVO tries to grab Teddy during the Halloween night with the jungle Grunges; but that fails. As fall goes into winter; we have the standard Christmas episode and then we find out that Wooly is a Snowzo; only years of being at Rainbow Falls made him pink instead of white (although he was purple in the first story arc).

And then there is the final story arc as Teddy's wonder with the hermit (after ignoring him after Tweeg brainwashed himself with the black box) boils over making Grubby and Gimmick question his sanity at one point. Teddy dresses up really good (it is seemly sub-zero out there) as he decides to return to Leeke Lake to deliver a Christmas gift to him. However; he gets caught in a snowstorm and LB somehow is walking on thin ice and falls through, allowing Teddy to rescue him. LB is actually really grateful, despite addressing him as Teddy Dustbin. LB I think has realized that the only way to defeat Teddy is to become his friend for the rest of the show. We also have Zeke and Maple; who are elves leaving in a giant tree which somehow allows Teddy and LB to fit inside without any problems despite the fact that there is no indication of a door. Once Teddy and LB go their separate ways in the morning; Teddy gets chased by MAVO again and MAVO has apparently invoked martial law on Grundo despite having no authority to do so. They also put Gimmick and Grubby under house arrest as Teddy swims underneath the lake (which he somehow doesn't die from) and finds the underground cave where the hermit lives and he's not exactly thrilled to see him. Then they flee from the area and return to Maple and Zeke's house for the night and they sing "Will You Go To Sleep Before I Do" which is a pre-cursor to "Home Is Where The Heart Is". I say that because after the song is over; Teddy questions the hermit why he knew the song that Teddy's mother usually sings. Morning arises and they go cross country skiing to Gimmick Valley and after practicing the fine art of not being seen; they manage to get the babyfaces under house arrest to Wooly's house. Gimmick has apparently invented an ID scope which reveals the names of people when it is used on them. However; when they use it on the hermit; it comes out blank; indicating that his memories were erased. Hermit goes to get firewood and gets kidnapped by MAVO; forcing Teddy to try to go to MAVO headquarters to rescue him and despite all the preparation by Teddy; it does no good because when he gets to the cells and thinks he finds the hermit; it's really one of the MAVO members as he gets grabbed and they get the crystal belt for real.

So GU puts the real crystals on the walls and nothing happens. GU realizes that the seventh crystal is the one which powers them all and is in the center of the ceiling. Quellor is planning his escape somehow from the jail cell as the grunts who are working for GU take Teddy to see the new leader of MAVO. Somehow; LB manages to get the black box and becomes the official leader of MAVO. And his first task is to find a suitable punishment for Teddy which the monster want his memory erased. However; LB blows it off and frees Teddy because Teddy saved him from certain death. Teddy thanks him and walks out just as GU gets the crystal and puts it in the ceiling; bringing out the "Hate Plague" which is basically designed to make everyone selfish. I personally thought this was lame; and BS&P'ed, because really, it could have gone much further in that their souls get tainted and they turn into monsters against Teddy; and their souls then gets taken by GU to empower her while having an army of zombies at her disposal (which she would use to get to Rilliona to kill off the Illiops since they are about 95% immune to the plague) to make Teddy's dream a nightmare. Quellor escapes and has one last random fight with Teddy which Quellor loses again. Teddy tries to rally the troops; but the long drawn out process indicates that they have stopped caring about friendship. Whatever shall Teddy Ruxpin do?! Well; sneak in as an Illiop in costume because MAVO is having a Halloween ball; and then simply get on the platform and basically say his name and wants to be friends which was his tagline for the dolls. That was awesome and basically a really nice way of saying: "For me?! Ah; you shouldn't have!". The monsters try to gang up on Teddy; but Teddy's dodging skills suddenly got better. Not to mention that LB invited his girlfriend Buffy and Teddy stopped them by grabbing their horns on one of the shots. In the end; one of the crystals drops onto the ground and that kills the Hate Plague, so all the babyfaces return to execute the original plan. Meanwhile; the hermit was chained up at Elenoire's house with her pet dragon Sparky. Hermit manages to escape and returns to headquarters just as Teddy and company are leaving with the crystals. So Teddy has to come back to get him away from MAVO while the entire heel group is basically knocked silly while Quellor returns and gets the black box back somehow; which allows him to show that he's the leader again and Quellor kicks LB literally out of MAVO which causes the window covers (the plan was to cover the windows up and make noises while the wood sprites use a bag to get the crystals without being seen) to bring in light and GU is denied. And who saved Grundo from the hate plague? LB; DUH!! To the great understander: The crystals are the least of your worries now. Since you did TURN on your fearless leader about six episodes ago. Teddy reunites with the Hermit and we are finally caught up with the storyline. If I missed anything in between; I'm sorry. This rant is long enough as it is and I haven't even started it.

...........................................................AND AWAY WE GO!.............................................................

We begin this one with a south pan shot of Gimmick's house which looks kind of ordinary and then head inside the kitchen. Teddy's voice is doing the monologue here as we find out that Grubby and Gimmick have grown fond of the hermit now and they are making cookies. Grubby is supposed to be called an Octopede in that he is supposed to have eight feet; but he clearly had six. However; the funny part is; that they are actually arms and hands like his normal arms. Seeing Grubby sit down in a normal chair is downright awkward most of the time. Grubby is the romance type of guy (relationships: Aruzia and Zena who is far more compatible with Grubby) and sometimes he does speak out of line; but mostly he is the cynic of the trio. He is voiced by Will Ryan in the cartoon and the storybook series; and is the only one who has DTVA credits (Ducktales and Gummi Bears for one). He and Phil Barron were the only ones Atikson could afford at the time, so the remaining characters were voiced by Canadian actors and child actors; which is fine by me. Gimmick is the only human look a like of the trio; although they are considered Perlunes in this show. Illipers like the king of Nogburt are similar; but they have different faces and live more of a magical way of thinking then the Perlunes who depend more on science and technology; although Gimmick's science background is quite hilarious. He also has a stuttering problem which bugs me nowadays. Otherwise; he's all right, and he hates LB for some reason that I cannot put my thumb on it. Maybe once I rant on this show full time; I'll figure out the reason behind it.

Netwon Gimmick are voiced by John Stocker and according to Wikipedia (DANGER! DANGER!): In 1973, he joined a comedy troupe called the Zoo Factory, whose members consisted of Dan Hennessey, Bruce Gordon, Harriet Cohen and Jerelyn Homer. On television, Stocker played the voice of Beastly, the villain on the Nelvana version of the Care Bears television series The Care Bears. He and Zoo Factory alumni Dan Hennessey appeared as Thomson and Thompson on The Adventures of Tintin. In the film industry, he voiced the Cheshire Cat, as well as The Wizard's assistant Dim, in 1987's The Care Bears Adventure in Wonderland, and he played a character named Sol in 1993's Look Who's Talking Now. He was also the voice director on Beyblade, Medabots, Committed, Pandalian, Sailor Moon, Caillou, The Amazing Spiez!, Animated Tales of the World, Rob the Robot, Totally Spies!, Totally Spies! The Movie, Plop!, Mona the Vampire, Martin Mystery, What It's Like Being Alone, The Goal, Zeroman, Strawberry Cafe, Monster Buster Club, Chuck and Friends, Papaya Bull, The Magic Hockey Skates, Zac and Penny, Fugget About It, RedaKai: Conquer the Kairu, Ella the Elephant, The Busy World of Richard Scarry, Flack, Ky Staxx, The Mulligans, Di-Gata Defenders, Mike the Knight, Dr. Dimensionpants, Timoon and the Narwhal, Nightfall (radio series) and Microfriends. Stocker is one of the few voice actors to appear in all three of the Super Mario Bros. animated series with one of the characters that he had voiced being Toad. He has also done voices for many video games including Jagged Alliance 2, Naruto, Hype: The Time Quest, Spawn: In the Demon's Hand, Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, Jagged Alliance 2: Unfinished Business and Silent Storm as well as voice directing Beyblade: Super Tournament Battle, Medabots Infinity, Sentinel: Descendants in Time and Magna Carta: Tears of Blood. He has 115 credits to his resume. and started with an uncredited role in An Evening In Paris. He is also a voice director for Beyblade, Mona The Vampire, Sailor Moon (in 1995), Totally Spies!, Rob the Robot and Redakai. He is also directing Ella which is his most recent credit; along with The Amazing Spiez. He also edited Ratrod TV in 2011. Gimmick in the ABC Weekend Special version was voiced by the late Tony Pope; as he also did LB and the Wooly Whats-It. Tony was in Save The Tiger in TaleSpin I should note.

The Hermit is the old almond Illiop with the torn monk clothes and bandaged boots; who lived on an island in the middle of Leeke Lake (Someone's mind was in the gutter at the time I see) and came to Teddy's aid when Teddy free fell into the river in To The Rescue; the episode just after Captured. He wasn't much beyond that other than having a few moments; until Teddy met him again during the winter time; and then he became bait for MAVO to get the crystals away from Teddy. And then there is Teddy Ruxpin who is the darker brown Illiop (which is the regular color of the Illiop clan so to speak) and according to sources, is considered to be the highest evolution of this world. At least that is what I hear. Mainly due to their strength and their pacifism which makes them rarely use it to it's fullest (in a sort of "power corrupts absolutely" type of way). Teddy wears a red shirt which extends so much that they are part of his shorts which is a weird design even now. He also wears some type of almond apron on his chest which is just as weird. So weird that in several reboots of the doll; Teddy is wearing normal human clothes . Even weirder; as you will see when Teddy comes home, the other Illiops wear normal human clothes as well. Teddy Ruxpin was GOD in 1987 for me at this point. He had a really good story; he was a bouncing babyface pacifist to the very end, and he had a pretty good sense of courage. Sadly; Kit Cloudkicker in 1993/1994 ended up being so much better for me because he was a bouncing babyface as well; but unlike Teddy, has seen reality first hand. Teddy is an idealist; Kit is a realist that would take Teddy down quite a few notches and realize just how impossible that utopia that Teddy wants so much, really is. Teddy is 16 1/2 years old at this point (since his birthday took place before the fall as per the birthday episode); by the way.

Teddy Ruxpin and The Hermit are voiced by Phil Baron and he started as MC in Fantasy Island in 1983. Then he was the voice of Piglet in Welcome To Pooh Corner for three years and then was Teddy for real in the Jim Henson version of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin during the ABC Weekend Specials in 1986. Then he was in Dumbo Circus (This is Pooh's Corner were the cornerstones of Family Channel Canada when it was born); A Very Retail Christmas as Puppet Performer and was in The Adventures of Timmy The Tooth OAV; in various roles including Mr. Wisdom. He also appeared in Too Smart For Strangers television movie in 1985 and his most recent acting credit was various puppets in Muppets Tonight in 1996/1997. He also wrote the Waste Room Song for a Sesame Songs: Sing-Along Earth Songs in 1990; and also composed for the same OAV. He also composed for Fitness & Me: Why Exercise? (Another Disney co-production) and his most recent credit in the video documentary: Zazie: Made In Live in 2000. That's about it. He was also Teddy Ruxpin's voice in the cassette storybooks as well. Phil Barron's problem is that his acting leaves a bit to be desired compared to his singing. And yes; he will sing at least four songs (including one TWICE!) over the next three episodes; so get use to it. We see Teddy at a desk writing in his diary as he calls the hermit another piece of the puzzle in the search for the crystals as he ponders over and we flashback to the first appearance of the Hermit helping Teddy in the woods. Then we see clips of Teddy in the airship with Quellor's black box containing the seventh crystal which is still a mystery in itself; although it's pretty obvious to most viewers what it does since Tweeg zapped himself at the Hard To Find City and then got zapped back to normal by Quellor at the end of the Ying Zoo story arc. We also get clips of Gimmick using the Stensoscope (I think that is what Teddy said; it's been a long time since I watched this in any meaningful way) and the crystal came up blank; thus the deduction that the hermit was zapped by the black box himself. Which means Quellor and the hermit have met before.

At this point; it was clearly obvious to me as a teenager that the hermit was Teddy's father because the hermit is the only Illiop besides Teddy in Grundo. And Teddy discovering the scribe on the prison floor in the Ying Zoo was a dead giveaway as well. We also got clips of "The Black Box" where the seventh crystal seems to glow and shoot a beam from Gimmicks hand and it shows a pan scene where a five year Teddy is running in the meadow and jumps into his mother's arms (Illana with blond hair and I wish they kept that hairstyle and colored it silver when she aged because it looked awfully cool.). I also love the waving and Teddy's reaction which looks similar to what Kit gets in PR photos for the Disney Afternoon; including the one with the TaleSpin characters in their prototype forms. Since the episode is called Father's Day; I just knew they were going to payoff the mystery of the Hermit now. Grubby manages to get him back into reality (how is that possible Mr. Weagle?) because Teddy is spacing out again. Note: Get use to hearing the "Toing" sound; because this show overuses it and something in hilarious fashion. I don't get why they needed that sound. A "huh?" would have gotten the message across. I wonder if it was to hide the limitations of Phil Baron's acting. Anyhow; Grubby wants Teddy to keep track of the cookies while Grubby and Gimmick show the hermit around Gimmick Valley (which is more dangerous than being in Gimmick's house. Something about a certain grunge/troll hybrid having a cannon with a ZERO percent hit rate.). Grubby tells Teddy to not forget and Teddy claims that he will; and they leave. And Teddy spaces out again as we are shown clips of the prison cell in the Ying Zoo (and apparently; the animation is faithful; but I have seen this scene a few times and it's slightly different; so you can tell that they didn't use stock footage from the previous episode. Which is kind of neat actually and better than the recap of part two of the syndie version of Plunder and Lightning, which had the scenes reversed for no good reason) with Teddy finding out about his name and Ilana's name on the floor. Come to think about it; I wonder if the Wizard of Ying knew about this from his spies that Teddy was coming and explained why everyone got caught.

So we head back to reality and there is smoke coming from outside the kitchen as Teddy stops spacing out and realizes that the cookies are burning. Now this is where the "TOING" sound actually would have worked here because it's a comedy spot. But they already used it about thirty seconds too early. Teddy has the "TOING" sound; iCarly has the most overused canned heat (the machine that simulates laughter. Wrestling promotions use it a lot in the old days to sell the crowd reaction they want) in history. Teddy runs in admitting that he is now being as absent minded as Gimmick is now. Well; they do say, sometimes stuff rubs off on some people. So we scene change to the stone tower as we have a red radish like creature with legs and a horn. That my friends is a Bounder and they are the bane of Gimmick's existence; more so this one. He is known as Lead Bounder, or LB which is a cool booking name and he also sports the coolest laugh in the entire series (and can oversell it with the best of them). Some of the Bryan & Vinny shows I have seen feature Vinny doing this type of laugh too. L.B. (Lead Bounder) is voiced by Robert Bockstael who's father was a diplomat and his uncle was an MP under the Pierre Trudeau administration. He started as Rumpelstiltskin the animated television movie in 1985 as the title character and then the Tin Solider as various rats including the rat king in 1986. He also voices Prince Arin in this show; and then went on to play Mouser #2 in The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, North of 60 as Cpl. Brian Fletcher, and later Sailor Moon as Prince Diamond in the DiC version of the show and then Helios/Pegasus in the Cloverway dubs of Sailor Moon Super S. Other credits include: Wind At My Back, The Famous Jett Jackson, A Nero Wolfe Mystery, Snakes & Ladders, and Friends & Heroes. He has 89 acting credits to his resume; wrote a short This One Night in 2006, and did ADR for Blindness and Repo! The Genetic Opera. Edwin Boyd as Bank Manager in Robbery #3 and #4 (poor guy) is his most recent credit . LB was the late Tony Pope in the storybooks; and while Prince Arin was in the ABC special; I'm not sure if he was in the storybooks or not. So yeah; LB is a good tweener and at this point; he is basically a friend of Teddy's; although he still get's his last name wrong in the same sense of getting Kit Cloudkicker's name wrong in A Bad Reflection On You Part One. Jeepers; how much did Kit steal from Teddy?

So we hear a troll like grunge in a black robe acting like Darkwing Duck four years ahead of his time. I cannot tell you how good Jack W. Tweeg and LB are for this show. They literally carried a lot of segments in this show; and they were actually quite funny. Without them; this show would probably have been written off as a failure in spite of some the drama scenes; which before I saw TaleSpin (broken record I know) was really good. It reminds me of Rescue Rangers with Gadget being awesome; however, at least Teddy Ruxpin actually was smart enough to let Tweeg run the show for a bit and carry episodes to decent ratings. That doesn't mean that every episode wasn't a thumbs down; but it certainly served to make the logic breaks and bad moments look less obvious and made the show enjoyable and worthy of it's cult status here in Canada. Jack W. Tweeg is voiced by John Koensgen and he started as a TV anchorman in The Dead Zone in 1983 and a documentary short You'll Never Die John A (I'm guessing that is about the first ever Canadian Prime Minister). Then he voiced Jack W. Tweeg and despite the character, John hates being contacted by fans according to the Semi-Official Teddy Ruxpin On-Line website. Like Les Lyle; he appeared as additional voices to the Dennis The Menace animated series in 1988; followed by additional voices in Monster Force, and Count Geoffrey in Blazing Dragons. He has 29 acting titles to his resume; and Clara's Deadly Secret is his most recent credit. It's another television movie up here in _Kandata_ as they say. He was also an additional voice in the video games Jagged Alliance and it's spin-off and later sequel. Strangely; in the storybook series (Teddy Ruxpin On-Line refers to it as the Adventure series) and ABC special; he was voiced by Will Ryan who also voiced the Wizard of WeeGee and Louie in the storybook (Louie was voiced by Will Ryan in the DIC series). Tweeg is at his desk filled with lots of papers and books as he wants an issue of the Grundo Gazette and LB points out that if he paid for it once in a while; he would read it more often. Heel paying money for a newspaper? EWWWWWW!! That's babyface talk LB! Although it is fitting since LB's heeldom is gone after Teddy saved him from the icy lake.

So we zoom into the window hearing helicopter sounds and we see a grunge in a news reporters outfit riding a bicycle that flies. (Kit: You accuse me of stealing from Teddy? You stole that idea for Tommy Taylor in your Aerostars fanfics! And stop calling me Teddy's Little Brother! How can I EVER be related to him?) So he takes the newspaper and throws it into the air as it goes off the helicopter props. My guess was that he was trying to shred the newspaper to protest his lack of payment to Tweeg; but that is so stupid because that would have killed the props and he crashes to his doom. Instead; the paper whips around the blades and then the paper smacks into Tweeg's face. LB: If you need to read it that close; you need to wear glasses. HAHA! See; make the joke and then pay it off. Tweeg blows him off and he panics like someone wants to kill him or send him to jail. Oh wait...that is exactly what MAVO wants to do with him. Ah; the old "save face for being defeated by a pacifist; by offing the two that brought said pacifist into the conversation" method. Very heelish of you Quellor. Tweeg starts acting like Louie when Aunt Louise comes a knocking. And no; I don't mean Louie from this show or Ducktales. I sometimes think the background music is okay; but it's overbearing at times, and this is a prime example of it. Tweeg drops the paper and starts trying to secure the inside of his tower and hope no one sees him. Never mind that MAVO has known Tweeg since he became a member and Miss Maggothart has visited Tweeg at the tower for tax collection many times already. So I find this kind of pointless. LB: Hey Tweeg; they spelled you name wrong. It's spelled T-W-E-E-G! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Projection much there LB?! If only Tweeg was smart enough to notice that because he has pretty much ignored LB's insult booking names at Tweeg at this point. And speaking of irony...

Tweeg: MAVO wants us DEAD! (two death references in a Teddy Ruxpin episode...Oh wait; forgot about the end of the first story arc and Captured. My mistake.) D-E-D! (Does the cut throat sign too!)

Tweeg looks out and proclaims that every move must be calculated and he turns his back and gets caught in the hook of the blinders and pushes up taking a MAN-SIZED bump into the ceiling with his head. I swear Tweeg is trying to kill himself off. LB asks if that one was planned. HAHA! Tweeg blows him off and wants him to roll the doors and lock the windows; but most importantly, to put him down. Do you seriously want to be "put to sleep" forever Jack? Then the blinders break from the brick walls and Tweeg falls down and takes a wussy bump on the floor. Sigh. Tweeg backs under the desk as he gets the third death reference of the episode:

Tweeg: They will bring assassins after me! Killers! Maulers! Butchers!...
LB: ...and Bakers! And Candlestick Makers!

HAHA! Sadly; this basically gives away the payoff to this "death to the funny duo" angle well in advance; but man, they are playing this to the hilt. Tweeg panics some more because MAVO could be here any moment now. So we scene change to a road leading somewhere and we see a surf Grunge's legs (check the legs; I'm not fooled.) in sandals walking. They also have a weird sound effect for the walking too. Then we get another scene changer barely 10 seconds after the last one as we pan down to see the fuzzy colored eggplants known as Fobs reading the newspaper. Strangely; Fuzz is with them. I know this because he's the green one (the other one is orange and another one is yellow in this scene). Weird because he's usually living with Gimmick. I guess he wanted to show he can be on his own. The joke here is that the Fobs are mistaking the word minion with onion. I also find it hilarious that Fuzz thinks Tweeg being hunted by MAVO is terrible because Tweeg once kidnapped him during the episode where Teddy and company found out that the third crystal grants the Vanish spell from Final Fantasy VI. Then the surfer grunge arrives as we saw about thirty seconds ago; as he sounds like a surfer only with a much lower pitched voice. I don't know who voices him; but I'm not going to reveal his name because there is a really infamous angle about him and it's downright hilarious and sad all at the same time. He is looking for Jack W. Tweeg and Fuzz informs him that he is on the right path; but he also tells them to be careful about the evil onions. Well; they are the world's most natural tear gas so that is sound advice actually. The surfer dude walks away stage right as one of the Fobs then realizes that those legs might have been from a minion. Ummm; I doubt it. There is only one heel grunge in this show and he's only half of that. Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge!

So we return to a far shot of Tweeg's tower as we see Tweeg dressed up as Little Bo-Peep who has lost his Fobby Sheep. HAHA! Sadly; we see that Tweeg still doesn't know how to shave his legs properly. Tweeg prances around and it's so funny that LB is repulsed and wants to turn himself and Tweeg into MAVO instead. Tweeg has a tear in his eye and whines. Tweeg: Why me? Why is it always ME?! Classic whiny, cowardly, funny heel stuff. I LOVE IT! So LB has an idea: make a black box and use it to erase MAVO's memories. Really great spot: Tweeg does the "I take credit for a plan my sidekick comes up with" spot; but before he can spill out the plan; LB cuts him off repeating what he said. HAHA! Tweeg asks how he knew and LB proclaims that a little bird brain told him. HAHA! I think LB lost the irony of calling himself a bird brain since he was the one who came up with the idea. Tweeg proclaims that he'll show Quellor that he is no ordinary idiot while LB looks from the stool (NOT THAT ONE!) out the window. LB: Yeah; there's nothing "ordinary" about you. This kind of banter is comedy gold for me. Tweeg wants to take over MAVO and sadly; we get our first major screw up of the episode as Tweeg has his worn down box and he calls the paint can on the table "black paint"; when it is clearly PINK! Why not call it the "PINK BOX"? It would fit Tweeg's lack of irony; give LB easy material to work with and make MAVO look like...Ummm...I'll get back to you on that one. Tweeg realizes that there is something missing that is needed the most. I was hoping that LB would say: "You mean your brain?" ; but it doesn't happen. LB points out that he needs a crystal and Tweeg demands that he get the crystal right now. LB isn't thrilled because he has a date; which Tweeg complains and calls Buffy a love sick beach ball. That makes no sense because Bounders are not shaped like beach balls. Radishes is more like it. LB hops up the stairs anyway lest Tweeg tries to kick him in the rear again like Quellor did in the last episode.

So we scene change to LB hopping along the path as we hear him ranting about not being thrilled about spying and stealing. He concludes that he must be in love. So he makes it to the front door and since he has no hands; he kicks the door to knock it. Teddy of course answers it and he forgets to look down of course. He sees LB and they talk in neighborly fashion as LB asks if he could have a cup of flour, a few copper coins and borrow one of the crystals. Teddy agrees on two of the three and you can guess the third one he refused. LB just sezs bye in a nice way (well; he's clearly tired of being a heel now) as he is about to bounce away; but Teddy offers him to come inside for milk and cookie as the new batch (remember that he got the original batch of cookies burned earlier) is ready. Second "TONING" sound from LB ensues and LB turns around surprised about this because Gimmick would NEVER let LB inside; so he lets LB come in as we head to the kitchen and Teddy goes to the oven to get the new batch of cookies since the previous batch burned. Those are on the table on a plate; and LB eats them all in one shot. He loves them too which garners a giggle from Teddy as he offers the real cookies; and LB agrees to have them later when they are more cooked. Teddy takes the tray to the counter as he asks LB (who is on the stool) about why he wants a crystal. One thing about the animation in this show is; they could never get Teddy's feet right, even on a shot to shot basis. The soles were white; and at times they extended right to the toes (which wasn't according to the doll) when he goes to the oven, and then in the next shot of him walking, they are the same color as his fur. This happens a lot of the time and it makes for poor shot continuity. It also makes me wonder which company was doing ink & paint at the time for each scene. There HAD to be more than one animation studio involved.

Anyhow; LB explains that Tweeg is making a black box (which is actually pink) to counter Quellor and MAVO. Teddy can only say "oh" as LB is perfectly all right with it because he thinks Tweeg will just zap himself again with it and turn into a mindless zombie again. Which is sad; because Tweeg The Vegetable (seriously; that was an actual episode title) is hilarious. Teddy asks how Tweeg was turned back to normal and LB states that Quellor reversed the crystal (the uncracked face of the crystal was exposed) and zapped him again. And thus the key point of the episode is revealed...and the hermit, Gimmick and Grubby return to the kitchen after a nice walk and wouldn't you know it: You can clearly see that there are two brooms in the place that we didn't see in the entire scene. Teddy set LB up! Bad Illiop! BAD! BAD! BAD! Okay; he really didn't. It was the conveniently placed brooms to signal that Gimmick is going to try to MURDER LB with it because he hates LB. Or something. Needless to say; this is downright easy to call as I realize that Gimmick's nose looks like a shorten version of Cyril Sneer's from the Raccoons (which is also Canadian; and I bet the farm that the same company that produced this show produced The Raccoons as well). At least he shows his science by calling his routine cardiovascular reaction. Nice one Newton; now MURDER that nice Bounder like your programming character is supposed to. The hermit and Grubby join in for fun as LB gleefully dodges all. If I were Teddy; I would get near LB and whisper to him that he'll get LB out of this mess and LB allows Teddy to throw him out the window. Just to see how the rest of the babyface respond to it. It doesn't happen of course; because Teddy isn't as violent as Milo throwing Clamantha away. They head to the living room as Teddy is pleading for them to stop acting like heels; but it fails as the hermit jumps and lands on the sofa belly first trying to grab LB. Grubby chases him up the stairs and somehow LB jumps and grabs the chandelier chain with his tail and swings to the kitchen door and as I expected; Teddy lets him whiz by. That sounded so wrong for some reason.

LB jumps on the counter which has a window conveniently opened (no logic break because either way; Teddy is friends with LB now); thanks Teddy for the cookies and bounces out the window and out of sight. Grubby is upset that Teddy let him get away. Wait; I thought you wanted him out of the house. Teddy just did you a favor. Teddy admits that he allowed him to get away which is great because Gimmick wanted LB out of the house anyway. Gimmick is not happy to hear that Teddy invited him; but Teddy points out that LB gave them the solution to their mystery of the hermit (just like LB saved Teddy from being like the hermit in Musical Oppressors. Someone needs to bring that booking name back. It would ROCK; and I mean that in the nicest way possible.) as the seventh crystal can restore memories. And since the hermit's memory was erased; it could restore his memory; so Teddy offers Gimmick to make a black box. Good character development moment: Grubby talks like Newton Gimmick while Newton Gimmick talks like a normal human being. That's the little things that made TaleSpin such a killer show and that show was episodic to the core. It's easy to do it in a serial series; but doing it in an episodic series and making it work well is mighty difficult. Most so now since most kids don't like empathy in cartoons much anymore; unless it is so memorable that it overwhelms the ability not to care about it. That's why comedy is such an easy way out and that's why a lot of execs go for it. Grubby isn't so sure about Gimmick getting it to work (ye of little faith) and that ends the segment ten minutes in. This was a pretty good episode thus far; but the really important stuff is still up.

After the commercial break; we head back to Tweeg's tower as LB hops up the stairs and then we get one of the most weirdest moments I have ever seen as LB notices Buffy sitting on the railing on the top of the staircase and calls to her. Buffy is the lighter red Bounder with a light green ribbon on her head. She turns around; calls out for LB and then they hop in slllllllllllllllooooooooowwwwwww motion. And it is staged like a flashback for no reason whatever. That is just plain overkill guys! She also has a rhinestone on the top of her head as well and they have a meeting of the mouths. And it wasn't at the firewood pile. I do mean full; press lips into face and do it with three feet of air in between them and the ground. Just too funny. LB claims that Buffy makes an impact on him. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. LB tries to ask about borrowing Buffy's rhinestone from her head; but Buffy somehow gets some nose hairs which somehow appear out of nowhere. Oh; those cooky Canadians and their love for hockey beards. She does the slow sneezing routine and literally blows LB away. HAHA! Good bump by LB too as LB wakes up and he has a nose hair which partially explains where Buffy got it from. Okay. LB then does the "TOING" sound because he notices the rhinestone now. I thought he already noticed it before he got sneezed on the first time. Anyhow; he has some difficulty asking to borrow it and Buffy grabs it from her horn and exchanges it to LB. LB is about to turn away; but Buffy asks if he will give something in return and LB asks what she wants and she wants a diamond ring the size of something really big. I'm guessing that she wants to marry LB judging by her eyes. LB tries to explain that Tweeg is a cheap vain loser; but Buffy somehow gets a second nose hair into her mouth and this time LB pleas for her not to sneeze. However; she does which makes LB fly through the door and manages to chop block Tweeg from behind and he does the old Hanna Barbara slippery as a banana spot complete with fitting sound effects. So American sound effects are copyrighted; but Canadian ones are? Okay; good to know.

The black box (which looks exactly like it was when we first saw it in this episode with the pink paint) flies into the air and bonks off LB's head. Tweeg panics and pleads for mercy as LB is still having trouble with the nose hairs. Tweeg blows him off for being such a moron because they don't need disguises anymore as he rips the remaining hair off of LB's face. He then asks about the crystal and LB gives him the rhinestone and Tweeg inserts it into the slot which is a perfect hexagon. Yeap. Tweeg holds it up and proclaims that nothing will stop him from the epic fail. Okay; he didn't say that, but we know it's going to happen. Scene changer as we get another far shot of the tower and the surfer Grunge's legs appear as the blue birds fly away. He hums a tune and proclaims that this must be the place and that ends the scene. So we head back to Gimmick's living room as Gimmick is putting the final touches on his version of the Black Box at the coffee table (which looks like an actual black box) and they are complete. Teddy and the hermits' backs are facing the hard camera. Gimmick calls it the Memory Adjuster and it's in basic black. The hermit wants to try it out and Grubby questions this because LB's a heel or something. Teddy finally points out that LB helped him in the past and really; this is the only lead they have left. Although that last part wasn't spoken. The hermit wants to remember again like the trio remembers their lives. I'm guessing the seventh crystal word would be known as "Remembrance" if the series continued past 65 episodes. Grubby states that it's his memory which sounds like "his funeral". This leads to another laughable logic break: Gimmick seems to be motioning to push the green button on the bottom; then we cut to the hermit for one shot; then the closeup, Gimmick is pushing one of the top yellow buttons. The blue beam shoots into the hermit's eyes and face complete with sparkles.

Grubby wonders if it worked as the hermit is shaking around like he's dizzy; and then his eyes snap and then sits down looking somewhat miserable. Personally; I would have him sit down and look down panting or holding his head (like Lenneth did when Lezard and Mystina restored her vessel and soul back in Valkyrie Profile); but that this just me. And now you know what's coming as Teddy kneels down beside him and asks if he is all right. The hermit looks down for a moment and claims that he's fine and now the memories are coming back to him. According to the hermit; he left his wife and baby son in Rillonia for an exploration trip (more on that in a moment) and we hear that her wife's name is Illana. UH OH! The hermit looks like he just made a huge mistake in revealing this (and that is paid off later on); but Teddy who is in tears now asks who the name of the baby son is. The hermit reveals that his name is....wait for it...Teddy. And the hermit jumps up and embraces Teddy as they both are in tears. If TaleSpin didn't exist; this would have been the most awesome moment I have ever seen; even if it was predictable. Sure; most of the emotion is gone due to the obvious clues; and Kit Cloudkicker basically ran with his character and became my new favorite bear of all time, but I still got misty eyed because it was still effective enough as an emotional scene. So; in case you don't know already, the hermit is Burl Ruxpin, Teddy's dad. That would have been the ending in any other universe; but we still have about eight minutes left; so we hit the best flashback ever!

So we see a younger Burl walking (one of only two episodes where Burl did not wear any bandaged boots; although this is completely brief) in the wood with his walking stick and we see him walking towards the younger Illana as they cuddle up with a yellow flower. Burl monologs that Illana and himself got into the business of selling herbs and medicine just before Teddy was born. After Teddy's birth, we see Burl waving goodbye (which Teddy thought would be the last time) to Illana and Teddy from their home as we discover that Illana attended the business while Burl was expanding his scope for the business by exploring. We saw him near a shoreline and getting into a canoe and rowing towards the northern part of Rillonia (it's a Canadian thing; so shoot us!) as Burl decides to explore the island beyond the sea as he gets out with his backpack and walks into Bounder Pass which is very familiar because this is almost the exact same path that Teddy and Grubby took at the beginning of the series. Burl slowly walks as we see one of Quellor's bats flying around the area and Burl doesn't suspect a thing. Then we get one of those Z-Grade moments: The bat flies to MAVO Headquarters during the flashback despite the fact that Burl never saw the bat at all go to Quellor's throne room as we see the masked one himself. He is a goblin/troll creature in a purple robe and he's the "Supreme Oppressor". I'm guessing "Supreme Overlord" was too religious even for Canadians. The bat is one of Quellor's familiars who I believe helped him escape from prison during the "Hate Plague" arc; but my memories are foggy right now. They exchange notes because there is an Illiop in the area.

Quellor is voiced by the late Les Lyle (passed away in 2009) and according to IMDB: Les Lye was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on November 18, 1924. Following a stint in the armed forces after high school, he attended the University of Toronto, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree, and then enrolled in Lorne Greene's Academy of Radio Arts. In 1948, he moved to Ottawa to join Frank Ryan's CFRA team. As a radio announcer, Les worked with the station's popular groups and was also in demand as an MC at their many live appearances. After heading back to Toronto to work for a short time at CKEY, he returned to Ottawa and CFRA with his alter ego, Abercrombie. Les became one of radio's top personalities before turning to the new medium of television in 1958. His first job, as a co-host on the talk show "Contact", lasted three years. In 1961, CJOH-TV went on the air with Les as a freelance writer and performer. Meanwhile, local entertainer Bill Luxton was busy with several shows, including a morning magazine. Forming what would become a long-lasting partnership, Les soon began creating comic characters for Bill to interview on his morning show. When puppeteer John Conway decided to give up hosting the CJOH kids show "Cartoonerville" in 1966, the station's programmers asked Les and Bill to team up and take over. "Uncle Willy & Floyd" was born. Over the years, such personalities as Alanis Morissette, Klea Scott, Bruno Gerussi and Margaret Trudeau, would drop by for surprise guest appearances. In addition to Luxton, Les has worked with Don Harron, Ruth Buzzi and Orson Bean, and has worked for the CBC, CTV and Global networks. "Uncle Willy & Floyd" ran for 22 years in syndication across Canada, and "You Can't Do That on Television" enjoyed a 10-season run and international acclaim. Among his many accomplishments, Les has appeared in a number of stage shows and was a major contributor to Rich Little's career. In 2003, Les and Bill were honored with lifetime achievement awards from the Alliance of Canadian Cinema, Television and Radio Artists (ACTRA), for their work on "Willy & Floyd." Now retired, Les continues to work as an active member of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and is also writing a book of his memoirs.

He started with Whatever Turns You On as a Male Adult (The pre-cursor to You Cannot Do That On Television) in 1979; and was in Sam Sneer in The Racoons; but he'll always be known as Barth Baggs, Ross Ewich and El Captaino (Who proves that there IS a danger in yelling FIRE in a crowded theater; most so when a firing squad is in the audience.) from You Cannot Do That On Television in 1979-1990 which was his most recent acting credit. He has 13 acting credits and wrote three episodes of You Cannot Do That On Television in 1983. Quellor never appeared in the storybook series nor the ABC Weekend Special since Quellor was never intended to be in the product in the first place. He was added in the animated version as a new foil to Teddy and more so to Tweeg once the ruse of the "Salt Crystal" was exposed. MAVO does actually exist in the storybook version (not the ABC special since that only covers the Airship arc, the Missing Princess arc, and the Crystals arc.); although I have no idea if any of the characters outside of Tweeg were actually in the storybook. I know Teddy a lot more from the animated series than the storybooks. As I mentioned before; Quellor is a perfectly fine heel; but the Gutangs are a lot more monsterous in the heeldom and most of Quellor's heat was gone when he lost to Teddy during the Captured story arc due to popcorn. And the fact that he got turned on by his minions twice. The smart thing to do was after the Captured saga; Quellor does a slow burn towards being a babyface outcast. In fact; if a remake was done not to sell toys; that would be where I would place my booking for him. Sadly; he was a heel the whole time and is still a heel.

So where was I? Oh yeah; Quellor calls for the guards which happens to be his bright color dumb goon squad: Sludge, Drudge and Trudge whom are all trolls who has the strength of Dumptruck and share the same total IQ number. They are annoying and dumb; you can call them the troll version of the nephews from Ducktales; or more recently, the lobster nephews from Fish Hooks. So we cut back to Burl still in Bounder Pass as the goon squad tries to jump him; but Burl run away. One thing about Canadian animation: a lot of cheap leg running shots on the ground; which allows them to animate it without much fuss. Sometimes that is a good thing; but it can be overdone. Anyhow; Burl gets forced into a corner and gets captured. We go to Quellor's throne room and I just realized the big logic break here: Here was taken to MAVO headquarters at once. He was never taken to the Ying Zoo first. Now Quellor demands the location of the crystals (which I believe shows that the Gutangs didn't know about the crystals either even though it was in "their" city.); but Burl has no idea what he is talking about. That still doesn't why half of the medallion was in Teddy's house; but whatever. Quellor realizes that this is going nowhere and Burl is useless to him; so he opens the panel containing the Black Box (cracked side up) and zaps Burl's memories away. Now we return to reality as Teddy is still in tears wonder what happened next and we finally head to the Ying Zoo as Burl is thrown in the prison. Now can you see the logic break? Now if I was a careful writer; I would have had Burl thrown in prison first at the Ying Zoo (with the familiars going to the zoo instead of MAVO headquarters to inform the wizard that an Illiop was in the area). Remember that the wizard of Ying was looking for one to display. Then have his minions kidnap Burl and throw him in the prison. Burl writes the scribe on the floor and covers it (which Teddy discovers later when he's in the cell); then have Quellor arrive himself and demand answers. Then zap him with the black box and then leave. That would make sense and allow the scribe to be the last moment Burl remembers his family.

Anyhow; the Ying Zoo went on tour as we return to headquarters as two purple monsters with wide faces and they look to be identical twins! They seem to be dragging a coffin like box up the stairs; but their hand slips and the box bounces down the steps taking MAN-SIZED bump along the way and crashes into the wall. Burl pops up from the carnage and escapes MAVO and hides in the exact same cave Teddy was in when he he got sideswiped by Quellor at the finish to Musical Oppressors. Nice continuity guys. They didn't suspect he was in there as Burl walks aimlessly for a while as he looks really tired when he comes through the bushes and notices the island in the middle of Leeke Lake and he lived there for ten years until he discovered Teddy near the river and nursed him back to health in To The Rescue. We finally head back as Burl seems to be looking miserable again. Now that was a tragic story (logic break notwithstanding) and sad because Burl did nothing to deserve it due to Quellor's greed. As tragic as the story was; at least Teddy was able to see his dad alive and well. Kit's story is a lot more tragic because we don't know who is family really is, and not only was he alone, but he was an air pirate for a year. Even more tragic: Kit sees Rebecca Cunningham in the window during the "Home Is Where The Heart Is" scene (Disney Channel version of Plunder and Lightning) and she basically tells him that he has a home here and that there are people who do care about him. And then Kit is basically forced to make a decision in the third act to basically betray his own family to save them from getting killed (the alternative would have killed everyone and Cape Suzette would be in a much worse position than it was in Act IV). Again; Burl's story is tragic, but Kit's is even more so due to his age and the fact that he was Don Karnage's protege at one time. So yeah; it's really difficult to feel the emotion of this flashback in general. However; I still do to a certain extent and I still cared in the end because Teddy's heart is in the right place; even if his idealism causes him moral myopia. Gimmick calls this a gripping tale and I hope he never meets Kit Cloudkicker. Teddy and Burl are in tears as Teddy is happy to be together again. And we hit the sequence that made Teddy Ruxpin so famous (even had his own hits sold on cassette tape at one point; for the doll of course): we sing the song which is "Together Again". I'm not going to call it because this rant is going as long as it is.

However; I do have an issue with this. Don't get me wrong, this is not a bad song at all. It amazes me how Phil Barron can sing to himself. Not only that; but since Burl and Teddy are voiced by Phil, he basically has to sing in a way that he is singing Teddy's younger voice, along with Burl's singing. AT THE SAME TIME in spots. Grubby does his first "hoho" of the series almost sixteen and a half minutes in for fun. However; this song was clearly inserted to pad the running time because as you will see; they will be singing the song AGAIN in the next episode when they reunite with Illana. Personally; I would have them sing a different song; or just extend the next scene after the song which we will get to shortly. Anyhow; this goes on for about 90 seconds as they put firewood in the fireplace and then hug each other at the end. The music's good, the singing is great, it's just pointless filler since they sing the song again next episode and that one is a lot more memorable than this one sadly. So we scene change back to inside Tweeg's tower as there is a knock on the door. After that emotional moment; we need a comedy scene to pep up the tired children audience watching this so I'm fine with it. Tweeg proclaims that an assassin is at the door; so he grabs the Black Box and proclaims that he is going to turn someone's brain into oatmeal. He opens the door and there is a purple haired Grunge (who the writers have been building up for a while now) in the door smiling as if he doesn't have a care in the world. So Tweeg actually remembers how to aim the black box properly and does machine gun noises in a show with no machine guns in it! HAHA! Of course; the machine fails to work because there is no 7th crystal to power it. So the Grunge walks in with his surfboard (he is a surf Grunge after all) calling the black box a lunch pail and then he proclaims that he is Tweeg's long lost father. Yeah; this is the infamous Elroy Tweeg; the estranged father of Tweeg. Oh boy; this angle is so much fun to sort out that it requires a paragraph on it's own.

See; when Teddy and company met the surf Grunges for the first time; Tweeg was mentioned and there was a legend about a famous Grunge surfer who was the best surfer in all of Grundo. On water at least. I would love to see him surf the clouds (after he wonders for a while what I am talking about here); but he married Elinore Tweeg who is probably the most evil mother in Grundo. She's the one who is the exact opposite of Illana Ruxpin: mean, nasty, and one who hates her son with a passion and loves to rub it in too. Age of Autism's blog is full of these only they are a lot more offensive and dangerous than Elinore. Tweeg is just merely a vain goofball. Anyhow; there was a song written (which the Grunges sang in the show) that Elroy married Elinore (and how many mind altering substances was Elroy taking to do that? We'll never know...) and they basically gave birth to Tweeg which is a cross between a Grunge and a Troll. Basically; a monster version of a Wuzzle character; only Tweeg is much funnier than Rhinokey ever was. Anyhow; Elinore was such a hellish character to deal with and Elroy had enough and disappeared without a trace leaving his son to fend for himself against Elinore. It may seem selfish on Elroy's part since he did consent to the marriage with Elinore, but Elinore was a dishonest troll (in the figural and literal sense of the word) who was a nightmare to deal with, so it's understandable. At least Elroy didn't kill his son; or his wife. Anyhow; we discover that Elroy is offering Tweeg a chance to follow in Elroy's footsteps as a surfer because he needs someone to take over the legacy once he retires; and he wants to train Tweeg to become a championship surfer. Okay; this sounds like a great angle and it gives the comedy relief something to do while the main story is playing in the background. Unlike Quack Pack; I care about both subplots and no one is unlikable, so it works. So LB comes in with the reward poster in his mouth as Elroy is offering Tweeg to reform himself as Tweeg claims that he's a great villain. Well; he is a funny villain; does that count as great? Another funny retort from LB...

LB: Hang Ten? He couldn't even hang one!

Tweeg shows the poster (gets off death reference #5 which is very high for this series) to Elroy as he refuses to Hang Ten with his dad. LB proclaims that it's less exciting then what Quellor wants to do with and to Tweeg. Oh; can you smell Tweeg grabbing enough rope to hang himself here? Tweeg dares him to read the reward poster. Bad move there Tweeg as LB reads the list of evil things Quellor wants to do and LB quotes....

[1.] Tweeg will be dangled over a pit filled with Mud Blups. TOING!
[2.] Then he's thrown off the highest cliff into the jaws of a dreaded Drool Beast. TOING!
[3.] Finally; he will spend an entire day locked in a door with Miss Maggothart. TOING! TOING! & TOING!

And it's apparent now that Miss Maggothart's performance during the "Hate Plague" story arc was enough to convince Quellor to rehire her even though she was part of the conspiracy when MAVO turned on Quellor. Needless to say; that last one is enough to convince Tweeg to take up Elroy's offer. Tweeg wants LB to pack the bags because it's vacation time as he kicks his black box onto the ground and that is that. Simple; but to the point. So we return to Gimmick's living room as we continue with Burl and Teddy talking to each other while Grubby and Gimmick watch on. Teddy explains that he and Illana missed Burl so much that something bad had to happen. Burl still cannot believe he was gone for ten years and hopes Illana will forgive him. Teddy believes that she will; because something had to happen and they never believed that he left on his own for no reason. Teddy stands up and asks Burl that come tomorrow morning; if they can go home. We fade to black with Burl wondering and that ends the episode at 19:11. Canadian television seems to be two minutes shorter than American television. I should point out that the final commercial break would have a one minute PSA called "Protect Yourself" featuring the animated Teddy sitting in a real world chair and a studio as we introduce a child star from the 1980's giving out tips to "protect yourself". It was fine for what it was at the time, but time has not been kind to these PSA's as we have learned a lot more about exploited children over the years and the reasons why they are exploited. Hint: most exploitation is caused by people the child already knows and rarely by a stranger. Anyhow; this episode was really good and it had to pay off in this way. However; the logic breaks are glaring and it was clear that the series was on it's way out when they were planning closure for the show at this point. Still; they made me care about Teddy seeing his dad back and that's all that matters. Tweeg bringing the funny also helps too. **** (80%).

One final note: I do notice that the "animation advisor" (Open Office doesn't see it as a word. I'm guessing advisor is British spelling and Canadian was a British colony; so...) was Kazumi Fukushima who was the animation director for the Littles. If I'm not mistaken; TMS did that show, so I think TMS was the animator of this show and it was uncredited here. That will explain some of the designs in the next episode. However; that is pure speculation on my part.

THE REVIEW LINE

Wow; that took three plus days of prep work and ranting to complete as I was going on memory for the recap and the introduction to this show; but I got through it and I'm drained. Now granted; this episode was pretty good and I enjoyed it. Tweeg did his part as well as he usually does and LB was great as well. The main story did exactly what it was supposed to do and it did it well enough even 26 years later: pay off the Hermit angle and bring Teddy Ruxpin's dad back. As I kid; this was a ***** episode without question. However; now it is a good episode which did make me happy for Teddy, but I also know that there are certain characters in other shows three years later that did a much better job at bringing the pathos. There were animation mistakes and there were a few logic breaks (the pink paint for one and part of Burl's flashback for two); but they were minor and really the story was heartwarming for me so it did the job. Good work guys! Next up is The Journey Home and this one should be shorter; although it has it's share of wonky logic. So....

Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.

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