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The Adventures Of Teddy Ruxpin: Thin Ice
Reviewed: 07/23/2019
Thinner Than Teddy's Fighting Skills!
Well; it's time to finally bring the beginning of the end of the Teddy Ruxpin: Storybook series and dive into the real meat of this show. So, we press on with Teddy trying to find the Hermit while MAVO tries to find Teddy and the crystals. You cannot get a more simple storyline than that, folks. How does this episode fare? So; let's rant on shall we...?
Episode opens in the meadows as it's still snowing at this point as it is nightfall. Head inside Maple and Zeb's house as Teddy and LB are looking out the window as Teddy thanks the elf couple for rescuing them (well, mostly LB anyway) and LB thanks them for not letting him turn into an ice treat. Zeb warns them not to go out tonight and wait until spring thaw because even if the weather clears, the snow will be a problem and Maple scolds him for this. Zeb has got a point there, Maple; sensible people stay indoors. However; Maple has an idea: make and use snowshoes to get through the snow. Which in Grundo would be a good form of transportation since cars don't exist in that world anyway. LB jokes about cold feet as Maple is amused by that. She goes to the cupboard and brings out the elves tennis racket, which doubles as snowshoes. Never underestimate the power of elf efficincy, let me tell ya. As expected the snowshoes are way too small for Teddy and LB's feet; so Zeb has to make them and he's not amused by this. Zeb goes into his workshop and all the wooden frames are too small, except one. Zeb finds a frame and LB has to open wide, because he's going to help shape up the frame, so to speak. Scene change to outside as Maple is putting the finishing touches on LB's snowshoes and once that is done, Teddy helps LB up, which his snowshoes are already done. LB tests them out and they work great...until the back of the snowshoe bonks into the top of the other snowshoe and LB goes flying and faceplants into the snow. Sigh. Zeb is no dummy when he says that it takes time to get used to. Scene change to Zeb, Maple, Teddy and LB waving goodbye to each other and Teddy and LB walk away stage right. Zeb tells them to not come back too soon, which if I remember correctly, Teddy comes back literally the next night. More on that later in this rant. LB decides to go back to Tweeg's Tower and is actually looking forward to seeing him again, complete with Vinny laugh. So, the entire Elinore loan thingy has reached a dead end. Why am I not surprised? He also wishes Teddy good luck on finding the Hermit and Teddy thanks him. Awww, my heart melted. I'm sure that they will never see eye to eye like that again. No siree!
Both go their seperate way as we scene change to MAVO as we head to the war room with the Troll Nephew throwing down Iggly in front of GUOL for no good reason. Iggly gets up, dusts himself off while quoting Rule 4, Subsection 6: No shoving the keeper of the gate. GUOL orders Iggly to drop the knee before her and Iggly will only obey her if she has the Black Box. A monster with scruples...this will never do for GUOL, so Iggly is grabbed and he can rot with Quellor in the dungeon. Iggly is grabbed and shown the way out as GUOL now needs the want ads to get a new gatekeeper. Quellor is pacing in the dungeon as his prison cell now has two exits. Like I said many times, continuity is not this show's strongest suit, especially when it's pounded in your head that episodic episodes are more over than serial. Quellor thinks Iggly will save him, but he's thrown into a prison cell by Sludge, and Sludge taunts him with Rule 9, Section 10: You'll never get out! That might be the funniest thing Sludge has ever said or done. Quellor is not amused by this and while he's glad that Iggly believe in him; he would have happy if Iggly just gave him the keys to the cell; which he no longer has since Sludge has them. Ooops! Iggly's heat is gone now, too. And speaking of the EVIL ONE, look who shows up at MAVO Headquarters: Elinore Tweeg; who is doing a beauty facial in a mirror right in the war room! WHAT?! Apparently; Elinore is going to be sworn in and there is a ceremony, as Sludge comes in and asks if she would accept less repulsive and Elinore is so offended by this that she throws her hairbrush and it bonks off of Sludge! Scene change and the animators actually remembered to give Sludge a cartoon bump on his head in this scene! Wow, just wow! Drudge and Trudge have made it as well as GUOL is basically thanking her for the service and we get a major continuity error in the background shows the crystals are in the wall slots despite losing the salt crystals outright at the end of Tweeg's ceremony to return as a MAVO member; five arcs ago! So, Elinore gets to play the role of the gaslighter, which for MAVO, this is a huge upgraded weapon. For everyone else, everyone is in grave danger, as if GUOL wasn't bad enough. Now, if I was the writer; I would finally reveal GUOL's real name at this point so there is no confusion since her title has been given to Elinore now. Nope, she still doesn't have an official name and is called Surpeme Oppressor. Darn!
Then we get the funniest moment in this entire series: Sludge brings in a tray of hot drinks in goblets. Elinore and GUOL grab the goblets and have a toast. They drink the liquid, they no sell the thing and then then they get funny faces and spit the drinks out! I cackled with laughter after seeing that. I don't why, but that was funny! GUOL and Elinore go to the table with the same map Tweeg stole from the first arc and proclaims that the troops are out in the country side trying to capture Teddy Ruxpin, but no luck. Elinore's advice: Destroy everything and everyone! GUOL likes this attitude, like a heel would; although Elinore has a more subtle plan: Use the Eclipse and track him from the air. So, we scene change to the country side as the unnamed MAVO soliders that we see in virtually every background scene in MAVO since their debut notice snowshoe prints and comment about those big feets. The monsters exchange notes for a while, looking like dorks. The prints go around the bend and there is Teddy as he hears the monster voices and finds a brush tree branch. He walks backwards and uses the brush to wipe the tracks in front of him so he cannot be spotted. Well, he's not running away from foresnic dectectives, so this works rather nicely. The monsters are confused by this and then walk away, as they manage to insult the Anythings in the process. Teddy breathes a sigh of relief as we scene change to the hanger with the Eclipse as Miss Maggotheart is overseeing the Troll Nephews supplying the Eclipse as in comes Elinore and GUOL as Elinore has a recommendation for keeper of the gate, even though you have to explain it seven or eight times. Imagine this as the Republican party, only Donald Trump is not the Surpeme Oppressor. Yes, Tweeg is the one Elinore wants to be the keeper of the gate. And why not since Tweeg is so pathetic and he doesn't have to deal with Quellor anymore and the Surpeme Oppressor is much shorter than he is; so why not take the job? Besides, he still loves his mommy, or so I hear. So, Elinore thanks Maggotheart for being the Commander of the Eclipse and Elinore is not pleased with Maggotheart's humbleness. That in heeldom is a red flag. Anyhow; Maggotheart's orders are to find Teddy and the crystal...and via whispering from Elinore, tell Tweeg he takes over Iggly's position. Maggotheart addresses the crew as they are basically being back the prototypical Air Pirate looks back, which are completely third rate now.
However; since Maggotheart is in charge, she lays down the not-law and the crew basically salutes her without any registering of fear. That kind of hurts her heat right there, too. You idiots should absolutely fear her since she was the MAVO dues collector. So, Maggotheart enters the Eclipse and the Eclipse takes off as Elinore and GUOL talk about how woman are more effective than men, even as heels. This was 1987 by the way. Scene change to Teddy as he apparently has made it to a frozen Leeke Lake. Teddy finds a stick to use to test the thickness of the ice because after what happened to LB, you can never be too prepared, especially since Teddy is much, much bigger than LB, snowshoe pressure or no. Scene change to Teddy on the frozen lake testing the ice as he goes. So, he makes it to the island and is standing on one of the rock, calling for the Hermit. Do Illiops hibernate like bears? Teddy decides to leave, and here comes the Eclipse! If you couldn't bury Quellor deep into the ground before, you sure did now. Teddy dives behind the rocks to hide as leaflets fall from the sky in the most unpopulated area in the world. Some things never change with MAVO. Teddy grabs one of the leaflet and Teddy is wanted alive for 1000 pieces of gold on MAVO's behest. Geez; I'm shocked they didn't use the Illiop picture from the Ying Zoo and further gaslight the monsters! Restraint? From heels? No wonder MAVO is such a weak organization. Teddy puts the leaflet in his pocket and walks away towards the bushes where Rolghoul and his unnamed ghouls have their weapons set to profits as they wait for Teddy to come to them to end the segment nine minutes in. GUOL taking over is a vast improvement from Quellor, but they still look like losers.
After the commercial break; we have Teddy coming towards the hard camera and he has since taken his hood off to expose his head, even though the monsters have completely figured out that it's him before the commercial break and the hood was still on. It's clear that there was more than one animation studio doing this show; overwise, this makes no sense. Still a major continuity error. And the bushes are gone as the monsters yell CHARGE with weapons in tow. Teddy tries to bail; but the limitations of the snowshoes rear their ugly heads. These shoes are not made for running, that is for sure, these shoes assure that the monster will run all over you! The green soup faced monster throws his giant rock and Teddy is able to dodge that by rolling away. The rock creates a hole in the ice as the monsters surround him. Rolghoul and his second order Teddy to give up; but Teddy spots the hole in the ice and hopes that this works as somehow, he can now run properly on snowshoes and dives into the water; pops up and cuts a promom basically saying "better dead than everyone hating me", which is super, super depressing in hindsight and dives back into the water. Phil Baron's acting was absolutely hideous in this scene. The monsters surround the hole, looking confused. Underwater, Teddy opens his coat and brings out crystal #4 and breathes on it to gain oxygen. He swims down to the air lock door and drops the fourth crystal while opening it! He then opens the door and heads inside without even grabbing the fourth crystal! I betcha that when Teddy gets captured, the fourth crystal will be with him when the monsters get the crystals for real. Did no one think that through?! Obviously not. Another reason why 1980's cartoons suck. You couldn't have Teddy just put the crystal back in the belt before opening the door. Shake my head as Teddy turns the wheel to let the water out of the room and he opens the second air lock door. He heads inside the cave and there is the Hermit sitting at the table, and he does not look amused at all, neither Teddy having a swim, Teddy hideous acting, and the fact that MAVO is after him. Hermit even accuses of Teddy of working for them. Geez, he does remember Kit working for the Air Pirates, even though TaleSpin is still three years away? I'm guessing he was making a reference to She-Ra or something.
Hermit even admits that MAVO has been after him for years. Uh-oh! So, yes; the Hermit was the one who escaped the Ying Zoo, and thanks to this moment, this absolutely gives away who the Hermit is. Teddy shows the Wanted ad to prove that MAVO hates him too, and he also reveals the present he was delivering, despite being soaked to the gill. Gimmick still hasn't invented waterproof backpacks yet. Sigh. Hermit opens the present and it's soggy as well, but Hermit thanks Teddy anyway. Hermit wants Teddy to be warmed up and we scene change to Gimmick's house as the Eclipse has arrived. Miss Maggotheart is asking Gimmick and Grubby where Teddy is and they both goldbrick on that one. Oh, and they don't care who is Surpeme Oppressor, we will not answer to an unlawful order, which is fitting since MAVO is pretty much lawless anyway. Iggly is the only one who respects laws and he's in the dungeon now. So, Miss Maggotheart bills them for defying GUOL and then places Gimmick and Grubby under house arrest. I guess the dungeon is full at MAVO now, except for the special cage when Teddy is captured, I guess. Miss Maggotheart bails as Grubby and Gimmick are afraid of where this is going. Scene change back to Teddy putting his winter clothes on as Hermit puts on his winter gifts off-screen. Teddy decides to return to Gimmick's house where they would be safe, unaware of Maggotheart's gambit. Hermit is not thrilled about this because he hasn't had company in years, outside of Teddy of course. Teddy assures him that it's all right and asks if he has snowshoes, which the Hermit does not have. But wait, he has two pairs of skis just for this season. Wow, that was awfully convenient of him. Scene change to outside as Hermit and Teddy are on skis and notices from afar, Rolghoul and his dork monsters still looking at the icy hole like complete fools. One of them admits that Teddy is talented. Geez; that's an awfully low bar to achieve and then Rolghoul notices Teddy and the Hermit skiing away stage left and is amazed by this. So Rolghoul and company try to follow; but one of them trips on the edge of the icy hole and this somehow causes every MAVO member in sight to tumble onto the ground like little children. Somethings never change with MAVO. They get up and run off as we scene change to the Eclipse landing in front of Tweeg's Tower.
Jump cut to Miss Maggotheart nailing the Anti-Teddy Ruxpin leaflet of doom with hammer and nail on Tweeg's front door. Tweeg opens the door and Miss Maggotheart nails him with the hammer several times. Oh come on, now; you honestly think that was unintentional? This is Miss Maggotheart, the troll who was until Tweeg became Surpeme Oppressor, was the one who I wanted to see as Surpeme Oppressor. Miss Maggotheart than acts like she's glad to see him, only it's probably not an act and this is how she is. AWESOME! Maggotheart informs Tweeg that he's the new keeper of the gate and to report to GUOL at once. Oh, and he's billed for poster rental. HAHA! Somethings...you guessed it. At least this one is one that shouldn't change. Tweeg pulls the leaflet and is in shock because he can get 1000 pieces of gold for one Teddy Ruxpin. So, Tweeg brings out the butterfly net of doom as if he's catching a movie star like Charles WildCat tried to do in A Star Is Torn, which makes sense since Teddy is supposed to be the star of the show despite Ilana schooling him on the babyface side and Maggotheart schooling both Tweeg and Teddy on the heel side. I would say Ying, but Ying's done in this show anyway. You know, if MAVO gets the crystals and captures Teddy Ruxpin; the booking should be Tweeg capturing him, just to complete the cycle of life. Kind of like Dumptruck getting outsmarted by Kit and then Kit gets outsmarted by Dumptruck in Plunder and Lightning 1 & 4. That would be money. Sadly, that will not be the case here. Scene change to Teddy and the Hermit doing downhill skiing and the MAVO members have wised up and are skiing and sledding after them. Rolghoul's second behind him is getting creepier and creepier by the second. Maybe he's a former member of the Quagmire Creeps, and no, I will not stoop to Family Guy jokes. This leads to the Rolghoul sled ramping off a stone ramp and springboarding off a tree and back on the hill intact. Rolghoul thinks they are safe, but they do not WATCH OUT FOR THAT TREE~! More skiing as the monsters without ski poles bounce into each other and go off-course. The last monster ramps off and hangs into a tree branch and surprisely does not get buried in a snow tomb.
This leaves the dangerous ski mountain path of doom as the monster on a circular missile cone (similar to the one WildCat and Molly rode on; but painted orange) and they go off the path, get buried in the snow and the sled buried them even further. Shouldn't Rolghoul's team be the ones buried last, not first? Whatever, let's continue in the meadows with Tweeg with his butterfly net of doom shivering and whining about the Bounders going on strike as usual. Oh and now Teddy's last name is Rootbin. That's false, because Teddy only likes Root Beer, not Root Stew. Tweeg hears someone coming and thinks it is Teddy Rudsack, which kind of makes me feel even worse for LB since Tweeg is stealing LB's gimmick now. No wonder the Bounders are on strike. Tweeg tries to hide, but he pulls the branch and this causes so much snow that Tweeg gets literally buried in a snow tomb. Normally, burials are bad, but Tweeg fails at life so many times that burying him only increases his heat as a heel. Oh, and it's not the Wooly Whatsit as I would think it would be, but LB's shadow. Tweeg then jumps out and captures LB! Now that is funny. Even funnier, LB still walks away stage left, dragging Tweeg through the snow. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Cue Vinny laugh and sight gag promo all rolled into one. Oh yes, this episode is so much better than the last one. Scene change as it is night fall. Teddy and the Hermit ski towards the treehouse resident of Maple and Zeb. They stop there as Teddy takes off his skis and calls for Maple and Zeb. The couple opens the front door, the Hermit panics as if his instincts took over and skis away while Teddy's back is turned. Ooops! Problem is, Zeb noticed him skiing away, so the jig is up for the Hermit anyway. He also swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE when Zeb notices, too. Teddy turns around and runs through the snow; but Hermit is gone. So, we scene change to Teddy inside the treehouse with Zeb and Maple being cozy at the fireplace. Zeb says good riddance to him and Maple doesn't scold him for that; but admits that she thinks Teddy is worried about him. Teddy admits that as well, saying this he's lonely and special. I guess he thinks the word strange is a bad word, but nowadays, even special would be considered problematic. So, then there is a knock on the door and it opens to reveal the Hermit covered in snow.
Now, remember in the last episode that they never showed how Teddy got into the house? Guess what, Teddy goes to the door, which is huge, and the Hermit ducks and walks in without incident. So, yes; that's how Teddy got inside the residence. That was awkward. Zeb and Maple introduce themselves and Hermit apologizes for not being friendly since he's not used to being with other outside of Teddy as the WIGGLING HAIR OF DOOM has made an appearance on the footage. That's film everyone. That is what television producers used in Anicent Egypt. Jump cut to Teddy and Hermit being cozy at the fire. Maple asks if they need anything else, and Teddy says no and wishes them a good night. Zeb no sells; so Maple elbows him and Zeb no sells the elbow, but still says good night anything. That amused me. So the couple goes upstairs and it's time for the TEDDY RUXPIN SONG OF DOOM out of nowhere. The Randy Orton syndrome strikes again, years before RKO was cool. The song is called "Will You Go To Sleep Before I Do", like it's some sort of dare being played on us. I usually give little commentary to song; but there is actually an important moment in this entire song that plays into the entire Hermit angle. So, there is a lot of awkward animation to keep Teddy in place as the music is good and the song is pretty great. However; we then HIT THE FLASHBACK~! It's wintertime as they return to Teddy's residence in Rillonia as we head into Teddy's bedroom as we get some mistakes. As much as I love this song and the story behind this and what is upcoming, one scene had Teddy's adult head instead of the child Teddy's head, although the closeup of him sleeping (with no clothes on mind you, luckly the blanket covers it up) corrects him. In comes what was supposed to be Burl Ruxpin, but in the flashbacks in Father's Day, Burl looked like Teddy Ruxpin. Here, he looks like the Hermit and it makes the connection to Burl even more obvious. If they used the younger Burl in Father's Day, it would have been a lot more subtle. Burl puts the candle out and walks out of the room. Then the Hermit starts singing with Teddy which of course is always a treat since Phil Baron voices both characters. They also show a full version of Zeb and Maple's residence in which the bottom looks so short that there's no way Teddy and Hermit could fit inside on that shot.
More singing from Hermit and Teddy as the song ends and now the misty-eye moment occurs: Teddy asks how the Hermit knew the song and the Hermit is actually crying, not understanding why even though he doesn't remember. Teddy states that Burl sang him that song when Teddy was just a child. The evidence is now starting to mount: Illiop escapes from the Ying Zoo, writes his beloved and his son's name on the prison floor at the Ying Zoo, Hermit knows MAVO and now sings a song he shouldn't remember that Teddy's father wrote and sang to Teddy as a child. There's little doubt now that the Hermit is Teddy's father, but why doesn't he remember Teddy? More to come on that front as Teddy and the Hermit look at each other to end the episode at 19:15. Again, as tragic as the Hermit's story was, at least he didn't have to stoop being a bad guy (which in a weird hindsight, would have made the whole Illiops are kind thing very ironic) like Kit had to be. Still; this episode was great outside of the many mistakes and continuity errors present in the episode. On the other hand, at least the song didn't suffer from warping like the Freedom song did. And Tweeg still fails at life. **** 1/4 (85%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; this was a vast improvement from the last episode even though many of the MAVO members are still losers and Tweeg still is Tweeg and Maggotheart is still a Tweeg troller; although those last two benefit the show. It wasn't without it's problems as the animation continuity was still all over the place in spots, and the song at the end -- despite being awesome and important -- was sort of ruined with logic breaks since Burl shouldn't look like the Hermit in the shots given the flashbacks in Father's Day. I also loved that they found a way to explain how Teddy entered the Maple/Zeb residence as well. I find GUOL as Surpeme Oppressor much more compelling and Elinore as the new gaslighter is perfect for her considering how horrible she is with her own son. The Troll Nephews and Maggotheart are much better as heels now and it feels like the new guard is more effective even if Teddy is still outsmarting the rank and file monsters at this point. That will not last long because the next episode basically puts Teddy in a bind since his original plan to use Gimmick's house as a safe house has been killed by Maggotheart and this group is so gaslit now that they suddenly aren't so incompentant anymore. Overall, this was a much better episode even if it was sloppy in places. So...
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you all next time.