Return to 50 Webs
Disclaimer#1: All images, characters and material is (C) 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and is being used without permission. The webmaster has made sure that no money was made in the creation of this webpage and that all material used here is used with the up most affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin Team.
Disclaimer#2: The views expressed here are solely the views of the webmaster and no one else's. The webmaster has no intentions to change anyone's minds about a particular subject and respects the views of the viewers. Comments about this and other editorial can be E-Mail at gweagle@eastlink.ca or signing the Cloudkicker guest book.
When Mice Were Men
Reviewed: 09/06/2008
Doesn't Eric realize that means the mice WON'T fight back.....?!
Sorry; Mick Foley-itis returning to my pinhead. Judging from what I saw in the opening while doing the prep work for this that this is going to be a Monty focused episode. I don't like the sound of that so let's rant on shall we...?!
This episode is written by Eric “Knights of The Zodiac The Terrible American Dub version” Lewald. The story was edited by Bryce Malek and supervised by Tad Stones. Hard to believe that one year later Eric and Julia Jane Roberts would be married. Even funnier is that Bryce is also the dialog director for this episode. The animation was done by Walt Disney Animation Japan once again. Wow; ten episodes in and only two episodes are animated by Sun Woo and Wang Films. No wonder the geeks love this series so much.
Interesting Moment #1: This episode uses the first opening sequence. This is getting really silly now.
We begin this one with the biggest BS story Monty has ever told. Oh look; we even get video footage of the BS story Monty is telling as Monty's tail is tied to a wooden plank roaster over a pot of boiling water as a couple of Fat Cats (but not Mr. Fat no siree!) have their knives and forks uncorked. So that's where the Pgymites got their stuff from?! It all makes sense to me now. Yeah right; like I'm buying ANY story Monty tells. Why is Monty wearing only a blue sweater here?! And why should I care if the story is BS to begin with?! Thankfully the BS flashback ends before any real damage can be done to my brain as we see Dale asking him if he was scared. I'd would be asking for my money back if I was him; but it's Dale so there as Monty does a really bad handstand to sell the story. Monty proclaims that he doesn't know the meaning the word scared. He doesn't know the meaning of the phrase “Bull Crap” either as he proclaims that he slipped the knot and MURDERED the Fat Cats (but not Mr. Fat see) into the pot. When in doubt; make the story even more BS. Dale says Zowie in an attempt to give Monty heat for the story and it fails. As much as I like Dale; he's climbing too steep of a hill to save Monterey's storytelling at this point. Chip appears with Gadget with a letter for Monterey...and it's a BIG ONE see so it must come from some human Monty saved; or BS'ed. The postmark proclaims that it's from Tramplonia; the home of the Tramps. BWHAHAHAHAHA! Or not...
Gadget uses the magnifying glass and it doesn't burn Monty to ashes sadly. I hate it when she doesn't want to play sadist on Monty. It is from a city in Spain and I believe it for once as Monty opens the letter and it's from Don Quijole; which indicates that he fights off bad pun windmills thinking that they are from Mr. Fat. The letter indicates that Don is under attack from something and needs Monty to save his mouse hide. Chip isn't so happy at this event as Dale does the POWER OF THE PUNCH right on Chip's back. Because BS&P won't allow punches to the face see; until Baloo breaks it next year of course. Monty proclaims that he can handle anything including writing his own bull crap stories. Okay; I made up the last part. Gadget wants to go help and they all run to the Ranger Wing (Umm; wasn't it called Ranger Plane earlier in the series?) and it's Rescue Rangers Away barely two minutes in the episode. Memo to Eric: It only works if you invoke it as a setup for the finish; not two minutes into the beginning of an episode. This episode is going to stink; I can just see that now....
So we head to Tramplonia, Spain which is a typical stereotypical Spanish town filled with ribbon banners and stiffly animated people walking around as the Ranger Wing (you mean Plane?) flies around and Gadget points out the obvious as it's a party rather than an emergency. So that's why Chip is so mad?! It all makes sense now...NOT!! Monty counters that because it's the Running of The Bull Craps...ERRR...Running of the Bulls season as we get some really good animated shots of the locals having a semi good time so at least WD-Japan is game for making an effort not to suck. Chip isn't game because he revives the good old Gruffi pose. It's funny that Rebecca is the only one who made that annoying spot cool; then again it's Baloo annoying her so it makes perfect sense to do that. More good animation as they do the LATINO HEAT DANCE OF DOOM spot with the humans as Dale thinks Chip is right about Monty's BS friend.
However; Gadget flies around as someone yells to bring out the bulls and she is in horror as the street gets ransacked. In Halifax and Dartmouth; this is normal for this time of year if you catch my windy drift. AHHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm....The Ranger Wing (you mean Plane?) lands as we see a couple of mice limping from the carnage injured. And there are various shots of Spanish mice hiding from the wreckage. Here's a clue fans: If you are going to do a joke based on Speedy Gonzales from Warner Brothers then Warner Brothers has every right to insult you by doing various Rescue Ranger jokes on their show. . It's called having a sense of humor and having a sense of irony. I'm SHOCKED Warner Brothers didn't bother to do a TaleSpin crack; but I guess WB wasn't threatened by TaleSpin's adventure/comedy/drama/interaction series and felt Batman was too over to make jabs at Disney. Then again; why bother since there was always Bonkers to take obvious cheap shots at...and the RR fanboys (and girls) are very happy to allow it. Or that Tad Stones took swipes at TaleSpin so WB didn't have to?
The Rangers bail out as Don Quijole (a tall Spanish mouse with a white mustache wearing a bottle cap on his head, white,black and red all over with spider web sandals. Did Spiderman visit him by chance?! They embrace as Don explains that the evil one has arrived which is the great bull El Emenopio?! Another clue: Don't ever recycle Bugs Bunny comedy feast with the Load of Bull Nimcowpoop into a serious adventure episode over 22 minutes. It NEVER works and it makes Warner Brothers get heat and justification to make jokes about your series on Tiny Toon Adventures. I mean come on guys! You are SHOCKED that Warner Brothers took swipes at you. Don is with his Spanish friends. Even Dale thinks that name sucks as Chip does the Gruffi pose to annoy me some more. Don proclaims that he attacks small animals now. As opposed to attacking humans because they keep teasing him with the red cape?! Maybe you should stop wearing that red trim between your hips there Don; it MIGHT help since cartoon logic dictates that the red makes the bull mad (while in real logic; it's the movement of the cape of course) .
They are celebrating the holiday known as El Monty Grande; which I shudder in fear because this sounds like a whore feast for Monterey Jack cheese here; or worse Monterey Jack himself. And the worst comes to past as it is about Monterey Jack himself as Monty sounds too modest about the thing. I think we know where this is going: Monty is seen as a hero while Monty doesn't buy it for one second. Funny how that goes since he keeps bringing up BS stories about himself. Don wants him to stop being modest and tell the story about El Monty Grande. Gadget wants to hear it as well and I want her to carry the damn episode already; but it's not going to happen. Dale wants to know since the Rangers have heard all of his stories several times already. Monty isn't thrilled as he stammers around. I'm slowly starting to like this episode if only because Monty is so on the defensive here. Don sits down on a rock and starts the story as it was many, many years ago during the Running of the Bulls and it's the flashback complete with HB flashback visual and sound effect. Sadly it isn't a classic because WD-Japan is animating this episode. So that logically leads to....
....many years ago as the humans dance in the streets as Don does some of the semi-cultural rambling of the episode which I really don't give a crap about. Even the bulls are friendly here making the whole thing seem like a joke until Don proclaims with the help of a smashing fruit cart which we would see recycled in It Came From Beneath The SeaDuck and here comes El Dumapedo...or something like that. It is the largest, meanest bull in all of Spain. I guess the meanest bull in the world cannot exist because he met Larson and Gary right?! And you know he's mean because he's wearing a gold cow ring and horns that look like someone nailed them to a board many years BEFORE this. So El Dumapedo is Load of Bull Nimcowpoop after all?! I smell a breach of contract lawsuit for him plus a lawsuit to Disney for using him from Warner Brothers?! And Ranger fans are SHOCKED when Warner makes fun of the Rangers?! Everyone bails as Don relates that the reason he is mad is because he wasn't invited to the festival. Geez; maybe it's because he failed the Disney animal's test perhaps?! Or even worse; Warner Brothers is hosting the event. El Nimcowpoop blitzes the entire place and destroys everything in his path causing about two million dollars worth of damage as he snort. However we cut over to a destroyed section of an alleyway as Don proclaims that a stranger steps out of the shadows and it was El Monty Grande which looks like Monty dressed up in an El Matador outfit. Well; at least they didn't dress him up like Bugs version of it or we would have seen that lawsuit go forward.
El Nimcowpoop bellows so badly that the real Warner Brothers one would like to gore him if he wasn't seeing birdies after the millionth time getting creamed from the ANVIL OF NEIDHARTS as El Nimcowpoop blitzes towards El Monty Grande as he pulls out his yellow/red cape. How ironic that the red cape has a yellow streak on it's backside?! El NimCowpoop of course charges and misses the cape entirely (and El Monty Grande) and takes a really good off-screen bump into the wall facing the harbor complete with the Scooby Doo Snow Angel Spot that I don't want to see. Then El Monty Grande grabs El Nimcowpoop by the tail and pulls him away into the middle of the city (check out the wooden gates and lack of buildings here) and then he does the ultra-contrived Mario Bowser Tail Spin of Doom. So that's where Monty gets his BS stories from. It was Don Quijole enabling him. It all makes sense now. El Monty Grande let's go and El Nimcowpoop lands into the harbor boat of fish as the boat sails away. I think the bull got the better end of the deal here if you catch my drift. The Spanish mice (and everyone else) all suck up to him as El Nimcowpoop has never been seen again (well DUH; he WAS sailing on a boat AWAY from Spain); until now. However; Monty is here to save the day as the Spanish female mice are getting a little too excited for my liking.
Chip and Dale are buying this story as Monty acts so modest that it's clear even he is not going to buy into this story. The town folks give him his old El Matador gear and a small boy gives him some Swiss Cheese underneath a cloth which Monty tries to be modest but the CHEESE OF SMELLS overwhelms him and once again it's the CHEESE ADDICTION OF DOOM nearly seven minutes in. He takes the Swiss Cheese and eats it as the ladies embrace him in a really disturbing spot there as Chip and Dale love this happening as Dale walks in and wants to kiss those ladies but the females back up and bail. SEXUAL HARASSMENT~! Monty steps in and blows off Dale for his passes and for saying that he will save the city again. Gadget cannot believe this selfish attitude and Zipper just shrugs in amazement. Chip then proclaims that Monty is afraid of that bull. NO?! REALLY?! Monty actually backing off from a BS story if he EVER saw one. Dale shadow punches and he as cool as when Kit does it; except the kick is awfully lame. Kit punching Baloo in the gut in The Idol Rich. Then the bells of doom ring and Don declares that it is time for the Running of The Bulls. The Spanish mice exit stage left as Dale runs with them complete with HB running and looping sound effect. Has WD-Japan have no shame doing that?!
So we head to the town square (which contains a stone statue featuring a bull how nice?) as we pan over to an open window where the Spanish mice and the Ranger stand on the window sill as Don tells Monty that the bulls will come from the north as they show a shot of the northern part of the square as everyone waits with glee. Dale gets too much glee and nearly falls off the window sill; but Monty catches him. Well; at least he's not mad anymore about Dale getting him involved with anything related to bulls and/or crap. We wait and there NOTHING...AND THE ROCK SEZS NOTHING! Okay; there is the sound of wind blowing even if we don't feel it blowing at all. The locals chatter in protest as Gadget asks what is wrong? Well; the sound of wind blowing when it's calm is a mighty fine place to start there Gadget love. Then a Mexican man (who looks like the Spanish version of the man in the yellow hat from Curious George) arrives to inform the public that the bulls have been stolen. The locals groan...badly on that spot as Don accuses El Nimcowpoop of this as well because he hates the festival so much. NO?! REALLY?! This sounds like El Mr. Fatso work to me guys. Dale is angry as hell and it's more shadow punching right in front of the female guests. Well; at least someone is making an effort not to suck here; and it's more amazing that Gadget is NOT doing it.
Apparently; no bully bull is safe from El Dale Grande either. Hey; no one is safe from El Dale Grande period if Chip is of any witness to it. Chip wants to help; but Dale keeps butting into the whole thing because he and El Monty Grande will save the day. Monty isn't impressed by El Dale Grande. Gadget is confused which is really silly because in a real fight you don't rush into it unless it's a gun fight or a Silican Grudge Match (since it ends in five seconds with someone shooting someone in the back of the head of course). Monty is actually LEARNING something which is silly since it is TALESPIN that is where characters grow the best right?! Anyhow; that logically leads to inside the bull barn as we head inside and Dale pops out of the hay as he sees no bulls. No Bull Sherlock! We head up on the ceiling planks as Chip is using the binoculars and sees no signs of struggle; unless it's Dale involved of course. Monty gleefully blows that deduction off because the bulls would be too scared of El Nimcowpoop. Or maybe they turned heel for being mistreated by the locals. Have you EVER thought of that Monty?! Dale then waste some more time by doing a see saw launch spot with the shovel to get up onto the ceiling planks. Zipper arrives to squeak with excitement which is the first time Zipper has actually done something not involved getting Monty out of trouble. That pretty much explains Zipper's heat right there as Dale peeps up upside down and sezs that there are no bulls down here.
Chip blows him off (sadly no funny bonk on the head here) as Zipper has found something outside. And of course the Rangers bail and leave Dale hanging upside down on a rope. I'm sorry; but Kit is much cooler than you Dale on that spot. So we recycle the shot from outside again (because recycling backgrounds is cool see; at least it works here) as Zipper shows them some wagon tracks which run up a twisting hill. Dale runs in and then falls into a hole which clearly looks like a hoof print. Chip's deduction is way off in this episode again as Monty blows him off and blames El Nimcowpoop for the track. I think the bulls turned heel for mistreatment if you ask me as the tracks lead to an huge building surrounded by a well drawn stone gate on a hill top. The Rangers go to the scene changer and we head to the front gate as it is barely opened and the Rangers look inside and it looks like a tiny village within a village as we pan to the right and Dale sees the bulls locked up in the wooden cart. The Ranger run towards it as the bulls can talk; and the Ranger go behind the CATCUS JACK OF DOOM.
The Rangers climb onto the wooden cart as the bulls are clearly babyface because they want to go back to the festival to run with the bulls. However; the Rangers are way too late; because El Nimcowpoop arrives blocking the entrance. And he can talk as well as he wants to gore Monty's hairy brown butt. Monty stammers after a good bullying from Drake Mallard himself as El Nimcowpoop set up the trap in order to get Monty here so he can destroy him and the festival. Yeah; he wants revenge for not being invited. That's one load of bull there as he snorts and rubs his hoof on the ground to set up his goring strength. Monty tells Dale that this is his chance to be a hero as the segment ends here nearly 11 minutes in. 'm sorry folks; but unless this is comedy it doesn't work as an adventure; and Monty is not funny enough to be Bugs Bunny at all. Although El Emapino is badass enough to play heel although he'll need to do a lot more work if he wants to carry Monty's fat butt to a decent episode. However; Monty is trying to use Dale as a shield which makes that even tougher as much as I like Dale.
After the commercial break; Dale climbs down and Monty attempts to stop him from charging in recklessly; but Dale wiggles free and blitzes the bull. They don't call Dale insane for nothing you know. Monty wants to tell Dale that he's not really a hero; but Dale won't listen of course because Dale wants to be the hero here. Okay by me if Monty doesn't want to play ball here. Monty calls Dale to reconsider; but Dale grabs Nimcowpoop by the tail and gets on his back as he wants to hogtie him good. Monty thinks Nimcowpoop will flatten him and the Rangers are forced to run in. Dale grabs the left horn (that visual look like somebody's head after Baloo nails him with a lead pipe) and the bull flings Dale away as Dale lands on the stone gate. The Rangers are forced to stop and El Nimcowpop is PISSED! Well; more so than usual anyway. The Rangers run away towards the house and they make it through the small opening in the door; but Monty is stuck because he's just TOO FAT! Nimcowpoop charges as the Rangers manage to pluck Monty from the opening with some effort and Nimcowpoop hits the door; and his horns stick to the door. NOW WAIT A MINUTE?! The door is wooden so; Nimcowpoop should have easily destroyed the door since he did it earlier in the flashback. I'm tempted to call this logic break #1 for the episode; but since it's Don telling the story; it's and easy BS. It sure makes Nimcowpoop look pretty weak though.
The Rangers pop up from the carnage; but since Dale's not around to do the head in the junk spot; Chip has to do it with Zipper pulling him out. Chip thanks him for pulling him by the tail and asks Monty how he actually defeated the bull last time. Monty then decides to tell them the REAL STORY. So we go to the flashback as we cut to a shot of the boat and then Monty crashes into the stone wall with a hunk of cheese. Because cheese is ALWAYS involved in a real Monty story see. Monty proclaims that he was no match for him and runs away towards the same place where the wooden fences were in Don's version of the story and Monty bumps hard into the merchant and it's such a bump that he manages to slip into El Matador clothes. El Nimcowpoop slips on the cheese that he dropped and spins around and falls into the boat of fish. Okay; that story makes even less sense than Don's version. I suspect what REALLY happened was The Aussie Kangaroo from Looney Tunes invaded this world and spun El Nimcowpoop by the tail and throws him into the fish boat. That one would make the most sense. The Spanish mice don't suspect a thing as they grab El Monty Grande and celebrate with the football victory spot as Monty admits that he NEVER really defeated the bull. The cheese defeated the bull. Nice way to make Nimcowpoop look really silly there guys.
Gadget sezs that it doesn't matter to her because the Rescue Rangers are here to work together to defeat that load of bull. Gadget looks for some springs and such; so Chip walks outside to find El Dale Dummy. I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic as we head back to the stone gate (which has grown a few vines in the last five minutes or so) as Dale likes playing hero. If you need someone to play the clueless putz; call Dale. He continues to mock El Nimcowpoop with Lemon Pio. Now THAT's a quality insult there. Dale climbs down the vines and heads to beat up some bull; but the bull is sleeping. Dale goes to the back and kicks the bull's ass. Seriously; Dale is THAT insane. Dale then goes back to the front and pulls on the eyelids. The bulls sells for about three seconds before going back to sleep as Chip thinks something is screwy (his words not mine) about that bull and whistles to Dale to go back inside to help Gadget. Dale refuses because his rope will strangle that load of bull. And because he's a great hero see. Good thing Nimcowpoop is a real animal since we know what Toon Disney did when Seymour lassoed a rope around Kit's neck in All's Whale That Ends Whale. If Monty is good for one thing; it's making Dale look so strong here as the bull is awaken and pissed off as usual. Chip yells for insane Dale to run; but Dale no sells because he's the only real hero here see. If he means real insane hero who's about to get MURDERED worse than Homer Simpson after getting gored by reindeer then I fully agree with him.
Chip screams; runs; grabs Dale and bails back towards the wall as Dale blows him off for screwing his great heroism. Dale is literally carrying the episode on it's back here and THAT'S a rarity. Chip gleefully blows him off for that since he only screwed up his funeral. Well; that won't be hard to do however vile it is. And then the two chipmunks get into that classic argument exchange (WAS NOT! WAS SO! Etc.) as the bull snaps the rope and the babyface bulls cannot watch. This is like Mice & Men now as Chip tries to grab Dale and bail; but Dale no sells because he's a hero see. But he sees pissed off bull and then bails like a coward as they go up a tree with Chip blowing him off the whole way. HAHA! I knew Dale would chicken out sooner or later. Sadly; the Nimcowpoop's horns become a powerful chainsaw as he cuts wooden wheels out of the trunk of the tree. That cartoon spot seemly NEVER gets retired for some reason. Then again; just cutting it down once and let the tree fall down just isn't funny enough. Chip continues to blow Dale off as they get down to ground level and the chipmunks manage to bail in opposite direction in mid-air. That's the SECOND TIME WD-Japan has stooped to doing that spot.
We cut to the fountains and there are MORE Christian Crosses on it (9 of them total) in that one shot than ANY anime shot in history. And it's the anime ones that get cut on 4Kids.TV. PZ Meyers is right; these symbols are bull after all. And that spot is so amazing that they commit logic break #1 for the episode since both Rangers (after splitting up about ten seconds ago) jump into the fountain. El Nimcowpoop's not buying this (good for him!) as he looks up and sees the Rangers acting like water spouts on top (which allows them to break their own forbidden symbols record which is now 11.). El Nimcowpoop sucks up the water which is so powerful that the Rangers are sucked into the bottom and land right in front of Nimcowpoop's kisser. Is it over for our real insane hero?! Nah; because they both unleash the most devastating attack in DTVA history: The COOCHIE COOCHIE COO OF SILLINESS! When you need to stop monster heels and MIRACLE WORKERS; that is the one to use. Nimcowpoop merely sneezes the water out as the chipmunks take wussy bumps onto the flowers. Now El Nimcowpoop is REALLY PISSED OFF! The Rangers run through the tulips and it isn't as funny as tiptoeing through the tulips if they wanted to pay off the joke. Chip tells Dale to stay still and they do but Nimcowpoop digs through the tulips (which makes perfect sense anyway) and digs the Rangers out and for the second time in the SAME EPISODE; it's the mid air running start spot. Wow; I never would have guessed that TaleSpin looked even more believable then this. The Rangers bail and Nimcowpoop goes after him.
So we go back into the house as we pan over to more junk as Gadget is looking for a pulley and Monty puts one in as Gadget assembles the device. Monty wants her to hurry up; but Gadget cannot due to not having her own tools. Plus she had to make blueprints which flusters Monty a bit. Gadget explains that one for me thankfully and she wants the RIC FLAIR BROOM OF DOOM because even she knows RIC FLAIR BROOMSTICK trumps Shane Douglas's Bull anyday of the week. Monty sells because Gadget is the AWESOME character of this team of course. Gadget really tells Monty where to stick the broomstick and then asks Zipper to hold the knot. Zipper sells it and Gadget ties him up and then walks out. HAHA! How can you NOT love this Gadget fellow?! Kit must have been studying her well if he wanted to grab the title of BEST DTVA CHARACTER ever from her cold dead hands. Monty asks what Gadget is building and she declares it to be a real hero that will force Lemon Pio to fight someone his own size. You know what; screw Nimcowpoop; Dale's joke is becoming funnier now that I have driven that joke down to the ground. Monty goes to the door as he is afraid of the bull for real as Chip and Dale run into the apple tree.
Lemon Pio growls as Chip has a MIMI JOKE ZONE PLAN to get back to the other and it's to eat some apples. Dale doesn't like that decision because they need a real disguise. Chip smashes an apple at Dale and tells him to start chomping. We cut back to Lemon Pio (if the finish doesn't involve lemons then Eric Lewald should be hanged by his pinkies) as he is still pissed (how do you keep clenching your teeth like that without grinding them?) and two apple drop on his little pinhead. Chip runs towards the storehouse; while Dale being the stupid idiot that he is runs right into Lemon Pio. Oh yeah; he ran into him unintentionally; like I'm buying that one?! Dale's apple gets skewered and Dale screams for Chipper. Chip uncorks his apple in protest and sees Dale in trouble. Lemon Pio flips the apple into the air to eat it and thus MURDER Dale; but Chip grabs up on the rebound and Lemon Pio is screwed and PISSED OFF even more. Chip and Dale bail again as Lemon Pio stomps some apples Boston style. We cut back into the storehouse as Monty and Gadget push the great equalizer towards the door and opens it up; but the mice are too late as Lemon Pio has the chipmunks' backs to the wall. He rubs his horns in cartoon fashion as Dale wants ideas and Chip blows him off because he's the hero see. Lemon Pio growls as the segments ends 17 minutes in.
After the commercial break; we continue as Lemon Pio is ready to go for the kill as Monty and Gadget believe that it's all over for the insane heroes. Except for Zipper as he flies and starts annoying Lemon Pio by going literally into his head. Dale thinks it's over and Chip gleefully blows him off as they bail into the storehouse. Monty grabs Dale however; and he proclaims that it's time to hero together. Gadget proclaims that he got the old Monty back. Huh?! What's the difference between the new and the old one?! Other than the new one being more cautious. Gadget opens the white curtain and the Rangers go into the great equalizer as she is going to demonstrate how it is supposed to work because we know she's an innocent sadist. We return to the thrilling head bugging action of Lemon Pio trying to pound Zipper out of his head and finally it works as Zipper gets popped out and takes a decent bump onto the ground. Zipper is forced to bail as Monty calls Lemon Pio out with some of the most lame dialog this side of Jeice; and knowing Dragon Ball Z dubbers; they have been watching the bad parts of DTVA dialog for pointers. Monty goes back inside as Lemon Pio is ticked off and the urge to kill a cheese addicted mouse is rising. Monty is in manning the MECH MATADOR OF DOOM as Monty works the pulley system and thanks Gadget for it as usual. Well; that's good to know. Lemon Pio doesn't buy this bag of goods and calls him a coward as the red cape flickers. Huh?! They are going to use REAL LOGIC for a change?! Is this Eric Lewald who is writing this?!
Lemon Pio charges the red cape like a doofus and takes a MAN-SIZED bump into it which indicates that there is an ANVIL OF NEIDHART behind the cape. I check the DVD...and it's only a big rock. Close enough as Lemon Pio's selling isn't all that great. Gadget sells the bow command from Monty and the machine bows to his new master: THE ROCK!! HEE HEE!! Lemon Pio recovers and charges as Gadget tells Chip and Dale to dig the mech's feet in deeply and Dale nearly screws up. Plan B should finish the job according to Gadget which Monty doesn't like because standing still isn't his strength see. The bull nails the machine and then get spun around like a spring and bounces away. Okay; that was really silly Eric as even Chip isn't sure if that was a good idea. Lemon Pio recovers again as Gadget goes to her dividers and blueprints to formulate a plan where the rest are forced to keep Lemon Pio busy for a while. I told you she was an gleeful sadist. Gadget tells them to run as Lemon Pio charges and the machine is forced to undig itself and manages to dodge the bull at the last second. More planning from Gadget's thinking table as Monty tries to tell her to work faster; but Lemon Pio nails the machine good and it does a picture perfect 270 right on it's face. HAHA! Lemon Pio proclaims that it's time to finish the job and grinds those horns again.
The machine gets up somehow and Gadget has plan C as Chip blows her off for her sadistic delays. She tells the thing to move three steps forward; lean about 45 degrees left; plant left foot and dig the knee and Lemon Pio charges and his horns get stuck into the device allowing the thing to spin Lemon Pio right into the bells with his ass stuck in them. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Dale's insult was a perfect joke just dying to be used and Eric DIDN'T USE IT FOR A FINISH?! FOR SHAME TAD! And the machine matador gets destroyed of course. The Rangers pop out of the carnage as Gadget had this all planned. I'm sure she did as the babyface coward bulls thank the Rangers for their work well done. Monty goes over to push the wagon in order to return to the festival before dark; and it works! Monty gets onto the wagon and it busts down the wooden gate and goes down the hill towards the town as we cut back to the town as the locals clean up and Don complains that this is the first time in 500 years that the bull never run. And the evil one was too strong for El Monty Grande as we see the wagon of bulls enter the town square and sadly there are no brakes on the thing so they crash right into the music band stand with a MAN-SIZED bump. That stand has got to be better constructed then that guys! The Rangers wonder where the bull are and they are free to roam in the city as the Spanish Mice cheer for victory because the festival is saved. And those females from earlier magically enter the shot; but the little kid gets pushed out. Meanies! El Monty Grande is here at last and here comes Lemon Pio as he looks like walking dead now.
The local gasp in horror but Monty walks forward as Lemon Pio still wants to fight like a good heel as Monty executes the FLICK OF DOOM (which became the FINGERPOKE OF DOOM in WCW) and that's enough to knock Lemon Pio out. I still hate you Eric Lewald for missing the obvious Lemon joke Dale did for the entire episode. The locals pat Monty on the back as Gadget states the bloody obvious as Dale isn't impressed at all. Monty gets the football victory surf spot again as Dale blows off Monty because it was teamwork that saved the town and he gets to hog all the glory. Amen Dale, amen! However; the mother of the child and the child thank Dale for his service and the child kisses Dale on the cheek. Now that made me feel all gushy inside as Dale calls it nothing as we circle fade out to end the episode at 21:06. This was like Bulls of A Feather in that Monty really didn't redeem himself at all; but was a lot better due to better animation, fewer logic breaks and one nasty heel named Lemon Pio as Dale called him. Sadly; terrible finish since it should have involved lemons. *** ½ (70%).
THE REVIEW LINE
A pretty middling episode this time around which is a good sign since Monty can be really annoying in episodes. I did find the irony of Monty telling BS stories in order to up his character; but be modest with a real story which he really saw as not one of his better moments really interesting, but he did nothing to redeem himself here since it was all the Rangers who beat him; Monty merely did the old finger poke trick which caused WCW to die as a result to knock the bull out. While I didn't like the idea of an adventure version of a story done perfectly by Bugs Bunny when it was pure comedy; I felt the scenes with Dale against the bull was pretty funny and even more so when Chip is involved. Sadly; Eric Lewald really screwed up the finish because Dale had been taunting the bull calling him Lemon Pio throughout the entire episode and not once was a lemon involved. And while the animation is still pretty good; I'm getting a little annoyed over the mid air running spots they do since it's not like Walt Disney Japan to do Hanna Barbera spots like that. Don Quijole was pretty much a nothing character other than the usual Mexican/Spanish stereotypes; although the spiderweb shoes were pretty cool. His story actually made more sense than the real thing; but then again with Monty involved you always have to take it with a pinch of salt so maybe I'm just plain cynical. Overall; an average episode and next up is Chocolate Chips. Seriously......
Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you next time.