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RoboCat
Reviewed: 03/13/2009
Or it's Sadism Against the Machine Depending On Which Drugs Gadget Was On....
Here is the fourth episode of six in six days and the next three episode all focus on Gadget. YAY! No Monty to screw me. Sure; it means that Dale doesn't get to main event; but I'll live. This is also the final episode of this volume featuring Mr. Fat as a villain and this can also be called the revenge of the Robodog: The Catz Edition. So let's rant on shall we …?!
This episode is written by David Wise. The story was edited by Bryce Malek and supervised by Tad Stones. The animation is done by Wang Films/Cuckoo's Nest Studios .
We begin this one inside a junkyard AFTER HAPPPY HOUR (Read: After Dark)..Am I watching a Rescue Rangers episode or a WCW pay-per-view from 1999?! We pan over to the house that Norton Ninuml was in with the lights on and we cut to a computer screen as someone is playing Catman which is a parody of Pac-Man. Too bad Pac-Man became passe by 1989. Sadly the computer screen goes blank and fizzles out as Dale is on joystick (which makes the Little Mermaid phillac symbol look like it's not one) and groans. Gadget checks the video game console and it has a couple of loose wires. I cannot believe that dated reference in 1989 is now MORE relevant today with XBOX 360 and PS2. Chip blows off this because he wants to help the helpless instead of fixing video games. Monty isn't too happy because it's Mr. Stanislavsky property and Gadget blows it off because he is throwing them out. What a evil sick man this Stanislavsky fellow is in ruining the environment with his trash. Oh wait...that doesn't make me look good. Projection is good until it happens to you. Okay; Stanislavsky is not sick nor evil no siree. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain. Gadget fixes the loose wire and the video game starts again as Dale is happy again.
Chip naturally mocks him because he wants to help someone. Then we pan over to Skinner's (Disney Caption missed his first name; but Monty doesn't) workshop in the next room as we get yellow sparks and a black curly haired man wearing a white shirt and overalls is making a better mousetrap as he rants about the world beating it up. I think this guy has a huge problem with the US patent system if you ask me. Must be one of Nintendo's lawyers. AHHAHAHAHAHA! Okay; he's Ignatz which makes this the second name this series has used that name. Ignatz uses the screwdrivers and throws them away as he has created the ultimate mousetrap which is Robot Cat which is clearly obvious. Gadget thinks it is incredible; although I think that might be a sadist way of saying: Mice are dead. Ignatz calls him Tom and puts him down on the floor and flips....THE SWITCH as Monty panics because it's a CAT see. It's midsection looks like a toaster which shows where Gadget gets her makeshift tactics from at least. Ironically; I see this performed in recent pieces of work from Nintendo fanboys so this is quite plausible. Ah; the joys of recycling. Tom's eyes glow yellow and that spells DANGER as it finds the Rangers near the door. The Rangers flee like scalded dogs as we cut to the chase with Robocat and Monty. Well good for David Wise to make Monty suffer for his past sins; albeit in the BS&P way.
Monty then foolishly hides in the wooden boxes of stuff which is designed that Tom can easily corner Monty. HAHA! I am so loving this as Ignatz praises his robot cat and tells him not to let him get away. Don't just capture him. MURDER THAT DAMN AUSSIE STEREOTYPE! Tom chomps through the boxes as Monty responds by cutting a Red Riding Hood promo. Now that just makes me want to see Monty die in a bloody death even though the chance of that happening is zero. Oh well; cannot win them all I guess. Zipper decides to invoke his ten seconds of work by grabbing a brown coil spring which looks like spiral feeces. Zipper springs backwards into action and bumps all over the place as Monty grabs the spring on the rebound and throws it into Tom's mouth. Sigh....Tom's mouth springs as Monty bails and the other Rangers are on the television. I see logic break #1 for the episode since Ignatz has disappeared into thin air despite being RIGHT THERE on the left side of Tom.
Chip uses the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE; but it misses and snags tail and Tom runs like a bull as Ignatz returns from the door yelling at Tom to come back here. Sometimes I think Wang Films is being a piss ant on purpose which explains why Disney started scaling back on their presence when TaleSpin was released. Somehow; Wang Films got BETTER due to that if Jolly Molly Christmas is any indication. Chip and Gadget whip on like Kit Cloudkicker without his Air Foil on the rope and yell for Dale to help them; but Dale is still playing his video game. HAHA! That is just so like Dale that Eisner wishes Kit was HIM so he wouldn't have to deal with a BS&P nightmare. Dale has completed maze seven (so claim the voiceover from Darkwing Duck's Whiffle While You Work) and then Dale claps for joy...and then Tom blitzes in and trips on the joystick wire causing television sets to topple on Tom and he gets completely destroyed in a gravity defying spot as the video game on screen is completely undamaged. How about that?! It must be a Pretendo Entertainment System. AHHAHAHAHAHA! Oh come on! You saw that joke coming a mile away! The Rangers pop from the dangerous electronic tomb and then bail as even Ignatz cannot catch rodents to save his life...so he blames Tom in typical projection fashion as we cut to Ignatz taking Tom by the neck and throwing him out right in front of the Rangers.
Monty bails right on cue because he hates cats DUH! Even those who are dead and crushed. Chip pulls on his coat to stop him and I disagree with this. He should let Monty run away and never come back. See; I can spare Monty's life if I wish too. Gadget goes over to Tom and blows off Ignatz for mistreating his invention and she cuddles him like a baby. And people accuse Baloo of THIS?! Oh wait; that doesn't make me look good there at all. Never mind as Monty calls Gadget bonza loco because the thing tried to eat them and Gadget blows it off and plays the Astro Boy card in that robots are only evil because their masters made it that way. That kind of logic makes sense; but that kind of logic also creates the Jack Thompson's of the world as well. I'm saying that this is not a simple matter as Gadget proclaims that it is. She's not off base in her argument; but she still misses the bullseye on the evidence and facts of the statement. Monty and Chip proclaim that Gadget cannot change Tom at all and call Tom a killer for death reference #1.
Dale takes Gadget side as Gadget wants to use Dale's video game because it's call Dogs and Cats and the cat is the hero of this outfit. I got to give David Wise credit for this episode since this episode really is a take that shows that cats are not as evil as Monty thinks they are. And of course Monty still hasn't learned anything since the Spunky incident. Dale does a really good raspberry on Chip just to piss him off and amuse me. Gadget orders the Rangers to help her return to Ranger headquarters and Chip gets flustered claiming that he is going to regret this. Somehow I think Chip's becoming self-parody myself so screw him. The Rangers grab onto Tom and leave stage left as we logically head to.... A house with the electric fence as Mepps is whining again because the place is too well guarded as they tried to nab someone from the docks and transport truck as Mr. Fat blows them off because they failed, DUH! Mr. Fat seems reserved today as we pan over to the sidewalk next to the gate as Mr. Fat proclaims that he is here so they don't fail again in kidnapping the most awesome tropical fish in all of the land. Oooooookkkkkkkaaaaayyyyy there Mr. Fat. So we logically head to...
Inside the living room as we get a zoom in shot of a fish tank and a coffee table with flowers in a glass vase. The fish tank has a red fish swimming around watching television. Take that Flounder! HAHA! We get an argument in the bedroom as Freddy is complaining about cuddling and the father keeps blowing him off as Freddy cannot cuddle a fish nor Butch the bulldog who if he were gray and twice as big, Disney would have a big lawsuit on their hands with Warner Brothers. Freddy's dad is bald as you can see with the brown wig he is putting on as Freddy is the little kid sitting on the bed wearing the blue pants, sneakers and the candy cane shirt. Freddy wants a cat and his dad blows it off because cats eat fish see as Freddy pleads for mercy for cats because he would train him not to like Freddy's dad would train FREDDY to know right from wrong. Mr. Fat sneaks into the living room near the fish tank as Freddy's dad blows it off because he cannot teach it not to shed and of course the dad has the same Ron Stoppable hay fever sneeze which we saw in the heel in Pound of the Baskervilles.
And this guy almost has the Hitler mustache (oh boy..I can just hear Godwin rolling in his grave as we speak.) as we see Mepps with the mallet from behind Butch to MURDER him; but Mole interrupts him before he can strike and Butch turns around on cue and barks at him. Man; the one thing Mepps does that is remotely smart and Mole screws him. HAHA! Mole takes the mallet on his foot hard which is quickly cut to Mr. Fat trying to grab the fish on the vase of flowers which has got to be the dumbest thing he has ever done...And probably the funniest which makes it all more sad as the heels are chased around the fish tank by Butch and Mr. Fat gets the BITE OF ASS on his ass for his troubles...and then gets spun around like Mr. T and then thrown away. Geez; after THAT spot I think making fun of Mister T's animated series is just plain wrong now. The heels escape through the door while Mr. Fat takes the bloodless bump through the glass window and out as Freddy's Dad manages to stop the fish tank from tipping over and saves Luna the fish and then kisses it in a real disturbing spot. He pets Luna and puts him into the fish tank while proving his point to Freddy and Freddy decides to admit that he was wrong. Ah; the wonders of infusing bigotry one group at a time...
So we return to Rescue Ranger headquarters with the Rangerplane outside on the launchpad. We then cut to inside Gadget's lab as Dale hands her the video game and puts it into the toaster slots of Tom while Chip does the Gruffi pose to annoy me. Moral debate testing? In this show? I thought only TaleSpin did such awesome stuff since Eisner hates this kind of stuff? Hmmmm...Maybe neoptism does work in this cartoon world as Gadget goes over to the green painted black lever and pulls it (WRONG LEVER!). Tom revives and he wants to be friends. I guess Wise had to word it in a way that Ken Fosse didn't sue them as Monty asks about his knowledge of mice and Tom doesn't know. Monty proclaims himself as a mouse and that is simply wrong. He is not a mouse; he's an Aussie Stereotype dressed up as a mouse. You are not fooling anyone mate. Tom likes mice in the right sense and all the Rangers do the victory dance...except for Chip who blows it off because his circuits will be scrambled and he'll eat them. Tom blows it off because he only wants to be friends see and he's HONEST about it.
This is turning into a Nintendo/Hardcore battle with Tom as Nintendo and Chip as Mr. Hardcore which means Chip's odds are not looking good. Tom wants a home and Chip blows it off because Tom is a tin can. Those are fighting words there Chipper as Tom agrees that he needs some fur to make him look good. Dale offer to help look for fur because he's a rescue ranger and they help animals. Even if the animal is a robot re-programmed by Gadget love. The Rangers minus robot, Chip and Gadget run stage left to find some fur as Chip blows this off as ridiculous. I find it ridiculous how Chip can defend nature in such a lame fashion as Gadget pleads to Chip to have mercy for poor Tom's soul. Chip then smiles and decides to help her after all. Okay; that was a wee bit contrived but the date angle has to work somehow. So we go to an alleyway near a trash can as Dale is inside looking for some fur; but no dice is involved. Tom looks on and proclaims that they are the best friends he could ever have. I think the family of bears and mountain lion from TaleSpin might have something to say about that; but the Rangers are pretty damn close; so it's not a bad choice by any means.
Tom looks stage right and sees Mr. Fat and his goons walking down a metal ramp while Mr. Fat blows them off for failing again. I think you can blame Mole 100% for this gaffe. Mr. Fat wants a fearless machine cat and Tom so happens to be walking right in front of him admiring his coat. Mr. Fat sweet talks pleasure thoughts into Tom's ear and then they walk away as the henchmen follow begging for them to slow down; but no dice. Mr. Fat then gave pointers to Don Karnage and managed to convince a certain bear cub boy to being a future successor of his until the boy caught wind of what was really happening and ran off making the terrorist group look really bad..in a good way. Sadly; the character was 12 years old and BS&P buried Kit Cloudkicker after all this; effectively sealing the show's fate since Kit was the centerpiece for the show's getting green lighted in the first place. Hindsight is not a pretty sight indeed.
So we head to Mr. Fat's Canning Factory and Casino as we head into the packaging area (check the boxes in the background) as Mr. Fat has Tom on a platform of metal asking him if he doesn't mind if he shuts Tom down for a moment. Tom tries to respond; but Mr. Fat shuts him down with the black switch of doom and Tom goes dead as his yellow eyes flash before dying out. Mr. Fat then un-pops the video game cartridge from the toaster and sees that it was programmed with a video game. He then orders the henchmen to go to the toy store and steal a video game for him. One that is REALLY violent see. OH MY GOD! I think this is where Jack The Anti-Gamer one got all his influences on video game violence from: this show. No wonder gamers hate Disney so much today. They all think David Wise has an anti-game bias. Mole loves video games; what a shock as Mr. Fat backs them up because he wants absolutely NO playing in the store. Meanie!
Anyhow; we sadly don't get any hijinks in the store as we cut to a far shot of the factory as the henchmen have returned with their violent video game cart. Mr. Fat proclaims that he'll turn this tin toy into a weapon of total destruction. Wow; he actually shows more class by not saying the cliché mass destruction as Mr. Fat destroys the black switch. Mr. Fat Racist (well he is a stereotype mobster so it makes perfect sense) proclaims that he won't be needing the off switch anymore (which is painful if you are watching Darkwing Duck at times) and Tom's eyes glow red at the henchmen as they are set to stun and awe. Tom wants orders from the commander and Mr. Fat is even a little fearful of the violent cat as he recoils and shows a picture of Butch calling him the enemy. UH OH! I smell SB&C commencing here since PZ Meyers always claimed that there was a brainwashing going on here. Tom destroys the picture of course as Mr. Fat calls this effective and then gets close to tell him his mission...and then we get post production glitch #1 with the black slug of doom. Yeah; I'm not doing paragraphs on this unless I have enough in the previous paragraph to do something like this....
...which happens to be now as we cut to a street in the city as we pan up to a lamp post near a brick apartment building as Monty is a spotter. He then slides down like a stripper and tells the other Rangers on the sidewalk that there is no sign of Tom anywhere. Gadget proclaims that they got to find him because he might be in trouble and Chip blows it off because he might be making trouble. Does it really matter Chip? He might be in trouble is similar to making trouble in the proper context; so why bother? Oh wait; he thinks Tom is a cat and not a robot and therefore Tom cannot change his nature. So we get a scene changer to inside the living room of Freddy's house as Butch is sleeping near the mini bar table. Seriously; the guy has a MINI-BAR in the living room! And it's easy access to his own 10 year old son! Who knew Disney allowed alcohol references so obvious like that?! Anyhow; we pan over to the fish tank as Freddy's dad is feeding Luna with exotic fish food (DUH!) as he hears some noises and he wasn't expecting any visitors. UH OH! I do not like where this is going as the green double doors open and in stomps Tom using the voice that sounds so low that he sounds like Doctor Claw on acid. Freddy's dad is SHOCKED and APPALLED at this as Tom demands that he gives him the fish or be destroyed. Considering how abstract destroy is; that word is much scarier than merely die. At least with die; there is the sweet mercy of the end for the person dying at least. Not that it is much better for the people who love and care for it by any means.
Freddy's dad wakes up Butch as Butch proclaims that he knew he was going to say that. Did Butch just use the same dog's voice as that gray bulldog from Looney Tunes? If so then it just gives more incentive for Tiny Toons and the gaggle of Warner Brothers characters to mock Disney to no end. I'm amazed WB didn't go after TaleSpin in any way..I guess WB has more respect for Magon than I realized as Butch has a badly drawn baseball bat with him as he is in front of the fish tank. Oh man; this is third rate Tweety-ism if I ever saw it. And I'm SHOCKED Freddy's Dad doesn't realize that Butch is speaking perfect English! Geez; and you think High School Musical is unrealistic?! Tom thinks this is all really dumb and uses the retractable claws to destroy the bat in pieces allowing Butch to do the Scooby Doo Scare spot with Freddy's Dad. So Fred's dad is Shaggy?!
Now there is an ironic twist to it and quite frankly one of the wittiest mocking of Hanna Barbera in history. Shaggy drops Butch on his mid-section and orders Butch to MURDER Tom which Butch sells by rolling over and playing dead on his back which is a big no-no for him as Tom notices the face and then goes into attack mode which is to spin the head around and around. Okay that was pretty lame as Tom dips his hand into the fish tank and shocks himself. So he gets a rubber glove (banana yellow no less. DAMN YOU GEDO!) and grabs Luna calling her his prisoner. I should note that despite Mr. Fat told Tom that Butch was evil; he never told him to kill him but to capture the fish. So no logic break there as Tom is following orders in a nod to Tom & Jerry, Tweety & Silvester and Itchy & Scratchy which was the bloody parody of Tom & Jerry in the Simpsons. The dad and Butch hide behind the mini-bar table and Shaggy order Butch to sick on him and Butch begrudgely sells that as he walks forward blowing off his life paid in dog food to end the segment 11 and a half minutes in.
After the commercial break; we head to the streets as Dale and Chip walk towards each other and have the meeting of the mind. Singular since it is DALE we are talking about...and it wasn't at the helium factory. AHHAHAHAHAHA! Dale asks if he found anything and Chip blows it all off as a complete waste of time. The rope ladder lowers down as we cut up to see the Ranger Plane flying in the sky and Gadget asks them to climb aboard. Chip and Dale climb up as Gadget proclaims that the search will go faster if they use the Ranger Plane and naturally Chip blows it off because he doesn't want to try. Why? Because he believes there is no such thing as nurture in robots see even though robots are 100% based on nurture.
Gadget blows Chip off because they rescued him from the junk pile and thus they are responsible for him. After all; Gadget's the one who did reprogram him and even Monty agrees with me as he pulls Dale. Chip blows him off because he's just a machine. If he's talking about Monty's machine like use of Aussie stereotype words (bloke) then I agree with him as Chip sulks and allows them to keep looking. So the Range Plane spirals around the moon as we then cut to another street as Butch is walking down the sidewalk proclaiming that he has been beaten in a fight by a fish napping robot cat. I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic as he causally proclaims that he sees a squirrel powered zeppelin. How does anyone confuse a squirrel with a chipmunk that easily in this show?! Is there some personal grudge against some animation company that I am not aware of?! Butch then gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY because we do see a chipmunk powered zeppelin.
Butch barks loudly as Gadget sees he wants attention and decides to fly down and ask him questions about Tom. Gadget asks him about Tom and Butch accuses them of being in league with the robot cat and wants to pound them something fierce. Chip doesn't understand what he is talking about which is apporos since he doesn't understand what nurture is about. Butch proclaims that Tom broke into his master's house as he calls it a metal cat and Gadget looks like she is about to be defeated as Butch states that Tom stole Luna and Chip blows Gadget off because it is proof that Gadget cannot change his instincts. See; this is why Chip sounds like an asshole here: Tom is a FREAKIN ROBOT! He looks like a cat...but he was programmed by Ignatz AS a cat. Tom never had the INSTINCTS to be a cat in the first place since he is merely a machine. Since he's not a cat to begin with; he doesn't have the instincts evolution (God; whatever you think) gave to him. It was programmed by humans like Gadget did earlier in the episode. This is why this is not Gadget's fault and why I'm cheering her all the way. Gadget cannot believe this; but Butch doesn't care because some cat in a business suit attempted this fish napping and Monty swears in DUBBED AUSSIE STYLE (crikey!) because it sounds like Mr. Fat. NO?! REALLY?! Gadget bets that Mr. Fat got his hands on Tom. NO?! REALLY?! Dale wants to save Tom. NO?! REALLY?! Okay; I'll stop....Butch doesn't want any part of Tom again; so the Rangers tell him to bring Shaggy over to the Mr. Fat Canning Factory and Casino at the edge of town. It's Rescue Rangers away as the Ranger Plane flies into the night...and that logically leads to....
...Inside the hallway of cans as Mr. Fat has Luna inside a jar as he cheers for victory with Evil Tom Cat. He places the jar on the table as he basically wants to make a meal out of her more or less as Luna raises her nose like a snob. We then cut to the table as Wart is on the table stirring a marinade which looks like a tomato flavor stuffing to me. Mole is standing on a chair reading a cook book which is totally out of character for him; even more so with that goofy white chef hat on his head. Mole proclaims that she must soak in it for a half an hour and Mr. Fat sells by throwing Luna into the marinade and it spirals around turning Luna from bright red to dark pink in a matter of seconds. Mr. Fat sits down at his personal table and puts on his bib like Dale does and has his knife and fork ready to have the most tasty dinner since the Tweety Sandwich. AHHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummm...He orders Tom to go outside and guard the entrance to prevent anyone from interfering. Tom sells without question and walks out. We then cut to a sky shot of the entrance to the casino as Tom is pacing around guarding the entrance. The best part of this; this guard cannot tire and therefore the Rangers are screwed to try any practicing the fine art of not being seen.
Tom then stop and his radar goes off as a red square blinks and a UFO is approaching as the screen turns into a shot of the Ranger Plane headed towards him. Tom gets his claws ready as the Ranger Plane arrives and they see Tom. Gadget waves to Tom as they fly down; but Tom pounces and misses by a mile as the Ranger Plane flies around the front of the cat statue as Chip blows Gadget off for trusting a robot cat. Gadget believes that there is something wrong with Tom. NO?! REALLY?! Red eyes...wants to kill...black switch is broken off....something wrong indeed! Gadget wants to figure out what's wrong and Chip asks how. Gadget decides to show Rebecca how to be crazy as she sits on the front of the engine and Dale joins him while Chip takes the controls. Chip flies down and both Dale and Gadget jump down right onto Tom's back. Tom dances around trying to obliterate them but no dice. Shows Yugi does not have an monopoly on that destroy sub word and Gadget and Dale get thrown off as they take wussy bumps onto the ground off-screen. Oh please Wang; not now!!
Dale shakes the cobwebs in his empty head and notices that Tom is going after Gadget who is being stalked. Dale then mocks Tom with insults, jumping and raspberries to get Tom to chase him. Tom takes the bait and goes after Dale as Gadget grabs onto the electric cord tail and climbs up to discover the black switch on the middle is gone. UH OH! Dale is seriously (insert swear word here) as he shakes in fear as he is backed against the edge of the wall. Tom calls him an enemy soldier to destroy as his claws are out as Gadget goes to the ear to plead to Tom to stop; but Tom shakes him off. Dale blows Tom off for being a big bully and Tom grabs him. Dale demands answers on this outrage and Tom calls him the enemy. Geez; that is what the snobs called DTVA when Eisner came up with it in 1985. Reason #432 of why I cannot hate the new Disney. Mock it; yeah, but truly hate it...no....And then Monty has had enough and invokes the plunger grappling hook onto the back of Tom's head. He pulls Tom in as he relates another BS story about hunting sharks off the Sydney coast. Where was Greenpeace when you really NEED THEM?!
Tom counters by pulling the rope down. Good; I don't want to see the Aussie Stereotype do the victory dance as Monty struggles and fails to do anything of note as Tom pulls on the rope more and more. Chip wants Monty to help untie the rope as Tom tries to gobble Monty, Zipper and Chip in one bite on the closeup; but Dale and Gadget get onto his belly and take out the video game cart which renders Tom dead as a doornail. See; taking out the damn cart does work wonders after all. Gadget realizes that someone replaced the kind game with a war game and Monty wagers that it's Mr. Fat. NO?! REALLY?! Chip proclaims that they need to rescue Luna and he wants Tom to stay dead because he's nothing but trouble. Gadget counters that Mr. Fat is the one who reprogram him to be evil in the first place which is absolutely true. We may all question the psychology of a human being and we may be on the fence of the nature/nurture scheme of things; but there is ZERO question about robot when it comes to nurture. I think Chip just doesn't like robots because Tom might replace him as being over. If so; then Chip is way too insecure to be healthy and needs to see a shrink. Too bad Gadget is the only one close to fitting that role. AHHAHAHAHAHA! BONK! POW! OUCH! OUCH! Ummm.... Chip agrees to help Tom; but they get the fish first as that officially ends the segment seventeen and a half minutes in....
After the commercial break; we return to Freddy dad's house as Freddy's dad is replacing damaged doors and the place is a mess. Man; I guess BS&P decided the fight between Butch and Tom was too violent even for Disney. Which somehow lowers my love for this episode since there were episode much more violent involving dogs and cats than this. Freddy's dad whines about his house being wrecked and things not getting any worse as he tries to fix the door; but Freddy's dad gets squashed by the door and Butch when he jumps in on it. HAHA! So I guess animal on human violence is okay; but not robot on animal violence. Make sense of that if you can. Butch barks loudly and pulls on his coat as Freddy's dad blows him off for being a stupid dog. And in comes Freddy (man; he has a hearing problem doesn't he?) as he tells dad that Butch must have found Luna. NO?! REALLY?! Freddy's dad likes this and tells Butch to lead the way and they all run out of the house. So this logically leads back into the kitchen as Luna is swimming in the secret sauce of doom as the bowl shrinks to about ½ it's size. How about that?! That bowl must be Steroplastic. AHHAHAHAHAHA! I'm sure Larson and Gary are making a killing as we speak. I know I'm already slain from their antics.
Mole of course is reading the cookbook and is figuring out the old time most misunderstood step in all of cooking: Separating two eggs. HAHA! You know what is sad about this? Most people who start cooking would do pretty much the same thing Mole is doing right now. Every cook on television plays this joke on to the hilt even James Barber as he demonstrated the point with two lemons on an episode of the Urban Peasant. Mr. Fat comes in and takes the cookbook as the two eggs are destroyed on the floor of course off-screen. The henchmen run away as Mr. Fat reads the recipe and accuses Mole of pinching the salt. Man; Mole is so damn funny if he cannot figure out how to pinch something without screwing it up as Mole blames Mepps for the gaffe which is weird since Mepps is the one who usually denies and blames Mole. So we cut to the top of the vent and the Rangers slide down the rope quick so no one can look. They hop onto the table and since Gadget is not involved here; I assume she's working on Tom right now. So the Rangers take the bowl and they dump it into the sank and the fish goes down the drain as the wave noise forces the heels to turn around and they are SHOCKED and APPALLED while Mr. Fat is PISSED.
Chip proclaims that he needs to know where the drain leads so they can get the fish back; but Monty points out the heels are chasing them. So Chip wants to give them their just deserts as he places a wooden spoon underneath a cherry pie and Monty jumps off Dale's hands and onto the spoon which slingshots the pie right into the faces of the heels which grows about five sizes it's original size and Wang Films screws up the spot. UGH! Logic break #1 for the episode right there as the Rangers jump down onto the floor and bail stage left as Mr. Fat lets the heels eat pie while he whines about his million dollar dinner going down the drain. Luna is worth one million dollars? That Shaggy fellow needs to learn how to spend money in reality. Mole asks if he can have the cherry and Mr. Fat takes the cherry and slams it on top of his head. HAHA! So we head outside on the roof of the canning factory as Gadget has repaired Tom and is in the Ranger Plane with Monty as Dale returns with his old peaceful Nintendo like video game. He wants to plug it in so Tom can save the fish because Tom has to redeem himself somehow and Chip blows it off because Tom has done enough already and Dale blows him off not caring what he says because he deserves a second chance. So Dale climbs up and places the video game into the back slot of Tom which wakes him up and he is friendly again. Dale tells him that they need to save a fish and it's a long story so it's Rescue Rangers away 19 minutes in as the Ranger plane follows the running Tom Robot Cat.
We then cut to a sky shot as Butch is running down the sidewalk barking and the Ranger Plane shows up as Monty tells Butch to follow him. Butch, Freddy and his dad follow and stop in front of a sewer vent near a sidewalk as the Ranger Plane flies into it. Butch tries to point out the obvious and the dad no sells as Butch just blows him off for being such a dumb being who claims to be the dominant species in the entire planet. How true Butch?! How true? So we cut to inside the sewers as the Ranger Plane looks around and Gadget cannot seen to find Luna as Luna drops into the sewer river and floats away. The Ranger Plane notices Luna going down the river and flies after it as we cut to ground level as Shaggy's dad doesn't seem to want to go in because he cannot fit in as his wig is coming off. Freddy decides that he is brave enough to stand a sewer (in more ways than one I assume) and climbs through the vent much to the protests of his father. YAY! I love it when the child shows more courage than the adult; even more so when he's a snob. Freddy climbs down the metal ladder and runs onto the metal pipes as Tom is right behind him and Dad starts ordering him to keep away from his son to no avail. This guy is a total whiner; just like Mr. Hardcore as Butch and Dad run stage right. The sad part is; he's still better than Timmy's dad from Fairly Odd Parents. Ponder that one for a minute and sulk.
So we cut back to Freddy running and jumping on sewer pipes as I shudder to think what illness' await him after this ordeal is over. The chase continues down the sewers as Tom is afraid of Freddy's safety and he proves to be right as Freddy jumps onto a piece of really bad pipe (helpfully drawn slightly different as such by Wang Films) and now he's holding onto the pipe for dear life. He climbs onto some wire as Tom arrives with Dale and Tom pushes onto the pipe to keep it stable as Freddy climbs down. Freddy's dad watches from a vent from above and accuses Tom of attacking him which is so lame even Butch is blowing him off for ever considering it. This guy needs to see a shrink more than Chip does right now. Dad finally gets it and then question who is talking to him and Butch just whistles. As if that is going to convince ANYONE that you can talk?! Just keep believing that Butch as Freddy is on the side path of the sewer; but the pipe completely gives way and Tom plunges into the water completely shorten out. UH OH!
This is going to be messy to explain as the Ranger Plane continues to chase Luna and Luna is nearing the triple whirlpool waterfall spot which is absolutely goofy. Chip ties a rope around his waist and jumps down to try to catch Luna; but misses every time. Luna nearly goes over the edge; but Chip manages to make one last grasp and catches Luna by the tail for the big save. So we cut back to Freddy as Tom is dead as a doornail again due to water/sewer tainting as Tom rests onto a pipe. Freddy grabs Tom and brings him to the pathway as Freddy's dad opens the manhole cover and asks him if he's all right. Dad proclaims that it's the cat that trashed his house as Freddy tells him that he saved him which gets Dad confused and he proclaims it must be a different cat. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Chip then slides Luna in a jar which makes no sense since the Rangers don't have one with them during the chase. Must be one of those Gadget finds out of thin air things as Freddy notices the fish and proclaims that Tom saved Luna. Good enough for me I guess since both Chip and Luna redeemed themselves quite nicely.
So we cut to a shot of Freddy's house in the morning and into Freddy's room as Freddy is on his bed pondering and sulking because he still doesn't have a friend to cuddle up with. Then the door opens and in comes Tom who climbs into Freddy's lap with his own brown fur. I wonder how his dad managed to do that without sneezing? Must be fake fur and I shudder to think what PETA might do to this robot cat. Oh; it's Freddy Dad's wig that he was wearing throughout the episode as Freddy pets him while dad comes in as he admits that he would risk it all to keep Tom as we cut to the window with the Rangers watching on and Chip finally admitting that Gadget was right and that it was all about nurture. Remember future adults: Human beings are so screwed up in the nature/nurture debate; but if you own a robot and you program it to go wrong then it's all your damn fault. Remember that Professor Elephant. Gadget and the gang get back onto the Ranger Plane as Gadget wants to give cats a good home; even Mr. Fat. Chip suggest one: the state pent. I disagree; he needs the state pound. Do your research before you play such a joke Chipper. The Rangers fly away on the Rnager Plane; with Zipper on the blue cap engine laughing their butts off badly which ends the episode at 21:12. I cannot praise this episode enough..... A final note on Freddy; he is the only voice in Rescue Rangers that was voiced by a child; but it's not R.J. Williams as it is Tim Hoskins who was voicing Christopher Robin for The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh during this. Strangely; he would replace Hal Smith as Owl in some of the DTV in 1998 and 1999 which is weird since Owl is supposed to be an elder at about 60 years old and Tim wouldn't even be 30 years old at that point. **** ¾ (95%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; I was expecting an awesome episode as Gadget is the focus along with Mr. Fat's final appearance on this volume and this episode sure delivered in spades. This episode was less about the storyline of Fat Cat stealing a fish which is cliché since the Tweety & Sylvester era which is no surprise since David Wise clearly played on the Warner Brothers homage which was okay and really the only real flaw of this episode. Then again; Warner Brothers raised the bar too high on the cartoon so it was expected that nothing would top it. The real story was the moral that continues to play a huge role in the United States among psychologists: Nature Vs. Nurture. What makes this episode work is that we are dealing with a robot and therefore it is all 100% nurture because robot are not natural. They are created by humans to answer to humans so therefore they are nurtured. That's why I was rooting for Gadget and booing Chip right out of the building because Chip was like a virulent ignorant person who think he knows what he is talking about even though he keeps using the context that he is a cat which Monty used for a while until he realized that Gadget was correct all along about Tom midway through the episode; and therefore Tom had natural instincts which is absurd even on a basic level.
It's too bad BS&P didn't make Tom more violent than he was or I would have given full marks for the episode since the violent war game made him more aggressive; but he didn't do any real damage in the episode. He redeemed himself; but he redeemed himself in front of Freddy's dad. He wasn't to blame to begin with so he had nothing to prove outside of asshole Chip; but Freddy's dad needed the proof and he got it. The performance was excellent for the most part and Wang Films wasn't doing much in terms of screwing up the episode. Neither does Monty for that matter. Gadget has two more focus episodes left and next up to rant is the one I have been waiting to rant for a long time which is Juan F. Lara's favorite episode featuring one of the creepiest plots ever: The Case of the Cola Cult. Yeah; that doesn't sound like a Heaven's Gate angle in the very least; no siree. So....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you next time.