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Good Times, Bat Times
Reviewed: 06/19/2010
The Episode People Claim Cursed The Voice of Foxglove....
Yeah; and sorry folks, I'm not going to buy into that conspiracy theory nor touch the can of worms. Some say the episode is black balled; but I find that hard to believe since at least one version of it is on Youtube anyway (Note from the future: And the one without the opening is the Toon Disney version. So much for being blackballed.). On the other hand; Flying Dupes is on the same site so what do I know? Anyhow; this episode is really special for a few reasons: (1) Foxglove (2) Dale's relationship with Foxglove (3) The ending with Foxglove gives the same surreal ending (kind of) that The Old Man & The SeaDuck would give later on. Does it live up to the hype? Let's rant on and find out shall we...?!
This episode is written by the late Bruce Talkington. Sadly; I have no animation studio (although I wouldn't be surprised if it's either WD-Japan, Sunwoo or Wang Film Productions); nor a story editor; but the directors were Bob Zamboni and John Kimball.
Annoying Moment #1: Although one of the episode videos doesn't use the opening; another one does and it's clearly the first opening. Good for them I guess.
We begin this one with a south pan shot of the moon AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we head down to the far shot of the drive in cinema (with the foreground showing still shots of cars parked on the road watching on) and then a near shot of the screen as a guy dressed in white is kissing a lady in blue off-screen sort of as we follow the projector light to a building and on the close up see the Ranger Wing (It's 1990 at this point; so it has to be the Ranger Wing) as Gadget and calls Chip's idea to see a movie a wonderful idea. We then see Chip in the drivers seat thinking Gadget would enjoy it as Dale butts in. Ah; I see the debate on who will be Gadget's date continues unresolved. Chip blows him off as Dale brings in his snacks which I'm sure that he's going to share with Gadget and Chip whacks him into the back seat telling him if he wants something; he'll send a smoke signal. Chip continues to whore out the date some more as logic break #1 for the episode occurs as Dale's candy magically disappears. And with sticky cheese on the pizza? Sadly; Monty appears and steals the pizza and then blows it off because of false advertising because there is no peanut butter on it since it's a pizza with the works. EEEWWWWWWWW!
Oh; and Dale grabs the magically teleported piece of gum and unwraps it claiming that the chef probably had good reason. Short answer: He has much better tastes than the Aussie Stereotype. Monty blows it off as Dale eats the gum as we pan over to Chip and Gadget exchanging pleasure thoughts and plans for Gadget's funeral after the 65 episodes are completed. Okay; I made up the last part. Sadly; it ends too quickly as Dale blows the biggest pink bubble in the history of chipmunk kind. And in hyper fashion I might add. Okay; I don't need you to demonstrate what anime purists nor me do after seeing trivial edits nor bad spots in that order. So Chip magically produces a small metal pin as Gadget warns him not to pop the damn bubble. Chip of course pops it and he gets bubble gum all over him and somehow; the bubble gum has a mind of it's own and avoids Gadget and everyone else. HAHA! That gives new meaning to having only yourself to blame for that one. Chip struggles in bubble gum swearing like a good chipmunk would.
Monty then notices that some blue flies are annoying the cinema screen. And then we see a tongue shadow come out and lash onto the flies. Huh?! Disney allowing death in this show? Nah....couldn't be. Dale thinks this has turned into a monster movie which wouldn't surprise me as Chip's tastes in movies seems to make him sound western. Monty tells Zipper to find out what is going on and Zipper salute as he flies up to the projector area to get his ten seconds of work in. He then notices the blue flies doing formation stuff for no real reason whatsoever. Zipper gets giddy and then we pan up to the roof to see a snake in a red cap as he tongue lashes another fly. Oh my goodness; this is the first Disney death....Ummm; no. We then see Bud the Snake (Corey Burton) spit out the light bulb fly (because he has a light bulb stuck up his ass natch) to the catcher's mitt of Lou the Spider (Jim Cummings) who proceeds to unscrew the light bulb from the fly's ass. The flies are blue shirts by the way and that fly gets tossed aside as the light bulbs are thrown into the jar. Hilariously enough; the light bulbs are glowing in the jar despite the light bulb having no conduct with an electrical current whatsoever. Logic break #2 for the episode right there. Bud wants to make sure that they have enough light bulbs to feed their female boss because she can get angry of course. Lou simply acts like Hack & Slash on speed.
Then they notice Zipper and Zipper tries to get away but gets tongue lashed and eaten by Bud. Like I said before Rescue Ranger fans: You hypocrisy is showing here when you accused Jymn Magon (more to the point; Chuck Tately) of being mean on a scene where it was clear that the fly was not Zipper in Louie's Last Stand. Bud spits Zipper out in the catcher's mitt as they blame their other goon woman (in this case) for being an airhead and lost; they don't need her presence see. At this point; Zipper could just fly away; but I guess the snake spit causes flies to be stunned. Lou grabs Zipper by his blue ass and notices that there is no light bulb present. Zipper regains his composure and bites Lou on the nose on-screen. The animators slightly screw the spot as Zipper's seems to bite some of Lou's face before Zipper flies away. Lou gets mad and tries to go after him; but Bud uses the snake tail to stop him because they have more important things to do like pleasing Freddy (I'm guessing that's the female boss; which makes her transgender I guess) as Lou grabs a sheet of white paper and we see a list of stuff and it's a million times better than anything Kick Buttowski wrote. Lighting Bug blubs is #3 and all they need next is a Chieftain's Hair and some moon rock. Something tells me this experiment is not going to work at all. Lou of course gets out the 4KIDS STUPID PUN OF THE DAY (All: Speak for yourself Mr. Weagle!) and Bud does me proud by whacking Lou in the head with the tail. I see he's Lucy's wife from Fluppy Dogs. Bud wants some more bugs and Lou gets giddy Shaggy style. Ooookkkkkayyyy....
So we return to in front of the Ranger Wing as Monty gets all the bubble gum off and failing in his method of course. Dale gleefully points out the obvious as Zipper flies in and speaks in Zipper talk that only the Rangers can remotely understand. Monty swears in DUBBED AUSSIE STYLE (Crikey) as he wants to notice something and it's rescue rangers away nearly three minutes in as Chip struggles as the bubble gum teleports from his ass to his feet on the sequence. I'm guessing it's Wang Films animating here. So we go to the sky roof shot overhead the projector light as the lighting bugs are dancing in the light blissfully unaware of the snake and spider. Lou then notices the Ranger Wing overhead and tries to warn Bud; but Bud uses the tail in a wussy fashion and blows him off as he's aiming for more bugs as he tongue lashes again. He grabs another blue shirt bug as Zipper points to the crime and Chip notices them as bug nappers as the bubble gum is changing on every shot possible. Gadget invokes the JAWS OF HALF LIFE and when Bud tries to spit his tongue out; the jaws grabs it as Bud winces in pain. The bug escape unharmed with Zipper leading him to safety. We then see the Ranger Wing flying towards the cinema screen with Bud in tow (OUCH!) and Lou follows complete with Scooby Doo running looping and sound effects.
Lou grabs Bud's tail and it's Lou Vs. Ranger Wing and I give 1:1 odds of the Ranger Wing winning this one easily. However; Lou shows off his incredible power (I see he's being getting some miracle grow from Larson & Gary.) and spins them around. Chip wants the JAWS OF HALF LIFE to release; but Gadget cannot as the bubble gum has somehow gummed up the controls. How was TaleSpin a rush job again?! That leads to the Ranger Wing spiraling up the lamppost with the snake grabbing onto it. That leads to a hilariously weak bump and the Rangers somehow are stuck in the bubble gum. Oy vey there guys. Lou grabs onto the tail and pulls back allowing Bud to wince in pain some more; but the jaws go loose and both heels drop on their asses with decent bumps onto the ground. Lou tries to console him wanting a sign; so Bud whacks him in the head with the tail about seven times more or less. HAHA! They look up and apparently; their boss has arrived as we see some sucking power suck them up into the sky; but the grocery list of doom is left behind. Just like the logic of the bubble gum in this episode. We get a shot of the moon from far and then zoom in to see a female cleaning lady crackling like a witch on a vacuum cleaner. Now this episode really sucks. HAHA!
Ron Sparks: It sucks more than Sean Desmond.
We pan back to the bubble gum sticky rangers as Dale wonders who that fiend was and Chip doesn't care about that because they are stuck in bubble gum see. Gadget gleefully points out that Dale's bubble gum saved them (but it was Chip popping the gum that made the mess in the first place natch) as Monty get the first Too right of the episode nearly four and a half minutes in as he is stuck by his feet upside down. Monty slaps Dale's back and Dale slips down some more as he panics badly. Dale's bubble gum lines snap and he free falls (which if it wasn't for the size differences; this would be pretty nasty) and then a pink bat grabs him by the shoulders and flies away. Simple; but effective I guess. Dale thanks him and she states that he's very welcome. I was expecting a young voice here; but she sounds like an middle woman doing a Asian accent here. They fly over a dumpster and Dale and the bat exchange pleasure thoughts on their own. I think this is the point where Chip wins Gadget's heart by default now. Dale then points out that he cannot believe that the bat can hover so well and the bat realizes that she can't and they free fall into the dumpster with a MAN-SIZED bump inside. Well; that was pretty impressive to say the least.
We go to the scene changer as we head to the Ranger Wing as Gadget thanks Foxglove for getting the Ranger Wing down onto the ground as Chip isn't so amused. Ah; I see he hasn't forgotten Many Love Is A Splintered Thing. Come to think of it; this IS turning into that episode in a way. Foxglove is voiced by the late Deborah Walley (passed away in 2001) who started with Naked City and Route 66 in cameo roles. She then got her big break as Gidget in Gidget Goes Hawaiian (Geez; I wonder where Gadget Goes Hawaiian came from?) and then star in movies such as Bon Voyage (Amy), Summer Magic (Julia- those last two are from Disney), The Young Lovers (Debbie), Beach Blanket Bingo (Bonnie), Ski Party (Linda), and several other movies which had the word bikini in them. Ummm; yeah. She did some cameos in Simon & Simon, Gomer Pyle, USMC; Wagon Train, The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries, Love, American Style and also starred in The Mothers-In-Law as Suzie Hubbard Buell. Her career in movies dried up in the 1970's with Drag Racer, The Severed Arm and Benji as Linda. Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers was her only DTVA appearance (she was also Lawhinie and Buffy Ratskiwatski). Baywatch was her final credit in 1999 (!!!). She was also on Hollywood Squares in 1967 for five episodes. Chip and Monty rib each other over Dale's new girlfriend as Gadget does the proper thing: Think about what the characters were supposed to be doing. Chip calls this a case to him as Zipper flies around and sees the list as the crack logic of the episode on the bubble gum continues without fail on the grocery list when there should be none present. Zipper tries to pull the list out of the gum; but he snaps back with whiplash. Don't worry folks; it's wussy enough to only cause him to wince in pain; but nothing else. Monty grabs the list more easily as we discover that Freddy is after Elephant Ear Wax, Lobster Lips, Lighting Bug Bulbs, hair and moon rock. That sounds like the Village People after a tour in Nova Scotia. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Gadget notices the list and points out that all are crossed out except the last two. Ummm; check your eyesight there Gadget love: When Monty was reading it; it's the last three that are not crossed out. How stupid can Tress be to make THAT mistake?! I mean a simple voice edit is only needed for that. Chip realizes that they haven't collected them yet as Monty reads that next on the agenda is a Chieftain's hair. Foxglove wants a peek and Monty causally gives her the list as the rodents are confused on what a Chieftain is. Geez; when even Monty cannot come up with a BS story for that; you know Monty is finished as a character. As if Battle of the Bulge didn't slaughter his heat already. Foxglove tries to walk away with the list; but Dale grabs it because they need it later on and hops into the Ranger Wing. Apparently; the next stop is the chief of police as Dale starts the engines and tells Foxglove that she can visit anytime. Oh; and Chip does a bad acting job in being sarcastic as Dale blows him off for either being that or pulling on his Hawaiian shirt. Ranger victory music plays as the Ranger Wing flies away into the moonlight and Foxglove follows them in a pretty neat shot there.
So we head to the hideout as the lights are on and someone is actually home. We zoom in and apparently; it's a laundromat this time (judging by the washing machines) as Freddy the Bi-Sexual Cleaning Lady is in the middle of the room with a black pot of cooking purple stuff on the sky shot. She has the jar and declares it perfect as we see Freddy (Tress MacNeillie of course.) has orange hair and wearing mostly purple cleaning lady gear and a purple headband. She proclaims that the three finally did something right (so she collected the first two items on the list herself I see) as Lou and Bud correct her and call her Freddy. And she HATES that a lot more than Rebecca hates Becky and bitches and throws zapping lasers at the two causing them to run away and they get buried into a bucket tomb which somehow short circuits her powers. Her reaction to that is perfectly apporos (Rusty Buckets!) as it's really Winifred (which makes her clearly female now. Oh; now I see how this episode got blackballed then: Someone complained that Bud and Lou were making gay jokes at Winifred then. Never mind that using gay as an insult is really petty and bigoted to say the least.
Wini continues to whine about studying magic at the library (Ah; I see she got a job when Kick Buttowski was released) and only showing some sparks but not much else. She wants to go back to being a cleaning lady; but she was fired from her job see. Bud and Lou come back in from the tomb to tell her that the whole point of casting this spell is to get her job back. Okay; Winifred is officially nuts. She proclaims that she will show those cretins who fired her some real magic as she pours the jar of lightning bug light bulbs into the purple stew and it hisses and blows some purple magical smoke which is just as insane as her. Winifred wants the list as Bud agrees with her; but Lou proclaims that he doesn't have it with him and that he lost it. Winifred is angry; but she remembers the last two anyway and then uses Bud's tail and whacks his mouth with it about 10 times (seriously), managing to get Lou involved and then hammer throws him into the laundry bin of blue blanket. Winifred jumps onto her vacuum cleaner and decides to go after the next item up for bids: It's either the Chieftain's hair or the moon rock. She has some trouble with the machine she bought from Fantastic Mechanics as the spider and snake pop up while Winifred gets the thing started and crackles with glee. She rides up the chimney stack (!!!) to escape and flies away into the moonlight.
So we head to morning in the park as a small fair is going on. We pan left to the badly animated people not moving whatsoever as we cut to some tree branches as the male rangers watch on like lazy bones not named Sir Tuxford. STAB! OUCH! Ummm.... Dale loves that the chief of police is having the police picnic in the park just in time for them to spy on him. And here comes Foxglove upside down like a bat seducing him again. HAHA! Dale panics and falls down, remembering to bump Chip with his ass as Chip is close to do some chipmunk wrestling entertainment for us; but Foxglove's presence ends that measure. Chip decides to push Dale into Foxglove and then he runs off to allow Dale to be Foxglove's bitch...ERRR...I mean...help Gadget with something. Dale and Foxglove has a brief hug fest which of course is ruined by the Aussie Stereotype of course as he swears in DUBBED AUSSIE STYLE (crikey!) as we see Winifred arrive flying her vacuum cleaner of course. In broad daylight I might had which drives the nuts level up even more. She starts blitzing everyone; starting with the bagpipe players on stage which are better animated than the rest of the nobodies here. Sigh. She hates bagpipe music see. Boy; the nephews wished she was there when Super Ducktales was around natch. They realize that it's her from the drive in as Dale tells Monty to get Chip and Gadget while he gets the Ranger Wing. Monty goes stage right without question; and Dale is stopped by Foxglove at the pass because you know what Dale is to her now do you?! Dale tells Foxglove to stay in the trees as Dale stumbles on the reason before leaving stage south to say to be safe.
So we head to a shot of a police chief warming up the mike as we pan northeast to see Winifred on her vacuum cleaner in mid-air and she invokes the nozzle as it sucks the hairpiece right from the black haired chief of police who sounds somewhat like Peter Cullen. If not; I wouldn't be shocked if it's late Peter Schrum (passed away in 2003). Peter started on Delta House in 1979 and did little of note until 1982 with Gimme Me A Break as Uncle Ed Kanisky. He then went on to more cameos and some bit movies until he struck gold in Terminator 2: Judgment Day as Lloyd. He then dried up from there with Demonic Toys, Dead Man and cameos in Herman's Head, Legend and Quantum Leap. Rescue Rangers was his only DTVA appearance and maybe his only animation appearance. The Man Who Wasn't There in 2001 was his final credit as a Truck Driver. Sadly; a major car crash injured him beyond repair in that same year and he would die two years later due to a heart attack. Of course; some people who shall remain nameless will point to the this episode “curse” as the cause of his misfortune. Geez; that's three people dead in the same episode within two years of each other. I'm not sure either way. Winifred blows on the nozzle with glee and then starts to fly away stage right cutting a lame hair pun promo. Cutting puns is not her strong point I see as we see the Ranger Wing rise from the trees as Chip is driving, Gadget is explaining the obvious while the rest sit down and do nothing of note. And half the time; Gadget's mouth doesn't move when she speaks. Bad form there animators. Dale cuts a better hair promo as Winifred blitzes the Ranger Wing; but the RW dodges. The Ranger Wing takes a dive and then goes into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) and that ends the segment nine minutes in. This is a pretty good episode thus far; but the feeling isn't quite there....
After the commercial break; we repeat the dive as Chip cannot pull up. I guess Chip needs lessons from Baloo after all. Zipper tries to do a horn signal for help and then tries to push on the right side of the Ranger Wing; but apparently the roids have worn off and it's no good. This is the same Zipper who could open an oven door in A Creep In The Deep. Monty realizes that it's no good; but here comes Foxglove (helpfully pointed out by Gadget) on the right wing and it pulls up enough to bump the ground on the bottom about 15 times (good bumps by the way) and then takes a MAN-SIZED bump off-screen into a tree. The Ranger Wing is destroyed of course as everyone is scatter and Gadget appears to be hurt rather badly on the fall. Monty wants to take the stairs from now on as Chip brushes himself off and proclaims that any landing you can joke about is a good one. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Dale is pissed off as that landing was a joke to him. Foxglove suddenly feels offended and just flies away stage left. It wasn't even her fault that the dive occurred and she feels bad for it.
She's as absurd as Kit is when fanfic writers get their paws on him. Zipper goes over and pulls Foxglove back to the Rangers as Monty consoles her because Foxglove saved them from certain death and broken funny bones. I doubt Monty has one in his fatass body. POW! OUCH! Ummm...Gadget proclaims that she's always there when they need her and Chip calls Dale; bat Dale and throws him into Foxglove's arms. Foxglove giggles badly as Monty wonders about Winifred. Chip uncorks the list (complete with no bubble gum this time) as the next item on the list is moon rock. Gadget deduces (and man; her face is drawn badly here) that it's a rock from the local museum. Sadly; Chip starts whining because it will take weeks to repair the Ranger Wing. Gadget then has a plan as we see a conveintly placed bagpipes on the ground and wants the Rangers to help her whip something out of them at headquarters. The male rangers run stage right to help her as Foxglove has the list again and she flies away stage left looking stunned at something.
So we head to the museum AFTER HAPPY HOUR We zoom in and then cut to inside the clad human statues room and then pan right and zoom into the next room complete with weird sounds. We then jump cut to a spider web as Lou is struggling to keep his balance. We then pan left to Bud the snake wrapping around the forehead of a statue blowing off Lou's loud voice. Lou complains that someone is coming and Bud proclaims that it's the idea and whacks him again to the right to force him to hide. We then see the museum guard in brown police gear with a flashlight and if he falls for this obvious trick; then he's officially more dumb than Drake Mallard and Rintindumb all put together. And of course he does easily as he sticks to the spider web (DUH!), Bud comes in and ties his legs down onto the ground (duh) and then Lou adds the finishing touches by tying the guard up with spider thread. The guard tries to call for help (Peter Schrum for sure this time) but Bud clamps his mouth shut with the snake tail (DUH!). We then head to the sky on the roof as we see Winifred on her vacuum cleaner swearing in the most hilarious DUBBED ANIME STYLE in history.
I'll leave that as an exercise to the reader other than it sounds like Zummi Gummi doing a bad witch's voice. Winifred then notices that Foxglove is on the vacuum cleaner nozzle with the list. Winifred grabs it and blows Foxglove off for being redundant as she orders Foxglove to help Lou and Bud; or else become a baseball. Foxglove sells (assuring the tweener role she has been playing thus far) and spirals down towards the museum. We then cut to inside the museum as Lou has the glass cutter and completes the hole around the glass. Geez; this museum's security sucks like crap here. Bud tries to pound on the glass; but no dice so he blows off Lou again. Lou blows him off in kind so Bud grabs onto Lou and uses him to shatter the glass. HAHA! Bud grabs the moon rock with his mouth and then in comes Foxglove and steals it claiming in a casual voice that she will take it from here. HAHA! Bud blows her off for stealing the spotlight. I call a toss up on that one as we head outside near a window as Foxglove gives the moon rock to Winifred and her vacuum cleaner nozzle. Wini is impressed and thinks Foxglove will be a good witch's assistant. Foxglove asks if that is true as Wini grabs the stone and proclaims that no one will stop her once she becomes a real witch.
And then the worst thing to happen to her occurs as bagpipes are playing once again. Lou claims that it's a balloon as we cut to the Rangers in a hardhat as it's the Scottish Ranger Plane. HAHA! No, not really. Naturally; it's Monty blowing on it which somehow I'm not surprised to see as he calls Gadget love on her skills. Gadget finally gets off the first golly of the episode after nearly 12 minutes of golly free action. Gadget calls it the Bagpipe Express as Chip is on lookout and sees that Winifred is already here. We cut back to the vacuum cleaner with Wini as Foxglove wants her to get the hell out of here. Wini blows her off because she's not afraid of rodents with bagpipes. I guess she hates C-pitched chipmunks as she dives down and sucks water from the fountain of dreams. Winifred gives the moon rock to Lou as she flies up and starts to blitz the Bagpipe Express as Foxglove asks what she is going to do. Take a hint: It involves drowning and water Foxglove. Dale proclaims that she is headed right for them as Wini invokes the water cannon and that pushes the Bagpipe Express away. Foxglove gets in front of Wini and blows her off for hurting innocents. HA! The Rangers are here to arrest her; so they ARE doing something to her. Wini is a heel see. Wini proclaims that she enjoys it and invokes the water cannon to Foxglove. Oooooooo.... and that's enough to make her free fall into the fountain of dreams.
We cut back to the Bagpipe Express as it's soaked to the brim with water. Chip decides to give her a taste of her own medicine as he loaded a BB pellet (WHAT?! I thought real gunfire was banned from the babyfaces; well, the major ones anyway) and they fire in which Wini catches it easily and invokes the BB cannon back which hits the balloon; but it doesn't create a hole. SOMEONE FIRE THOSE BAGPIPES! Chip wants rapid fire mode; so Dale invokes the banana yellow funnel (sigh) and loads it with small pebbles. This causes some problems for Wini so she yells at Lou to give her a rock to shoot. Lou thinks Wini is making a mistake firing the moon rock; but Wini doesn't care, so Lou casually gives her the moon rock. She invokes the moon rock cannon and that is enough to deflate the Bagpipe Express and it goes into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHAHAHA!) and everyone takes a decent bump on the ground. Monty is on bottom and I hope he stays there of course. Wini loves that one and wants more ammo; but Lou tells her that the moon rock was the only thing they had to shoot and Wini actually blames the Rangers for stealing the moon rock! How about that for subversion?! Foxglove flies up and tells her in her airhead voice that she'll get it as long as Wini doesn't hurt them anymore. Wini agrees to it and Foxglove flies down telling her that she will not fail. Wini warns her that if she does, she and the rangers are plant food.
So we go to the scene changer as it's morning (nice effect with the sunlight shining on the buildings by the way) back at the laundromat as we head inside as Winifred is brewing up her purple strew in the black pot. I wonder if her former boss was Shawn Michaels? We get some stirring as Wini proclaims that she does trust her; but a promise is a promise as we see the STOCK FOOTAGE OF DOOM in the stew pot which has turned into a green liquid mess now. We head back to the launchpad with an echo voiceover of Gadget grunting and pulling on the destroyed Bagpipe Express. Gadget pulls out the moon rock stuck in the bagpipes and Winifred gets all bitchy about it. And people accuse Rebecca of being a jerkass?! Wini has had enough of Foxglove's air headness and decides to storm out with the SHANE DOUGLAS MOP OF DOOM. So we head back to headquarters as Dale is near the bagpipes with the moon rock (Huh?) as he tries to walk stage right with it; but it drives him back and the moon rock bounces out of his hands and the moon rock chase is on the branches. It heads near the door right where Foxglove is hanging upside down and if you cannot guess what happens next; you have no business reading this rant. Foxglove is hanging around and wants to exchange pleasure thoughts over breakfast and Dale backs away as the pleasure thought continue and Dale falls out of the branch and takes a wussy bump on his back on another tree branch. Okay; this scene is pretty funny; but Foxglove's air headness isn't helping it become awesome in any way.
Foxglove flies down and helps Dale up while giggling. I swear to god that her airhead voice sounds like she's seducing her. Maybe that's why everyone is accusing Disney of black balling this episode. I don't buy it for one second of course. Foxglove bushes him off and wants him to exercise as Dale claims that he was trying to get the rock out of the Bagpipe Express and then tells a BS story about it! Wow....I didn't know Foxglove had it in her to turn Dale into Monty without the Aussie stereotypes. Somehow; this is actually funny. Foxglove pops the question about the moon rock and Dale causally offers it to her as a keepsake. And HERE COMES WINI on the vacuum cleaner of doom as Dale holds onto the rock while Wini invokes the vacuum cleaner on them and it works as Dale's feet become wider by every shot when Foxglove grabs onto his ankles. Has Kennedy Cartoons invaded this episode or something?! Foxglove yells for help and damn it; her air headness keeps ruining the effect of acting here as Monty walks out from the door in his blue pjs with Zipper yawning and now his feet become Kennedyized~! Foxglove and Dale fly into the nozzle of the vacuum cleaner just as the other Rangers run out as Gadget states the obvious. Winifred flies away on the vacuum cleaner towards the city and that ends the segment nearly 16 minutes in. Man; I'm not feeling this episode much. I mean some of the script seems awesome in places; but really contrived in others (Wini blaming the rangers instead of Lou; Dale giving her the rock etc.). Maybe the finish is killer and that's why the episode is so awesome, who knows?!
After the commercial break; we head back to the hideout BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset) as we head inside the laundromat as we pan over with Lou and Bud looking at Winifred who is with the vacuum cleaner proclaiming that she's ready to cast her spell. Winifred opens the side of the vacuum cleaner and orders Foxglove to give her the moon rock which Dale blows Wini off good. Wini sneezes and coughs on the dust off. HAHA! So Wini invokes the zap finger and that makes Dale wince in pain as Wini grabs Dale and throws him to the snake and spiders so to speak. Good bump on the ass from Dale there too. Bud asks “Freddy” if he can eat Dale; and Wini chokes Bud good and yells at him to not call her Freddy. Now that's the spirit “Freddy”! ZAP! OUCH! Ummmm....Nice touch to shake Bud too as Winifred asks Foxglove to come out with the moon rock. Lou has Dale restrained as Dale wants Foxglove not to give in as Winifred finally blows Foxglove's cover on the whole thing as Foxglove comes out with the moon rock. Good heel heat there as Dale calls her spying out as Foxglove continues on the fence that Winifred was the only friend she had until she met the Rescue Rangers. HOLY CRAP?! It just dawned onto me. Foxglove's act is the template for Kit's version in Plunder and Lightning. If her acting didn't suck; it would be almost on par with Kit. Almost. Otherwise; it's just average like a template.
Winifred is not sorry of course (she is the real heel here) as she invokes the zap finger and Dale turns into a frog as Zipper arrives and flies to hide and watch on in shock. Foxglove flies down and stands in front of him calling out Winifred's promise. Winifred agrees with it and then sics Bud and Lou on Dale instead. HAHA! Take that you air-headed punk. Context is NOT Foxglove's strong point I see which explains why I like Kit's turn a lot better. That leads to the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE BUD SNAKE EDITION on Dale! Lou gets squashed (sort of) in the chase as Zipper is on the catwalk standing at attention. Zipper flies in and pushes a crate down on Bud's tongue to counter. Bud winces in pain of course. That tongue is taking a beat and I see Zipper got his needle in the ass this morning. Lou is angry about this and runs in as Zipper flies to Dale; and Dale's instincts have him eat Zipper~! No, not really as he spits him out easily. Again; how did Magon enter this conversation? Dale apologizes and ribbits as he orders Zipper to find the Rangers and Zipper sells and leaves.
Lou grabs some string of purple yarn (Ahhh...it's Foxglove's shade of purple how cute?!) and..Oh wait; it's his tongue as Lou gets bashed again by Lou for more moronic comments as usual. Bud warns him not to touch the damn tongue as Dale continues to pant. Now you know how Launchpad felt in Scroogrello. Winifred comes in for the kill with the scrubbers (She IS the template for Ammonia Pine and she might BE her for all we know); but Foxglove counters by hauling a brick over the stew! Okay; now she's starting to get up on Kit's level at least. Foxglove threatens to drop the brick into the stew if she doesn't change Dale back to himself and let them go. Winifred pleads for mercy on that one of course and invokes the scrubber and that turns Dale back to normal. Foxglove yells at Dale to run since Winifred's promise are worth zip; but Dale no sells. Why? Because he doesn't want to leave Foxglove alone silly. Bud grabs the brick with his tongue and gets knocked silly for his trouble. OUCH! This snake is taking a beating. Foxglove is captured as Dale tries to run in; but Lou grabs Dale from above and we invoke the scene changer as Foxglove and Dale are tied together in webbing. Bud and Lou set their killer instinct to profits as Winifred with moon rock in hand goes over to the stew pot and proclaims that she will not take any chances and wants them to watch her achieve her dreams before Lou and Bud MURDER them. Oh that is so stupid of you Winifred. MURDER them now and throw the rock in at the same time. Sadly; it really doesn't matter as Zipper honks in on a recycled shot (Wang Films I see) as the Bagpipe Express shatters through the window and it's rescue rangers away with a little over two minutes to go.
Zipper grabs the rock from Winifred's hands and throws it into the hardhat as Chip thanks him of course. Winifred is now PISSED as she invokes the scrubber zappper; but no dice and then one of the most hilarious logic breaks occurs as Chip fires back with the same zapper on her. Now I know the animators are on an illegal substance tonight. Apparently; it hit her scrubber wand as the wand fizzles out after she blows off the Rangers. You know you are screwed when THAT happens. Zipper comes over to Dale and Foxglove and tries to free them but no dice as Lou steps in to cut his losses I guess. Zipper flies away stage left as Lou goes after him and Foxglove and Dale do the whirlwind spot. Who do they think they are; Butterbear?! Dale struggles and manages to cut them from bondage and Dale drops with no bump onto the ground. Sigh. We then see Zipper head to the hot water heaters and lands on the faucet as he is tired. Lou then invokes the Spiderman version of the LASSO OF BANE TO ALL ACTION CARTOONS EVERYWHERE calling him a garbage walker.
Sadly; Zipper flies away as Lou grabs onto the faucet and Zipper pushes the hot water barrel down the catwalk and Lou follows down hitting the ground with an off-screen MAN-SIZED bump. We then cut to Bud who invokes his snake tail and brings down the Bagpipe Express. Bud brings it up to his level; up while Monty invokes the pumper right into his mouth. I'm amazed the Aussie stereotype has been keeping the suck to a minimum in this episode as he pumps up Bud's mouth. Bud pops like a balloon and whizzes like a pinball around some pipes and walls before going out of the shattered window without causing any damage whatsoever. Par for the course from the animation department. Monty swears in DUBBED AUSSIE STYLE (bloke) as Bud is full of hot air; and so Winifred invokes the vacuum cleaner on the Bagpipe Express of course. The moon rock comes out and Winifred grabs it back easily. She cuts another lame promo and invokes the vacuum cleaner to suck up the Rescue Rangers into the back and they drop into the nozzle and then onto the ground with decent bumps on-screen.
Winifred decides to go in for the kill as Dale blows her off as we cut to Dale and Foxglove over the black pot as Dale has a screw to screw up her plans. See; even Dale gets my sense of humor now. Winifred screams and Dale drops the screw and as I expect to be; ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE~! We get fireworks superimposed on-screen (WHAT THE HELL?) and then we go to the scene changer in prison as the prison guard calls her Freddy (in prison gear complete with matching headband) and she has a lot of chores to do as the police guard leaves (Peter S. again) as Winifred blows him off (That's a no-no my dear) and starts scrubbing acting like Captain Haddock. We get another scene changer as we return to headquarters on the launchpad as we see Gadget fixing the Ranger Wing while Chip comes over asking Gadget where Dale is and she states that Dale is hand-gliding with Foxglove in which Chip takes it as Gadget is free and his forevermore. Ummm; okay, so I can see why fans saw this as a big plot angle. However; the fans committed extreme hyperbole in claiming that it was a knockout episode. It just looks like another mission to me with Foxglove becoming another possible Rescue Ranger to add.
Chip tries to gain Gadget's hand to pop the question; but Dale comes in and swoops Chip away. HAHA! So much for that plan. No; not really. I see Dale's tastes in colors have gotten worse since I last saw him. Foxglove tells Dale to remember something as Dale ponders over it and Foxglove tells them that hand gliders do not hold two passengers. HAHA! Chip gets that look of “I am sooooooooo dead” and the chipmunks just got WARNERED~! HAHA! Free fall occurs as Foxglove hugs himself and calls Dale a guy and then freef alls herself in a pratfall and that ends the episode at 21:11. A very good episode carried by Dale and some excellent character writing on Foxglove and the heels; but Foxglove's voice stinks and it felt green in some places. Plus; other than Dale getting Foxglove instead for a date; it wasn't really the ground breaking episode I expected it to be. Foxglove's tweener act was fine; but I have seen better (and it comes about seven months later). **** (80%).
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; the big debut of Foxglove has come and gone and Foxglove did turn out to be a really good character. Maybe not the perfection salad character that was advertised by it's fans; but a worthy character in any series in DTVA nevertheless. I just couldn't get over her voice: Is she an airhead; or a sex kitten?! I couldn't tell. I also felt that the writing was very good for the most part; but it felt contrived in a few areas and there was that wacky logic with the bubble gum earlier in the episode. Everything from the second act onward clicked a lot better than the first act and Winifred was really serviceable along with Bud and Lou. Not awesome of anything; but just good enough. The animation was all right; although it felt too cartoony in places. Overall; I like this episode, but it doesn't deserve the lofty status, nor creep factor it got. The only thing that came close was the Freddy joke to Winifred which sounds like a insult to gays. So next up is Pie In The Sky as it's all about an old lady, blackbirds and pies. Ummm; yeah. So.....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you next time.