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I Only Have Ice For You Re-Rant
Reviewed: 05/01/2010
Additional
Commentary:
09/11/2021
Nothing more manly than screwing Baloo up for his screw up!
Original Air date: 05/05/1990 (Disney Channel), 09/14/1990 (Syndication); Episode # 9 (TaleSpin DVD Volume #1, Disc #1), Episode #1 (Production Order)
I
Only Have Ice For You Notes
I
Only Have Ice For You Transcript
(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: All new commentary will have the "2020 Gregory Weagle Says:" marked while the rest will be the older commentary.)
(2015 Gregory Weagle Says: To explain TaleSpin in a nutshell; I'll let Ink & Pixel Club (who wrote a review of Stormy Weather which has disappeared down the memory hole) explain it:
“...but just think about the premise. Pretend you're an executive at Disney and I come to you with a pitch for a show using the characters from Lady and the Tramp, but Tramp is now a truck driver at a company owned by Lady. Trusty runs the local trucker's bar, the beaver is their wacky mechanic, and the rat run a rival trucking company. How long would it be before you gave me the "Don't call us, we'll call you" treatment? On paper, TaleSpin sounds like worst thing ever. So not only is it amazing that it was green lit; it's amazing that it was actually good. Compare it to Jungle Cubs, a more standard "characters from the movie as little kids" treatment which never registered as more than a brief blip on my radar. I guess it just goes to show that the easy, "safe" choice - or even the sane choice - doesn't always make for the best television.” - Ink & Pixel Club from Toonzone.
It's funny when people go on-line and proclaim that people just want originality, when TaleSpin was as original as you were going to get. When you have to hyper reference a unknown 1980's live action show (Tales Of The Golden Monkeys) to claim that TaleSpin is a knock off of that, that's pretty original. Never mind that that it's what people do; not what they say that counts in entertainment, because people always paint the rosiest picture possible. I do it too; only I do a really crappy job of that. Never mind that Tales Of The Golden Monkeys is like TaleSpin; in that it cribs ideas from pulp serials, flight movies and lots of stuff from the 1930's to the 1960's, only with a more modern take (and has Disney Robin Hood-equse furries). More on that later. If Ink & Pixel club is to be believed, then the safe choice would be to risk it all; which of course the execs would just decide to not risk it at all and go to the risky choice of not considering something like TaleSpin and consider something like Jungle Book 2, or even their own knockoff version of the Nippon Animation version of Jungle Book.)
Normally; I would go into a full introduction on the series and all that stuff, but I don't need to anymore. (You sure don't; you already done that in the re-rant of Plunder and Lightning 18 months before this one.) That quote above from Ink & Pixel Club sums the whole series up perfectly. Besides; these rants are going to be walls of text as it is with all the trivia that is going to be added to it as well as all the funny stuff I usually do in these rants. (And they are going to be even worse with the additional commentary.) Also expect a lot of quotes compared to other series as TaleSpin is a character interaction series and the dialog might not be Grade S all the time like a full on movie; but then again William Shakespeare was accused of the same thing in his time period too and he became a mega star; so who knows. (Ah; so you were reading the Malstorm again at this point 2010 me!) And of course; I already basically laid it out in the Plunder and Lightning re-rant anyway. I should also point out that not all the trivia will be shown on this rant; but there will be a post on my Live Journal that will cover it. Consider it supplemental material since I cannot have all trivia, all the time since that will drive up the page length even further. I don't want 19 pages to start all over again. So we begin the 25 Years of Spin with the first episode ever aired and made which was amazing considering that the span between conception and airing was just nine months. It's not South Park (not even close); but for a fully cell animated series; this was the definition of a rush job. (That's another amazing thing about this show. Rush job usually equals a crappy show; and this show bucked the trend. Probably because the jobs and reputation of Magon and company were on the line here. It's also considered a filler show for the same reason because they needed to fill the Disney Afternoon block with something that wasn't based on their previous DTVA shows that were airing in syndication and various experimental blocks before this. It had to succeed. It did succeed and when you consider that Fox and Warner Brothers were debuting with The Simpsons and Tiny Toon Adventures, in which TaleSpin somehow best them in syndication (albeit the race was so close to call), that's amazing. )
It should have went all wrong; but somehow this series didn't do a lot of wrong if any. I Only Have Ice For You was when I ranted on it back then a pretty fun episode to watch and after seeing Piratsy Under The Sea; I can safely say that Jymn Magon and company made damn sure that the premise of the series was front and center rather than going against it and making it look all crappy at the same time. (Actually; Catteries Not Included aired first and it was good; but it aired a full year before the Disney Channel preview. They probably should have aired it again first during the preview and then air Piratsy Under The Sea later. Much later.) Will it hold up like I saw it when I first ranted on it though? (The plot of this episode is that Baloo breaks the law and loses his license for a week; causing Rebecca to fly the SeaDuck to send an iceberg to a rich prince in the desert so he can make a ski resort; which Don Karnage interferes because Baloo taunts him into it.) Let's rant on shall we...?!
(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This is a bigger deal than most people realize. It's wasn't just the pre-production phase that was rushed as heck. It was mostly due to the fact that TaleSpin itself shouldn't have existed in the first place because the pitch was their third or fourth concept depending on whom you talk to. Syfy Wire had an November 2018 interview on "The Oral History Of The Disney Afternoon" by Jordan Zakarin which shed a lot of light into the process of DTVA in general. However, to me, the build up to the successful pitch of TaleSpin might be one of most bizarre things I have ever read. The pre-production process was much more straight forward than the green lighting process. Think it as this: I remembered someone on IMDB review a Nick cartoon which was either Fanboy & Chum Chum or Breadwinners and the quote they use was that the show was green-lighted out of desperation because they ran out of idea and needed a show to fill whatever the execs needed. I read that and whomever wrote it I have to say: "Listen, I'm sure the show sucks; but to say that line to imply it's automatically awful, than explain to me how in the living hell did TALE F-N SPIN hold up so well and is considered one of the best cartoons ever?!" Because if you read the oral history, especially the TaleSpin stuff, the show the creators wanted to do was a show called B-Players and Baloo was going to be a B-star in a Hollywood backlot teaching Ricky The Rat, whom was Mickey Mouse's cousin how to be a star. That show was rejected out of hand to the point where Jeffrey Katzenburg, (an exec who used to be seen as a babyface to the clueless fanboys out there) threaten to throw people out of windows if they mention Ricky The Rat ever again. There was the Rocky & Bullwinkle reboot in consideration which would have happened if Disney had the creator's blessing on creating, rather than just the broadcasting rights to the old show (There would be reboots for Dudley Doo-Right along Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and even a Rocky & Bullwinkle movie much later on). This ended up being a part of Baloo and Kit's personality to a small degree in the end.
There was going to be a Winnie The Pooh spin-off; but that got nixed for unknown reason, where Pooh lives in New York like a TaleSpin character. Yeah. While I was never given a reason for B-Players being rejected, my working theory is that it was way too close to Tiny Toon Adventures for Eisner's liking (Context: Michael Eisner and the Disney marketing execs were marketing their shows against Warner Brothers, accusing them of being too old and aged. Never mind that Mickey Mouse was older than Bugs Bunny and most of the DTVA classic characters Eisner was milking at the time were as old or older. Ironically, the Disney version of the Jungle Book characters were the youngest, albeit about the same age as the Warner Brothers version of the same character; but WB wasn't really doing anything with them. Needless to say, this didn't go over well with the cynical jaded fans, and the purists saw it as desperation on Disney's part, as it should be.) and in their eyes, it would be better to rip off Ducktales, which they own, then rip off a Warner Brothers-equse idea. So, in desperation (sound familar?) Jymn Magon and Mark Zaslove had three days to create a pitch for a fourth show on the new block that would become the Disney Afternoon, or risk losing their jobs. Can you imagine if this pitch failed? Can you imagine the unlikely possibility that the fourth DA show would be The New Adventures of Winnie The Pooh?! That would have killed the whole block right out of the starting gate and Warner Brothers would have further kicked Disney's ass six ways from Sunday! They took Baloo and made him into a pilot. They took a dead end angle from Ducktales in which Launchpad was a freelancer with a cargo service (which gaslit people into believing that Launchpad was getting the starting role. Which begs the question: Is it because they heard of the angle and thought Launchpad was the star or was it because they couldn't accept Baloo as a pilot due to his Jungle Book roots and thought TaleSpin was a parody to spite Rudyard Kipling (Reminder: Some of his books had clear Nazi symbols on them; so maybe he got what he deserved here).).
They took Kit's name from Kit Colby from Rescue Rangers and gave him the cloud kicking gimmick; and named him Cloudkicker as the last name. They pitched the thing and the creators should have just showed the photo of Kit cloudsurfing (in Ducktales 2017, cloud kicking; which means it's possible that Grandpa Simpson's yelling at a cloud was due to Kit cloud kicking it and it shaped like Grandpa Simpson's head.) and forget the rest of the pitch because the show TaleSpin was green-lighted just like that. The rest came later and those deserve more explainations. The point of this is that Baloo couldn't get B-Players over no matter what the creators tried despite being in the wheel house of what Michael Eisner wanted in his marketing, but one photo of Kit cloudsurfing behind the SeaDuck got a show green-lighted and all that was needed to ask from Eisner was: Is there a classic Disney character in this? And Magon says: Baloo and we're all set. This successful pitch was a clue to the future of children's animation in that, if you have kids in the main event -- in the exec's minds -- they will approve your pitch no matter how awful it is in hindsight. Kit Cloudkicker was a pioneer in this regard as despite not being in every episode (because R.J. Williams and Alan Roberts were under the age of eighteen at this point.), he was booked as the best child character I ever seen. It proved that the idea of kids in the main event does work if you have the talent and skill to pull it off. Kit Cloudkicker is not only responsible for everything that happen in storyline; but in the show's real life existence. The show worked better than Ducktales 1987 because TaleSpin was told from the non-rich character's prespective (Khan is tweener to heel in TaleSpin, unlike Scrooge who is babyface-tweener), unlike Ducktales 1987.
Matt Zimmer (Fonebone) of AnimeSuperHero (Formally Toonzone) said it better than even I could:
"Kids loved TaleSpin, when by all rights they shouldn't have. Its main character is an adult and the kid sidekick is often absent. It's based on an old Disney movie few kids in 1990 had seen until it was rereleased that summer in anticipation to it. It was conceived of as a spin-off of DuckTales (hence the name) but wound up having zero ties to it. It was about old airplanes and pilots which was definitely not a huge kid fandom then or now. It was set in the 1930's. There should have been no market for this show, and even if there were, only adults should have liked it. But it was so fun and exciting kids enjoyed the ride anyways even not knowing all of the movie references and homages. TaleSpin was legit, well-written, decent animation for the time, good voicework and score, and a kicking theme song (arguably the greatest Disney Theme song of all time). The fact that it defied all odds to be a hit with kids is something I like."
Sadly, TaleSpin was only there to buy time for Darkwing Duck (the show Launchpad would be in the end as the TaleSpin/Ducktales crossover was only in PSA's and Ducktales 2017, making history with Kit and Molly being the only two characters to meet Ducktales characters as kids and adults) and no matter how monster over it was, it was a 65 episode limit show. It was cancelled the moment it was approved and that the whole damn tragedy of this. TaleSpin worked better than B-Players because B-Players was too connected to Warner Brothers than to Disney. They had the alternate to Warner Brothers and they didn't need to cheap shot their competition in spite of spots that were too close to Warner Brothers (although Dunder and Baloo doing the Bugs Bunny promo in Flying Dupes was hilarious.); so much so that despite having every single right to take cheap shots at Disney at every turn, they often left TaleSpin alone. Mostly due to context, but maybe partially because the show felt like itself instead of a cheap middle finger to WB. Anyhow, I hope everyone understands why Kit was so important for this show's existence, why Baloo is not this powerful star people think he is and why Kit Cloudkicker's return in Ducktales 2017 was so important for TaleSpin in general. Now it's truly time to rant on shall we...?!)
This episode is written by Don Rosa. The story is edited by Mark Zaslove. Don Rosa is notable to Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck fans since he writes lots of comics on those two characters from Carl Barks. TaleSpin is not only his only DTVA appearance; it's basically his only appearance outside of the comics. (This show was a retirement gift for Don and he was fine with it; but felt he lost some creative control over the process which he enjoyed the most. My Livejournal has several quotes on Don Rosa's work for TaleSpin and they are somewhat good, although he did make an error on the animation studios. When I heard that Don Rosa worked on this show earlier in my career, it was quite a culture shock to me since I figured that no comic book writer would be caught dead writing for television. Of course; I should have realized that Jan Strnad also wrote comic books well before getting into television writing, so it was a case of the writer realizing that expanding his horizons to more modern based mediums was a good idea.) He wrote three episodes for TaleSpin; in which only two had been produced and released. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan and I should have a supplemental on them on my Live Journal after this rant is up. I have A LOT to talk about Walt Disney Animation Japan from uncredited staff to Pacific Animation Corporation and Tokyo Movie Shinsha. (Mostly about the ten people (that I know about) who worked for Walt Disney Animation Japan who had worked on animation in Japan since the early 1960's until most recently. Oh looky; Paro Hozumi worked on this episode too doing key background styling too!)
(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Before I go on with the rant, I should note that all the tributes will be removed from the rants. It'll shorten some of these rants and allow me to write more commentary when needed. Also, all the tributes are on The Unofficial Kit Cloudkicker Homepage and I'll be adding the Ducktales 2017 TaleSpin characters in the future.)
Opening Moment #1: While I mentioned the TaleSpin in the Plunder and Lightning re-rant before concerning the music part; I should mention it again because the scenes used in the actual opening come from television episodes and the promo Disney Channel ran just before the TaleSpin preview. (All the scenes used in the opening are from the following episodes: I Only Have Ice For You, It Came From Beneath The SeaDuck, A Touch Of Glass, A Bad Reflection On You Part One, Time Waits For No Bear and the Disney Channel promo which was run before I Only Have Ice For You ran on Disney Channel.) I hope to have the link to the promo up when this rant is posted. My favorite spots of the opening are as follows:
[1.]
Baloo gets a bowl of popcorn stuffed on his head by Rebecca. I'll
explain why this spot is so funny later on. (Early Rebecca is
one of those "She's too angry even though her anger is
justified"for the most part.)
[2.] Three scenes
feature characters using bullet shooting guns on our heroes including
one time where they literally shoot at Kit while cloudsurfing. YIKES!
(Get used to it; it's a special day when the guns aren't pulled
out! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: I betcha Kit was relieved that Frank
Angones hates guns in children's shows because I sure was where I got
frightened by the fact that a scene cut from Plunder and Lightning
showed Kit having a bullet literally at his head just to do a bullet
rope snapping spot!))
[3.] Great back bump by the stork
and hippo tourist. When the guest characters are doing a good job as
the heroes; you know you are in for some good stuff. (At least
it wasn't a blow to the head.)
[4.] Baloo dancing while
cross dressing. He never learns how manly he is when he does that.
(And this kind of manliness isn't nearly as toxic as taking
nasty bumps to the head ala Polly Wants A Treasure.)
[5.]
The final sequence involving Kit saving Molly is still breathtaking.
Memo to Kick Buttowski: Meet a REAL daredevil! (I think being a
former Air Pirate would disqualify ANYONE ELSE but Kit in DTVA from
being a daredevil.)
[6.] Kit hugging Baloo is really a
great recurring theme for the series. I mean what doesn't scream "Hug
me" like Kit Cloudkicker?! (Molly Cunningham of
course.)
[7.] Kit and Baloo falling from the clock tower
into the water still shows to this date just how weak Kick Buttowski
really is. Deadman's Drop can kiss my ass. (Not to mention that
they were doing this while dodging guns from Ape and Rhino Goon. And
those were machine guns with bullets; something most kid shows would
understandably forbid. (2020 Gregory Weagle: For
some user who thinks I don't like Baloo; Baloo is a saint compared to
Kick Buttowski. That being said, this was clearly written before Last
Fan Standing, which I consider the best new Disney episode ever. And
there were a few episodes where Kick was geninuely good, so I have
mellowed out on the Suburban Daredevil. Jackie Whackerman and Cousin
Kyle will do that for you.))
[8.] Baloo's swinging into
the iceberg is funny and could have been perfect had Walt Disney
Japan not make a coloring mistake with Baloo's face. Since this spot
is in this episode; I'll consider it mistake #1 for the episode. See;
I can rant on this series objectively. (There is also a
coloring mistake with his feet too; but most good shows suffer
coloring problems like that. It's nowhere near the level of Teddy
Ruxpin though.)
(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This for all the Disney+ fans out there who are so offended that Disney offered a quality of life feature like the "Skip Intro" button. If this triggers you, you are basically saying that the show sucks and the introduction is the only thing you loved. One of the things I don't like about DTVA fans is lumping shows like TaleSpin and defending them to spite modern shows in general when they only love Darkwing Duck. It's basically a form of old fart syndrome. If you love TaleSpin, then the opening is merely a bacon bit on the salad. Sure, it's the first minute you often see, but the rest of the show should speak for itself. It's one of the reasons why modern Disney shows today show a minute of the show before showing the opening proper, because the show is more important than the opening and you want to give incentive to the viewers to keep watching the show. If your audience tunes out before the show even starts proper, you have a failure of a product.)
We officially begin the series with a right pan shot of the ocean BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (Sunset) as a female voice is blowing off someone for stealing private property whom sounds exactly like Sally Struthers as we go to a far shot of the SeaDuck (that banana yellow plane that makes me wonder if Magon was trying too hard to prove to me that mocking Gedo is a waste of time (The SeaDuck design is actually pretty impressive at the time and probably still is to a certain extent.) (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: In Ducktales 2017, Kit added an extention to the SeaDuck which was an outhouse with the sign that reads "The Woods". That was funny.).) and three CT-37's surrounding them. Of course; this is Rebecca Cunningham trying to boss people around that are not exactly a great idea to boss around if you catch my drift. (Don Karnage everyone. Oh; and the "Don" part is not his first name; that is his title, like Don Quixote. He cannot say his first name; since the name ("Anthrax"; which is more problematic for terrorist reasons as well) is copyrighted by someone not called Disney. And to be honest; Karnage pirating the name from someone would be so much like him to do so.) We then go to a closer shot as Mad Dog and Dumptruck walking on top of the Sea Duck and then inside as we see Rebecca Cunningham with her arms up continuing to blow off the man. Note number one of the episode: Watching any part of this episode after seeing Kick Buttowski's flash animation will cause whiplash even if it is simple as having the characters have shadows. (The whiplash effect of 1980's hand drawn animation (Well; I say 1980's simply because TaleSpin was on the tailend of the 1980's and the very beginning of the 1990's. A crossroads type of show this was in many ways.) and 2010 animation styledone by Toon Boom is really jarring to the senses. Even more so with Mighty Ducks which had dreadful animation.)
And then we go to a far shot as Baloo has his hands up; but Kit doesn't (HA! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Even though Plunder and Lightning was in the middle of the production's order and this episode was finished first, it is just a funny spot in the middle of an episode. It's little things like this that got Kit Cloudkicker over as a wonderful character.)) on the barrel as the REGAL CUTLASS enters the fray and we see on the next shot that it is the return of the dreadful ass kicking (but it really isn't his fault that his crew hilariously sucks), killer flair pirate Don Karnage (Jim Cummings in his trademark Bonkers voice. (I feel so dirty saying that in hindsight. Actually; Melvin's voice from Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers sounds very similar to Don Karnage's voice too.)) and he basically lays it out perfectly for me....
Don Karnage: Read my lips. I am a pirate. I do not need credentials.
Nice touch to threaten Rebecca Cunningham with the sword to the throat by the way. I don't see the new Disney ever getting away with that without a PG rating anymore. (Well; they would have to have a sword first, and BS&P frowns on that too nowadays. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Sky Pirates...In The Sky! from Ducktales 2017 would like to have a word with you 2015 me!)) So Gibber (The dog who speaks -- well gibberish -- voiced by Chuck McCann.) whispers sweet nothings in his ear. No, not really because they found nothing...AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING! Don Karnage then grabs Gibber by the collar and blows him off for questioning his abilities to know simple words like nothing. You tell him and do the dreadfully awesome nose on nose collision. Somehow; someone has got to tell these people about the dreaded knee on knee collision and learn not to do it with other body parts. (But then no one would get the point 2010 me.) And then he basically throws Gibber off-screen with no bump present; but the sound covers it up. I guess the "Shakey Cam" effect was too cheap for them. (Walt Disney Animation Japan was very wet behind the ears at this point.) Don then goes over to Baloo and asks where are they and Baloo (played of course by the late Ed Gilbert.) proudly plays dumb like the fat bear that he is. He also remember to insult Karnage with "Karny" which of course Don reminds him that it is Don Karnage as he is getting more and more pissed off. Believable character responses? In a cartoon? I thought this sort of thing wasn't allowed in one?! (Yeah; because execs number one rule is that kids just want comedy. To heck with everything else.) Rebecca tells Baloo to give him the rubies before he murders them. Yeah; I know she said before he gets angry; but really Miss Cunningham?! He's ALREADY angry. (Yeah; 2010 me was right on the money with this one. It's even stranger when you consider that this show freely says "kill" and "die" all the time.) And then Don Karnage swings the sword around and repeats everything she said. This is actually a common trait as I heard this same spot done in Plunder and Lightning Part Three. Baloo no sells the whole thing as usual and asks Kit if he has seen any and of course Kit goldbricks which of course is one of his many fortes in this series. (Kit is the best gold bricker in DTVA and Baloo has learned his lessons well.)
Since we are in the Disney Channel part of the series; Kit is clearly voiced by Alan Roberts here. Besides Kit Cloudkicker; he was the voice of Young Arnie in Batman: The Animated Series and debut as a cameo on Webster in 1987. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Alan did commercials and then became a special effects producer as an adult. A lot of us thought he was gone because he was seen as unprofessional to Ginny McSwain, but that was not the case at all. In fact, he was interviewed for real and he was also an orphan, so the idea that Kit was an orphan was to connect the voice to Alan.)Yeah; there isn't much the poor kid did in his acting career. It's too bad because he was a perfectly acceptable voice as Kit. It's also clear that Jymn Magon is doing voice direction as well since when Ginny McSwain took over for From Here to Machinery; (Actually; she has been in every episode minus A Bad Reflection On You and I Only Have Ice For You, so basically the writing was on the wall for Alan Roberts two episodes in.) she basically replaced him with R.J. Williams. In hindsight though; Alan Roberts would have been replaced with Williams anyway in the end since Ginny had been used to R.J. Williams from Dink The Little Dinosaur a year before this. (Because R.J. Williams actually started on voice acting in 1981 at three years old basically and had been doing it until he left for school in the 1990's to become a director.) Also; I don't notice a real difference between Baloo here and Baloo now so Ed Gilbert clearly got into his role pretty quickly; even more so compared to Pokemon or most 4Kids dubs. (I think this was more of a writing problem because Baloo calls Rebecca by her proper name a lot more than he usually does.) Sally Struther was Granny in Hoodwinked, well the international version anyway since Glenn Close replaced her for the North American version because execs once again believe that "big names equals big bucks." Even Glenn Close thought this was BS. Sadly; the seed was sown since the movie had an $8 million budget and did close to $111 million. Execs, they suck and must go to God!
Sally's most enduring credit is the fact that she was the spokesperson for Christian Children's Fun back into the 1980's which got her lapooned on South Park due to her weight issues later on in life. (Which she didn't like at all. Understandable since Sally was at a really healthy weight when she was recording Rebecca for TaleSpin. I'm guessing Jim Henson's death really affected her and she needed to cope.) Considering the nasty stuff that passes on by people like Bill O'Reily (which Sally's All in The Family character made an appearance as archive footage on the O'Reily Factor); the lapoon is like a limp slap on the wrist at worst. (I'll give Sally this: She got only one DUI in her entire career. Think about that for a moment.) Speaking of Rebecca; she is on Baloo's case on the rubies as she pulls on Baloo's shirt. Baloo calls Rebecca confused. Trust me Miss Cunningham; that's the nicest thing a lot of TaleSpin male fans have said about you considering how much they love to paint you as the evil little bitch. (Which she is not. Still using toxic language there 2010 me?!) Baloo proclaims that they are hauling strawberry jam instead of rubies as he dunks his right paw into the magically opened jar of jam for the first logic break of the episode. I know this because Baloo's arms were up the whole time in that sequence. Sign of whiplash #2 after watching Kick Buttowski: The first logic break comes two minutes into the episode in this show rather then me seeing ten in Kick. (Yup. Anyhow; the hiding rubies in jam is a Carl Barks routine in the Uncle Scrooge/Donald Duck comics which is not surprising since Don Rosa is writing this and was a comic book writer for a number of Donald Duck/Uncle Scrooge comics over the many decades or so. Sadly; this episode was heavily modified from the original script he wrote.) They do make it up with some smooth animation though (something Kick would NEVER do) and then he eats it (!!!) and cuts a KFC promo. (Strawberry jam is finger licking good and no more bad for you than fried chicken.) Don is shocked and appalled (in that order) as Baloo offers him the strawberry jam hand to eat off of. HAHA!
Rebecca has that look of "I got a crazy pilot here" while Kit is more like "Rebecca promised that barrel for me" look. (Yup, again.) Don looks down and the jam drops right on his boot. You do not degrade Don Karnage's boots. It's like touching Freddy Blasie's hair. (Yeah; but if Kit did this, you would be making an exception to that rule 2010 me. Although; to be honest, even I would make that exception as well.) Don gets more and more pissed as Baloo looks bored as Don wants something; but Rebecca butts in and since she is the owner of Higher For Hire she has a right to know. I agree Miss Cunningham; however, this is NOT the time to be playing stupid mind games. Neither is the time for Disney Captions to be missing dialogue either as Rebecca's finger pointing demands those rubies. (I can understand why Rebecca is being difficult here; but there is a time and place for this and having a monster heel with the ability to kill in Rebecca's presence does her no favors.) Don Karnage repeats her and shakes Baloo which is probably not one of Don Karnage's best moves. That allows Kit runs strage right as Gibber dumbly stands there and jumps onto some cargo boxes near a window overlooking the sunset and he clears his throat and informs Don Karnage that the coast of Cape Suzette is off the port bow as we see a far shot of the cliffs and then we see a shot of Kit looking like he's playing "Control The Mirror" and claims to see a Shore Patrol plane and Don Karnage gets the LIGHT BULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and lets go. He walks towards the door with flair and grace as he feels forgiving today and orders everyone to their ships. I tempted to call that logic break #2 for the episode; but it is Don Karnage after all and he's always mangling grammar so I'll let that one slide. (Yeah; Don Karnage's greatest heel trait is that he tortures the English languages on a regular basis and that it's funny because of that. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, the original Karnage anyway; the new one doesn't although Jamie's version of Karange is hilarious!))
He walks to the door as Baloo gives the non-verbal cue of "Kit just screwed you again, Karny". (Yup, again.) Don tells them to count their blessings as he will do nothing this time. Don proclaims that when they meet; beware as he does some sword play and then run out of the side door of the SeaDuck. Baloo thanks Kit for making that call and I approve. Unlike Drake Mallard; Baloo rarely buries Kit or his friends. Michael Eisner can do that for him. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (To be fair to everyone; Eisner was milking the classical stars for all they were worth and that's why a lot of purists hated him. People like me, who aren't purists, hated Eisner simply because he for the most part refused to make new stars to carry DTVA into the next step of it's evolution and then when it came time to realize that burying your top stars was a bad idea, it was too late and no one cared anymore.) The Air Pirates on the outside shot get into their planes and fly away stage left as Baloo, Kit and Rebecca strap in and Baloo tells them that they are going home. However; Rebecca just will not let this issue go. (And I don't blame her here now since they are safe from the heels, plus; Baloo is once again not being up front about his intentions to Rebecca.) So; how do people respond:
Average
Male TaleSpin Fan: That's because you are a jerk, Miss
Cunningham.
Me/Brendala/Everyone Else: It's because Baloo
is projecting his own faults into you, Miss Cunningham.
Kit puts his seatbelt on (So he can be safe; which is silly considering his character; but it does show that he is a character and not a gimmick like Kick is. (I didn't come up with the joke on my own. Dora The Explorer says this all the time in her show. And to be fair to her; it's sound advice.)) as Baloo starts the engines and Rebecca reminds him about a certain accident (In scare quotes according to Disney Captions to imply that it wasn't. Nice to see Disney Captions have the same contempt for the word as I do.) the other day along with flying lessons as the SeaDuck takes off. Rebecca proclaims that she is going to change everything when they get back. Flying lessons eh? Sounds like Rebecca not pleased that Kit actually GOT to fly the plane there. (That actually makes sense for Baloo not to tell her. Rebecca's attitude is justified here because Baloo is disrespecting her as his boss and Baloo clearly never reveals plans in advance and overrules her. Can you really blame Rebecca for this?) Rebecca has the Gruffi pose on full blast as Baloo tells her to take it easy. Good luck on that one Pop-A-Projection Bear; she is known to pop ear drums within a forty mile radius. (2020 Gregory Weagle: The "Pop-A-Bear" joke is that at times, Baloo's face becomes punchable. It's also difficult to have sympathy for Baloo when he has punched people in the face on-screen without censorship. Even if the heel deserved it, it's true.) AHHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummm... Baloo slurps as he goes to the transmitter as Kit tells her that she isn't going to believe this. After finding out you were an ex-terrorist; I think Rebecca is posed to believe anything now. (Ex-Air Pirate 2010 Me! Although considering what the Air Pirates did in Plunder and Lightning? Not completely absurd to use the word "terrorist" here.) Baloo then mocks Don Karnage and remember this: Everything from this moment on is all Baloo's fault. Remember that, Rebecca haters! If you want to pound on Miss Cunningham and act like sexists; wait until the Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink episode rant. (More so, Jeremy Cushner since he was responsible for writing that episode.) Rebecca's face tells it all as we get a shot of the Air Pirates going stage left away and Don Karnage blowing Baloo's request off. Baloo slurps some more on his strawberry hand which has maintained CONTINUITY throughout this whole thing.
So we move on and we see the ruby is in his hand and he proclaims that this is where he hid the ruby. Okay; this is incredibly stupid even for him and this moment in my view is the reason why I can stand Rebecca Cunningham as a Grade S jerk. I mean; who can blame her for getting bitchy when Baloo basically cuts such an obvious promo on Don Karnage which basically is asking for death?! (Again; sexism. I mean COME ON! Baloo basically blew their cover for absolutely no reason other than to spite Rebecca. It's one thing to claim that Rebecca is difficult. But most of you aren't asking the obvious question. Why is she difficult? Answer: Baloo is a lazy, scummy, low life, irresponsible pilot; and that's his good points. I think Rebecca does a better job respecting Baloo than Baloo does respecting Rebecca as a boss at this point.) Rebecca is shocked and so is Don Karnage, so much so that the CT-37's stop on a dime and turn around on a dime and head stage right. Yes; this is a cartoon so why do you ask? (The fact that we have half animal/half human chimeras running around should have killed the realism right there...) TaleSpin takes place in it's own world. You expected real world physics here?! (Apparently; yes. Even with half animal/half human characters. Hey; they could all being fursuits, you know.) The chase is on as Don Karnage is angry and the acting is surprisely good with voice tone differences and everything. Baloo laughs it up as Kit looks out and reminds Baloo that they are not save in Cape Suzette. The funny part is that Kit cuts a chicken hatch promo and it still sounds like he's implying that Baloo murders Air Pirates which of course he doesn't. That is why Kit is so awesome. (I'm guessing that line wasn't edited enough in the final script because of Kristof's TaleSpin Conspiracy Theroy of Death!) Baloo nicely blows Kit off because he claims that he knows what he is doing. (Wow; and he's SHOCKED when Kit pulls the same card in Stormy Weather?)
So we go to a camera shot behind Don Karnage as we hear Stan Blather's voice (Jim Cummings of course) calling the Sea Duck (Wow, Baloo must be famous if the radio control knows it's the Sea Duck.) addressing himself as part of the Cape Suzette Air Control. Baloo chuckles and tells Kit off because he told him that they would make it. Of course, Air Control informs him that he is not cleared for landing and to assume holding pattern. HAHA! (Consequences?! In a cartoon?! Really?! I thought consequences turned kids off?!) Baloo pleads because it's an A#1 emergency see with Air Pirate up the tail pipe. HA! Only in TaleSpin can you find really creative air uses for the word ass. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Funny how you cannot say "ass"; but "fucking" somehow got past the filter in Plunder and Lightning. This show is messed up a lot more than you think. See the Thembrians as evidence number one!) The Air Control apologizes as there are two planes, one glider and a blimp ahead of them and that he will have to wait. (I watched the show to do transcripts; there was exactly one blimp in the entrance of Cape Suzette. Which Baloo takes advantage of in the next couple of moments.) Baloo then really blows him off with static in a really funny spot just to force the point that they are going to die if Air Control stops acting like a moron. (Sorry; but I call projecting his stupidity onto them because he taunted Don Karnage! He's an idiot! He deserves this fate!) Rebecca tells Baloo to stop and wait; but Baloo is a rebel BABEE and they are going in. Rebecca yells at him not to do it; but Baloo uses the "six to one odds" to say that they do which would have been fine if there were actually six CT-37's; but there are really four; so it's four to one odds. Baloo claims that he knows what he is doing which is funny since that exactly what Kit was saying in Stormy Weather. (Damn; I thought I didn't say that in this rant; but I did.)
Don Karnage comences the shooting and we get the TaleSpin victory theme as Baloo goes inside the cliff at a low altitude as Baloo proclaims that they have made it as Don Karnage calls on Mad Dog to go on in and Mad Dog whines (Charlie Adler of course. (Surprising that it wasn't Peter Cullen, since Mad Dog's gimmick of whining and sounding nasel is similar to Mepps from Chip & Dale's Rescue Rangers.)) as the three remaining CT-37's loop up and retreat as Mad Dog's plane goes in. Why? To show that he is the bump machine of course silly. (He was; although even Kit was taking bumps like mad in this series; so it was spread out a lot more.) Mad Dog whines about wanting to send Dumptruck, Hacksaw, Sadie and Uncle Floyd as Mad Dog sounds more like Bret Hart circa 1997 by the minute. The backgrounds are simply breaktaking here even for a television animated series. Maybe it's just the whiplash effect from watching you know what that's effecting me at the moment. (Without question. I'm not saying that the new Disney backgrounds are awful; it's just a case of time shock on my part.) More flying as Rebecca keeps telling him not to violate Air Control as Baloo blows her off and tells her to send a postcard. And people accuse REBECCA of being such a jerk?! Do I see treehouse syndrome being displayed by our lovely fans of this series? (In a word; no. Sexim? In a word; yes. And they are lazy people who think stereotypes are cool.) Kit takes a glance to inform Baloo that there is still one behind them. See; this is why Kit awesome: He gains heat simply by looking cute when he does nothing. (And when people tickle him, it's funny (because Kit's laugh is scary good; although Alan Roberts cannot laugh to save his life) and cost the show nothing.) Baloo proclaims that this is not the problem at the moment as we get Little Britches #1 for the episode at the five minute mark. (Despite Kit not wearing any in the series. Although he does wear them in the pre-production materials. If this show gets rebooted, I hope he wears those pre-production pants. They are really cool. I don't care if they change it to bright colors, they would still be cool. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: The official line is for cost reasons since the show costs around $400,000 an episode. While that is probably the biggest reason, it should be noted that Kit in pre-production was also shirtless (with a bandana covering his chest and in North America, it's more taboo for a child to be shirtless than it is to be pantless. Ironically, in Ducktales 2017, his front chest is colored the same as the bottoms of his feet in the original TaleSpin; but Kit got the Teddy Ruxpin treatement in DT17 and the bottoms of his feet are the same as his fur throughout.))
The Seaduck continues to fly as the continuity for this sequence is as good as it it going to get for an animated television series. Everyone screams (with Rebecca trumping all) as the SeaDuck does a 90 degree side against the left side of the blimp as we continue with Mad Dog as he runs off Bandersnatch and Switchblade. Why didn't these two suddenly become recurring characters?! Switchblade would have been an awesome Air Pirate (just on namesake alone) and maybe the second smartest one of the group (minus Don and Rachect of course) with his switching blades. (I'm guessing that they are two air pirates in this episode who are never named and might get a few lines of dialogue, but were never addressed by name directly.) Mad Dog then gets an awesome shot of the blimp and gets bounced off stage left as if a fly hit Baloo's big belly. POW! OUCH! Ummmm.... (Why did you hit 2010 me? That was a perfect analogy.) The SeaDuck flies into Cape Suzette in victory as Baloo proclaims that he told them he knew what he was doing. Yeah; I know what you were doing. You were breaking DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS! (Yes; Fairy Oddparents is one of the most annoying shows ever made; but it was a success and Crocker's bumping was great fodder for me.)) It took TaleSpin just five and a half minutes to set up pretty much half of the show in a nutshell. Compare that to Rescue Rangers and Ducktales which required at least one and a half episodes just to get that far. (Well; Catteries Not Included did a great job too; and it took 15 minutes or so. Sadly; six minutes would be half of an episode today and according to execs rule: If you cannot grab the kids in less than three seconds, they change the channel. Okay; it's more like three minutes. Did I just say? Oh, never mind...) ...And speaking of DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) we head to a close up shot of the sign of Higher..For...Hire (complete with propeller below the sign which is the symbol for the company (and one of the symbols for the TaleSpin logo too.) as Baloo is yelling about someone taking away his license. Damn; I knew the Disney purists would infect this episode somehow. Oh wait; it's only his pilot's license; my mistake. HAHA!
Now that is how the ending to If Books Could Kill should have ended (with Kick's parents getting damages for the destruction Kick caused in an earlier episode. (Yeah; because this is a negative consequence for Baloo. That's good writing actually.)). We then head inside the office as Baloo is backing up a brown dog furry wearing a brown trenchcoat and hat with shoes (the first one in the series I might add. (Well; the first babyface since Don is a heel and was wearing boots.)) and a red tie. It's the same guy from the Air Control of course as he tries to calm him down since it's only suspended for a week which quite frankly is a slap on the wrist for Pop-A-Bear since he was STUPID enough to draw Don Karnage into that situation in the first place. (Indeed. He deserves a year suspension just for that.) He reminds him that he DID enter Cape Suzette without permission. The Air Control guy runs off stage left before any more damage can be done by Baloo (To get the suspension raised and probably criminal charges of assault can be laid to boot.) as Rebecca pulls Baloo back and tells him so. Amen, Rebecca Cunningham! Baloo blows her off for taking the law's side. HA! (I love it when the manchild character is forced to actually suffer an actual consequence to his behaviour. And the consequences are just starting now.) Baloo then shows a dollar bill which has an image of our first major guest character of the series as he tells Rebecca about an assignment that they are supposed to be on today. (This is sounding like something out of Phineas & Ferb, now that I put more than ten seconds of thought into it.) We then get a close up shot of our guest character looking proud (a lynx wearing a turban with a feather on top) as Baloo proclaims that he paid them fifty thousand shaboozies up front. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This sounds like a mistake because Rebecca is supposed to be the one with the financial sense and this makes it sounds like Baloo has some say in deals which is out of character for Rebecca. Maybe 2010 me mistranslated that, I'll have to check the transcript to make sure I'm not seeing things.)
Then, just to encourage bad habits in future shows (Quack Pack, Proud Family I'm looking at you!); the image comes alives and informs our viewers via the most absurd form of fourth wall breaking ever that he is Prince Never-Has-Been-Broke (I had him as Prince Neverhas Beenbroke conbining the two words; I guess Disney Caption thinks that he is a Muslim. (He is a Middle Eastern stereotype; but has enough of a good side to be a character without stooping to a level of joke machine, so it's totally forgivable.) and he needs a whole iceberg to be delivered to his desert palace if you please (Jim Cummings again). Now I know this is impossible in real life; but the whole premise of the series when it comes to cargo business is that most of them are absurd requests and this is probably the most absurd we are going to get as many of the others are quite more plausible. (TaleSpin's biggest strength is that no matter how absurd it get; it's still believable and we care about it. Even in an all comedy all the time show; the audience still has to care about the characters on some level so they have incentive to continue watching. TaleSpin knows how to do this. Many shows do not and then are surprised when their ratings sink like a stone quickly. Sometimes, the execs can be wrong.) The bill rolls up by itself and drops from Baloo's hand as Baloo harshly asks who is going to fly the plane now. Rebecca sums that one up perfectly as she points to her. (Why not? So far; Don Rosa has done a decent job with Rebecca's character. So far anyway.) That leads to Baloo yelling at her (I'm shocked that he managed to blow her off without acting like a bigot there (I think calling her woman and lady are very close to being a bigot in a mild sense.)) as we see Kit with some steel rods going into the Sea Duck as we cut to Rebecca proclaiming that she knows what she is doing. (So now we have Baloo and Rebecca saying the exact same thing Kit would say in Stormy Weather. And everyone is shocked when people like me say that they would make the perfect family?!) Can you smell the projection slowly building up here; or do I have to spell it out for you?!
Rebecca then reveal the orange book and it's her "bible" to flying any airplane of her choosing. She opens the book halfway and states that it's allows her to fly any airplane in three easy lessons. NO?! REALLY?! Are you sure that book isn't written by Gadget Hackwrench?! Because if it is; then you better read the warning labels as discovered in the book by Smearing Gun.com. (That is my play on Smoking Gun; which is a metaphor for the key evidence to prove a point correctly.) We then see WildCat's first appearance as he is in the background walking away with a propellor. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Len Smith very recently revealed WildCat's full name: It's not Charles WildCat like Molly said it in Flight of the Snowduck. It's not Frank WildCat like one dead website said. His full name is...wait for it...WildCat Puma~! Yeah; that means a lot of changes to transcripts and other stuff and WildCat is a bigger character than Mira was from In Search of Ancient Blunders! Just wonderful. Not.) Baloo chuckles her off as he calls it a joke. So it IS written by Gadget?! POW! OUCH! Ummm....Baloo basically calls her an idiot for using it as Rebecca blows him off because the man at the bookstore told her it wasn't a joke. So it was Geegaw Hackwrench writing it; that's even worse! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Doesn't matter since if you recall; Baloo is the one who taunted Don Karnage in the first place and his stupidity costed him his license. I'm perfectly fine with Rebecca's Google University-equse diploma mill-like flight instruction manual.) Rebecca walks stage left to the SeaDuck as Kit grabs some rope and leaves while Rebecca proclaims that it costed a hundred dollars to buy. (I call BS on that! I'm certain Rebecca either stole it or is borrowing it from Kit Cloudkicker. He cannot use the learning permit because he's underage of course. Although I'm certain Kit is going to have to buy another book on his expense to get that permit back.) WildCat then performs his first goofy spot of the spot by not being able to get the spare prop into the Duck as Baloo is SHOCKED that she spent a hundred dollars on it.
Rebecca proclaims that she gets a learner's license and a money-back guarantee. I never thought Geegaw would be such a grifter considering Gadget's views on him. (2020 Gregory Weagle Say: Really?! There are a lot of grifters in DTVA, but Geegaw isn't one of them. Baloo is more towards that one and I stand by that claim. See Double or Nothing.) WildCat still has problems all the way as Rebecca proclaims that the license is only temporary one and it's still better than Baloo breaking DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!). I don't see being taken in by a professional huckster makes her that much better than being blown off by some buster. And Rebecca is better than Buster Bunny anyway. (TESTIFY!) Kit comes out and proclaims that the extra equipment is loaded as WildCat throws a prop into the bay in frustration. HAHA! Kit asks when they are leaving and Baloo tells him to ask the new pilot of course thus Rebecca hears another word from him about five seconds after she ordered him not to say another word. (She let that one go; because Baloo is squirming now like a fat worm.) Rebecca walks in and does a surprisely decent job in stealing the Roger Wilcox reference from Gyro Gearloose in Ducktales as Kit is confused while Baloo points to his head to call her nuts. Ummm; no she is not nuts Baloo. Kit is the nutty guy of the team. POW! OUCH! HEY.... (Yeah Kit; you really showed 2010 me there you are not nuts. Cloudsurfing, free falling mulitple times, your pirate past, going to Thembria to try to fly, obsession for flight in general. You might be a people person. You might have the balance amount of smarts and fear; but you are nuts. May I remind you of Plunder and Lightning Part 2 and that bullet you almost took in the head that syndication Disney cut out?) So we head into the cockpit as Rebecca looks at the control panel as Baloo tries the sweet talk routine on her but it fails worser than his proclaiming that Rebecca is nuts. Rebecca steals Baloo's pilot cap in response as Baloo recoils and tries to sit in the navigator's chair but Rebecca blows him off because that is where Kit the navigator sits down of course.
Kit comes in and says "that's me!"and man that voice sounds doesn't sound like Alan Roberts at all when he does it. It's not terrible or anything; it just doesn't sound like him. Something tells me the David Corborn and Tom Jeeves thing from IMDB wasn't as BS as I think it is. (No; it was BS. Personally; this line should have been changed and redone to him saying "excuse me." instead because they ran this episode first on Disney Channel; but it's #9 on the syndication paper. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: It's not that the line wasn't sound; it's also because do you want R.J. Williams redubbing line at a time when he was moonlighting as Cavin in Gummi Bears?! Besides, it's not necessary as Kit can be a cocky boy when he needs to be.)) Kit sits down in his navigator chair as Rebecca sits down in her seat and starts reading from the book starting with Chapter One which proclaims a greeting to her airplane. She mumbles and Rebecca looks around and panics because there is no steering wheel. That's a tall tale sign that the book is a fraud right there as Baloo panics in kind and then we clearly see the steering wheel as Baloo accuses her of going loco. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Della Duck is Rebecca Cunningham who is a better pilot than Kit Cloudkicker could ever be. I cannot wait to rant on "The Lost Cargo of Kit Cloudkicker".) Rebecca doesn't quite believe him since the book has it completely different as she mumbles on inside Baloo's head and Baloo is flustered on that one. (This has to be a PC joke; and I don't mean Political Correctness either. I mean Personal Computer.) It may be a long flight; but it's going to be a really interesting one as we cut to outside and Rebecca starts the engines and goes to Chapter 2 which is that take offs are easy. At least in theory. Wow; we can even see the bolts connecting to the SeaDuck on that shot as we go to the far shot as the SeaDuck hovers on the water while Rebecca reads from the book that a take off is achieved at exactly 75 miles per hour on a 150 yard runway.
Somehow; I doubt that is true in real life, but I'll take her word for it in this world. (I think it depends on the airplane; but if there are any aviation experts out there; I would be happy to hear what they have to say on the matter.) We even get a shadow to light sequence when Kit explains to Rebecca that they don't have 150 yards to work with here. Rebecca is slowly getting to about 72 miles per hour; but they are about 20 feet away from the SEABELL OF DOOM as Baloo yells at her to pull up; but Rebecca blows Baloo off for being such a backseat driver. And I approve because it's BALOO's fault for being so stupid to not only breaking the law; but also being stupid in causing that breaking the law by taunting Don Karnage. I cannot blame Rebecca for being such a Class-S jerk. (TESTIFY!) Kit yells to Baloo as Rebecca gets to 74 MPH as Baloo continues to yell to Rebecca to pull up as they are 10 feet from the water buoy; but Rebecca gives him no dice. Rebecca gets at 75 mph and finally pulls up thus taking the water bouy with her. Rebecca proclaims that it was a perfect takeoff just as the book says. Considering this is first first time; that takeoff wasn't half bad; international object on the wing notwithstanding. Kit points it out; but Baloo stops him from talking before anymore damage can be done as the SeaDuck flies away from the cliffs. So we head into the skies as I guess Kit got the buoy off since it is no longer on the wing. I'm not going to call that one a logic break; that one sounds more like time constraints to me. (I should also point out that there was a spot where Rebecca just stands there on the docks in front of the SeaDuck pointing and keeping that pose the entire time. Yeah; the animators in Japan are just getting their feet wet on this show.) We then get Kit doing his navigational stuff that no kid would ever get which is indication of his character in general. Even the Ducktales nephews and Cubbi Gummi wouldn't have understood him. (Cubbi at least has an excuse being from the era he was in. The nephews, no. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Especially Huey and Dewey in DT17 given their futures.)
Most adults in DTVA probably wouldn't get it either. (I hate to say this but; Kit is a special snowflake who is doing his damnest to prove that he is such even though he really doesn't care about being a special snowflake as long as he no longer has to be an air pirate anymore.) Rebecca proclaims that she gets it; until she asks which way is north. HAHA! (Rebecca's question is a good one because it's difficult to know which way is north without an actual compass. That's why Kit is on board and Baloo can go pound sand.) Baloo gets all huffy on Rebecca that it's back there and Rebecca blows her off because she is doing a good job of flying. Well; she hasn't crashed yet so I say that she has made steady progress thus far. Baloo's treehouse syndrome is setting in the more this episode goes along. Sadly; Rebecca forgets to close the windows and the pilot's cap keep flying off her head. HAHA! Baloo proclaims bluntly that she is not doing a good job. If it getting Baloo's goat; I harshly disagree with him. Rebecca calls Baloo envious because she is doing so well. I love real comments that aren't real comments. (Even though she might be taking this a wee bit too far; at least her spiting has reason behind it. Baloo is spiting her because he's jealous of Rebecca's business sense. More on that in Plunder and Lightning.) Rebecca then turns the SeaDuck 180 degrees down as everything is upside down and there is logic break #2 for the episode as Baloo such have fallen as he was talking about the book being full of crap (or guava as he would say which is a fruit related to the pomegrante family). He also proclaims that takeoff's are easy and landings are hard as Kit proclaims that at 200 screaming miles per hour it can be very hard. What is a screaming mile Kit? Inquiring minds would like to know that one little fact. (It's the same as a regular mile; only it's so fast that the passenger scream in horror and panic. Simple as that actually.)
So we head to the South Pole (I guess) as we go to a pan shot of the area as Rebecca is reading about landing the plane and proclaims that landing can be fun.( Baloo: Riiigggghhhhhttttt...) We head into the cockpit of the SeaDuck as Baloo does sweet talk routine #2 proclaiming that he was all wrong about her flying skills as he asks Kit for approval as he is watching to the window on his right and Baloo backhands him right in the kisser. I don't care if that was a weak shot (intentional one of course) or not; new Disney will never allow that one. (Wrong 2010 me! I have seen various acts of violence on people's faces in Fish Hooks; including ultra nasty punches to the face of Oscar in one episode (I think that was Unresolved Fishissues where Angela is watching movies about girlfriends getting revenge on boyfriends for spiting them. Including the dreaded "Die, Oscar! Die! movie. All while wearing a shirt that reads "I Heart Nerds." Yeah.) Kit stammers and then proclaims that she is doing a good job. Yeah; let's use Kit as a shield to what you really want Baloo, sure. Rebecca gleefully ignores the obvious setup and refers to the book as she wants to find a spot to land as Baloo continues the routine. Rebecca refers to the book that she should follow four easy steps and then she smacks Baloo's hand away (I guess she saw Baloo backhanding Kit; if so I approve.) and proclaims that she doesn't need him to learn how to fly since the book will do just fine. Change that to "Holy Bible" and you see the connection to this whole episode in a whole different light. (Trouble for Rebecca methinks.) Baloo yells at Rebecca in frustration because she'll screw it up and they will be frozen pancakes. Rebecca then reminds him about him breaking DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) in response; just to twist the knife further. She should have added "Mr. Taunting Don Karnage Was A Good Idea"; but that would really be mean. (No it would not 2010 me! It would be perfectly apporos. I'm more concerned with her obsession with that book like a bible though. Nothing good ever comes out of that.)
Rebecca then proclaims that she should go down on the steering wheel. And the SeaDuck dives as Baloo tries to take the wheel; but Rebecca smacks it away again and Baloo yells again in frustration about snow ploughing. Kit tries to get Rebecca's attention; but no dice as she reads and cuts the engines as it sezs just to twist the knife further. I am SO loving this as the SeaDuck dies and the males warned her not to do that. The Seaduck twists on the ice below doing little damage as Rebecca admits that she made a mistake and that was step three. Well; that just makes Baloo look worse in hindsight doesn't it?! (Yes; but really, considering that Kit was saying the same thing, I think Rebecca does need to apologize to Kit at least for screwing up the steps.) Baloo tugs onto Kit's neck as if he is trying to choke him (WHAT?!) and Kit actually sells it properly as we get a darker shot and logic break #3 for the episode as somehow they are in the air again. Am I watching the animated version of Skydivers here?! (Again; the animators are just getting used to the concept of animating in twos rather than three like most Japanese animation usually is.) Rebecca reads that step two is engaging the landing gear as we cut closer to the ice below. I like the animation here; but the sequence is out of place for what happened in the previous sequence as we get a iconic shot of Baloo and Kit yelling and Alan Roberts completely trumps Baloo. This guy has done only one other cameo appearance and he does a better acting job than most Japanese seiyus do which is quite scary to be quite frank. (I have listened to Japanese voices and unless they are in Japan legit, a majority of them, including the child voices are more annoying than the dubs. Again; the voices in anime dubs are not the problem here, it's the poor acting that causes many of a crappy dub; in which the Japanese have the great acting down to an artform. Sort of like American cartoons in English actually.) And step four is to land as we come in close to an icy mountain peak as we get another shot of the SeaDuck doing a dying hyperbole (man; the props are drunk in this entire sequence; but it is constant with the entire sequence) as we end the segment eleven minutes in.
Think about this Kick Buttowski fans: Kick broke logic ten times on average in the 11 minutes he got to work on; but this episode only had three and all of them were minor ones at that. I'm just saying that maybe Kick isn't the future of DTVA as everyone wants it to be. (Yip. It's not bad anymore; it's just ineffective. Johnny Test at least was a success, even if it was worse than Kick since Kick did try sometimes to be likable and was likable much more often than Johnny Ass so to speak. Someone needs to do a drop of the Johnny Test opening song and replace the word "test" with "ass". It would be more fitting for the American Idiot knockoff song they used.)
After the commercial break; we get a static shot of the Seaduck headed toward the iceberg (and it's near perfect to the actual one in the previous sequence) and lands doing a snow plow. HAHA! Now you know Baloo is screwed when it REBECCA paying off his jokes. If only he was joking though. (Here's some free advice for future cartoon writers: It's a lot better to do four or five big jokes per episode (two fart jokes max), pay them all off in the end and make them funny; then to throw at least a hundred jokes (most of them toilet humor and yes; I'm hyperboling here) in succession and only paying one of them off that is actually funny. Kids will laugh at those jokes regardless, but if you do the former instead of the later; they will still laugh at them years down the road, and praise you for being such a comical genius (no, not really; but still...); instead of hating you for conning them years down the road and calling you a hack. It's a simple, effective, funny way to get the show over and you never do it; because you don't want to try. Even if you fall short on the payoff; it's still better than no payoff.) The Seaduck takes a slight dive underwater; but quickly pops up and bumps into the iceberg with a bump that would shame Kick Buttowski back into Honey's womb. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Oh sod off, 2010 Me! I'm disappointed 2015 me didn't call you out on the carpet for that henious joke. Honey deserves better than that.) Rebecca slyfully wants some apologies for that one as Baloo is angry and feels like he's ready to strangle her; but Kit stops him as he is willing to apologize since she did get them down. (Again; Kit showing his people person skills to two people who need to be taught those skills.) Rebecca proclaims it was just like the book said as the bible of flight is infecting her head good now. I have a feeling Rebecca is upset Kit didn't just give her HIS flight bible instead and saved a hundred dollars and gain more heat on herself since Kit is her favorite employee after all. (I was hoping that she actually did that; then I would be at least annoyed by Rebecca stealing Kit's property.)
Baloo storms out slamming the cockpit door open as he steals the pilot cap from her doing the old "repeat her and look dumb while doing it" spot. See if Baloo would just apologize to her for acting like a bitch; then I can see why Rebecca is such a bitch. Otherwise; all I see is sexism out of some of the fans who hate Rebecca. (1995 Dave Brown Says: STOP USING THAT WORD! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: And it's not "sexism" by the way if some of you are just that damn clueless and sexist!)) Baloo does the old "crying wolf" promo and Rebecca gleefully blows him off and orders everyone to unload the equipment and get the iceberg into the air. Baloo turns around and gets on her case again because he's NOT a dockworker and he only flies. (2015 Gregory Weagle Says: Once again; Baloo's hyper entitlement shows up; making Rebecca look like the reasonable one here.) Rebecca then decides that he is going to let Baloo fly after all. Okay; that non-verbal cue for Rebecca should pretty much tell you what happens next. You don't smile like that unless you have a fitting Krackpotkin Plan to pull on him. (On an interesting note; there was a full scene originally planned by Don Rosa in a storyboard which should be in the notes sections of this episode's rant where they show Kit, Baloo and even WildCat (who doesn't appear after the dock scene by the way) using ice picks to chip away at the ice and a full sequence of the props being installed on Rebecca's command. I don't know if this scene made it to the final storyboard stage and then was cut out from the final production, but it looked really cool just the same. Also; the rough storyboard Don did was done at a time when the characters were still in pre-production forms by the way; so there you go.) So we head to an outside shot as we see the iceberg with various props and pipes around it. And yes; they are used to help the iceberg get into the air. Yes; this is completely impossible and Mythbusters would have zero problems busting it; but at least it looks plausible. (This would be something similar to Ducktales; only with more believable parts and less Gyro Gearloose making Scrooge mad when trying to pull out a parachute when free falling.)
The SeaDuck tows the iceberg by the way as the props start up and we starts the slow uprise into the skies as we cut to the side and see Baloo sliding on the ice. HAHA! Now THAT'S a fitting way to teach Baloo never to taunt Don Karnage and break the law. (I love consequences; most so wacky consequences.) The Seaduck and the iceberg take off into the air and that one is much much more perfect than the first one serving only to make Baloo look like the jerk that he is. Then that is perfectly demonstrated even more as Baloo takes a MAN-SIZED bump into the propeller pipe. OUCH! That looked pretty painful and the sound effect make it more so as Baloo yells that this is not what he meant. Geez; are you realizing your folly of breaking DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) now Pop-A-Bear?! POW! OUCH!! Ummm.... (No he's not because the plot requires him to outwit Rebecca. Otherwise; Baloo looks weak and Eisner cannot milk him properly and thus the show is a failure. Too bad as you'll see later, Baloo did no such thing.) Baloo then kicks away holding onto the pipe just to show off as we cut back to the cockpit as Rebecca is just having a good time with the controls. We go BEFORE HAPPY HOUR as we see the iceberg being towed in profile outside as Baloo yells at Rebecca because he is not an ice skater. (1990 Ignatz Says: Then learn twinkletoes!) I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic there Baloo. (2015 Gregory Weagle Says: Actually, TaleSpin was part of Disney On Ice's ice skating entertainment show for a while, so Baloo did take the parrots advice after all.) So we go to a shot of Kit Cloudkicker in the navigational seat and he spots the desert and he doesn't even resist saying the word dead for the first death reference of the episode and the series (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Keep in mind, Disney Channel released seven episodes and Plunder and Lightning in movie just before the show officially ran in syndication.) .
In hindsight; Eisner should have been more nervous by that response. (Saying dead in DTVA is so common it's not being funny. That said; Eisner should be nervous for a different reason. Because he approved a stupid PR FUD campaign against Looney Tunes and Tiny Toon Adventures in 1989.) So we get to a desert covered in clouds as Rebecca is happy because the flight bible did what it was supposed to do; remembering to rub it in Baloo's face and not sound like she is rubbing it in. Baloo is sliding around like a goof as usual as he blows Rebecca off good. He even remember to take another great bump into the propeller pipe for good measure. Then he sees the last thing he wants to see as he yells at Rebecca to look at three o'clock. Rebecca blows him off because she can tell time and thanks him. HAHA! Kit thankfully corrects her (he IS the navigator after all) because he come the Air Pirates for double your pleasure; double your tormenting Baloo fun. The Air Pirates fly around the plane to shake it of it's confidence as Baloo yells at her to run for it. Umm; don't you mean "fly for it" Baloo?! And then let the shooting commence as seven bullets hit the SeaDuck from Mad Dog's plane (I think - doesn't matter anyway) and that is more shooting in one seven second span than the entire five shorts of Kick Buttowski that I ranted on. (After what happened in Sandy Hook; no guns on DTVA is for the best. And it's not just moral guardians either. Glorfiying guns is basically glorfiying the culture of it; and we should be past this long ago.) Rebecca isn't liking this as she decides to get out of here by pushing the lever (JESUS~!) on the control panel as the SeaDuck rises up. We cut back to Baloo screaming at her to cut the tow rope. Like it matters Pop-A-Bear?! As you will see soon; this turns out to be quite pointless as he blows off the wax in her ears. She's in a panic Baloo; it's her first time flying a plane. Cut her some slack Poppa Bear!
Baloo slips and falls on his ass as Mad Dog continues the assault on the SeaDuck from above with more gunfire. Didn't Rosa get the memo that he was working on a children's cartoon here? Didn't anyone from this series for that matter?! (No. Including the memo that bullets aren't supposed to hit flesh on screen which Jeffrey Scott violated in Paradise Lost. Oh; and if you think the comic books are a safe haven from guns, think again Ruffledunk! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Dogs of War where the writer violated the "No F'N Nazis" memo?!)) Rebecca proclaims that they aren't getting anywhere (Disney Captions screws this up big time by saying that they aren't moving- What the hell Disney Captions?! (See; I can change what I originally say in 2010 too Disney Captions!)) as Baloo continues to pull on the tow rope. Memo to Baloo: I think you know what a Switchblade is? Use THAT! (And pay off Mad Dog's joke in the process.) And then Baloo actually pulls the tow rope hook from the iceberg which of course is the dumbest thing he could probably do and the SeaDuck tows him. HAHA! Things like this is why I don't think Rebecca is a jerk. Just so you would like to know. So Baloo manages to use his body to stop Mad Dog in his tracks from shooting as Baloo yells for evasive action as Rebecca consults her book stating that everything is going so fast. Rebecca finally finds the page as Kit yells at Rebecca to watch out as they are headed for the iceberg (Thus justifying Baloo's reason to yell at her; for the first time in the entire episode nearly 14 minutes in. So yes folks; there is one instance where Baloo was totally justified in his behavior. And oh; how minor of a point it was too.); but the SeaDuck's left wing hits the iceberg and it is forced to land onto the iceberg with decent bumps along the way. Baloo then takes some massive whiplash (this....bear...should...be....dead...now (Or at least injured a lot.))
We get the coloring mistake from the opening as Baloo swings around like crazy, takes a few wussy bumps and then drops and swings and his head gets stuck into the ice with a really sick bump which causes another minor coloring mistake on his foot (although forgivable since the soles are only a few shades lighter than his fur). (In hindsight; I realize that these characters are not real and are not even human beings playing the roles (minus the voice of course); but blows to the head make me cringe now that I know the consequences of having head truama.) Baloo pops out of the ice and proclaims that it cannot get any worse and just as he says it; it gets A LOT WORSE as the Iron Vulture has arrived and we get a really awesome sequence complete with Air Pirate music just to make it complete. It even destroys a few of the propeller pipes in the process as the iceberg is swallowed whole. In other words; Baloo looks even dumber than ever. We even get a great closing sequence and there is mature lighting throughout the entire sequence before going pitch black. How in the hell can the Diablo 3 petition writers SLEEP at night is what I want to know?! They cannot even get their talking points right. (The epic beatdown by Sean Malstrom on that petition is awesome. Sean might be an asshole; but Sean is a lot better than most people give him credit for when he dons the business hat. Unless he uses his opinions as facts and dons the gamer hat. Then he's like everyone else.) We then cut to a shot inside the Iron Vulture on the launch strip as the Sea Duck is still on the iceberg and Don Karnage does his opening flair promo calling the iceberg his prisoners. HAHA! We pan over to Don with the megaphone, which is brown (See; Disney did care for the color of feeces. Disney just loves colors of any kind.) as Gibber whispers in his ear again and tells Don that the iceberg is way too heavy. That leads to the first cartoon spot of the episode as Don and Gibber stick to the ceiling ala Les Dread from Sir Gyro De Gearloose as the Iron Vulture sinks down like a stone dropped from Mt. Everest.
Everyone screams as we cut back to Don and Gibber sticking to the ceiling yelling for full power as Gibber is pancking. Then we see the control center as Mad Dog (check the arms) pushes some buttons and levers (W-JESUS~!) and that busts the engines quite a bit (Did I mention that the Iron Vulture is steam powered and TaleSpin was considered as Baby's First Steampunk by someone a while ago? (He made a really convincing case of it too; at least with the early episodes.)); and the Iron Vulture screeches to a stop while Don and Gibber are dropped with good bumps onto the iceberg. The Iron Vulture drops down more slowly as we cut to Baloo as he somehow tied himself to the rope during the whole thing (no logic break there) as Kit and Rebecca check on his status. Rebecca asks what the heck he is doing hooked to the tow rope and Baloo tries to blow her off again. (Come on Baloo; admit defeat! You caused all this by your stupid, arrogant taunting of Don Karnage.) However; Don Karnage arrives and he is ready to show no mercy. Oh; this is going to be fun as Baloo is Don Karnage pinata now. He is a mixed blend of Italian, French and Spanish so it makes perfect sense for the spot. (Kevin Johnston is correct about Don Karnage; he is a wonderful, funny heel who is in fact threatening.) Don Karnage is giddy about the cargo as he takes out the REGAL CUTLASS and reminds Baloo of what he did with the rubies inside the strawberry jelly earlier in the episode. Don deduces that he must be hiding something clear in the iceberg as Gibber comes in and whispers that it might be glass.
Don Karnage blows him off and even remembers to throw him away in the process. (See; Don is not stupid. He's just vile.) Don deduces that it is diamonds as Kit and Baloo have zero idea what he is talking about. He orders the pirates to chip away at the iceberg and Rebecca gets all upset over that one as we get the scene changer as Dumptruck, Mad Dog, Ratchet (remembering to wear a green scarf for the chipping), Sadie and two other Air Pirates (the one Kit shoved away in Plunder and Lightning Part Three and the other is from Ransom of the Red Chimp later on) chipping away at the iceberg as one of them even remembered to bring in the jackhammer. I see where Gosalyn got hers from as Don proclaims that he cannot be made a fool twice in a row. Sadly; he is a fool since there are no diamonds in the iceberg as Rebecca tells him the truth and Baloo calls it Scout's honor. (Started in 1910; so it isn't out of place in this show.) Too bad the Scouts' honor has died due to their policies on homosexuals in recent years. (I think the Scouts have since backpedaled on that policy. I'll have to check back and see.) Don Karnage blows them off because he simply doesn't believe them. Isn't it funny that everyone remembers Rebecca being a jerk and yet it was Baloo's crying wolf routine that got them in this mess in the first place?! (Again; sexism rules the roost in these things.) Don then ends the segment as he forces the sword point straight at Baloo's nose sixteen minutes in. Yeap; this episode is still holding up well. (Well; watch the episode fall down on it's face now.)
After the commercial break; we return as Dumptruck is standing guard in front of a prison cell with his BEATING STICK OF DEATH (must be maximum security judging by the prison door's size) as Baloo complains about wearing the iron ball and chain on his ankle. Simple; BS&P refuses to allow Kit and Rebecca to get it, which is silly considering that Kit got the leg irons in Citizen Khan and Rebecca was tied up before in this series. I'll chalk this one up for not a BS&P decision after all; but Don Karnage being a dick. Cannot say I blame him. (I think the Disney Channel BS&P might have been a wee bit more tougher than the syndication BS&P; but that's just me speculating.) We cut to inside as Baloo is pulling his own chain (HA!) as Kit sits down on a box with a metal cup near him while Rebecca is checking her bible for anything that can help them get out as Baloo admits that he was the one who made a crack about his mother. See; Mister T was right about insulting someone mother after all. (Nice to see Don Rosa figure this one out. Sadly; I fear for Rebecca's character right now.) Sadly; the raindrops are falling on a candlelight; so Kit moves the candle and puts the cup onto the barrel to respond. Kit does his up yours pose and makes him a million times more cool than Kick ever was. (Oh Kit; you are daring to be the butt of the upcoming joke now. Such a trooper.) Rebecca looks for escape methods and finds nothing as Baloo does the Gruffi pose and with a look that says "You got what you deserve". And I give the "This was YOUR fault Baloo for taunting Don in the first place and breaking the law" look right back. (In other words; the "Baloo is projecting" look.) Baloo yawns as Rebecca finally realizes that it's as worthless as getting science lessons from the actual Holy Bible. See; the whole lesson Rebecca is now starting to see that dependence on a book that is only designed for one purpose and not a catch all book is going to hurt you in the long run. I would be inclined to say that not insulting someone with an expertise in his field is also a good lesson; but we also learned that Baloo shouldn't taunt terrorists and shouldn't act like a jerk and break the law and thus get everyone in this trouble in the first place. In other words; they are both seriously screwed up. (Sadly; Don Rosa had to write it to make Baloo strong and Rebecca look weak, which just makes Baloo look like a giant asshole. And it punches down to Kit who has done absolutely nothing wrong here.)
Then Rebecca falls to her knees and sobs and you can tell Sally Struthers is acting. Someone forgot to tell her that this is a cartoon and you are not supposed to act. That's what Al Khan keeps telling me anyway. Tells you where Michael Eisner really was on the evil scale of things. (2020 Gregory Weagle: Nah, CEOholes are heels in real life. Just wanted you to know.) Baloo tries to calm her down as the crying is actually making rain drops fall on Kit's little head. That is one NASTY sob fest from Sally Struthers there. More raindrops fall on Kit's head as the symbolism of this whole scene is just going to 11 now as Baloo proclaims that he cannot hear her despite Rebecca pulling on the shirt proclaiming that there is no hope. (I'll give Struthers this; she sold this angle like a giant's deal even though it hurts the character she is protraying in the long run.) Even now; I know Rebecca didn't go far enough with her mocking of Baloo. Baloo is the REAL jerk of this outfit and it shows. I think fans should stop basing her character on The Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink now as Rebecca finally admits that she went too far with the routine. (Actually; the comics did a bigger slaughter job of Rebecca than Don Rosa ever could and in some stories, Jeremy Cushner could. On the other hand; Bobbi's takes on Rebecca are pretty hilarious.) Sadly; this is the only booking decision that makes sense since they need Baloo to save the day since he is the star. (Why? Other than Rebecca being overdependent on a one job book; she has done nothing wrong. Baloo is the jackass here; he taunted an evildoer with a lot of power, he's never up front with Rebecca and he broke the law. Plus; he never gave Rebecca credit for getting the job done in spite of her inexperience and was paranoid for no real reason other than Baloo is a lazy jerk. And she has to concede defeat in order for the plot to advance. Libby Hinson I don't think would have booked it this way and I'm glad that she came along. The solution isn't taking the edge off of Rebecca. (Not saying that it was a bad idea either.) The solution is to send a message to the male writers to stop making female characters look weak all the time. Baloo doesn't need to be over; the Jungle Books vibes are enough to milk him. Focus on making great new stars that Eisner can milk later on. I realize that he didn't give a damn about it; but it logically makes more sense that way.)
Baloo finally decides to let the grudge go; but only as long as she listens, see. So for Baloo's first test, he asks for the book and Rebecca almost breaks her word; but recoils when Baloo calls her out on it, and hands the book over to Baloo as the TaleSpin theme song plays (non-vocals version). Baloo goes over to the door and throws the book over to Kit and he catches it. Kit then gets hoisted up onto his shoulders and goes over the cell door and calls out Dumptruck to inform him that his shoelaces are untied. (Now who would be stupid to fall for that one, especially since almost no one wears shoes...) Of course, since Dumptruck has a brain made out of solid bone; he looks down in perfect position and Kit drops the book on him and it completely knocks him silly. (Proving solid bone is not made of diamonds.) Dumptruck sells it like he is drunk of course as Baloo puts Kit down and proclaims that a good book can put you to sleep. So can boring dull entertainment and this is anything but. (True.) So we go to the scene changer as we see the MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION disguises as the most stereotypical pirate gear they could find on short notice. Even the iron ball has a Monopoly mustache just to add a nice touch. Baloo looks like he is Dullahan; only with a head on his shoulders which will probably blow their cover easily (the pilot cap on the ball gives it away). (Kit is a miracle worker and only he could make this moment believable since in storyline, he's a former Air Pirate. Ironically; the television series limited the angle to the origin story while the comics embraced it to the point where Kit got a full backstory and even some teases on his life as an Air Pirate. This show needs a reboot; but it won't get one of course. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Because the execs only relate to rich, white, old, cis, males. What more can I say?) Now I could point out the logic break of them already out; but time contraints (long Iron Vulture sequence didn't help matters any) laid it low since Kit probably got out through the cell window and unlocked the door from there. (If that was the case; then Baloo shouldn't have set Kit down on the floor in the first place.)
Baloo whisper yells to the gang to be quiet and sneak past old Karney and look piratish. I don't think Kit should have any problems acting the part Pop-A-Bear; Rebecca on the other hand... (Just because she does have decent flying so far in this episode; doesn't mean she knows pirate culture, even if she was exposed to some of it.) So we go to a far shot of the chipped up iceberg of doom as Don Karnage asks his pirate crew what they found. Mad Dog steps forward (remember that he is the bump machine for this series?) as he proclaims that there is nothing...AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING. So Don Karnage proceeds to choke him good and then throw him into the snow off-screen stage left for added effect. Something tells me BS&P isn't too happy with Don being so violent in this episode. (Or it's because the animators are still in the opening phases of animating this show.) There is enough snow for a snowman as Don Karnage kicks some snow wondering why anyone wants a hundred tons of ice. Gibber than magically teleports to Don on the same shot (logic break #4 for the episode 18 and a half minutes in) and whispers that they probably want some lemonade, or alcohol. Don ponders this as a possible if they can find a straw big enough. So he brings out his REGAL CUTLASS and decides to ask the prisoners. Don goes over to the disguised babyfaces and ponders what to do with them. Maybe he should boil them in vinegar first and maybe some salt as Rebecca, Baloo and Kit dread that one a little bit. Don then states that then he would ask them. Don walks towards the prison door as Baloo drops the ball and that's enough to blow their cover. After Baloo turns himself into a jerk on Rebecca; he is the one who causes the blow cover. Again; tree house syndrome much there guys?! (Yeah; if the plan was to make Rebecca look foolish, then you failed here since then Rebecca would be the one blowing the cover. Having Baloo blow the cover makes Baloo look like a meanie to women once again.)
Don gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY (obviously) as Kit yells at them to pull chocks and the chase is on as the babyfaces strip their pirate gear. The pirates gabble as they give chase. Rebecca then looks at the damage and cannot believe the pirates chopped up the iceberg and the prince is probably going to be pissed off. Baloo grabs her arm (and proves that male on female contact is still allowed in DTVA) and they back up towards the conveniently placed red button on the wall as Mad Dog has an axe which would have made more sense if Hacksaw was the one who was doing it. Oh well; Baloo asks about the red button and Mad Dog like the idiot that he is proclaims that it is the bomb bay door release. Baloo thanks him and pushes the red button of course. (2020 Gregory Weagle Say: See, Louie was right all along when he said lying is the responsible thing to do because telling the truth made Mad Dog look like an idiot. Stupidity is a bigger ememy of the good than malice. That's why critics hate dumb characters so much. Ironically, in successful shows, the heel has to be stupid in the end in order for us to cheer the babyfaces onto victory!) The red alert sounds and everything rumbles in the desert as they say. Don yells at the troops to run away while cutting an awesome promo in the process and the pirates bowl him and bury him into the snow as they run away. HAHA! Even Gibber takes one for the team so Don doesn't have to be alone in sharing the pain they are suffering right now. (Don Karnage plays the Darkwing Duck card here; and Gibber plays the Launchpad card here in being funny in their own way.) So the babyface all enter the Seaduck from the left side as the pirates run for higher ground and so the doors open and the iceberg drops down towards the desert below. We then cut to Don Karnage and Gibber on the catwalk as Don has his megaphone ordering the Iron Vulture to go after it; but Gibber whispers to inform him that the engines are on full blast still.
Don cannot believe that as the Iron Vulture sharply rises into the sky and into the cloud out of sight until It Came From Beneath The Seaduck. (Which is also written by Don Rosa.) So we head to the desert palace of Prince Never-Has-Been-Broke as the prince is watching at the window outside in the hot sun and then he sees snowflakes and calls it wonderful as the whole iceberg drops right onto his kingdom in a snowy tomb. HAHA! Now that would have ended the episode right there in the new Disney; but it doesn't as we see the SeaDuck dropping as Kit yells at Baloo to start the engines as it goes into a tailspin (BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!). Sadly; Baloo forgot to bring the iron ball in with him as it is caught against the door and he cannot make it to the controls. (Yeah; the only time Baloo was allowed to disobey the consequence; and the iron ball and chain wouldn't let him. Sweet!) Rebecca tells him that he can fly as we get a good shot at the snow below as the SeaDuck is headed for a crash landing into the palace. Baloo isn't so happy about this; but Rebecca tells him that if he teaches him how; she'll listen. Now remember that Rebecca has got the takeoff and flight down pat; but landings are not yet pat. Baloo finally decides to let her fly in the pilot seat after all. Rebecca asks Baloo about the starter button as we see outside that the engines are restarted as Baloo tells her to be gentle on the engines and push forward on the stick. The Seaduck lands on the snow with ease and then spins around a bit as Baloo yells for the brakes and then it finally stops on the closeup as Rebecca finally gets the landing down. Well; it is ice so it's understandable why the slipping and sliding occured. The engines stop as Kit cheers for Rebecca and hugs her like a stripper pole which is quite a bit disturbing as Baloo is impressed with Rebecca's learning skills. (Kit Cloudkicker is so awesome regardless of who voices him.) Rebecca proclaims that she is getting the hang of it and someday...and then she recoils and sulks because Baloo's the real pilot. What was that about?!
She nails the landing pretty well for a starter and she was pretty accurate about what she said. This humbling thing just makes her look a bit weak if you ask me. I thought Don Rosa was above such things? (You were wrong 2010 me! This finish bothers me now for a much different reason now as you'll see at the end. However; early Rebecca episodes weren't wine and roses for Miz Cunningham, although 95% of the time, you couldn't blame her for reacting that way. It's true that Baloo is a real pilot; but the fact that he refused to teach Rebecca how to fly made him look like a jealous bastard.) Rebecca walks out and decides to talk to the prince and refund his money for the lost iceberg. (Okay; this I can totally understand Rebecca saying all things considered, but whatever.) Baloo grabs his iron ball and goes to her and basically proclaims that he is willing to help improve her skills even more on the way back to Cape Suzette as he puts on the pilot's cap on her head as Rebecca feels better. That's the first real classy thing Baloo has done in this episode as the prince arrives feeling giddy as Rebecca apologizes for the iceberg and snow and the prince has snowshoes on as he is feeling so wonderful. See; the prince had plans to have the servents chop up the the iceberg to create his very own ski resort. In other words; the Air Pirates actually helped the fine prince. Talk about sinking your evil reputation there Don Karnage. (Don Karnage didn't get buried here because it was one tiny mistake by his crew that causes his defeat; not Don Karnage himself. Good booking on Rosa's part in that regard.)
Of course the Prince is now speaking in broken English despite speaking normal English in his first appearance. That is five logic breaks for this episode. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: It also makes Don Rosa look like a bigot in hindsight as well.) The prince leaves as the babyfaces are SHOCKED as they delivered on the cargo after all. HAHA! They jump out as Rebecca reminds Baloo that he still doesn't have a license for the next week; so Rebecca will have to fly the missions from now on. Everyone stops about thirty feet from the SeaDuck as Baloo blows her off and steals the cap back. Rebecca asks who is going to fly the plane now and Kit offers to do it! HAHA! Well; he cannot be any worse than Miss Cunningham and or course the adults blow him off for that one. BOO! HISS! Baloo and Rebecca argue as we pan northeast to the palace as it slowly becomes dark as Kit asks why he cannot fly. We all know why and it's an ass, Kit. I'm sorry to say that; but it is true. (This ending bothered me because it was contrived and forced to make the character go back to their normal selves minutes after realizing how stupid they (mostly Baloo in this case) looked. They should have waited until the next episode to do that. Thank goodness the show got even better after this; which is quite amazing in itself.) That shot ends the episode at 21:15. Minus the logic breaks and the really silly Rebecca recoil in the end; this episode still more than holds up today. Don is as good as Rosa can get and Don Karnage was a hoot as usual. **** (80%). (The rating stays as is. The silly "Rebecca has to defeat herself at the climax" and the contrived relaspe did more damage than the Rebecca recoil on Baloo being a real pilot.)
THE REVIEW LINE
Well; the third re-ranted episode of the series is in the books and it is almost as good as I saw it on the rant years back. Although I see it in a different light now. As much as Rebecca went too far in depending on a mere book to fly; I can understand why since Baloo ironically enough was acting like a jerk throughout it all. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: To the fan who thinks I hate Baloo: Baloo was booked to be this way. I didn't write Baloo Von Bruinwald XIII, the people who wrote the show did. I'm merely pointing out why Baloo is the way he is because this is his gimmick as a character. The fact that TaleSpin is inconsistant actually helps make the characters feel more like human beings is one reason why show is awesome.) He was stupid enough to taunt Don Karnage to chase them; he broke the law and he got pissed off when Rebecca did a decent job flying. So it made the scene with Rebecca sobbing more difficult to believe and it wasn't Rebecca learning a lesson in not getting help from an expert pilot; but depending way too much on a book. That lesson was learned to perfection; but the jerk off wasn't as the ending showed. (Of course, this series is one of the few that values a balance between experience and education; which we really do need to see a lot more of.) There were a few minor logic breaks; but that is still far less than even some of the better Darkwing Duck episodes so I'm happy with the results. I still think the Rebecca recoil near the finish was a little weak sauce to me. Overall; this episode is a great pointer in how to start a series preview compared to the Kick Buttowski pilot and even the Rescue Rangers debut episode which not only went against the premise; but sucked all the way under Dale barely saved it from a DUD with the trash salute spot. (No kidding. All they had to do is rerun Catteries Not Included for the preview and it would have been fine.) So next up is Time Waits For No Bear as Baloo continues to demonstrate why tree house syndrome (and sexism; to which this show is so self-aware that they wrote an episode that addresses exactly that) exists. So.....
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you next time.
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