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For A Fuel Dollars More Re-Rant

Reviewed: 10/11/2010
Additional Commentary: 10/04/2021

...And For Alan Robert's Last Ride!

Original Airdate: 09/28/2010 (Syndication), Episode #19 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 1, Disc 3), Episode #8 (Production Order).

For A Fuel Dollars More Notes
For A Fuel Dollars More Transcript

Well, we begin disc three with probably another possible thumbs down episode with a Rebecca scheme that somehow screws with Baloo and Louie's relationship. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This is actually another episode where I want everyone to put a pin on because I will be referencing this episode when I do "The Lost Cargo Of Kit Cloudkicker!" episode.) It does contain one major scene I don't like and one finish that shows why we shouldn't be surprised that the show got blacklisted for one year after 9/11. (2015 Gregory Weagle Says: The reason it was not blacklisted was because Baloo only blew up his gas station. Even if it can be constructed as a terrorist act, he had no intention of killing anyone or even himself. It was a case of idiocy on Baloo's part to blow up with the ship. In Flying Dupes; Baloo didn't intend to blow up a head state, but the fact remains that the episode hedged on the fact that a head of state was going to be blown up and since a head of state in any country is the most important person in the multiverse and could give terrorist ideas, that's why Flying Dupes was blacklisted. It's a moot point now since the episode is available on DVD officially. Anyhow; the plot of this episode is: Rebecca comes up with an ingenious way to make money: Create a midair fueling station that will save time for pilots who need gas. Baloo thinks it's dangerous and unnatural; but goes along with the plan and it works. There's one major problem though: The refueling station is just above Louie's which kills off Louie's customer base; causing Louie and Baloo to end their friendship. Louie then starts copying Rebecca's ideas in an effort to save his business and spite Baloo and Rebecca. The Aviation board isn't impressed; but allows the operation to go on until the idea screws up. This leads to Baloo and Louie fighting until they almost kill each other and then Baloo decides that the real reason he hates the idea is because he doesn't want to be a gas jockey; so Baloo decides to blow up his own gas station.) This is also Alan Roberts last solo episode before we would pretty much never hear from him again. (The last time we heard him was as Young Arnie in Batman: The Animated Series and maybe an additional voice in All Dogs Go To Heaven: The Animated Series.) So; let's rant on shall we...?!

This episode is written by Chuck Tately. The story was edited by Jymn Magon. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan and Hanho Heung Up Company Limited.

We begin this one with a sky shot of that island in the South Seas, Louie's as the SeaDuck touches down next to the docks. Kit is trying to calm down Baloo who is not liking Rebecca's latest money making scheme. The SeaDuck is bouncing and the bears are bouncing much to the confusion of the grease monkeys in blue uniform as Kit tells them to fill the SeaDuck up. Baloo bonks his head with a sick bump against the top of the side door of the Seaduck for a nice touch and then sells the bouncing some more when he walks towards Louie's. One of the grease monkeys (there are four of them at least) look inside the side door and we see two kangaroos bouncing in the plane with containers filled with milk. Ummm; yeah. The grease monkey shrug it's shoulders and just resume their work cleaning up the plane and the windshield. Huh?! No throwing away an alcohol bottle?! That's really sloppy guys. (I disagree. Seriously; that spot stopped being funny a long time ago. Chalk it up for BS&P doing a good thing for a change.) We head inside to Louie's as it is full and the waiters are waiting. Kit and Baloo sit on stools (NOT THOSE ONES~!) in front of Louie's bar as Baloo and Louie exchange notes on Rebecca's money making scheme. See; Rebecca is hauling kangeroos and milk and is trying to make whipped butter by the time they get home. Louie makes a Krakatau Special (According to Disney Captions; my notes have it as Krakertoa Special. (I'm going to compromise and call it a Krakatoa sundae; since the Special part never appears in the audio nor video.)) complete with lit sparkler. Baloo gets his spoon ready; but the monkey waiter steals it. See, Louie is no longer giving him free ice cream due to the chunk amount of money he owes Louie for such treats. Kit pats Baloo's tummy just to rub it in some more. Baloo promises to pay up; but Louie proclaims that DA HOUSE RULEZ~ (FAIRY GODPARENTS~!) state that the tab gets high; kiss the scoops goodbye. So Baloo counters with the ultra lame stare, Louie gives up and gives them two strawberry ice cream sundaes for free. Whatever guys. (At least they only did a lame stare. Most modern cartoons just go on and on and on; just to milk the joke. Then again; this show isn't just comedy.) Kit and Baloo thank Louie for that one too as Louie and Baloo slap skin in an ultra contrived manner.

We head outside to the docks with Baloo and Kit walking towards the SeaDuck. Baloo flips a quarter to the grease monkeys and the four grease monkeys fight over it complete with the FCC FRIENDLY CLOUDDUST FIGHT OF DOOM. The SeaDuck drives out of the harbour and flies away suddenly gaining a shadow for no reason that I can see. (Wow; what a cheap jerk Baloo is to give one silver dollar to split among four monkeys. Really classy of you Pop-A-Bear!) We go to the sky shot of Higher...For...Hire AFTER HAPPY HOUR (After dark) as Baloo is calling Rebecca out inside the office for her kangaroo butter scheme. Rebecca blows him off because they sold a ton of fresh butter. (Checkmate, Pop-A-Bear! Sure; it was painful, but no one got killed and she made money. Rebecca is such a whacky innovator.) Baloo blows her off because he did some sick bumps on the ceiling of the plane with his head for his troubles as Baloo rubs his head to sell it. Rebecca gleefully answers the "smarts" part for me while shuffling papers. Baloo proclaims that some day her crazy ideas are going to do him in. Remember that one for later. (It's important for storyline reasons.) Kit places the ice pack on Baloo's head and Baloo feels better. Rebecca blows off Baloo because her Krackpotkin plans are not crazy. She has a better Krackpotkin plan and they are going to own their first...wait for it...gas station. Huh? That's not crazy; that's boring. Kit whisper yells to Baloo that the heat has gotten to her; and Baloo calls it stupidity. Kit explains to her that there are too many gas stations in Cape Suzette; so Rebecca counters that there are none in the air. Okay; now that is crazy! Baloo tries to call Rebecca out of her mind; so Rebecca counters that the pilots waste valuable time on the ground; so they'll pay extra for the convenience. Kit likes the idea; but Baloo blows it off because it's dangerous and unnatural. Wow; I didn't know Baloo was so homophobic. POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Baloo's blowoff of this idea being dangerous and unnatural is so laughable on so many levels. First; there's nothing unnatural about it. It makes sense actually; and it's not much different than a regular gas station. Baloo is being extremely arrogant about this. Baloo's real reason to not do this comes later on. Plus, really?! Is a midair fueling station any more dangerous than a regular gas station; or even flying an airplane or driving a car? Kit also realizes this because the idea makes sense and Rebecca is an innovator. A wacky one, yes; but still one anyhow.)

Rebecca blows Baloo off because she is not taking no for an answer; and not even as a question either because she's DA BOSS, you see. Baloo isn't amused by this; but Rebecca wants Baloo to try it one day and they keep all the tips. Baloo and Kit walk off to a corner to consult this; and Kit likes the idea because they can pay their tab at Louie's. Baloo likes it as they slap skin and break. Baloo agrees to do it as a flavour...ERRRR...I mean favor to her. Rebecca likes the agreement and shows a map of where to set up shop and it's a tankful away from Cape Suzette. Kit isn't so happy to hear that because it's near Louie's. Baloo calls in convenient. (Notice how Kit is the first one to notice something going wrong, and Baloo doesn't see it because the route is closest to Louie's and can pay him when he is finished working without realizing that there are consequences in doing so.) We go to in the air as a grey airplane flies into the sky and then a front shot of the airplane and then a closeup as a rhino pilot (Jim Cummings) is humming in a happy state while wearing a blue fur coat, yellow shirt and a navy blue beret. The pilot reads the blimps up front which contains white signs in black letters. I see Baloo's spelling has improved somewhat; unless he made Kit do the signs, of course. The rhino pilot honks his horn, then we see the SeaDuck fly right beside the airplane, we have Baloo showing a sign of a fuel tank indicator being low with a question mark and the rhino pilot nods his head. The SeaDuck flies above the airplane and Baloo invokes the REDNECK AUTO PILOT OF DOOM on the control stick (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: In Ducktales, it's also known as "Crow B.") and the babyfaces run to the back. Kit gets his airfoil ready and the gas tube (The gas tank uses those old 1950's red gas tanks. Kind of off base for a show set in 1937, methinks.) as the tailsection opens. Kit places the airfoil under his feet on the door and then jumps up and surfs down towards the airplane and lands right on the right wing of the plane and the airfoil goes flying away stage right. I'm calling logic break #1 for the episode right there. (Yeah; because Kit gets his airfoil back somehow, even though it should have fell into the ocean.) Kit opens the gas tank -- which is small enough to fit the gas nozzle -- and puts the nozzle in. Kit pulls on the tube which rings a bell and Baloo starts pumping the gas with the turn handle.

The "Spin It!" non-lyrical theme plays in the background I should note. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: You'll hear a lot of this in The Lost Cargo Of Kit Cloudkicker! as well.) Kit crawls towards the windshield, cleans the windshield with a bottle of water and a cloth. The pilot is amazed that a little kid would put himself in such danger just to please him as a customer. (Yeah; I realize Kit wants to earn his keep; but COME ON! Although to be fair, Kit is small enough to pull this one off as evident in The Idol Rich.) Kit crawls back to the tube and pulls on it again as Baloo stops pumping the gas. Baloo pulls up the tube as Kit magically got his airfoil back out of nowhere. Kit surfs down with it towards the left window and wants $4.50 from the pilot and the pilot gives him that amount plus fifty extra cents for the job because he saved him a half hour. Kit calls it a fiver and thanks him as he puts it into his magical pockets. Kit surfs up to the SeaDuck and Baloo thanks him for the work. Well; Kit did almost all the work there so Baloo better thank him for it. Kit shows him the five dollars and Baloo places it in the jar as there are more horns honking. Two more seaplanes show up for service and Kit proclaims that there is no rest for the weary as Baloo calls this a dumb idea, still. We go to the scene changer as Rebecca is counting all that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH. Rebecca wants Baloo to admit that her scheme was a good idea and Baloo blows it off sitting in the red chair because they are out of gas see. (Baloo is using every excuse in the book to get out of this; without using the one that makes sense because it makes him look like a lazy manchild. The problem is; so far, Rebecca's new idea is working out well.) Rebecca is shocked to hear that as Baloo has the jar of tips and calls them lousy. Rebecca wants to expand and carry more gasoline. Baloo doesn't want to hear about this plan as a knock on the door beckons and Kit answers it to reveal a goat furry with a white beard, glasses, green suit, orange bowtie and brown pants walks in and wants Rebecca Cunningham and Kit points out that she's the one without the big belly. HAHA! (I just love how Kit was able to make fun of Baloo without punching down on Rebecca. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, he is going to find out that nature will take it's course and that small bear body won't be small anymore.))

Anyone want to know why TaleSpin didn't have any clunkers? Answer: Because Kit and Don Karnage kept carrying bad episodes like this on their backs kicking and screaming. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: So true. In fact, Don Karnage and Kit Cloudkicker can pull the trick in other shows, too. See Raw Toonage and Ducktales 2017!) The goat furry walks in (voiced by Patrick Fraley) as he is from the aviation board and they have some problems with the mid-air refueling operation. Baloo is liking this as Rebecca counters that she checked the laws carefully and it's not illegal. The goat furry agrees but it's still dangerous and unnatural. Then again; disruption is considered dangerous and unnatural according to Mr. Hardcore too; so whatever. Rebecca backs up the goat furry to the door because she's not shutting down a profitable business on a bad feeling. (Yeah; because in order to shut down the operation; you have to demonstrate on a science level that this is dangerous and also explain how it's dangerous. The un-natural thing is just a useless excuse for something he doesn't like and that's how bigotry usually starts.) The goat furry decides to let her go; but one slip up and the aviation board will be on her ass like mud on a pig. Which is apporos because she IS pigheaded. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! SLAP! OUCH! Ummmm...Rebecca slams the door on him in response. Of course! We head inside the SeaDuck (with blue and red gas canisters this time) as Baloo continues to pump gas and blow off Rebecca Cunningham because he doesn't have an idea in his head to counter. Meanwhile, Kit does all the gas work and putting himself in constant danger the whole time. Here's an obvious slip up: Using a CHILD to do the most dangerous work of this operation. (Sure. The problem is; Baloo cannot jump down because he's too big, so the only way to do the service properly is you did a small person to do the job. And Kit is the smallest guy on the the team. However; he's also 12 years old. No way this is going to past the smell test.) Horns honk, Baloo blows them off as Kit surfs on his airfoil doing the work of fifteen guys on fifteen airplanes (speaking of hyperbole...) and giving change and taking money from the pilots (one of them is a dog furry).

We head to a sky shot of that island in the South Seas Louie's as the docks seem empty when the SeaDuck lands. Baloo and Kit sell being tired (Kit I understand; but I think Baloo's showing off.) as he tells GreaseMonkey #1 that he doesn't need a fill up. Baloo is SHOCKED as he and Kit go in and notice that the place is dead as a rock (death reference #1). Baloo and Kit go to the bar as Louie isn't amused by Baloo wanting a Krakatoa as he still wants Baloo to pay the tab. (At first, I thought Louie had figured out why his business is at zero at this point...) Baloo takes that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH from his pocket and Louie gets all giddy and starts making two Krakatoa sundae for the MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION. Louie doesn't understand why business has dried up since about two days ago. (...and then I realized it.) Baloo proclaims that it's funny since he's doing fantasic and he's doing lousy. (Yeah; so classy of you to say this to your best friend, Baloo. No wonder he is about to turn on you.) Kit then tells Louie about the midair refueling service and Louie drops the ice cream scoop. It just had to be the vanilla ice cream that suffers; doesn't it? Louie takes away the Krakatoa sundae away as Kit and Baloo say that it's a gold mine and Louie stuffs the sparkler into the ice cream to snuff it out. UH OH! (When someone does that and he's not blowing out candles; it's a sure sign that you have pissed him off.) Louie yells at them for stealing their customers, Baloo tries to explain that the skies are free and it's nothing personal and it was Rebecca's idea (I think this is where Louie got so pissed off. After all, he's competing against the woman who once accused him of being a thief. While having evidence to prove that Louie was a thief!). Louie doesn't want to hear about it (Because he doesn't buy the old "We were just following orders." excuse; which if Louie was murdered, that's perfectly reasonable. Here, not so much. Then again; there is no love lost between Louie and Rebecca after A Touch Of Glass since Louie is a sleezy perverted sexist thief!) and orders them to leave. Baloo feels bad about it and Kit and Baloo walk out stage left.

Wow; Louie is SO sore about disruption I guess. (Okay; I have a major complaint about this episode: When I did the transcript of this episode, the end of Act I had FOURTEEN scenes in it and went twelve minutes (thirteen if you include the opening.) and it was placed in a scene that was still ongoing. The commercial break should have occurred after Louie told them to get out of his bar, so that the kids could go to the bathroom or do something without having to watch an extra three to four minutes of stuff that would have worked for Act II. The pacing of this episode is all over the place here and it annoyed me because Act II is less than three and a half minutes long. If there is one thing modern cartoons have done right, it's having the acts be around the same amount of time; instead of being all over the place. That way; I know when the act is going to end and then go to the bathroom. I have zero idea when a commercial break is coming here.) We go to the scene changer as we see the SeaDuck flying towards their mid-air refueling station getting ready for another session. Baloo asks Kit if he's ready for a another petrol round and Kit has his water bottle ready. Baloo then notices some green blimps and they basically blow Baloo off (Using the word screwy to boot!) as Louie has apparently created his own refueling service in the air. HAHA! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: If this show was rebooted today, we would have this with an introduction to the song "Monkey In Your Tank" which is a legit TaleSpin song which I think was used for one commercial and was never used again for the entire television series.) Well; Baloo did say the skies were free after all. (Now witness the legacy guy Louie committ trademark infringement like it's going out of style.) We then see that Louie has brought his own plane and the grease monkeys are on the plane as Baloo cannot believe the nerve of Louie trying to compete with him. Well; you DID destroy his customer base at Louie's Pop-A-Bear! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, Rebecca is the mastermind of this operation; but you always see a need to kick Baloo while he's down.) Needless to say; they do a better job of service pumping gas and servicing the rhino pilot from earlier. Baloo proclaims that Louie has made a monkey out of him. HAHA!

Louie is loving this revenge. (Even though he's lazier than Baloo is. At least Baloo is pumping the gas himself instead of getting a grease monkey to do it for him.). That leads to the scene changer back at Rebecca's desk as Baloo shows an empty jar right in front of Rebecca's desk as evidence that the gas station is a failure and the MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION is goes back to being pilots. Rebecca blows Baloo off for not using his head. (I see Segata Sanshiro was watching this episode for one of his Sega Saturn commercials in Japan. Or not. I also love how Baloo is making excuses of the midair refueling station concept being a failure, despite the fact that the only reason business is down is because Louie is competing with him and thus capitalism has taken it's course.) Rebecca wants them to offer better service and Baloo counters that he doesn't have three other guys (other than Kit) working for him. Rebecca then plays her revenge card as we see WildCat sitting in the red chair eating peanuts. WildCat bounces a peanut off his nose for fun. We get another scene changer as we see the same FREAKING plane from earlier as the rhino pilot is driving (Man; this pilot needs to get different clients and new routes.) Then we see WildCat dangle down from a rope and giggles a bit as he has his mallet on full blast. Rhino pilot yells at him that his engine is making too much noise and WildCat cannot hear him; but still goes up to the props, opens the panel, bangs his mallet on the offending part and it shuts up. HAHA! (And goes back to normal noise afterwards. Wildcat rules by the way and for this tweet some one said about WildCat being non-neurotypical; I am one of those people who agrees with you carte-blanche.) WildCat dangles down towards the left window and ask what his problem is. HAHA! Rhino pilot proclaims that there is no problem anymore, gives WildCat the money and WildCat thanks him. WildCat is hoisted up into the side door of the SeaDuck. Baloo calls out Louie to beat that. That of course leads to seeing various airplanes flying around as Louie calls on his megaphone that he's offering lower prices and a free dish with every fill-up. Louie even shows the whole set just to be a dick as we see the SeaDuck fly around and Kit sums up Louie's pitch nicely.

We go back to the office as Baloo and Kit sulk on the red chair. Rebecca blows off Baloo for being such a quitter. Somehow; I think Baloo wants to quit; just to get his friend back from being such a dick. (I think you finally notice what the real excuse was from the start.) Rebecca proclaims that it will take all their profits; but they will get Louie for sure. (So much for Rebecca and Louie trying to reconcile; although after the ending to A Touch Of Glass, it's understandable.) So, Rebecca has turned red ocean now after being so blue ocean for the first ten minutes of this episode. We go back to the air BEFORE HAPPY HOUR as we see Baloo with his microphone. We see the brand new mid-air refueling station as he calls it "Baloo's Lube 'n' Lunch." Yeah; this episode is getting rather silly now and so filler too pardon the pun. (Plus; I would have thought Rebecca would have realized that when she named Higher For Hire; the purpose was to make it customer friendly, unlike Baloo's Air Service. Something tells me Rebecca lost the short straw game on this one.) Needless to say, the rhino pilot's plane gets grabbed by the JAWS OF HALF LIFE; and then he crawls up the plane to greet Baloo as he hated the ad; but has all the gravy boats anyway. He wants the best meal as Baloo claims that it's four stars and a moon as we see WildCat flame throwing some hotdogs in the background. That is CONTINUITY from The Golden Sprocket of Friendship, natch. We then get another scene changer as Baloo throws in a free blanket (Probably the purple one from the Plunder and Lightning television movie; which explains why Kit's turned navy blue in syndication.). Baloo pushes the lever (JESUS~!), the JAWS OF HALF LIFE release; and the rhino pilot flies away.

Baloo counts money and we get another scene changer as Louie decides to channel the powers of Sony and copy Rebecca's Nintendo idea. HAHA! How hilarious can it be that DTVA explains the video game industry better than those Quack Pack Analyist like Michael "Sideshow Pii Wii" Pacther?! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Guess what?! It's happening all over again with PS5/XBOX Series X/Nintendo Switch. Only this time, Nintendo Switch cannot be so easily put into the piegonholed box like Wii could. Not that it will stop them from trying. Besides, Sony fans are too focused on bashing Gamepass and Microsoft to care about the system that like Nintendo DS is gonna rear back and kill everybody anyway.) Kit gleefully corrects Baloo on that one as Baloo has the binoculars on full blast and proclaims that it's not the point. We then cut to Louie with the binoculars cutting a Boston promo, then he grabs a Krakatoa sundae from one of the grease monkeys, uses the makeshift slingshot to slingshot it towards Baloo and it slams right into Baloo's face just as Baloo is trying to finish his blowoff of Louie with style. HAHA! (This is the point where I really thought Louie was a scumbag. It's one thing to get even with someone and I can understand Louie's position on Louie's. However; once he slingshotted the sandae into Baloo's face, I lost all sympathy for him. Louie already has outgunned Baloo at every turn, so why would you want to poke the bear with that cheap shot? It's so stupid.) I really feel glad that Tately is trying hard not to suck here which I cannot say for most episodes since 1996. Even when Jymn Magon was writing at the time. Even when Tad Stones was writing at the time. WildCat is flipping burgers while Baloo mumbles in the background and Baloo is PISSED and cuts the Bugs Bunny promo and that ends the segment at a record setting thriteen minutes in! Wow; I finished nearly 60% of this rant already in one act.

After the commercial break; we go to Baloo's Lube & Lunch as Baloo has the binoculars on full blast and Kit is waiting on the stairway. Kit asks if he's sure Louie did it and Baloo has a hunch which involves Louie dancing around jumping on his hands in a circle on the binocular shot. (Okay; this is one of the few times in this show that Kit looks stupid. Seriously Kit; there are two midair refueling stations. There are only a limited number the suspects. If it wasn't Louie, then who is it? Is it the gas crew? If so, then they are under Louie's orders. Of course Louie would still be behind it. Unless you think it's WildCat and therefore you are an ableist. Unless you think you are behind it; which makes no sense because that implies that Kit stole Louie's sundae recipe and was on the other side to hit Baloo in the face. I shake my head in disbelief.) Kit hears some honking and it's another customer. Baloo orders everyone to their gas stations as the babyfaces scatter. Baloo invokes the JAWS OF HALF LIFE and it grabs a purple painted plane (Which looks similar to all the planes in this episode.). Louie doesn't like that one so he invokes his makeshift motor, Louie's Midair Gas pulls over and invokes the JAWS OF HALF LIFE on the left wing. Louie and Baloo shout their sales pitches at each other as the rabbit pilot customer is in his plane completely confused over all this. The yelling continues as the rabbit pilot with a mustache doesn't want unleaded (Pat Fraley) and the insane goofballs blow him off. They have completely forgotten "Business 101" at this point and this episode actually got more interesting. (Of course the rabbit pilot doesn't want unleaded gasoline; because unleaded gasoline didn't exist until the 1970's.) Baloo seems to win the round on the basis that the gasoline tank is on the right wing and WildCat starts pumping the gas into the tube as a rocket launcher seems to attach itself to the balloon. Then we see Louie jump off from it and go to the tubing and tie it up as Baloo wants some pump pressure and WildCat puts SOME MUSTARD on it; but it's only making a great big ball in the middle. WildCat cannot pump anymore and twirls backwards for fun. Louie somehow jumps over the space to his station and gets his nozzle and calls the rabbit pilot Bruce and Bruce takes Louie's side of things. (Wow; I didn't know the rabbit pilot had a name. I need to check my transcripts again.)

Baloo is confused over this and then turns around and notices the tied up ball of gasoline in the tubes. Baloo almost calls Louie a bastard; (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: He almost called Kit a bastard at the end of It Came From Beneath The SeaDuck; which is more believable considering Disney's handling of child characters.) but stops before he says bastard at all. Louie jumps to the gas tank which is as big as the one in Flush & Release in Kick Buttowski and calls Baloo a boob and a half. Careful with the sexual language there Cousin Lou! POW! OUCH! Ummmm.... (Actually, Baloo would be two and a half boobs. POW! OUCH! Ummm...) Louie pumps up as we go to another scene changer as we zoom in and see Baloo crawling up and brings up a piece of tubing and attaches it to the gas tank using the alternative pipe which makes no sense whatsoever. We then cut to WildCat at the gas pump and he gets the signal from Baloo (a friendly wave) and WildCat starts pumping. We then see Louie calling Bruce a "Flyboy", cuts a promo before Baloo shows up and blows him off because he was pumping his gas. Say what?! So Louie's gas tank was empty. Logic break number two for the episode at the fifteen minute mark. Bruce tries to give Baloo five dollars (I think) but Louie steals it (Good for him to notice the obvious logic break.) and bails stage right. Or tries to; but Baloo grabs the tubing and Louie falls on his ass and the money goes flying like stiff. We then get a tug-of-war as the GOOFS WITH ATTITUDE blow each other off. Baloo falls on his face for fun, he gets up, Louie runs in and we proceed to do the worst fistfight in history as zero of the punches even come within a foot of making contact. I CLUB BS&P! (This fight was horrible and had to be a rib on The Mighty Hercules. It just had to.) Kit is taking Baloo's side here which is sad because I KNOW Kit's punches can make contact (The Idol Rich anyone?). Louie gets on the crate and the power of suggestion still makes Louie sell a Baloo punch which misses by a mile. Oh TAG guys!

Baloo, Kit and Rebecca already made contact with their punches (Touch of Glass, Idol Rich, From Here To Machinery in that order.). Louie hangs on the tubing as they manage to do a contrived spot where they run on the tubing and there is no down bounce to it at all. That is logic break number three for the episode. We then cut to Baloo's station as Louie is tired of Baloo stealing his customers, so Baloo thrusts the straw hat over his eyes and stuffs Louie with tires. HA! (Wow, what a hero Baloo is; stopping Louie by pushing on his head?!) Louie then finally makes contact with the headbutt to the stomach and Baloo takes a good bump into the tires. Finally; a good fighting spot! The grease monkeys (and one of them has changed clothes since I last saw him. (I think that was Louie's mechanic actually.)) do a "x no evil "spot as Louie calls it a good idea. (I was hoping Steve Austin would ruin in and kick their asses. No such luck, sadly.) So Louie IS the leader of the censorship monkeys in House of Mouse?! How fitting considering King Larry and the Prima Estate debacle. (Plus; Louie doesn't even have to be seen nor heard from nor spoken to. A giant bonus to the job, methinks.) Louie then jumps on Baloo's back and smothers his eyes and mouth. Sadly; the logic doesn't quite work since the ears aren't covered. It's still a good fighting move since Baloo cannot take a breath well. Baloo stumbles around punch drunk as Louie rides Baloo like the manchildish bull that he is; but Baloo stumbles over the free blankets and the GOOFS WITH ATTITUDE freefall down below with the blankets in tow. Kit's response is so dead on the acting department that I signal the end of Alan Roberts' career right there. The goofs free fall on the sky shot and that ends the segment sixteen and a half minutes in. Wow; that fight really drove the episode down the crapper. (No fleas on you there, 2010 me!)

After the commercial break; we see Baloo and Louie continue to free fall and blame each other for losing customers. However; they both look down and realize if they don't do something they are going to die (my words; not theirs). However; Baloo sees the blankets and gets an idea as Baloo and Louie use the green one as a parachute. I think that was a pretty symbolic moment; but I don't know what it is. They slow the free fall and crash into the roof of Louie and land with a really good bump (and destroyed the tables in the place.). I'm amazed that they didn't kill themselves and I'm not really happy with this spot because it trivializes Kit's free-fall spot from Plunder & Lightning Part Four. It was a comedy spot at best and a burial of Kit's awesomeness by Michael Eisner in a vain attempt to keep the classic Disney stars over. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: There are millions of conspiracy theories that are much worse and dangerous than this one, even if it only makes a wee bit of sense in hindsight.) If you want a reason why purists hate this show; there's ONE reason why. Baloo breaks the table too as Baloo and Louie exchange notes inside Louie's about being friends. They agree that they want to be their normal selves; but as long as Rebecca's disruption is in effect; they must still hate each other. (Baloo finally reveals his true excuse for hating Rebecca's idea: It was always because he wanted to be free in the air and not be a gas jocky. Which is the dream of Baloo's in every episode he is in. Which is all of them. And to Louie; Baloo cannot quit because if he does, he loses the SeaDuck with it. And if you believe some fanfics, Kit Cloudkicker. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Put a pin on this moment because I'm going to bring this point back when I do The Lost Cargo Of Kit Cloudkicker and how it even ties in to Stormy Weather.)) However; Baloo has a Krackpotkin plan and it's the craziest one yet: Go back to the mid-fueling station and blow the damn thing up. That's right folks; the finish involves Baloo using a bomb to blow up both gas stations and fans are SHOCKED when this show got blacklisted on 9/11?! Now that I think about it; why wasn't this episode banned like Flying Dupes was since both episodes involve a bomb?! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Already explained it at the start of this rant.)

I think happiscottman from IMDB made a valid point (and you know that's saying something when it's a user from IMDB.) about Flying Dupes which I'll share when we get to that episode. Louie thinks Baloo's brain is still in the sky as Baloo peels a banana and explains that the inspector will close both of them down on one slip up and the idea will be banned forever (Disney Captions screws up and says "panned forever".). (In this case, screw you Baloo! I mean, this doesn't disprove that Rebecca's idea was a bad one since you are intentionally sabotaging the idea. So far, this innovative idea has worked to perfection.) Louie decides to join in because the sooner the better in his own mind. The GOOFS WITH ATTITUDE slap some skin and decide the time to blow the place up is three o'clock. Speaking of the inspector; we head to the docks where Rebecca is talking to the goat inspector as he has decided to do a inspection at 3 o'clock. According to the inspector; flight regulations give him the right to make surprise inspection to her service station. How do you like your own medicine, Miss Cunningham (Molly Coddled anyone?)?! Rebecca takes this as a challenge to her businesshood on the sky shot and she'll prove that "Lube 'N' Lunch" really is a good idea. Nice to see her to leave Baloo out of the name too; that self-serving jackass. (Personally; that's great since it's supposed to be good business sense to check your own ego at the door.) The goat inspector has his own blue seaplane just for the special moment too. The goat inspector proclaims that it better be as we cut back to Baloo's midair fueling station. We get a close up shot of the ALARM CLOCK TNT BOMB OF DOOM as Baloo chuckles. Yes folks; he IS going to blow up something on a children's cartoon show and HE'S the babyface here. (At least with On A Wing & A Bear; the letter bomb was sent by a tweener/heel/CEOhole to screw the heel.) Louie is with him as Baloo sets a fifteen minute timer on the bomb and their relationship will be able to continue afterward. Baloo does have one small problem in that he doesn't want anyone to see the bomb for 15 minutes and he hides it in the conveniently placed stack of tires.

We then see the SeaDuck edge up against the refueling station as the right side door opens. Kit tells Baloo that everything is ready and no one will come near the place now. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Kit was wrong, sadly.) Louie comes over and wants Baloo to watch the fireworks from Louie's. We then see a closeup shot of the makeshift bomb (I promise folks! Something major is going to be blown up by a babyface.) as we go back into the skies. The goat inspector is flying his own plane and Rebecca proclaims that it works like clockwork. Sadly for her; she sees the balloons with crates on them and they read closed in black letters much to Rebecca's surprise. We then cut to Louie's midair fueling station (I guess only one is going to get blown up and it's Baloo's which is perfectly all right.) as the babyfaces are sitting in lawn chairs enjoying themselves with free lemonade from Louie. Except for Kit Cloudkicker, who is standing up on lookout with the binoculars because he's the MIRACLE WORKER, you see. Baloo calls this the life as WildCat asks for some peanuts and Louie snaps his fingers on that one. Kit apparently sits down again and notices that someone is at the gas station as Baloo grabs the binoculars and notices a blue plane edging up to the station. Baloo realizes that it's Rebecca and the inspector. Kit proclaims that she will be blown to smithereens as WildCats hates smithereens. I'm guessing that Smithereens is a family like Timmy Turner's dad hating the Dingleberries. (I wonder if Smithereens was WildCat referencing the hospital at the end? If so, Walt Disney Animation Japan screwed up the joke.) Baloo tries to yell at Rebecca; but Kit pulls him back because she's too far away. Baloo runs over to the motor, starts it and moves Louie's gas station beside it. We cut to Rebecca yelling for Baloo but getting no answer. Rebecca then notices the stack of tires and thinks Baloo is hiding (Riiiggghhhhtttt Rebecca; Baloo lost two hundred pounds of weight since last time, right?!); The inspector notices Baloo coming in with Louie's station. Rebecca naturally blows him off with sleeping with the enemy (You wish he was that dirty Miss Cunningham?!) as Baloo slides in from the tubing. We see Baloo's pilot's cap on the gas station pump OUT OF NOWHERE for logic break number four for the episode nineteen and a half minutes in.

Rebecca calls Baloo out on the hat as Baloo is trying to get the inspector to leave; but the customer comes first. We see Baloo pump gas so fast; the tank blows up like a balloon on the plane; Baloo gives the blankets and tries to get him to leave. However; Rebecca reminds him that it's a full service station. We get more gas station spots from Baloo as Rebecca wants a minute of his time; but Baloo blows her off because he doesn't have a minute to spare. Baloo invokes the flamethrower on the hotdog and even offers to help the inspector chew the hotdog much to Rebecca's disdain. We get a far shot of the gas station from Kit and WildCat as the Louie's gas station seems to have floated 500 feet away from Baloo's gas station. (I think when Baloo swung in; the refueling station bounced back, which is pretty respectful of physics actually.) Must have been the wind. No logic break there; just odd. Kit and WildCat decide to get the SeaDuck and get Baloo away before anymore damage can be done to this episode...ERRR...Baloo. The inspector has his meal and proclaims that they have passed the inspection as Baloo stumbles over the words to resume work. Rebecca and the inspector hop into the blue plane, Baloo pushes on the lever (JESUS~!), the JAWS OF HALF LIFE release and the blue plane flies away. Baloo runs up the stairs as we see the SeaDuck fly towards the gas station. Kit is worried stiff and WildCat tells Kit to relax because according to his watch Baloo has only five minutes to die. Sadly; Baloo takes the tires out and sees that the ALARM CLOCK is set to three o'clock which means he has only about five seconds to live. Ooops! Baloo replaces the tires and we finally get the massive explosion as WildCat proclaims that it IS his watch and he is slow. HAHA! That was a really good explosion too. Baloo drops right onto the left platoon of the SeaDuck and hangs around groaning and injured as BS&P makes sure no marks are on him. WildCat wonders where he is and he's dimwitted as usual. We head to the hospital of doom -- complete with the copyrighted "Red Cross" -- as it looks like a steam-punk hospital. That's pretty cool all things considered. We get a PA announcer (I have no idea who is voicing here.) cutting a Three Stooges promo.

Howard and Fine are names for the two of the three Stooges. (The amazing part is this: The hospital is supposed to be Smithereens Hospitals; but it's named Smitheens Hospital due to Engrish striking again at Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc. Even more amusing is that below the hospital (which is supported by a bunch of stairs; there is a graveyard underneath. No crosses sadly.) Fun Fact: Jeffrey Scott; who wrote two episodes of TaleSpin is related to one of the Stooges. Not sure which one; I'll need to recheck my notes. (Grandson to Moe Howard 2010 me.) We head into the hospital room as Baloo is lying in bed with two broken arms and a broken left leg to show that he really WAS injured. Logic break number five for the episode as Kit proclaims that he'll be all better soon. Baloo chuckles over not dying from an exploding gas station. Louie decides to give him a present and it's a triple Krakatau Special and Baloo panics as he wants no more fireworks. I don't blame him since he was on THE END OF A MASSIVE EXPLOSION~! Baloo tells Kit to blow off Rebecca if she gets anymore nutty ideas. Speaking of Miss Nutty; here's Rebecca coming in with flowers as she asks if it still hurts and Baloo sells it as such. Rebecca cannot believe that it blew up like that. Rebecca tells him that the gas station has been shut down, Baloo cheers and then yelps in pain on the oversell. (Screw you Pop-A-Bear! There was no slip-up because that implies that it happened unintentionally. The station blew up on purpose; but the inspector is too stupid to check the place with a fine-toothed comb. Someone fire that inspector!)

However; Rebecca has another Krackpotkin in mind: Milkshakes! Baloo and Kit are surprised as Rebecca is going to bring back the kangaroos and milk and have their own ice cream stand. I don't think Louie is amused to hear that as we are back to where we started, only Louie is screwed even more than before. (I don't think this will have the same impact as the gas station one; because milkshakes are not Louie's forte and gas is more important than milkshakes. So, his customer base will be fine. Baloo just hates being a jocky for Rebecca at this point.) Rebecca wants to sell them to midair pilots and has two names in mind “Sky Shakes” and “Dairy Team” (One guess who she's referencing: Dairy Queen.) as there are over one thousand served. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Another McDonald's reference in this show.) Baloo throws the covers over his head and groans in an angry manner to end the episode at 21:14. Just your average TaleSpin love in with a killer hot finish -- in almost the literal sense of the word-- and screwy ending. The fight scene really dragged this episode down . (I'm dropping this episode to ** 1/2 (50%) because this felt like a dumb episode with some great moments at the end. The pacing was wrecked and the fight scene sucked. Chuck needs to realize that you cannot drag down the first act beyond fourteen scenes. That's awful. Plus; the moral of the day is supposed to be the consequences of blind capitalism; but it got lost by the fact that the innovation was a great idea and only got turfed because Baloo hates being chained down doing gas jobs.)

THE REVIEW LINE

Chuck Tately is a good writer (Better than most people think he is, see A Bad Reflection On You coming up next.); but sometimes I wonder what he is thinking when he writes his scripts. (Yeah; I mean FOURTEEN SCENES IN THE FIRST ACT?!) I really didn't like the spot where Baloo and Louie free-fell. While it wasn't as bad as I remembered it; thanks to the parachute spot with the blanket. However; I was personally offended with this because it completely trivialized Kit Cloudkicker dramatic fall from Plunder and Lightning Part Four by turning this free fall into a comedy sketch. (At least it was better than Teddy Ruxpin's freefall; which was comically bad since it was supposed to be dramatic.) Kit Cloudkicker's fall was an important moment in the series in that it was played as dramatic and was needed to finish Don Karnage ability to be heartless underneath the evil comedy that Don processes. However; this free fall was played for laughs and it didn't have any sympathy behind it because both guys didn't even make contact with the punches during the fight sequence; which in turn made that sequence as a whole pretty contrived and forced. That's why I couldn't give this episode any higher than ** 1/2 in good conscience. (Chuck Tately would write better episodes, I assure ye: Louie's Last Stand.) The episode as a whole was good enough and it really showed the consequences of blind capitalism. There were a few logic breaks and this episode just felt like filler to show off two of the least over main characters in the series. Thankfully; Kit did enough work in this episode to get it past average and the finish was ultra awesome which is proof that Disney babyface animal characters do have no problems blowing things up if need be. (This is something Mr. Enter would scream bloody murder if a modern cartoon did this.) I just wish it was done with more over characters having the conflict though. So, thanks to the fact that I re-ranted on Bad Reflection On You in advance and two additional episodes in the Disney Channel previews; half of disc three is already completed. That leaves four episodes remaining; On A Wing & A Bear is next and is the worst episode in terms of quality of those four. The other three are A Star Is Torn, A Spy In The Ointment and Balooest of the Bluebloods with the last two not featuring Kit in them. Very interesting to say the least. So...

Thumbs in the middle for this episode and I'll see you next time.

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