Last Horizons

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Last Horizons Re-Rant

Reviewed: 11/11/2010
Additional Commentary: 10/19/2021

Ah; The Racist Episode!

Original Airdate: 11/01/1990 (Syndication), Episode #32 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 2, Disc 1), Episode #27 (Production Order).

Last Horizons Notes
Last Horizons Transcript

Well; here we are at probably the most heated episode in all of TaleSpin heat wise and the fact that I'm re-ranting this one on Rememberence Day gives new meaning to the phrase: "cue ominous music" If you thought Puffed Rangers and even Feats of Clay were bad enough; this episode tops all in the racist category. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This episode is not available on Disney+ for obvious reasons. It was available on iTunes (using the Toon Disney edits and on the Volume 2 DVD set (uncut).) The scariest part of this is that it's not the character designs that we see that even make this episode earn the wrath from Asian Americans everywhere (The episode was blacklisted for eighteen months on Disney Channel before being reinstated with one match edit; before going on DVD with zero edits that I am aware of. (2016 Gregory Weagle Says: Huh. Something doesn't compute here. There were complaints about this episode long before even Disney Channel got to air it. I have a hunch that the episode was blacklisted from syndication packages for eighteen months after the first run syndication episode aired and then it was reinstated with syndication redubbing ala Puffed Rangers. How much redubbing is not known even by me. To be fair; I think people felt that it was Disney Channel behind the ban since in Plunder and Lightning, Disney Channel/Toon Disney snipped out Don Karnage's "Chinese Firedrill" line. Which was fine since China is called Mynah in this world. More so to the point; while this was offensive to Chinese Americans; this was also really offensive to Tibet since the whole Panda-La angle is a play on Tibet and it's bad enough to play off Tibetian stereotypes, it's much worse when you take the stereotype and turn them into monster heels. In Family Guy; you can somehow get away with this because the show's whole gimmick is to offend as many people as possible. And racism is the most obvious way to do it. When your show is marketed to children though, really bad move and it should get you blacklisted from Hollywood. It often doesn't, because Hollywood is a neopist haven. By the way; the Toon Disney match edit is also hilarious and exposes the editing practices as well.)). It is how this episode completely subverts one of the most lovable tropes in history: The Fun Loving Chinese Panda. Believe me; what you see really happened and this makes Puffed Rangers and even the Chinatown parts of To The Rescue look enlightened by comparison.

(Yes; lovable Pandas is a trope that makes Kung Fu Panda a very popular series of animation for Dreamworks. I'm not the biggest fan in the world; but the brand is very amusing for a number of reasons. Onto the subverting of tropes: This episode is a cautionary tale of what happens when you believe in absolutes. Lousy Canuank suggested that we should be subverting tropes every chance we get in order to curb stereotypes. That's a fair statement without context, though. Yeah; it's a great idea, but; when you subvert tropes indiscrimantly, you end up with this episode. This episode subverted the "Panda-ering To The Audience" trope so hard that they actually made it even more racist than if they had just played it completely straight. There is a object lesson in this: If you are going to subvert tropes; make sure you don't make it worse. Also; another point: If your subverting gets over so well; then it no longer is a subverted trope. It becomes a new trope which is subjected to subversion, weither good or bad. Kind of like with popukar culture and counter culture. What is counter culture when it's popular? Just culture. What is alternative medicine when it works? Medicine. So here's the plot of the episode: Baloo is jealous of some famous explorer and claims to almost found the city over the last horizon. Rebecca doesn't believe him; so Baloo decides to go find the city (which Rebecca allows for some reason) so he can get a parade and be somebody. However; Kit doesn't want him to go because he already is somebody and doesn't have to prove anything. So Baloo finally finds the city and he is treated like the greatest guest in the world by a denizen of "lovable and decent" pandas. They even got Baloo home in their own way. Then Baloo returns home and wants his parade only for the "lovable and decent" pandas to attack and invade Cape Suzette causing the city to surrender and make Don Karnage jealous as hell. No joke; this all happened in this episode. So, Baloo has to defeat the pandas somehow in spite of their firepower and does, learning that his best friends think he was a true somebody anyway without the parade.) It also marks the debut of two notable voice talents; one that went on to voice stardom while the other created one of the most popular Disney Television shows in history. Also, here's Robert Ito of course. (Another red flag for this episode since Ito is Canadian/Japanese. Anderson Wong would have been a slightly better choice even though there is no way you can paint an enlightened face on this episode when your booking demands that the stereotypes have to turn monster heel.) Let's rant on shall we...?

This episode is written by Jeremy Cushner, Dev Ross and Chuck Tately. (Chuck Tately and Jeremy Cushner in the same episode?! Shoot me now! It would explain a logic hole in the third act of this episode.) The story is edited by Mark Zaslove. The animation is done by Sunwoo Animation. (It was not Walt Disney Animation Japan (Inc.) like in the last re-rant of this. By the way; this is the final episode I actually did the transcript and even most of the re-rant commentary since I worked on Flying Dupes before this and most of the additional commentary is done for that episode. Once this episode is up; I'll finish Flying Dupes and post it afterwards.)

We begin this one with the black fade to picture title card similar to A Bad Reflection On You. Now that's awesome to see. (Captains Outrageous did this too later on in the series.) Then we see a shot of the city of Cape Suzette as it looks like News Year Day; or the end of the second World War celebration of the troops coming back home. (It's the later in this case.) We then pan down to the street and apparently everyone is cheering for Monty who is being driven in a red car. Oh lord; I thought TaleSpin writers were above using the Aussie Stereotype...Oh wait; we see a red car as a PA announcer introduces Monty Mangrove who looks like Baloo only with the fake mustache from All's Whale That Ends Whale. (Oh, and on the far shot, the driver completely disappears! That is some vanishing act by Sunwoo there.) I know this because we cut to Louie's as Louie is reading the newspaper (The Cape Suzette Tribute) which says "Hooray Monty!" (Which is also shown on one of the white flags at the beginning of this episode.) No wonder Baloo is so jealous here. (Baloo's jealous is sort of valid when you take into account that he stopped the Air Pirates in Plunder and Lightning. It also makes Rebecca's comments about him being just a cargo pilot a wee bit condescending. That being said; her condescending is nothing compared to the Pandas' actions later on.) See; Monty Mangrove is the world's greatest explorer. We then pan to the radio as we see the Fandango Mango delivery dog from Plunder and Lightning Part 2; WildCat, Kit (eating ice cream with WildCat) and Rebecca listening to the radio. See; that's what the internet looked like during the depression of the 1930's. (Also in 1990; this is what television was like in our world. Kind of sad, actually.) Everyone except Baloo cheers as Baloo throws a sundae glass into the radio and it falls to the floor. (And the glass shatters of course.) We then pan over to Baloo sulking in his empty milkshakes as he has only had six which means he's no longer on the See-Food diet. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm...

Louie grabs the radio and calls Baloo out for having a personal grudge against his radio. Other than it reminds Baloo being blue so to speak. Baloo apologizes as Rebecca now has the newspaper as she calls Baloo out for being jealous. Okay; that sounds a wee bit condescending since Baloo does have a case for being as such since Monty dresses like Baloo; looks almost like Baloo and has the name of the least over character in Rescue Rangers. That pretty much ruins Baloo's buzz, so to speak. See; Monty is a great man and Baloo's a cargo pilot which Baloo blows off. I see Kit and Wildcat are sharing a Krackertoa Special as Kit takes Baloo side of things. See; in Rebecca's mind; if you have a parade; you are a somebody. Wait; I thought being somebody involves a 13 step program hosted by Mr. T? So, "Be Somebody; Or Be Somebody's Fool "was just a marketing ploy? I'm SHOCKED and APPALLED. No, not really. (Oh my god; I remember this video. The Agonybooth did this review of "Be Somebody, Or Be Somebody's Fool!" which was Mr. T's laughable attempt to sound like a human being and helping kids gets their lives on track. To say that this failed is an understatement. It contains such classics as Mr. T rapping, kids giving dirty looks, a whole segment of Mr. T hating people who insults mothers (no joke), cheesy ballards and Mr. T trying to play a musical instrument and failing. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Here's a clue: When a 12 year old kid gets how life works a lot better than an adult; it's time for the adult to get help for his issues. Seriously; I mean it. Somehow; Rebecca's laughable argument of getting a parade equals being a somebody actually makes a little bit of sense.) Anyhow; Baloo blows Rebecca off because he had a chance to be somebody once. All Baloo has to do is mention meeting Kit as they defeated the Air Pirates and saved Cape Suzette from their terrorist ways; but since that episode has yet to play in syndies; Baloo mentions him almost finding Panda-La. I think we all know where this one is going.

Louie and Kit are in awe as it's the city beyond the last horizon with giant pagodas that reach the sky. I'm SHOCKED Kit can even say pagodas at all. Like I said: Kit Cloudkicker is the guy who can say it; but I betcha he cannot SPELL it. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm.... (What an ageist you are 2010 me?! Marco Artuo thinks you are full of yourself.) I'm going to ignore WildCats' promo because it's not very funny as Baloo states that it's the city. Rebecca of course blows it off because it's a fairy tale and it doesn't exist. As you'll soon see; Rebecca is going to wish it WAS a fairy tale. It's also nice to see that Disney Captions can still use the word fairy since today; that word has a much more insulting context. (It does have a homophobic connection to it; but most BS&P people have enough context to know that it is not slang for gay. The rest spell it as faerie instead, which isn't said differently at all.) I see Rebecca does her favorite pose (you know which one) as Baloo decides to be a betting man. Well; when you got a nutty pilot, a nutty business lady and a nutty boy; you are always a gambler. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Indeed.) We head to the docks at Louie's as we head into the SeaDuck cargo as Baloo does the Wuzzles throw trash spot, at least it's in the reverse angle and Baloo throwing stuff is off-screen. Baloo claims that he spotted it years ago; over the next hill. Thankfully; all the trash misses the babyfaces by about two to six feet (WildCat does grab the fake mustache glasses though.) as we pan to Baloo looking in the CHEST OF DEMONS and brings out a covered statue of a Panda in a green robe in the Buddish prayer position wearing a pendant. Baloo claims that this is evidence that the city exists and Rebecca naturally blows it off. Well; she does have a point. It could have come from a panda who owns a art shop in Cape Suzette. After all; this is the 1990's and we are much more enlightened then that right? Right?! (Your sarcasm is not helping your flimsy argument there 2010 me.)

Oh, and not only does Christmas exists in the TaleSpin world; so does the Easter Bunny. (Also apparently; so does God and actual gods. (A Jolly Molly Christmas and Volcano Of Gold comic book story.) For real unlike our world.) Thankfully for us; there is no evidence that this world celebrates the Ice Cream Bunny. We may have an Ice Cream Bear who may or may not be Kit's dad; but no Ice Cream Bunny. Yet. (I think copyright law would prevent such a thing in 1990; but today, not so much as I think Santa Claus and The Ice Cream Bunny is public domain now. I think. I hope not though.) Baloo swipes the tricket back and blows her off; allowing Rebecca smile doing her favorite folding of the arms pose. Do you get the feeling; Rebecca is allowing Baloo to have enough rope to hang himself here? Like I said earlier; Rebecca is going to wish she didn't give him said rope. (Yeah; if Baloo took the hint that being a somebody can often be a bad thing (I mean; look at all the criminals we see on television?! And Donald Trump?! But I repeat myself.) then we would have been spared of the possible blacklisting of an episode due to a bunch of lovable, decent, innocent Tibetian Panda monks turning monster heel and invading Cape Suzette. Proving once again that a racist is also an idiot.) Anyhow; Baloo proclaims that he is going to find it again as we segue into the dock shot at Louie's AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as WildCat brings cargo towards the plane as Baloo proclaims that he'll sit at the head of the parade. Kit doesn't want him to do it; because a parade means nothing. And Kit should know since he was there trying to explain to him not to let the trophy go to his head in A Bad Reflection On You. Now THAT'S CONTINUITY BABEE! (One of the things I love about this show is even though it's episodic in nature, the writing makes it feel like a serial to a certain extent. Even if your episodes are self-contained, it's all right to put in spots to remind the viewers who are clued into the show that there is a continuity in the show. When your show stops making sense, then you have done something wrong.)

Baloo proclaims that it means that he's a nobody as he tells Louie to get the band ready and they slap skin. Rebecca (still in her favorite pose) proclaims that this has gone too far because Panda-La is nonsense and Baloo doesn't see it that way because it's his chance to be a somebody. (It's odd that she sees this as going too far; but never mentions that the SeaDuck is her property. I wonder if this line was redubbed later on...) Well; it's more interesting than following Mr. T's movtational video that's for sure as Baloo gets into the SeaDuck and waves to everyone not to wait up. We get a shot of the babyfaces waving goodbye except for Kit as he whispers that Baloo's a somebody to him. That is such a great line because for syndie fans who haven't seen Plunder and Lightning; that proves to be a perfect setup. After all; if it wasn't for Baloo, Kit Cloudkicker would be DEAD in spite of Kit's efforts to be a hero. (As I said in the first rant I did back in 2005: I wish that Kit could take a time machine and go back to 1984 to approch all those kids who worked for the "Be Somebody...Or Be Somebody's Fool" video and tell them that they are already somebody and that working on this video will render them to being nobodies because everyone will think that they exist only to fill the pocket of money-hungry parents and fill the ego of a guy who got his butt kicked by a couple of so-called fake wrestlers at Wrestlemania I. And if Mister T says: "I pity you fool!"; then Kit can whack him with his airfoil and show just how tough Mister T really is. It would make history I tell ya. Okay; I got sidetracked, back to the rant...) We cut to an anime moment as we see Baloo flying and a neon green (!!) line tracking his progress around the world. We see Baloo talking about seeing Panda-La across the horizon as the neon green line (!!) continue to line the map which apparently is way off with the map as Baloo has been all around the area and has found absolutely nothing at this point. (Neon green is a cool color; and neon colors were invented in 1923; but wasn't an art thing until at least 1960.)

Baloo seems to be defeated and that Rebecca was right (as usual in her own mind anyway) about him being a nobody. (I would disagree. Rebecca was right, there is no Panda-La. However; since the storyline calls for it, it should be more so: I wish there was no Panda-La.) However; bigger problems ensue as the SeaDuck gets caught into a sandstorm tornado. (Ah; it must be the same one from For Whom The Bell Klangs. I wondered where that sand tornado went...) Baloo tries to gain control but it is no use as the right engine flame up and stall out. A sandstorm in the mountains? I don't get it either. Then again; Chuck and Jermey are writing this episode and therefore you have to expect logic breaks like this one. The SeaDuck spins around the sand tornado as Baloo proclaims that this looks like the last thing he'll ever do (his face looks odd in the spinout) and we fade to black. We cut to the mountains again as we see the SeaDuck actually landing on a small cliff. Baloo walks out and coughing and THAT'S BAD FOR YOUR HE... Okay; it was dust and not smoke. Baloo checks the damage and it is terrible as the props are shot off; not to mention that there's no gas station in sight (DUH!). Baloo decides to climb up the mountain and does so. Baloo climbs up to another cliff as the mountain seems endless. Baloo's shirt is torn up at this point which is symbolic for his attempt to find a mystic city at this point. Nice to see that little attention to detail there. Baloo collapses to the ground and appears to play dead...and then LET THERE BE LIGHT. I've been waiting to use that joke for a long time now as the light shines on a pair of stairs to our left; or in Baloo's case; straight ahead. Baloo wakes up and decides to go into the light. Baloo then squeezes into the door and discovers a bridge. I hope that there is a payoff; because this is getting a little bit boring here. Baloo walks for a while and amazing enough the bridge floor breaks causing Baloo to hang on for dear life.

So; the bridge was strong enough to hold Baloo until that moment? That's the sort of pratfall that depends on the bridge being unstable to start in order to make it work properly. That's logic break #2 for this episode. Remember who is writing this episode. (Baloo held onto the railing of the bridge and then crawled to safety. A defect in the bridge methinks.) Baloo crawls out and suddenly; the bridge stays stable until he crawls over the slight hill. That's just peachy; but at least there is silence which makes it less stupid. Baloo goes through the cave and the light shines on Panda-la and the giant pagodas are in full effect here. Baloo thinks this is Panda-la and climbs down towards the village. However; the village seems deserted. Baloo looks around until an elder Panda wearing a kimono type garment with long ugly purple claws approaches him. (Another sign of an Asian stereotype in recent years is purple dyed hair pieces to accent the black hair. Why they keep doing it is a mystery to me? If you want anime hair; just color it all purple. Why is this a thing? At least Wan-Lo dying his claws purple is different in a sense. Also; half of his Ying/Yang medallion is colored purple.) He asks if Baloo comes in peace and Baloo claims that he would be asleep. Okay; whatever you say Pop-A-Bear. The Panda Elder addresses himself as Wan-Lo and is voiced by Robert Ito. Anyhow; Wan-Lo welcomes Baloo to Panda-La and Baloo completely oversells joy as he twirls Wan-Lo around. Baloo then remembers his name and shakes Wan-Lo's hand as he is from Cape Suzette. Wan-Lo calls this one interesting as we see the purple claws on his paws and he calls the Pandas to come out and greet their honorable guest. We go to the scene changer and they don't try to kill him right there as we see Wan-Lo take Baloo onto a sight seeing tour of the village. (Wan-Lo didn't act hostile during this, he simply acted surprised and intrigued.) We then see two Pandas wearing Asian helmets and orange/brown robes picking fruits from a tree and they bow.

Baloo bows back and calls this place friendly. Wan Lo proclaims that they pride themselves on being friendly as we see the two pandas pulling a cannon (with a dragon's head for the mouth) from the bushes with ropes. Well; we claim Cape Suzette is friendly and they have cliff guns, so you have to defend yourselves somehow from possible evildoers. You can never be too careful. (Maybe it's just me, but even stereotypes do have the right to defend themselves. There is a furry being inside of them; even if they opted out to being monsters.) Oh; and Baloo keeps his clothes torn the whole time; although the drawing per shot changes slightly. (That shirt will be magically repaired once the robes come off in the middle of the second act.) We cut to a horizon shot (symbolic episode title moment complete with waterfall ala Rebecca Cunningham's apartment) as we see Baloo and Wan-Lo exchange notes while crossing a bridge. (Baloo and Wan-Lo are talking about how Panda-La settled here and we don't learn much of note here.) The most impressive thing here is that Wan-Lo speaks perfectly fine with no stereotypical Asian slur. I can understand every single word he is saying and Disney Captions as well. Then again; I know why the episode was blacklisted. (I wonder if the first run syndication version had all of Wan-Lo's lines redubbed and Wan-Lo sounded much more like a Japanese stereotype in the first run compared to the second? I wouldn't put it past them considering that Puffed Rangers was redubbed for the same reason.) We then cut to ground level under the bridge as a Panda (wearing blue armor) carrying fireworks in a wheelbarrow. Wan-Lo notices and the Panda apologizes for not knowing and they whisper yell for a while (these rockets..which Disney Captions notices prefectly. (Actually; I was able to transcribe the complete conversation those two were having perfectly even if there was a gap in the dialogue. The fact that most people wouldn't have noticed it including Disney Captions shows great acting on Ito's part.)) as Baloo takes one and see them as fireworks.

Wan-Lo feels so relieved along with the blue armored panda as Wan-Lo grabs the firework back from Baloo and asks if he's more interested in seeing his humble palace. (Wan-Lo is relieved because the fireworks are heat seeking rockets. Again; sometimes you have to defend yourselves from hostile invaders. Even the nicest people do that.) Wan-Lo pushes Baloo away stage right as the panda looks on worried. (More confused than worried actually.) We head to a pan up shot of Wan-Lo's palace AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we see two shadows of fish swimming in the lake setup in front of the palace. It's little details like that that got television cel animation over as we hear Baloo being giddy over this discovery. We head inside the dressing room of Wan-Lo (I think) as Baloo appears in the same outfit that Wan-Lo is wearing but blue. That is so symbolic for some odd reason. We also see the same panda guard and they all look similar so there's no logic break there. (It was nightfall anyway and the guy is a servent, so no logic break there either.) One of them is holding a giant mirror as Baloo looks at himself. We go to the scene changer as we are in the hallways of the palace as Wan Lo shows Baloo three golden statues invoking a "x no evil" promo. (It's to show how nice they are even though later on, it's a lie.) Then we go to the treasure vault as they say nothing at all which admiring Wan-Lo's treasure vault of goodies. Sadly; WildCat's sandwiches are not in evidence. (Baloo grabs a ruby and then puts it down as Wan-Lo shows him a giant diamond. I have zero idea what the point of this was; so 2010 me's description sounds about right.) Anyhow; we go to the dinner table and Baloo has an all you can eat feast. Memo to Wan-Lo: You better be prepared to be eaten out of house and village with this fat pilot. Surprisely; Baloo shows actual restraint where eating and even uses the chopsticks properly which shows that this episode had more class than Puffed Rangers, that's for sure. (Sadly; Baloo's class is still pretty low here in spite of the restraint shown here.)

Wan-Lo continues the official line of being friendly hosts in the same sense as Baloo's official line of trying to be somebody. Baloo even offers to let Wan-Lo visit Cape Suzette and Wan-Lo thanks him for that. Oh wait; Sun Woo's animation on the chopsticks during that was fairly sloppy. (This was also a problem in Feats Of Clay too.) Baloo eats the chopsticks of course, which nullifies the class level down a notch. Then we proceed with a neat spot as Baloo sees a toy mouse go up to the candlelight. (PIKACHU~!) Baloo grabs the candlelight and puts it in a different place. The yellow toy mouse follows in kind. Then Baloo puts the candlelight on the floor and the mouse follows it. Then a giggle is heard and out comes Wan-Lo's daughter (from the same dresser Baloo had when he was dressing) wearing a pink/yellow robe and a ponytail with buck teeth who likes the mouse following the heat of the light. (Stereotype #2: Asians always have buck teeth. How this wasn't changed was a mystery to me. Well, a mystery that doesn't end with the default: The character designer is a bigot.) Wan-Lo panics as Baloo comments on the kid and his daughter likes the mousey in the warm something; (She says the mouse loves the heat of the lighted candle which actually plays into the story later on and justifies Wan-Lo's attitude towards her.) but recoils as Wan-Lo give the mean look and she is shooed away. Well; she _was_ interrupting the feast so I don't see anything unusual. (In the real world; no one would have bought that Wan-Lo was planning to conquer Cape Suzette at this point. No one. Occam's Razor would never allow it.) Wan Lo's daughter is voiced by Debi Derryberry. Baloo asks about the mouse and Wan-Lo rings the bell gleefully ignoring him. Probably a good idea since Baloo doesn't know anything about science and probably would just get confused. So Wan-Lo introduces his two sons one of them is a fat panda wearing orange; while the other one is in blue as Wan-Lo explains that the preparations have been completed on the SeaDuck and Baloo is giddy.

Wan-Lo proclaims that by morning; it will be completed and he hopes that they meet his satisfaction. Baloo embraces them all and asks how he can thank them. Wan-Lo only states that he will twice; without the old Squidward contrivence of non-subtley. (Because he's doing a great job in acting nice while being absolutely a monster in the end.) We return to the location of the SeaDuck as a large number of pandas (at least ten of them are in the scene) are pumping air into a large fish-like balloon which looks mighty impressive. (This is something you would see a lot of in China and Japan actually; and artistically it looks mighty impressive.) Baloo is so impressed as he thanks Wan-Lo for his services and Wan-Lo does the cliche line: "More than you (ever) know." (A clue that he's going to screw Baloo over at his earliest convenience. Which turned out to be literally minutes left the SeaDuck leaves.) Baloo slides down and enters the SeaDuck as the pandas release the ropes and the SeaDuck floats into the sky. Baloo gives Wan-Lo one last goodbye as the SeaDuck floats into the air and towards its destination: Cape Suzette. Baloo start the engines and flies out of sight. Wan-Lo says goodbye to his new friend and orders his troops to prepare the city as Fat Wan Lo's son does too much waving and is pulled away by the little Wan Lo son. (The poor bastard; the little panda is basically Kit to the orange one's Baloo. I wonder if the orange robed panda is Po from Kung Fu Panda? Probably not.) We then cut to the actual city and are then treated to an awesome sequence where the pagodas release air balloons and float in the same direction as Baloo. I guess they just want to pay that visit to Cape Suzette early. Nothing unusual at all. After all; with Don Karnage around; you just never know. (Yeah; I put nothing past Don Karnage to attack Panda-La since Wan-Lo clearly has a treasure vault of riches.)

Anyhow; that sequence is still awesome to watch. And just to add some more blastophmy levels; Wan-Lo even steal's the Air Pirates soundtrack for that sequence. (Probably for the best since the last thing this racist episode needs is stereotypical Asian music.) We head to a pan shot of the cliff guns down to water level of the city of Cape Suzette. Then we head to the sidewalk as we cut to as Kit grabs a toy airplane from the salesman who looks like Fred from A Touch Of Glass and he's spending time with Louie actually. (I think this is the first and only time Louie has ever been in Cape Suzette in this series on television (I think he's been in Cape Suzette a few times in the comics though.). I realize that his island is a business and all; but it is kind of odd to see him here. By the way; the toy planes are Suzette planes on sale and their model is actually used for the real planes later on in the beginning of the second act.) Louie tries to cheer Kit up because Baloo has gone on these chases before and he'll be back. Kit no sells because he's still sore about Baloo leaving because of a parade that no one cares anyway. I knew Kit believe that Monty had a huge ego. (Well to be fair; Kit having a parade of his own might risk Kit getting exposed as an ex-Air Pirate and you know how much the police would LOVE to trump charges on him. Okay; that came off really wrong even for present me!) However; you can hear the crowd roar as we cut to the cliff guns and see that the SeaDuck as arrived attached to that awesome fish air balloon. There must something symbolic about using a fish as an air balloon; but I cannot think of one right now. Kit screams so loud that by the third "Baloo"; it is barely a squeak. I sadly suspect that R.J. Williams voice broke on that very moment right there. (I think the lines were redubbed somewhat because the DVD version makes it like Kit has this voice strength that his voice doesn't crack.) That is one strong voice there. He actually has enough lung cap to say Baloo at least five times in that moment. (R.J. Williams' over acts?! That's unpossible!)

The SeaDuck lands right on top of the fish fountain (How symbolic?) and destroys it of course. Even funnier is that the Friendship Festival is STILL hanging in the background on that sequence. So this happened a few days BEFORE Golden Sprocket Of Friendship. Interesting. (Funny since Last Horizons is #27 on the animation paper while Golden Sprocket Of Friendship was #21!) The angry mob walks toward the plane as Baloo opens the SeaDuck and shouts that he has returned to annoy Rebecca with his crank-calling. Okay; I made that one up. (Rebecca's gonna wish Baloo was crank calling after the Pandas start invading.) Baloo jumps down as Kit runs to him and they embrace in a really cute moment that sounds like a broken record now. Baloo calls himself Mr. Somebody. Well; so far, you are better than Mister T ever was; so you basically win that by default. However; the mayor of Cape Suzette (Chuck McCann for the two of you who care these things and who is looking more like Tuskerinni by the episode.) arrives complete with red megaphone demanding answers to this outrage and I hope he demands that Baloo pay for smashing an innocent statue. (Yes; even 2010 me felt this destruction of people's properties was too much. That should tell you all you need about the old fart critics who slaughter modern cartoons (some of it which is justified; but still...).) Baloo proclaims that he found Panda-La and that shock people. Baloo of course wants a parade for the honor. No one ever said that Baloo wasn't direct with his demands that's for sure. Unless Rebecca is around. Everyone came: Teddy, the blue trenchcoat dog, the walrus, the pig lady (Who does more animation than anyone in that sequence...), Amelia GOD I HATE THAT LAST NAME Airhead and even Professor O'Bowens.

Sadly; Baloo's friendship (with the Pandas of course) is about to come to an end as a red rocket appears and blows up a palm tree. The crowd looks for a sign and here comes the floating city of Panda-La in the distance. Everyone's in shock as the cliff guns get completely destroyed without any problem. Wow. I can hear Don Karnage weeping somewhere right now because it took one attempt for the pandas to get into Cape Suzette while he needed a Lightning Gun to win. Well; that officially slays Don Karnage as a serious threat now. No wonder he turned so comical afterward. (Yeah; the Cliff Guns get destroyed in less time than in Plunder and Lightning and with heat seeking rockets. Conventional weapons. No laser required.) The city enters with ease as Wan-Lo demands the surrender of Cape Suzette to end the segment eleven and a half minutes. As I said in Plunder and Lightning re-rant: Awesome build; wrong company to try to pull that crap off. (Yeah; because this show was marketed to children. Bad move to eleven there, guys! Even much more so than making Kit an ex-Air Pirate!) And there's why Disney blackballed this episode: It was the subversion of the cute lovable Pandas as invaders and terrorists. (Exactly!) That the build to suspense was pulled off with clues that were so subtle enough that they still kept the audience guessing made it so shocking when the big scene arrived. I'm sorry folks; but this episode is truly racist in every sense of the word because it's Chinese Pandas terrorizing an American city Pearl Harbor style. (As Kevin Johnston said in his review of this show: This show's narrative is not the problem here. It's the fact that the heels are Chinese stereotypes that makes this episode feel really uncomfrontable for a lot of people.) It's also the closest thing to a rip off of Tales of The Golden Monkeys too.

(I think in that show; it was Nazis which of course destroys the racism accusations quite a lot. Also of note, chalk this one up for a conspiracy theory on Disney not supporting TaleSpin: The writers did their Last Horizons buildup to this point perfectly and it would have been completely suspenseful if Disney didn't suddenly release previews of the episode on the Disney Afternoon in which the last shots completely gave away the suspense. Non-Disney Afternoon markets thankfully didn't see those previews. It's crap like this that makes people like me see Disney as downplaying and screwing with the product because all Michael Eisner cared about was milking Baloo, Louie and Shere Khan for what they were worth instead of actually getting the show over as the New Disney Show. This is why I feel sympathy for the talent here because they give a crap about getting the show over (because if they didn't they would be fired); they knew how Disney worked better than Michael Eisner ever did (Hell; Bob Iger at least has some knowledge how to make Disney Disney even though most of his efforts are with talentless hacks who try hard not to suck and fail. (Heck, the last five years of Disney have been the best years in a long ass time.)) and actually did a damn good job of it. It's also nice to see people who didn't care about the show back in 1990 care about it now. It was when Quack Pack arrived when everyone's spirit was broken beyond repair because they finally took the hint that Eisner didn't give a damn about them and they either dogged it or left. Remember this: Michael Eisner was at the helm during those good times because the talent pool between 1985-1994 (Fluppy Dogs notwithstanding) gave a damn. Once Eisner crushed that; Disney went into the toilet and they didn't recover until Kim Possible and Phineas & Ferb came and went and by then; Eisner was gone and Iger was put in.)

After the commercial break; we go to a shot of the floating city as Wan-Lo wants them to surrender or be destroyed. Here; destroy is perfect in the context of the episode because we know Wan-Lo is here for more than just killing if you catch my drift. We cut to ground level as everyone is in shock and Baloo cannot understand why the panda would attack since they are friendly. (Because the Asian stereotype is like the stereotype with women in the 1950's Daisy Duck comics (well, the worst of them anyway): They are back stabbing monsters.) Rebecca doesn't see this as a joke as this is an invasion. Like I said; Rebecca now is wishing this WAS a fairy tale. (And a large chunk of people who wished this episode never existed. It's not difficult to understand why.) The mayor has the megaphone as he orders the air force. And so we cut to the air force landing strip as we get a long sequence of the airplanes taking off and the takeoff is completely recycled from Plunder and Lightning Part four; only in the daytime. Then again; Sunwoo is animating this episode so there you go. Where is Mr. Khan's air force though? Is Mr. Khan in league with Wan-Lo and staging this attack as a publicity stunt to gain more profit? I SMELL A FANFIC COMING. (I wonder if Dev Ross hated Mr. Khan as well?) The planes take off and the pilots look like cougars rather than the BAHGEERA CLONES OF ABOMINATION. (Sadly; Monty Mongrove is not in evidence, so no economy characters syndrome here. Too bad; I would have love to see Monty be the final pilot and then get defeated here to show that he might be a great explorer; but Baloo's dogfighting is much better.) They fly towards the city and open fire; but Panda-La fires back with a hail of bullets and nearly every plane is shot down which force the pilots to bail out. You can tell Business Standards & Practices was in full force in this episode. (Actually; the Pandas countered with cannon balls which might as well have been bullets. The planes were shooting bullets as well with red flashes so it's clearly a Sunwoo animated episode.)

Everyone is in shock after that response. The Trigun factor is 0.8 already. One of the planes does manages to stay up and actually shoot one of the pogadas down. The mayor is pleased for about three seconds as we see two pandas climb up and fix the air balloon quickly. That was just great and I betcha everyone will be mad at Baloo when this is over. (They were literally calling him a traitor even though it was the Pandas who betrayed him!) More carnage as there is only one plane left to save us all. 2:1 odds that it's Monty Mongrove inflating his ego (It's not, sadly.) as he starts shooting and finally finds the weak point: Shoot at the ropes which snaps the balloon and the pagoda falls into the ocean. Everyone cheers (Disney Captions claims Kit said "got him!"; but Kit's voice sounds weird that it doesn't sound like that. (Nope; it was Kit's voice. Captions got it right and they were mostly on their best behavior in this episode.)) as the pilot continues to shoot to kill at Wan-Lo; but he misses. Baloo cannot believe what he has done. I would make a quick exit Baloo if I were you. Wan-Lo calls for the heat seeking rockets and he will get them as the rockets fly towards the pilot. The plane dodges them with ease and everyone breathes a sigh of relief until the rocket makes a U-Turn and everyone is shocked and appalled (in that order) as Baloo remembers the toy mouse from earlier in the episode. The plane gets shot down in a horrific explosion. Another rocket flies and the gang manage to duck as it misses the SeaDuck by inches. Baloo gets in a stupid comment as Wan-Lo demands a surrender at once. The mayor blames Baloo (Because goodness knows; we cannot blame the writers nor the racist stereotype invaders for causing this of course. I guess India is not high enough on the list of groups to respect at this point.) and goes to the megaphone as Baloo grabs onto it pleading for him not to surrender. The mayor shrugs him off (Asking if he has done enough already? Answer: Nope.) and declares surrender to Wan-Lo.

Wan-Lo is pleased and demands that they leave the city and never come back again. That's it? I thought Wan-Lo would take everyone prisoner or worse. Oh god; that is a BS&P decision if I ever saw one. There goes the perfect episode right there. (As if the fact that Chinese stereotypes invading an American-equse city wasn't enough to deny it a perfect episode (perfect good and perfect bad rating wise)? What a bigot you are 2010 me?!) No one moves though as Wan-Lo laugh like an insane man. Wan-Lo then screams for everyone to leave and a stampede ensues; as Baloo becomes the victim of being a traitor and meat at the same time. Nice touch with the crowd shouting "Traitor!" to Baloo when they stampede out. (Sounds like a lot of people who would say the same thing about Democrats in 2016 now from Donald Trump supporters.) Considering that he's the one who didn't want to surrender; who's the real traitor here? (Yeah; Baloo's not the one who invaded Panda-La; he merely found it and it was Panda-La who was conquering the city, and the city folded when the going got too tough.) Kit, Rebecca and Louie help Baloo up as he realizes that this is his fault and therefore this is his fight only. Rebecca, Louie and Kit doesn't want him to do it. Rebecca even calls it a "suicide mission". Wow; wow, wow. Don't expect anyone in the New Disney to get away with that. (You can say kill and die in the modern era now. Not sure about suicide now.) Baloo walks away probably to get WildCat since the SeaDuck is right behind him. (Baloo also rips his robes and his torn shirt is magically repaired.) Baloo calls himself a nobody as Kit tries to follow him screaming at Baloo; but Louie ultimately stops him. That worried face of Kit's is just too cute to watch. (Kit is trying to get Baloo's attention to tell him that he is somebody to Kit and he doesn't have to save this city alone.) We head to the SeaDuck as everyone is still running for their lives.

We see WildCat fixing the engine with the hammer as Baloo approaches him wearing a fur coat, with earmuffs and a scarf which he'll lose later on. Baloo tells WildCat that he's delivering special cargo and asks where is everyone. WildCat does a funny line as usual while now holding a saw instead. Baloo enters the SeaDuck and starts the engines as he feels that even his close friends think that he's a traitor. So he's friends with the mayor?! You walked out on them Pop-A-Bear; just to do this mission that is suicide and you know Michael Eisner hates those types of missions. (The problem is: How do you stop them? Cape Suzette's ineffective and Baloo's the only one who has had any success saving this city. So why not do the suicide mission?) WildCat closes the engine door and hops down as now he is wondering why it smells like ice cream in there as the SeaDuck turns around then flies into the sky while showing a static shot of flying into WildCat in the process (That background looked really fake.). We cut to see that the SeaDuck is loaded with ice cream and ice as Baloo is eating ice cream in a cold place. I thought WildCat was the moron of this outfit and it just shows that Rebecca's not the ONLY one with bad ideas. (This is a really silly gag of using ice cream to mask heat; but at least it shows that even TaleSpin has goofy cartoon spots.) The SeaDuck flies around as a heat-seeking rocket approaches the SeaDuck. Baloo dodges it easily and it flies harmlessly away. I get it now; the SeaDuck's cold-blooded now so there's no heat for the rockets to seek. I take it back; this is the GREATEST PLAN EVER~! Yeah; it's silly; but this is TaleSpin after all and it's silly enough to work. No Krackpotkin Plan for this one as Wan-Lo thinks of Baloo as a traitor defying his cause (Geez; I wonder why? Baloo didn't invade your city, but you guys did.) and fires a few more heat-seeking rockets; but they ultimately miss. Baloo doesn't miss though as he lights sticks of TNT and throws them onto the pagodas.

The air balloons explode and drop into the water below. 2:1 odds that those balloon are filled with hydrogen. (Yup. What a bunch of idiots these Pandas are. Use helium next time.) Baloo calls it a little panda-mondium. Hey; it works so no mocking on Pop-A-Bear on that one. Oh wait... (What a bigot you are 2010 me?!) Then we get a shot of Wan-Lo watching on and he is pissed (He calls the rocket defective of course. Which is wrong because the rockets are doing their job. There is no heat literally in the SeaDuck now.) which leads to another fire rocket launch, that misses and Baloo destroys another hot air balloon with the dynamite. So THAT is what was in the box when Baloo was loading up the freezing SeaDuck?! (Yeah. Also of note: Baloo strikes a match and lights a stick of it on-screen and this is not cut out by Toon Disney. Which is laughable considering what happens later on.) Wan Lo is jumping up and down mad, in runs Wan Lo Son number one (the short blue robe wearing one) for this line:

Wan-Lo's Son Number One: Father! The rockets aren't working!
Wan-Lo: I know that! Why do you think I'm hopping up and down!

Now the quote isn't special in itself. What is special is the person voicing Wan-Lo's first son. That one is voiced by none other than...wait for it...Gregory David Weisman! The creator of Gargoyles, no less! So there you have it; our first known non-voice talent doing voice work for TaleSpin. (And knowing how many people were uncredited for this series; there probably will be more.) As for the other voices; I don't know, Dev Ross might have done the female "I don't believe that" since it doesn't sound like Sally Struthers. I should also point out that I thought this son was voiced by Debi Derryberry originally in the previous rant. (I think Debi Derryberry was part of the ADR voice crowd shot too.) Great stuff as he demands that the Pandas launch everything as the SeaDuck get attacked by a hail of rockets. The Trigun has surpassed 2.1 Trigun at this point if the rockets were bullets. Other than one FPS shot; the animation has been smooth as a baby's bottom. (So the method is similar to the method of comedy in modern cartoons: Fire a hundred jokes and hope one of them actually hits. Oh TaleSpin; what have you wrought here?!) Baloo tries to dodge them; but one stay rocket hits the left engine with no rocket present around it and that is enough to disable the engines as the SeaDuck flies a bit before being tangled up against the ropes of the main palace. Open season for the Seaduck ends with a one hit Seaduck kill. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

We go into a building where we get a decent shot of Cape Suzette from below as we then cut to see Baloo tied up and hanging by a rope over a huge hole inside a pagoda. Baloo protests this stating that they were friends as Wan-Lo blows it off saying that they conquer places. Baloo gleefully states the obvious to me as Wan Lo then really depresses me by also stating that good pandas actually hate them. Oh god; that was an obvious BS&P tacked on line if I ever heard one. No self-respecting dick heel ever claims that one guys. (This was clearly tacked on which increases my theory that this episode suffered a lot of the same redubbing that Puffed Rangers suffered a year before this. This plays into my theory that the episode was blacklisted after the first run syndication airing and was redubbed for the second run instead of being barred by Disney Channel/Toon Disney for eighteen months and then reinstated with the match edit since Toon Disney doesn't change dialogue. They cut and paste scenes only.) Wan Lo would throw him in the dungeon; but he has none (of course!) so he orders his palace guards -- who are wearing orange suits and evil spike helmets now -- to wheel the pulley and lower Baloo down to his death. I'm guessing that they cut the rope and Baloo falls to his death. (Ummm; why not? Especially after seeing Kit in Plunder and Lightning? BS&P sucks!) And you thought Captured from Teddy Ruxpin was contrived? Okay; not really as Baloo warns Wan that this is his last chance; but no dice as Baloo freefalls down -- which the ropes have got to be cutting into Baloo's wrists which would be quite cringe-worthy to see -- towards Cape Suzette as the segment ends nearly seventeen and a half minutes in. Wow; other than a few BS&P decisions; this episode still rocks. Too bad this episode is still RACIST too! (Yup.)

After the commercial break; we see Baloo continue to free-fall and then he stops short with a harsh tug. Baloo breathes a sigh of relief as a green hummingbird arrives just for me to point out how pointless that was as Baloo makes the mistake of looking down. That causes him to scream in kind. We cut to see a guard with something that looks like a bone knife. (He's eating a bamboo shoot 2010 me.) As he brings it up to the rope and his mouth, a stray airfoil flies into the scene and nails the guard as he eats the bone knife -- complete with Hanna Barbara chomping sound effect -- and falls to the ground with a thud. Now THAT was an awesome spot. Take three guesses who has arrived and the first two don't count. (Actually; he was eating the bamboo shoot; then we hear a chomp sound. Then the airfoil comes out and whacks the guard in the back of the head and the guard goes out. So it's not as impressive as 2010 me claimed it was.) Kit arrives OUT OF NOWHERE and looks down calling for Baloo. Baloo looks up and sees the last person he expected to see up here. Kit then uses the pully system with tons of effort and pushing back on the lever (JESUS~!) to pull Baloo back up. (Not really; the pully system shoot the rope up in segments; so it didn't cause much strain on Kit to begin with. Again, not as impressive as 2010 me makes it sound.) Baloo gets back onto the floor as Kit unties him. Baloo is SHOCKED to see Kit as they embrace again. Kit then brings out the best line of the entire episode:

Kit: I stowed away. Aw, I couldn't let you go alone. You are a somebody, to me.

Memo to Baloo: Heed those words! Kit is THE MIRACLE WORKER and his word is law! R.J. Williams did another bang up job acting there and it's stuff like this that make me love him as a character. He was the only one who wanted to join in the suicide mission (Hey; see Plunder and Lightning and you'll understand.) . Baloo doesn't thank him for the kind words and he didn't have to say anything since the non-verbal cue of hugging did the talking by the way and the babyfaces bails to the door. We head into the hallways as Kit and Baloo practice the fine art of not being seen by the guards and it backfires as one of the guards pushes the babyfaces back and Kit has his arms up already as the guard growls. Is it over for our heroes? Nah; that just gets the guy in perfect position to get MURDERED by a shattering vase on his head. What is this; ECW?! We look up and we see that Louie was hiding on a canopy. Okay; that makes sense, sort of. Louie jumps down and they slap skin. Sadly; Louie only takes one step forward and here comes spear guard number two. Like he didn't hear the noise on that one?! The babyfaces raise their arms as Louie apologizes and Baloo forgives him just as spear guard number two takes a MAN-SIZED bump off the noggin by the urn. Spear guard number two is knocked out as we see Rebecca Cunningham arrive looking coy. Okay; I take it back: "What is this; Smoky Mountain Wrestling?!" (More like Memphis Wrestling since that's where ECW got their ideas from.) Baloo doesn't but that one as Rebecca actually takes a spear to the ass by spear guard number three as he arrives behind her. HA! Sadly; Wildcat then appears OUT OF NOWHERE as he slams the conveniently placed door right into spear guard #3's face and he takes a wussy bump as a result. Dammit! Yeah; you know Chuck Tately is writing when WildCat suddenly teleports from the ground all the way up to here. Logic break number three for the episode and the worst ones ever made in the series. The only way that makes sense is if Louie had a real plane; or Wildcat had one.

Come to think about it; both WildCat and Louie DID have airplanes (Bearly Alive and A Touch Of Glass). So this teleportation break isn't so obvious anymore. (My guess is that Kit, Louie and Rebecca stowed away in the SeaDuck; while WildCat grabbed onto the SeaDuck from below when the SeaDuck was taking off, because if you recall, they showed a shot of the SeaDuck heading towards WildCat as it was taking off! You know what; this makes sense! Logic break is gone now. Still a racist episode all the same.) Baloo and company are forced to flee back into the holding room and lock the door behind them. Baloo looks at the hole and the gang does the LEAP OF FAITH spot as they fall down and takes a big MAN-SIZED bounce off an air balloon and they crash into the ceiling just in time to stop four pandas from arriving at the rocket launchers. WildCat does a delay version just to amuse me. (And not only that; that fourth guard had a heat seeking missile. Geez; I wonder what the next spot will be?) The four guards are completely out as Baloo decides to give his friends a big fat hug. (Awww! My heart melted. And that's close to not being a lie either.) They sell in kind as Baloo goes towards the rocket launcher and puts the rocket onto the launcher saying that he has a invasion to stop now. Rebecca and Kit try to stop him as Kit hugs Baloo tight. Rebecca admits that she was wrong about parades and Baloo finally sees the light because it's the actions that create somebodies; not what you believe or what people see in you and that's why he must kill himself (my words; not his) to save the city. Kit did the same thing before anyway in Plunder and Lightning, so no one should be surprised. Don't you just love how they can recycle plot lines and still make them seem fresh?! Baloo sits on the rocket backwards and lights it with a match, which Toon Disney cuts by the way. (Here's what Toon Disney did: They cut out Baloo striking the match and lighting the fuse on the heat seeking rocket. Baloo's audio of "weither they believe in me or not" in reference to Cape Suzette is also snipped out. But since there is extra audio; they had to repeat a shot of Louie and WildCat watching Baloo. So yeah; there is the final Toon Disney cut in the series for rant purposes.)

The rocket goes flying. HOLY CRAP! Even Kit isn't THAT insane. Even Rebecca thinks he's crazy so you know that was insane. Louie gleefully states the obvious as Kit wishes Baloo good luck and looks like he's almost ready to cry. The rocket makes it to the SeaDuck as Baloo twirls around on the ropes. Baloo slides down and gets on top of the SeaDuck's nose while his head starts spinning. He goes into the SeaDuck and starts the engines and they manage to roar. Baloo does the snap-the-rope spot that I love so dearly (NOT!) and starts flying around. We return to see Wan-Lo smelling the air and saying that he love conquered territory in the morning. (I don't love war-mongers in real life in the morning either.) The guards behind him are not amused I see. However; Wan-Lo get cut off as the SeaDuck flies right in front of him. Wan-Lo is ticked off and the urge to kill is rising as the rockets are fired again. I will give Wan Lo is; saying "annihilate" is much more nastier and BS&P friendlier than saying "kill him". However; the SeaDuck dodges all of them and the rockets nail the balloons of the pagodas. Why didn't he just do that from the start?! Oh well; details weren't a strong spot with Pop-A-Bear. Baloo flies into the horizon and invokes the HANS SOLO MOVE OF DISMEMBERMENT which allows Wan-Lo to eat yellow ice-cream. I shudder to think what Baloo did to that supply of ice cream. Wink! Wink! Nudge! Nudge! (Nah; it's Buttercream Vanilla ice cream 2010 me! Get your head out of the gutter already.) Wan Lo even gets the cherry on top for good measure. More rockets follow as Baloo decides to enter the palace and the SeaDuck does in kind. Wan-Lo is done now (Yeah Wan-Lo; "no escape" indeed!) as Baloo flies around inside the palace and heads for the armory (Thanks Wan-Lo for pointing that out like an idiot.). Baloo flies the SeaDuck into the weapons area (which is loaded with explosives and gunpowder) and flies through.

The rockets make contact off-screen as seen in the far shot -- with Kit, Wildcat, Rebecca and Louie watching -- and we are treated with the big bang explosion as all hell breaks loose! If Kick Buttowski wasn't a total pussy already; Baloo just upped that into infinity. (Oh screw you, you sexist bigot!) The pagodas are completely destroyed as Wan-Lo and company are forced to flee on air balloons which get destroyed by the rockets in kind. Sadly; Wan-Lo isn't killed by this and will probably reappear in a BOOM comic if BOOM gives TaleSpin it's rightful due. (Which BOOM lost the DTVA license to Joe's Books and I have zero confidence in them doing a TaleSpin comics because Ducks rule and Bears drool. It is accepted fact people; so might as well accept it.) More explosions ensue as this is the most violent episode in the series ever!! If those rockets are gunfire it would be 3.0 Trigun. (This series was violently racist and sexist too.) Kit is sadden as Rebecca and Kit embrace in a really sad moment thinking that Baloo is dead. However; since this is Disney, Louie points out that he's not dead and the SeaDuck arrives fit as fiddle. (Well; that was hardly a surprise.) Apparently; the heat of the rocket melted all the ice and ice cream inside the SeaDuck too. The gang cheers in unison as Baloo waves to his friends. Also, when Baloo waves; you can clearly hear Rebecca Cunningham say outright: "I love you, Baloo!" Now that is just awesome and it really puts a monkey wrench in Magon's attempts to make us think that the marriage is a bad idea. (Well; his reasoning is kind of sound because if you decide to do a marriage even as a grand finale; you risk getting it over and getting the show renewed. Which is funny considering that Disney never cared about TaleSpin to renew it; so nothing Magon would have done would have changed anything. Might as well do the marriage angle at the end of the series and give the show the closure it never got. Well; what can you do?)

That moment segues into Baloo and the gang on a red car with the confetti flying as Baloo managed to get his parade after all rendering the whole parade thing pointless. Then again; Baloo's ego does equal Monty Mongrove minus mustache so there you go. (Hey; Baloo saved the city and he's all of a sudden are going to give up the parade just to prove a moral isn't hypocritical? Geez; that would be like looking for a gift horse in the mouth!) Baloo gives Rebecca the green panda paperweight and decides that he will look for the Easter Bunny as his next mission in life. Oy vey. That's ONE mission that I would not want to see happen. (Is the Easter bunny in this show a descendent of Judy Hopps from Zootopia? Now there's an angle that Zootopia should have explored and hopefully; they will once the television deal is in place.) The parade continues as we pan to the exact same shot we started at the very beginning of the episode (CONTINUITY BABEE! (Well, not quite since the white flag doesn't say "Hooray, Baloo!".)) to end the episode at 21:14. Like I said the first time I ranted this: Better than it had any right to be. (I agree with Kevin Johnston on this: The narrative is sound; but the heels are racist stereotypes and it makes the episode feel really uncomfrontable in the face of the storyline. I cannot give this more than *** 1/2 (70%) in good conscience. I shudder to think what the first run syndication of this episode was life because Asian Americans were pissing on this episode long before Disney Channel even aired the episode!)

THE REVIEW LINE

Well; we end with a good one; albeit you really have to get past the “Chinese acting like terrorists” angle in order to not see this episode as racist. As I said before; there was no getting past the actions of Wan-Lo and his village of pandas in terms of overt racism. If it were Americans as the monster heels; no one would have batted an eye even though it would be equally appalling. You can get away with the excuse of “It is set in the 1930's where racism and sexism were unchecked” with most plot lines; but not with this one as it was clear when Disney blacklisted it for eighteen months. Sadly; this is one of the better episodes in the series which was built up well; the pacing was brilliant and the suspense in the first act did in fact work here. Too bad Disney screwed it up for their Disney Afternoon blocks by showing previews that gave away the suspense. However; as I stated in the first rant of this: the episode wasn't without its flaws though. I have to agree with Kooshmeister that Wan-Lo's sons were in fact useless and seemed to be a tacked on item similar to the good pandas line that Wan-Lo said before Baloo dropped like a bungie cord out of control. (Although they look like Po's cousins from Kung Fu Panda, though; so there is that.) I also agree with critics in the sense of the logic breaks. The first two were basic animation mistakes that could have easily been corrected; but the third one was one that confused me to no end. WildCat somehow appeared despite being on the ground when the SeaDuck took off earlier. Since I suspected that the gang all stowed away on the SeaDuck; I doubt that WildCat could have made it up there. However; the logic break isn't all that surprising considering that Chuck Tately is writing this episode and he's not above committing logic break such as this one. Although in this case; the WildCat teleport isn't so bad anymore since we have seen WildCat and Louie have planes before (they probably used Louie's since it's the only one that looks disposable. (Nah; I think WildCat held onto the SeaDuck from below and everyone else stowed away in the SeaDuck. The logic break is gone now.)).

With that said; this episode was actually quite enjoyable to watch as this was the episode that Baloo finally redeemed himself as a character and really showed that he could rise above the Fred Flintstone stereotype that he was given time and time again. The animation was awesome for the most part and the spot were dead on for the most part and the action was pretty intense and at times pretty violent. However; Kit Cloudkicker rose up and once again showed the world why he is the best child character in history by saving Baloo and telling him the truth that he was a somebody to him. Kit should know this since Baloo saved Cape Suzette from Don Karnage in Plunder and Lightning when no one else could. Kit may be Baloo's conscience, but he can make Baloo look really good in the face of his irresponsibility. He helped prop this episode up nicely and was the only character everyone regardless of who rated this episode liked. That is not an easy thing to do. All in all; this was a better episode that was plagued more with flaws then anything that the offensive storyline presented. The amazing part is; the next two episode re-rants to come actually top this one with Flight of the Snowduck and Save The Tiger. Both were brilliant in their own ways and in the case of Flight Of The Snowduck; the writers basically shredded the memory of Webby away with this one. (Overall; this episode's story was all right, but the stereotypes killed it. So, last up is Flying Dupes and I have already finished the transcript and I have almost completed the re-rant commentary on that. I just have to add up the new ratings and then we go from there with a few more notes and then it can be posted. So I have basically completed this series on television and it's time to move on to the comic stories and clean up.) So...

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

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