Return to 50 Webs
Disclaimer#1: All images, characters and material is (C) 1990/1991 Walt Disney Company and is being used without permission. The web master has made sure that no money was made in the creation of this web page and that all material used here is used with the up most affection and respect to the Walt Disney Company and the Tale Spin Team.
Disclaimer#2: The views expressed here are solely the views of the web master and no one else. The web master has no intentions to change anyone's minds about a particular subject and respects the views of the viewers. Comments about this and other editorial can be E-Mail at gweagle@eastlink.ca or signing the Cloudkicker guest book.
Save The Tiger! Re-Rant
Reviewed: 11/14/2010
Additional
Commentary: 10/24/2021
See How Easy It Is To Show Your Real Feelings To Kit, Miss Cunningham?!
Original Airdate: 11/07/1990 (Syndication), Episode #34 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 2, Disc 1), Episode #39 (Production Order).
Save
The Tiger! Notes
Save
The Tiger! Transcript
This next one for me was a real doozy because it was supposed to be a filler episode and just another episode featuring Baloo being Fred Flintstone. In the end; it turned into anything but as it turned to be one of the most refreshing episode I had ever seen when I first ranted on it.(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Sadly, one spot in this proved to be too tempting for Noah Z. Jones and became the opening of Pickle & Peanut. More on that spot as we move on.) I'll explain why this episode was not the downer episode some in the know wanted it to be below. (2015 Gregory Weagle says: Here's the plot: Baloo saves Khan and Khan repays debts to Baloo. Baloo buys back the SeaDuck and quits Higher For Hire to have fun as Rebecca struggles with her own business. Baloo screws with Khan's money, so Khan sends two heavies to kidnap Baloo for $200,000; which forces Kit and Rebecca to sell everything including Higher For Hire. This is basically a much better version of Yuppy Ducks because unlike Scrooge, Khan only lost a small portion of his fortune because of Baloo antics and probably got most of it back in a few weeks. This is also the moment where Kit and Rebecca embraced; which I loved to see.) Let's rant on shall we...?!
This episode is written by the late Steve Sustarsic whom passed away in 2018. The story is edited by Mark Zaslove. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation (Japan) Inc. and Jade Animation Productions Limited. (Oh, was Jade out to lunch in this episode or what?! You can clearly tell when Jade is animating and it's not a pretty sight. This might not have been their final episode either as Bullethead Baloo had a scene which may or may not be created by Jade Animation.)
We begin this one in the skies as we see Shere Khan's transport plane flying and then we cut to the cockpit where we see two panther furries in the trademark Shere Khan uniforms flying the plane. Then the engine blows out and the Khan Panther gets onto the transmitter proclaiming that engine number one is out. We then see the Khan plane flying stage right out of sight as The SeaDuck enters from above and then we head to the cockpit with Baloo and a case of five cases of pink cream soda pop. (Strawberry soda was Baloo's favorite drink in this show.) Baloo is not impressed since it's warm soda pop. I see the mass market cooler has yet to be invented in this world. Then we find out that Rebecca didn't order an icebox for him. Man; that Rebecca Cunninghham is SUCH a jerkass for doing that, eh?! That would be sarcasm. (Yeah; Baloo should learn just to do his job. Then Rebecca would have fewer reasons to be difficult.) Baloo uses an edge on top of the SeaDuck to open the bottle and soda pop sprays right in Baloo's kisser. HAHA! Baloo gets a cloth from the glove box and thankfully there is no one else in there either. Baloo wipes his face and tries to drink soda; but there is none left. We head back to the distressed Khan plane, engine number two blows out and it takes a nose dive as Khan pilot #1 panics on the transmitter. Khan Navigator -- who doesn't speak here -- flicks some switches in response; but no go. For some strange reason; Pilot #1 is trying to sound like Rob Paulsen and cannot pull it off. (I'm guessing it's either the late Tony Pope or Partic Zimmerman voicing here.) We head back to the SeaDuck as Baloo puts the cloth over a bottle and twists and then bangs the cap with his fist and it springs up and sprays the SeaDuck console. Baloo proclaims that he could die of thirst up here (for death reference #1 for the episode) as he throws the bottle back on the floor with the other bottles and they somehow don't shatter on impact. Okay; that is a BS&P decision if I ever saw one.
We then head back as there are now three Khan panthers -- and one of them is wearing shades so it's the trio in From Here To Machinery -- as Pilot #1 calls for a mayday as it is going down.We then cut back to Pop-A-Bear as he attempts to open the last bottle of soda pop with his bare hands this time and it opens without spray at all. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: See, for once I said the insult as a joke for popping caps from bottles, rather than saying that his face is punchable. Nuance, pass it on!) Baloo shouts "Hallelujah"; which is blastophmy and I bet the bottle sprays pop in his face again. I check the DVD. Damn; I'm so good as the Khan Transport Plane invokes logic break #1 as it somehow flew backwards and nosedived near the Seaduck. Baloo blows off the Sunday filer and hears Pilot #1's mayday signal and then throws the SeaDuck into a nosedive as he throws away the crowbar (The redneck auto pilot I might add.) and gets under the left wing and steadys the Khan transport plane with ease. (This was a weird moment because the SeaDuck was about to go under Khan's plane, but ended up attaching it's own wing to the Khan plane's wing. Just weird.) Khan Navigator -- the one wearing pilot goggles -- is happy as the planes make an emergency landing on an island. We then cut to Baloo in front of the Seaduck rowing to shore on the inflatable raft which was invented in 1855. Baloo gets out and walks towards Khan's plane as the panthers are fixing the engines. Well; both went out so the left engine makes sense here. We pan over as the side door of the Khan plane opens and here comes Khan's Yes-Man who brings out the wooden step ladder and cleans it the with the tiny Ric Flair broomstick; which pretty much represents the legacy of Ric Flair since being in TNA. (Oh please, Ric Flair's legacy there at times wasn't completely buried. He got a great match from Jay Lethal and Mick Foley for crying out loud. Plus; he returned to WWE pretty much as if nothing happened. Well, until the plane ride from hell got on Vice and The Dark Side of The Ring, and he's gone once again.)
Then we get a legs shot of Mr. Khan coming out of the plane as Baloo realizes who it is and makes an ass out of himself doing it. Khan calmly calls him Babaloo. HAHA! Baloo corrects him of course as Khan admits that Baloo saved his life. He owes him everything as Yes-Man brings out the pocket watch and opens it. We get a far shot of Baloo and Khan talking about Khan being $3.7 billion while a lizard walks up a pine tree and eat another fly. That is the sort of crap you don't often see in the new Disney nowadays even though I'm sure Flash can pull it off. (Well; it costs money to bring out the details. Ask Chargeman Ken about it. Actually; the $3.7 billion figure is actually important for this episode, since it actually eliminates the horrible ending that Yuppy Ducks from Ducktales suffered.) No folks; it still doesn't look like Zipper either. I'll explain that one in Louie's Last Stand as Baloo checks his watch and his is running a few thousand slow as the watch represents Shane Douglas's career after being on TNA. AHHAHAHAHAHA! CRUNCH! OUCH! MY ARM! YOU BASTARD! (You mean Larry Larry Zbyszko in WCW 2010 me; he was the one with the "Cruncher" gimmick.) Anyhow; Shere Khan offers Baloo whatever he wants and all he has to do is name it. UH OH! Khan is going to regret that one. (No kidding 2010 me, and watch Baloo as he clearly wanted to make Khan feel his pain in a subtle way.) Khan believes in paying debts and not going back on the deal while he and Yes-Man return to the plane. You'll be regretting that notion, boss. Baloo wants a fridge, a bottle opener and some soda bottles of pop while Yes-Man writes it down on his notebook; but cannot think of anything else. Khan goes back into the plane along with the Yes-Man and tells him to take his time, but don't tell anyone of the arrangement. 2:1 odds that Baloo will break that promise. (He didn't break the promise one time in this episode, which is amazing considering how easy Baloo breaks promises. I personally would have just asked for $200,000 and be done with it; but then again, this episode would be over too quickly because Khan would have no reason to try to send a message to Baloo. While this is an idiot plot, that's fine because Baloo is an idiot in this one anyway.)
Khan shows his claws in order to show who's still the boss and I think Baloo doesn't care since he is a greedy, fat bear. (He will care when this episode is over, I promise thee.) The transport plane closes the door and leaves as I shake my head in shame that Shere Khan would be stupid enough to keep his word to a guy who would take the world if given half the chance. We go back inside the office of Higher...For...Hire as Kit and Baloo walk towards Rebecca in a odd animation scene partly because Kit wasn't involved in the SeaDuck in the first place. Also, they are walking from the back end of the office. (I don't see why it should matter if Kit was in the SeaDuck. Besides, if Kit was with Baloo during this sequence; he would probably noticed that Khan was behind Baloo's kidnapping and give away the arrangement. Methinks someone in writing realizes that.) That tells me that Jade Animation is doing the job here. To be quite honest; Jade isn't nearly as bad as I thought they were. (Oh, just wait until they animate Kit playing tennis on the roof of the SeaDuck. Then you'll change your tune.) They are certainly no Sunwoo in the blown spots department that is for sure. (Sunwoo at least keeps the characters on-model for the most part. Jade doesn't.) We see Molly playing with her doll Lucy in front of the desk as Rebecca wants answers as to why there's an ice-box parked next to the door. Baloo realizes that it's from Khan and inspects it. Inside the icebox is dozens of bottles filled with soda. (All strawberry soda in a nice attention of detail moment.) Rebecca wants answers and Baloo keeps his promise for a change, which gets Rebecca mad. Molly then scares the heck out of me because she found a quarter in the gutter. Doesn't she realize that...never mind, I'm not in the mood to talk about cleaniness at this point. Baloo uses Molly's suggestion for an answer and Rebecca agrees because his head's in the gutter since he's late again. Now; in this case Baloo does have a (good, albeit weak) excuse; but he keeps his word of not telling and goes into his usual defense mode.
Rebecca gets on Baloo's case about being in the gutter instead of delivering cargo. Baloo sits in the red loveseat, crosses his legs and drinks up as he blows Rebecca off. Rebecca blows Baloo off for not taking Higher...For...Hire seriously as a business as Baloo gleefully blows her off again because it's all work see. Rebecca then explains that she loves Higher For Hire because it's home and Baloo blows it off because she only loves money. Rebecca is somewhat taken back from that attack; and not just because Baloo still CANNOT spell money. HAHA! I see he's relasped back into his usual crappy spelling self again. (This is the moment where even the sexist twits are realizing that Rebecca isn't the jerkass that everyone claims she is: Rebecca has mellowed out on the money stuff somewhat and actually cares now that she has a home and family, however; unconventional it is. Baloo doesn't trust her because he has already decided that Rebecca is basically Scrooge McDuck at his worst and doesn't believe that Rebecca has changed a bit. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Ironically, if Rebecca Cunningham was in fact like Scrooge McDuck; TaleSpin would have been greenlighted for a reboot and Zan Owlsen would have been her perfect foil. Because execs only relate to rich people in general.) It is impossible to take Baloo seriously when he's mispelling the word money because he certainly only cares about it as long as he doesn't work for it.) Baloo says that he would quit work if he got lots of money and Rebecca rightfully blows him off. However; Rebecca makes the cardinal sin (Unintentionally of course...) of saying that he cannot even buy back his plane and that causes Baloo to come up with a plan as he walks upstairs. Rebecca follows gleefully blowing him off all the way while Kit and Molly play near the window near the stairs. (I love this moment: Kit has stolen Lucy from Molly, Kit plays "keep the doll away from Molly" and Molly steals it right back instantly. That was funny, because burials of Kit by Molly will never fail to make me laugh. Ditto by Della Duck as well.)
Molly asks if Rebecca is mad at Baloo. Kit then claims that she really likes him. I see Kit has the lying part down to a T now that he's with Baloo now and there is door slamming on that one as Kit does the usual circular logic "better times than others" to justify that one. We return to Khan's office as Baloo arrives -- wearing a brown suit and blue tie which doesn't work since the banana yellow shirt is underneath -- ten minutes late as usual. Khan tells Baloo to sit down as Baloo claims that his tie was screwing him. Khan gleefully answers that one for me as he asks about evening the score which is pretty harsh to be asking to someone if you trying to show gratitude. Baloo asks about money to buy back the SeaDuck and Khan's Yes-Man slides in like Heat Man from Rockman No Constancy. I got to play that hack sometime. (I have zero clue why I referred to that game because the yes-man had an object in his hand that looked like a fist. 2010 Me was reading too much into this; which is amazing considering the amount of times I do that today.) Yes-Man gives Baloo the briefcase containing the money Baloo is impressed as Khan answers the telephone. Baloo then asks if he can have gas, and an air fresher. Khan agrees to it as Baloo runs out of ideas and wants some more time. Khan decides to give it to him; although he's now starting to regret ever talking to him. Baloo goes into the elevator as Khan plays the intercom. Baloo then reveals that Shere Khan is dumb for ever accepting the deal which is played right over the intercom in Shere Khan's office -- which was invented in 1894 -- and that causes Mr. Khan to scratch the desk harshly. (I don't know who got the worse of that: his claws or the desk. I would say, it's a draw at this point.) Like I said earlier in the episode: Give him an inch; he'll take the world. In this case; Khan Industries.
Now watch closely and maybe you'll understand why pressing the reset button is often a good idea. (In short, I think this is a prime example why the reset button is pushed: If you don't push it until it's too late, then all you are doing is basically creating a new show or spinoff while insulting the viewers by giving a weaksauce excuse for it. There is a time and a place for keeping the finger off the reset button. This is not one of those times. You wait until the very end because either the series is going to end or there's going to be a change of direction and a new series overall. When you do it in a filler episode; it comes off as a cheap rating trap.) We return to Higher...For...Hire as we see Kit Cloudkicker cleaning the office floor with the vacuum cleaner which was invented in 1860 at the earliest. Now this episode really sucks. HAHA!
Ron Sparks: It sucks more than Sean Desmond. (Yes, Ron Sparks said this line on an episode of Video On Trial on MuchMusic, so I can verify the quote.)
Baloo enters the office and gives Rebecca the money in order to buy back the SeaDuck. Kit is impressed as he comes to the desk and Rebecca wants to know where he got the money. Baloo then goes into a laughable sequence about Happy Hoover; his rich uncle which Rebecca almost doesn't buy for obvious reasons. The less said the better on Happy Hoover and Huey Hartley which Baloo sheds crocodile tears. (Yeah, the vaccum cleaner was there just to give Baloo an excuse to make up a rich uncle who is dead. I guess the company that makes vacuum cleaners in this word is Happy Hoover. That was amusing to me.) Kit's TOWER OF MONEY building and collapsing was far more interesting and symbolic. Anyhow; Baloo tells Rebecca that he's buying back the SeaDuck and quitting Higher...For...Hire which causes Kit to embrace Baloo (I love that spot; no matter how cheesy it really is.) and that causes Kit to be concerned about Rebecca. Rebecca doesn't think it will be a problem since she'll get a new plane and pilot anyway. Her tone of voice indicates that she probably won't find one. Baloo doesn't seem to care like the greedy bastard that he is as Kit thinks Baloo and Rebecca are supposed to be friends. Baloo states that he's not moving away because he's going to be doing nothing for his life. How touching indeed. No, not really. (Kit's embrace would have said that he was giving his notice too, but his voice tone and look states that he really doesn't know what to do here. He's happy that Baloo has his plane back; but it sounds like Kit has grown fond of Rebecca and having a steady job. Heck, him cleaning up the office with the vacuum cleaner and not complaining about is a sign of that. It's one of those moments that tells just how deep the characterization of this series is. Also, remember that this show isn't a serialized show.) We return to Mr. Khan's office as Shere Khan exits the elevator with papers.
One guess as to what happens next as we see Baloo flipping his pilot's cap sitting in a desk and calls him a typhoon. (Of course, because Baloo's a greedy idiot who cannot say Tycoon; even though no one in the Wuzzles has this kind of problem.) Baloo then lists his demands which last for over a minute in sequence as day turns to night. I'll leave the list as an excercise to the reader. (Or you can read the transcript of the episode in the link above the beginning of this re-rant. Either way; Baloo is much greedier than me. Oh, and half of what he orders is rhyming, so Baloo has no idea what he really wants. I should note that Pickle & Peanut did the exact same routine for their opening sequence, so blame good old Pop-A-Bear for encouraging that.) Baloo finally stops and decides to leave and return tomorrow morning because he's tried and his mouth is dry. As he leaves, Shere Khan crushes some papers and goes to the intercom and calls out for Garth to get rid of a pest. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. We go to the docks of Higher...For...Hire as Rebecca and Molly walk towards the docks to meet the new pilot. Molly asks why he is called the Barber. Rebecca's excitement is dulled quickly as a out-of control grey seaplane which seems to change from red to grey in a matter of frames crashes into the trees taking some distrubing bumps along the way. (Oh, that's why he is called Joe "The Barber". I should note something: In Chargeman Ken, they have this useless robot sidekick named Bariken, which means hair clippers. This would have been great if we discovered that Bariken moonlights as a barber and maintain's Ken's hair. It never happened. Joe "The Barber" seems similar; but considering that he buzzes off trees and sail poles; at least he's trying to play the part.) That would be the first mistake from Jade Animation eight and a half minutes in; which is a five hundred percent improvement from the last episode they did. (You haven't seen the tennis scene with Baloo and Kit just yet.)
The seaplane lands harshly as a leopard furry shows up called Joe "The Barber" who is voiced by Patrick Zimmerman. Joe "The Barber" comes out and looks as goofy as humanly possible (One of his eyes looks zany for some unknown reason. It's probably from an allergy he suffered.) as Rebecca and Molly look mad when the side door opens. Rebecca gives him the WRAITH OF BECKEY. Geez; thirty seconds into the job and Rebecca is already yelling at the employee. Must be something in the business major's research papers that Rebecca studied during her time at night school that makes her do that spot. (Well; she had total justification for it since Joe flew his plane so low that Rebecca and Molly were forced to duck before getting diced into bloody pieces. Methinks Rebecca was generous in this scene.) See; Joe was a crop duster and gave it up due to nerves. (Originally; I thought his name was Joe Cropduster, and it was a long time before I realize that he was formally a crop duster; and a poor one at that. So yeah, more Fanon from me, I guess.) Anyhow; the sequence then degenerates (in a good way) into Joe's allergies and none of it is cut out by Disney censors.Which is quite funny when Joe starts shaking like a leaf. Joe even offers to wear a blindfold; but no dice since Joe is afraid of heights, the dark and platypuses. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, there's one henchmen Dr. Doof from Phineas & Ferb cannot hire, for obvious and not so obvious reasons.) Molly is already missing Baloo while pulling on Rebecca's pantleg to continue to cement her reputation as an ankle biter. (When Molly Cunningham can see through this idiocy and wants Rebecca to bring Baloo back, you know Rebecca cannot find a good pilot on fifty thousand dollars. This continues to show the fact that winning the race in Feminine Air has not really changed the attitude of most pilots in this era. Just like in real life, I guess.)
Rebecca actually agrees with her; not realizing that Baloo is screwing Mr. Khan out of his money Needless to say; after the funny sequence Joe walks towards the office. We then head to the Seaduck and through the magic of the MAGIC SOUND OF DOOM and three scene changers; we see the Seaduck turned from yellow to white with a firey red nose cone. That is absolute blastomphy for SeaDuck fans everywhere. (Oh come on! If Baloo wants to turn his SeaDuck into a airplane float with weapons, a malt shop and a retractable tennis court, who are we to complain about it? It's his plane now in storyline.) To makes matter worse; they add a tennis court and enough rockets to sink a battleship to the sacred plane. Now, I hope no one tries to do violent protests for this offense. Scene changer beckons as Baloo and Kit are now playing tennis. Baloo is actually winning for once as he aces Kit twice in a row; but I'm proven wrong as Kit manages an "excuse me" defense and manages to win the point and apparently the match as Baloo gives Kit the win. Which means the match was actually very close. Not surprising since Kit usually beats Baloo at everything. The music stops as Kit is happy enough to restart the record player. It's the same song they play in the beginning of Plunder and Lightning Part 2. I must admit that Jade is doing a better job than I expected to although the scene is so rubbery that it wasn't funny. (Watch how they animate Kit during the second ace Baloo served in the tennis match, it looks so rubbery when Kit does the splits. The characters look completely off-model half of the time. Bullethead Baloo had this style when Khan was shown to the Jungle Aces for the first time, but it was reeled in quite a bit to faces only. Hanho Heung-Up isn't nearly this off-model; although Wang Films does have that problems at times.) I should note that Baloo is wearing an outfit that makes me hang my head in shame so I refuse to comment on it other than that.
Baloo offers Kit a chocolate milkshake with the tennis racket at the MALT DEPENSERS OF DOOM -- which has a cuckoo clock which indicates Baloo's sanity at this point -- and Kit answers with a cute tone. At least Kit is still in awesomeness mode as Baloo wants to have his fifth birthday as he and Kit jump down from the SeaDuck from the ladder. Baloo opens the side door as various international objects fall on poor Kit Cloudkicker's little body. I guess that is foreshadowing to him being buried by the writers. (Also gets another concussion here.) Even more so since the banner say "Happy Birthday To Me" which indicates that Baloo's spelling has increased five hundred percent since Vowel Play. (Don't give Baloo too much credit, he's still got Sheepskin Deep to get to.) Kit then admits that he wants to see Rebecca Cunningham (and the look he gives appears to be he has a crush on her since he appears to be in dreamy mode.) and Baloo sounds confused since it's been a week. Kit gets really upset over this and Baloo decides to invite Rebecca over for a party. Then Baloo and Kit do the "After You" spot in order to annoy me a little bit since they do it forever. The babyfaces walks away from the docks stage left as we pan west and see two furries hiding (One of them is a tiger furry with a green coat and blue baseball cap and the other one is a panther fury with a green vest, brown tie and blue derby hat.) as they have spotted their target which is Fatass Baloo. POW! OUCH! Ummmmm... I'm guessing that the panther furry is Kidnapper Garth since my notes indicate the panther furry only. (and the fact that the panther furry speaks the most in this episode.) Garth proclaims that it's time to snatch the lug and that ends the segment nearly twelve and a half minutes in. Kidnapper Garth (the panther furry) is voiced by the late Tony Pope, whom passed away in 2004 due to complications from leg surgery. Wow, that has to suck and a real downer to the end of this segment, too.
(2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Again; the storyline is working because Baloo being a Fred Flintstone works out since Baloo is a more sympatheic figure than Fred ever was. Of course; the problem with this is; that Baloo got saddled into too many of these kind of episodes instead of giving Kit, WildCat, Molly and Rebecca more focus episodes and build on the already loaded characterization. Baloo was already over on his Jungle Book star power in this show; so why not focus on the other characters and get them over?! Not like Kit and Rebecca really need it; but Rebecca/WildCat, Kit/WildCat focused episodes would have really helped this series. It seems that the only real flaws in the show aren't really flaws as much as they were icing to a loaded cake. Again, this show was designed to buy time for Darkwing Duck and create a new show for the Disney Afternoon block in order to save jobs, because the execs thought B-Players was too close to Tiny Toon Adventures and making them look bad.)
After the commercial break; we head to the shot of Higher...For...Hire from Double Or Nothing as a weasel furry is loading up a green truck in front of the office. We then see a rhino furry in purple clothes walk out of the office mad as Rebecca pleads for him to come back as his pilot will come tomorrow. No dice as they both get into the truck and drive out stage left as Molly runs in and asks what is wrong. Rebecca states that this is the third client they lost this week. Geez; even Baloo cannot lose clients this fast. Rebecca does the cliche of not getting worse as Joe “The Barber”'s seaplane finally arrives about thirty seconds too late and nearly kills Rebecca and Molly in process as the plane lands and clips the Higher For Hire sign in a symbolic moment. Even funnier; the wings have changed from red to yellow now. MAKE UP YOUR MIND JADE! (You know what; I'm more offended by the rubbery nature of this episode than simple coloring mistakes. Those I see in nearly every television cartoon series I have ever watch. Even the best ones.) Rebecca is more flustered than angry as Joe opens the pilot's door and states that he quits because the strawberries give him the willies. He's going to draw the line right there as he closes the door with an umbrella. (I wondered why that eye was so zany now. Joe's allergy to strawberries causes his eye to go nuts. In that case, I sympathize with him. Would have still been fired anyway.) If only some cartoonist would learn that lesson; the world would be a better place and it's not what you think. (John K or Seth MacFarlane 2010 me?! As you said with Jade: Make up your mind!) Joe flies away and manages to clip three sails off of the boats in the process. HAHA! Joe The Barber is the non-duck version of Launchpad now. Rebecca sits down and ponders about getting another pilot as Baloo arrives in a white limo with Kit right beside him. Oh TAG! (Oh TAG indeed! Look at that limo: Golden wings, and a cauldron with an umbrella in the back. So absurd!)
Molly spots him and jumps into Baloo's hands in order to play with his hat, which Baloo gives her. Rebecca tells him that everything is all right, pops the question about a pilot the wrong way and Baloo blows her off gently. (Basically he told her that there are lots of pilots to choose from. Never mind that in Feminine Air, most of them are sexist douchebags. Really nice way of sticking it to your former boss there, Pop-A-Bear. Can you sense that the writers have finally written Rebecca properly as a character now?!) Rebecca is not happy to hear that as Kit looks at Higher For Hire as it is a disaster area. Rebecca blows it off; saying she's all right. Kit doesn't think so as Baloo asks for Rebecca to come to his un-birthday party in fifteen minutes. Rebecca no-sells nicely (oh TAG!) and both Baloo and Kit leave in the limo. (Kit was actually about to say that Baloo should help as Baloo got his top hat back and they leave.) We return to the docks -- apparently on the other side of the docks -- as Baloo stops the limo and gets out of it. (Here's a great example of a non-verbal cue: In the previous scene with the limo, Kit was side by side with Baloo, as if Kit was on Baloo's side. However; now that Kit has seen that Higher For Hire is in the proverbal toilet and feeling bad about it, he's sitting in the back now. As if he cannot stand sitting next to Baloo knowing how much of a bad position Rebecca is in now. Doing all the transcripts has worked wonders now because I'm finally starting to see why scenes are like the way they are, and in the end they make more sense.) Kit doesn't however as Baloo notices that he is down. Baloo opens the door for Kit and Kit reluctantly climbs out saying that Baloo should help Rebecca. Baloo sits onto the lawn chair and blows off Rebecca because Baloo is greedy and money has affected his head. Oh wait; the ping-pong ball is defective, my mistake. (Nah; it's both in this case. Along with Baloo's head being defective too.)
Kit goes into the Seaduck (I'm shocked that Kit didn't blow off Baloo here because it would certainly be right of him to do so.) as Baloo notices two shadows coming towards him. Yeah; it's Garth and his buddy as Baloo demands the birthday cake as both thugs invoke the sack and kidnap Baloo with it. We head inside the offices of Higher...For...Hire as the place is a mess of paper even more so than when Baloo was working for her. How about THAT for irony?! We see Rebecca going to her ticker machine as she cannot stay in business like this. Kit runs into the office -- complete with ransom note -- screaming that Baloo's been kidnapped. Clearly; the kidnappers aren't too bright because just kidnapping Baloo exposes that Khan's the one who's behind it. Of course; that would be assuming that Baloo broke his word, so that was pointless to point out on my part. (Yeah; if Baloo had told Kit about, Kit would know why Baloo was kidnapped. Here, they set it up as if Garth and his buddy were simply generic guys who wanted Baloo's money.) Kit wants Rebecca to help him; but Rebecca is broke thanks to Joe “The Barber”. (Also, the fact that pilots in this world are sexist douchebags.) Molly comes down with her piggy bank of pennies just to amuse me. (Believe it or not, they did pay this off for the next act.) Rebecca then has a plan and decides to sell everything he got from Shere Khan. Problem is; everything Baloo wanted was pretty cheap outside of the SeaDuck, of course and she needs $200,000 for the ransom. The note also states to do it by nightfall under Clapton Bridge. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This might be a reference to Eric Clapton and the song Floating Bridge released in 1981. Pop-Culture reference that old farts would scream bloody murder over if this was done by today's cartoons strikes again!) If you contact the police; your friend is basically dead. Come on guys! You seriously think that “you'll never see your friend again” is abstract enough to be anything else than death?!
Besides; in TaleSpin even Kit is allowed to say kill anyway. (I never understood why you need to tone it down in a show that has no problems with kill or die. Besides, Baloo doesn't die anyway, so it's pretty pointless to tone it down.) We head to the hotel AFTER HAPPY HOUR (After dark) flashing in red neon lights, then pan over to a window and then inside to a closeup of a telephone as Garth is dialing a black telephone. (The hotel's name is Bedbug Hotel. Har har!) We see Garth's buddy tying up and gagging Baloo to a wooden chair as Baloo yells are muffled. Sadly; the chair isn't tied down as Baloo uses the chair to stamp on Garth's buddy's foot in a neat spot. Baloo?! Doing a neat spot?! I'm SHOCKED! No. not really. Garth is on the telephone and I should note that checking into a hotel room is logic break #2 simply because it's too easy for someone to spot a kidnapping going on and call the police. Unless; the hotel is owned by Mr. Khan, har har! (They never told us; but considering how crappy this hotel is, I wouldn't be surprised if it was abandoned. TaleSpin to it's credit, can show the wrong part of town and the middle class when needed. Most new Disney shows would like to avoid it all the time because the Disney mantra that it must be a happy place. I can understand that mission statement, but it is a really bad mission statement in the long run since it doesn't adhere to reality. It's one thing if it's animation, you expect the show to not be grounded in reality, with it's chimeras and such. However; most of this is done as if it was real, in a live-action sense. Unless you are willing to bend to the reality of live-action, then you're going to have trouble.) Anyhow; Baloo bounces around in the chair for a while as Garth is calling Mr. Khan as they exchange notes. (They never let Baloo on that they are talking to Shere Khan. They're acting like they are talking to a two bit gangster or even Trader Moe. If it was Moe they were talking too, then Trader Moe found his new goons, and boy; these goons are effective.)
Baloo's knocking prompts Garth to scream "Shut Up" unintentionally to Mr. Khan! Ooooooo...that's KNASTY! If you don't get the joke relax. You will sleep better not knowing why that joke is so funny. (Basically; it's Scott Keith's nickname to Brian Knobbs in WCW in case you need to know. I fear one day, The Nasty Boys will be on WWE programming in the future. I just hope they never win a match, ever. I'm fine with the Dudleys winning the title, or even winning a few matches.) Apparently; Joe apologizes and likes his knees very much. Ooooo...that's really KNASTY! Joe gets squashed by Baloo's chair. Oooo...that's absolutely KNASTY! Garth hangs up the phone and helps Garth's buddy place Baloo in a dark room and locks it with the wooden plank. The kidnappers breathe a sigh of relief until Baloo breaks the door down and squashes Garth in the process. That is nasty KNASTY! Baloo tries to escape; but falls down the stairs taking some KNASTY bumps in the process. Garth's buddy goes after him as Garth finally gets squashed by the hide-a-bed! Now that's just sad. Folks; the joke is now officially dead and may it rest in peace; finding a better place in joke heaven. (This is probably the only joke that stayed in the episode it was started on. I must have realized that there was no payoff forthcoming and thus I abandoned it like this hotel was abandoned.) So we return to Higher...For...Hire as the sign is apparently been rebuilt after Joe The Barber sliced it into pieces. (Which is useless since they sold pretty much everything at this point; and it doesn't help their money troubles in anyway.) We see a sea-tractor (Towed by a furry in which the sea tractor has a grass roof on it for no reason that I can think of.) tows away the SeaDuck and things look dim as Rebecca is short by a lot now. Kit takes off his baseball cap just to show you that this is serious, and it leads to this exchange that I really wanted to see happen for so long:
Kit: But we sold
everything! (Kit takes his baseball cap off and squeezes
it.)
Including the SeaDuck.
Rebecca:
(Looks at Kit.)
Well...there's still one
thing that hasn't been sold.
Kit: But I'm only a kid! (Yes;
that's right. Kit Cloudkicker seriously believed that Rebecca was
going to sell him onto the black market. There was a discussion on
the Animation Source board about that line and many argued that it
was meant to be a joke. Well, I didn't think Kit was trying to be
funny because, now that I have thought about it for a while, it makes
sense for Kit to react this way because in the time period of this
show and even before that, it was not uncommon for children to be
sold and was considered legal at the time. That was mostly because
the attitude was (and still is if the anti-vaxxers are of any
indication.) that children were nothing more than property. In my
fanfics, Badwin Pentaknight was an example of that type of heel. Anne
of Green Gables is a perfect example of this with Anne herself. Also,
let's not forget "The Long Flight Home" where Julius was
hellbent in sending Kit to an orphanage. A little research goes a
long way in showing that what Kit said here was very natural and
believable.)
Rebecca: No, Kit.
Kit: But
what else is left to sell?
Rebecca: Higher
For Hire. (Both
turn around to look as the seagull are flying over it. Shot
of Kit and Rebecca in front of the office as Rebecca has finished
nailing up the white sold sign in front of the office. )
Kit:
I'm sorry, Miss Cunningham.
Rebecca: Ah,
it's just a dumb old business anyway. (Rebecca throws
the hammer away and Rebecca embraces Kit.)
The important thing now is we get
Baloo back.
Why do I love that moment, you ask? It not as much of a tearjerker as Plunder and Lightning and Stormy Weather was, no thanks in small part to Disney going to commercial break in the middle of the scene. (Actually; I have mellowed out on the commercial break thing because the fade to black and return to action is actually similar to the ending to Astro Attacks Aliens in Astroboy 1980 in terms of going to a fade to black and then return in the middle of the scene with Astro saying his goodbyes and saluting over a cliff that is of rumble and the death of his second in command. It's really an interesting attention to detail by editors here.) It showed a sign of Rebecca that was always there but was unspoken physically or verbally up to now. Rebecca loved Kit like if Kit were her very own son and the hug symbolized it better than any dialogue could. (This all started the moment Rebecca addressed Kit in Plunder and Lightning: She felt something was amiss because why would a boy like Kit, who is the exact opposite of Baloo want to have anything to do with Baloo. Of course, you have to discount the goof/straight man routine part; but still, it's odd that Kit could control the straight man so easily. Home Is Where The Heart Is basically cemented that Rebecca did in fact love Kit and wanted him to stay should Baloo be able to buy back the SeaDuck. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: There is evidence from the original rough drafts of Stormy Weather and the fact that Kit's fur color is similar to Rebecca's that Kit was supposed to be Rebecca's son in storyline. This was changed to eliminate the questions about the father in question, even though they still kept Rebecca being Disney's answer to Murphy Brown, only Rebecca actually had some power as the boss rather than employee.) It also showed Rebecca has indeed fully grown up from the greedy, pig-headed woman that invoke the WRAITH OF BECKEY as a way to amuse me to a mature adult who wanted a surrogate family all along to flush away the loneliness.
Kit may not fully get it; but that hug is a reminder that Rebecca is a face no matter how much heel heat she sometimes get. What bugs me is that they timed the commercial break to in between the sequence instead of waiting until after Rebecca proclaims that they need to look for Baloo because it just dulls the sequence a little bit. I really don't like that since it sounds like a BS&P decision from parent's groups who have stated time and time again that they hate television in general and are only accepting it now because they realize how hypocritical they really are. (Because churches have discovered dollar signs in having their sermons televised. Televised Sunday mass was a big thing and Vision TV in Canada made a killing off of this in the 1990's. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Vision TV is still like this even now. To be honest, I have since mellowed out on that scene and the fade to black before going to the next scene was intentional since Astro Boy 1980's did the same thing as mentioned in the previous paragraph. While some of these aspects of television were done due to moral guardians, this scene is not one of them.)) I have heard from Dogsau from "Pokemon Comparisons" that one scene had the music changed from something that sounds heartbreaking to action music because if it didn't happen; they would cut the scene out. This is the sort of nonsense that has plagued execs everywhere and has lead everyone to believe that everything is total crap now. (TESTIFY~! Although; considering how tight copyright laws are now, it doesn't surprise me that the music being cut was for copyright reasons rather than moral guardians hating cartoons. It's still nonsense just the same.) By the way; this ends the segment sixteen and a half minutes in.
After the commercial break; we head to a far shot of the bridge with a red spotlight on it AFTER HAPPY HOUR as a motorboat is lighting around. We then head to a closeup shot of a sidewalk in a dark messy alley as we see a rat run through a puddle, Rebecca steps on a puddle, backs away, shake off the water with her foot and then she blows off Kit who is hiding behind a dumpster with the sack. Apparently; he's scaring the kidnappers away. Kit should be used to this place by now; considering that Kit's life involves being homeless in these places. (Well; he was in an alleyway taking the wrong way home in The Idol Rich, so some things never change.) The sack he's carrying is bigger than his body weight as Molly's heart must be broken somewhere; but she let go of her pennies to save Baloo so you Molly haters can just SHUT UP!! (I'm kind of fed up with the notion that cuteness and sweetness are horrible. If she was a jerk; I can see why people would hate her, but I don't see Molly as a jerk. Naive and sweeter than candy, yes. But people love candy, even if they keep telling us how bad it is. I never understood the appeal of fragile emo characters except as a form of projection on the writer. I guess a lot of writers are emos themselves, but why make fragile emos when they are not all that appealing to the rest of us?! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: You are speaking from experience I see, 2015 Me!) ) Kit walks quickly; but trips onto a throw-away mattress with the springs. I betcha Kit feels right at home if you know what I mean. Thankfully; the deprogramming keeps Kit from making references to his previous life, except on my fanfics of course. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, the comics decided to take some of the piss out of the television series in general, judging by "The Long Flight Home" among others. Ironically, the French only comics did even more to present Kit being unable to do math so hard that Tanner Johnson stole it for The Lost Cargo Of Kit Cloudkicker! More on that in later reviews and of course the Ducktales 2017 episode!)
They spot the kidnapper who is really just a street bum (Ed Gilbert- The voice; not a bum! I can't believe I make a Fang reference from DAVE THE CLEANING....Forget it! It's not worth it anymore and it only encourages Corey Burton's point about Gilbert being a disgrace to Phil Harris...) fishing crap out of the garbage can. Rebecca is not amused as the bum is a fox with a white beard, fingerless gloves, a gray coat and a pot on his head. (At least he sounds happy; so he can live in his bubbly world for all I care.) Apparently; he's after "fish sticks" -- a nice way of saying drugs -- as two hundred thousand dollars will buy a lot of "fish sticks". Oh, come on guys! You cannot tell me fish sticks is NOT a codeword for drugs after mushrooms became one in the drug lexicon?! (Who spends two hundred thousand dollars for actual fish sticks anyway? I can get spending a hundred dollars to get the real thing, but this is not small change. I have put "fish sticks" "drug slang" into Google and I think this bum wants more than the real fish sticks and drugs; he apparently is a john as well. Yeah; a prostitution reference. Nice one, guys!) The bum grabs the sack of money and runs away. I guess Kit didn't see the kidnappers after all which is actually true in a sense no logic break there. (He couldn't have; otherwise, he would have told Rebecca that in storyline.) Anyhow; the REAL kidnappers show up -- only Garth of course -- and he demands the money while flipping a dime as the mature lighting is in effect here. (I see where Kit got his flipping coin from in Bringing Down Babyface.) Kit runs away stage left and gets into a fight with the bum off-screen -- judging by the groans and the squash Kit gives to him --; grabbing the sack of money back. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Okay, here's a scene that I actually had to add something to the transcript that I missed and I thank No Context TaleSpin for this moment: As Kit and the FishStick Lover are fighting off-screen, apparently; Kit yelps in pain and accuses the transient of stabbing him. Kit comes back and has no injuries on him to indicate that he got stabbed. Either Kit tricked the bum to thinking he was stabbed and got the sack back that way. Or; he really was stabbed when Kit got the sack back and the animators forgot to show any injuries. If it's the former, that's fine. The later is a gaping logic break caused by BS&P in a big way. Kit has gotten his eye batted in once and even stabbed himself with a vegetable peeler in Flight School Confidential; but never stabbed by someone. It's so weird that the creators actually got away with this despite the fact that TaleSpin's censors were really looking the other in the way they approached the show in general.)
Oh lord; are we really SHOCKED when we found out Kit was a runaway street urchin in Plunder and Lightning?! (I'm more shocked that Kit beat the hell out of a homeless guy off-screen. Sure, the bum wasn't supposed to get $200,000 and this bum shouldn't be having recreational goodies nor screwing with women either. But still; this is only going to encourage Samthana Puckett from iCarly to pull off this crap and not get in trouble over it.) Kit and Rebecca give the money to Garth and demand Baloo back. Garth points up and we then go to the bridge where Garth's buddy has the tied up Baloo. Which we get logic break number three for the episode since Baloo talks with the gag on. (Need better gags and I do not mean the comedy versions of it.) Baloo finally relieves himself from the gag and cuts a promo before bouncing off the bridge and manages to squash the boatman off the the motorboat. (Oh, and the police officer looks like it's from Stormy Weather to boot!) That was painful to watch and that's actually the first blown spot of the episode, not by much mind you, either. The motorboat turns on and suddenly I smell a spot fest going on. I hope they switched to Walt Disney Animation Japan (Inc.) by now because this could be painful to watch if Jade Animation is animating this. (Thankfully; the animation in this was much better than the tennis scene earlier.) Kit and Rebecca try to jump into the motorboat; but miss entirely. They grab the stray rope on the rebound and hang on as Kit Cloudkicker gets onto his airfoil and allows Rebecca to ride on it. Now that's a mother/son bond unspoken indeed! (Also unlike Molly, Kit has better control of his airfoil; although to be fair, they are being towed by a motorboat.) Kit and Rebecca pull the rope in order to avoid smashing into the bridge but the rope snap spot rears its ugly head and that causes a major whiplash as Rebecca and Kit falls into the water harshly. That was one sick spot when the feathers fly from the seagulls and both babyfaces spit water.
The motorboat cruises along -- thanks to Baloo unintentionally pushing the lever (JESUS~!) from the start -- and is heading straight for a large metal ship. Kit and Rebecca grab a wooden motorboat (Kit yells "faster"; but his mouth doesn't move.) and cruise towards the scene as it is clear they that aren't going to make it. Rebecca suddenly has an idea as Baloo finally frees himself from bondage and panics. Rebecca grabs the fishing rod and cast it just as the motorboat explodes on impact with the metal boat. The motorboat is destroyed as no damage was apparently done to the metal boat. Logic break number four for real in this episode (and that ends the perfect episode right there.). OUCH! Man; TaleSpin had a lot of ramming into metal objects eh?! Baloo appears to be dead; but this is Disney and Rebecca manages to fish Baloo out of the water safely. (Yeah; the near hits were so close that we truly believed that Baloo could have died because the explosion happened right around where Baloo was. This is how you allow danger to exist without having your characters die.) Baloo thanks Rebecca as Kit explains to Baloo that he sold the SeaDuck (which gets Baloo mad as Rebecca is defending herself as if she is going to be strangled or worse. ) and Higher...For...Hire which makes Baloo feel shameful as Rebecca starts to cry while rowing towards the shore. At least her crying is much better this time around. She does lose some respect trying to pass it off as a cold. Anyway; Baloo walks off the boats saying that he need to see someone. One guess as to whom. We head to Khan's Office (and Khan proclaims that Baloo is fifteen minutes late this time, but Baloo provides no excuse this time around.) as Baloo demands a last favor to Mr. Khan and this one will be the last one: Baloo wants everything back the way it was before he ever saved Khan. Khan agrees to it and gives him the deed to Higher..For..Hire and the SeaDuck. Sadly; Jade screwed it up by showing the deed on the desk during the thank yous. (Yeah, it should have been inside the letter by now.)
However; they did make it up by showing Baloo was all wet which gave me a chuckle. Baloo leaves the office as Garth and his buddy show up in business suits admitting that they were merely employees of Mr. Khan. SWEVERE indeed! Garth asks why he didn't want him killed and Khan answers that he never goes back on a deal; even if he bends DA RULES (FAIRY GODPARENTS!) a little. That was pretty awesome since Baloo did screw Mr. Khan out of his money and as long as Baloo never finds out that the kidnappers were merely employees of Khan then the deal is still legal. Also, this one is ten minutes ahead of schedule too as Khan checks his pocket watch. Khan turns his chair around and asks about other important matters. (Here's why this finish works in this episode and not work in the finish to Yuppy Ducks: Shere Khan is worth $3.7 billion dollars and he really only lost about $250,000 tops on Baloo's greed. The deal was in secret and it was small potatoes compared to Yuppy Ducks, where the nephews decisions destroyed Scrooge's fortune completely. However; Khan realized that he was being taken advantaged of, and he set out to nip it in the bud by having his kidnappers convince Baloo that there were enemies wanting to steal the leeched fortune Baloo had. Once Baloo was saved, Baloo was convinced that this was not worth it anymore and it only brought him and his friends to complete ruin. That works and you can push the reset button without doing much damage to Khan's fortune and still make it legal and not kill off the economy. I still wanna know how Khan found the SeaDuck and the deed to Higher For Hire; but at least it's only two items. In Yuppy Ducks, the nephews get the fortune back by declaring that they gave awful advice and were not legal; thus voiding the contracts. Which Joe from The Issue At Hand and Christopher Barat have said in reviews of Yuppy Ducks was beyond the pale absurd and could never work in real life. Furthermore, the nephews did this behind Scrooge's back and nearly killed the economy in the process. Sometime, playing it small is the best when telling this plotline because if it gets too big, then there is no way to get out of it without a huge black hole in logic. I also concur with my thoughts on Yuppy Ducks from my rant on that episode: The nephews merely gave advice, thus unless the execs signed the deal out of false pretenses then none of the contracts can be void just because your advisors are ten years old. It doesn't work that way and it is one of the worst finishes in Ducktales history.)
We return to Higher...For...Hire in the morning as Rebecca and Kit are ready to leave for another life as the taxi arrives to pick them up. However; Baloo appears, trips on a tree root just to amuse me, takes some decent bumps on the concreate and a good bump into the sold sign. HAHA! Baloo then gives Rebecca the letter which contains the DEED OF DEATH. Rebecca is SHOCKED at these events as Baloo states that it's perfectly legal. Rebecca doesn't like it; but Baloo doesn't incriminate himself. Rebecca doesn't care anyway and wonders why. Baloo claims that he owes Rebecca her support. Rebecca almost ribs Baloo but misses by about three inches. Well; you do have to keep Baloo in check; considering that he is a liar. The MIRACLE WORKERS CONNECTION PLUS MATURE BUSINESS WOMAN walk towards the office to finally end the episode at 21:17. One of the best filler episodes I have ever seen; but the logic breaks kill the perfection Dan Green claims it deserves . **** 1/2 (90%). (The rating stands as is and I really like the finish now because it works a lot better than something like Yuppy Ducks. Yes, this was a Fred Flintstone plot; but it was well done and involved a more likable character in Baloo. I also love how Rebecca has matured up to this point. She has become a real character and has her complexities as the owner of Higher For Hire. I hope this keeps up for her.)
THE REVIEW LINE
What an episode this was and it's a filler episode with actual good insight into the characters. Everything clicked in this episode; but what really impressed me was that Rebecca Cunningham actually showed great maturity throughout this episode. She kept her cool for the most part in the face of losing Baloo to his greedy ways of screwing Mr. Khan out of his money. She then showed that she can admit that Baloo was the best pilot he had and was willing to take him back; even though Baloo didn't show any gratitude towards her. She could have invoked her anger spot (Even if it was her right to do so in this case.) ; but she held back. She also showed that she could finally live with the fact that there were more important things than money and that was family as the embrace of Kit Cloudkicker showed. Kit may not completely get that fact; but it doesn't matter. Rebecca loves him and it was shown to the world for everyone to see. No direct dialogue on the matter was needed which is a sin that most anime dubber would do if they were dubbing. (Yeah; because kids are so stupid, they need them to talk about their love for each other, even though a simple hug got the message loud and clear. We need to teach children the art of nonverbal cues; because it shows in the modern cartoons where everything has to be jackhammered to the ground to the point that it ceases being funny or good.) This was Rebecca's breakthrough episode that showed that A Star Is Torn was no fluke. (I think Her Chance to Dream was her breakout episode since it was ER at it's best drama.) The animation was nearly on and that is remarkable because Jade Animation did a terrible job with All Whale That Ends Whale that it sunk the show down a few notches. Kit was Kit and they even let him have some good spots. As for those who claim that this is a downer episode: It's Shere Khan we are talking about. It's hard to have sympathy for a guy who's dumb enough to waste his money on little ones just to show that he has a small heart even though it's only half as black as Don Karnage's. Double Or Nothing was more of a downer due to Baloo screwing his best friend out of his money which was more painful to watch since Kit is the most over character in all of DTVA.
Now Concerning The Reset Button Trope: The problem is that there is still a right way and a wrong way to approach both pushing the reset button and letting Baloo succeed in his money making scheme. See; if Baloo succeeds in buying back the SeaDuck without Rebecca; the series HAS to end right there if you DON'T press the reset button. Now you can say simply to not book money making schemes; but that would eliminate one of the major angles in the entire series. Also, Jymn Magon refuses to book a Baloo/Rebecca marriage which would justify not hitting the reset button when Baloo succeeds because Magon thinks that the marriage would make the series jump the shark even though fans believe that Magon is full of crap. (I think Magon fears that if it is booked at the end of the series that you don't push the button; then the marriage angle would get over and the execs would renew the series again just for that. It's a reasonable fear since it puts the creators in a spot where they shouldn't be and it only serves to sabotage the next season in the long term. Personally; the only reason to stay away from the reset button is if you are heading in a different direction with the show in general. That's fine as along as you don't eliminate what made the show successful in the first place.) So the way to handle this is to find creative, entertaining and painful ways to push the reset button (As in a screw job/Sportz Entertainment Finish in modern wrestling terms; or the Dusty Finish for old school wrestling fans.) in order to keep the episodes interesting and entertaining when those plot devices are used. It also helps to book the money making schemes less and less of course and focus more on building the characters towards the end when Magon's refusal to book Baloo/Rebecca as a couple becomes needed to keep the series going into a hundred episodes and beyond. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: The overuse of the scheme is what sank Goof Troop because it focused on Pete screwing Goofy's life with little focus on Peg, Pistol, PJ and to a lesser extent Max. One reason why I called the show tedious.)
Thankfully for him and bad for us: Eisner didn't care because Baloo was a money milking machine and therefore if it stops giving milk; you stop producing the show. No one else matters. (Well; it wouldn't have mattered since TaleSpin was never designed to be anything but a fourth wheel to the Disney Afternoon block. That's the bigger tragedy in this whole ordeal.) He didn't give a crap about Rebecca, Don Karnage, Kit, Molly or WildCat who were a lot more over than Baloo ever was. (TESTIFY~! If this were today, Michael would have milked Kit and Molly to the moon over the adults, except for Baloo and WildCat who would be midcard characters. Not that there is anything wrong with Kit being in the main event, although I hope they keep his character intact and have Baloo and WildCat do the humor instead. That would work and still give the kids what they want.) Now we head to the final two episodes of Disc One which is another emotionally charged episode from Libby Hinson and a crazy Len Uhley episode featuring "aliens" and a xenophobic solider who really tested Disney Channel's censors to no end. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This episode might as well have been the poster epitome of why I'm relieved that Kit didn't have to deal with guns in Ducktales 2017. Frank Agones, I salute you for that. Seriously, I was fed up with the guns in that show after that episode was over.) So...
Thumbs up for this episode and I'll see you next time.
Back
to TaleSpin Rants!
Return
to the Rant Shack!
Return
to the Unofficial Kit Cloudkicker Homepage!