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Bringing Down Babyface Re-Rant

Reviewed: 01/08/2010
Additional Commentary: 11/16/2021

Why Bring Down Don Karnage?!

Original Airdate: 01/17/1991 (Syndication), Episode #47 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 2, Disc 3), Episode #41 (Production Order).

Bringing Down Babyface Notes
Bringing Down Babyface Transcript

Well; we roll along with TaleSpin as the next episode features Baloo getting into deep crap because Rebecca Cunningham thought that making a deal with the city to fly a criminal to trial from prison was such a great way to make money. I sometimes shake my head over some of Rebecca's money making schemes and this one take the cake as being the most dangerous. (2015 Gregory Weagle: The first sentence pretty much says it all: Baloo is supposed to fly in a criminal who outsmarts Malarkey and causes Baloo to become public enemy number one and thus Baloo must clear his name. You really cannot blame Rebecca for this one. Sure it's dangerous; but Half-Nelson is the defintion of flight risk and Officer Malarkey was the stupid one to begin with.) My previous rant thought this was just another average TaleSpin love in that paid off an angle that was sprinkled throughout the series thus far. How does it do now? Let's rant on shall we...?

This episode is written by Ellen Svaco and Colleen Taber. (Svaco and Taber wrote two very good Darkwing Duck episodes, one middling episode and one extremely awful episode of Darkwing Duck, so they were all over the place quality wise.) The story is edited by Duane Capizzi. The animation is done by Sunwoo Animation. (If you think Polly Wants A Treasure was bad, watch Sunwoo's animation here.)

We begin this one in the skies with red hue clouds (Always a sign of danger...) as we as pan over to the Cliff Guns and the sky shot of the SeaDuck entering. Why is there ominous music playing here?! The scene also looks a bit choppy as we head to the cockpit with Baloo asking Kit to get his sunglasses. Kit opens the glove comparment and we see dozens of pieces of paper flying out. Kit is SHOCKED and even swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (Holy cow! Another holy reference from Kit of all people.) as they are all parking tickets. (I'm surprised that the writers of this episode actually knew about Baloo's parking tickets since Baloo briefly mentioned them in Stormy Weather and 90% of the writers usually ignore details like that. Most of that 10% is from the writers of Teen Titans Go; whom for some reason took a throwaway spot in waffles in Teen Titans and did an episode where Beast Boy and Cyborg said waffles for almost ten straight minutes. Very annoying.) Believe it or not folks; this angle does go somewhere as Kit asks if Baloo is scared of the police nailing him. Baloo blows it off because the police got better things to do than bothering upstanding citizens like him. Riiiiggghhhhtttt Pop-A-Bear. How many times did you cause an international incident in Thembria again?! Kit gleefully blows him off for me, and then I realize something: Kit is clearly projecting here considering that KIT is a FORMER TERRORIST when he was an AIR PIRATE! How can the TaleSpin writers sleep at night knowing that?! (Kit's life as an Air Pirate should keep Kit up all night. At least Kit is trying hard not to break the law in the post air pirate life.) Baloo calls this all small potatoes because he doesn't break big laws as Baloo somehow found his shades in the chaos and puts them on. See; the police are after gangsters involved in bank robberies, high speed chases, bombings (YIKES! Watch out for that blimp coming into the city Pop-A-Bear!) even as Kit admits that he's never done any of that. Memo to Kit: You forgot the high speed chases in this series by Baloo; plus Baloo and Louie used a bomb to blow up the midair refueling station in A Fuel Dollars More. Logic break number one for the episode right there and we are not even two minutes in. (At least Kit was right about the bank robberies.)

Well; this is Svaco and Taber's DTVA debut; so I'll cut them some slack, for now anyway. (In the end; I cut a lot less slack on them for one really stupid moment later on; but most of the problems in this episode rest at the feet of Sunwoo Animation.) Baloo chuckles as we see the SeaDuck fly towards the docks as Baloo proclaims that he never will rub elbows with gangster types. One problem: He already did three times with Trader Moe. I'm heard of wiping memories; but this is absurd. (I hate to say this; but this makes sense. Our memories are not very good indicators of accurancy anyway, plus; most people paint the rosist picture possible. And really; he only once rubbed elbows with Trader Moe and that was to get the money Rebecca earned from the deal which he screwed up in Time Waits For No Bear.) We then head into the offices of Higher...For...Hire as Baloo panics and yells out the name Babyface Half Nelson. Rebecca is at her desk telling him that he only has to fly him from Prison Island to Cape Suzette for trial. Jeepers; you know these people are rookie writers when they don't come up with a stupid pun for their prisons. (Prison Island is perfectly fine as a booking name.) And what the hell is Rebecca thinking getting involved in legal matters anyway?! Considering the reputation of police officers and private prisons; this is not a good idea. (Prison Island is the prototype for Prisoner Island and Princess Di's favorite "I hate you" location for Samurai Pizza Cats. I think the writers did a fine job here. As for Rebecca's motive for this: She never explained why they are doing this, but I have a hunch that it involves money and none of the other airlines would do it because Babyface is a total flight risk; and since Baloo is the best in handling flight risks (Kit Cloudkicker, I'm looking at you.), this makes sense.) Baloo doesn't like it because he's a gangster -- as if Trader Moe was never a gangster to begin with -- (Again; Baloo didn't willfully get involved with Trader Moe, except for Time Waits For No Bear.) who cracks safes with his head. That gives new meaning to the phrase: That is going to leave a mark. Or in this case; his calling card. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

No wonder Babyface got caught. (Yeah; you would think that Babyface would have done a better job in not telegraphing evidence to the police? Also, damn; Babyface is going to die like Chris Benoit at this rate too. Sadly; we never got the payoff of Babyface actually cracking a safe with his head at any point during this episode, so the writers screwed up in this regard.) Rebecca gets up with the papers to the filing cabinet and calls Baloo a baby since he'll be handcuffed to an armed guard. (In this case, it would be Officer Malarkey from Molly Coddled.) Oh yeah; that REALLY makes it all the more safer, Miss Cunningham. Do I get the feeling Rebecca is punishing Baloo for something? For what I do not know. I don't expect rookie writers to explain such things. (They don't have to. There is enough written evidence in previous episodes to figure this one out.) Baloo decides to go along with it; but asks how will he know which one is him. Rebecca gleefully answers that one for me. (Of course nowadays; they wear orange jumpsuits. I guess they felt the outfits were racist and encouraged absolution and black and white thinking. Personally; I think they use the jumpsuits because they are easier to see in the dark.) We head outside a barbed wire roof building AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we see three bulldogs (two male (one is brown and wears a black sweater I do believe; the other is grey who wears a hat, pants with pull ups and a blue sweater.)), one female (who looks like an old lady with a cowboy hat wearing boots, an white apron and a blue dress.) outside as the female bulldog wants her two bulldog friends to spring Babyface Half Nelson out of legal custody. I'm guessing that the female bulldog is Babyface's mother. Babyface Half Nelson's Mother is voiced by the late Billie Hayes whom passed away in 2021. Babyface's Mom also is knitting a green sock on a wooden swing chair (Well; five points for creavity; minus two points for logic) as she misses her Babyface. (Really? Ma knitting the sock was perfectly fine. It's the next logic break after this that was far worse.) Yeah; being a heel mother can be such a bitch. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmmm... (Thank you.)

Bulldog Henchman number one (The one wearing the world's most ill-fitting derby hat – Ed Gilbert according to my notes.) proclaims that he has never seen Babyface and asks what he looks like. Mrs. Nelson proclaims that he has a twinkle in his eye and the sweetest smile you ever did see. Ummm; that sounds like Kit Cloudkicker to me. POW! OUCH! Hey... (Oh come on, Kit! You do have those qualities. True; you don't wear stripes, although if you're not careful; someone with an ax to grind might put you in them and more.) She then gets nasty and blows them off as Chuckleheads. Okay; that is a neat insult for them and I'll be calling them that from now on. Oh and he's wearing stripes of course. Mrs. Nelson gives them the JOKEY SURPRISE OF DEATH in pink which is just plain odd. (And no ribbon attached to it which is even more strange. Did Hanna Barbara sue Disney for that or something?) The Chuckleheads go into the conveniently placed out of nowhere grey antique car. (Which changes from grey to lavander depending on the shot. Either way; it magically appeared. If we heard car noises, then I could believe it, but everyone was in the scene. You couldn't just show the grey car parked at the beginning of the scene? Is that too hard for you Sun Woo Animation?) That's logic break number two for the episode three minutes in since there was NO car in the scene to begin with. Did I just say...?! Oh wait, never mind. And you thought "Teleport WildCat" in Last Horizons was bad?! (At least there is evidence that WildCat has his own plane in Barely Alive. He probably got it back after the police found the island.) Mrs. Nelson tells them he won't expect it; and she yells at them out to blow it as the logic breaking car whizzes away stage left. Man; that animation looked a little choppy. (Actually; the animation was fine, it was the logic that is screwed up.) Anyhow; we head to Prison Island. I know this because it says so in engraved letters on the building. There is more barb wire and spotlights (What a shock?!) as we pan down to the dock area where we see Officer Malarkey (I know this because he appeared in Molly Coddled since he's a pig furry and he has the Irish accent. That is NOT a good sign for this episode I might add – Jim Cummings voices him.) in his blue police uniform ordering Babyface to comb his hair because he's going to trial.

Babyface is a bulldog who has the orange crew cut hair and in stripes, DUH! (voiced by the late Hamilion Camp) Babyface proclaims that only Ma tells him how to comb his hair and calls him flatfoot. Ironic since Malarkey is a pig furry unless you count Green Arces from Garfield & Friends, then it's not ironic. Malarkey wants Babyface to behave because their ride is here. We cut to the skies (with crescent moon in the sky) as the Seaduck spirals down towards the docks of Prison Island and we cut back to the handcuffed pig and bulldog as Babyface notices the conveniently placed black and white cans of paint and brushes. At least this one makes sense this time logic wise. (Not really. When the first shot of Prison Island was shown, Malarkey and Babyface were in front of the scafolding and a table which was empty. On the closeup shot, Malarkey and Babyface were underneath the scafolding and there are two cans of paint (one black and one white; and one of them changes from black to blue in between shots). You couldn't have THREE cans of paint; because if there were three cans, then what follows would make almost total sense. I should also note that the number on Babyface's uniform is K99.) Must be what they use to create the uniforms. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Babyface proclaims that there is something in his shoe and Malarkay lets him as long as there is no funny business. What a stupid police officer as Mr. Nelson takes off his shoe; and smartly lets the SMELLY GREEN SOCK OF DEATH go as he stuffs it in Malarkey's mouth. Malarkey gets knocked out from the stench. (I'll give the writers credit for building up to this scene at least.) Babyface proclaims that he doesn't wash his socks as he throws the sock away (Nah; he put the sock back on; which is pointless since he foregoes the black shoes later on). He then grabs the paint cans and it's time for some redecorating as he paints the police officer's suit in stripes and then repaints himself as Baloo whistles in with his eyes shut.

Okay; we have our third logic break of the episode almost four minutes in: There was no blue paint present (Apparently; the black paint can disappeared with it...) and paint doesn't dry that fast. The later I'll accept for the sake of the episode; but the former I cannot. (I still accept the dry paint stuff because that means Baloo cannot touch Babyface otherwise and as you'll see seconds later, Baloo slaps the back of Babyface.) Babyface steals Malarkey's badge and now we have the ultimate bad cop and good criminal as per the last time I ranted on this episode. Baloo greets Mr. Bad Cop as he asks what happened to Mr. Good Criminal and Bad Cop claims that he tried to escape so Bad Cop subdued Good Criminal. Baloo chuckles on that one because they are IN FRONT OF A PRISON and he calls gangsters pretty stupid. (Since video cameras do not exist in TaleSpin, this joke is ironic. Today's world would simply be stupid as the joke implies. Baloo's mind is in 1990 when it should be in 1937, which is where his body is right now.) The quick drying paint allows Baloo to slap Bad Cop on the back without any paint on his hands. Baloo and Bad Cop carry Good Criminal to the SeaDuck as we invoke the scene changer and head into the skies with the SeaDuck flying to Cape Suzette. We head into the cockpit with Bad Cop in Kit's navigational seat, Good Criminal sleeping and Baloo at the stick talking about teaching Kit the importance of obeying the law. Yeah; Kit certainly needs that lesson Pop-A-Bear. Does that include teaching him how to "project", too? AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Anyhow; Baloo foolishly bangs on the dashboard, the glove compartment opens and out comes the streams of parking tickets that were unpaid. Okay; here's an interesting question: What makes parking an airplane getting a parking ticket? How does THAT work? (Wow, 2010 me actually used it's brain. Are there really no parking areas for airplanes in this world? And what do they look like? At least with that, we have evidence that Baloo violates the parking rules.) Anyway; Bad Cop sees the parking tickets and Baloo is seriously fucked as Baloo can only chuckle. Bad Cop goes to the back with Good Criminal in tow.

Baloo does what he does best in these situations: Weasel his way out like a good fatass redneck. AHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Yeah, because it's too expensive to owe up like a person should.) Bad Cop tries to find the keys to the handcuffs as the Baloo is finding a way not to end up as the song "Pop Goes The Weasel" goes. Bad Cop no sells as he grabs a toolbox and Baloo panics some more. Baloo asks if they are big potatoes and Bad Cop has the hammer as he blows him off in the back because he has official police business to conduct here. (What would Babyface know about the law outside of breaking it? That should have clued in on Baloo, but it didn't.) Bad Cop bangs on the chain and Good Criminal wakes up and we get the REVENGE OF POLICE BRUTALITY~! Bad Cop calls for Pop-A-Weasel Bear...POW! OUCH! Ummm...Baloo to come back to help and Baloo sells invoking the REDNECK AUTO PILOT~ on the stick. After all; he'll scratch his back as long as he scratches his. Personally; I don't want to see that literally. (Oh come on 2010 me, as long as it doesn't involve scratching an ass or groin, it'll be fine.) More grunting as Bad Cop is on bottom and Good Criminal finds his pistol and tries to shoot; but Baloo is forced to bail as several shots are fired AT POINT BLANK RANGE. These shots are cut from the Toon Disney version by the way. (There were four edits for Toon Disney in this episode and it was mostly guns along with one laughable striking match moment.) Bad Cop yells at Baloo to grab the gun and he does and throw it out the window. Bad Cop blows him off and puts out his foot to use the sock. So Baloo invokes the Dumptruck screw punch on good criminal to knock him out. That's right folks; Baloo knocked out a police officer. You won't see that anymore in Disney. (Yeah; because that is an assault on a police officer. Granted, Babyface caused all this by making himself the cop and Malarkey the criminal, but unless that evidence is presented in court, courts typically see it for what it really is.) And the Good Criminal loses his fake tupee too as Bad Cop calls that some crazy sock.

Bad Cop then discovers the keys are inside the tupee as Baloo hands him the keys and Bad Cop unlocks the handcuffs proclaiming that he's a pickpocket as well as a safecracker. Well; I guess he had to start somewhere in criminal heeldom,eh? We head to the docks of Cape Suzette (right near the spot with Convington in Molly Coddled) as we pan east. The SeaDuck has already landed and we see Baloo, Bad Cop and Good Criminal on the docks. Bad Cop is thirsty due to upholding the law of the land, so he cuffs Baloo, puts his hat on and walks away stage left to get a drink. Oh; this is just a perfect setup isn't it?! (Babyface is another effective heel in a series of them, who actually knows what he is doing. The rookie writers are at least writing as well as they could for a first effort.) Baloo panics because he's afraid when Good Criminal wakes up; he'll get mauled. Bad Cop reminds him of the parking tickets and walks off stage left. We then see Baloo doing the stay asleep song and he's totally off key here. Still better than Clamantha's singing though as Baloo hums and rubs his head. Bad move Pop-A-Bear as Good Criminal wakes up and swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (who the heck are you?), Baloo say he's nobody and he's just leaving. He runs and yells for the police as Good Criminal takes some more bumps sliding on the docks through a couple of trash cans and crates for fun. Sadly; those shots were weak as Baloo climbs the ladder and we hear police sirens. Sadly; Baloo slips and Good Criminal gets the ASS SQUASH OF DOOM from Baloo as Good Criminal is now on bottom. The police car arrives as police officer number two (Shorter hound carrying pistol heat to boot (I think he was in Molly Coddled too.) as Baloo is under arrest for giving us a jump cut and subduing Officer Malarkey. Yeah; he assulted a police officer; nice to see Baloo NOT get away with it too. (Even if he didn't realize it was Malarkey and a police officer because Babyface did a kick ass job of turning the tables on Baloo. Maybe Rebecca should've also said that he was a bulldog as well. So chalk it up for Rebecca for not giving enough information instead of Baloo being really stupid.)

We get the scene changer as Baloo is in the back of a police van as Baloo is glad he didn't tell them about the parking tickets. I think those are the least of your worries Baloo. Assaulting a police officer is really serious, sir. (Considering that he said it under a normal volume in which Malarkey could hear it, I'm guessing that he now knows about it and that telegraphs the ending. Whisper, Pop-A-Bear, whisper!) We then see the police wagon zip away into the night as we go to the scene changer. The police wagon continues to ride while Baloo calls this all an honest mistake. (He's right to a certain extent, but assault is assault and when a police officer is involved...) He pays his taxes (Riiiggghhhtttt Pop-A-Bear. I think Malarkey's Gruffi pose explains all.) and even offers to pay them twice this year. (Sure you are Baloo, are taxes really low enough in 1937 for Pop-A-Bear to pay once on taxes, let alone two?) We go to the back FPS shot of the police wagon as the antique magic car of doom arrives side by side. Malarkey admits that Baloo doesn't look like a guy who would be part of Babyface's gang and Baloo swears that he doesn't. (That's true at least, Kit's the one with that problem considering his role as a former Air Pirate. Ironically; Baloo, Kit and Rebecca dress up like you could be convinced that they are part of someone's gangster's gang.) Sadly; the tear gas bomb plops onto the dashboard of the police wagon and explodes. There is tear gas inside as the police wagon stops in front of the turning antique car. Out comes the police officers bawling their eyes out. HAHA! Truth in Adversting kids. Learn it and live with it. Diamonds are forever and so is Kit Cloudkicker no matter what Michael Eisner thinks. (Sadly; even diamonds can be buried by panicky money marks.) They drop on their bellies as we see the Chuckleheads (with gas masks on) with party hats, balloons and the dreaded BIRTHDAY CAKE OF DOOM. Chucklehead number one proclaims that he isn't wearing stripes; so Chucklehead asks him to smile and Baloo smiles and backs away. The Chuckleheads deduce that it's Babyface and want to sing "Happy Birthday" to him. They walk to Baloo (with orange/yellow party hat) and drag him out and give him the birthday cake, put the party hat on his head, carry the balloons and put a noisemaker in his mouth.

The Chucklehead sing the most laughable "Happy Birthday" song since my last birthday and throw confetti and then drag him to the antique car. (This scene is so surreal from a cartoon standpoint; not which is that Happy Birthday was copyrighted for a long while and not owned by Disney and even Phineas & Ferb joked about this. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: This has since been resolved and the song is in public domain again!)) Then the Chuckleheads get into the car while Baloo is stunned like crazy and then Malarkey gets his machine gun and shoots at Baloo. HOLY CRAP! The balloons and cake get destroyed, of course. (I have seen the birthday cake gag before and here's my take on it: Jim Cornette has a trademark booking angle where he books a celebration designed by him after the heels win a championship and there are party balloons, flavors and of course the birthday cake. The heel only invite themselves and no one else and do it in front of thousands of people just to rub it in that they are the champions (even though they cheated.); and then the babyfaces sneak up, grab the manager (usually it's Jim Cornette himself) and splatter him into the birthday cake, destroying the cake and making a mess of it. Rinse, lather and repeat. It works so well as a joke, that you can see it a mile away and still laugh at it because the heels deserved it at least. This is one of the few times that the birthday cake got destroyed by machine gun fire; which is embarrassing to Baloo (as he was just standing there holding the cake.), but also extremely scary. Again, there is a good reason why gun culture is condemned in recent years and scenes like this just adds to the comdemnation. Also of note, we are 25 for 30 in the guns being pulled out, and this one is really an obvious example.) Malarkey grows a Colonel Grogg fetish I see as we get up to 0.5 Trigun in a matter of seconds as Baloo is dragged into the car by the Chuckleheads and they drive off. Wow; Toon Disney cut another shot I didn't compile (the one with Malarkey being shown shooting the machine gun). This one was an episode that HAD two edits on it already. Yes; I'll ignore the fact that the revolver shot about thirty-five times with a gun that can shoot six per round. It's a MACHINE GUN~!

We see Officer number two coughing as Malarkey goes to the radio transmitter calling all cars to find a late model jalopy (Basically a clunker for those who don't get the slang...) and the suspects are armed, dangerous and wearing festive party hats. Too much information there, Malarkey. We head inside the EVILDOER HIDEOUT OF THE WEEK as it's loaded with boxes of TNT. We pan east to Mrs. Nelson sitting on a crate knitting a sock and demanding to know who is this joker to the heel goons and Baloo. Chucklehead number one claims that Baloo is her son and Mrs. Nelson blows him off because he has a nice smile. WHAT THE HELL?! They already checked the smile and it's fine. She was supposed to say that he has a twinkle in his eye so to make the goons look bad. This only makes HER look weak. Idiot writers! (That was supposed to be a joke. The rational answer would be that he is not in stripes; although it wouldn't matter because seconds later, Babyface appears in a suit and has lost the shoes as well. This is supposed to be funny and it is because the most obvious sign is not there and yet Ma simply goes for the smile.) Baloo gleefully asks her what's wrong with his smile? Answer: Nothing because the writers don't understand how to write proper logic. (Actually, they do because they know Babyface will not be in stripes anyway because he's a giving bulldog who cracks safes and loves Ma. There is a spot which was beyond the pale stupid in this episode; but that is not one of them. It was an intentional joke and it works as you'll see right now.) Anyhow; we then see Mr. Nelson enter with a brown suit (pink flower), roses and a box of chocolates. Geez; he even went on a robbery spree during the fight. Must have stolen Malarkey's wallet too. (Of even Baloo's; knowing him. I was hoping he did, just to screw him out of paying for bail.) The two Nelsons embrace and Ma gets a little too over the top with the kissy-kissy stuff. Babyface pushes Ma off because she is not supposed to do it in front of the goons. (I had this cute spot when anyone tickles Kit in Rillonia and Teddy's around, Kit would yell "Not in front of Teddy!"; because Kit once tickled Teddy like the sneak he was and Kit doesn't want anyone to expose his one weaksauce (but funny) weakness.)

Baloo pushes the goons aside as the cops are after him and Babyface must help him because he's the BAD COP, see. Babyface forces Baloo to recoil towards the goons as Baloo blows him off for getting him in this mess. That's a no-no Pop-A-Bear. Baloo is screwed now as he proclaims that Babyface is a swell guy and walks Babyface over asking him to come to the police station to clear his name. Babyface proclaims that he will when pigs fly. I think Gomer would like to have a word with you Babyface. (Again; as in Baloo Thunder, this is a stupid thing to say because this shows' characters are half animal. Therefore it is very possible that pigs can fly. Gomer in Citizen Khan did that for heaven's sake.) Baloo takes it as a no as Mrs. Nelson is upset because he knows where the hideout is and Babyface wants to clean Baloo's clock. Since Baloo doesn't have a clock; you know what that implies. (In this show; Babyface wants the Chuckleheads to kill Baloo. In Mighty Ducks; Nosedive is supposed to literally clean the clock of one of the goofy villains. One show gets the analogy while one show thinks it has to be literal to be funny. Now; if Nosedive killed someone and then cleaned the clock of blood, then that works better. Just saying.) Baloo does too as he slowly goes over to the door, it's locked and the knob comes off. HAHA! Mrs. Nelson broke the door knob beforehand. (Nah; Baloo's strength broke the knob, although if she sabotaged the handle, then I would love her as a character even more.) Now that's clear thinking. Baloo is done for as Babyface orders his men to cancel him. Okay; that is an odd way of avoiding the use of the word "die". (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: I need a "No Context TaleSpin" video of this because it is the perfect way to show what cancelling really means.) He sounds like he's working for Apple or Microsoft saying that. (In a show where they say die and kill liberally in 1990. Only Dreamworks Animation is more leintent on that department.) The Chuckleheads walks towards Baloo (holding the knob natch) as they create a dark shadow over Baloo and Baloo is screwed to end the segment nine and a half minutes in. Well; the rookie writers aren't sucking much; but some parts do frustrate me. (Actually; Sunwoo is the one screwing this episode up. The writers are far from perfect, but their writing is leaning towards Toys Czar Us and Whiffle While You Work, so it's fine. They do get a little worse as time goes on though.)

After the commercial break; we see the Chuckleheads (with big ass teeth) take out their pistols and Baloo panics. Like I said; it's a special day when the guns are NOT pulled out in this series. (Already mentioned that and Sunwoo screws up again as the holster is on the front Chucklehead #1's shirt when it should be on his hip and hidden so we don't see it. I still want to know how Chucklehead #2 hid his gun from his vest and not go off.) The guns are cocked (And Disney Captions even uses the word cock! I thought they learned their lesson after the first volume?) and Chucklehead number one appears to be pulling the trigger and Toon Disney snipped THAT shot out too and even the gun cocking was edited out; but Mrs. Nelson stops the canceling. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Cancel Culture? What's that?!) See; Mrs. Nelson doesn't like roughhousing in the hideout because she waxed the floor. HAHA! Baloo breathes a sigh of relief, for three seconds as Mrs. Nelson wants him cancelled outside. HAHA! Baloo sweats like he's in a sauna (Or is showing Oscar how to sweat bullets. Either way works.) as Babyface opens the door and the Chuckleheads carry Baloo by his arms outside. They push him against the barbed wired wooden fence. Man, this barb wire is as overplayed as it is when XPW used it. If you don't know who Rob Black is; consider yourself lucky. (Rob Black is a porno director who created the most hardcore forms of pronography. So much so that they were ultra-violent and that causes Black and his wife to be arrested on obscenity charges and were convicted of such charges, going to prison for a while. Urban Wrestling Federation did the same barbwire fence, but that was way funnier.) Babyface loads his pistol with bullets (Toon Disney kept this one, though) as he asks for last requests before he creams him. I noticed that there is an creamy smear on his suit as Baloo asks him not to cream him. (That was direct to the point, Pop-A-Bear; but you fail at life if you think that is going to work in 1990. In 2015; it would work because the heels would be too stupid to notice the duping going on, because kids just want...you guessed it.)

Baloo is now on a wooden box (Close to a conveniently placed trash can. Huh. I wonder what the next spot will be.) as Babyface points his pistol, Mrs. Nelson calls him junior and Babyface blows her off. WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT ABOUT?! I still don't get that one. (Now I do get this spot: Ma yelled out for Junior for some reason inside the hideout (probably because Babyface made a mess in the hideout or something, and it may had something to do with that peach stain on his shirt too) and the whole thing was a distraction for Baloo to notice the trashcan. Why bother when Baloo probably already spotted it?) Baloo has a Krackpotkin plan, Baloo notices the smear and calls the male heels on it. Babyface sells it, looks down with the Chuckleheads and then Baloo finds the magically appearing trash can and knocks them out. Oy vey guys. That's logic break number four for the episode ten minutes in. (That was no logic break there 2010 Me. The trashcan was to Baloo's right plain as day when the Chuckleheads pushed him against the wooden fence.) Baloo runs away onto the roof and as Babyface has his face at the puddle and orders the Chuckleheads to get him. Baloo panics on the jump cut and we see the Chuckleheads shooting as it's the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE GANGSTER EDITION~! Toon Disney didn't cut this out just to show their lack of consistenty. Baloo finds the trashcan lid (at least this one is from a trashcan to the right), the bullets deflect off of it ala Kit Cloudkicker's airfoil; so that logic is consistent at least and the bullet rips down the heels back as they duck. Oooookkkkkkaayyyyyyy. (Yeah; this is so not beleviable a spot there, all things considered.) Oh; and Toon Disney kept all that too. The chase continues on the roof as Baloo jumps down and heads to the edge of a roof inbetween a mangled amount of clotheslines. Baloo proclaims that it's a bad time without his SeaDuck as the clothes do not move an inch. (Again, calm winds or bad animation from Sunwoo. Take your pick.) Baloo yells "Geronino", takes the LEAP OF FAITH, snaps a line as logic breaks again (the clothes are all white after being colored ten seconds ago) and Baloo swings like Tarzan. Baloo manages to shatter a glass window and enter through an apartment or hotel.

The Chuckleheads snap their clotheslines (okay; maybe that wasn't a coloring mistake) and swing like Tarzan; but Baloo proclaims that they are closed, closes the window shutters, the Chuckleheads smash into the brick wall, then slide down and get slammed into the dumpster with the lid closed. I've seen a lot worse than this. (Closing the shutters was completely pointless since the Chuckleheads would have missed Baloo anyway since they hit the brick wall. Probably for the best since there is no reasonable way they splat into wooden shutters.) We then do a shot of the hotel as Baloo opens another window, slides down the pipe, manages to take a MAN-SIZED bump off-screen and does the ass squash right on Malarkey's back. OUCH! Baloo is personally glad to see them; and Officer number one puts the handcuffs on Baloo's wrists. Baloo proclaims that he's not a criminal and Malarkey has the best response to that: "Why did he sit on him?" Baloo's dumbass response: "To break his fall". (Which is sadly true, even if it incriminates him even more.) He then begs for mercy as he proclaims that he knows where Mrs. Half-Nelson's hideout is. Malarkey gets up and decides to give him one last chance as we zoom out and pan east to the Chuckleheads (who are out of the dumpster by the way) as they realize that Mrs. Nelson isn't going to like this. We head back to the hideout as Babyface is not liking the prospect of destroying the evidence as we head back inside as the boxes of TNT are in the building and Babyface lights the match on the fuses. Mrs. Nelson proclaims that the place needed a good spring cleaning anyway. That line was cut for Toon Disney since Babyface struck the match; but the lighting of the fuse is still there. Idiots! (Striking matches, bad. Showing them lighting the fuses, fine. That kind of editing is warped to say the least.). Also the light are turned off as we go to pitch black. Then we see a door open as the police officers and Baloo enter inside (and the police have their pistols set to profits) as we see them foolishly walk inside as Malarkey makes bacon jokes as the place gets even more pitch dark (nice effect there guys) as Baloo proclaims that he has a match and he lights it (Which is kept by Toon Disney. Idiots!).

The place lights up as the officer realize that they are seriously screwed, we go off-screen for the EXPLOSION OF DEATH and the whole place is destroyed with only some bricks and door intact. Baloo, Malarkey and Police Officer number one do live through the blast while charred completely (and have red whites in their eyes.) and the officers are knocked out. Sadly; they do not die from third degree burns due to the Ecomony of Characters rule. (Which is kind of useless since they have lots of police officers on retainer to replace Malarkey and Officer #1 as seen later on. That was merely sloppy writing, but that is what happens when you literally book yourself in the corner.) Baloo decides to forgo the clearing of name as the officers basically drop dead. We head to a shot of Higher...For...Hire as we go to the office kitchen to see Kit and Rebecca sitting down at the radio as an announcer proclaims that they should not apprehend Baloo the desperado as he's armed and dangerous. Kit is sitting on a stool (NOT THAT ONE!) as the police have orders to shoot to kill. Yeah; the heels used cancel; but the radio announcer can say kill (first death reference of the episode). Kit notices charred Baloo in the window and panics as Rebecca turns around and panics as well. Baloo tells them to be quiet because it's only him. Baloo goes through the window as Rebecca blows him off over the parking tickets. Baloo tells her that it's not over the tickets as Kit asks why they impounded the SeaDuck. Baloo states that it's for evidence because the police think he helped Babyface escape. (Which you did unintentionally; but since when has intent stopped you from being convicted.) Rebecca asks if he did and Baloo claims that he didn't as Rebecca asks him why he didn't tell the police that as Kit finds the SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT and hammers on the chain to break it. (Baloo pretty much tells her that he tried that and it blew up in their faces, literally. Okay.) Kit is strong methinks as Baloo realizes that Babyface is the only guy who can clear his name and he must find him as he turns off the lights and closes the window shutters. Kit asks where as Baloo lights another match and the match book says Tiny's Grill. Baloo notices it and he has a Krackpotkin plan in mind as he flicks the match and it goes out as we fade to black. At least this scene changer makes sense.

We head into the WRONG PART OF TOWN as we are at Tiny's Grill outside with the neon orange sign. We then see the door fling open and in comes the MIRACLE WORKER GANGSTAS~! Unlike Mind Your Cheese's & Q's; I can take these guys seriously in those outfits. Kit has a gold coin; just to be a dick although just as well since it helps when Kit is a runaway and gangster life might be noticable to him at least. Nice shot of creditability there guys. (That's where Kit's origins of being an orphan and runaway really help the creditability of these scenes. There's no way the Rescue Rangers can be taken seriously as gangsters; because the only culture they saw was on television. Kit doesn't have that problem.). The only thing ruining the effect is Baloo wearing the fake grey mustache. The tuxedo waiters inside look stunned as we get seedy jazz music as the BABYFACE GANGSTAS walk to the bar and there are clearly alcohol bottles in the background. Baloo points to a bartender who rises and he looks like Coolhands Luke; only more evil and with a badass haircut. Oh; he's about Andre The Giant's size and he's ironically called Tiny as he addresses himself. Of course; Tiny has never heard of Babyface. Baloo looks at his friends and then grabs onto Tiny's bowtie demanding answers and the bowtie gets ripped off. Baloo is seriously dead now as Tiny rips a stool (NOT THAT ONE!) as we get a minor logic break as the bowtie has returned on his neck. Bad form there guys. (Sunwoo animation is killing this episode's quality. Which is a bad thing to happen when you have rookie writers. At least Svaco and Taber are writing better than the writers in "Mind Your Cheese's & Q's", that is for sure.) He then slams it through Baloo's head and drags him outside as we get the off-screen FCC FRIENDLY FIGHT OF DEATH as Rebecca and Kit look disgusted on cue. Then the door opens and in comes Baloo with a fake cigar in his mouth (WHAT?) as he is looking for Babyface and the patrons in the table scream that he's out back. Oh, and the cigar is instantly gone from Baloo's mouth on the next shot (Probably spit it out; no break there...).

Baloo goes to Rebecca and asks how he stopped him and Baloo proclaims that he didn't and that a truck hit him. OUCH! That is going to leave a mark. (On the truck.) Considering that we never see him again; he's dead. So there is the second death in TaleSpin right there. (And in the next episode on the DVD, two more people die from mustard gas. So yes, there is a body count in this show, however low it ultimately is. This is not like McSweats from Pickle & Peanut where we they tease death and then he reappears in a later episode, implying that he is alive. Plus; I can believe Tiny is dead from being run over by a mat truck slightly more then I can believe McSweats being dead from scorpions.) So we see the Gangstas go out back as Rebecca asks if there is an easier way to clear Baloo's name as we are near a manhole cover. Oh; and the cigar is back in his mouth. Now it's a logic break! (Once again, Sunwoo is killing the quality of this episode.) Baloo proclaims that it's a dead end (death reference number two) and they have been duped. Baloo steps on the manhole cover and logic breaks as it somehow flips and Baloo freefalls into the sewers. UGH! UGH! UGH! Kit and Rebecca yell for Baloo as we see the manhole cover partially open and that ends the segment fourteen and a half minutes in. (It's a logic break because Baloo is five hundred pounds and there's no way the manhole cover could flip Baloo and somehow make him fall through the manhole cover; when the manhole cover is half of Baloo's total size. Baloo getting dragged into the window of a car is believable, but not with a half covered manhole cover. Again; the booking is good, but the continuity of the animation is not good.)

After the commercial break; we head back to the underground hideout (Which looks like it was recycled from "A Case of Stageblight."). Anyhow; we head to the table with the vinyl roof on top as we see Baloo on top of a table that somehow didn't move and the heels were gambling. (I AM THE TABLE~!) Why yes folks; Disney did allow gambling in their DTVA shows. I see Babyface is winning (Or cheating depending on your poison...) as he blows off Baloo for being an uninvited guest and he doesn't like uninvited guests. (Also great is that Baloo is kneeling on the table and the Chuckleheads actually remembered to point their pistols at him. Nice one guys.) Mrs. Nelson proclaims that her hair is a mess as we see from the ground shot of the manhole cover with Kit and Rebecca looking on. Rebecca is dressed like Roxy and Kit is dressed like a smaller version of Dick Tracy. Kit decides that he's going down and both he and Rebecca freefall and they falls through the vinyl roof and actually break the table! (Okay; here's a logic break for ye: Baloo falls through the manhole cover and somehow misses the vinyl cloth roof and somehow lands on the table without breaking it? That makes no sense. Even less sense, Kit and Rebecca weigh less than Baloo combined, so their combined weight shouldn't break the table. What happens is that they rip through the roof and they break the table. This is one messed up scene folks and it shows how off Sunwoo is. The table and the roof should already be broken by the time Kit and Rebecca come down, unless you book it to have Kit and Rebecca fall through the manhole cover first! Which actually would make more sense. And if it's BS&P that prevented this, that's stupid because Rebecca and Kit had guns pointed and fired at them before. STUPID! It's stupid and really the first bad booking decision by these rookie writers.) Babyface is wearing an electric lampshade as he demands answers to this outrage. Everyone gets up as Kit is now "Mickey The Mangler" which is totally badass and fits Mickey Mouse's personality before he became a corperate whore. (Oh lord, I betcha Eisner had a heart attack when hearing this because it could imply that Kit killed Mickey Mouse in his life. Although, that is proven false; at least we would have an answer as to whom was responsible for killing Mickey's personality in the 1930's.)

Kit also wears shoes for one of the few times ever in this series. (Sadly; he never really learned to keep wearing them like Max Goof, so it's difficult to have sympathy for him when he is tickled.) Rebecca is now "Roxy the Dollface" while Baloo is known as "Pretty Boy Lloyd". Yeah; I wondered who drew the short straw to get that lameass name?! Babyface calls him out on it and Lloyd has the dumbest answer to this: "Because Reasonably Attractive Lloyd doesn't have the same ring to it." Riiiiigggghhhhtttt Pop-A-Bear. Still a lot better than the Ranger Gangstas (Seriously; Dale looks like a Fry clone. How can I take Dale seriously kicking someone's ass?) though. (Also, Baloo is large and Rebecca looks like a hot woman. Kit brings the street cred to this team, although it's kind of sad that we never saw Kit nor Rebecca speak here, which might have been a smart move. After seeing Gangsta Kit threaten Rebecca in the most transparent way in the comics; I think Kit has learned to shut up.) Lloyd asks if Babyface can crack safes and Babyface knocks on bone as he asks what it is to him. Lloyd proclaims that he has a bank job coming up and asks if he wants in. Babyface states that he will be if the job is big enough. Lloyd proclaims that it's bigger than he thinks. Lloyd gives Babyface the memo and wants Babyface there at ten o'clock sharp as Lloyd walks out. Scene changer as we cut to the impound plant as we get a shot of the SeaDuck inside. We pan over to the conveniently placed police station as we see Mickey and Lloyd lowering a sign in golden letters: "Cape Suzette Nationel Bank" which Mickey calls Lloyd out on. Lloyd proclaims that he was in a hurry and wants it nailed good and tight. I see Baloo has relapsed into his crappy spelling stuff today. (When you are in a hurry, you tend to be careless. Happens a lot to me if anyone has seen my rants as of late.) We cut to the sewers as they are as big ass as Darkwing Duck's are as the grey antique car arrives. Babyface opens the door, walks out and climbs the ladder.

We then cut to the DEFACED POLICE STATION OF BANKS as Baloo's Krackpotkin plan involves him walking straight into the police station and getting himself arrested. Ummm; yeah. (Okay; here's the most stupid part the writers wrote: Baloo's plan is to let Babyface walk in and get arrested. The problem is: How come none of the police force inside the station didn't hear the banging of the hammers outside when Baloo and Kit put the sign up? More importantly; this is vandalism (a mild one, but still) and we're supposed to believe that Baloo, Kit and Rebecca will not be arrested even when Babyface is with them. They dress up like gangsters for goodness sake. The only way this makes sense is if Rebecca went in and distracted the police while Baloo and Kit put up the sign and then come out. However; we never saw that. This all makes no sense.) They collect the reward as the manhole cover opens and Babyface asks for that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH. Lloyd tells him to go in and crack the safe open as Babyface asks what he's going to do. Lloyd states that he'll watch because he's the boss see. Sadly; he pulls his fake cigar/mustache combination from his mouth and his cover is blown. See kids; smoking cigar is bad for your health, movie rating and crappy spelling Krackpotkin plans. Rebecca and Kit try to point that out to him; so Babyface steals the hat. Baloo doesn't sell stating that he's so strong that his cigar separated from the skin. Sadly for Baloo; Babyface KNOWS who he is, takes out his pistol and the gun is cocked again. Babyface shoots at our heroes; getting the episode up above 1.0 Trigun. Pistol dancing ensues from the babyface gangstas (Actually; only Baloo was hoppping.) as Baloo tries the trashcan lid again and doesn't get MURDERED with it again. Then Malarkey and Officer number one come out with their pistols and Babyface bails into the sewer. This works better since Babyface is dressed in a tux and not in his prison uniform. Baloo wants them to go after him and then the officers open fire on the babyfaces. Kit, Baloo and Rebecca deserve a metal for taking this forbidden stuff. Seriously, they do. Baloo defends himself with the porthole cover and more deflections into the badly spelled sign as it is broken and it squashes the police officers off-screen.

Sadly; Sunwoo screwed up since they weren't below the sign on the next shot. We are up to 1.5 Trigun now. Rebecca feels a sigh of relief and Baloo of course panic in unison since he needs the police officers to find Babyface's hideout. Baloo now goes to Krackpotkin Plan #238 and tells Rebecca and Kit to go into the SeaDuck while Baloo attempts to wake up the police officers. Did I mention that none of the shooting here in this scene was cut by Toon Disney? Baloo is still not having any luck as those two officers sells it as if they were dead. (Methinks they were doing this on purpose; but what follows later proves that they were knocked out.) Rebecca and Kit go under the mesh-wire fence (Thanks to some awesome pushing up from Kit I might add...) and proceed to go into the SeaDuck. Rebecca starts the engine and Kit gets into his usual position as Rebecca starts flying out of the impounding area. Yes; Rebecca gets to try out her skills after I Only Have Ice For You, too. Baloo tries to wake them up with no success as the SeaDuck breaks through the mesh-fence and actually has a net attached to its tail-section. The SeaDuck flies for a while before getting into position to allow Baloo to grab onto the net and they fly into the sky as Baloo calls the police officers to free doughnuts. The police officers act all stereotypical and they sell it as Baloo swings himself into the back of the SeaDuck. (I'll give Svaco and Taber props for only doing this once; even if it looks stupid in practice.) He makes it without incident and without doing a rope snap spot to boot. Now this episode is going to get better now as Officer Malarky is ticked off and the urge to kill is rising beyond belief now. They go into the police station as Baloo takes over the SeaDuck in relief of Rebecca. Well; it's about time Rebecca Cunningham actually got to fly the plane solo this time. However; Baloo's problems are rising with Marlarky's blood pressure because the police seaplane flies from the impounding area and is in hot pursuit of our heroes. They fly around a bit as Rebecca reminds Baloo that Babyface is in the sewer and therefore is un-catchable.

However; Baloo knows that the sewers are SO BIG that it's easy to fly the SeaDuck into the sewer and they do so. Officer Marlarky decides to follow them even if it's the dirtiest job in the business. Now that's a honest police officer and kudos to the writers to show them their courage. Hey; they only got off one stereotypical reference in the entire episode so far as the SeaDuck continues to fly in the sewer. Now LET THE SPOTS COMMENCE! The SeaDuck flies around the sewer and they finally find Babyface's antique car as Babyface is smelling victory. Until he looks in the rear mirror and discovers the SeaDuck is after him. The police seaplane starts shooting the SeaDuck and as the SeaDuck attempts to dodge; Babyface start shooting his machine gun at the SeaDuck which actually makes contact with the metal surface. Now we are up to 1.8 Trigun now as Officer Malarky calls the entire police force to assist in the matter. Every police officer lassos anything that they can find, including one that looks like a dinosaur. Really guys? (There was an orange gator and a purple lizard in this scene that we never see in the rest of the show. That is so odd.) They try to shove a stop-light post down into the sewer and surprisely; the light doesn't go out. Well; the wires are still intact, that's why. However; someone slips and two officers drop onto two other officer with a girly bump and it forces the stoplight further down. Rebecca panics as the stoplight turns from green to yellow to red as Baloo refuses to sell since they are planes. Riiigggghhhtttt Pop-A-Bear. Sadly; since Babyface is a criminal and a car driver, he doesn't sell the spot. So the police proceed to shove signs down into the sewer and the SeaDuck flies under them without incident. However; the police seaplane can't and smashes into each one taking a couple of decent bumps in the process. Luckly; the seaplane doesn't crash as a result. That last sign seems to be a sillouette of Gadget Hackwrench! What a bunch of pricks these rookie writers are?! You are supposed to do that after six years in service in DTVA. (The sillouette looks more like Kitten Kaboodle to me when I was doing the transcripts, so I don't know what the story is.)

Babyface continues to shoot as he tries hard to get this episode up to a 2.0 Trigun; and makes it over the hump. The police officers then decide to stuff a tree down into the sewer which Babyface passes without incident. Rebecca panics again ("Look out for that birch!" So that's where all the Woodman jokes came from?); but Baloo manages to fly underneath the tree and past it. However; the tree completely blocks the passageway by the time the police seaplane makes it and Officer Malarky's seaplane crashes into the tree and manages to get past it. Man; you would think that these officers would have the timing down pat by now as the seaplane fights off some blue jays. Great spot in an otherwise spotless episode. Rebecca is scared stiff now and she wants to turn herself in now. However; Baloo is not interested and states that the police's joke gun is tapped out except for the kitchen sink and karma strikes as the kitchen sink gets dropped on the SeaDuk. It misses of course (by at least six feet) and Rebecca is angry. Baloo states that they wouldn't drop a bath tub with a shower curtain on it and of course karma strikes again as the bath tub (complete with banana yellow curtain (Oh snap! You know the police hate you when that happens!)) actually takes a weak bump onto the SeaDuck's roof. HAHA! Rebecca of course invokes the WRAITH OF BECKEY on Baloo for that stunt. (And this one is perfectly justified in my opinion. Shut up Pop-A-Bear; you're only incriminating yourself at this rate.) The SeaDuck continues to fly around for a bit (I'm sick of blow-by-blow spots; so sue me...) and hit the water as they go into the lower passageway and the SeaDuck's wings get clipped. The police seaplane goes into the upper passageway. We now see Babyface driving and smelling victory as he is almost home and then he turns his back and sees the SeaDuck still flying as the metal wings are grinding against the sewer walls. Now that is a wonderful spot as Babyface finds another passageway on his right and drives into it causing the SeaDuck to miss the car. The SeaDuck heads straight for the wall; so Baloo pulls on the stick and turns left, somehow. Cut back to Babyface waving goodbye and thinks that he has won.

However; that would prove to be his fatal mistake as the police seaplane arrives on his front and they crash right into the car taking a MAN-SIZED BUMP in the process. The plane is bigger and the car takes a MAN-SIZED bump into the brick wall on-screen; then taking MAN-SIZED BUMPS off-screen until they finally come to rest right inside Babyface's hideout. Everyone is either down or knocked out. Except for Mrs. Half-Nelson; who states that she just swept the place as the SeaDuck appears on the opposite side to rest. (Mrs. Half-Nelson cares more about cleanniness than the fact that she is about to be arrested with her Babyface. She needs to park the mother stereotype, for her sake.) These mobsters are SO BUSTED now. Baloo jumps out of the SeaDuck, grabs the handcuffs from Officer Malarky, makes his citizens' arrest and the officers finally realize that Baloo was indeed framed after all. Yeah; Baloo, hog all the glory while Officer Malarky did all the work here. (Some things never change.) Oh, well; that the only result that made sense. I just wish they didn't break logic along the way. (Actually; the only logic they broke was at the police station. Everything else was perfectly acceptable.) Anyhow; we return to the police station as Officer Malarkey's second officer gives Baloo the reward money as Kit watches on. (So yes, all charges of assault have been dropped. That is just peachy, guys. This would be the sort of thing critics have been pissing on modern cartoons since forever! Enough with the rose-colored glasses already.) Baloo states that he isn't a criminal and feeling like buying back a certain airplane and then Officer Malarky takes the money away and busts Baloo for not paying his parking tickets. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Now THAT is a quality pushing of the reset button and it paid off one long angle to my liking. (Yeah; they took a throwaway spot, build it up and paid it off in a funny and entertaining way, even if there were mistakes on the way.)

Baloo finally gives up and proclaims that he'll never break a small potato law for as long as he lives. (Good luck on that one Pop-A-Bear; small potato laws are usually the easiest to break.) Kit and Baloo walk away as Kit asks if it's because small crimes are real crimes too. If that's the case Kit; you better run. You have overdue charges of terrorism and goodness knows what else. (Yeah. How Kit can maintain a straight face and not realize what will happen to him is amazing. Remember that this is 1936, not 2015; where we have policies concerning underage criminals and a two tier justice system as a result. In 2015; if Kit broke a law at his age, chances are his slate is wiped clean unless what he did was very extreme (like killing someone.). In 1937; he probably faces adult charges and spends life in prison; or gets executed. Think about that the next time you watch Plunder and Lightning, how scary Kit is as a character.) Baloo proclaims that it's because they are too expensive. He does have a point there (However unaltrustic it ultimately is.) and that's good enough for me. Circle fade out to end the episode at 21:13. Solid first outing for the rookie writers; but the animation mistakes and logic breaks hurt this one a lot . (I'm upping this to *** 1/4 (65%) because the vast majority of the problems are not the writers fault. Yes; there are two or three moments that you can place the blame on the rookies; but Sunwoo animation accounts for most of the episode's lack of quality. This should be an easy **** 1/2; but it isn't. No wonder people hated cheap animation, they watched episodes done by Sunwoo. The fact that Sunwoo would get better in the long run is amazing.)

THE REVIEW LINE

An average episode overall and was more than watchable (more than I expected) with a good payoff from Stormy Weather. This was Ellen and Colleen's only TaleSpin written episode and it is another example of why having a great premise and a good organized team works wonders. Still; some of my complaints I have is that Kit THE MIRACLE WORKER did almost nothing except play a gangster role which was great to see; but he ended up doing little. (Yeah; this is yet another example of Eisner caring more about milking Baloo instead of getting new characters over for the kids. Modern cartoons, despite all their faults (and there are many of them) as least gets it in a conceptual way. Their executation leaves a lot to be desired, but still.) Kit was great in his role in Time Waits For No Bear and did a lot more in that episode than in this one. What's the point of putting a character who isn't going to do anything worthwhile? Kit could have been written out of this episode and the overall episode wouldn't change. At least Rebecca did something worthwhile like actually flying the SeaDuck; which was good in killing a logic break from previous episodes. (I approve of Rebecca flying the SeaDuck well, and quite frankly; she can do it. The reason she often doesn't is because she runs a business and she cannot do everything by herself. That's why Baloo, Kit and WildCat have jobs; and Rebecca flying is a constant reminder to not get on Rebecca's bad side.) While most of the spots hit perfectly; the animation mistakes were a lot and some logic breaks like the out of nowhere gray car at the beginning hurt this episode. Babyface Nelson and his male goons were not interesting; but Mrs. Nelson was pretty decent as a character with the southern accent. Also some the jokes (The Junior part didn't catch still (Actually; it was a pointless distraction.)) fell flat with the officers and the cartoonish gun play which went a little too far for my liking. (No kidding. If this were today; the PTC would have curifixed this episode with ease.) This could have been so much more and it fell sort of flat for me. Still; considering how Mind Your Cheese & Q's ended up with Sunwoo animating that one, I'll take it. (Compared to that episode; this was *****.) Next up is Jumping The Gun and the worst babyface in TaleSpin history. (However; when you consider the quality of Barney O'Turret, that isn't saying much.) So....

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

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