Bullethead Baloo

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Bullethead Baloo Re-Rant

Reviewed: 01/30/2011
Additional Commentary: 11/21/2021

Nananananananana, BULLETHEAD! BULLETHEAD!

Original Airdate: 02/07/1991 (Syndication), Episode #54 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 2, Disc 3), Episode #61 (Production Order).

Bullethead Baloo Notes
Bullethead Baloo Transcript

Well; we end the DVD sets with another major episode in terms of historical context. (2016 Gregory Weagle Says: This is the fifty-ninth episode I have transcribed.) It was because it turned out to be the template for Gargoyles to use in 1994 only with human characters and more grit. Plus; it is also special because it was basically a 22 minute commercial for The Rocketeer. Ironically; I found this episode was better than the actual movie; but such are my tastes I guess. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Disney Junior greenlighted a pre-school show called The Rocketeer featuring a girl named Kit "Katherine" Secord and her special move was I believe named the Secordian Cloudkicker. She also dressed up like Della Duck on Halloween as well. This was also around the time when Kit Cloudkicker and Molly Cunningham were going to appear as adults in Ducktales 2017. Tons of fun!) Also; this was one of the cartoon debuts for a certain pervert from Naruto and also an early cameo for an abrasive squid from Spongebob Squarepants. (Bullethead in terms of concept was a knockoff of the Rocketeer; only the color scheme is completely different and the movie was at least four times longer than this episode. I'm almost certain the plot is completely different too. The Rocketeer debutted in June of 1991 and it made $46.7 million on a $40 million budget. I can hear the hounds of purists saying: "It's bad enough TaleSpin ruined Disney Feature Animation; now they have to ruin live-action Disney movies too?!" Wow; DTVA is committing "interference of a business model" here. So here is the plot for this episode: The Jungle Aces love Bullethead (well, mostly Ernie); but Kit points out that Bullethead is ficitional. Ernie doesn't care because he's a child who doesn't get the difference between reality and fantasy. Kit points to Baloo as his hero; who is snoring. Ernie ribs Baloo for this as Baloo thinks he let Kit down. Baloo's plan is to stage a work crime (ala Captains Outrageous) to impress Kit and Ernie; but it goes awry when a mad scientist creates a real robot that Baloo fights, as this scientist wants to kidnap Khan for revenge for not getting a job at Khan Industries. Kit notices and foresakes being a pilot because Baloo disgraced the profession and Ernie wants to be the copyright holder of Bullethead (very rich!) from here on out basically. Yeah; what a piece of work this episode was?!) How does it hold up? Let's rant on shall we...?

This episode is written by the late Steve Roberts. The story is edited by Duane Capizzi. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc. (Huh. Only Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc.? There is one major scene that clearly looks like Jade Animation animated the scene. I'll explain that scene when we get to it.)

We begin this one at the junkyard as Ernie wearing a missile shell on his head, boots and red kitchen mittens, swinging from a rope yelling "Skyward ho!" and for a guy named Bullethead. (Ernie was also wearing a bottle on his back to simulate the rocket pack; the most important plot device/running gag of the episode. Anyhow; the ADR for the Jungle Aces is so weird that you can hear R.J. Williams voicing one of the Jungle Aces in this episode. I think the other Jungle Aces voices for this episode were Benny Grant, Whitby Hertford and R.J. Williams. I'm not sure who is who here; but I do know that R.J. Williams did in fact voice another kid on this show.) The other Jungle Aces cheer as Kit -- who is wearing his white scarf and goggles- puts on the googles over his eyes and states that they are supposed to be the Jungle Aces. (Damn straight they are.) Ernie climbs down and puts the missile shell on the rabbit Ace's head proclaiming that Bullethead Brigade sounds better. (I'm guessing the rabbit Jungle Ace was going on next; and he was the one who said "I want to be Bullethead!") Kit states that Bullethead is a comic book character and that pilots are real heroes. Good for you Kit; although I would add police officers, firefighters and sciencists to that list. (Kit's response as the voice of reason here makes perfect sense considering his life. Ernie and company were pampered compared to Kit Cloudkicker; even though we don't know what the lives of the other kids were. As much as people hate the Jungle Aces and Ernie for being jerks, I think it's because they are kids who don't know any better and haven't been put through hell like Kit is. I'm happy with people calling adults assholes when they act like ones. However; you have to be really careful with child characters because the last thing you want to do is look like an asshole in the end.)

Ernie blows it off because he is daring Kit to find someone who can do the "Bullethead Dynamo Plunge" as he brings out the red comic book. Damn; even comic books are selling out to Liberals. (Well; Justin Trudeau is on a comic book as a character, so that turned out to be more accurate than 2011 me thought it would.) His posse also calls him out. Kit accepts the dare since Baloo can do it and then we pan over east and see Baloo snoring in the hammock and then he turns left and drops with a sick bump on his face. HAHA! Kit is flustered after that one as Ernie mocks it as the "Baloo Bellyflop." I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Kit is not amused as he walks over to a confused Baloo and Kit asks him if he's just as brave and tough as Bullethead. (Answer: Yip. Anyone who has to deal with Rebecca Cunningham on a regular basis is tougher and braver than Bullethead.) Baloo asks who the hell is Bullethead, Ernie comes over and gives him the red comic book which shows Bullethead about to punch a green robot in his cyclops eye. Ernie cuts the promo: "Head of steel; fists like granite, brave defender of our planet." (It's sad that Bullethead is being treated as a plot device for this episode because the comic book must be one hell of a series.) If you look at the comic book closely; the guy who plays Bullethead wears an iron mask, a jetpack and a banana yellow suit (Gedo, begone from my television screen!). Why is that interesting you ask?! At the same time that this episode aired; there was a live-action movie being prepared which had a guy wearing a suit and iron mask complete with jetpack called the Rocketeer from Disney. Apparently; this episode was a product placement for the upcoming movie. And you thought Disney's a product placment and corperate whore NOW?!

Personally; I thought this episode was better than The Rocketeer; but that is just me of course. (I have to disagree with this because if it was product placement; then Bullethead would have been wholesale the Rocketeer and the plot would be Baloo cosplaying him at least twenty years before cosplaying became a big deal. This is actually more of a parody of the Rocketeer and you know that you must offend in order for it to be an effective parody. After all; you watch a show that is a parody of the Jungle Book; regardless if the "word of god" claims otherwise.) I know that some are going to ask where Oscar Vandersnoot is in this episode? Simple; this episode took place before Captains Outrageous in storyline; but Bullethead officially aired after Captains Outrageous. TaleSpin doesn't run in chronological order anyway. So it is not really a logic break or a plothole or even a continuity error on their part. (Even if this took place after Captains Outrageous; Oscar is probably having adventures with his mother anyway.) Kit counters with the old standby of Baloo saving Cape Suzette from the Air Pirates. Sadly; that story doesn't work out so well since the real hero of that story belongs to Kit Cloudkicker himself. Ernie blows off the Air Pirates as old news. Hey; if a twelve year old kid can handle Don Karnage as well as he did in Plunder and Lightning, then Ernie has a valid point. (Yeah; because fighting a robot is more impressive than Air Pirates with guns. Ernie is so sheltered it's not even funny. Even funnier; all Kit has to do is refer to From Here To Machinery where Baloo destroyed the Auto Aviator and Ernie will be forced to actually come up with something more absurd. Of course; Kit doesn't because you need a robot in order to make this plotline work, so...)

It's funny how everyone calls them the Jungle Jerks and yet that's only because of how they handled Oscar Vandersnoot in Captains Outrageous. (I thought the Jungle Aces were just a bunch of kids who were just kids. I mean, Kit is that "one in a million" child that comes off as a mature adult. I'm guessing the audiences have been so spoiled with Kit performances that when we see kids acting like kids; they are disgusted by it. It happens. Anyhow; Ernie reminds me so much like Zach The Fifth Turtle; only Ernie has a child doing the voice acting. You can tell the difference between Hertford and Paulsen who is who here. Hertford did a good job voicing Ernie in his role by the way; which shows how important Ginny McSwain is as a voice director.) Kit walks off as Ernie dares Baloo to fight a robot instead as Baloo sulks feeling he let Kit down big time. (Here's where non-verbal cues cause mixed messages: Kit walks off; but he's still defending Baloo later on and calling Bullethead a fictional character. Which he is correct in storyline. However; Baloo sees Kit walking off as a sign that Kit has sided with Ernie and thus Baloo let the poor kid down. This plays into Kit's decision to foresake flying later on in the episode and makes Baloo look like an idiot for letting a non-verbal cue get in the way of how Kit really felt about Ernie's empty boasts.) He looks at the comic book and sees the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY (Trust me; this makes sense later on.) and decides to pay Buzz a visit. Scene changer and we head to Khan Towers and inside Khan's office and we see Buzz literally break ther fourth wall by waving hello to the camera. Now that is awesome because in reality he is waving to our guest heel character as we pan over to Khan at his desk proclaiming that he already has his own in-house inventor.

Khan addresses the guy as Doctor Axelotte (A gator/lizard furry with lots of red hair, a top hat, white coat and purple pants with a robot that looks like Killroy from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1987 Edition. (Axelotte is a play on axolotl who is a neotenic salamander, closely related to the tiger salamander.[2][3] Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species originates from numerous lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City.[4] Axolotls are unusual among amphibians in that they reach adulthood without undergoing metamorphosis. Instead of developing lungs and taking to land, the adults remain aquatic and gilled. Axolotls should not be confused with waterdogs, the larval stage of the closely related tiger salamanders (A. tigrinum and A. mavortium), which are widespread in much of North America and occasionally become neotenic. Neither should they be confused with mudpuppies (Necturus spp.), fully aquatic salamanders which are not closely related to the axolotl but bear a superficial resemblance.[5] Sadly; no one in creative could translate the axolotl animal into an anthro; so Axelotte is a lizard.). Doctor Axelotte is voiced by Roger Bumpass. (Yes; this was Squidward's DTVA debut and a hell of a debut it is as Axelotte is a heel that makes Squidward look boring in comparison. Mostly because as you'll see, Axelotte is completely insane.) Anyhow; Axelotte blows Buzz off as he wants Khan to say hello to his mechanical electric labourer, or MEL: The Killer Robot Of Horrible Mistreatment. You'll see why as this episode progresses. Buzz calls him neat looking as Axolotte invokes the REMOTE CONTROL OF DOOM as he explains that MEL dusts, vacuums and even washes windows. (But not Windows from Microsoft. Because it's 1937, you see.) Now this episode really sucks. HAHA!

Ron Sparks: It sucks more than Shuan Desmond.

MEL shines up the desk with the pink buffers and destroys the panther paperweight of doom which shatters and we even see it's remains on the ground. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Jesus Khan, get a room with Bagheera already and end this rent-free nonsense!) How about that for animation continuity? (Well; it had to be on the ground so MEL can vacuum it up. Sadly; the panther paperweight shatters off-screen.) Khan prices the paperweight at three thousand dollars. (Which if I was sarcastic, that's the salery of his panther pilots. Somehow; with Khan around, that might not be sarcasm.) MEL invokes the vacuum cleaner and sucks everything up including sucking up Khan's four thousand dollar tie. Something tells me Khan has been wearing the same tie since he was born. (In TaleSpin of course. I'm sure Khan can afford more ties; but having selective furgality is a thing among CEO's I guess.) Axelotte calls it a minor design flaw as Buzz is not amused. I am though because Axelotte literally bring out the hammer and MURDERS MEL off-screen with it. MEL's living up to the later part of my stupid puns deal. Buzz cringes in sympathy pain as Khan has had enough. (Remind me never to have Doctor Axelotte be the spokesperson for Astro Boy. It will not end well, I promise thee.) We cut to outside as Axelotte is popped out of the building and takes a sick on-screen bump on his face on the sidewalk. OUCH! That's going to leave a mark. On the sidewalk. (Even crazier; Axelotte doesn't sell anything and gets up literally one second later. Either that sidewalk is a feather bed disguised as concrete or Axelotte is insane. Occam's Razor suggests that the poor doctor is beyond the pale nuts.) Axelotte pumps his fist in outrage and MEL squashes him and they roll into the street like a bunch of kids as Axelotte is literally in traffic. (The roll on the ground like a bunch of kids spot is also a subtle running gag in this episode, too.)

Axelotte proclaims that he was also called mad when he was in the insane asylum. He's not mad; he's really miffed. I'm amazed that Toon Disney didn't cut out the insane asylum part considering the mental illness part. (Yeah; in storyline, Axelotte was officially committed. Thankfully; we don't get a flashback here because that would be Chargeman Ken-equse offensive. Clearly; the treatment for Axelotte didn't take.) MEL is face down in case you are wondering as Axelotte threatens vengeance because no one stifles his genius. Yeah; because Axelotte is doing a good job of doing that to himself already. (By the way; I originally called him Axolotte, pronounced Ax-o-lot, in my rant previously. Well; in the audio; it's Axelotte and pronounced Axe-lot-te. Hence; the changes made to fit that. Now that I think about it; I think Axelotte is supposed to be a kimodo dragon furry who grew orange hair. Most of the features are similar in fact.) You and Mr. Hardcore are meant for each other. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... We head to Professor Buzz's new lab -- which so happens to be on a higher floor -- as the elevator goes up to the top floor and both Baloo and Buzz walk out. Baloo needs help as they walk into the lab. The echo voice is amazing here as Buzz admits that his father let him down as a kid. HAHA! (What a dork Buzz turned out to be?! No wonder his father let him down; his father was let down by Buzz's inability to invent something original!) Baloo proclaims that he's not going to let Kit down and wants Buzz to take a look at the comic book. (I just love how Baloo is going to all this trouble of not letting Kit down that in the end; not only does he let Kit down, but also every pilot who didn't have to resort to this comic book crap in order to impress someone. This is why trying too hard is a bad idea.) Buzz is giddy as he cuts the same promo Ernie does.

Baloo points to his head as Baloo wants to put an act on Kit and the Jungle Aces. Oh; this is going to backfire in his face; I just know it. (Boy; does it ever.) Baloo asks if he has anything that will help and Buzz goes to the drawers (NOT THOSE ONES!), opens the middle one, stuff gets bounced out including a nose piece to an experimental aircraft and it was the only thing that made it through the wreck. (Which means it's implied that the pilot test flying the aircraft was killed. Unless it was an unmanned aircraft; but that isn't mentioned. I betcha it would be today; to avoid the implication that someone died and pass BS&P muster.) Then he searches the drawers to his left and finds nothing...AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING~! Then he goes to the top right and the drawers reveal Elliot The Dragon. WHAT THE HELL?! That has to be a bad joke; I'm sure that was a bad joke. (Mike Russo thought it was Doctor Axelotte and it does look like him; but there is no top hat and his nose looks like a dragon's. I'm certain it's Elliot; only they forget to give him purple hair instead of orange, which might be the reason why Mike thought it was the insane doctor.) Buzz checks the bottom right drawer and then closes it claiming that there's nothing and then the JETPACK OF STUPIDTY makes it's appearance and latches onto Buzz's ankle. Buzz flies around for a while as Baloo tries to bail; but Buzz takes the third sickest bump in history into Baloo's belly and Baloo takes a sick bump into the wall. HOLY CRAP! Even nastier; Buzz's head and beak actually nail Baloo right in the groin! OUCH! Now you know how Kit feels Pop-A-Bear in Polly Wants A Treasure. (Also, Pop-A-Bear knows how it feels to be in the early days of MMA right about now.) Unlike Super Ducktales; that shot doesn't miss the groin either. Okay; one edit is removed since Toon Disney aired the scene exactly as is. Good for them to keep it too. (Too bad; the impact cracking in the wall wasn't show until three seconds later on a closeup shot of Baloo cringing from the nut shot from Buzz.)

Baloo slides down as Buzz finds the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY and gives it to Baloo. Baloo likes this as his Krackpotkin Plan is to meet him at two o'clock as Kit and his friends will be at the malt shop. Oh; and Buzz is going to need a convincing costume. Buzz decides that he will become a robot; a neat looking one. (Which by the way means that the robot is so Rube-Goldbergish that Buzz forgets to put money in the pockets.) We head to the laundry building with the glass roof as we hear MEL yelling "Kidnap Khan!" in a one track mind voice. (MEL is like Abyss in TNA; extreme case of tunnel vision. Only MEL has the excuse in that he's a robot with no mind of his own. At first I figured that Axelotte's lab was on the top floor; and the floor below was a laundromat and thus Axelotte was a lundromat clerk in his spare time. But nope; the lab is on the bottom floor, so the laundromat is abandoned.) MEL is voiced by David Lodge. We head inside the room and pan over as Axelotte is improving MEL to be a kidnapping machine. He closes up the belly and invokes the remote control as MEL continues to have a one track mind. Even the Auto Avaitor was more sane than these two put together. (Which is funny considering how the Auto Aviator turned on Martin Torque in From Here To Machinery.) Axelotte shows him the newspaper as Khan is opening up a new bank called "Khan Bank". The drawing looks like something from the storyboard; and it works in this case. (Well; most newspapers are in black & white anyway and it's 1937; so it works.) MEL flies away and shatters the roof. HAHA! Axolotte blows him off of course. (Another running gag: MEL smashes through roofs.) We go to the Malt Shop as we see the Jungle Aces and Kit talking to each other inside from the outside window shot. We don't hear them speaking of course as the ostrich is doing the most animating. (Indicating that he's the one who's talking. Which is funny considering that later on in that scene, Kit's still getting on Ernie's case about Bullethead being a comic book character.)

We then pan over to Baloo dressed up as the Rocketeer pacing around waiting for Buzz to show up. The clock chimes two o'clock. (Hilarious considering that the clock clearly shows it's five minutes to two. I swear the clocks in TaleSpin chime in the most absurd moments.) We see a far shot of the building with the clock and then zoom down as Buzz puts on his absurd robot costume. (Which looks nothing like MEL; and this is why a lot of people who watched this episode felt everyone looked stupid in this. The thing is; it's supposed to be this way in order to justify Kit's decision to foresake flying and join the Bullethead Brigade later on.) The bus arrives and opens the door as Robot Buzz walks in and the bear bus driver -- in a green uniform and blue hat -- wants five cents and calls him a fruitcake. Buzz looks and he forgot to build a pocket for the suit and thus is thrown out of the bus. Buzz tries to get up; but Khan's limo invokes the whirlwind spot on him. EEK! We head to the sky as MEL is flying and doing his usual one track promo. We then cut to Khan Bank's entrance as Khan is standing on the steps with the same two officers from Mommy For A Day. How about that? Well; this shows Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc. is animating as we see the tiger chaffeur standing by the limo and the usual reporter hounds on the sidewalk on the red carpet. Khan proclaims that his new bank will afford him a great opportunity as the tall brown dog hound wishes he could cover something exciting for a change. We then cut to the Malt Shop as the kids are still animating their thoughts; but we cannot hear them. We pan over to Baloo with the comic book as we see pictures of aliens fighting Bullethead. (Both of them look like lizard version of Rocksteady and Bebop from TMNT. At least TaleSpin is doing some interesting mockery of TMNT instead of the usual insults I see from DTVA. I mean, at least they are mocking henchmen here. They aren't mocking the main babyfaces of the show. Which is fine because no one likes the heels in TMNT, so mocking them is not going to make fans of either series think the writers are jealous and petty.)

Baloo realizes that his promo is "Skyward ho!". No, it has nothing to do with degrading women; nor graden hoes. Think Thundercats in a sky setting and you'll get the picture. (Yeah; that's their promo.) Baloo twists the red knob which is a bad sign for Baloo right off the bat as the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY turns on and Baloo rockets into the sky out of control, BABEE! (I swear Dante from "Devil May Cry" is stealing my promos now.) Baloo panics as he knocks over some trash cans and yells for Buzz while he twist the knob; but no dice. Heh. We then head inside the Malt Shop as Kit is trying to convince everyone that Bullethead is a comic book character. (Of course Ernie is not amused by Kit acting like an adult here. Here's a logic break: During the Malt Shop scene; the arrangement from the window going counter clockwise: Ostrich Jungle Ace, Rabbit Jungle Ace (I believe that one was named Bunnie), Ernie, Kit and Hippo Jungle Ace. These were the shots from outside. Go inside the Malt Shop from the window going counter clockwise: Ernie, Ostrich Jungle Ace, Rabbit Jungle Ace, Hippo Jungle Ace, Kit. What?! I'm guessing that Ernie was supposed to be at the window; so why was Ostrich Jungle Ace talking? It's so stupid on the animators part and should have been retaken.) See; this is why I called him a realist in my fanfics and Kit is make believe (Who acts real.) as we see Rocketeer Baloo fly within view and Ernie thinks it's Bullethead as the Jungle Aces all run out (I guess they paid for the floats in advance. Not to mention that on the far shot at the scene; there were two of them and on the closeup; it is now four.) as Kit doesn't get it. When this is over; you'll wish you didn't get it son. (Mike Russo made a deal about Kit's walking and his arm motions animated in such a way; that if Kit's arms were not bent a certain way; his arm would knuckle drag across the sidewalk. Mike considers this a staple of the Walt Disney Animation Japan diet of animating by the way.)

Baloo rockets and goes through a sign right through the Cape Tires Ad. We then cut to a shot of a golden clock on top as it's two o'clock and then we pan east to see MEL arrive and then properly land in the alleyway. (And of course; the clock is chiming here as well.) He races towards the bank and flies some more. We see more camera flashing and Khan proclaiming that they must not turn their backs on the future. In comes MEL with his one track promo as Khan is not amused. Gator and Walrus police officers (Walrus is Jerry Houser, Gator is Rodger Bumpass) bring out the pistols of doom as they threaten to shoot if MEL doesn't stop. Stop what guys?! His promo?! Good luck dear sirs. You'll need it. (Since Sheepskin Deep had no guns in it and hell on BS&P if it ever did, we are now 47 for 59 in which the guns get pulled out. In this case; it's police officers doing it.) MEL no sells and the officers shoot about ten bullets and MEL no sells all DUH! (Here's an example where in the end, the police officers look stupid. If Buzz was the robot; shouldn't the bullets go through MEL and not bounce off, thus killing Buzz?! Remember; this show is grounded in some form of reality and thus if Buzz was in costume; Buzz would have crumpled to the ground, dead. Oh, and we get gunfire smoke, bullets and everything in this one scene. Most of the time when flashes are used in this show; it's because it's cheaper to animate flashes simulating gunfire than actual bullets flying. The problem with that is that critics assume that the flashes are because you aren't allowed to show bullets. This has been a G.I. Joe staple even though bullet casings are in fact shown. Thus I stand by the theory that the flashes are there because it's easier to animate them than it is to animate multiple bullets. This is not the case here. There are bullets flying in this scene and the guns are sounding like real guns as well, unlike the Transformers sound effects in Gruel & Unusual Punishment and A Jolly Molly Christmas.). Walrus officer proclaims "mother of mercy" because MEL is unstoppable. NO?! REALLY?!

Bullethead Baloo (hence the episode title) rockets down as the officers foolishly continue to shoot at MEL. Amazing enough; none of this is cut by Toon Disney. (Here's where Toon Disney's hypocrisy really shines: We see clear closeups of the police officers shooting their guns and pointing them at MEL. These shots would be cut in any other episode. Not here.) Baloo drops in, tackles MEL and they do the "Axelotte Drop & Roll" trick from earlier. Everyone is talking now as Baloo has MEL pinned to the ground and Bullethead waves to them. MEL rolls on the ground like a flopping fish out of water and Baloo takes MEL as Buzz. Baloo panics because Buzz is needed at the Malt Shop. Thankfully for Baloo; here comes the Jungle Aces and Ernie shouting of course. Ernie blows Kit off for his gaffe. Riiiigggghhhttt Ernie. (Just wait until Ernie finds out who is donning the mask; then he wishes that Bullethead was a comic book character. This by the way is decades before cosplaying was a real thing today; and considering how Baloo screwed it up so badly, I can see why some hate this concept now.) Baloo picks up MEL and knuckles up. MEL cuts his usual promo and whizzes away stage right back towards Khan. Khan is at the limo waving goodbye to everyone and then gets into the limo. The limo speeds away MEL tries to make it to the limo; but the reporters cut him off and take pictures. Baloo goes to him and starts mocking him. MEL is now ticked off and decides to finally sell Baloo's mocking. This is really going to be good now. Baloo uses the POWER OF THE PUNCH and MEL doesn't sell of course. Baloo's hand is hurt, of course. Then MEL grabs Baloo and it's PUT OUT THE BULLETHEAD~; taking MAN-SIZED BUMPS in the process. MEL throws Baloo into the bank's door and takes some MAN-SIZED bumps into the door and the stairs. (So yes; Stegmutt is not the one who invented this spot. Also, considering that they took place on pavement and concrete; this was brutal, although thankfully, Baloo doesn't land on his head here.)

Wonderful spot as MEL is forced to leave; probably searching for Khan again. Baloo calls him a hooligan and tells him never to come back. But he will come back, Baloo; HE WILL~! (Nice little homage to Squidward Tentacles there 2011 me. You should be so proud of that.) Baloo gets surrounded by the police and reporters as they thank him for stopping a kidnapping. However; the reporters ask him for his name and Baloo makes the one mistake all rookie superheroes make: He takes off his helmet and declares himself Bullethead Baloo. (It won't be his last rookie superhero mistake as we'll see later on with the police.) Kit cannot believe it because it's his real-life hero! Ernie cannot believe it either; but doesn't seem to care as much. (Oh, I disagree with that 2011 me. Ernie does care about this because his world has crumbled now. He spent the entire episode mocking Kit's claim that Bullethead was fake and then saw Bullethead "for real" thinking he got the best of Kit. Only to discover that his childhood hero is the one he was mocking throughout this episode! To Ernie; Baloo has disgraced Bullethead all along. Normally; Kit would have been happy and telling Ernie to sod off. However...) Baloo does the "Skyward Ho!" bit and tries the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY once again. However; it does what it supposed to do, Baloo takes a MAN-SIZED bump off the brick wall and falls to the ground again. That jet pack is so funny! Baloo waves goodbye and walks away from the scene. (Even better; Baloo points to the sky and says: "I meant to do that!" I mention this because at TNA Victory Road 2011; Mr. Anderson (Mr. Kennedy in WWE) screwed up a leapfrog spot on Rob Van Dam and after about thirty seconds, he choked RVD on the ropes and screamed "I meant to do that!". That amused me.) Then to make things REALLY stupid; Professor Buzz appears (complete with robot suit on) and the police think it is MEL and draw their guns. Buzz drops to the floor and confesses that it was all a stunt. Oh man; Baloo is really going to get it.

Sadly; that moment produced logic break number two for the episode (at nine minutes) because anyone with half a brain knows that Buzz doesn't look anything like MEL. (In a sad way; they had to break logic here because you couldn't shoot Buzz dead on the show outright. Even Disney in 1991 had it's limits. Plus; in order for Kit to foresake Baloo, they have to make every adult in the scene look stupid anyway in order for Kit's promo about making pilots everywhere look bad work properly.) We return to the apartment building where Doctor Axelotte is listening to the radio, which is made from a rocket shell. (Actually; it's a Bullethead radio which is Bullethead's mask along with radio antennaes and knobs. Axelotte is in fact a Bullethead fan.) MEL crashes through the solar panel windows again and that causes Doctor Axelotte to complain about MEL to continue the "Horrible Mistreatment" part of the pun. (Not to mention that there is glass all over the floor and most of it is gone when this scene ends.) However; the radio beckons saying that the whole situation at Khan's Bank was a stunt provided by a whacko named Bullethead. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Doctor Axelotte is a confused; but he sees a perfect plan to strike as he goes into MEL's insides and adjusts him (EWWWW!). Now, Doctor Axelotte is ticked off and the urge to kill is rising. Ah; there's one of my notable promos for these rants. I should note that MEL's new promo is to "Get Bullethead". I see the BS&P is in effect since I always thought it was "Kill Bullethead". (And something tells me the first run syndication version was one where MEL says "kill" dozens of times; breaking the record. I'll have to see what the prototype scripts were for this episode.). MEL destroys the Bullethead radio in a symbolic moment. Axelotte laughs like mad and that ends the segment ten minutes in. (Now Axelotte cackling like a maniac was a real money shot visual if I ever saw one. He is beyond the pale insane now.) Well; I shouldn't be surprised that the Cape Suzette denizens are stupid; but at least they have more sense than most denizens in DTVA, so there you go. (Thursday would have not bought this at all; which would only make Baloo's cosplaying even worse...)

After the commercial break; we head back to the junkyard as Ernie crosses off the Jungle Aces and replaces it with Bullethead Brigade with white chalk. Ernie climbs down the ladder as he has a newspaper and proclaims that as the "Bullethead Brigade", they make sure Baloo doesn't defame Bullethead ever again. I cannot argue with that overwhelming logic there. (I could: Brendala has a really awful story about a sexist scumbag going to conventions and Comic-Cons dressed up as a copyright cop: Link. Yeah; so instead of Ernie going to the creators of the comic book and having them write a cease & desist to Baloo to stop using the character, he is going to take the law into his own hands and steal the suit as we'll see him say later on. In a way; Ernie's anger is justified because Baloo did insult Bullethead with the staged crime. Let's face it; if MEL didn't show up, the stunt would have gone wrong anyway due to the rocket pack being defective and Baloo exposed himself on his own. However; Ernie's actions afterwards do make him look like an asshole.) We then see Kit sitting on a tree stump sulking (Who can blame him? Baloo did a lot more than just defame Bullethead...) as it is BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (sunset). Baloo flies around and finds the club. Ernie tells Kit to set Baloo straight and Ernie appears so angry that he's about to really smack Baloo around. (Ernie basically throws the newspaper down in front of Kit implying that Kit and Ernie already know about this fake crime staged by Pop-A-Bear.) Baloo's JETPACK OF STUPIDITY forces Baloo to crash into a pile of boxes taking a decent bump in the process. This is turning into the "bump master" show. Baloo asks Kit about his exploits and Kit tells him everything, showing him the newspaper where Baloo faked the stunt. (Kit basically calls him about four different ways to call him a nut.) Baloo said that he did it for him and Kit is really upset because Baloo just gave a bad name to real heroes, fake heroes and pilots everywhere. Baloo has absolutely no defense for it; like he could defend himself from committing fraud. Then; Kit THE MIRACLE WORKER almost with a tear in his eye; acting pretty upset said the following words:

Kit: I don't want to be a pilot anymore. I'm joining the Bullethead Brigade! (Kit runs off ala Stormy Weather and goes to the Jungle Aces and wears an iron pot to symbolize the turn against his own dream.)

OH MY GOD! I never thought that Kit Cloudkicker; the symbol of a dream for future pilots everywhere in this world and MIRACLE WORKER would turn like this. Also, no one can blame him for doing so. Let me explain: Kit Cloudkicker was the only member of the Jungle Aces (I know, but bear with me...) who believed that Bullethead was a comic book character and that he believed in real heroes. (Which is funny considering that Baloo himself is no real hero. He's like Kit in that he is a well meaning, morally grey character living in a time where life is not all that great for him.) Baloo was a real hero in his eyes and therefore didn't NEED to impress Kit in order to get him over. Baloo didn't see it that way because his friends mocked him. (Also because Baloo misread Kit's non-verbal cue of walking with Ernie as a sign that Kit agreed with Ernie.) So, without Kit knowing; Baloo did the Bullethead stunt to impress him. However; when Baloo's plan was exposed, Kit was crushed because Baloo tried way too hard to impress a bunch of friends who Kit shouldn't have ever have made. (I wouldn't go that far. Baloo should have heed the words of that famous saying: You don't speak out and you'll only be thought of as a fool. But speak on out and erase all doubt that you are a fool. Baloo spoke out and erased all doubt of him being a scumbag idiot.) However; thanks to the stunt Baloo pulled off, every hero was tainted as result: Pilots, Police Officers (Which is why the logic break was actually a good one since the stunt made them look bad.), and even the comic book character Bullethead. I'm surprised that the creators of Bullethead didn't sue Baloo for defamation of character which it would certainly be their right. (Heck; Baloo should have been arrested for that staging as well and somehow, he never was. Buzz was arrested though as he admitted later on in this scene.)

Anyhow; in Kit's eyes, Baloo was a zero and Bullethead had more creditability anyway. (Yeah; if a fake character has more ethics than the real world characters; why not worship a fake character written by a writer?) Kit decided to basically destroy his dreams as a pilot -- since Baloo was a pilot -- and become part of the Bullethead Brigade to save face with his friends who he felt were real now. (Yeah; because his friends were right all along in Baloo being a vain scumbag who ruins childhood dreams. Even if the intent was not to degrade Bullethead, Baloo did in fact do just that, even if it wasn't on purpose.) Absolutely unbelievable for Kit to go out of character completely and it was certainly his right to do so. TaleSpin maybe be inconsistent; but it's strength was in being inconsistent because it builds up character which is what this show was about. If you don't like that; that's your business and I will respect it. (I don't respect that view anymore 2011 me. The reason is because consistent characters have paved the way for Flanderization and it takes great characters and turns them into stereotypical joke machines in order to justify contiuing to exist on television. For creators; it's a lazy way to continue the series and stop thinking, since kids will watch anything anyway, which is hypocritical since adults aren't supposed to act like dumb children in the first place. Also, critics don't care because they think "Consistent = awesome"; even when it's not at all and execs like it because (a) if it fails; they can greenlight original content and blow off the old farts for suggesting that the old is better than new all the time (which is funny because it's a half truth even without resorting to sabotaging shows in order to make it true.) and (b) if it succeeds, you get a lot money and new viewers. It's a win-win for them. I personally put all the blame on the writers. They should know better. Execs often don't know any better because most of them are money marks. I expect this kind of behaviour from them.)

Anyhow; in comes Professor Buzz panting as Baloo asks what went wrong and Buzz tells him that he was arrested by the police on the way to the Malt Shop. Baloo still thinks that Buzz was MEL and Buzz is confused as Baloo gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY as he realizes that MEL was really trying to commit a crime and he stopped it. Okay; he is right in that sense. However; that doesn't change how stupid it was to try to fake one in the first place. (Sure. Even if MEL wasn't around; this stunt would have gone wrong when Buzz gets shot dead from the guns of the officers earlier in the episode. In fact; that would have made Baloo's action even more reprehensible since Baloo would have indirectly caused the death of Professor Buzz! Thank goodness for MEL coming for Khan for once.) Baloo decides that he needs to find him again and stop him again for good. Baloo twists the knob on the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY, cuts his Thundercats promo, flies away and goes through the tree as Buzz does the "George of the Jungle" promo. Ernie runs in and demands answers as Buzz tells him that he's going to save Khan from a robot. Ernie proclaims that they need to stop him before he defames Bullethead again. Kit just wants to save Baloo from getting hurt or worse. Despite all his frustrations; he still cares enough about Baloo's safety and sanity. I'm guessing this is why they are called the Jungle Jerks by fans. (Yeah; Ernie only cares about a ficitional comic book character so much that he doesn't care if Baloo kills himself or not. I'm guessing Kit himself overheard Buzz and figured "Maybe Baloo is telling the truth". Anyhow; even so, Kit is acting like "Baloo's actions were stupid; but I can't let Baloo continue this because I'm afraid he's going to die. He did save my life many times and I do owe him that much at least." It's a rarity to see Kit foresake being a pilot; but it's par for the course for Kit to still have empathy for Baloo in spite of his stupidity. This is one of the reasons why I respect Kit as a character. I can also see why people hate Ernie; but Ernie's not Kit, nor will he ever be. Expecting him to be one makes critics sound like moral guardians.)

Scene changer as we see a far sky shot of Khan Tower and then see Baloo flying in the city on the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY does a forward roll into the rotating doors and slides in on his ass right into Khan Tower's lobby. Miss Snarly is at her desk reading the newspaper and sees the newspaper picture of Baloo faking the crime as Baloo wants to see Mr. Khan right away. Mrs. Snarly actually sells it by going to the intercom and talks to Mr. Khan. Khan wants Baloo ejected from the premises and not to be disturbed by anyone. Two of Khan's bouncers arrives and they use the POWER OF THE PUNCH TIMES TWO (off-screen) and Baloo gets punched right out of the office; taking some decent bumps in the process. Oh Man; Walt Disney Animation Japan is on today as I expected. Baloo then wonders what Bullethead would do. I would think that at this moment; he's telling you to stop defaming him Pop-A-Bear! (It does take a while longer; but Baloo will pretty much stop cosplaying Bullethead for good pretty much at the beginning of Act III) Baloo goes into his trusty comic book and sees the answer in the pages; complete with "Skyward Ho!" Baloo then uses the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY again and flies up the building. However; he takes a MAN-SIZED bump off the flag pole and falls; taking a really sick -- say it with me -- MAN-SIZED bump off the ground with his helmet. Thank God for the helmet and the bump being off-screen; or he would be dead. (UGH!) Baloo looks really frustrated now. We turn our attention to Mr. Khan's office where he is reading the newspaper (The same one with the fake crime stunt story on it, of course.) as we see Baloo fly around the top of the building. The JETPACK OF STUPIDITY works his magic once again as Baloo smacks into the window like a freakin bug on my windshield. God bless Kenny Blankenship! Khan notices, shows Baloo the newspaper stating that he's been embarrassed one too many times and then drops the curtains on Baloo's act.

Baloo sits down on the ledge and wonder if Bullethead ever had this kind of trouble. Memo to Pop-A-Bear: The answer is no because he's a FREAKING COMIC BOOK CHARACTER~! Stop this stupidity and apologize to Kit for crushing his hopes and dreams of becoming a pilot! We go from BEFORE HAPPY HOUR to AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as we cut to ground level to see Ernie, The Jungle Aces and Kit watching on the street as Ernie has the binoculars on Bullethead Baloo. Ernie mocks Baloo again and wants to get him. The Jungle Aces all advance to the doors as Kit asks Ernie what he wants and Ernie wants to repossess his gear because he deserves to ride that JETPACK OF STUPIDITY more than Baloo does. Okay; that's fine by me, and you can win the Darwin Award of 1990 as a result. (Yeah; so Ernie wants to steal Baloo's costume and believes that Baloo doesn't deserve to wear it. This is exactly like someone saying that you cannot dress up like a character because you're a woman, or too fat, or black or something. Very bigoted on Ernie's part. Ernie is a terrible cosplayer. No wonder Kit was defending Baloo in this episode. Also, no wonder Kit decided within minutes that he wasn't so keen on Ernie's plan and was more concerned about Baloo's health.) I do not like the looks of this as we return to Baloo on the ledge not knowing about Ernie's mean streak that is probably going to befall on him. However; Baloo's fortunes begin to turn because here's MEL~! MEL flies straight at Baloo while Baloo demands that he halts. MEL doesn't sell and manages to fly over Baloo's head and over to the window. MEL starts punching the window repeatly as Mr. Khan continues to no-sell inside. He's not going to like this. BULLETHEAD demands that MEL halt and face him. MEL decides to sell and sezs to "Get Bullethead" in rapid fire again. I swear that at this point he said to "Kill Bullethead!". Maybe I was hearing things since I have the original 1991 version here on DVD. (It's not like MEL is saying "f*ck" here. "Kill" is an acceptable word in DTVA so I'm guessing that MEL said "kill" way too many times in an episode and that might be why it was changed. I don't know, my memories suck.)

MEL forces Baloo off the ledge and starts to free-fall. Bullethead tries to go to the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY but it doesn't sell because it's out of fuel; I guess. Baloo is just getting screwed by that jetpack. He should file a lawsuit against Khan; although it will be thrown out due to the stunt earlier so it's pretty much pointless now. (Also, suing Buzz would end their friendship pronto. Then again; Baloo's character prevents him from filing lawsuits anyway.) Baloo tries again and manages to get it to work this time and he flies up after a pretty cute delay spot. Sadly; his ass doesn't set on fire. Baloo flies up into the sky past MEL and MEL gives chase. Baloo also gets off the catchphrase "solid" here. Meanwhile inside the front lobby of Khan's building; we see the Jungle Jerks and Kit THE MIRACLE WORKER sneaking past one of Khan's bouncers who foolishly walks away stage right, (Because every adult in DTVA has to look stupid. Except for one...) and Ernie pushing the button. Believe it or not; this is the first spot that Walt Disney Japan screwed up because Ernie's red oven mitts actually hit the bottom button. Everyone goes into the elevator and it closes before the bouncer even notices. We return to the action outside and LET THE SEQUENCE COMMENCE~! Baloo and MEL dodge each other as Bullethead flies around. The animation is absolutely breathtaking here as Baloo goes to his trusty comic book and wonders how to get out of this pinch. He see that he must do a "Dynamo Plunge of Death" into the building. Baloo thinks this will be easy. I smell problem here as Baloo flies up as the public watches in awe. I'm personally glad that this is the last episode on DVD because my DVD disc is breaking up more as this episode goes. (It's your DVD player there, 2011 me! VLC was perfectly fine.) Also, is one of the bears in the background in his underwear or something?! (I think it was Teddy poorly drawn.) We return to inside Mr. Khan's office as Kit and the Jungle Aces exit the elevator and slowly walk towards Shere Khan's desk. The doors close as everyone is scared to death.

Then in one of those dramatic; albeit predictable moments; Shere Khan turns around and faces the intruders. It should be noted that Kit Cloudkicker has only entered Mr. Khan's office twice in the series before this one and that was in Plunder and Lightning Part Two and Baloo Thunder. Still no logic break because Khan is menacing and Kit is alone this time around. (Okay; here's the scene which Mike Russo described as: There’s another type of WDA-Japan animation I haven’t talked about yet, and it’s a style that’s really super cartoony with simplified drawings and extreme expressions. Look at Kit’s face in all these screen shots. You never usually see those kinds of expressions on this show. The movements are even bolder than the animation I’ve been discussing lately, with some really strong body language. Here's the thing: I have seen this type of animation before and it's usually Jade Animation episodes mixed in with Walt Disney Animation Japan Inc. So I figure Jade is also animating this episode; because I saw All's Whale That Ends Whale and Save The Tiger; and some of the animation there is similar to what Jade usually does. It look so off-model; but at the same time, it looks really cool; most so when the kids see Khan. I'm also glad that despite seeing Khan twice; Kit looks so scared of him and this allows Khan to look like he owns the room.) We return to the action as Baloo starts flying upward with MEL chasing him. Baloo dives towards the building and says Skyward Ho as he dives towards the top of the building of Shere Khan. Inside; Khan tells the Jungle Jerks to turn around and leave because they are trespassing of course. However; before he could call his security Bullethead Baloo flies right through the building wall which surprises everyone. Baloo then apparently takes a MAN-SIZED BUMP off-screen. MEL follows and then notices Mr. Khan again which makes him revert to his original programming. Now this is really going to get good now. MEL sits onto the desk as Khan goes into deadpan mode:

Khan: I'm not amused. (MEL grabs him by the collar.)

That is so great as Ernie agrees with him coming that robot suit very cheesy. (Khan gets grabbed before Ernie and the way Khan is grabbed above MEL's head is so funny as it's a money shot moment. Khan does not give a damn about this at all.) Big mistake because Ernie is wearing Bullethead's costume (sort of) and MEL mistakes Ernie for Bullethead. MEL grabs him by the throat (!!!) as Mr. Khan really makes my day still in deadpan mode:

Khan: I'm still not amused. (MEL flies through the building's ceiling and leaves with both Khan and Ernie.)

Wow; I didn't expect them to do that to a child. Kit finally looks around the carnage, finds Baloo laying down completely knocked out and appears to be dead as the segment ends seventeen minutes in. Toon Disney kept the neck choke on Ernie by the way. (Toon Disney didn't edit out a single thing in this entire episode, even though there were at least two scenes where they would have taken the scissors out. This is exactly why censorship sucks and why TaleSpin is on DVD now and on iTunes/Disney+ (which sadly; uses the Toon Disney cuts, but for this episode, it doesn't matter); but I'm not going to buy them. Also, it's not because of the threat that Disney might steal my music even though Disney owns TaleSpin anyway. Anyhow; outside of a few logic break; this episode is awesome and I'm enjoying this one a lot more now. Axelotte's insanity, Ernie's stupidity, Baloo's failed heroics and Kit being Kit. Now it's time for the big babyface comeback from Baloo...)

After the commercial break; We zoom into Khan Tower AFTER HAPPY HOUR and then inside the destroyed office as Kit tries to wake Baloo up. Baloo stirs, turns on his ass and he's all right; despite the shell over his eyes, thus he panics about being blind. Heh. Kit is thankful that he's all right and Ernie didn't become a thief as a result. Baloo admits that the whole Bullethead thing is pretty stupid. Kit explains that MEL has kidnapped Ernie and Shere Khan. Baloo then decides to do the right thing for a change: Go to the police for help. Sadly; this is going to blow up in Baloo's face as well. (Here is Baloo's second rookie mistake: Granted; Baloo is not supposed to be a legit superhero; but one of the rules of a superhero is that you don't call the police. You call other superheroes. I didn't even know about this rule until Mr. Enter brought it up in "The Return Of Slade" on (Infantible (Toddler) Titans GO FISH~!) Teen Titans Go! where Cyborg's response to Slade returning was to call the cops. Never mind that Cyborg is black. Never mind that "Black Lives Matter" was built around the fact that the police are so racist beyond the pale that calling them is almost certain death to the person calling them! When even whites hate the police; you know the movement is legit. So the writers aren't only high, they are racist. Oh; and let's not forget putting Cyborg into a lazy black stereotype character of him being a slacker!) We go to the police station as Baloo wants to report a kidnapping and the police officers (gator and walrus) of course laugh it up because Baloo tried that stunt as usual. Baloo tries to snap them out of it; but no dice. This goes to a person who reviewed Recess: School's Out on the IMDB: She stated that she didn't like a scene where the police laughed at TJ Dettweiler while he was trying to save summer from a weather machine. Ahem! Didn't you watch the entire movie?! Earlier in the film, TJ pulled off a seriously dangerous prank of taking the entire school hostage (through the PA system) in which the police were called. TJ was found and was in massive trouble for his prank. Of course; the police were laughing at him, they thought it was another stunt.

There is a lesson to be learned here: You do not cry wolf or commit false acts because in the end a real act will happen to you and no one will help you. See "A Wolf In Sheep's Clothing" where the basis of that was. (Hey; Baloo should be lucky he wasn't arrested and charged with filing a false report. To be fair to the reviewer; I think she was upset when Miss Finster and her sidekick tried the same thing since Miss Finster was an adult and had nothing to do with TJ's stunts. That I can understand being angry about.) Anyhow; the phone rings and the walrus police officer answers it and apparently; it's Doctor Axelotte on the phone issuing his demands. The walrus officer gives the phone to Baloo and laughs again. (Even better; when Baloo is demanding the police to do something; one of the officers tells him "You're the superhero." So yes; the police in this show have a lot more of a friggin clue than Cyborg from TTG! Just wonderful. And worse; at least we know Baloo isn't a superhero. He might be cosplaying one; but cosplaying one doesn't make you one legit.) Baloo answers and realize that he's the one responsible for kidnapping Khan. Baloo fakes his name (Officer Crupky) and states that he will give in to Doctor Axelotte's demands. We go inside Axelotte's apartment where Doctor Axolotte is talking on the phone while MEL is doing nothing and Ernie/Shere Khan are bounds to chairs and gagged. That should shut Ernie up for the rest of the episode; that little bastard. (Yeah; maybe he should have thought twice before playing copyright cop.) Although Mr. Khan doesn't deserve it because he wouldn't speak to anyone anyway. (Unless he gets a great money deal out of it.) Axolotte is giddy as he explains the demands that he wants to be on radio declaring how much of a genius that he is. Baloo sells and does the "crazy finger" trick; but he thinks it would be even better if he gets a limo service on top of it. Axelotte sells that as Baloo asks for directions and we're all set for the finish.

Baloo and Kit give the thumbs up on that one. It should be noted that Baloo has finally got that suit off. We go into the SeaDuck for the very first time in the episode as Baloo and Kit cheer on for this plan to finally work. (Compare this to Bubsy where Bubsy was insulting Sid; who is a silly goofy guy who is supposed to be the heel. Baloo sounds like the more likable guy in this setup; and he's the babyface. Bubsy is unlikable and he's also supposed to be the babyface. And then they wonder why Bubsy didn't get past the pilot stage?!) The SeaDuck lands next to the apartment building (Of course, it makes sense for the finish to work; just plain overkill still.) as we see Doctor Axelotte proclaiming victory. Axelotte wants to be in radio today, in the movies tommorrow and the day after...who knows because the door knock sound beckons. Man; Doctor Axelotte is insane for sure now. He's thinking way too small. (The day after I bet would be the world. Still thinking too small, but he's insane so it works.) Doctor Axelotte regains enough sainty to open the door and there is Baloo as he explains to Doctor Axelotte that he is the new chaffeur. (This works perfectly because Axelotte has never seen Baloo in anyway shape nor form. I should note that once Axelotte found out who screwed up the plan earlier; he rationally believed Bullethead was a comic book character; and then he thought he was real and wanted to kill him for messing up his plans. Great heel move there, Axelotte.) He takes MEL and pushes him towards the door stating that the radio people are waiting for him in thirty minutes. However; Axolotte doesn't sell it as he wants MEL to wait inside to protect the hostages. Baloo tries to convince him that he needs a co-host; but no dice. He's insane and he's smart. Chris Barat was right: TaleSpin depended on Don Karnage way too much and it shows when the one shotters are so awesome in getting over with the little time that they are ultimately given. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: So what is Baloo's excuse then? Even Kit Cloudkicker was in more episodes than Don Karnage ever was and he was voiced by a 12 year old. Hypocrisy much there, 2011 me?!)

MEL returns to his position as Baloo's attempts to get MEL as the co-host fails as usual. Baloo swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (Darn) as he leaves. The Krackpotkin plan is being screwed as per usual with Pop-A-Bear. (Take that Ally Cassandra! How sad is it for you that Axelotte is a much better heel than you will ever be?!) Baloo places Doctor Axelotte into the SeaDuck and closes the door. (Which means Axelotte gets to defame Kit Cloudkicker by being his navigator in this venture. Not that it matters since multiple guest characters have sat in that seat anyway.) Baloo then goes over to Kit and the Jungle Aces to say that he left the robot inside. Baloo then goes over to Plan Bee (Because the real Plan B is throwing a temper tanturm, you see.) to lure him out of hiding. Kit gives him the good luck sign and the MIRACLE WORKER goes towards the apartment with the Jungle Aces following him. Baloo goes into the SeaDuck and starts the engines. They begin to roar as the SeaDuck flies away. How he got the SeaDuck into that area is a mystery to me. I'll call it logic break number three for the episode. (Very wide streets is the answer. Logic break popped out of the episode. That street must be awfully quiet at night.) Anyhow; back into the sky as Baloo asks Axelotte to turn around and look for some sodas. Doctor Axelotte sells it, goes to the back, sees the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY and the Bullethead costume! UH OH! Doctor Axelotte gets the LIGHTBLUB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and relizes that he's Bullethead. (This was kind of funny because Baloo loves soda so much; I assumed that Axelotte's leg wasn't being pulled by Baloo. Silly me!) Baloo swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE (Shucks) and admits his guilt. Axolotte goes to the radio, demands for MEL to stop whatever he's doing and go after the SeaDuck.

That is his fatal mistake as MEL goes into a frenzy saying "USE DOOR" and running around the place. Kit and the Jungle Aces arrive inside. (How embarrassing it must be that MEL has more variety of the English language than the singer who sang the Mega Man opening theme song. Ponder that one for a moment.) Then MEL uses his jet pack -- which is not stupid -- and flies right into the solar panel window again. (Because of course, MEL is not going to kill a bunch of kids. Which is a relief for me. Kit's nearly got killed enough times to last everyone a lifetime.) We even get to see the glass shatter upon impact. Great spot as MEL flies towards the SeaDuck. That is one insane robot. Kit and the Jungle Aces unties Mr. Khan and Ernie as everyone cheers victory. Shere Khan thanks them in his usual deadpan mode and asks for credit. Ernie jumps down and proclaim that he can thank the Jungle Aces as Ernie puts on the goggles as a way to admit that Kit was right about heroes after all. Wonderful moment there and the Jungle Aces are over for good. (Ernie also shakes Kit's hand as a sort of apology for being wrong about Baloo and being wrong about Bullethead because he got saved by his own real friends. I should note that out of all the Jungle Aces, Ernie is the only one who has never been shown in the SeaDuck! Kit's been in there, the unnamed kids were in there earlier in this episode, Oscar has been in there. But not Ernie. How bad is Ernie when even he cannot buy a ride in the SeaDuck?!) MEL manages to get onto Baloo's SeaDuck and starts punching away. Doctor Axolotte goes into crazy mode talking about how people dissed him for being mad. Baloo of course; happily blows that off for me as he takes the SeaDuck in for a dive trying to shake MEL off as it yells it's "DESTROY!" promo in rapid fire. Somehow; knowing Axelotte's lack of sanity; destroy makes perfect sense in this case. (I concur. I didn't like the "Get Bullethead" part; mostly because you can say kill; but I'm fine with "destroy" here.)

Baloo finds a bridge and flies under it, allowing MEL to fly into the bridge side, doing a funny cartoon like splat sequence. The SeaDuck flies above the clouds as MEL falls down and recovers quickly. Man; MEL can take a lot of punishment. I see the pig lady has made her per contracted appearance here. I'm amazed that she didn't GET a speaking part in this series. (Because Baloo's the star and to heck with everyone else.) MEL rockets up into the sky again and flies past the SeaDuck with amazing speed. Baloo calls MEL mad. NO?! REALLY?! He stops about a thousand metres in front of the SeaDuck and then tries the ram right straight for Baloo. Man; he want to MURDER Bullethead now! However; Baloo gives him no quarter as he flies down below the clouds and MEL proceeds after him. MEL just made his fatal mistake as Baloo heads towards the tower of Khan's office and swirls past it just a few feet before crashing. MEL is unable to stop himself as he crashing head first into the tower and breaks one level, then another, then another, then another and repeats the process about ten more times in a beautiful sequence that Walt Disney Japan can only do well. Professor Buzz (Who I love dear and apparently; Buzz has kept his job at Khan Enterprises. I guess he hasn't been charged. Yet.) hears the noise as MEL crashes into the elevator, the elevator comes down to the bottom floor and open up. MEL crashes to floor and he is officially dead, done and toe-tagged. I mean it this time! He's dead! (That was such a fitting ending to this whole thing and gave me the excuse to try to write a fanfic loosely based on Wonder Project J. Don't ask; I'm a sadist. Anyhow; Baloo actually did Bullethead's Dynamo Plunge here with the SeaDuck which means Baloo showed that he was a superhero of sorts.) We head back to the SeaDuck as Baloo chuckles because it's only him and Doctor Axelotte left.

Axelotte blows him off because he left the JETPACK OF STUPIDITY on the floor. Axelotte grabs it as Baloo warns him; but Axelotte no sells as he opens the navigational door and turns the knob as his hope chest is gone and does the toaster pop spot (Which Steve Smith lifted for his show twelve years later mind you. (Wow; I somehow remembered this after all the years of watching Red Green?! I thought the most memoriable moments were Harold eating a bag of moth balls by accident and calling Mike Hammer a cheater doing the Possum Lodge Word Game~!)); drops on the seat and rockets to the ground as he gets knocked silly for good. HAHA! Baloo proudly says it all here as Axolotte has awesome rattle eyes. You know; that segment from Axelotte finding out the rocket pack to MEL getting destroyed was a thing of beauty. I see Gregory Weisman learned his lessons very well and that's why I consider Gargoyles as a kick ass show that didn't quite measure up to TaleSpin; but got a bigger fanbase than the Rescue Rangers anyway. (Pretty much true. Although I blame most of that on the idea that the babyfaces can never have fun and be happy. It might have been different by DTVA standards; but most people who want that kind of thing already have that void filled by Warner Brothers. I'm just saying.) Believe it or not; I had a fanfic in the works dealing with Doctor Axolotte as he gets his revenge when Buzz creates a copy called Dali The Wondercleaner and a robot that was inspired by Wonder Project J created by Enix. Sadly; only the first chapter aired as I introduced Buzz's daughter who is more hyperactive than Molly was. (I think Victoria was far worse than Ernie could ever be in terms of annoyence.) Anyhow; we head back to the junkyard (It's Uncensored, BABEE!) as Baloo is relaxing in his hammock again as Buzz arrives. Baloo tells Buzz to inform Khan that the Jungle Aces love their new gifts.

Buzz asks why they wanted those and Baloo proclaims that if you going to master the Dynamo Plunge; you have to master falling out of a hammock. We cut over to all the Jungle Aces in the hammocks agreeing with him (And Ernie has lost the boots I see...) and they roll out of the hammocks. HAHA! Kit does me proud by forward rolling about three times in a row just to show up everyone. HAHA! Kit proclaims that no one falls out of a hammock like Pop-A-Bear. I beg to differ there considering that spot. (I just love how Kit Cloudkicker implies that Baloo is the best hammock roller and yet, Kit rolls out of the hammock and puts on a more impressive show than Baloo does. Yeah; nice try Kit, you are not fooling anyone.) Kit winks; circle fade out and that ends the episode, disc three and volume two of the DVD at 21:19. Steve Roberts earned his wings literally and I hope Gregory writes him royality checks until the day Mr. Roberts passes on. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Which is exactly what happened as Steve Roberts passed away a few years ago. Ouch, 2011 me!) This was action packed and amazing considering that it was supposed to be a slower, methodicial series with character interaction. Is there nothing this show cannot do properly yet?! Oh wait...Your Baloo's In The Mail. (Yeah; that episode would have worked perfectly on Goof Troop. However; I think the finish to that episode was worse than the joke pounding. Oh; and looky here, that episode is next on the list of episodes I need to transcribe. D'OH!) Never mind. ***** (100%). (The rating stays as is and kudos to Steve Roberts on the best episode he ever wrote. Flight Of The Snowduck was great and all; but this one was even better: Insane guy who wears top hat just because? Check. Defective rocket pack? Check. Baloo being stupid for our pleasure? Check. Killer robot? Check. Khan deadpanning like a maniac? Check. Robot dies in awesome fashion? Check. Kit Cloudkicker being awesome? Check, check, and check! So yeah; I love this episode.)

Final Note: This episode uses the prop font in the end credits. This is the first episode involving Michael Fallows as overseas animation director and the late Michael Svyako. No wonder the animation looked awesome; Hanho Heung Up didn't do additional services. How about that?! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: I believe either Jade or Kum Young in an uncredited did some of the animation in the "Kit is showing scared faces at Khan's presence" sequence.)

THE REVIEW LINE

What a way to end the TaleSpin DVD Volume 2 set with a pretty historical episode from an animation style perspective with some of the sequences in this episode (mostly the Bullethead/MEL sequences) that would become the basis for the Gargoyles sequences in New York later on. Doctor Axelotte was insane and awesome; who on the one hand you want to feel sorry for; but at the same time is completely dellusional. MEL was keeping up the pace; but that is robots for you. Khan's deadpan humor was awesome and even Ernie was pleasing mostly because as I stated before; Baloo's attempt to not letdown Kit was a total failure since Kit already believed in him and didn't need to be impressed in front of a bunch of kids who treated Bullethead as a false god. (Ernie is only annoying because he tried to play copyright cop. But he failed; so I thought it was funny in the end.) It only served to defame Baloo as a pilot and Bullethead the character and that's why Kit turned on Baloo midway through the short. The only problem was Elliot the Dragon appearing out of the drawers as a bad joke. (Actually; the cameo was out of nowhere and goes the same place. The animation errors and one logic break were more of a problem then the cameo. Personally; I thought the adults being stupid was great because it got Kit's anger of Baloo's stupidity over and I could believe Kit foresaking being a pilot over seeing how Baloo tainted their legacies. Probably one of the few times an actual logic break helped an episode rather than hurt it.) This episode truly captured the spirits of the pulp serials the show was inspired by. Kudos to Steve Roberts for writing this and making it enjoyable and amusing.

Well; that ends the DVD sets of TaleSpin and I'm glad it's over since my discs was breaking up near the end. This disc set has six thumbs up and three in the middle. For the DVD set; it's 22 thumbs up, 5 thumbs in the middle. Overall after 54 episodes; it's 41 thumbs up and 13 thumbs in the middle which is the best overall set I have ever seen. However; if we score on the Stud Muffin Scoring System (care of Joel Ghertner of ECW) and a thumbs down is under *** ½; I score: 41 thumbs up, 6 thumbs in the middle and 7 thumbs down. I know this show is good when I need the SMSS to get thumbs down. Now we go to the final eleven episodes on Youtube which are all Toon Disney edits sadly. (No need to worry; the final episodes are all on DVD anyway.) There are two cringe worthy episodes remaining including one that might be a legit thumbs down which is the last episode on the production paper: Your Baloo's In The Mail. (Which I am transcribing next.) The Incredible Shrinking Molly isn't much better either. (Actually; most of ISM's problems are from the animation side.) Khan's career is over (I still have Citizen Khan to transcribe; but otherwise, yip. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Khan would appear more in the comics from this episode forward.)) and Spigot has only one episode left. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Flying Dupes, an episode that has not been released on Disney+ for obvious and not so obvious reasons.) Kit has three episodes left and Molly has two episodes left. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Mostly due to the children voicing children. Both would make some big impacts in the comics. WildCat is going to be the major star in the final eleven episodes as three big episodes are awaiting him. Also, Rick Skye, who might be the closest thing to Kit Cloudkicker's father in this show, but clearly isn't.) However; there are still some really good episodes left too. Next up is Destiny Rides Again and Mach One For The Gipper which is a mixed set to say the least. So...

Thumbs way up for this episode and I'll see you next time.

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