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The Road to Macadamia Re-Rant

Reviewed: 02/19/2011
Additional Commentary: 12/05/2021

Baloo Hope and Louie Crosby Part Deux!

Original Airdate: 02/20/1991 (Syndication), Episode #59 (TaleSpin DVD Volume 3, Disc 1), Episode #52 (Production Order).

The Road To Macadamia Notes
The Road To Macadamia Transcript

We move on to the next two episodes; all based on Baloo and Louie's relationship together as Baloo and Louie go to Macadamia and bring back a whole lot of nuts literally and otherwise. (2016 Gregory Weagle Says: "The Issue At Hand" blog writer Joe Torcivia when he reviewed this episode said that there was a legend that the original concept for TaleSpin was Baloo and Louie as a sort of Bob Hope & Bing Crosby duo with their adventures in traveling the globe. It sounds believable as a major angle since this episode is so steeped in Hope/Crosby homages that it isn't funny. Heck; the title of this episode (which they repeat in the episode) is basically a tribute to the Road To X movies Hope and Crosby did over their own careers. I'm almost certain that this was not their original direction, mainly because that means all adults, all the time; which makes no sense when you consider that the creators had admitted that it was a child named Kit who got the show approved. Now granted; if the series had continued to a hundred episodes, they would have easy material to expand on this major angle. However; putting it as the original concept wouldn't last 65 episodes. Maybe 13 episodes at the most. Not to say that the idea is bad; but TaleSpin is simply about telling good stories and good stories aren't just one concept over and over again. That's why this show avoids repetition more often than the average DTVA cartoons both now and in the past. So; the plot of this episode is Baloo and Louie go to the kingdom of Macadamia (because it's named after a nut; which after you see King Amok, you'll see why this is called the way it's called.) to get payment for cargo and Louie needs ten sacks of chocolate covered nuts. But the kingdom is broke and they cannot get their stuff. So they get into the castle after three aborted attempts at night to discover that a certain chancellor is screwing the king and the princess of the kingdom's money; and this guy is claiming that the king squandered the tax money. So Baloo and Louie have to find the treasure this goon has stolen before dawn, while at the same time finding time to have pleasure time with the princess while each playing the game of petty insulting to each other. They also did this petty insulting on For Whom The Bell Klangs, only this one might be more amusing.) This is probably the final episode for Len Uhley on TaleSpin as well. (Yup.) I remember loving this episode for it's foxy female character last time; but then again, I gave Stuck On You a near full monty last time and this time; it's only above average. (Nowadays; it's a really good episode that got screwed by Sunwoo's bad background continuity shots.) Let's rant on shall we...?!

This episode is written by Len Uhley . The story is edited by Karl Geurs. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation Japan/Hanho Heung-Up Company Limited I do believe. (Actually; Tama Production did additional production services, not Hanho. This was the final appearance for Tama Pro on this show.)

We begin this one in the sand mountains as the SeaDuck flies overhead and Baloo and Louie -- sans hat plus map -- are humming the tune which was supposed to be "Friends For Life" which was made available on the Disney Afternoon Soundtrack; but didn't appear on the show. Sigh. I don't understand that since Ducktales, Gummi Bears and Rescue Rangers had no problems with having songs in their episodes; Plunder and Lightning notwithstanding. (Maybe the reason behind it was that they wanted a more mature child audience and thought that musicals were too tacky for that audience. Hilarious considering how High School Musical did in hindsight. Now if I'm not hearing things; I swore Tim Val Hal said that "Friends For Life" was not designed for this episode. I don't know which episode Tim claimed it was supposed to be and maybe I'll get more details when the book comes out in October 2016.) Baloo is in the back for goodness knows what reason as Louie has the heart of the cards. Not exactly; but he does have playing cards. (I wish that the cards Louie was holding were the Ace of Hearts; because that would be a fitting insult to 4Kids' "Heart Of The Cards" nonsense in Yu-Gi-Oh! I'm guessing they used this phrase to sub in "faith in your deck" because faith is religious and thus a no-no.) Baloo eats a chocolate bar nicely blowing off Louie's mind reading skills because Louie has failed a million and one times. Baloo sits down in his pilot's chair as Louie shuffles the cards and proclaims that he'll get it right this time. Baloo calls Louie an optimist (I think you mean opportunist, Pop-A-Bear and/or Disney Captions?!), Louie puts the cards out in a fan and asks him to pick any card from the deck. Baloo licks his chops, he picks a card which is the ace of spades (how fitting eh?), then puts it back in the deck and tells Louie to floor him. That leads to Louie invoking the pink turban and he does some Shambala tricks on the card, mostly involves waving his hand above the cards. He puts them over his head as we discover that all the cards are the ace of spades, so naturally Louie guesses right. HEE HEE! Baloo of course sees the trick played while Louie wasn't looking and Baloo swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE ("Darn my socks!").

Louie calls himself amazing as he grabs a crystal ball with his feet, which is still classier than using them to stomp tomatoes in Pizza Pie In The Sky. (How could I not forget that moment?! Remember; this show is in 1990, back in an era that old farts love. But when a modern cartoon does this, we all scream bloody murder over.) Louie has another trick up his sleeve as Baloo removes the REDNECK AUTO PILOT~ which manages to stay on the entire time although, it changes color from rust grey to bright grey; but that is minor. See, Louie can now tell how far they are from Macadamia without navigational gear. Oh yeah; let's bury Kit Cloudkicker while we...Oh wait; this episode probably occured before Baloo met Kit; never mind. (Yeah; this is so pre-Plunder and Lightning that it isn't funny. In fact, if you believe the legend, then Plunder and Lightning would be the series finale instead of the actual pilot! Who would be the pilot episode?! Probably From Whom The Bell Klangs since it's a two parter.) Louie leers into the crystal ball while violating anime dub conduct rule number twelve twice ("mumbo jumbo with a side of gumbo"), closes his eyes and has the crystal ball conveniently over the speedometer which reads one hundred miles. (Which in reality is the gas gauge and thus it's a hundred gallons; because Louie is trying to trick his friend and not realize how dumb he is into thinking that he can tell how far they are from Macadamia from a gauge.) Louie claims that they are exactly hundred miles away from Macadamia. Baloo gleefully blows him off because that is the amount of gas that is left. HAHA! Louie accuses Baloo of accusing him of tricking him; so Baloo calls it a trick question while using his feet to control the stick. Geez; that spot is way overplayed now. (Yeah; we're supposed to be impressed by this; but most moral guardians would have noticed and complained about it by now. Unless you have no arms and do everything with your feet (which is a very small segment of the population.); then stop doing that trick. It's very dangerous.) Louie proclaims that he wants to do another trick and brings out a white cloth and wants Baloo to blindfold him.

Baloo does that and they struggle over that while the SeaDuck is out of control. Then they panic as the Seaduck is headed for a stone arch. Baloo uses the leg to struggle to the stick, uses the stick with his foot to regain control, the SeaDuck hyperboles, bounces off the sand and lands without further incident. Good bumping and pretty cute stuff from the original Jungle Book babyfaces. (This is their strongest MO: Make witty insults on each other that aren't of malice and then rough each other up for a bit until the woman arrives to make them stop. Rinse, lather, repeat. The routine almost always works; most so when you have a great writer. Just like Len Uhley actually.) Memo to animation buffs who think this show's animation is sub-par: Rocket Robin Hood might come back at anytime! You know; the one where the background does the animating?! It's really sad since the storyline for Rocket Robin Hood wasn't half bad at all. Also, the fact that the late Terrance Harrison worked on that series back in the late 1960's. (Rocket Robin Hood is basically Robin Hood in space like TaleSpin is Jungle Book with a concrete jungle and a lot of 1930's flying. Only TaleSpin's animation is much better, even though Tama Pro also worked on Chargeman Ken. Which is far worse in animation than Rocket Robin Hood ever was. I mean it too. There is also The Mighty Hercules; but for some reason, that show was much more conhernt and fuild; despite being at least a minute shorter than Chargeman Ken ever was and also being shown a full decade before Chargeman Ken was shown in Japan.) Baloo comes out from the navigation seat and invokes this gem of a line:

Baloo: (Sighs.) I must be alive, 'cause I hurt too much to be dead. {A camel then comes out of nowhere and licks his face. The camel grunts as Louie comes out and somehow got his hat back on his head.

HAHA! I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. Louie follows and Baloo calls the camel a welcome wagon as we pan over to see that Baloo and Louie crashed near an area where camels graze. Man; the shadowing on Louie is weird as we see that Macadamia is about five miles away according to the badly worded wooden sign on the far shot. (I'm surprised Walt Disney Animation Japan did this to be honest with you. It's the type of naunce that even I wouldn't have spotted in modern cartoons, nor cared. So someone was on the ball here.) Baloo thinks it's not too far; but Louie is on Baloo's back because his toes don't like hot sand. Oh sod off, you Jamaican stereotype! At least it isn't wet ice like it is here in Nova Scotia. (Now it's just wet water today.) Baloo then looks at the camels and thinks he has a Krackpotkin plan in mind and Louie is worried about that. Nice to see someone realize that Kit is the only one who can come up with a plan. (Which would be drole since this is clearly a pre-Plunder and Lightning episode.) Baloo plops Louie onto a grass grazing camel (Grass? In a desert? (Also yes, there was some grass on the ground. How? I don't know.)) as Baloo is going to do some bantering with the local camel taxi service and then returns to ask Louie for money. HAHA! Louie is not amused as he opens his purse and butterflies come out much to Louie's amusement. Ah; I see the butterflies from Alice & Wonderland have made a cameo along with Eillot the Dragon (Pete's Dragon) in Bullethead Baloo. (Geez; I thought they were just regular orange butterflies. I think 2011 Me was embellishing in order to get back at those pesky Rescue Ranger fans who kept insisting that a fish ate Zipper in this show. Even though there was no evidence of such a thing.) We go to the sandbox from hell (Complete with swelter effects from the sun; which shows that Walt Disney Animation Japan was animating really well in this episode.) as we pan west to see the camel on a cart on the sand. Baloo; being the Hoppo of the team gets to play dense diva and sit in the cart relaxing of course.

Louie is on the camel nicely blowing Baloo off because Baloo wants a song, Louie wants to cover the camel's ears and warn the locals. (This was one of Joe's favorite lines; and one of mine. Actually; what Baloo said was that they were on the road to Macadamia (repeating the episode title of course) and Louie thinks this is a setup for a song cue as Baloo asks if that is a request. Louie than replies that he's warning the camels to cover their ears. The implication is that Baloo's singing sucks. As we see in other episodes; compared to Jim Cummings' singing...ummm...yip.) What is with the face shadowing effects here?! (Someone at the Japanese studios actually paying attention to detail.) The camel bleats and Louie takes it as a sign that Baloo's reputation proceeds him. Sure it does Louie; sure. We head to Macadamia and see that the whole place is deserted with shops empty and some pieces of paper flying in the background. We see Baloo and Louie arrive as Louie proclaims that the last time they were here; Macadamia was knee deep in dough. (Implying that business was awesome, also implying that they have been here before on business. That would not surprise me in Louie's case, since I'm guessing that Macadamia also harvests Macadamian nuts; although that whole angle was never in evidence in this episode. Because you see; the only nut in this castle is the king himself as you'll see later on.) We then cut to a closeup shot of a yellow chicken squawking and panicking as the Macadamian mob, who look like dognoses (Ducktales Alert!) with knives and forks running through the street chasing the yellow chicken and knocking over stuff. (I'm also certain that the chicken chasers are in fact dogs and coyotes; and not dognoses as I originally thought, since dognoses have human feet.) Baloo is stunned as apparently the dough ran low. Somehow; that sounds a little more contextual than I realize it should be.

I'm guessing that one of the ADR voices for this was the late Michael Rye whom passed away in 2021 (He is on the credits, but he's not voicing the main villain like I thought he would here. At least I think that it's the case. I've heard some people claim that Trample got voice mixed ala Alan/R.J. in A Bad Reflection On You between Michael Rye and Jim Cummings; but there's no evidence to suggest that from what I'm aware. Tim Val Hal; I need help here...) Scene changer and we head to the Macadamian palace guard gates as Baloo and Louie arrive and yes; the camel cart is still with them. They knock on the door as two giant ass rhino guards (Who look like they are Larson & Gary's test subjects judging by the roid rage.) arrive and take the camel, the cart and other things. Louie asks for some chocolate covered Macadamian nuts for Louie's Place and Baloo tries to show them the bill of goods; but one of the rhino guard screams in his face in a fit of roid rage. As for the guards; think Robin Hood rhino guards in stereotypical Middle Eastern gear and you are almost there. (Yup.) Louie asks if the guard has had his shots and Baloo and Louie bring out the bills as Louie wants his nuts. Okay, that was more disturbing than I had intended as the gate doors slam shut. (Not only did they take the wagon inside; they also stole the camel as well even though it doesn't actually belong to the castle. Hey, that camel was rented you know! Baloo has to return it before leaving you know! Do you know how big those lost/stolen charges are?! Very huge!) Baloo and Louie look at each other and then they bang the doors hard protesting this outrage. Don't forget to pump the fist guys. (Thompson & Thompson from Titin the Nelvana had a classic spot where they tried to arrest Titin on charges and they attempted to book him in the police station; but the officers laugh them off and then got throw out of the station. T&T basically yell at the same time that they protest this outrage. It was so great. I don't remember the episode; but I do remember this spot vividly.)

The doors open and here come the rhino guards with a vulture furry in wizards gear addressing himself as Trample. Judging by the Stan Blatter voice he uses; he is voiced by Jim Cummings. (Judging by his name; he's a heel, although he hides that fact, even with the heelish name.) Baloo continues to protest that he is owed $192.12 and Louie protests that he is owned ten bags of chocolate covered nuts that he paid for. (Geez; you were six dollars higher than the actual number 2011 me.) Trample grabs the recipts and tears them apart apologizing to the goofs because Macadamia is broke, you see. See; the King known as King Amok squandered all that MONEY, MONEY, YEAH, YEAH from the villagers. Trample then looks at his ring after saying broke about five different times (It's really three actually.) that the goofs know the way out. The two rhino guards grab them and Baloo and Louie realize that they are screwed. Baloo and Louie are literally popped out of the castle (not quite; but close enough)! Baloo and Louie take MAN-SIZED bumps into the sand and have their heads in the sand. This would have been funnier if they did the Goofy squeal on the way down a lot better. You are no Bill Farmer, Jim Cummings. Baloo proclaims that they are not taking this laying down which would have worked if they were lying down instead of looking like fatass lawn darts. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Sadly; this is not as funny as Ken, Carron and Clippers lawn darting themselves with their chins in Chargeman Ken.) We cut back to a closeup of the castle gates and they open to reveal Baloo and Louie dressed up as carnival barkers and/or door to door salesmen. Same thing basically. They bring out the Floss-O-Matic dental floss and a case of dentures out. Yeah; this is so obvious a Krackpotkin plan that the rhino guards don't sell it (duh), they grab Baloo and Louie, threy invoke the POWER OF THE PUNCH (The cheat-ass finisher of William Regal by the way. Works at it's best when brass knuckles are involved.) off-screen (duh), they go flying towards the SeaDuck (duh) and they take a MAN-SIZED BUMP into the sand (duh). The Goofy squeal is still terrible. The camel continues to graze like he doesn't have a care in the world.

Now we return back to the castle as the Bugs Bunny burrowing spot emerges. Why shouldn't I be surprised considering that half of the TaleSpin team just happened to work for Warner Brothers?! (Why shouldn't I be surprised that Disney was still taking swipes at Warner Brothers like a petty little bully?!) The goofs take a good bump into the castle wall and bounces back as Baloo pops out of the spot wearing a stupid mining hat. Louie pops out as the Rhino Guards show up out of nowhere. Geez; what a surprise?! Next time Baloo; do not whisper yell! Krackpotkin #1123 is popped out of the castle! You can guess where they land and what bump were taken. Oh; almost forgot: Walt Disney Animation Japan has the guts or gall, depending on your poison; to show a "Hey; look at me! I can animate better than the American animators at Warner Brothers" spot where the goofs are supposed to squash the camel; but the goofs stop about six feet above the camel and the camel moves out of the way enough so the goof take a MAN-SIZED bump on screen into the sand. HAHA! Too funny although the Goofy voice acting sucks as usual. Louie and Baloo pop from the carnage as we see that the guards also popped the tools (on so many levels to boot) out of the castle, too. Louie thinks he sees stars and Baloo slaps his back because he has another Krackpotkin plan and Louie is not amused at this since Louie read his mind. HAHA! See; make the joke and then pay it off. So we head to a far shot of the city of Macadamia AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as the clouds roll in. (Better animated than Chargeman Ken at least.) We then cut to a stone roof as a grappling hook rope is involved and we see Baloo and Louie dressed like Middle Eastern magic men. They then practice the fine art of not being seen by the rhino guards who stand at attention with the Gruffi pose. We zoom up to an open window and see Baloo and Louie sliding against the side of the wall on a ledge near said window. Baloo and Louie climb into the look off window and turn around.

We hear the late Howard Morris's voice beckoning and down right concerned as we see a white rabbit with a crown, purple robe and pink pants pacing around. I'm guessing that by the process of elimination he is King Amok. He looks like a FASHION POLICE OF LAW investigation waiting to happen. We also see a fox princess dressed up in Middle Eastern female princess gear watching him as Amok blows himself off for being corrupt to the kingdom and the female fox assures him that he is blameless. Judging by the palace; he looks like a clueless ruler more than a corrupt one. (No kidding?! I mean, look at his eyes: Amok's has one eye looking up and one eye looking down about half of the time in this episode. He's as zany as anyone on Fanboy & Chum Chum.) Oh, and the princess is voiced by Kath Soucie for the first time since Citizen Khan. The princess by Disney standards is downright hot as Amok sits on the throne and continues to ask if he's not responsible for the tax money being gone; then who is. Then the double doors open and here comes Trample and claims that it's morning. What exactly is Len Uhley smoking here?! (This line should have been redubbed to "evening". Is it really that hard? Unless Jim Cummings ab-libbed the line and it was really evening in the script. Memo to Jim: Not a good time to ab-lib a line here.) Louie notices him right away and claims that he swindled them. NO?! REALLY?! Also, there is a wire on the floor the entire time as Trample offers Princess Lotta L'Amore (There are various spellings; but I'm using this one since Aunt Louise in the next episode I'm ranting on spells it as L'Amour. I'm doing it to prevent confusion you see.) hand in marriage. If Amok agrees to that then Trample will donate his fortune to the kingdom and save Amok's clueless ass. Yes; I'm ignoring the fact that King Amok is Princess Lotta's father because inter-species dating is legal in DTVA (See Elinore/Elroy marriage from hell in Teddy Ruxpin for the precedent.).

People claim that this is wrong; but then again they said the same thing about gays and inter racial marriage; so they can all sod off like the racists and bigots that they are. Besides; they are fictional characters anyway. (Never mind the inter-species dating on it's own in this very show; which is hilarious in itself. Consider Zootopia again; which is booked to have Judy and Nick being natural enemies because Judy is a rabbit and Nick is a fox. Here, Lotta is a fox and Amok is a rabbit; and not once did Lotta even consider turning on Amok. In fact; she was helping him from start to finish in this episode! That was more hilarious than the whole thought of a rabbit fathering a fox.) Lotta naturally refuses to marrying him because he's a festering carbuncle of the kingdom. (Now; I know a lot of people will snicker at the thought of Lotta insulting the Carbuncle summon from the Final Fantasy series and seen in various mythological forms in other games (including Puzzles & Dragons Z); but Lotta is using carbuncle in the context of being: A cluster of boils, draining pus onto the skin. It is usually caused by bacterial infection, most commonly with Staphylococcus aureus or Streptococcus pyogenes, which can turn lethal. However, the presence of a carbuncle is actually a sign that the immune system is active and fighting the infection responsible for the carbuncle.[1] The infection is contagious and may spread to other areas of the body, or other people; those living in the same residence may develop carbuncles at the same time. The word is believed to have originated from the Latin: carbunculus, originally a small coal; diminutive of carbon-, carbo: charcoal or ember, but also a carbuncle stone, "precious stones of a red or fiery colour", usually garnets.[2] So, yeah; a perfect insult for Trample.) Ah; I see Kath is warming up to her Morgana role in Darkwing Duck already. Trample asks her what she means and Lotta spells it out for him:

Lotta: Touch me and your dust buster!

Baloo and Louie love her spunk and Louie loves her in a sexist, Treehouse Syndrome fashion too. Of course; that kind of spunk came back to bite Baloo and Louie in the ass when Rebecca Cunningham showed up; so consider this episode happening before Plunder and Lightning on the TaleSpin time line. (Which would be a great booking move on Len Uhley's part.) Lotta accuses Trample of trying to steal Amok's crown and even Amok is not too happy with that response. Trample assures him that it's not the case, misinforms Amok that the city is in disaster and the public is going to turn on him. We pan over to the wire northwest towards the window as Trample pulls on the sting, Baloo and Louie notice the record player is playing a record which is playing the "Down With The King" chant over and over. (I believe Kath Soucie and Michael Rye were the voices here.) Baloo and Louie look over the window and notice that it doesn't match with the three dognoses who are still chasing the yellow chicken below on sand level. (Yeah; because when lives are at stake; most chase for food first before they would notice that the king has done anything bad. Amok is so clueless that I misspell him as Amoke.) Baloo is not amused and proclaims that the only thing that is actually revolting is the cheesy Trample. (Cheesy?! That's the best insult Baloo could come up with?! Doesn't Baloo realize that sometimes being cheesy is good? Lotta beats you in the insult department there.) We see a castle outside shot of the goofs as Louie has has enough of this silliness and grabs the rope. We cut back to the far shot of the throne as Trample -- complete with rope behind his back -- explains to Amok that he has no choice. However; before he can continue, Baloo and Louie pull on the rope and Trample gets dropped hard on his back. The feathers fly as Baloo enters with tamborine and smashes it right into Trample's face on-screen. OUCH! (Like For Whom The Bell Klangs, this episode has a lot of shots to the face and head which would be edited with impact stars and flashes. No editing of that kind happens here whatsoever. Also; there are a lot of arrows, knives, swords and vases; but no bullet shooting guns. So it's 38 for 46 episodes now with the guns pulled out. Don't worry; they'll be some more episodes with guns in them before too long.)

Baloo introduces the entertainment of the show as the seer known as Louie. We pan up to see Louie with a spotlight on him and a rope. He swings like Tarzan pretty well as Amok claps his hands in amusement. He drops down, invokes the ass bounce right on Trample's chest for good measure and kisses his hands. Lotta's relieved -- for obvious reasons -- and Amok continues to be clueless. Louie calls Baloo "Bobaloo" as Louie invokes the crystal ball and shines it because he knows all and sees all. Unlike Dale who sees all; and knows nothing...AND THE ROCK SAYS NOTHING! (But like King Amok; because everything amuses him.) Louie wants a volunteer, Baloo grabs Trample and Trample is the volunteer by proxy. Trample is hapless as Louie walks over and tells him not to be bashful. Louie bashes the crystal eye right between Trample's eyes and then stuffs a bag filled with coins in his mouth. Ah; I see Louie is into 1980's NWA wrestling. (You know; where every screwjob involves a roll of quarters instead of knuckle dusters. Who knew soda money would be deadly; and I'm not talking about soda here.) Louie proclaims that Trample is stuffing in a lot of loot, slaps the back of Trample's mouth and Trample spits the coins. Amok continues to be absolutely clueless and amused in that order. Lotta enjoying herself; so Trample gets up to protest this outrage but Baloo clamps the beak. Baloo then drops Trample on his ass as the amazing Louie will predict some more. Louie walks on his feet and hands and then drops dead. (Yes; I was dumb enough to try to transcribe everything he said instead of just saying that he is speaking gibberish. Never underestimate my will to torment myself when I do transcripts here.) Amok is now concerned for him as he asks if he needs a doctor and Trample offers one after he mauls Louie's ass. However; Louie jumps up and is in Trample's hands as Louie predicts that there is a snake in the grass in this room. Wait; so Klang is Trample's nephew or something? (So Klang and Trample have been inter-species friending? Okay.) Amok becomes Scooby to Lotta's Shaggy (Now THERE's something you don't see everyday...) as Louie tells him not to worry.

Louie produces a platter of four eggs and slams them into Trample's cap. Baloo gives Louie the out of nowhere egg beater and Louie egg beats the eggs in the cap bowl. Trample is mad and more pissed off when Louie slams the hat over Trample's head. HAHA! Louie proclaims that the trick always worked before and the yolk is all over Trample. HAHA! (Why did they need to whisk the eggs in the cap when the whole thing was going to be slammed on his head anyway. Only answer: They did it to be Baloo Hope and Louie Crosby.) Amok looks stoned when he claps. Baloo arrives with the mug as he wants them to fork over the cash and Amok proclaims that they are short. Amok drops two white buttons in the steel cup. Amok admits the obvious and geez Baloo; you lost your memory or something since Trample admitted that the castle was broke?! Baloo and Louie are pissed off because they want the money and the chocolate nuts as they back up the princess and king. (Wait; you guys know that Trample is behind this; so why the hell are you pissing on King Amok, who clearly doesn't know he's being scammed?! This just justfies the next spot and makes Trample look like the reasonable one here. A misstep in an otherwise flawless script by Len.) Trample sees this as attacking the king and calls for the guards. Baloo claims that they aren't attacking anyone as the rhino guard invoke the POWER OF THE ROID RAGE to break the door down. I'm guessing Amok spent all their money on Larson & Gary which makes sense considering how clueless Amok is. Baloo and Louie back up claiming that they aren't attackers, they are seers and sidekick as they get on the conveniently placed moving floor circle and it opens and let's out steam. (Trample pulled a rope which was also conveniently placed as well; but not mentioned by 2011 Me.) It opens to the left side and we got the lake of fire which is a nice way of saying Hell in case you didn't notice my wording. I'm surprised 4Kids never used that term; it's a neat sub for hell and it's threatening enough. (One of Bobbi Weiss' comic stories "The Volcano Of Gold" referenced the phrase twice.) Unless they thought it hyper-reference "Let It Burn" from Usher. (Which featured the most impossible swimming pool set on fire effect I have ever seen. That was a burn and a half.)

Baloo and Louie lose their balance; but are grabbed by the rhino guards, which seems kind of counter productive to me. (Yeah; why not just push them into the furnace? I guess they don't have the low center of gravity that I would think these guards would have.) Louie proclaims that they cannot do this to him because he's a medium see. Trample looks evil because he likes his mediums rare, which sounds just as counter productive to me considering that the flames are well done. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (I'm kind of surprised that they didn't end act one right here instead of letting the act continue for another minute or so; considering that they were setting it up for a commercial break. I guess they got tired of it and tried something new. It's just odd.) Lotta yells at the guards to stop the execution because she thinks these prophets are the answers to all their problems. Um; I'm more inclined to see them as similar to alcohol, which is the problem and solution to all of their problems. In Amok's case; he needs more alcohol, less Gummi Berry Juice and less fashion tips from the White Rabbit in Alice Of Wonderland. Oh wait... (He also needs to do something about those eyes; because it makes him look brain-damaged; which at the end of this episode is clearly not the case.) Lotta proclaims that there is an ancient legend of a secret vault foretold by the prophets and Trample blows them off as lies. Lotta tells Amok that this could save him and Baloo claims Amok would be a hero. Amok then orders the rhino guards to release them. Considering how clueless Amok is; that could be translated as drop them into the lake of fire since Baloo and Louie are over the fire pit when he said that. Louie orders the rhino guard to release the tweed off the sneed. Thankfully for the goofs; the roid rage guards aren't heartless enough to disobey them and Baloo and Louie get dropped on their backs hard onto the floor. I see the bumps are slowly starting to get better now. Lotta asks if they would help her, Baloo gets up, is giddy to help her and basically hit on her. Louie butts in with teeth clenched as he wants to be excused. Louie pushes Baloo away to have that overdue conference of doom. See, Louie wants to get the girl; and Baloo gets the $192.12. Baloo proclaims that they need to work together and two heads are better than one, see.

Louie gleefully answers that one for me. (He basically states that Baloo's head needs to be examined. Moral Guardians would take Baloo's side here by the way; while modern cartoons would take Louie's because these are cartoons, not documentaries.) Baloo offers to play rock-paper-scissors best two out of three. Louie wins round one with the scissors, Baloo wins round two with the rock and the final one is won by Baloo by clamping onto Louie's fist. Louie demands answers and Baloo proclaims that steam shovel beats rock. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! He's got a point there Louie. (Yeah; but as you see in real life; diseal shovels crush steam shovels; but since it's best two out of three, Louie is still screwed. Plus; Baloo wins like a babyface in losing the first round and then makes the comeback and wins with a screwjob since paper beat rock. Baloo even claims that he didn't make the rules; which in fact he did like a lovable scumbag. By the way; steam shovels are a real thing; but they were outmuscled by diseal powered shovels in the 1930's. A steam shovel is a large steam-powered excavating machine designed for lifting and moving material such as rock and soil. It is the earliest type of power shovel or excavator.) Louie is absolutely dumbfounded on that one. Amok and Baloo go over and shake paws on the deal. (In a big shock; he does it with both hands and Amok doesn't do the wobble spot. I guess Baloo figures that he's too brain damaged to do that spot. Boy; how wrong he would prove to be!) Amok wants them to stay in the royal suite and Trample protests this outrage because it's his suite. Amok tells him to move out and walks away stage left. HAHA! Amok is so damn dense that it's too funny. (This should have been a clue that King Amok was not nuts. But we never figured that naunce anyway since we suck at reviewing cartoons.) Trample is not amused as Lotta escorts Baloo and Louie to the suite. Baloo and Louie do some British promo cutting to annoy me as they walk out. Trample walks to the flaming torches and thinks these fortune tellers might know where the tax money is. Trample predicts a short and painful future for them as the yellow flames reflect off Trample's body and that ends the segment 11 and a half minutes in. (I don't know why he bothered to admit this; it isn't like the audience doesn't know he's a heel anyway. I would have cut out him admitting to stealing the tax money and just have him say that: "If they find out about the tax money...". Anyhow; this has been a great episode thus far, outside of a few silly booking decisions.)

After the commercial break; we head outside to a shot of the castle and then inside the royal suite of Trample's as we see Baloo sitting on pillows peeling grapes asking Louie if he wants any. Louie is testing the hot water bath -- with camel spout -- with his toes (Which contradicts his hot toes on the sand, which he hated earlier. Ironic, eh?!) and eats a grape thrown by Baloo. (Actually; Baloo was peeling plums. Why? Why not?!) Louie is still calling him "Babaloo" by the way. I'm guessing Louie is Crosalou. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (For that joke to work; Baloo would be called Hopealoo. Dumb on your part there 2011 me!) I'm surprised that Len didn't simply take it all the way with that. (He couldn't since Baloo would have to be called Hopealoo to work properly.) Baloo loves this fortune telling stuff as a sweet gig and tries to relax. However; there is a knock on the door and the goofs panic. Baloo throws a pillow underneath Louie who jumps up and Louie is sitting down on the pillow with the crystal ball looking for the location of the vault. I don't think that was needed since Baloo opens the door and it's Lotta who looks confused at Louie's wa-wa-wa-humming. It sounds like something the Ducktales nephews would do while sleeping if they were on the joy juice. Which is a nice phrase meaning alcohol by the way. (Jesse Ventura from Wrestlemania V when he was cutting a promo on the Bushwhackers.) Baloo claims that Louie is having an out of body experience. Somehow; I wish that were true Pop-A-Bear. Louie then gets all prissy and shines the crystal ball beam right in Baloo's eyes to blow off Baloo for insulting him and hitting on Lotta in that order. (Louie says that it's better out of body than out of mind. Which I say: no. Out of body means you are dead, at least you can get back in mind easily by actually thinking. Louie clearly does not think. Baloo tries to think; but sucks at it.) Lotta goes over to the red middle eastern chair and sulks about the thought of marrying a creepy old stalker/pervert like Trample. It could be worse Lotta; you could be marrying Lezard Valeth: A creepy old stalker/pervert who wants to be a god and has a hentai complex. (Yup.)

Baloo sits in front of her, proclaims that he'll protect her as he tries to kiss her (A blueblood?! Really Pop-A-Bear?!); but Louie butts in and Baloo kisses him instead. HAHA! Louie throws Baloo aside because he wants to hit on her and save her kingdom, and then Baloo does the same in more dramatic fashion. I should point out that Baloo says "Tut, Tut your asteroids!" which is funny because Ed Gilbert puts more on the as part and it sounds like he almost says "Your Ass-Teroids." Not exactly pretty. Again; I wouldn't put it past Ed since he did slip an F-bomb on Plunder and Lightning Part Four. (No 2011 me. What Baloo actuallty said was "Tut, tut your Astralness, which is a reference to his psychic gimmick. It has nothing to do with space nor asses. Thank you Disney Captions for clearing up that one.) Baloo tries to sit down and kiss Lotta again; but Louie jumps on Baloo's back hard and calls him a wolf in bear's clothing. Lotta pleads for them not to fight. Geez; if I were Lotta, I would be letting them fight so they can stop hitting on you which is obvious since Lotta L'Amore is damn sexy and hot! (What a pig you are, 2011 me?!) Lotta is fond of both; but if they don't stop fighting then they will never find the treasure. Baloo assures her that they will find it while elbowing Louie's head and Lotta is happy as she kisses both of them on the cheeks, the hearts of love are in the air and they drop on their bellies. HAHA! Lotta leaves through the door sighing as we then cut to the window dresser complete with a large mirror. They comb their hair while hurling more gentle insults at each other. (Baloo combing his forehead with the hat on is funny.) Baloo tells Louie to disappear and pulls the hat over his eyes. I guess we now know who taught Kit THE MIRACLE WORKER to do the same to Molly in Plunder and Lightning Part Two?! Wink, Wink, Nudge, Nudge?! Anyhow; another knock on the door beckons and Baloo runs to the door while Louie sits down on the pillow using a plant as a sub or to turn Stephen Colbert into FERN RAGE~! Two paper invitations are sliden under the door. Oh come on, guys! This has to be a setup! We all know that those were planted by Trample. It cannot be Lotta. Faces never hide their intentions; particually since Lotta's is so wide open on her feelings! She hates Trample and wants NOTHING to do with him!

Both goofs smell the invitations and Baloo thinks it's for him. Louie shreds Baloo's letter to prove that he's got more guts than Baloo; but looks like an ass doing it. Baloo and Louie tussle with each other as they exit the suite since they are supposed to meet in the garden. Baloo even kicks Louie's ass on the way out for good measure and pulls the hat over his eyes to boot. Louie proclaims that Baloo looks better this way. HEE HEE! Scene changer as we head to the garden of doom as Baloo is at the fountain near the steps as he calls out for Lotta. Then we see a cat cuddle up near Baloo's belly from behind as we cut to Louie calling for Lotta from the grass hedge maze. Man; the shadows guys are overdoing it in this episode. (Tama Pro has to be doing these spots; no way this would go on and on.) Louie looks over the white tulips and ponders over because no one is home. A dagger is thrown and it clips Louie's hat into the wall. Somehow; the hat manages to not stick to the wall as it falls onto the ground and Louie picks it up just as four blow darts are fired right onto the wall; missing Louie by inches. I guess you have to find a sub for bullet shooting guns in a nation that doesn't use said guns. Louie panics and runs through a hedge calling for Baloo as he runs through another hedge and leaps in Baloo's arms. Baloo asks what is the scoop as Louie's teeth chatter complete with Hanna Barbara teeth chattering sound effects. Louie proclaims that someone tries to make him a kabob and he walks over with Baloo to show him the evidence. We see the rhino guard in the foreground to the south right walk away and the evidence is gone as we have the old Scooby Doo "I see nothing now despite seeing it thirty seconds ago" spot. I cannot take Louie seriously on this one. I mean can anyone take you seriously when you say that they gave you "flow through ventilation". Sure; Crosalou; sure. Baloo blows him off for shaming him and scaring him. Baloo orders Louie to stay put as he storms off stage left. Louie pleads for mercy; but no dice, so Louie hides behind the conveniently placed wooden bench. We then cut to Baloo near the hedges calling out for Lotta as he goes over to the hedge with the back of the head showing a gray cat. Baloo calls himself baby "Babaloo" and wants some more sexy stuff. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: So, basically, Babaloo is a combo of "Baba" and "Loo". Of course! What a fool I am?!)

He then goes over proclaiming that he wants her on the yellow brick road of life, kisses the cat statue as we see a vase come down, Baloo dodges and it destroys the cat statue. Oh my god; they killed Lotta! YOU BASTARDS! No, not really. POW! OUCH! Ummmm... Baloo panics and yells for Louie as he bails stage right as daggers rain from the sky. Baloo runs through the hedges to the conveniently placed wooden bench as he shakes Louie. They admit that this whole ordeal is a waste of time and run back towards the steps. However; the HAND OF POINTLESS IRONY rears its ugly head again as Baloo steps on the tail of the gray cat, that forces Baloo and Louie to run up faster and they barely make it past the SLICER OF DEATH. We then cut to Trample blowing off the rhino guard near a look off for missing again. Then we head back to Trample's suite as Baloo and Louie open the door, then enter inside and slam it shut. Then they nail the door shut and then it's barricade time. They go over to the window as Baloo packs his stuff in the black case and Louie wants to get the hell out of here. Baloo agrees with him as they shake on the deal (Heh) and then there is another knock on the door and the GOOFS WITH ATTITUDE scatter like scalded dogs. That leads to the meeting of the mind and belly; which it wasn't at Ponderosa. (Now; it's Boston Pizza since Ponderosa went out of business many years ago.) Then Louie does the Scooby while Baloo does the Shaggy complete with teeth chattering sound effect. It's the reunion of Hanna Barbara's crew going to Disney. HEE HEE! Then we go over to the wall as apparently it's a secret door since it rotates and in comes Princess Lotta asking if she is bothering them. (How did Lotta know about that secret passage? I don't know, it was never explained.) Baloo plants Louie down as Baloo throws Louie away and accuses Lotta of setting them up. The goofs go over and pack their bags as Lotta wants to know what is going on and Louie shows her his letter. Lotta proclaims that this isn't her hand writing. She pleads for mercy and reminds them of their promise to find the treasure vault.

Baloo and Louie decide to help while invoking the Gruffi poses, Louie goes into his usual lame routine and finds no bonanza. Riiiiiggghhhtttt, Louie. Someone hisses for no reason as Louie calls Baloo a critic. Baloo recoils as the hissing is coming from a banana yellow hat on the bed. Two to one odds states that it is a snake. We then see the hat on the bed moving as Louie removes the hat and it KING COBRA ON ROIDS~! (Why does it have to be snakes? It's always the snakes that get all the hissing spots.) I could have invoked a Klang joke here; but the snake doesn't have the same look as Klang in regular snake form. Baloo and Louie step back as the snake hisses at them. Lotta asks what they can do as Louie asks Baloo about snake charming. Baloo wants to sing a song to it and Louie refuses as he wants to take his chances with getting MURDERED by the snake. Louie is Simon Cowell's playmate. AHHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... (Geez; you are really dating yourself there 2011 me!) Anyhow; Baloo grabs Louie and wants to play the half hike gamble and Louie is the bait, see. Louie asks why he's always the bait and Baloo answers that bait rhymes with ape. I cannot argue with the overwhelming logic there Pop-A-Bear. (I can; Louie is supposed to be an orangutan in storyline. DUMB!) Baloo gives Lotta the straw basket as Louie flings his straw hat and it goes right onto the snake's head. Louie then jump up and jumps right onto the bed which causes the snake to bounce up into the air -- tearing the top of the tent -- and slide down right into the basket. Lotta seals the basket and Baloo uses it as a basketball (Complete with cheering audience which only makes sense in Len Uhley's own little mind.). Well; basketball was already a sport at this time so there's no logic break. (Actually there is a logic break: Baloo was dribbling the basketball; which sounds fine until you realize that dribbling the basketball didn't become part of the game until the 1950's due to changes in the actual basketball itself. So there you go.)

Baloo throws it out of the window and it lands with a wussy bump onto the ground. The snake comes out and the yellow chicken runs in to stomp on the snake's head; because we don't have enough shots to the head in this episode. Then the snake get squashed by the coyote chicken chasers. Then it panics and is forced to flee the angry mob as they decided the yellow chicken doesn't have enough meat on its bones; I guess. Man; that was a pretty good sequence. (This episode has a tendency to increase the amount of furries involved in any one scene from four to nine in this scene, and then two to six with the rhino guards, all out of nowhere for no reason.) Baloo and Louie are ready to flee the scene; however, from OUT OF NOWHERE the room begins to rumble as a solid door slides open from a portion of the suite. Huh?! How did that happen?! Baloo and Louie enter the room with Lotta and it's the secret treasure vault Lotta claims exist. Louie says it all as Baloo grabs a gold bell (I think. (It looks like a goblet to me 2011 me!)) proclaiming that it was under their noses. Lotta is happy because now; the kingdom is saved and Amok can be cleared of all charges against him. Sadly; Trample has apparently found the secret door Lotta went through because he comes Trample and his rhino guards as Trample proclaims that their problems have just begun as we end the segment seventeen and a half minutes in. (Outside of some wonky moments; this episode is living up to the hype. Did I mention how hot Lotta is?! Seriously. I also love how she's the only princess in the show and is more compentent than the king. If she wasn't so kind hearted, and was more reasonable; she would be the ruler of Macadamia with the king as her court jester. She would never get exiled if she plays her cards right. As we see here; she can also fight.)

After the commercial break; we get a closeup shot of all the treasure of the vault as Lotta picks up some coins and notices that this isn't the secret vault; this is the taxpayers stolen money. Trample finally admits that he stole the money too and he's the thief. So yeah; King Amok is stupid. Trample proclaims that he will persuade the king to resign and the money will pay for his reign as king. Lotta counters that she's still alive and therefore Trample is screwed. Trample calls her bluff and tells her rhino guards (who finally growl) to fetch. That would have worked if they were actually bulldogs instead of rhinos. Once again; color me unimpressed. Baloo and Louie then go into their routine to defeat rhino guards: Play a stupid dance and then invoke the POWER OF THE PUNCH on their mid-section. Needless to say; the guards don't sell. Atta boy Guards! (Good; because Kit is much better at boxing than you two.) The Rhino Guard grab Baloo and Louie and try to leave the vault in an effort to put them into the lake of fire. Or something along those hellish lines. However; someone invokes the GAINT GOLDEN HAMMER OF DOOM right onto the skulls of the rhinos and they fall down knocked out. Can you say: Total Markup City~?! One guess as to who was using it. Baloo and Louie stomp on their heads for good measure. (And of course they act like they defeated him when it was Lotta's hammer skills that killed them. They are more clueless than the king is.) However; Trample is ticked off so he invokes the REGAL CUTLASS on our heroes and looks awfully stupid in using it. Memo to those who think he's a court magician: If he was; why isn't he using magic?! Just saying... (Yeah; and to Louie: Stop using double negatives. It makes your IQ look like a cold cut. Okay?) Baloo and Louie dodge the sword blows and back up to the top of the gold pile. Louie thinks that they are at the end of their rope; which because of some unintended moment; they are standing next to a length of rope. (Backyardigans: That was awfully convenient of him to say that.) Baloo grabs the rope, does an Indiana Jones whip-like move on the sword blade and forces it out of Trample's hands. Trample gets clobbered by the giant golden hammer of course. Again; guess who clobbers him?!

Louie asks how Baloo did that and Baloo states that he saw it in a movie. Man; even Len Uhley is breaking the fourth wall in this series. (Nope; saying that he saw it in a movie would not be breaking the fourth wall since anyone in fictional 1930's can say that and it would be believable.) Well; at least there's no logic break as Baloo grabs onto Lotta and makes more passes at her. Louie steps in as Lotta is pretty ticked off for good reason as more footsteps befall. (She should be pissed at Louie and Baloo for claiming credit to her spots.) Baloo, Louie and Lotta leave the vault, go to a window to hide as more rhinos and three hippo guards (Huh? (Huh on 2011 me's part since they were clearly rhinos in different color duds. DUMB!)) enter the vault. Trample demands that they get them so he can MURDER them. Okay; I made up the last part; but give them a hit is close enough. Our heroes run away in a hallway, do a delay 90-degree turn stage right which causes the guards and Trample to collide with each other and take a MAN-SIZED bump into the wall off-screen. The rhino guards recoil and follows the heroes while Trample wonders around with a vase in his face. He collides into a column and the vase shatters from his head as he takes a decent bump in the process. Memo to Trample: Let's the guards do the dirty work. (Yup. Lest he has a fetish for taking the golden sledgehammer to the head again...) We head to several floors as the heroes try to go downstairs but they are forced upstairs despite three guards NOT seeing them. The heroes are trapped on the second floor:

Louie: Talk about your horns of dilemma. There are guards behind us, guards ahead of us.
Baloo: Sounds like we're about to become a hero sandwich!

Of course; nowadays it's more like a goofball sandwich; but it's not like Eisner cared about pathos anyway. The guards are closing in as Baloo, Lotta, and Louie act like a bunch of statues blended against the wall background. The guards run past them without incident. (They are behind the vase in the sill doing the "X no evil" promo. Which means Steve Austin would kick their asses as they forgot the most important one: Do no evil~!) That was too easy guys and apparently; the guards heard me because they run back to the hiding spot and examine the faux statues. Bad move guys as the heroes smash vases on their heads. I guess we found their weakness; even though Louie knocks on one of the rhino's head and it was as hard as a vase. Trample is coming down as they go down the stairs. Baloo now has another Krackpotkin plan (What a shock?!) and he grabs Lotta to go to the throne room. Louie thinks that'll never work because it was his plans that got them trouble in here in the first place. Baloo grabs him as well and they exit stage left. I have a real good feeling for this. The rhino goons tries to run; but they get tripped up by the rhino guards on the floor and fall down the stairs. (Yipppeee! The personification of people who think pratfalls are the ultimate horror in humor. Not my fault these rhino are too stupid to see straight.) Trample gets a headache over this since it was so contrived. Trample's voice seems to have switched to Don Karnage for some reason. We now head to the throne room (duh) as the Rhino Guards break down the doors and look around as we pan over and see Lotta L'Amour in the most suggestive position allowed by Disney censors. Now that is total markup city once again! Woo-hoo; she is as hot as ever that even I'm not immune to her seduction. Also, I happen to not care about getting laid. (What a pig you are 2011 me?!) The rhino guards sell it like mad (duh) but they are being baited as Louie is standing on top of a clothed chalinder with a cloth drape (duh).

Baloo does the same thing from the edge and both swing down (duh) to attack the heels (duh). Louie only makes contact with one of rhino guards. Trample is ticked off and the urge to kill is rising (He wants to eviscerate them. Ooookkkkaaay Trample; Michael Eisner would like to have a word with you.) as Louie nails two more guards (Which looks like Disney snipped the actual impact. (Nope; it's the same in both versions.)) and they fall out the window. Recycled backgrounds; gotta love them. More guards go down as Baloo somehow nails two guards and that produces four guards down on the closeup shot for the first logic break of the episode at around twenty minutes give or take. (Nope; there were more than three guards in purple pants before this. The background wasn't recycled and Baloo's does kick a guard in the face on-screen without any editing done to soften it. In other words; perfect.) King Amok appears in his cuter-than-Molly striped pj's apparently loving what he sees. (Ummm; the FASHION POLICE OF LAW is going to hang this king out to dry now. I swear to God.) Man; this guy is a sucker for being entertained despite not even knowing that this throne is in danger or not being his. ( Well; he thought the circus was in town; so Cirque DeSolei is a thing in the TaleSpin world. Shocked no one did that in TaleSpin; although I have seen it in Eckhart with Bridget. Also this is further shown when he steps into a conveniently placed pot and just keeps going without even noticing it. King Amok is so awesomely clueless that he's funny.) Louie gets back up onto the chandelier and Baloo swings up and does a backflip cannon ball (!!!) as Louie grabs onto his ankles(!) and Baloo grabs Trample on the swing-around. (Eat your hearts out Dudley Boyz; Baloo just did the ultimate fatass guy move right there. That is an amazing talent for someone who is five hundred pounds actually.) Trample; you are finished as Baloo swings Trample and he crashes right into the ceiling in a symbolic moment for him as he takes a MAN-SIZED BUMP on the ceiling and the floor. (More concussions that aren't funny.) The ceiling breaks and all the taxpayer money comes crashing down as King Amok continues to act like a stupid king. Man; I love this guy!

Lotta explains that he is a good king and Trample is evil (and with coins in his eyes of course). Can't argue with that as he get clobbered by the GAINT GOLDEN HAMMER OF DEATH for his troubles when it comes down. (Now this is where the blow to the head was in fact funny; because it was clearly unintentional on the babyfaces/heels part.) King Amok then grabs the hammer, asks Trample and acts so dumb. Oh boy; if there is one person more dangerous than King Amok with the GOLDEN SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT then I have yet to see him/her; Kit, Molly and Gadget notwithstanding. (Umm; Lotta murdered him and his mooks with it earlier in the episode. Yes; this finsh is telling me that somehow Lotta killing this guy with a golden sledgehammer is somehow less dangerous than a goofy clueless king rabbit welding a sledgehammer. I cannot take anything you say seriously, 2011 me. That idea...) Trample recoils and realizing that the most dangerous person in the room has a deadly weapon in his hands, he finally surrenders like a coward, even pleading for them to torture him. Oooooooooo...Baloo, Louie and Lotta act like sadists and think that is fair enough complete with Gruffi poses. HAHA! (...is actually brilliant since Amok had the hammer and actually said "Anything you want to say, Trample?". In other words; he was fully aware now that Trample has screwed him and he's not helpless. Which becomes even funnier in the post-finish stuff actually. Trample is willing to be tortured for life if it means he lives on because apparently, if Amok hits him with the hammer, he is going to die. That is just great!) We head into the marketplace as it is bustling again with merchants, a bear in middle eastern gear feeding the yellow chickens with corn and another bear carrying a camel. We see Louie, Baloo and Lotta standing outside of the gate as Lotta asks how they can be thanked. Louie has some pretty good ideas (Read: marrying Lotta being one) as Baloo restraints him (Read: marry Lotta for himself). More gentle insults (Louie pays back for Baloo's hat pulling tactics, natch.) continue as King Amok stops them and states that he has a proper reward for them.

Baloo and Louie wonder what it is as the rhino guards who helped Trample; (They are the ones with the cheese boxer shorts by the way.) appear with Trample (in jail stripes) and a large golden casket as they head to the SeaDuck with it. Baloo and Louie conclude that it is stupid money because King Amok is too stupid to outsmart even Baloo and Louie right?! Amok calls it a huge reward as Baloo and Louie rub their paws on this one. (And as we see, there was stupid money involved and they are going to wish it was gold and jewels after they find out what "stupid money" means to the king.) Scene changer as we see the SeaDuck in the mountains flying and then get a close up of Baloo's paws near the stick in the cockpit. Baloo and Louie cannot wait to see their reward so they decide to play the peeping tom and go over to the golden casket. Baloo pry open the box (with the REDNECK AUTOPILOT of course), looks in it and grabs the invoice as its the payment for the cargo at $192.12. Louie of course; gets ten sacks of chocolate nuts!! BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Amok is so smart! Amok is so smart! SMRT! I mean SMART! Now THAT is an awesome way to push the reset button and it shows that Amok is honest; but not REALLY STUPID after all. Baloo's total profit is just three bucks. HAHA! (Actually; it's really the money on the invoice; but still. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!) Baloo and Louie are not happy as both go back to the cockpit. Louie asks if they should go back to Macadamia and Baloo no sells because he had enough of those nuts. Ooookkkkaayyyy. And finally we get our first and only logic break of the episode as it's nightfall when Baloo turns the switches inside and then when the SeaDuck is flying towards the sun; it's BEFORE HAPPY HOUR (Sunset). Louie asks if they are going out on that joke and Baloo proclaims that it looks like it as we circle fade out to finally end the episode at 21:18. Did I mention that Len Uhley ruled 1990 for the most part? (Boy did he ever?! Nearly every DTVA script he wrote was golden. He earned that WGA award, let me tell ya.) I think I already did and this episode is yet another one which blew me away the more I watched it. I should also note that after 12 years of watching ; I can safely say that Lotta is the hottest chick in Disney history. And that's saying something considering how many Disney purists would put down any DTVA character for being poorly drawn . King Amok rules too and may Louie and Baloo be forever screwed. ***** (100%). (Joe gave this five stars and so will I.)

THE REVIEW LINE

Now that was another perfect episode with some outstanding Warner Brother bumps and some beautiful love between Baloo, Louie and Lotta. (Yeah; Len Uhley is actually smart enough to rib on Warner Brothers while at the same time making the spots great.) Lotta L'Amore is another one of those tough females who probably has the hottest body in all of TaleSpin. It was little wonder why Baloo and Louie were making such passes at her. Man; she was sexy for a DTVA female. (Plus; she's intellgent and she isn't trying to screw anyone over. She hates the heel; she like her well meaning, but somewhat clueless dad and she can fight back.) Still; even if Len Uhley didn't make her that way this was a fun ride with a nice screw job thanks to King Amok of all characters who acted stupid the whole time and he outsmarts Baloo and Louie out of marrying Lotta and a proper reward. That was just priceless as Louie and Baloo got their rightous nuts kicked by King Amok for trying to make him think that he was gullible. Just beautiful. Trample was okay I guess mostly due to taking his punishment like a man; but not one time was he voiced by Michael Rye. I'm guessing that he was part of the ADR group. Few animation mistakes and only one logic break were present; but there were some really silly moments in this one. (Which works here because this was supposed to be a full on homage to the Hope & Crosby movies and it delivered. Oh boy; they delivered. Plus; this show did it in less time than the real thing did, although technology did help that one out in comparison.) Still; most of them were really funny and there was nothing better than seeing Baloo and Louie falling over for Lotta. I guess this is why Mark Lungo loved this episode. I love it too and it deserves the full monty for its references to the "Road To X" series. (I agree with Joe that they should have done this more; but really, there were only seven movies released and an eighth one planned that got nixed due to Crosby's death in 1977. It had a very short fuse as a television series. Great writers like Len can pull this off; but it's not one of those type of angles that you can make the main premise out of it. So; as much as I like this, it's better off that TaleSpin's premise is what it is now.) Next up is Louie's second focus episode, The Ransom Of The Red Chimp and the only appearance of Aunt Louise L'Amour! Oh boy; this should be fun. Katie can eat her heart out. (Well; I completed the re-rant commentary and transcript for that one, so the next one would be The Sound & The Furry; which is the second to last Kit-less episode in the entire series that I have not done yet; with Flying Dupes being the last one.) So...

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

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