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The Incredible Shrinking Molly Re-Rant

Reviewed: 03/05/2011
Additional Commentary: 12/11/2021

Never Let Pop-A-Bear Predict The Future!

Original Airdate: 04/08/1991 (Syndication), Episode #63 (TaleSpin Volume 3, Disc 2), Episode #55 (Production Order).

The Incredible Shrinking Molly Notes
The Incredible Shrinking Molly Transcript

Now, we head into the final three episodes that were added just to fill the syndication run as it was clear the show was being canned which might explain some of the mess that was this episode. (2016 Gregory Weagle: Wow; what little faith 2011 me had in this series ending. First of all; this episode was number fifty-five on the animation paper. Second of all; this was actually the best shrinking episode in DTVA and it was because Chuck Tately was smart enough to have Doctor Zibaldo as the main event character whom it's voice actor was pretty much auditioning to become Megavolt for Darkwing Duck. Your Baloo's In The Mail was a far worse episode than this and that one was animated very well compared to this one, which wasn't animated all that well. Back in the first rant; I called this the worst episode in the series, which I discovered was untrue and it was actually a decent messy episode where the animators really didn't know what they were doing and Chuck's creditability streak as a writer was exposed for all to see.) It's the usual shrinking/big plotline that doesn't seen to catch on DTVA. It is also the final appearances on television for Kit and Molly as well and it's a Molly focused episode too. (So the plot for this episode is that Molly believes that there is a real mad scientist in Cape Suzette living in an abandoned building after watching a film featuring a mad scientist. Since no one ever notices her (Attack Of The Fifty Foot Webby all over again, except a lot more believable and a lot less crying.); she sneaks out and heads inside, only to be discovered and shrunk. Baloo, Kit and Rebecca realize she is gone and go to the building, only to discover that there is a mad scientist living there. Lots of giant rats and bees ensue. Yeah; this sounds way out there to be watched again and again. However; the mad scientist turns out to be the best thing on this episode and boy did he give a performance of a lifetime in this one.) Let's rant on shall we?

This episode is written by Chuck Tately. The story is edited by Mark Zaslove. The animation is done by Walt Disney Animation France S.A. and Walt Disney Animation UK. (There was a lot of continuity errors in this one and the coordination for this episode was terrible in spots. When the characters were moving; it was great and loose; but shot continuity was bad in places. I'll explain each one as we go along.)

We begin this one with a B&W movie with lots of spiked vines and a castle with a wooden bridge crossing a chasm. The bats fly around and the thunder claps ensue. Funny coloring mistake: The thunderbolt still have a blue tint to it despite being in B&W. (You can tell how rushed this episode was at this point. Having four directors helped a lot in the sense that it made the writing solid and kept the animation mistakes under control; but you can tell that it would have been better served to give this another six months of editing to get things just perfect. Time which they didn't have sadly.) We then segue to inside a mad doctor's control panel as he switches knobs, buttons and such as thunder beams strike metal, then he turns around and he looks like a really sick panther as he throws THE SWITCH~! We see a big ass golf club rise into the air. In the 1930's this would be an awesome B-movie; in the 1990's this would be a Z-grade movie. (Yup. A golf club used as a rod; that is very Z-gradish of them.) The golf club rises as the roof top opens and the mad doctor yells to give his creation life. Wow; his acting is S-grade to say the least asHal Rayle is voicing him. We recreate the Frankenstein uprising spot from the 1934 movie. So in that sense; the movie has been in cinemas for three years. Still plausible than most done in Fish Hooks. The thunderbolt strikes the golf club and it's ALIVE~! The thunderbolt strikes the doctor right in the ass as he sells it like it's a superball straight up his ass. He proclaims that he should have used a seven iron and then the rhino Frankenstein monster rises and growls...badly. (Okay; let's go over this again for the people who don't realize it: Frankenstein is not the monster's name; it's the name of the doctor (although calling the doctor a "monster" would not be a bad thing to say). The monster is simply called The Creature. So the mad doctor, who is not named here, is actually Doctor Frankenstein. It's amazing how many writers and even reviewers screw this up.) Kit's physical selling at his seat is awesome; Rebecca scream is only A-grade though. By the way; popcorn has been around since 1912 in theatres; so it's not out of place here. (Sadly; Kit's popcorn box keeps changing styles and colors depending on the shot.)

We see that Baloo, Kit and Rebecca are watching a B horror movie (Rebecca has some strange tastes methinks. (I expect this out of Kit; and I expect him not to be scared out of his wits like everyone else, simply because Kit has been through actual real danger that would have killed him. So a horror movie isn't going to scare him. Ironically; I cannot say the same with Baloo...)) with the denizens of Cape Suzette as the rhino Frankenstein stalks the mad doctor. (You mean "The Rhino Creature" 2011 me?! Strangely; the crowd in this one is unique as all the furries look nothing like the crowds we see in other animated episodes even by the French animated studio.) Kit asks Baloo if this is great; and then we see Pop-A-Bear get his courage popped, hiding like Scooby Doo. (Yeah; a man can hide underneath the seats; but when a woman does it in Plunder and Lightning Part One; it's replaced by Seymour sitting at the table. DUMB!) Seriously; he is. Kit and Rebecca laugh him off as Kit calls him a big baby. HAHA! Hey Baloo: You want to get Kit scared? Use THE FEATHERS~! POW! OUCH! Ummmmm... (Yeah; that'll do it.) Rebecca then notices an empty seat and calls out for Molly. I should point out that even with the CODES OF CENSORSHIP; there were no ratings and therefore anyone can get into a theatre including a six year old girl. (Yeah; we're in 1937 in storyline, so unlike the modern cartoons; you cannot do a "parent prevents kid from watching an R rated movie" plot in this series because there is no ratings system in place in this era. I honestly don't know what's funnier: Rebecca watching a horror movie or Rebecca bringing Molly to one. Moral guardians would be all over this one without realizing the context; but then again, it's almost all about the MG's. It's almost never about the children.) Rebecca looks around underneath the seat and then Kit stands on the seat and points that she is up on the balcony. We then pan up to the balcony as Molly creates her own shadow and invokes Lucy on the shadow. HAHA! She's also standing on the edge of the balcony as Rebecca runs out and hurdles over the "balcony closed" sign up the stairs.

Then Rebecca finally grabs Molly and tells her that she's too little to be up there. Molly's counter to that is to say that she's bigger than the monster. HAHA! She needs to realize the difference between a shadow and a bear cub methinks. Rebecca grabs Molly and proclaims that until next time the balcony is closed...but the snack bear is always open. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm...Got to watch the fruedian slips here. (It's funny that she cut a 1980's pop culture promo from At The Movies with Siskel & Ebert right here saying that until next time, the balcony is closed, despite the fact that the balcony was already closed. Where are the screams from the critics on this? This plays in to the episode's theme which is that no one notices Molly. In Ducktales; they did the same thing with Webby; but in that episode, Webby was the same height and pretty much the same age as the nephews. Also; it was clear from the non-verbal cues that they were ignoring her because she was an annoying pest. Here; Molly is smaller than Kit and since they were watching a movie, it's very understandable to not notice her until she was on the balcony. So yeah; while TaleSpin does copy a lot of episode plots from Ducktales; for the most part, TaleSpin does them a lot better. (My Fair Baloo/The Status Seekers being the lone exception.) Mainly because they actually pay attention to the characters and how they work instead of getting annoyed that they have to find something for Webby to do in a show written as all boys, all the time. Also of note; the snack bear crack is not my original creation either. It's actually a parody of At The Movies done on Royal Canadian Air Farce where fake Ebert says after the balcony is closed: "But the snack bar is always open."; and fake Ebert eats visble food on screen. Yeah.) Also the movie was playing the whole time and when the Frankenstein monster (Okay; that one I can accept) comes out of the castle, there is a graveyard in the background and every tombstone is a cross. I counted four of them at the same time. (Yeah; I mention this because 4Kids and anime dubbers would have edited those out in Japanese animation.)

We zoom in and we return to Higher...For...Hire AFTER HAPPY HOUR (after dark) as there is a thunderstorm brewing. We head inside at the stairs with Molly watching out the window, Baloo is sleeping in and on Rebecca's desk. He also has a blue/orange arrow (!!) book on his belly and his feet are also on the desk. I betcha there is a WRAITH OF BECKEY coming at 6 o'clock?! I check the video...Not quite; but close enough as Baloo wakes up and literally pushes the seat away. See; it's inventory night at the office as Baloo proclaims that he's reading the book, upside down of course. HEE HEE! Rebecca gleefully corrects him as Kit walks in from the closet with Rebecca. What were they doing in there? Hmmmm...POW! OUCH! HEY... (I'm guessing Kit and Rebecca were checking inventory and they found a red helicopter model in there. Simple, there was no incest going on at all. No siree.) Kit runs around with a red helicopter enjoying himself. Well; he better since this is the last televised appearance for him and for Molly for that matter. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: There is still a few comic stories left in the can and there's their adult debuts on Ducktales 2017 to consider!) Kit twists the key to the red copter, it flies around and annoys Molly. Molly swipes it away, Kit blows her off for it and the acting is not as good as I usually hear out of R.J. Williams. (R.J. Williams seemed off today; and I wonder if moonlighting as Cavin was a factor in this.) The red copter catches against the ceiling fan as Kit is not amused; but recoils and sees Molly is looking out the window. Kit asks Molly about something as Molly points to an abandoned building across the docks as the thunderclaps continue. Kit claims that it's deserted and Molly thinks that the mad doctor lives there. As you will see; Molly's claim is not unfounded; just not completely founded. Kit proclaims that he has the Seaduck in his pocket as he invokes the broom on the ceiling fan. Molly then proclaims that no one listens because she's so little. I can feel your pain Molly; ask Kit about it. (I think this was supposed to be an answer to the lack of Molly episodes in this series. Ironically enough; if they hadn't used a real seven year old to voice the character and went the usual route, Molly might be in double or triple the amount of episodes. Even in 1990.)

Kit comes down as he yells for incoming to Baloo and we get an off-screen bump as I assume Kit MURDERED Baloo with the broom. HAHA! Some continuity from Plunder and Lightning Part One. How fitting eh?! (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: Well, Walt Disney Animation France animated that episode as well, so it is kind of fitting.) Molly looks out some more and notices a figure that looks similar to the mad doctor in the shadows in one of the lighted windows. Sadly; it clearly looks like a fox instead of the mad doctor from earlier. Okay; here's the first problem with this episode: Why not have the mad doctor from the picture LOOK like the mad doctor in the building?! Then Molly's fears would be justified. I mean; the mad doctor in the picture is a lepoard; yet the mad doctor in the window is a fox. That makes no sense unless Chuck Tately is implying a Z-Grade movie joke. (I'm guessing that it's a Z-Grade movie joke because this entire plot just reeks of it.) Anyhow; Molly calls for Rebecca at the desk. I guess Baloo has been removed to get the red copter out of his ass or something by Kit. (If this were booked today; this is exactly what would we be seeing. And it would be funny actually. Almost a Milo Moment actually; only it's Pop-A-Bear doing it.) Rebecca is shuffling papers; but Rebecca tells her no because she's too small to go there -- which Molly blows off -- and it's going to rain see. (It's not that she isn't noticed, it's because she's too little to do anything. It's impossible to take that tact seriously when Molly has been in a Thembrian prison, kidnapped twice, fighting a giant squid among other things. I am so not buying that she's too little to go on a mad doctor hunt.) Molly proclaims that she said Molly couldn't go; but we segue as we see Danger Woman Molly come out with her red cape covering her face. Okay; that segue is great; but we have logic break number two for the episode because you would think Rebecca would have seen her. Of course; unless this is the SLEDGEHAMMER OF PLOT working overtime again. (Yip, it's the sledgehammer of plot again. Rebecca would go back into the closet again as evident in the next scene. So, there is no logic break there. Molly does some Dracula posing here, so someone is into horror movies.)

Anyhow; Molly walks like Darkwing Duck for a bit and sneaks behind the sandbox from Mommy For A Day. Wow! I didn't think Chuck would remember what Libby Hinson wrote. (I'm surprised the animators remember this considering what they will forget later on in this scene alone.) Molly talks to her doll Lucy as she proclaims that no one notices her. I wonder if this episode was a rib for all the times Molly appeared; but never spoke? (Still more effective than Webby.) Something to ponder as Molly notices the abandoned building and walks towards it. I should point out that Molly is wearing a metal strainer IN A FREAKING THUNDERSTORM~! (Kick: Ah! Biscuits!) (I should note that a number of rocks and boxes to allow Molly to get onto the tree are not present in this shot; but would be on the close up.) Then we fade to black because Michael Eisner hasn't been turned on enough these days. We head to the lighted door and then pan west to see Molly near the conveniently placed tree near some boxes that should allow her to climb up. Glad to see the prop designers were on the ball there, eh?! We pan up to the window as we see blue Wii lights in the window. Molly proclaims that something is going on to her doll. Damn it Chuck; Molly is supposed to speak in the third person when she's Danger Woman. (That's a minor quibble compared to later on 2011 me, relax.) Anyhow; Molly climbs up the tree and she almost loses her balance. She proclaims that she wishes she was bigger. Ummm; no Molly; you just need to get a better center of gravity. She regains her balance and climbs up the tree. She then slides on the tree with her crotch. No; I'm not making that up folks. (Are you sure 2011 me? I didn't see that when I was writing the transcript for this episode.) We then see the conveniently placed out of nowhere beehive...Oh wait; it was there on the first far shot of the window; just didn't see it earlier. So; it's perfectly fine. Luckly; she manages to get onto the window sill without disturbing the beehive much and she sees absolutely nothing. I guess the doctor turned off the lights during the fade to black so no logic break there. She uses Lucy the doll as an aid; but no luck present. Molly climbs down the branch and finally kicks the beehive down with the power of shake suggestion and the beehive breaks on the ground and here come the bees.

Molly backs up on the window sill as the bee come straight for her; but Molly rubs against the window, it somehow opens backwards, Molly tumbles into the building and lands on her ass with no bump whatsoever. Sigh. That looked pretty contrived if you ask me. (I'm fine with the safe bump here; at least she didn't land on her head.) Molly looks around and notices a big machine and goes to it. She then notices the conveniently placed switch which she mistakens as a light switch and she tries to get to it; but it's too far away. Molly proclaims that this is a trusty sidekick to Dangerwoman job to do as she uses Lucy's leg to whack at the switch and somehow the switch gets flipped up despite Molly using a down motion on Lucy to begin with. Logic break number three for the episode and we are just six minutes in. (No; I checked the animation and it was hit correctly. Don't worry; this episode will fall apart animation wise.) The lights are on so Molly wasn't mistaken after all. We see the entire room which has a square version of a magic circle on the floor using rods and red spheres. Molly proclaims that she knew it as a rat circles near her feet as Molly notices the rat and she is happy to see it. Molly calls it a mousey and the rat runs stage left to the mouse hole near the bottom of the wall. Then we hear a cough and Megavolt's voice (Dan Castellaneta) say hello as the fox shadow is behind the makeshift orange dressing room and Molly panics and backs up and tries to bash the lights again; but she nails the middle spinning wheel and it turns. The machine starts up as Molly bashes the control panel with Lucy and she flips multiple switches. The machine is near full power as Molly backs away and the Megavolt voice asks who is there and Molly runs off and drops Lucy about ten feet from the square rods. Molly then foolishly runs back for Lucy and the lasers shoot along the spheres in a square and then Molly gets zapped and disappears. Nice touch to have the lights shine out like a flashlight from the metal strainer Molly uses. I betcha Sunwoo and Wang Films would ignore that little detail. (Just like they would probably ignore Molly being in an episode, right?) So we return to Higher...For...Hire as it is raining out there as we hear Rebecca calling out for Molly. Then we zoom into the office as Baloo is sleeping at Rebecca's desk again with the inventory book on his belly. Doesn't Pop-A-Bear ever learn? (Nope.)

Baloo wakes up instantly and Rebecca is not amused. That looks a wee bit mistimed there as Baloo flips through the pages panicking. HEE HEE! Rebecca gleefully tells him the inventory was finished a half hour ago. Rebecca looks in the filing cabinet as she asks for Molly and Baloo gleefully points out the obvious. (Baloo points out that Molly is not in the filing cabinet. Of course not.) Rebecca, in an amazing shock to the treehouse syndrome fans; doesn't invoke the WRAITH OF BECKEY this time. We then see the red copter flying around annoying Rebecca. Then it flies towards Baloo as Baloo asks Kit if he has seen her. Kit claims that he hasn't, then turns around, looks around at the window and then proclaims that he probably does. (That is a nice bit of non-verbal cue detail from the animators there since Kit did look out the window back there.) We logically head to the abandoned building as Rebecca cannot believe Molly would do this. Kit, Rebecca and Baloo head for the door. Kit states that he knows how kids are. How does that explain you since you're twelve years old and legally a kid?! A kid who was part of a terrorist group for one year?! A kid who does crazy stuff?! A kid with a tickling weakness?! POW! OUCH! Ummm...okay I'll stop there. (In this series on television alone: Kit was an Air Pirate and he screwed Don Karnage twice (Trice in the comics). Kit and Molly fought pirates and a squid. Kit does dangerous stunts and is almost killed. Kit almost gets killed by a condor. Kit flies the most difficult plane in existence. Body switching hijinks. Molly is in a Thembrian prison and so on and so on. We are supposed to buy that Rebecca cannot believe Molly would do something as simple as go investigate an abandoned building. I realize that Rebecca is a concerned parent; but come on, now! It's amazing CPS isn't on both of Baloo and Rebecca's asses and before you say that there was no such thing in 1937; then explain Julius from The Long Flight Home?! Plus; CPS has been around in many forms since 1690!) Baloo thinks Molly is fine and tries to knock on the knocker; but Baloo stops and tries to bail like a little baby because he wants some safe houses to look into. HAHA! Rebecca stops him at the pass.

Rebecca knocks on the knocker and no answer. But the door is open, the babyfaces all walk in and look around. They all go up the stairs, enter through the first door on the left and they see the sciencist room where the lights are still on.The babyfaces practice the fine art of not being seen as Baloo wonders if there is a mad sciencist in here and Rebecca blows it off because there is only a mad mother. So, Rebecca admits that she's crazy?! Then we hear buzzing and here comes the bee army and those faces are literally faces only a queen bee could love. They are that ugly. Everyone bails as the bees fly away stage right without further incident. Rebecca then notices Molly's doll Lucy and deduces that Molly was here. NO?! REALLY?! (Okay; here's something only I doing transcripts discovered: Rebecca was supposed to be the one picking up the doll; but on the closeup shot, Kit Cloudkicker picked up the doll and then when we go to the next shot; Rebecca is holding the doll. Yup; this episode should have been delayed until August. Plus; this is a second run syndication episode and Larry Latham is post-production producer. It seems to be a motif with this series confusing Kit with Rebecca. At least with My Fair Baloo and A Star Is Torn; it was only the sweater that needed to be recolored. Here; Kit's body is completely shown here, and it looks thinner and taller than normal. This is the sort of thing that gets laughed at when Ruby-Spears does it with Hanho Heung-Up doing the animation. This is far worse when a much better animation studio Brizzi is doing the animation. I just shake my head in disbelief.) Then the wind blows and it somehow slams the door shut. (This happens in B-movies as well; as this is what Chuck Tately was shooting for.) Rebecca continues to call out for Molly; but no answer still. Everyone backs up, then turns around and they notice a fox furry with a white coat, blue pants, goofy glasses and a red bow tie with a plate of buttered toast. Everyone panics and the fox furry faints dead away with a good bump. The plate also shatters as well. (Geez; what is with the fade to blacks in this episode for no reason. I hope that this is because of the Z-Grade motif this episode is shooting for, because it's getting annoying even now.)

We go to the scene changer with the fox furry as he wakes up and he sees the TRIPLE JELLO POP-A-BEAR. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmm... I got to give Walt Disney Animation France some props; they are doing well in spite of some of the contriveness. (Yeah; mainly the animators being out to lunch. The storyline is actually good and Chuck hasn't done anyway really stupid. Yet.) The fox panics and yells like Megavolt on speed as he thinks that they are robbers. Fox doctor offers money, his watch and he even wants them to take him out to the ball game. HAHA! I am so loving him already. Rebecca tells him that they are not robbers; just crazy pilot bears. Okay; I made the last part up; but it's true. Rebecca wants a name and the fox addresses himself as Doctor Zibaldo as teased earlier in The Bigger They Are; The Louder They Oink. (It's funny how many times we have called him Doctor Zivaldo over the years, which is basically interchanging B's for V's like a lot of Engrish when the name was actually written on a sign in a very early episode. As in a Disney Channel preview episode.) Zibaldo also lives here as Kit calls him a mad doctor and Zibaldo blows him off because he's NOT mad, just not thrilled to see them either. Heh. Rebecca then invokes the WRAITH OF BECKEY on Zibaldo as Zibaldo does me proud by almost losing his glasses in the process. Zibaldo actually nails Rebecca twice with his fists calling her unwelcome person because he doesn't know. No male on female contact?! What no male on female contact?! (I was surprised that BS&P allowed this actually since punches were in fact thrown at a woman.) Rebecca then backs off and pleads for Zibaldo to help her find Molly as Zibaldo notices that the toast flips jelly side down and he's pissed off about it. HAHA! (Apparently; Baloo has teleported to the machine during this; making me wonder if this is a joke on horror movies or something. Zibaldo is just lighting it up as he is angry because apparently, in this world, bread always flipped butter/jelly side down no matter how it is thrown. I guess the gravitational pull of butter and jelly is slightly more profound in this world than in real life.)

Baloo is memorized by the machine in the background and is about to throw THE SWITCH~! (Baloo thinks it's the world more powerful radio, which in the dark is lime green, while in the light is banana yellow. This is like the light version of Caron's "Change Color When Wet" pj's in Chargeman Ken. That amused me. Anyhow; the whole switch thing is not my creation. NegaDuck invented the phrase from "Just Us Justice Ducks" and it sucked badly.) However; Zibaldo runs in as he gets in front and explains that it's not a radio as it is a shrinking machine. It's his life's work because he wants everything to fit into suitcases once he perfects it. (This actually is a noble science project and in storyline, this invention actually works! Too bad it won't work at all when this episode is over, leading to another invention critics complained about both in storyline and in real life as well.) Baloo thinks Zibaldo needs to see a shrink. BWHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Projection much there, Pop-A-Bear?! Anyhow; Zibaldo notices that someone has turned the thing on as if the needle in the red zone didn't expose that fact earlier? (Hilariously; the zones are "Slow", "Half" and "HighRevs". Which means that the gauge is from a race car. Lovely!) Rebecca invokes the WRAITH OF PANICKY BECKEY on Ziblado. They walk for a while as Zibaldo proclaims that this means Molly needs a whole new wardrobe. HAHA! (I think this line was taken from Attack Of The Fifty Foot Webby in Ducktales; but in that episode, Doctor Von Swine was the worst character in the series without fail. At least he was the worst doctor. He was suggesting that Webby join professional wrestling, which is bad because it's not a business that until recently has treated women like equals. Here; Zibaldo is being funny without punching down like Ducktales would. Also; Chuck Tately is writing here, not Libby Hinson.)

No, not really Zibaldo as he cheers and jumps for joy because his invention works! BY GOD IT WORKS! We then segue over to a stool (NOT THAT ONE!) as Molly is now about the size of an ant. Molly deduces the obvious for us as she sees Baloo leaning against the stool, then she goes over and punches at his foot and then invokes MOLLY VIOLENCE on it. ALL HAIL! Baloo raises his foot up and scratches it as the animation is a wee bit contrived since Molly walked into the shadow of the foot before panicking and bailing. (I thought the animation was perfectly fine here.) Zibaldo seems more interested in recording this discovery as he almost steps on Molly and Rebecca blows him off because Molly is more important. Baloo takes Rebecca's side and stomps hard; but misses Molly by about a mile in her terms; three inches by ours. Zibaldo then proclaims that they should refrain from stomping because they could squash and kill her see. (Yeah; the mad scientist actually points out the most reasonable thing to say and everyone freezes.) Rebecca swears in DUBBED ANIME STYLE ("Oh my gosh!" Funny how Rebecca cannot say "Oh my God"; but Kit, Baloo and Don Karnage can. THAT'S SEXIST!) and everyone freezes on the spot. Baloo takes safety to the stool and we cut to Molly again as she turns around and notices the little rat from earlier and she points at it. (Only the rat is not small anymore in Molly's eyes, context given.) The rat stalks her and Molly proclaims that the rat looks bigger up close as that ends the segment 10 and a half minutes in. Wow; this episode is chugging along nicely so far with very minor breaks. (Most of them from the animators having no clue who Rebecca and Kit are.) However; it's the second half that turns into a total mess. (Which is where Chuck Tately's writing goes to crap. Sort of.)

After the commercial break; we return as Molly is being stalked by the rat as Molly calls it a nice mousy. That obviously doesn't work as Molly bails stage left. We run around the bend as Molly calls for mother and then we cut back to the goofs plus Kit standing on one foot sweating to no music since Richard Simmons was probably not born at this point. Baloo complains about his arches falling (I thought we got the feet references out of our system in Polly Wants A Treasure?) and Rebecca panics as the rat hissing and does the Scooby to Baloo's Shaggy as Baloo drops on his ass with a MAN-SIZED bump. (Also a logic break (a real one this time): When Baloo froze, it appeared that he was sitting on the stool; but in the next act when he's shown, he's in the middle of room doing the same spot everyone else is. I should also note that Sally Struther's scream is so normal here that I swear that the scream was stock voice from a horror movie. Which would be funnier and the show stands a better chance of getting away with it since it's a cartoon. After all; they are using stock voices for the rat and the bee; so why not Rebecca's scream?! I mean; I have heard Sally Struthers scream. Chain smoking seagull was my response to it.) Baloo blows her off; so Rebecca literally crawls on Baloo's head panicking about a rat. I see Rebecca has moved from worm phobias to the standard mouse phobia now. Remind me never to audition her for Fear Factor ever. (I think Fear Factor has been canceled for years now 2011 me; but point taken. Even Libby Hinson would have booked this.) Kit then takes his hat off and wants to get that rat; but misses by a mile as Kit chases a rat. I see Kit has revenge on Dan Dawson in his future somewhere. (I hope so.) Rebecca bails stage left (being chased by the rat no less. What a stupid booking decision by Chuck actually?!) as Molly yells for Rebecca and then dodges Rebecca's foot and gets onto Rebecca's pantleg like the ankle biter haters wanted her to be in the first place.

Rebecca gets chased by a rat, Kit chases the rat and Baloo chases Kit while Zibaldo channels the powers of Katherine Victor as Batwoman (From The Wild World Of Batwoman or I Was A Vampire Hippie; depending on which cut you watched. Alsd, hell of a joke there 2011 me considering that Kathrin Victor was the continuity coordinator for this series. Ponder that for a moment.) by doing absolutely nothing. AND THE ROCK SAYS....Oh wait; he's making toast from the toaster. HAHA! (That was in fact funny in that the one shot scientist in this episode does more than Kathrin Victor did in her star role in that Z-grade movie. Also; I didn't coin the phrase, The Agony Booth did. It wasn't Albert Walker who wrote the recap of that movie, I'm sure of that.) Rebecca gets behind Zibaldo while fiddling with the hot toast as Rebecca asks what the hell he is doing and Zibaldo gleefully answers that one for her. We then cut back to Molly climbing off Rebecca's foot, sneaks stage left and is near the toaster wire as Rebecca blows off Zibaldo for thinking about toast when her daughter is missing. (Now here's the really funny part: Ziabaldo's reaction to Rebecca accusing him of thinking about food was him saying in a casual manner that it beats smooshing little girls. At first; I thought he meant "kissing them"! I thought that was sexist, until I realized that he meant "crushing them"! That actually makes sense and it leads to the next spot of Rebecca yelling at everyone to freeze.) Molly climbs the wire as Rebecca yells for everyone to freeze and Kit and Baloo sells as Kit isn't thrilled to do this either. Rebecca panics like crazy as Baloo comes over. Wait; wasn't he suppose to freeze?! Logic break number four for the episode as Baloo wants her to think rationally and Rebecca blows him off; Baloo proclaims she's thinking loudly. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. (Well; it doesn't matter if it's a logic break now because Molly is already climbing the wires to the toaster at this point. So, no real harm done here.)

Molly climbs onto the table with great effort, then lands onto the toaster switch which the toaster has metal to reflect her image and calls out for Rebecca again. We then see Baloo consoling Rebecca as she is in tears and Baloo actually catches the tears the whole time! Nice little attention to detail there. (Considering all the animation mistakes made in this episode; when they are on, they are on! It's just that they are off-kilter half of the time.) We pan left to Kit as he looks over and notices Molly's image on the toaster and proclaims that she's right on the toaster lift. Rebecca and Baloo notice her on the toaster, then the toaster pops and Molly lands hand over feet in flips (Drake: Showoff!) as Zibaldo grabs some toaster butter side down. Animation Mistakes: The bread was white when it came out and there were two slices popped up; yet Zibaldo catches only one and the bread is toasted when he grabs it. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: It seems Mega Man has this same problem too, so it's not just this episode that does it.) Oh; and he calls for butter when he is clearly using jelly. Bad, bad form there Walt Disney France and you were doing so well up to this point. That; or Walt Disney Animation London has finally taken over. (Oh yeah; they were doing so well with Rebecca morphing into Kit in one shot. That was a much bigger gaffe than the missing bread that turns into toast when it hit's Zibaldo's hands. Also; him yelling for butter and spreading jelly is perfectly acceptable in this case because he's supposed to be scatterbrained. This in fact makes sense.) Anyhow; Molly lands on the blue sofa and bounces around without any squeak sound. If there was ever a time where that sound would be apporos; it's here. (Yeah; the sound effects were pretty normal here; and a squeak toy sound would have been fitting.) Molly sits down proclaiming that being tiny isn't so bad as she then notices a purple catapiller walking on the sofa and she hitchhikes on it's back to mommy as Molly would say here. We cut back to Baloo sitting down on the green loveseat (Where did that come from?!) as Rebecca wants everyone to split up; get on their knees and search for Molly.

Baloo grabs Lucy and blows off that idea because they need to think small. (I know that some are going to call the doll a logic break since Lucy had a teddy bear look to it. However; also remember that Kit beheaded the original Lucy in Plunder and Lightning. So this new doll is Lucy 2.0 basically.) Now so far; this episode has been doing well enough and now the Chuck Tately effect is about to take over. Scene changer and we see that somehow the SeaDuck is in the room! WHAT THE BLOODY HELL?! That makes no sense whatsoever since there is no way the SeaDuck fits into that room. Logic break #5 for the episode and the first one I don't accept. (Okay; this is a really gaping logic break; but hindsight 20/20, this was a hilariously bad logic break because it's the sort of thing I would have seen in Plan 9 From Outer Space in terms of internal logic. Say what you will about it; it is a bad logic break; but I have since mellowed out on it considering what this episode is ultimately shooting for.) We pan left and zoom into Doctor Zibaldo working the controls as he doesn't like this one bit. I agree; this logic break is terrible, even for Chuck. Rebecca blows it off because it's the only way to find Molly. Zibaldo climbs onto the control panel and proclaims that if this doesn't work; his insurance preminums are going to skyrocket. I don't think insurance existed back then; so it's a nice way to say that he's going to get sued. (Actually; insurance existed way back since well before BC. To be fair; Zibaldo getting sued would not surprise me in the least; although probably not by Baloo nor Rebecca.) Anyhow; we pan down to the floor near the desk as Molly gets off the catapiller as the catapiller panics, throws Molly off it's back and she drops with wussy bumps on her ass. Well; that's an improvement at least as Molly is clearly on the right side of the mouse trap. The swiss cheese on the trap gives it away. Molly blows it off because they are only halfway to mommy; but the catapiller bails stage right as the shadow of the rat appears and Molly hides behind the mousetrap.

The rat springs the trap with it's tail and grabs the cheese. I see this rat is friends with the Aussie Stereotype. Why doesn't that surprise me?! (Can't be. That would imply that cheese is a weakness to exploit. As you can see, it's not a weakness.) Molly claps for the rat as I suspect that she is turning dumber as this episode marches on. (Actually; that was a neat trick. It's just stupid to clap when Molly is much smaller than the rat at this point and it's right in front of Molly while eating. Not a smart move.) The rat eats the cheese as Molly calls it a good trick, the rat's next trick is to stalk Molly and try to eat her. This has better implications though as Molly claims that he's stuffed as the rat licks it's lips and we fade to black again. WHAT THE HELL? (This has to be a stylist choice on par with horror movies. TaleSpin typically refrain from turning Michael Eisner on since this show is needed in order to keep their jobs.) We return with a side shot of Baloo in the SeaDuck as we pan southwest to see Kit on the transmitter with Rebecca and they are ready when the SeaDuck is. Rebecca wants to start shrinking as we cut to the machine working as we pan down to Zibaldo turning the middle wheel as he didn't realize that people wanted to shrink. Kit claims that you shrink and unshrink them as Zibaldo laughs him off because he has been reading too much science ficition. HAHA! (That is actually funny and I'm shocked Gimmick didn't steal that one first.) Baloo and Rebecca are NOT happy to hear that one as the shrink ray works and they disappears in the blue sparks. Kit is on the stool at the desk (Okay; I see where the chair was, so no logic break there. However; that stool changes from grey to wood grain in some shots.) on the transmitter asking if they are all right and Baloo claims that he is if he liked being dinky. Dinky toys appeared in 1934 during the time of Doctor Frankenstein; so there you go. Rebecca blows off Baloo of course because he needs to find Molly. Baloo pushes the white start button -- which apparently has been changed since Captains Outrageous -- and that starts the engines.

However, they cannot move because the platoon is stuck in the floor edge. HAHA! (If this were booked today; they would be breaking the left platoon trying to get it out because destroying property is funny you see. Hilarious; when you consider what happens near the finish of this episode.) Baloo needs some help getting off the ground; so Kit jumps down and calls him "Teesney-Weensy Pop-A-Bear". HAHA! Kit is in awe as he grabs the SeaDuck and uses his eye to look in as he causes Baloo and Rebecca to sway inside. HAHA! Baloo blows him off as Kit places the SeaDuck onto the desk. (I love this scene because it pays off the joke that he had the SeaDuck in his pocket. It's also funny because Kit would have a model of the SeaDuck flying it at the beginning of the My Fair Baloo episode, many episodes ago. In the same scene where the animators made Rebecca's arms into Kit's arms! This has to be a motif in this show.) The SeaDuck is ready for takeoff as Baloo restarts the engines and they go off the runaway; which is covered with whole wheat bread. The SeaDuck flips a slice of bread on the way out and the slice of bread flips into the air and where is land is about one foot away from squashing the SeaDuck. Rebecca feels relieved. The SeaDuck flies into the air as we pan over to Kit and Zibaldo as Kit tells Zibaldo that he has work to do. We head back to the floor as Molly turns around and the rat notices her again. Heh. The rat swipes Molly; but misses by a mile as Molly bails into the springs underneath the couch and the rat bounces into one of the springs. Molly blows off the rat as she backs away and takes the sharp point of the pen right in her ass. OUCH! The rat tries to grab at Molly; but Molly notices the pen and uses it to spray ink right in the rat's kisser. Aw; the wonders of the fountain pen invented in the early 900's. (I actually have seen the layouts done for this scene by Luis Cantai; who is one of many producers uncredited from the French studio. It's amazing because the Walt Disney Animation France group has at least eight five plus names credited with this series, and they still couldn't fit a good dozen or so more guys. I hope that when Tim's book comes out, we'll have more complete credit lists because that is exactly what my tributes need: More windbags. See, I can mangle my metaphors too, Orac.)

The Seaduck flies around the area as we see Zibaldo at his desk buttering toast again. HAHA! (He's buttering actual bread and not toast; but it's still too funny.) I know he should be working; but he is funny, so who cares?! Naturally; we see Kit opening the panel to the console as he is doing all the work which is fine since the last episode saw him do so little work and most of it subpar. Kit has something in his hands as he asks what is next as Zibaldo is talking with his mouth full as he cuts a promo about inventing English Muffins having all nooks but no crannies. HAHA! Kit screams at him which is the first really good acting from R.J. Williams since the beginning of Your Baloo's In The Mail actually. (R.J. Williams seems more bored than usual outside of a few moments in the last two episodes.) Kit comes in, Zibaldo gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY and wants Kit to hand him the pliers. Kit gives them to him and Zibaldo bails as the SeaDuck flies around Kit. We cut back to Rebecca looking fine as she invokes the POINTY FINGER OF DEATH and we see the rat is carrying Danger Woman Molly by the red cape running like the wind. It's a northeastery wind this time around. Molly loses her metal strainer in the process as Rebecca screams at Kit from the transmitter about rats and Kit asks about the rats despite seeing them about five minutes ago. That's logic break number six for the episode as Zibaldo is throwing out stuff claiming that he meant to do something about them before. (Now this line should have been redubbed to Kit saying "Where are these rats coming from?" How Mark Zaslove missed that is a mystery to me.) Rebecca yells at Baloo and we have the SCOOBY DOO CHASE SEQUENCE THE RAT FLIGHT EDITION~! Baloo then hears something really funny and Rebecca thinks that they don't make that sound now as the swarm of ugly faced bees have returned. We get a closeup of their ugly mugs and that ends the segment for real sixteen minutes in. This episode is better than I thought it originally was. It's still a big mess; but so far it hasn't done anything really stupid outside of the Chuck Tately SeaDuck teleport scene. (That scene can be easily constructed as a rib on Z-grade movies at least. The animators clearly needed another two to three months to iron out the errors; but it was time they didn't have despite the fact that Flying Dupes was moved to August. I'll never understand syndication politics.)

After the commercial break; we return with the SeaDuck being chased by the ugly faced bees. Rebecca turns around and then we see that the bees have teleported right at the SeaDuck. WHAT THE HELL?! Logic break number seven for the episode and the second one I don't accept. (I didn't think this was a logic break 2011 me. I think that was the usual teleportation that this episode was shooting for since it's supposed to be a homage to a Z-Grade film.) Even Baloo wonders how that happened and it's the POWER OF TATELY infecting this episode. Baloo twirls the stick as he dodges the hornets as said by Rebecca. (Huh? I thought they were bees since hornets and bees are not the same thing.) Rebecca yells for Kit's help. Kit runs in with the fly swatter, he turns into Bumble Swasher and generally makes an ass out of himself so much that Rebecca screams at Kit to stop. HAHA! Pointless; but still pretty funny as Baloo proclaims it's down to them. (Kit Cloudkicker is so awesome that even he is better at being Bumble Swasher (Bumblelion from The Wuzzle everyone.) than the real thing.) I see that spot was to pad the running time which is fine because it was funny as Baloo flies a loop-de-loop for only fifteen cents and uses the props to sandpaper the back bee's stingers which causes the entire swarm to create the word "OW!" and then bail in various directions. Okay; that was pretty funny. I should note; that bees do die when they lose their stingers so this makes some sense. Baloo calls them cowards; thus they are yellow jackets. I think Georgia Tech thinks Baloo is full of crap. (Yeah; I get the joke about yellow being the symbol of cowardice; but the SeaDuck was a bigger weapon than the hornets; so shouldn't the SeaDuck be labeled as the coward?!) So, the rat race MUST CONTINUE ON~! The rat enters the rat hole as Rebecca thinks it's too late. So Baloo flies the SeaDuck down telling us to hang on as it might be a close shave; but the shot on the inside shows that the hole is big enough to fly the SeaDuck in easily. Bad form there Walt Disney UK. (Yeah; that hole should have been smaller. It's odd that the French studio has problems animating close shaves, but Sunwoo animation didn't in Plunder and Lightning part four.)

Flying sequence ensues as the rat is way ahead of the SeaDuck. Did this rat get injected by Larson & Gary?! I swear to god that this rat in one governmental probe away from disgracing animals everywhere. (Nah; it was a stalker who harrassed Tress MacNeilie that got furry fans on the blacklist of groups to respect. Even though I would think Bubsy would have caused a lot more damage to the product with his crap.) The rat drops Molly into a sardine can (with no bump present of course) and then bails stage right. Molly pops up and of course logic strikes again as her cape is gone and she seems to grow a pink bowtie as she blows off Rebecca for accusing Molly of having a messy room. (Nah; she kept the cape and the bowtie is part of the cape. Now you are seeing things.) The SeaDuck slices through some cobwebs as Molly jumps up for joy while the rat is swiping at the SeaDuck just as Rebecca proclaims that Molly is all right. Baloo and Rebecca bounces on their seats as Baloo proclaims that he won't be able to land this thing. Rebecca then proclaims that he doesn't have to as she goes into the back and if you don't know what she is planning then you have no business reading this rant. Funny how Rebecca proclaims that Kit does it all the time despite Rebecca doing this in Mommy For A Day, Feminine Air and even Save The Tiger with a motorboat already. Baloo's claims that Kit knows what he is doing. Funny since you got on his case in Stormy Weather. Rebecca blows him off, throws the switch on the wall to open the tailsection of the SeaDuck and flies out of the back end of the SeaDuck as Baloo proclaims that Kit has an airfoil to help him. Like I said; this family by heart is CRAZIE BABEE~! No wonder bigots hate them. It's not a logic break here; just a writer like Chuck Tately NOT reading scripts from other episodes. (Actually; the exchange still works in that context because Kit's gimmick is cloudsurfing and Rebecca has been paying attention to this all the time.) Rebecca does a cute spot where she springs right in the left side of the Seaduck (Without touching the props mind you...), knocks on glass and blows off Baloo when Baloo tells him to hang on. HAHA! It doesn't make much sense; but it sure as hell is funny. Rebecca surfs around as the rat hisses in front of Molly who is on top of a vodka bottle (!!!).

Rebecca proclaims that she's coming as the rat's black eyes with white pupils goes all Undertaker on us in the next shot as the rat takes a huge leap of faith and somehow gets whacked in the mouth despite not touching a single thing. Oh wait; Rebecca punched the rat in the face on that far shot. (2020 Gregory Weagle Says: According to some TVTroopers; Rebecca nailed the rat with Kit's airfoil, which makes no sense at all. Someone decided that Rebecca punching rats in the face was a no-no, despite Rebecca punching Muffy in the face in A Touch of Glass. Idiots!) Wow; that scene and the rat's selling makes sense now. I club BS&P; but it was on-screen so it's somewhat forgivable. (Wow; I wondered what happened there when doing the transcript and I'm more amazed BS&P allowed it. Then again; Baloo did get to punch pirates on screen, so I should have seen it coming a mile away. The empty vodka bottle is a lot more surprising than a punch in this show. Not as shocking as the moonshine bottle in Plunder and Lightning the comic books version, but very close.) Rebecca grabs Molly on the way out as the rat chases them, of course. We cut back to Kit and Zibaldo as the crack Walt Disney Animation U.K. animators make Kit and Zibaldo look even smaller than usual. (Actually; this makes sense since the shrinking machine is much bigger than any machine Gimmick could pull out of his ass.) For Zibaldo pops up from the console proclaiming success and fiddlesticks as there is wires and bulbs around his nose. Kit asks what they do and Zibaldo doesn't know and ignores them. (At first I thought this would lead nowhere because I didn't think he mentioned them again. However...) Zibaldo decides to test the machine as he throws the switch; but the power fizzles out. Kit then notices the plug is unplugged and Kit replugs the machine. A lot of fans claimed that this is a logic break; but we never saw the plug until now so there is no logic break. (In fact, this makes sense actually since in real life, it's a good idea to turn off a machine before you service it in over to prevent power surges and getting electrcuted unintentionally. Safety first, and I'm perfectly fine with it.) The animation is a little wonky; but the size difference isn't all that noticable. (Actually; it isn't noticable at all. The next spot is noticable actually.)

We head back to the tailsection of the SeaDuck as Rebecca lands inside and we get that overdue embrace which always happens with good episodes of TaleSpin in spite of the mess. However; here comes the giant rat of doom chasing the SeaDuck again. Rebecca closes the tailsection of the SeaDuck as they head to the cockpit with Baloo. Kit is on the transmitter telling them that Zibaldo will make them big again; well he hopes anyway. (Well; at least my hopes for R.J. Williams acting to return were not crushed at the end of the day.) We continue the chase as the SeaDuck goes through DA...HOLE (SLURP!) as Rebecca gets the LIGHTBULB OF BLOODY CLAIRTY because if they fly inbetween the spheres at full speed; they will crash into the wall. Baloo panics and yells that there is going to be an emergency landing. Kit looks worried as Zibaldo turns the middle wheel and spins it to his right to start the machine as the SeaDuck flies through the sphere and misses the sparks as the rat gets nailed perfectly and yet; the SeaDuck still manages to turn big. Dammit Walt Disney Animation UK! That was awful timing there. (Actually; the rat stops in the machine and but the lighting bolts still hit the SeaDuck anyway since it was going faster and away from the machine. This makes sense and the animation was fine. It's what happens next that I hated a lot more...) Baloo manages to put on the brakes, then the horror of horrors come as Baloo crashes into the wall anyway and we get animation impact stars which look so bad that it would make Wang Films blush in embrassment. I wonder if this was done by Toon Disney?! Because not even Walt Disney Animation UK can animate stars that crappy. (Apparently; they can because the DVD version is kept as is. The bump is fine; it's the impact stars that was crappy. I have seen impact flashes and stars animated much better and drawn better than this, even in this series alone. Wang Films animated them as penticles in Mach One For The Gipper for goodness sakes.) Oh; and the plug get pulled from the socket of course. (Probably due to the impact of the crash and the concussion it got afterwards.) We head back to the SeaDuck into the wall as Baloo comes out the tailsection of the SeaDuck talking about landing on a runway shorter than his plane.

Baloo thanks the doctor; but sadly, like Teddy Ruxpin the first time, we have our GIANT ASS RAT. Just replace Fuzz with the rat and you get the picture. (Next year; I'll do the second story arc which includes the debut of Fuzz in Take A Good Look.) Baloo yells at Zibaldo to throw the wheel; but there is no juice since it's not plugged in. Only bleeps and bloops as Zibaldo needs a reminder to get an extension cord tomorrow. Kit proclaims that if there is a tomorrow as Kit tries to get to the wire; but the rat stomps in front of him. That allows Kit this gem:

Kit: Rats! No offense! {Kit defending himself.}

HAHA! The rat has everyone surrounded and there no hope left...until Molly runs in much to the fear of Rebecca. Molly has no fear because no one notices her anyway. Rebecca tries to run; but Baloo catches her and covers her mouth to boot! You know... (Let me finish that thought for you: "That was sexist!" Right?) Molly go around the tail end of the rat. Baloo thinks Molly is right and he and Rebecca need to run interference so Molly can replug the machine in. Rebecca waves to Mr. Rat and Rebecca decides to cut...wait for it...a peanut joke. Seriously; she cuts the most obvious peanut joke in history and even SHE realizes that it was crappy. HAHA! It's a freaking peanut joke! You were expecting Dennis Miller or Ed Brayton or something?! (Here's the joke in a "nutshell": (See what I did there?)"Did you hear the one about the two peanuts that got on the subway? One of them was "a-salted"." Yeah. Worst peanut joke ever. Rebecca's lame laugh shows that even she realizes she has no sense of comedic timing nor humor. Which is hilarious considering that Sally Struthers was on a comedy sitcom called All In The Family; which was considered a huge deal in entertainment until the Simpsons arrived to kill it with fire. Brutal! But in a cute way. ) Baloo is flustered on that one and I don't blame him as Molly practices the fine art of not being seen and the rat hisses as Rebecca blows him off as a critic. Wow; that rat has better taste than Miley Cyrus fans. AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! POW! OUCH! Ummmmm...The rat turns around as Molly, who has since gained her red cape back to break logic again (Nope; she always had it. No logic break 2011 me.), struggles to plug in the device as Rebecca panics again. However; Molly does manage to plug in the device, it starts up full power, the rat is still in the spheres trying to jump out and gets zapped as he shrinks small right in front of Molly's feet. Molly looks happy as she stomps the ground and the rat bails stage left like a scalded dog back into the hole.

Rebecca and Molly have a bonding moment as Molly apologizes for running off; Rebecca apologizes for not showing enough notice to her; Baloo apologizes for the broken wall and Zibaldo apologizes just because he can. HAHA! (Even better when Zibaldo claims that he only did it because it was the right thing to do basically. Which is a perfectly reasonable excuse in today's world. Very Iwata-ish of him too.) That was pretty cute as smoke fills the air...AND THAT'S BAD FOR YOUR HEALTH, YOUR MOVIE RATING AND CHUCK TATELY WRITTEN EPISODES as the machine is completely destroyed. Apparently; those parts prevented the machine for overheating. Despite all the mess we saw; it's good to know Chuck can lop off at least one plot hole in this episode. Zibaldo invokes the fire extinguisher as Kit apologizes for this as Zibaldo is through with shrinking see. (And that we already covered the apologies. Kit should have apologized for not noticing that Molly has intentions to sneak into Zibaldo's house, but whatever.) So what is his next invention? Wait for it...TELEVISION~! Rebecca asks what television is and Zibaldo explains that it send radio waves into your home with pictures. (Now that is a hell of an invention to make; and boy those movie producers are going to hate it big time since that means their business model is going to be out of date. No wonder Zibaldo is isolated and lonely.) Oh and Zibaldo is making more toast for himself; cannot forget that. He asks if anyone wants toast (Despite the bread only being in there for three seconds tops; which indicates that he's nuts.). Rebecca calls him an odd little man. I love real comments that aren't supposed to be real comments. (I also love grossly understated shoot comments also by the way.) Baloo simply blows off the idea completely claiming that it will never catch on. (And now it's time to tell TVTropes how much they are full of crap...)

Rant #1: Now TV Tropes claims that this is a logic break because Baloo saw a movie at the beginning of the episode and should have accepted this invention. Ummm; it doesn't work that way because television and movies are different models both in the business and experience context. Think about this: most inventions at first are not accepted because no one thinks that they need it until the content shows that they need it. Think about this; why bother paying seven dollars to see a movie when you can watch it at home for a smaller monthly fee. How about watching cartoons? How about sports? How about news? How about cooking shows? How about weather? I could go on and on. Baloo doesn't accept it because the content hasn't arrived yet to show that the invention can be a success. That's why the joke is so funny because Baloo plays the hardcore context in thinking that movies can never be disrupted by this television model. As much as Sean Malstrom has turned to crap over the years; his earlier articles and posts were dead on and this is one of them. Now the internet is serving to disrupt television for the same reason. The question is: What content will make that disruption happen? How about video games for a start? Like I said before: When Baloo predicts that something will not come true; it often does come true. After all; thanks to Baloo; he gave heat to the jet engine in Mach One for The Gipper. (The funniest thing about this whole thing was: None of us actually bothered to notice that Disney had a commercial for this series showing Baloo and Kit are actually watching an old television, mainly because it's only available on Youtube now. At least in this episode; Baloo not accepting the television made sense because realistically, this is how people react to new inventions. It's very real and believable. I blame this on Disney PR rather than the writers of this show because the joke at the end was legit funny. It's just that the commercial does more damage to this ending than the beginning of the episode ever could.) Anyhow; Baloo and company walk towards the SeaDuck as it's time to go home as we get static waves and a dead air signal which is pretty unique for a cartoon to end the episode at 21:13. This episode is a lot better on the second airing and the acting isn't nearly as bad as I thought it was. However; it is still a mess with nine logic breaks and animation mistakes galore. Still; a good first act, okay second act, contrived third act that got better once the SeaDuck was back to normal size. *** 1/2 (70%).

THE REVIEW LINE

Well; this episode is one that I have since mellowed out and the reviewing of this episode showed that it is still a big mess with animation mistakes, some horrible mistiming, bad impact stars and eight logic breaks from Chuck Tately including the gaping SeaDuck in the room moment that made no sense. (Actually; it's more like four or five logic breaks; and only two were awful. Most of the other problems with this episode were animation that should have been given more time to patch up.) However; unlike last time I noticed that the acting was much better than I thought (there were some problems in certain areas); but the episode was very enjoyable and there was great effort when Walt Disney Animation France wasn't making mistakes. Kit was better than in Your Baloo's In The Mail; although he still was merely above average compared to his usual awesome self. Doctor Zibaldo still carried this episode as I expected too; although it would have made more sense to have him as a leopard doctor like in the movie from the beginning to maintain continuity with the rest of the episode. (Actually; it would have made less sense when you consider what the episode was shooting for.) Baloo and Rebecca were pretty good as well. Plus; we had a killer ending and a good finish once the rat grew big so overall; this went from an episode that was the worst in the series to an episode that could have been ****+ had it not been for really bad mistakes by the animators and Chuck Tately. Considering how Your Baloo's In The Mail turned out; it's the best I could have hoped for. (Yeah; this was a really fun episode (Joe from The Issue At Hand blog gave this ****; so he ignored the obvious logic breaks here) and Chuck actually found a way to get past the shrinking/sci-fi issue: By booking an awesome mad scientist who was a babyface, who was also funny. Megavolt would have been proud of him too.) Next up is Bygones which is the Air Pirates last appearance; although it proved to not be the last appearance on television on Don Karnage. (Hell of an end to Mad Dog though. OUCH!) That's right folks; I'm planning to do a mini-rant on Don Karnage's appearance on Raw Toonage~! Oh yeah! That will come after Flying Dupes though. (I might transcribe the host segment, but that's all I'm doing for that.) So...

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

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