2018 Dedications

This is my big come back, ladies and gentleman. I haven't done any of these in like a year now. Mostly because I was moved to the kitchen to use this computer. But before we begin, there's been a lot of stuff happening lately. Like my mom just had back surgery, and the deaths of some famous people. I would like to list some.

Stan Lee (1922-2018) He was 95. He was the man responsible for all the Marvel Comics, creating great heroes like Spider-Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor. His career was probably best known for all those cameos he had in the Marvel films over the years. I'm not really a Marvel fan, but I think Stan Lee is a person worth mentioning, because he is a legend, a comic book legend anyway.

Charlotte Rae (1926-2018) She was 92. She was a talent actress known far and wide in both TV and movies. Rae was known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and its spin-off, The Facts of Life (in which she had the starring role from 1979–1986). She was also Molly the Mail Woman during the third season of Sesame Street, as well as the voice of Aunt Pristine Figg in Tom and Jerry: The Movie. One of her recent projects before her death was Ricki and the Flash, with Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, and Rick Springfield.

Penny Marshall (1943-2018) was only 75. She started her career as Laverne DeFazio on Laverne and Shirley. And she later went on to direct a few popular film from the late 80's to the early 90's. Including "Big" starring Tom Hanks, "Awakenings" starring Robin Williams and Robert DeNiro, and "A League of Their Own" also starring Tom Hanks, which also featured Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell, and Geena Davis. She was the sister of the late Garry K. Marshall, who created Happy Days and directed Valentine's Day and New Year's Eve.

Stephen Hawking (1942-2018) was an English theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and author, who was director of research at the Centre for Theoretical Cosmology at the University of Cambridge. He has never spoken because he had ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gehrig's disease. Hawking lost his voice and only can talk through a speech-generating device. Hawking may be gone. But his speech-generating device is not gone. He was never able to recover from ALS for the next decades, let me tell you.

Harry Anderson (1952-2018) He was only 65 when he passed. I don't know much about him, but I looked up his article, he was the star of Night Court and Dave's World. As well as one of the stars of the 1990 Stephen King miniseries, "IT" which also starred John Ritter, Annette O'Toole, Seth Green, Tim Curry as Pennywise, Dennis Christopher, Richard Thomas, Richard Masur, Michael Cole, and Tim Reid, who also played Venus Flytrap on WKRP in Cincinnati. And speaking of....

Hugh Wilson (1943-2018) was a writer, director, and producer, best known for created the popular classic sitcom, WKRP in Cincinnati. He also created by Frank's Place. He also directed the film comedies Police Academy and The First Wives Club. It's amazing, first we've lost Mary Tyler Moore last year, and now we've lost another MTM Enterprises television legend. Life is so unfair! NEXT!

David Ogden Stiers (1942-2018) was best known for performing many Disney characters over the years, most notably Cogsworth on Beauty and the Beast, as well as a few hours in Pocahontas, Lilo & Stitch, Spirited Away, Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and the Hunchback of Notre Dame. He was probably more famous for playing Charles Emerson Winchester on M*A*S*H. I have another legend who worked on M*A*S*H, but I'll save him for last.

Steven Bocho was best known for creating all sorts of cop shows, most notably NYPD Blue, Doogie Howser, M.D., Cop Rock, and Hill Street Blues. He also wrote a few episodes of other shows like The White Shadow. Did he write for COPS, Law and Order, or anything else? I'm not sure. One thing I know for sure was that he was the man commonly responsible for all those police dramas.

R. Lee Ermey (1944-2018) R. Lee was a former drill instructor who later went on to become an actor with his strict drill sergeant antics. Most notably in Stanley Kubrick's 80's classic, Full Metal Jacket. He later went on to voice the green sergeant in the Toy Story franchise. Ermey was often typecast in authority figure roles, such as Mayor Tilman in the film Mississippi Burning, Bill Bowerman in Prefontaine, Sheriff Hoyt in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake, Jimmy Lee Farnsworth in Fletch Lives, a police captain in Se7en, Lt. "Tice" Ryan in Rocket Power, and a prison warden in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.

Stephen Hillenburg (1961-2018) was an animator, director, writer, producer, and storyboard artist, Most notably known for creating the long-running Nickelodeon program, SpongeBob SquarePants. The only other show he did work on before SpongeBob, was Rocko's Modern Life where he also served as a writer, director, and storyboard artist, as well as becoming a producer by the fourth season with creator Joe Murray. Hillenburg may have been gone too soon from returning to his post after ten years of chaos in SpongeBob's production, but the legacy will forever live on, at least until people get tired of SpongeBob. He was only 57.

And last but not least,

Thad Mumford (1951-2018) He was a television writer and producer for several TV shows, beginning with The Electric Company beginning in 1971. At the same time, while still in his 20's he was also a writer for another show called "Good Times." DYNOMITE! When The Electric Company went off the air in 1977, he left to Hollywood to seek his fortune and future, while at that, he met Christopher Cerf, the songwriter for Sesame Street, and he and Cerf wrote a few songs during the late 70's and early 80's, most notably "The Ten Commandments of Health," in which Thad himself sang lead for. After that, he went on to write for M*A*S*H with other former Sesame Street writer, Dan Wilcox. They worked very closely on the show, writing 17 episodes, including my favorite "As Time Goes By," which was actually the last episode they filmed. They also helped write the final episode that aired, "Goodbye, Farewell, and Amen." He later went on to write for other shows over the years, including The Duck Factory (with Dan Wilcox), Maude, What's Happening?, The Cosby Show, A Different World, Home Improvement, ALF, NYPD Blue, and most notably, "Blue's Clues," where he also served as a producer. He was truly a pioneering African-American writer

For more of Thad Mumford's stuff, I'll link some of that below right now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUhJLBk-Q9k (The Ten Commandments of Health)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpQjlNbXkFw (MASH Matters Podcast)

And finally, some of the stuff Thad talked about.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEIXHSoPsjM (It's about how he got into The Electric Company)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvqOvB_7s-8 (He talks about how he worked on Good Times and a few other African-American sitcoms)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tx37uuTjI5A (He explains about writing songs for Sesame Street with Christopher Cerf.

The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh - "Find Her, Keep Her"

Our review today has something to do with the ever popular Disney animated television series from the 80's, "The New Adventures of Winnie the Pooh." And today, we're reviewing the ever popular "Find Her, Keep Her" episode, from the first season. Let's see how it plays out, huh?

In the middle of a blustery snowstorm, Rabbit, while talking care of a carrot that needs to be saved, finds a baby bird in danger, and Rabbit while trying to go get a ladder, flies around on the door, carrying Pooh, Piglet, and Tigger all around the storm and catching the bird into Pooh's honey pot. After that little stunt, Rabbit decides to take care of the little bird, who's name is Kessie by the way, voiced by Laura Mooney, who later voiced Katie Ka-Boom on Animaniacs. One day, while playing with Tigger, the tree that Tigger bounces on tips over and carries them near an edge of a cliff. Kessie falls and Owl comes to the rescue and thinks she is meant for flying, but Rabbit on the other hand refuses, mainly because of the fact that most birds fly south for the winter. Will Rabbit keep Kessie, or will he learn that sometimes you have to let things go, even if you love them very much? Well, I think you already know the answer by now, so, go watch it to find out, okay?

A lot of people, including  my mom, have considered this to be one of the most heart-wrenching episodes the show has ever put out. And I can see why. We see Rabbit acting as a father figure to Kessie, worried about what would happen to her if she did went away. This episode has a lot of drama, good laughs, and a nice story. I even like how Pooh pointed out that Rabbit already knows he cared so much for Kessie because it's called, the reason Rabbit already knows is because earlier in the second act, he told Tigger, "I never even told her, I loved her." Probably the saddest scene in the episode has to be when Kessie asks for one more bedtime story and Rabbit says "You don't need me for anything." Now that's what I call a real tearjerker. This probably the most dramatic episode that Disney has ever put out. It feels like as if Lion King producer Don Hahn produced this.

Here's a fun fact for you: This episode won the 1989 Humanitas Prize for Outstanding Children’s Programming. Gee, I can see why they gave that episode the award. But either way, with the comedy in between and Rabbit's feeling for Kessie, this is a really amazing episode, not just for its comedy, but also for its storytelling and its subverting of expectations.

You can find this episode on Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving, or on the video, "Newfound Friends."

I could dedicate this review to the memory of Ken Sansom who voiced Rabbit, but I can't. Instead, I'll just dedicate this to the late Paul Winchell who voiced Tigger.

Rest in peace, Paul. Along with Ken Sansom and John Fiedler.

Hey Arnold! - "Helga's Love Potion"

To love, or not to love, that is the question for Helga G. Pataki in our next review. I know it's super bowl night, but I'm more focused on this, okay? This episode was directed by Dan Povenmire with storyboards done by Dan and Sherm Cohen, the storyboard supervisor for SpongeBob.

Helga gets tired of her love for Arnold making her feel mad and mixed up all the time. After considering it, she goes in to a "gypsies" store, asking her for a potion that will make her fall out of love. Out of her sight, the gypsy gives her a "potion" that would erase Helga's feelings  After drinking that "potion." Upon waking, Helga feels unusually bland. Know how I know? Because she acts more like a civilized person more than a bully with a passion for love. She moves quietly about the day, not responding to any aggression. This doesn't feel like her at all if you ask me. Can she get out of this blandness? Well, just watch and yourself.

This is a pretty weird episode, but in a good way. It has a lot of good laughs, for example, Brainy beating the heck out of himself since Helga was under the "spell." And I say all of this with air-quotes because the twist is that the potion is actually grape juice, boy did Helga get ripped off by a con person? Probably the weirdest part of the episode is that by the time Helga drinks the "potion," she goes through a extremely upside-down dream sequence! Which has her breaking the locket, her sinking into ice cream, and landing flat onto her bed, and it's not mentioned again! It's definitely a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment! Also, this is one of the few episodes where Helga uses the word "crap." I wonder why they got away with that in a cartoon like this. If I didn't know better, Francesca Marie Smith probably ad-libbed that line unscripted without Nickelodeon even noticing, either that, or she just says that by herself whenever she gets frustrated in real life, but that's just me.

So, the moral of the story is never trust a gypsy who want your money, second, don't drink any sort of love potion made out of grape juice, otherwise, you'll end up having weird dream sequences. Also, you can't escape your obsession no matter what you do. You are who you are and you can't change that. And Helga had to learn that out the hard way.

Overall, this episode is pretty weird, but funny, and good, funny and good. Yep, those are the three words I can describe this episode, folks.

Stellaluna Review

All right, folks, we're going to review the 2004 made for video movie, "Stellaluna," based on the best-selling award winning children of the same name by Janell Cannon, who's responsible for making bats look like friendly creatures and making owls into dangerous species, which was all thanks to a suspenseful score by the great Jody Gray, who composed the music for Courage the Cowardly Dog. By the way, I'll will right now mention that Stellaluna, the best-selling book has turned the big 25 this year. And I think now's the right time to review this movie that has stuck with me ever since I bought it at Savers. So let's venture into the Sultry Forest to go see Stellaluna.

Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is in many ways a fabulous 1990's fairy tale. The book aired on the PBS series Reading Rainbow in 1994. On that episode, Anne Jackson narrated the story. It is featured in the 2001 movie I Am Sam. No, not Sam I am. Janell Cannon was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, the daughter of Burton H. and Nancy A. Cannon. She attended Burnsville High School, and graduated in 1975. After high school she moved to California, and from 1981 to 1993 she was a graphic artist for the Carlsbad Library, also, on that year, Janell Cannon began writing for the idea of Stellaluna. She spent most of the book by building up friendship with some satisfying payoffs. By the time Stellaluna was published on April of 1993, it caught the attention of children and parents and teachers everywhere and to this day, continues to be the most popular award-winning children's book. Back in 1998, Rankin/Bass' ever popular "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" was turned into a 2D animated movie directed by William R. Kowalchuk. And when Stellaluna came along a few years later, the instant popularity of the book made a film version a no brainier. That means showing intelligence. But the book just couldn't be contained into a theatrical feature, so Scholastic and MGM offered to buy the rights from Janell, to make Stellaluna into a made-for-DVD movie, similar in format to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. When Scholastic producers Deborah Forte and Martha Atwater, everything was all set, with a script written by screenwriters Rachel Koretsky and Stephen Whitestone, who had previously wrote The Pebble and the Penguin, which was directed by Don Bluth and Gary Goldmna. And then a filmmaker was hired, William R. Kowalchuk, a Canadian animator and director who originally made a name for himself as the production manager for MASK produced by DIC Entertainment. Kowalchuk went on to direct the highly underrated made-for-video movies such as Camelot: The Legend in 1998, and Ben Hur in 2003. Okay, enough behind the scenes talk, let's get on with the plot.

One night, as Stellaluna's mother followed the scent of ripe fruit, an owl spied her. On silent wings, the powerful bird swooped down upon the bats. Mother Bat tried to escape, but the owl struck again and again, knocking Stellaluna into the air. Her wings were as useless as wet paper, down down she went, faster and faster into the forest below. She lands in a bird's nest, and the three birds, Flitter, Pip, and Flap mistake her for a bird. Stellaluna tries to fit in, reluctantly trying to eat bugs without being disgusted by them. However, the Great White Owl is on the loose when Stellaluna accidentally wakes him up, he tries to seek vengeance on the bat he knocked down a few days before.

I highly doubt that Janell Cannon wasn't at least partly inspired by the infamous killer wolves in Beauty and the Beast when creating this vicious owl who abandoned Stellaluna from her mother.

The success of the made-for-DVD movie relied heavily on the casting of Stellaluna. The producers landed on Canadian voice actress, Chiara Zanni, who originally made a name for herself as the voice of Poky Little Puppy in the 1989 TV Special, Little Golden Book Land, and has spent her career doing usually tomboy related characters in roles like Alex from Camp Candy starring John Candy, Mimi Morton in What About Mimi?, Petunia in Baby Looney Tunes, and the colorful Daring Do on My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. So, to me, Chiara Zanni will always be Stellaluna, it sounds like she's having a ball doing this energetic and cowardly character.

During the film's production, director William R. Kowalchuk impressively orchestrated two entirely separate group of actors. American actors and Canadian actors of a bunch, which is no easy task. Flitter, Pip, and Flap were played a group of virtual unknowns while the other characters were played by who's who of recognizable Canadian actors from film and production. Lee Tockar played Askari the Superhero Spider, he would later go on to voice George in 2007's version of George of the Jungle as well as the voice of Snips on Friendship is Magic. Scott McNeil portrays Horatio, a toucan who tries to make Stellaluna look like a real bird. McNeil was also part of the cast of Dragon Ball Z, Friendship is Magic, and Johnny Test, Brenda Crichlow who played the birds' mother, had other roles like an Office Co-Worker in Will Ferrell's Elf and Zecora in My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, and Kathleen Barr, who played Kasuku is a popular Canadian heartthrob for television, starring in shows like Ed, Edd n Eddy as Kevin and Marie Kanker, Dragon Tales as Wheezie, Kid vs. Kat as Millie, Littlest Pet Shop as Mrs. Twombly, and my personal favorite, Trixie from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. Of course, the most recognizable voice among these guys is Blu Mankuma as the voice of the Great White Owl, Mankuma also starred in numerous movies and animated shows, as well as the voice of the red dragon in the Friendship is Magic episode, "Dragon Shy."

Here's a fun fact:  This version was panned by some fans of the original book as "truly unfaithful" and received mixed to negative reviews. Now despite what the critics say, I love this film, but I won't deny that nostalgia is a major factor. While I have read the book before I saw this, I appreciate the movie was able to accomplish, given it's a made-for-DVD. While I will admit that the film is not without its flaws. Specifically the addition of Askari the Spider and the bigger role of the Great White Owl, and the cheesy songs, even though I do like Stellaluna's song before Askari comes onto the screen. I think the filmmakers did all they could with the resources they had, for me though, I've seen this film a lot of times that it doesn't even matter.

It's seems like when it goes for the small scares, it goes really well, like the Owl dodging at the herd of bats, many of these scenes contribute to the film's atmosphere, as does the highly underrated musical score composed by Courage the Cowardly Dog composer, Jody Gray. Gray's compositions give the film an appropriate African tone right from the opening credits. The entire score is exciting, gloomy, and emotional, and you know the Great White Owl is lurking right around the corner, when it starts to become cold, wet, and heavily filled with bass drums and strings. I constant criticism I've noticed suggests that for such a blood-thirsty owl, he doesn't too much out of hooting and laughing at the bats and birds. Scholastic's standards didn't allow the filmmakers to be too severe with showing child birds in danger, which is ironic giving the source material. But they found away to dance around that rule. The Great White Owl corners, hoots, and threatens some of the main characters, but rarely goes in for the kill. This forced the filmmakers to be extra creative with the film's exciting, and some of what they ended up doing was pretty exciting stuff. Sure, the movie is practically "The Goonies" or "Courage the Cowardly Dog" compared to child friendly nature of the original book, but I kind of like it for that.

Over the years, Stellaluna has become the made-for-DVD movie that could. It might not be as well received as other adaptations like Arthur, The Magic School Bus, or Franklin, but from what I've seen, it's a movie that I love despite all the flaws it had. I even put The Great White Owl right up there with the others like the Killer Wolves from Beauty and the Beast, Him from The Powerpuff Girls, and Queen Chrysalis from Friendship is Magic. At the end of the day, the DVD of Janell Cannon's Stellaluna is a great but flawed release of a great but flawed film, and is deserving of a 4 out of 5 stars recommendation, buy it if you run across it.

The Powerpuff Girls - "Tough Love"

If you've watched Shadow Streak's review of "Somewhere Over the Swingset," you will note that he told us that that episode is a complete rip-off of the original series episode that I'm going review right now, "Tough Love," and to be honest, I can't argue with him on that one. This reboot has a tendency to do blatant stealing from the original! Here's the link to his review:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpJK2vui2EU

Let's just hope that reboot gets cancelled very, very soon. Now, with that out of the way, onto the review.

Him sees Townsville loving the Powerpuff Girls to death, Him gets jealous and he really hates the Powerpuff Girls so much And with the help of his rubber duckie, Mr. Quackers, he decides to turn the people of Townsville against the girls.

How will the Girls stop Him?

Stay tuned to find out.

You know, out of context, this screencap looks pretty bad, not gonna lie.

This is one of those episodes that aired during the 10th Anniversary marathon, pairing with the Season 2 episode, "Speed Demon," which I will review sometime later. And this episode, much like "Octi Evil," has Him with an evil fiendish plan And for the most part, it works.

I even like the background music that plays when Him appears, it's perhaps the most scary that composers James L. Venable, Thomas Chase and Steve Rucker had ever composed.

And Him as usual is defeated, but he will always return for another showdown.

So, bottom line, it's cool, it's funny, it's dark, like Him, and it has a good moral that Buttercup pulled in here, that you shouldn't trust people who aren't your loved ones because our loved ones would never want to hurt us and they're all a part of HIS evil scheme, okay, good moral.

I even found it strange that even the narrator has sucked in the hate smoke or something.

But on the other hand, I like the ending where he says "Oh, nurse, isn't it time for my sponge bath?"

By the way, I don't like sponge baths. I'm onto the next one, bye.

Dexter's Laboratory - "Don't Be a Baby"

Now, I'm not much of a baby person, but I know there's an episode out there that my Mom likes, like this one "Don't Be a Baby," which was paired with Peltra and GIRL Squad. Let's see if I can agree on some of her opinions.

After asking nicely to their parents to see if whether or not they can go see an R rated movie, and getting a "no," which I won't blame their Mom and Dad because R rated movies are unacceptable for kids, Dexter and Dee-Dee create an aging device that could make them 18 or older to see the movie, you know, because it worked better the first time in "Old Man Dexter." But it backfires when Dee-Dee accidentally switches the cords and she and Dexter mix up their parents age and turn them into babies, what a twist! While Dexter works on an antidote, Dee-Dee has to take care of the babies by herself. How will this end? Watch and see, okay?

I can see why my mom, Victoria gave this episode a full five-wow rating. It got everything right. The comedy is spot-on, I like how Dexter's dad adds emphasis on the word "violence," and I kind of like how Dee-Dee stands up to Dexter for once, blaming him for the mistake, even though, SHE was the one who mixed up the cords, but that's besides the point, and I also like how Dee-Dee takes care of the babies like a motherly figure, which was a nice change of pace from her usual energetic and ditsy personality. You have to see it to understand, the only thing I didn't like was that Dexter just bonks Dee-Dee on the head for losing the babies, come on, man, she fell asleep! It was an accident!

So, bottom line, it shows us the idea of taking care of babies properly and it has a nice moral, don't go for something you're not ready for.

Did I mention that I think Dee-Dee's voice actress, Kat Cressida might've wrote this episode or something?

By the way, the only R rated movie I have is actually The Blues Brothers movie, but the only reason I go to that one is for the musical numbers. That's why.

If you're 18 or older, then go watch The Blues Brothers movie, or if you are younger than 18, go watch this episode and see what I mean.

The Fairly OddParents - "A Wish Too Far!"

Man, I guess it's been a while since I've reviewed a Fairly OddParents episode. But it doesn't matter, since, Butch Hartman has his own interview channel on YouTube, I thought I would review a few episodes again for him. This one is from the first season, it is called "A Wish Too Far!"

Okay, what's the story? Oh yes. Timmy has a crush on Trixie Tang (as we all should know by now), and he wants so desperately for her to see him and like him, but however, that's impossible because he's not popular like Trixie, Veronica, and Tad and Chad are. In a desperate attempt to get attention, Timmy wishes to look like a popular kid just like the aforementioned four, even going so far as to dumping his friends, and even making so many ridiculous wishes to the fairies, without even a please or a thanks, it goes so far in fact that he ends up being sued by Fairy World and sent to Fairy Court. Will they reach the verdict? Stay tuned to find out.

This episode is pretty funny, even if Timmy did indeed act out of character in this one, I like how Timmy pushes away Chester and AJ as well as Veronica suspecting that all this was just a trap which sadly is kind of true. I even like Cosmo's attempt at a laser targeted defense, by acting as a fireman? Don't ask me, they're just showing! If there's one thing I didn't like, it has to be Jorgen Von Strangle in his first appearance here. He sounds too much like Arnold Schwarzenegger, and not too raspy, like how his voice would be later on. And he made the Judge change is mind even though Timmy said he was sorry to the entire court! Only a fire-burning Wanda would stop him, only on one conclusion.

Have we reached the verdict? Guilty or not guilty? Not guilty! This episode is very good. And it also had a good moral, just be yourself. Let's just say Timmy Turner had to learn that out the hard way.

Also, bet you didn't know that SpongeBob storyboard artist, Erik Wiese storyboarded this episode? His only other episode he storyboarded for this show was "Beddy Bye."

Go ahead and give this episode a watch if you haven't already.

Rugrats - "Runaway Angelica"

Okay, now I've completely calmed down and needed a CatDog review before this, I decided now is the right time to review "Runaway Angelica."

After getting into trouble in Drew's office and being sent into her room, Angelica decides to run away. Yeah, we know, she's a troublemaker; it’s part of the territory...but in this episode, it finally starts to add up. Drew as a legitimate scolding to Angelica almost as much as kids who wouldn't behave and get scolded by their parents as well. It turns into your typical Angelica tortures babies as slaves for no good reason episode until it starts to rain, and Angelica decides to go into the dog house, literally. So what, she gives in to her on instincts and her parents get worried and Drew regrets everything he said and everything's okay, right? Actually no, Drew and Charlotte never knew that Angelica ran away, mostly because they were to distracted by the world around them. There’s suddenly something at risk, and something Angelica values is now truly on the line. But in the end, despite her hopes of her parents being worried about her, reality takes its toll.

She hears Drew talking to Didi and Stu and he says "Oh, boy." It is so nice to get away from the responsibilities of parenthood.

And in my opinion, this is the saddest thing I've ever seen on this show.

I identify a lot with this episode. I sometimes got into trouble growing up myself, either, and I can tell you, all the talks, all the pressure, all the fears of not being loved by your parents anymore are properly represented here. In my opinion, this is the most dramatic episode they’ve ever put out. There’s no villain, there’s no one element to play, it’s just a tough slice of life and it still shows that your parents will still always love you even if you do those bad things, which is a hard lesson for anyone to learn, so hard that they don’t even really teach it that much in TV or movies. It’s tough to deal with, and this episode doesn’t sugarcoat it.  Sugarcoating meaning sentimental. It shows just what an impact it has on her and how much it can really hurt. Now, true, there is still a happy ending, but to be fair, I think it kinda works. Her valuable lesson some payoff, and she uses what she learned to her advantage.  But this is the first, and in my opinion, only time “Rugrats” had a perfect mix of good comedy, good storytelling, and surprisingly good drama. I’ve never seen an episode that balanced all three of those so well. You get sucked into Angelica’s dilemma, you feel bad for what she’s going through, and you want to see her come out okay. On top of that, there’s still some good laughs, a lot of heart, and a satisfactory resolution. Although I will say, if her big concern is not doing those bad things ever again, then how come in every single episode, SHE STILL DOES THOSE HORRIBLE THINGS?!

I don’t know, but what I do know is that this is a truly unique episode, and in my opinion, the absolute best of them all. It’s touching, it’s funny, it was near the end of the second season, it's just a gem.

Gullah Gullah Island - "The Binyah Binyah Polliwog Show"

Now, I'm going to review an episode of a certain show that aired on Nick Jr. from 1994 to at least 1999, if you count the reruns. That of course being "Gullah Gullah Island." This is an interesting episode because portions of this episode are featured on a certain video produced by Lyrick Studios and the Character Counts Coalition. That of course being

Kids for Character, which also starred Tom Selleck, The Puzzle Place, Barney the Dinosaur, Lily Tomlin of The Magic School Bus, Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop, and Babar. Clips from this episode are featured during the "Caring" segment, except, they were edited pretty badly, why couldn't they show the complete episode? I still like Eddie Coker though. Anyway, let's begin the review.

The story has Binyah Binyah getting into a few accidents. For example, he accidentally knocks down the clubhouse that James, Ron, and the kids were building out of blocks. Once that's been forgiven, they play a game of limbo with a broomstick, when suddenly, it goes too low that Binyah Binyah eventually breaks the broomstick.....IN HALF! (insert Supermariologoan reference here) James gets so frustrated and angry that he tells Binyah Binyah to take a time out far, far away! Poor polliwog never stood a chance. But anyways, moments later, Natalie tries to help James remember the good times he's had with Binyah Binyah, as well as experience a flashback where he and his friends first met Binyah Binyah. When James finally decides to forgive Binyah Binyah, it doesn't help that the polliwog is gone missing! Will James be able to forgive Binyah Binyah? Stay tuned to find out!

I was curious about this particular episode, so, I had to look up the full episode myself. And I'm going to lay down some of the stuff Kids for Character cut out right now. They cut out the theme song, the opening where they build the clubhouse, they cut the two verses of "Underneath the Broomstick," and they cut the part where Shaina and Ron meet up with Ranger Mike, THEY CUT THE RANGER MIKE SEGMENT FOR PETE SAKE! And they cut James remembering the time he first met Binyah Binyah, and they also cut off the song all about Binyah Binyah Polliwog, as well as Natalie's closing message. So, the only way to really see this thing is uncut on iTunes, Amazon Prime use to have this, but not anymore. And don't bother buying the made-on-demand DVD of the first season that includes this episode because it's difficult to play on your computer.

Okay, enough complaining about the edits, let's talk about what I do like about the episode. It's educational, it had some good laughs, and it had a good moral, sometimes we all make mistakes or do these wrong, and we feel embarrassed or sad when somebody scolds us. But that's no reason to run away. Just because someone's angry at you doesn't mean they don't love you, believe me, love is a lot stronger than anger, and when the anger goes away, the love will still be there. This is a good moral that taught us all about caring and forgiveness, kind of like how "God Wants Me to Forgive Them?!?" did. And it has a nice song called "Friends and Family."

Go ahead and watch this episode on iTunes, you can also find the two songs "Underneath the Broomstick," and "Friends and Family" on the 1995 VHS tape, "Binyah's Surprise." Watch it if you run across it.