SpongeBob - "Karate Choppers"

A running theme on SpongeBob is his knowledge in karate. Probably the episode where this is portrayed most creatively is "Karate Choppers," written by Aaron Springer, Erik Wiese, and Merriwether Williams, in her writing debut on the show.

The first few minutes are some rather entertaining clips of SpongeBob and Sandy trying to out due each other while sparring. In other words, kind of like boxing. Eventually, SpongeBob's constant awareness for Sandy causes trouble at the Krusty Krab, ranging from him just confusing Squidward's gender, to beating up a customer. It eventually gets to the point where Mr. Krabs threatens to fire SpongeBob if he does anymore karate. After a brief misunderstanding with Sandy and Mr. Krabs almost firing him, the two decide to go to the park to take their minds off character, but no matter what they do, though, they can't seem to take their minds off of it.

And after a really fun scene that involves some hardcore sandwich making with background music composed by The Surfdusters, they give in to their instincts and continue to spar, until Mr. Krabs shows up that is. SpongeBob confesses that they can't help it, I mean sure, before he got fired, he threw a tantrum, but that was because it was a complete misunderstanding, he didn't know what was going on and didn't deserve it. Here, he knows that he screwed up and is ready to own up to it, on the other hand, Mr. Krabs decides to forgive them after he sees how brilliantly they made their sandwiches. The episode ends with SpongeBob and Sandy making tons of Krabby Patties.

As I've said, most of the enjoyment of the episode comes from how creative it is. The karate sequences are a joy to watch and the jokes are pretty funny too. It takes a bit for the story to get going and it really doesn't have a message to it, but it's easily overlooked because of how much darn fun you have watching it.

The highlight of the episode is when Sandy and SpongeBob make their sandwiches with their karate instincts.

SpongeBob - "Prehibernation Week!" Review

Now, let's review my favorite second season episode, "Prehibernation Week!" For those who don't remember, this episode came on a while after The Fairly OddParents first premiered, and when the Fairly OddParents were airing new episodes around that time, Stephen Hillenburg and his crew had to take a break for a while after doing Shanghaied and Gary Takes a Bath. Luckily in May 2001, they went back to work with this episode. Now, let's begin the EXTREME!

The plot is that Sandy is preparing for hibernation, which is strange because in airing order, this came on after Survival of the Idiots, but that's another story. And with the hibernation only a week ahead, For the next seven days, SpongeBob and Sandy do a lot of stop that is EXTREME! Like sand-boarding, catapulting out of bed, EXTREME jacks, giant ear cleaners on the sea needle, a bike ride through the industrial park, and finally, finding the hay in the needle-stack! These thrill seekers are really EXTREME TO THE MAX! Until SpongeBob gets so exhausted and sick of all this that he decides to hide from Sandy in, where else? Under Patrick's rock.

I did feel bad for SpongeBob in this one because he's just SO forced into doing these things that are so EXTREME before Sandy could go into hibernation, however, just because SpongeBob was dragged into all of this, doesn't mean that Sandy was out of character. Because, if I didn't know any better, being a thrill seeker is just what she does in her spare time, let's just say she's a Adrenaline junkie, look it up, Wikipedia that. Or to be more precise, she's more of a novelty seeker who is so EXTREME! Even going so EXTREME as to turn Bikini Bottom upside down while looking for SpongeBob.

One thing I do have to question was that who was doing all the fry-cooking at the Krusty Krab while SpongeBob was stuck with Sandy, oh well, who cares, the customers' foods came out right. This episode is EXTREMELY funny, especially with the joke of fly fishing (cue rimshot), Squidward's dead-pan reactions are well timed as well, and I like Mr. Krabs calling out "MAN THE LIFE BOATS!" I have to give the writers for this episode, Aaron Springer, C.H. Greenblatt, and Merriwether Williams for going a different route with this episode into something SO exciting. Also, I would like to mention that this was the last episode Edgar Larrazabal served as the animation director for the show.

I wonder what he went on to do after this. Oh well, I guess we'll never know. Either way, this episode is pretty good........TO THE EXTREME!!

The Donut All-Stars

And now, for something completely different.

That's right, I'm reviewing a live action direct-to-video program. The Donut Man (Rob Evans) in The Donut All-Stars! I know this completely not a cartoon, and don't worry, I'll still keep reviewing cartoons in the future, but at least we have a Duncan puppet. Now, I won't exactly ruin the video for you, so, I'll just give you the basic premise. The first half takes place at the park in Texas, where The Donut Man, Duncan, and the Donut Repair Club practice for a big baseball game against the Mighty Warriors. With all their hearts, and souls, they trained and they trained, until they were all prepared for the big competition! I have no idea how they did it all in one day, but it doesn't matter. The second half has the club battling against the Mighty Warriors at the baseball stadium, ultimately winning. Now for my review.

What I like about this video is that, it's educational, funny, and has puppets performed by Steve Axtell of Axtell Expressions. Steve Axtell was a regular in the Donut Man video series, as the voice of Duncan. I especially found a funny version of their adaptation of David and Goliath, doesn't beat the VeggieTales version, but it's still very good. You have Andy Evans as David, and Steve Axtell's puppets like Lloyd as Goliath, the Lion from Camp Harmony, and a lamb. Complete with a baby lamb plush, it's all really funny! The video also knows how to slow down too, like after all the practicing, Matt Taylor (played by Matt Bell), tells The Donut Man the saddest news ever, his parents got divorced last winter, which would explains why Coach Taylor never showed up, after all, he was Matt's dad. The Donut Man understands about Matt's situation and explains that his parents got divorced when he was Matt's age, and he remembered in Church that there's a father in heaven who would never leave us, that of course, being God, leading to the heart-wrenching song of the video, "In His Arms." But I'm getting ahead of myself.

All that aside, with Matt's courage and confidence, he helped the Donut Repair Club win the championship from The Mighty Warriors! If I were to find some problems, there's only one, having an old man named Rick Randell be the sports announcer! I mean come on, he's too old to be a sports announcer, he's not like Mike O'Malley, Chick Hearn, or even Kirk Fogg. Heck, when he says "What's gotten into these kids?" he wheezes, and coughs, leading em to think "Why did they hire him?" Has he been the announcer for Donut Sports Network for many years:? Again, it's a nitpick, I'm just trying to look fro problems. Anyways, here's a fun fact for you. Bet you didn't know that one of the girls in the Donut Repair Club was actually Pia Manalo, who also portrayed Min on Barney and Friends. Isn't that ironic? Pia Manalo being in a Texas-related project I like that doesn't relate to Barney the Dinosaur. Heck, some of the crew of Barney and Friends worked on this video, like Jay Burney and Victor Sosa the director of photography. Pia Manalo was a part of the Donut Repair Club from 1992 to at least 1995.

So, overall, this video is great! You can really cheer on for the Repair Club in the big battle, and you can also admire the song during the competition called "Don't Be Afraid." It was a great triumph song. It's not like David Glen Eisley's "Sweet Victory," or Queen's "We Are the Champions," but it is still good.

If you want to learn more about the Donut Man, check out the link right here.

http://www.donutman.streamlinenettrial.co.uk/

Or if you wanna learn more about Steve Axtell's puppets, click here.

http://www.axtell.com/ (some of those puppets on that website were also used in the Donut Man videos)

Or if you wanna see the entire video for yourself, here's the link.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfcmVg2U2Do

This video is a production of Integrity Music Just for Kids. Songs that teach, songs that praise, with the Donut Man.

Garfield and Friends - "Basket Brawl"

Have you ever wondered what would happen if cartoon characters used food for sports equipment instead of a baseball or basketball. Well, this episode of Garfield and Friends is for you! The story is that the last eight times Jon and his friends went on a picnic, Garfield ate everything before they could get the picnic going. So, what to do? Do a sports competition to see if they can get all of the food into the basket before Garfield can get it.

What I admire about this episode is the fact that they brought in L.A. Lakers announcer, the late Chick Hearn as the voice of Chick Mouse commentating on the food-related sport event. Also, interesting thing to note is that unlike Floyd Mouse where he only speaks with his mouth closed, these mice communicate properly rather than speaking through thought. Another interesting thing is that Chick Hearn would later guest star in a Season 1 episode of Rugrats a few years later as himself in the episode, "Touchdown Tommy." I also noticed that Garfield's #1 fan looks like a mix between Jack Nicholson and Jerry from Tom and Jerry. But, what I really admire is Jon Arbuckle's fight song, "Fight! Fight! Fight!" where even when they give up, they can hurl the hot dogs, jam the jerky, and chuck the cheese. Sometimes, this episode kind of reminds me of The Donut Man video from 1995, "The Donut All-Stars." Near the end, I like how Garfield states it was the dumbest episode they've pulled all second season. It's a good episode, and I recommend this episode to anyone who loves sports and picnics as much as I do.

My only real complaint is the fact that Nermal doesn't speak in this episode. I mean, she is part of Jon's team, but she doesn't speak a single word. You would think Nermal would just at least be interviewed in this episode, or say a few lines here and there during the game, like maybe when Garfield does win at the end, she would complain along with Odie that Garfield cheated, since Odie did technically speak despite the fact that he only barks. It is noticeable that Nermal doesn't say anything here, but, it's nowhere near enough to ruin the episode in any capacity.