Review #4: "High Steaks"

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS,

IF YOU DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING, THAT'S FINE AT ALL COSTS

Airdate: March 23rd, 1962.

Written by: Larz Bourne (shame on you).

Directed by: (not surprised) Gene Deitch.

Produced: 1962.

PROS:

- Not a single one.

CONS:

- All a "let's go hate on Tom" scenario for no reason.

- Jerry is very out of character. I mean, good God, what have they done with my favorite character back then?

- Correct me if I'm wrong, but this seems to be "Barbecue Brawl" done wrong in my book.

- The punishments Tom receives from the Fat Man are just cruel and harsh. Every cruel thing you see the Fat Man (if you call him Clint) is doing to Tom is just no way to treat pets.

- Awful ending: Tom gets tied to a chair by the Fat Man, and Jerry gets him towed away by car.

- This short really shows that Gene Deitch knows completely NOTHING about Tom and Jerry.

- Tom should have won in the end, Jerry would have got tied away after all the torture Tom put up with him for ruining his day, and his business, and we also should have seen the Fat Man get his ass kicked by the end of the cartoon with Tom getting what he wants.

Thoughts:

This Tom and Jerry cartoon is just prrrretty bad. Hell, if I can even call it bad. i'd say this is just the worst one I have ever seen in my entire life. I get this was 1962, and the whole Deitch era was from 1960-1962, but this never excuses how horrible this short is. I know Tom tried to stop Jerry from reaching the food, but all I can say is that he is just minding his own business without doing any sight of wrong whatsoever.

His business all gets ruined by Jerry and Tom's owner, Clint the Fat Man (more likely, the angriest Fat Man in cartoons). Every time I see the Fat Man do something cruel to Tom, I feel dreadful for him. In the Hanna-Barbera (1940-1958) and Chuck Jones (1963-1967) eras, he is the one who starts the fight and does things to warrant his comeuppance. But in the Deitch era, in almost every single episode of this era from God, you're doing a fucking terrible job! (Gene Deitch), Jerry is the one who starts the fight. I know he's done that in one episode of the Jones era in "Is There a Doctor in the Mouse?", which was made two years after Deitch's time with Tom and Jerry and MGM, but you know what? It works there because one: Jerry eating the food Tom was trying to eat but failing only to leave him confused was tolerable. Two: it was not intended to be a "go hate on Tom" scenario. Three: Both of the characters were likable, and the writing was very clever, and the jokes were smart and interesting and don't follow the lines of going to the point of being cruel and horrible, and it  somehow did get the "screwing with someone for no reason" trope right. And four: It all makes sense and I can understand why they had Jerry do that, even when Tom is the one who found out all about what Jerry was doing near in the end of the cartoon, and that one was more watchable over "High Steaks".

In "High Steaks", it's done in such a terrible taste to my mouth, and it shows that Gene Deitch and co. screwed everything up and had no understanding on what made Tom and Jerry so great. Worst of all, Tom gets the bad ending and Jerry gets the good ending, even though he's the one (along with Clint Cobber, more like Cunt Clunker) who was the one that ruined Tom's business in the first place. That's just not fair, nor is it any funny. All of this stuff happens to Tom by doing nothing! Even him being tied by a chair and then being towed away shows how complete crap his cartoon is to the point it's just painful to sit through. I am not meaning that I hate Jerry, don't get me wrong, I love Jerry, but I always hate how we see how he's written at his worst in the Deitch era. He was never this cruel, nor was he ever this just this damn mean to Tom, I know Jerry can be Tom's enemy, but he's not malicious. He always is the one who is silly and haves fun surviving, that is not to the point where he makes Tom suffer for no reason or ruin his day for no reason. That is just something Modern SuperMarioLogan would do.

You know. Usually in the Hanna-Barbera era or the Jones era, I can tell there were certain cartoons whereas in "The Year of the Mouse", "Love Me, Love My Mouse", "The Lonesome Mouse", and "Old Rockin' Chair Tom" as examples where as Tom is the one who gets tortured, even though he doesn't deserve to, he would still win in the end. But here in shorts like " Calypso Cat" (despite finding out it was Jerry who sabotaged him), "Sorry Safari", "Down and Outing" (a cartoon I never bothered watching despite reading the plot and seeing a bit of it), and this cartoon, this just doesn't happen, and it's so sad that it's just miserable. This cartoon is no way for Jerry to start a fight, no way for Clint to be like this even though I despise this owner, and it is also no way for Tom to get this treatment. It's just so sad, it's just what I call the worst episode in Tom and Jerry. Even though I know it's all a cartoon, and it's made during the Golden Age of American Animation during the early 1960's in the time, this still remains to be a cartoon I will never watch ever again. I will watch good Deitch shorts like "Buddies Thicker Than Water", "Carmen Get It", and also "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit", and not the bad ones like... ugh, ... this one.

Rating/Ranking: 0.5/10 [Abysmal].

Review #3: "Sob Story"

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS,

IF YOU DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING, THAT'S FINE AT ALL COSTS

Airdate: April 24th, 2014.
Written by: Samantha Berger, Joanna Lewis, Ray DeLaurentis, Will Schifrin, and Kevin Sullivan [WHAT!?!]
Directed by: John McLntyre
Produced: 2012

GOOD QUALITIES:
- The lightning bulb and question mark inventions from Keswick, those are pretty passable.
- It didn't cause the show to go downhill. I don't think there ever was since there were only three seasons.
- The action scene does make up for what this episode had in mind when it gets to where they finally STOP with that dreaded running gag.

BAD QUALITIES:
- The synopsis was pretty bad. It just shares the same bad trope as "The City of Frownsville" (an episode I didn't bother trying to watch) and "A Day Without Tears" where a character cries repeatedly over small things.
- Dudley is out of character in this episode. How much can you make him at his worst can you throw in an episode with an insufferable plot like this?
- Message: If you just cry miserably or throw a temper meltdown crying, you still get what you want.
- Overuse of the jokes where a character cries.
- The squirrel kid character (whatever her name is) is just a spoiled baby who gets what she wants.
- How can it take five writers to go with a plot so bad?
- I think Kitty Katswell would have grown enough of what Dudley is doing the whole episode because this antic of his is just bad advice from a kid who just has to whine and cry to get what she wants.
- This episode just has the worst running gag in the show. Dudley plucking his nose hair out to cry and make up excuses to get what he wants. I can't tell how many times I facepalmed at this episode.

Thoughts:
Usually, I praise T.U.F.F. Puppy myself. This is one of those only episodes I can find that is the worst written one. I didn't bother trying to watch the episode when I first heard of it when reading the sypnopsis in 2017. I heard of that episode from BrendanDoesArt, he showed me the link to the episode on the show's wiki, and I was not pleased with what the hell the writers were even thinking.

I didn't watch it until 2 years later, after 2017 and 2018 have gone by, and I got to say, this is definitely one of those bad episodes from good shows. This one was just a terrible episode in my opinion. How can you go for a fuck up episode to be this ungodly annoying? LET ALONE RUNNING GAGS in general! I enjoyed a few bits, but even then a few good things don't save this episode from how badly irritating it is to sit through. Dudley crying to get what he wants is just cringeworthy to watch. I know I have seen worse episodes from good shows like "Wonky Whistle", "Three Steam Engines Gruff", "Do Me a Solid", "High Steaks", "Making the Grade", "Brawl in the Family", "The Principal and the Pauper", "My Sister, My Sitter", etc. But this is just one of the worst T.U.F.F. Puppy episodes in my opinion. I hope this is the only one that was bad because I can't express that it's just so bad it is just cringeworthy. Oh, and how can it take like five fucking writers to write an episode that's such a big fuck up in the show? If "Arnold Betrays Iggy" was panned for the mean spirited nature towards Arnold, and how much of a harsh grudge holder Iggy was to Arnold? Then why is this episode not talked about as the worst episode?!?

I'd rather watch a better episode over this one because again, I love T.U.F.F. Puppy, but this was just shit. It's just so against Dudley's character, that I know he is naive and all, but not to the point where a grown dog like him would cry over what he wants as an excuse to get what he wants, making the episode just nonsensically and annoyingly bad. If you want to see something really annoying in real life, go to a Walmart (or any other shop) and look at a spoiled little kid cry because he/she cannot have a toy or ice cream, whatever.

I get that there is a side of comedy where it's "dumb comedy", but it's just executed so poorly here, it just made a fuck up. I have seen worse, but I don't know which episode from good shows is worse, "Arnold Betrays Iggy" or ugh... "My Sister, My Sitter" (my long despised episode in The Simpsons).

Overall, it was a facepalm fest to sit through. It's pathetic, it's premise is stupid, it's storytelling was at it's worst in this episode, and it's just ungodly amounts of annoying. It may not be as bad as "Wonky Whistle" or whatever episode is the worst in good shows of all cartoons, this one was just a fail to impress fans.

Rating/Ranking: 1.5/10 [Terrible].

Review #2: "Henry's Health & Safety"

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS,

IF YOU DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING, THAT'S FINE AT ALL COSTS

Airdate: October 18th, 2010 (UK)/November 27th, 2010 (USA)
Written by: Sharon Miller
Directed by: Greg Tiernan
Produced: 2009

Positive Qualities:
- The beginning shots give out such nostalgia to the second season with the viaduct added in.
- One of the examples on how you do a worried Henry episode well.
- This episode does show rolling stock can cause accidents if they are stranded on the main line.
- The crashes are priceless.
- Henry being pointed as old shows that Henry has lived on the railway since his arrival on Sodor.
- Victor saying "BAM!"
- Thomas gets only one line this episode, but of course, he is likable in this episode.
- "Things can go wrong", yes things can go wrong.
- Henry's smile to Victor and Kevin is pretty charming.
- Henry's old persona is in this episode, even though it is only in there for this episode sadly.

- Moral: There is a time and a place for health and safety.

Bad Qualities:
- Henry's traction rods breaking after a big bump on the freight car is pretty confusing.
- Why couldn't the workman warn Henry about the car he rammed over?
- Henry should know what health and safety is.
- The repetitive alliteration and rhyming.
- What's the rush Percy? I mean really, what is he going that fast for?

This is one of the few good episodes from season fourteen that I can find alongside "Victor Says Yes", "Thomas and Scruff", "and "Being Percy" as examples. I would have to say this one is a good way on how you do an episode where Henry is worried. He isn't a wimp scared of what would happen to a magic box or even squeamish about trees being cut down. He knows that things that block the line like freight cars as an example would get stranded on the main line and cause an accident to occur to happen. He wanted to make sure everyone is safe.

This episode does follow a good moral from the Fat Controller that health and safety has a place and a time when he is telling Henry about what he is doing. Okay, if there are a few issues I can criticize the episode. Well, Percy going really fast didn't make sense because I don't know why Percy was running this fast on the main line, which showed that he ran out of water because of that. Henry's traction rods breaking after bumping into a freight car was pretty confusing as well, trains can't have their traction rods break apart if they bump into a freight car. Oh, and again, the annoying rhyming and alliteration!

Aside of those main three things, this is the episode where they could have done more crashes often in S12-16. Engines getting smashed, engines coming off the rails, things going insane on the railway where you wouldn't know what's going on. All that! This episode wasn't so bad when watching it again, even if you think Henry was being a bit too stupid. But in defense of that episode, this episode shows that Henry wanted to make things safe, but ends up screwing things up until he makes amends, even when he had to help Toby get back onto the rails with the help of Rocky of course.

EPISODE OVERALL: PRETTY GOOD (8.5/10)

Review #1: "Bubblestand"

DISCLAIMER: THESE ARE MY PERSONAL OPINIONS,

IF YOU DISAGREE WITH SOMETHING, THAT'S FINE AT ALL COSTS

Airdate: July 17th, 1999 (USA).

Written by: Ennio Torresan, Jr., Erik Wiese, Stephen Hillenburg (SpongeBob's creator), Derek Drymon (the show's original director), and Tim Hill (Holy Mary Mother of Joseph, five writers in one episode?! HOW COOL IS THAT!?!?).

Directed by: Derek Drymon.

This is one of my favorite SpongeBob episodes along with "Club SpongeBob" as a kid. I quite love how this episode has the subject to do with bubbles as well. In this episode, SpongeBob starts a bubble stand for only twenty five cents. That we get is a pretty good start to an already excellently executed, but yet, perfect episode.

The dance sequences and the bubble blowing technique sequences are the most fun and entertaining good stuff I've seen in cartoons, in ways of breaking down to the level of being the best moments in all of cartoons I have ever seen. Of course, Squidward learning how to blow bubbles was worth watching, and of course, two of the best moments of SpongeBob, "bring it around town" and a bubble shaped elephant coming to Squidward's house are all what nautical nonsense in SpongeBob is what SpongeBob is all about. Tell me about it, the whole show is based on the concept of nautical nonsense because of the lyric in the theme song saying "If nautical nonsense be something you'd wish".

As of that episode, I grew into blowing bubbles as a kid since I quite love bubbles and thought them that they were fun. If you love bubbles like how much I do, then this is the right episode for you.

Rank and Rating: EXCELLENT (10/10).

This blogpost is dedicated in the memory of the creator of SpongeBob SquarePants, Stephen Hillenburg, who passed away from ALS last year in November 2018.

R.I.P. Stephen Hillenburg.

(August 21st, 1961 - November 26th, 2018).

Introduction

Greetings

Hello all of you!

Ink up, blue guys. Cuz, this is about to get messy here!

Hello my blue guys, I am here on Blogger doing a review station of my own. I am quite the guy with a lot to talk about, and I would review on things that are the subject of cartoons, video games, movies, anime, YouTube videos, etc. These seem like the way to go, and I would say that the things I would talk about are only entitled to my opinion, so I am not persuading you to have the same opinion as me if you are those that have a different opinion than me.

Now within all that, some reviews might contain spoilers, so don't look at those if you are those that have not seen the stuff I have seen. If you want to look at some of my reviews, then go ahead.