Tuesday, November 5, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: Mystery In The Mail [SPOILERS]


Hello, and welcome back to the U.S. Acres weekly episode review. Last week, we went over the final aired episode of the series. This week, I chose a fan-favorite U.S. Acres episode: The Bunny Rabbits Is Coming. Many people love making this joke, as a matter of fact, as it has a grammatical error in it. Heck, I looked up the phrase after watching this episode the first time, and I saw a T-shirt for sale based on it. Here is the story behind this somewhat memetic episode:

Truth in advertising.
The episode starts with a quickie in which Roy opens up a lemonade stand. Wade Duck is his first customer and wants a cup. Roy gives him one cup, and Wade asks for more, because the sign says "All you can drink for a dime". Roy says that's all Wade can drink for a dime, and decides to keep it that way-until Orson's brothers show up and demand for more. He promises he'll be true to his advertising next time. Unlike the previous quickies, this one isn't based off a comic.
Wade's cosplay of a bunny rabbit in this title card is adorable!

The episode starts with a human mailman putting mail in people's mailboxes. We only see his hand, but it's an interesting sight. Meanwhile, Roy is bathing and singing a song that goes "What the weather...pluck a feather...pikaro, pikaro, pikaro, piikaro!". The bell rings in the middle of his song, and he complains about this. He tells Orson to pick up the while courtesy telephone, which is a can on a string (possibly the U.S. Acres universe's equivalent of phones). Orson tells Wade they have to look for the weasel, which makes Wade concerned. Orson answers the phone soon after, and Roy tells him to get the mail. Roy then stares at the viewers and tells him he wants privacy.

Here's the video clip of the week, summing up the origin behind the message "The Bunny Rabbits Is Coming".


Wade then tells Booker and Sheldon that the bunny rabbits are coming. Both are confused about what the message means, and Wade has no idea what it means either. Booker wonders why he's afraid of the message, and Wade says that it's due to his motto, "Be afraid of everything! Don't take any chances!", starting up the song "Yah, Ah, Ooo, Eee!". Here are the lyrics to the song:
Bein' afraid is a good way to be
You never can be too careful, you see
I always like to be prepared
'Cause you never know when you need to be scared!
Look at it from my point-of-view,
That everything's about to get you!
Underneath every plant you see could be a duck-eating root, about to eat me!
This rock, this sock, this clock, this tree!
Afraid potential for harming me! 
I bet you'd think you can never get hurt, by a box of raisins, or a flannel shirt.
Yah, ah, ooo, ee!
There are dangerous things, about to get me!
Ah, yah, ee, ooh!
I'd be brave, but that scares me too.
Oooooeeeaahooack!
I can feel a gust of wind stickin' up from my back! 
Yah, ooo, ah, ee, ah, ooo, oh,
I think something's gonna get me now-I gotta go!
After the song, Wade tells Booker and Sheldon that he must spread the word about the bunny rabbits' arrival, and Booker asks "Shouldn't that be 'The bunny rabbits are coming'?". The weasel then goes into the hen house to steal the chickens. Wade then runs into Roy and tells him that the bunny rabbits are coming, using incorrect grammar as usual. Roy says the same thing Booker, Sheldon, and the Weasel have said the entire episode. Roy then goes to check on the chickens, but realizes they are missing. Looking at some footprints, he sees some footprints that look like weasel footprints, but he isn't sure, so he sniffs them, and seconds afterward, finds out that the weasel stole the chickens! "Orson! The chickens is missing!" yells Roy. Orson then teaches him a grammar lesson: the word "chickens" is plural, and thus, you need a plural verb. Roy gets angry because this is not helping them find the chickens. Wade gets frightened by the news of the weasel, and Orson spurts out "The weasel are here!" after this, leading Roy to correct him. Wade then says "What is we gonna do?" and Roy replies "We is going to be sacked by the weasel". And that's exactly what happens to them.

Notice that Roy's tail is red instead of white in the third picture.

Roy tells Orson to do something, and he tells them he's trying to, leading Wade to reply "Oh, sack full of woe! All am lost!". The weasel responds that he's taking the chickens and nothing is going to stop him, and then something shakes. Is it an earthquake? No, it's the bunny rabbits, and they trample over the weasel, who tells them "Bye-bye!" in a funny voice. Roy finally rescues the chickens, who thank him. A rooster named Plato comes in and asks the gang if they have seen his bunny rabbits. Wade tells him the direction they went in, and Plato thanks him, and tells them that he hopes they received proper warning, because they could be trouble. Orson says that all this trouble was caused by Wade being so worried about the bunny rabbits. Wade then asks if the bunny rabbits are coming back in the style of his previous quote, and Orson says they aren't, leading Wade to yell "The bunny rabbits is gone!" and Orson correcting him.

Next week, we review an episode where a villain comes to stay at the farm.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: A Not-So-Scary Monster [SPOILERS]



Welcome back to the weekly U.S. Acres episode review! This week is Halloween, and it only would make sense to do an episode about monsters for this week's review. This episode was actually the last U.S. Acres episode ever aired on television, but that doesn't mean this blog will end. I plan on ending this weekly blog in Feburary or March to do my Mumfie blogs for the episodes not in the movie like "Mumfie's Lost Button" and "Things That Go Bump". I'm sorry that I'm not doing all the U.S. Acres episodes, I'm only doing a select few to make way for that reason. Anyway, onto the review! And also, I am only doing pictures for the episodes once a month from now on.
The episode begins with Orson picking out a book to read for Booker and Sheldon at bedtime. Since they've already read every book on the shelf, Orson tells a true story that begins on a mountaintop a few miles away from the farm. In the house, a family of monsters lived together. At dinner, they would tell about who they scared. One child, Michael, was unlike the others. He could never scare anyone. Due to this, his father sent him out of the house with a paper bag on his head. Michael promises to scare someone, and turn his life around. At first, he tries to scare a goat, but the goat was so annoyed, he hit the poor thing with a rake. Then, Michael stumbled upon Roy and Orson's brothers, who were chasing each other as the result of a typical Roy trick involving football. He says that their team is loosing, and the only hope is a touchdown. Roy gives the brothers crazy instructions on what to do. Roy wants to count to three seconds before a hike, but the brothers say they can't count that high, so Roy starts shouting random numbers at them. And then this happens soon afterward:

 
After that, Orson's brothers want to play football with him by attacking him. This gives Michael an idea: to tell them to stop teasing his friend. As Michael thinks of a way to help, the paper bag flew off his head, and scares the brothers. He had the paper bag on before Wade woke up, and he couldn't wait to tell his family how he had scared Orson's brothers. When Booker asks why Orson's brothers got scared, Orson says the monster resembled someone who sold sausage on TV. The reason why: Do YOU now what they make sausage out of?

Sorry it was a short one, but like Once Upon A Time Warp, this is a very fast episode. Next week, a fan-favorite episode gets reviewed!

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: Much Ado About Orson [SPOILERS]

Welcome back to the weekly U.S. Acres episode review. If any of you are familiar with the Garfield and Friends cartoon "The Mail Animal", there was a fake U.S. Acres cartoon called Much Ado About Orson in it. The plot was that Orson had to help Lanolin with chores. While there was a U.S. Acres episode with that exact plot, it wasn't exactly called that. It was called "A Little Time-Off", and it aired 4 years after The Mail Animal aired. In this episode, Orson takes Lanolin on an imaginary vacation to many places to help get her mind off chores. Here's a review of that episode. Please note that starting with this week, due to taking up too much space on this blog, there will be no pictures except for the titlecard images and video clips.

The episode starts off with Booker and Sheldon dancing. Lanolin tells them to get out of her way. Then, she encounters Wade, humming a "Rah-tah-too-too-too..." tune. She asks him to move to one side, but after Wade asks her what side in particular, she tells him to get out of her way, making Wade fly up in the air. Roy wonders what's wrong, and Wade responds that Lanolin is having a bad day, and he thinks it's catching. Bo says hi to Lanolin and tells her the weather is nice, but she tells him to shut up. We cut to the gang arguing about Lanolin's problem, and Roy blames Bo for it, because if he was an only child, this wouldn't be happening. Orson explains the true reason why: "When people are nasty, there's a reason. Usually, they feel unloved or unappreciated." Everyone is shocked at this. Sheldon suggests that since Lanolin has lots of work to do, she should get a vacation. Wade says that she doesn't have the time or money, but Orson says she can take an imaginary vacation to outer space. He asks anyone if they would like to come, but Wade says he would not like to come, since nothing can get him off the good old Earth. Orson then says he can watch out for the Weasel, leading into the funniest 10 seconds of U.S. Acres ever (in my opinion):


Lanolin refuses to go to outer space, because she has to watch for the weasel and has to do laundry. Bo complains that she never has fun. Cue the Weasel, who is dressed as a rock. He tells the viewers not to stare at him, because he wonders if they've ever gone trick or treating dressed as a rock. Next, Orson and friends go to outer space. Watch their voyage here:
Orson then travels to the year One Zillion B.C., where he is a cave dweller looking for his mid-day meal. Wade thinks there are dinosaurs out there, but Orson assures him that the dinosaurs are extinct. Booker sees cavemen crafting the first tools, while Bo sees how the caveman are using them. Lanolin shatters the fantasy by telling us that she's in the middle of the farmyard junk heap with "the same four jerks". Orson tells Lanolin to play along with the fantasy, but she refuses with the same excuses as before. Everyone tells Orson to give up, but Orson doesn't want to. Wade then tells us he gives lessons. Roy is reading a magazine with a pink bird on the cover, and asks Sheldon if he sees anything. He sees a big rock with feet headed towards them, and sure enough, it's the Weasel alright, who kidnaps both of them! Orson tries to explain to Lanolin why he was trying to do "make-believe stuff": to give her a vacation, because the whole farm likes her, and they were afraid she overworked herself, and apologies for interrupting her laundry duty. The weasel takes the chickens, and Roy asks what caused the weasel to wear a rock disguise-turns out he's always wanted to be a little boulder. Roy tells that after they get the weasel, they'll go after "the guy who writes this show". The weasel just says "tah-tah" to Roy and Sheldon, and they try to escape, but fail to, because the rope is on too tight. Orson continues the imaginary trip without Lanolin, and they travel to the wild wild west, where Orson's a sheriff, and Booker's a deputy. Wade wants to be in a safer time period, but he becomes Wade Duck The Fearless, keeper of the peace. A bank is being robbed, which turns out to be the weasel. The weasel runs too fast for them to keep up and Wade acts cowardly, so what do they do? Turns out that Lanolin is a cowgirl now, and is riding Lightning the Horse, who grabs and ties the thief with her rope. Bo says she's Annie Oakley, and saves everyone. Lanolin learned how to save everyone back in the old wild west, and she hopes they could join her there sometime.

Next week: A monster story for Halloween!


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: Kevin Meaney on a kids' cartoon, that's not right! [SPOILERS]


Welcome back to the weekly U.S. Acres post. This week's post will begin with a story. About a year ago, I saw a page on the cartoon series "Garfield and Friends". One post on the page discussed what the last season was like, and one thing the author told us about and showed us was "Aloysius Pig", a character who looked over every scene to see if there was anything wrong. I saw a picture of him on the website and thought he looked cute. Further research revealed that the character was voiced by the comedian Kevin Meaney, who appeared on Saturday Night Live in the 1980's and was Uncle Buck on the sitcom adaptation. Ironically, the person who played Uncle Buck in the original movie, John Candy, died after all the Aloysius episodes were recorded in the studio (Mark Evanier, Garfield and Friends' creator, said that the second episode Aloysius starred in was recorded the day after the 1994 California earthquake.) But why is Kevin's appearance on this cartoon important? Because he did so well acting on it, he was able to be on Dr. Katz and Rocko's Modern Life, and because Garfield and Friends was almost as popular as Kevin Meaney was himself! I first watched these episodes Labor Day 2012, and enjoyed all of them. It's a shame Aloysius Pig was only in three episodes, because he's my favorite U.S. Acres character of the entire cast! Anyways, onto the review of the episodes Kevin Meaney starred on. I would have posted this review on September 24, but I was into my "first episodes" series of posts or last week, but I didn't want to post the Columbus episode a day after the holiday I posted it because of, so I did it 6 days before the holiday. Thus, I posted it today, the day Kiddie Korner (the last episode reviewed in this post) first aired back in 1994.


The first episode Kevin Meaney starred in is called "Temp Trouble", and the image above is the title card. It looks really funny, and I thought Aloysius was in a hurry to do something (pee, perhaps?) due to his position and his facial expression when I first saw this title card. Speaking of his appearance, why is there a dot under his chin when the other pigs don't have one? It's not like Suite Pretty Cure, when it was a different designer as usual every season, and they had dots under their chins...
The episode begins as Orson Pig tells Aloysius to watch over the farm while he's in Hawaii. When Orson boards the bus, Aloysius stares at his butt, amazed that he's boarding a bus. Aloysius, who was possibly paying more attention to Orson's "cute butt" (Diary Of A Wimpy Kid reference, anyone), thinks he didn't say goodbye, and gives him 5 demerits. We then cut to Wade happily walking away. Roy tells the viewers that he has a dirty trick in hand for Wade- a jack-in-the-box toy which when cranked, has a Frankenstein doll pop out instead of a clown that gives out a tasty mint. Wade thinks Roy is being untrustworthy, but Roy asks him how many times he has been that way, and Wade asks what show number it is. The answer? 106 for the production run, 108 for the CBS run.Wade then says he can trust Roy. He winds up the box, causing Roy to giggle in hope he gets scared, but a clown holding a mint pops out instead. Wade says he's going to take back every nasty thing he's said about Roy for now. Roy wonders why the prank didn't work, so he checks it, and the Frankenstein doll scares him first! Wade comes over and asks for another tasty mint, but sees that Roy is naked, and says that it's very indecent. Aloysius agrees and gives him 20 demerits for having no feathers on. Wade and Roy wonder who passed by. Roy then gets changed at Roy's Roost into another feather suit. We cut to Aloysius writing on his notepad. Wade comes by and asks who he is, and by what authority he is handing out demerits. Aloysius then introduces himself with "My name is Aloysius Pig. And I'm in charge!" Wade repeats his introduction, and yells "Un momento! Who may I asked put you in charge, Aloysius Pig?". Aloysius gives Wade 15 demerits for asking that question. Roy tells Wade that they have to get rid of Aloysius, since he was annoying them. By doing this, Roy thinks Aloysius will be as annoyed as they are and quit. Wade, meanwhile, worries about the "trouble" he's in...Wade is climbing a ladder so that he can drop creamed corn on Aloysius. Wade doesn't want to do this, but Roy says that this will get rid of Aloysius. As Roy draws an X, he tells the audience why he thinks the plan will work. Aloysius then comes into position, and asks Roy what he's doing. Roy then calls him a "pork belly" (As I told you 2 weeks ago, this is not the only time they mentioned animals being turned into food). Being offended by this, Aloysius gives Roy 10 demerits. Roy then tells Wade it's a good time to drop the corn on Aloysius, but Wade acts cowardly as always, and misses Aloysius! Roy is covered in the corn instead, and Aloysius gives Wade 20 demerits for dumping corn on Roy (whom he calls "the rooster"). Wade is shocked that he has even more demerits than before, and then lands on Roy. Aloysius comes back and sees that Wade has fallen on Roy, and gives both of them 20 demerits. Wade then complains about his demerits again, and is told by Roy to lie down.Roy then paints blue spots on Wade, making him look sick. Roy thinks this will fool Aloysius, so he grabs him by his hand. Aloysius tell Roy to let go, or he will give Roy more demerits. At the site where Wade is lying, Aloysius notices instantly that Roy really painted Wade, and gives Roy 25 demerits for doing so. When all they've done to get rid of Aloysius has failed, Roy conjures up another idea: to call his mother. Wade tells him not to, but Roy says it has to be done. Meanwhile, Aloysius has given 10 demerits to a goat whom I assume is his pet for licking the glue off of a tin can that he fed him. The goat then baas at Aloysius, and he gives the goat 20 demerits for "talking back". Wade and Roy are dilly-dallying under a tree. Aloysius gives them 20 demerits. They still don't hear him, and he repeats what he said a few seconds ago, and gives them 20 more demerits for using up too much air. Roy asks Wade if he's scared of Aloysius, but Wade says he's not. Why? They've arranged a perfect scare for Aloysius-his mom's arrival to take him home! She reprimands Aloysius for bossing people around and asks him to clean his room when he gets home for punishment. Orson comes back two weeks later, and finds much to his dismay that Roy and Wade are not only cosplaying as Aloysius, but are acting like him!



The second episode Kevin Meaney starred in was "The Discount of Monte Cristo". The title card for this one isn't as good as the first one, but I do like the font. The episode starts off with Roy greeting Orson and asking him what story he's telling tonight. The answer? The Count Of Monte Cristo. Roy gets excited for the dueling, armies and swords in the story. Orson then asks Roy and Wade to start imagining, when we hear a voice yell "Stop that fantasy sequence! That's not right!". Orson recognizes the voice as Aloysius' voice. Aloysius warns the gang that the story they are doing is very expensive. Orson says they are imagining it, but Aloysius explains that it has to be animated. Via hammerspace, he pulls out a picture of a staff of artists and explains that they do all the work. Roy and Wade question if they really do this, and if they get paid. Aloysius says they do, and that some of them make almost a hundred dollars a week. After he says this, Roy and Wade get amazed at this, and Aloysius talks about how the costs for pencils, paints and donuts (Maybe Aloysius likes donuts, which is why he said the last item) are also high, but Orson says they are pretending and they will keep things simple. Aloysius says that he'd better do so. Roy suggests that they should do a different story, and Wade says they should do one without pointy swords. Orson says no to both of these requests, and begins the story by having Roy and Wade imagine it. "Edmond Dantes was of 19 years of age and ardently in love. His conscience was clear, he had violated no law. Alas, though, he had made himself two enemies, the one named Danglars (Wade), who envied Edmond's rapid promotion in business, while Fernand (Roy) was crazed with love for Mercedes (A new character), Edmond's beloved." narrates Orson, as we see the characters dressed as the ones from the story. Aloysius then complains that the costumes are too expensive. After reading the part about Edmond being arrested on a false charge, Aloysius asks "Two more actors, plus costume rentals. Do they have any lines?" Orson says they don't, and Aloysius says that if they speak, they will have to pay them more. Orson tells the prison guards not to say anything, and they tell him "We won't!", making Aloysius angry. He says that throwing around money like that is "not right". Orson says he will read faster. We cut to a court scene where Danglars, Fernand, and a tan version of Edward R Furrow are having a trial on Edmond. Aloysius complains about the size of the set. We then cut to the scene where Edmond is sent to the Shadow D'Edith for the rest of his life, and Aloysius yells "Another big set. Plus boat rental! Insurance for filming ocean scenes...Location permit!" from his orange canoe. Edmond is thrown into a prison cell, while Danglars and Fernand talk about their plans in fake French accents. Aloysius complains again about the size of the set, dialect coaching, and getting crepe suzettes and escargot for a meal. He suggests his favorite food, pizza, instead. We then cut to Edmond, who is about to preform a musical number, when all of a sudden, the orchestra goes missing. Aloysius then tells that orchestras are costly these days, and wonders why Orson would want to hire one, as the oboe alone gets just $6 an hour. Orson then skips to a few pages, only to find out that Aloysius hired the people needed for the scene. Then, Edmond's jailer gets fired by Aloysius, adding more meaning to the line "Seeing no one all those years". Edmond plans to escape by digging a tunnel, but it only goes as far as the cell next to his, which looks like his cell. Why? Using the same background saves money. Then, the prisoner in the cell next to his dies, and he uses the tunnel, but lands in the same background again, for the same reason. Edmond cloaks himself in blankets to be mistaken for the dead prisoner while the color in the background vanishes, and it does happen-only the undertakers are played by Roy and Wade, since Aloysius didn't want to pay any more actors. As for why there was no color, Aloysius fires the painters, whom were "too expensive". Edmond bursts from the wrappings and fled, only to find 100 of the kings' soldiers. Aloysius then tries to tell him about how much it would cost, and Orson (who was Edmond all along) yells at him, saying that he has ruined the story. Aloysius says that this is good for him, because if he gets the costume back by 5AM, he saves a half-day's rental. Wade asks if that was the end, and Roy tells Orson that it wasn't much of a story. Orson tries to tell them that the story is really great, but Roy suggests they get rid of "Mr. Cost Cutter" (Aloysius). How do they do this? By imagining him into Robinson Crusoe and parodying the cost-cutting measures by stranding him onto the dessert island! He then wants to get off the island, asking for things like Cub Scouts on a raft and Flipper to get him off.


The final episode Kevin Meaney starred on was "Kiddie Korner", which aired 19 years ago today. It begins with Roy, Wade and Lanolin as doctors in a cottage in the Siberian hinterlands, using fake accents, when all of a sudden, we hear a familiar voice asking the characters to stop the episode. Aloysius wonders what the gang is doing. Orson tells him that they were doing Dr. Zhivago. Aloysius then tells them that this show is U.S. Acres, not Masterpiece Theater. He tells Orson he's not happy at The Network. Orson is in disbelief, and asks him for proof. What does Aloysius give Orson? His card, from hammerspace again. Aloysius forces the U.S. Acres gang to do nursery rhymes. Orson wonders if this is to attract younger viewers (ironic, because U.S. Acres was originally for preschoolers!), but Roy mocks Aloysius and says that nursery rhymes are all they understand at the network. Aloysius ignores his comment, and tells the gang to make the nursery rhymes wholesome and educational. He finishes the sentence by saying that doing Dr. Zhivago with a duck is "not right".
The U.S. Acres cast agrees to grant Aloysius' request, and present Mother Duck's Nursery Rhymes.  Wade Duck sings the first song, "Wee Willy Winkie", better than any other song he has sung on the series, as Orson plays the title role. Aloysius interrupts Wade in the middle of the song, causing him to groan. Orson wonders why Aloysius interrupted him. Aloysius then tells him that running around the city in a nightgown is not right. Orson then tells him that's how the nursery rhyme goes, but Aloysius doesn't care, and says that teaching children to run around in their nightgowns is indecent, and that The Network doesn't tolerate that kind of behavior. Next, Orson sings Georgie Porgie as Roy plays the titular role, and Lanolin plays the girl who he makes cry by kissing her. Aloysius calls this very anti-social behavior. Roy compares this to beating up people who work for...DA-DUM! The Network. Aloysius warns Roy that he'll put a golf match in U.S. Acres' time slot next week if he acts like this, causing them to nearly get into a fight, until Lanolin tells them to pick a different nursery rhyme. This time, it's the story of Mrs. Muffet, with Lanolin playing Mrs. Muffet, Orson playing the spider, and Roy singing (notice a pattern here?). Aloysius then interrupts, wondering what the next line is. After Roy reads it (And frightened Mrs. Muffet away), Aloysius says that if it scared Mrs. Muffet, the children will be frightened by it as well. Then, Lanolin decides to sing Goosey Goosey Gander, with Wade playing the role, and Orson playing the old man. Aloysius says throwing an old man down the stairs is very anti-social behavior. Lanolin says it was in the book. Orson then sings Old Mother Hubbard, with Roy as Old Mother Hubbard, Wade as the baker, and Odie as the dog. Aloysius even notices this-how cute! Anyways, the torture Hubbard does to the cameo guest star upsets Aloysius. After explaining why he didn't like this idea (Odie had high ratings and a good agent), they ask what other nursery rhymes they can do, and Aloysius rejects them all. He threatens to put an infomercial on next week if they can't find a wholesome nursery rhyme. This leads to Roy pulling a prank on Aloysius: making him sing a wholesome nursery rhyme about himself, which turns out to be an attempt to throw pies at him. Orson promises that next time, they'll do something more wholesome than a nursery rhyme.

In case you are wondering why there were no pictures this week, it was due to the length of this week's video, showcasing all of Kevin Meaney's dialouge in U.S. Acres. Here it is:
Next week, we reveal the true identify of the fake episode in the Garfield segment "The Mail Animal".

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: A Blast Into The Past [SPOILERS]

Welcome back to the weekly U.S. Acres episode review. Last week wrapped up the "first episode" reviews. Now I will move on to other episodes. Not in chronological order, but in a random order. Some tie into holidays, like this one. As many Americans know, Columbus Day is next week. There was an episode of U.S. Acres where the characters pretend they are voyaging on Columbus' ship. This episode is also very interesting because it also has the characters traveling to other places as well. It is Once Upon A Time Warp.
Edited because I can't find the original one. (The German dub stopped showing the original title cards after Season 1!)

The episode begins with Roy working on a feather tan outside. Wade asks him if he can have the 5 dollars he's owed since 14 years ago back. Roy promises to pay his debts, but tells Wade that there's a ladybug nearby, scaring him. Roy says that trick has worked well for the last 14 years. Wade runs to Orson freaking out over the ladybug. Orson then asks him if he knows who Franklin Delanor Roosevelt is. Wade wonders if he was a ladybug, when he's actually the 32nd president of the United States, who once said "We have nothing to fear but fear itself", to tell him that he should be brave instead of scared. Wade then runs around screaming that he is afraid of fear. Orson then tells Wade he should repay the money Roy owes him, but Wade says he is scared. Orson asks him what history would be like if everyone was scared, and Wade responds that it would be a lot like his family reunion, because noody said hi to each other or ate any of the food-they were all scared. Orson then says that he's going to take him back into history. He asks him how far he should go, and Wade responds that they should go back to when he gave the money to Roy. But they wind up going to Christopher Columbus' time instead. Watch the video of the week to see how U.S. Acres told the story of the person who discovered the United States of America:

Orson then has to read another chapter, and then transports Wade to Kitty Hawk, where Orson and Wade play the roles of Orville Wright and Wilbur Wright (The Wright Brothers), who are about to fly the first airplane. Wade then says that he gets nosebleeds when he stands on tippy-toe and runs away. Orson notes that they're just pretending. We then cut to Roy saying that he hates repaying money he owes. Wilbur then asks Orville if nothing will go wrong, and Orville tells him that the flight was successful. Orson says that the force under the wings caused the airplane to lift, and it went into the sky, until the giant space penguins went and seized the craft. Orson then yells that his book was tampered with, and we find out that it was Roy who did all the silly endings.


To deal with Roy, Orson then conjures up a space fantasy involving a ship that was programmed to zone in on anyone who owed money to its' pilot. Roy says that it's a figment of Orson's imagination, but it fails, instead, causing the rocket to zoom and chase after Roy. Orson said that the rocket can't be stopped until the pilot got his 5 dollars back. Roy then decides to give the money to Wade, and all is well...until Roy swipes the money. Orson has found his book on prehistoric monsters, and this causes a dinosaur to appear, and Roy hands over the money. Orson and Roy then teaches the viewers a lesson: If you don't repay money you owe, a dinosaur squishes your head.

That's it for this review, kiddos. I know it was a short one, but this episode goes by very fast, that's why. Next week, I'll review the episodes with my favorite U.S. Acres character of all time in it.

Tuesday, October 1, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: Hypno Freak [SPOILERS!]


Welcome back to the weekly U.S. Acres episode review. Going along with our theme of first episodes, I will talk about the third U.S. Acres pilot this week. You might be wondering why this is  the third pilot episode.  That's because this episode was the first one to be produced (animated, have voices recorded for), however,  even though clips of the Garfield segments in the episode containing it played in the preview for Saturday Rocks on CBS the day before the premiere of Garfield and Friends, Wanted: Wade aired instead for some reason. Not that I don't mind that-Wanted: Wade in a four way tie with the Aloysius Pig episodes as my favorite episode. Here's my review of the episode that should have been aired first on CBS but wasn't, Wade: You're Afraid.

HERE IT COMES AGAIN!!!

The episode starts out with a quickie where Orson and Booker ride on a tractor. Soon after the ignition is turned on, the tractor goes after them. The characters then run into Roy, who's in his bathtub, and tell him the tractor is going crazy. Roy tells them that it will stop soon, but it chases him in his bathtub instead. Like the other quickies, it was based off a comic. This was the comic the quickie of the week was based on.
Note that Sheldon is in the comic version of this, and not in the animated version of this.


I couldn't find the German version of this or the original titlecard of this, so I made my own.

This seems to be my best edited picture so far.
Oh, Wade! The bull is loose.
It's another ordinary, dull day on the farm, according to Booker Chick. Sheldon disagrees, as he's playing pinball and has more than 17,000 points. Booker points to Wade, who's singing a little tune that sounds to me like "Plant flowers...la la, whoo....hi." and the bull. Why does he do this? He's arranged a terrific prank. Booker tells Wade that the bull is loose. They both repeat the phrase, and then Wade freaks out, resulting in him having a humongous freakout, which at one point, has him talk to the viewers.
Why are you just sitting there, reading a review of Wade, You're Afraid? The bull is loose! (Haha, just kidding!)

Orson just loves his waller!
 Meanwhile, at the waller, Orson is reading "Psych'ology Made Easy" and wonders about a passage in the book about people without self-confidence. Wade runs by yelling, and splashes him in mud. He then cites Wade as a good example of people with no self-confidence. This causes him to sing a song that will sound familiar to many Garfield and Friends viewers. The actual episode visuals aren't there because there was an error when I tried to post the video on the blog, so enjoy this sing along of the song from Wade, You're Afraid:
 

Orson's aim seems to be a little off...
Wade says he's afraid of everything and there's nothing he can do about it, so Orson says he will hypnotize Wade into being brave. Wade cries and runs away, but Roy and Bo grab him and yell "DO IT!" in funny voices at Orson. Orson then does the "Your eyes are getting heavy" kind of hypnosis to Wade, accidentally hypnotizing Roy and Bo on the first try. On the second try, Wade complains that he can't be hypnotized and in the middle of his reason why, he finally does. Orson tells Wade that when he wakes up, he will no longer be a coward. When Wade wakes up, he complains about the hypnosis, but we find out it works after Roy and Bo tell him it might rain tonight, and Wade responds that he's the bravest person in the world. Orson is congratulated by Roy and Bo, who comment that Wade will never be afraid of anything again.

Wade being sassy...

Booker and Sheldon are walking around the farm, because Booker wants to hunt worms. Then, Wade passes by on a red bicycle, telling them to make way. Booker wonders if the person on the bike was really Wade, but Sheldon is unsure. Then, Wade opens up the bullpen and asks the bull if he'd like to become a cheeseburger. (This is not the only time animals being made into food is referenced in U.S. Acres, it will happen in other episodes as well, mostly with the pig characters). Roy doesn't like what Orson did because he is being mean to the bull, and Orson wants to find a cure for Wade's problem. We then cut to Wade saying the bull's sister is a leather jacket. Orson says his psychology book will cure Wade, and Roy takes the book. Wade collapses after Roy's "applied psychology"(slamming a book on Wade's head), and it causes Wade to turn back to normal.


How to stop a bull on the run...
Bo assures Wade that there's nothing to be afraid of. Orson then notes that nobody closed the bull pen, and everyone runs away screaming, including Wade. Wade blames this on the farm animals trying to help him, and tells himself to stop being a coward. He then asks the viewers if he just said that he should stop being a coward. The bull then bangs his head on a tree, causing Orson to fall on the bull's back. Wade then does the "Toro! Toro!" thing to the bull, and it only causes the bull to end up chasing Wade. Roy notes that Wade's a goner, and this gives Orson an idea: to hypnotize the bull into being a chicken. Wade notes that he's a coward again, and the animals comment on what Orson did. Roy and Bo thank Wade for saving the gang, and Orson tells everyone that bravery is a matter of overcoming your fears for a good reason, and says that everything's back to normal, except for the bull, that is-he's now in the chicken coop!

Trivia: Did you know that this cartoon was based off an arc of the U.S. Acres comic from October 1986? You can read that arc at this link, while you're waiting for next week's review of an episode featuring Orson imagining himself as Christopher Columbus!



Tuesday, September 24, 2013

U.S. Acres Episode Review: Chicken vs Worm [SPOILERS]


Welcome back to my weekly U.S. Acres episode review! Last week, I reviewed the first aired episode of U.S. Acres. But there's something to tell you about that: That wasn't the REAL first episode in production order. The first episode produced was "Wade, You're Afraid", which was the fifth episode aired. But for reasons that will become apparent soon enough, the episode the writers wanted to be first episode was the seventh one aired. That episode involves the worm and Booker, off-key singing that makes "What Harm Can It Do?" look like a musical number from "The Magical Adventures of Mumfie: Mumfie's Quest" (which I will review once Lionsgate releases it, which will probably be after The Legend of the Snowbird), and Wade Duck without his innertube. What is this episode? It's "The Worm Turns".

A book made real scary, as requested by Booker!
 The supposed first quickie was this quickie that shows us Orson's vivid imagination. Orson is asked to read a story about a jungle, and is told to make it scary. After it creeps them out, Orson says "And they lived happily ever after!" Wade then thanks Orson.
Thank you, Junior TV, for the original title cards for U.S. Acres! (I had to edit this because it was originally in German)
Wade's not the only character who likes innertubes.
  
The episode begins as we see Orson reading by the waller. He tells the viewer he wasn't expecting them. Then he assumes the viewer wants to take off his innertube for him, but says he can do it himself, and as he does so, he flies to the middle of the barnyard. He then wants to inflate it back up, but he can't find it. He then tells the viewer he wants them to meet Wade, and then this happens...
 
Video of the week: The first Roy prank. This is in English, don't worry.

Wait until you see what's about to come...
Booker got worm germs! Get the hot water! Get the iodine! (Yes, a Charlie Brown reference, as Film Romain made both...)

After that, Orson tells the viewers that this is just a sample of life on the farm, when he supposes the viewer is thinking that Booker is hunting for worms, which Orson proves is false. We are then shown a flashback explaining why he isn't doing so.We cut to Booker fishing for worms, and getting a fish instead. Then, we see Booker asking Sheldon to watch him hunt worms. Sheldon says no, because he is hanging pictures, and then Booker tells him he'll miss a worm feast, but Sheldon tells him he's making quiche in the microwave. Sheldon then breaks part of his shell as he hangs up pictures. Maybe he needs shorter nails. Cut to Booker building a grade A first class worm trap. He says that when the worm falls for the trap, he'll beg for mercy, but the last word is cut off by the worm's laugh. After Booker asks the worm if he thought he could fool him, the worm kisses him.


Then Booker begins to chase the worm, and it runs into a flower bed. Roy finds it, and does the "She loves me, she loves me not" thing to the poor critter. After that comes a song about Booker's hate for the worm, which has singing that's even worse than the song I posted last week-which is why I didn't post a clip of the song, and I instead posted that Wade Duck clip. But there's one interesting part in the song:
This looks funny, for some reason.

I was originally going to name this post "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" for this very scene.

 After that, Booker chases the worm again, and ends up tripping on the rope on his worm trap, causing himself to get stuck in the trap. After many hours of pleading for help, he finally gets resuced by a worm who had feelings for him. Once the worm rescued him, Booker kissed him, and they became friends.
I love the looks on Wade, Orson and Roy's faces in the third picture!

After the story finishes, Orson assures the viewers that Booker will never chase another worm again. But then, Booker sings a reprise of the episode's song to fool the characters into thinking that he likes the worm, but then kicks and chases him, confusing Wade, Roy and Orson.

That is the story of The Worm Turns. Next week, we'll learn about the story of Wade's hypnosis.
(If anyone is able to guess what Garfield episode I'm referencing, you're awesome!)