GIDGET’S TALESPIN REVIEW
Bringing
Down Babyface
Rating: 3 out of 5
Krakatoa Specials
Summary
Baloo’s latest “cargo” is Babyface Half-Nelson, a dangerous
gangster. A series of misunderstandings
and double-crosses sets him up as a fall guy.
To his dismay, the police are now pursuing ‘Baloo the Desperado’.
To clear his name, Baloo, Rebecca and Kit disguise themselves as a gang
(Baloo – Pretty Boy Lloyd; Kit – Mickey the Mangler; Rebecca – Roxy). When they’re discovered, a high-speed chase
ensues in a large sewer, where dozens of large objects are shoved down manholes
to block their escape. Finally, the
real gang is caught and Baloo gets the reward money. Unfortunately, he’s been delinquent in paying his parking
tickets, so Officer Malarkey gleefully snatches reclaims the cash.
Resigned, Baloo tells the police, “Okay, ya got me. I’ll never break another small potatoes law
for as long as I live.”
“Because you’ve learned that little crimes are real crimes too?” asks
Kit (kind of strange coming from a former pirate).
Cody: Yeah, I’ve always kinda wondered about that, too. In two other
episodes (Pizza Pie in the Sky and The Time Bandit), Kit obsesses about
staying on the right side of the law. Usually, I just chalk it up to his
wanting to reform, as horrible as that sounds.
“No. Because it’s too expensive.”
Gidget: Way to learn, Baloo!
Quibbles and Bits
Gidget: Yet another
stereotypical cartoon Irish police officer (*yawn*) (Officer Malarky)
Cody: I know! But I do like the name:
Malarky—as in he’s full of it.
Gidget: When Babyface
disguises himself as a police officer and dresses the unconscious cop as a
convict, the cop rests his head on the control panel of the Sea Duck. Isn’t he is Baloo’s way? Why aren’t the passengers sitting in the back of the plane?
Cody: Because Baloo lost the back
seats in a wild poker game at Louie’s?
Gidget: As long as he didn’t lose
something else. (smacks herself) You know, sometimes I actually wonder if Baloo has a ‘past’
(smacks herself again)
Gidget: During a struggle,
Baloo gets hold of the officer’s gun and pitches it out the window. I can’t stand it when a character
loses/drops/throws away a weapon, I just can’t!
Cody: There, there. Quit
hyperventilating. *hands Gidget a glass of water*
Gidget: Kit frees Baloo
from the handcuffs with a mallet. Hasn’t he seen Titanic? J
Cody: I have and wish I hadn’t. *groan*
Gidget: As Babyface says,
“Cancel him”, Baloo’s expression is weird, like he’s smiling.
Cody: Yeah, it’s like he doesn’t
quite realize what “Cancel him” means.
Gidget: Rebecca is quite
glamorous (sequined gown and fancy ‘do) and it’s the first time she’s worn eye
shadow and lipstick in an episode. But
I hate that stupid beauty mark.
(looks like a giant bug crawling on her face)
Gidget: In the sewer chase, Rebecca
points and yells, “Look out for that birch!” In a panic, wouldn’t another
person shout, “Look out for that tree”?
How could she tell what kind of tree it was while speeding through a dark sewer
(and tree was upside-down)?
Cody:
And the secret of Becky’s days as a botany student comes out…J
Neat
Little Details
Gidget: Baloo sends Becky
and Kit to get the Sea Duck and Becky is the pilot. Her prowess has only
slightly improved but still echoes of I Only Have Ice For You. You'd
think Kit would be a little worried about being a passenger.
Cody: Well, he did
flinch when she took off. You'd think he'd take over since I'm sure he
could do a better job than Beckers.
Gidget: Let's not go
crazy. ;-)
Gidget: Babyface Half-Nelson is a caricature of James Cagney. When he says, “I’m almost home, Ma!”, I
think it’s a line from the Cagney gangster film, “White Heat”.
Cody:
Haven’t seen it. I kept thinking the Half-Nelson was homage to Babyface
Nelson. Or is that the same person? *shrugs*
Gidget: Well, we’re both right.
He was named after Babyface Nelson but given Cagney’s mannerisms. He’s sort of the bastard child of the two gangsters. Billy Hayes provides voice of Mrs.
Half-Nelson here, and Crazy Edie (the crooked mechanic) in “The Sound and the
Furry”; she also played ’Witchipoo’ on the old 70’s kids’ show, “Sid and
Kroft’s The Bugaloos”. I can’t believe
I remember that. I’m such a child of the 70s!
Cody: *hands Gidget a cane and some Geritol* I was born in the late
70’s, so I don’t remember any of that
stuff. If it comes before The Gummi Bears,
I don’t remember it. J
Besides the tree, street lamps, etc., various signs are thrust
upside-down into the sewer to impede the Sea Duck’s getaway:
-traffic lights
-Yield sign
-Slippery When Wet (picture of dolphin)
-Sailors Welcome (sexy silhouette of girl cat) (obviously an
artist’s in-joke)
(Thanks to Bearcat
for pointing these out)
“How’ll I know which one’s Babyface?” asks Baloo.
“He’ll be wearing stripes, silly!” Rebecca replies. Then a similar conversation later…
The criminals ask, “But we’ve never seen your son, Mrs. Half-Nelson.
How will we recognize him?”
Smiling dotingly, she says, “He’ll have a twinkle in his eye and the
sweetest smile you ever did see (growls)…and
he’ll be wearing stripes, you chuckleheads!”
Cody: LOL! I like Mrs. Half-Nelson’s
response better.
Gidget:
Me too. She’s a pistol. Remember how Babyface takes off his shoe and clamps a smelly sock
over Officer Malarkey’s nose and mouth like chloroform?
Cody: He probably hadn’t washed it
in four or five years. It’s amazing
they didn’t put him in solitary confinement because of the stench!
“Use the sock… the sock!”
Babyface yells at Baloo as he tries to ‘help’ subdue the prisoner
(Malarkey). Baloo is puzzled, then
makes a fist and punches the cop’s lights out.
Babyface says admiringly, “Now that’s some sock!”
Officer Malarkey puts out an APB (all-points bulletin) on Baloo the
Desperado (who he mistakes as Babyface’s accomplice): “Suspects are armed, dangerous… and wearing festive party hats.”
Cody: Didn’t you love the expression
on his face when he said that? He looked as if he couldn’t believe what he was
saying, yet he looked amused at the same time.
When Babyface’s ‘Ma Barker’-like mother plants kisses on his face
(welcoming him back), he squirms and whines:
“Maaaa… I asked you not to do that in front of the guys!”
“Hey, no roughhousing in the hideout!
I’ve just waxed the floor.” Mrs. Half-Nelson chides her son as he
prepares to dispose of Baloo. The pilot
sighs with relief.
“Cancel him outside!”
When Tiny (the giant bartender) drags Baloo outside to work him over,
we hear noisy banging and a thud. Baloo
returns, the apparent victor.
Rebecca asks, “How’d you stop
him?”
“I didn’t. A truck hit him.”
Baloo introduces himself as gang boss, ‘Pretty Boy Lloyd’.
Babyface is skeptical. “You
don’t look so pretty to me.”
Baloo stammers, “Well, uh, ‘Reasonably Attractive Lloyd’ didn’t have
quite the same ring to it.”
“Uh, I’m so tough my mustache is scared of me.” Baloo’s fake mustache
comes off with his cigar.
Cody: Loses his cool easily, doesn’t he? You could just see him start to
sweat.
Gidget
(as Rebecca):
*sigh* He’s so cute when he
does that!
Baloo wakes up unconscious officers:
“Uh… free donuts!”
Gidget: How original (rolls eyes).
When traffic lights are shoved down the manhole, Rebecca shouts at
Baloo, “Red means ‘stop’!”
“For cars, Becky! We’re in a
plane.”
Cody (as Becky): Duuuhhhh…
“They’ve thrown everything at us but the kitchen sink.” Baloo says
(after dodging the obstacles in the sewer).
Naturally, a sink falls on them.
Rebecca is angry. “I really
wish you hadn’t said that.”
Baloo shrugs. “Coulda been a bathtub.”
A tub is dropped on them too.
Rebecca is incensed. “Will you be quiet!”
Cody: That was so Three Stooges, wasn’t it?
Gidget: Yeah. Pretty silly, if you ask me. I don’t like slapstick. I prefer sophisticated verbal humor, like “I
know you are but what am I?” ;)
Cody: *screams* Not Peewee!
Commentary
Gidget: Although this episode is indeed entertaining and fast-paced, it’s too
lightweight to qualify for 4 Krakatoa Specials. It’s just fun, not particularly deep. Babyface Half-Nelson and his criminal mother are a comic
delight. The former can crack safes
with his head (he’s got a weird brushcut that resembles the edges of a
bottlecap). The homicidal Mrs. Half-Nelson (sort of a cross between Ma Barker
and June Cleaver) steals the show with her strange insistence on keeping a
sparkling clean hideout.
In gangster attire, the gang looks great. Baloo always looks good in a suit, but in a black suit and red
tie and fedora he looks positively dashing.
Kit looks about twenty years old as
‘sharp-dressed man’, Mickey the Mangler. He’s better at looking tough than Baloo here – he scowls at the
gangsters and keeps his cool while Baloo stutters and fumbles as Pretty Boy
Lloyd.
Gidget (as that catty judge of the catwalk, Mr. Blackwell): “As Roxy, the moll with the mole, Rebecca is
delightfully tarty. That blue sequined
dress is to die for. But honey, ya need heels. And there’s a big bug crawling on your
face! Kill it! Kill
it now!”
Cody: LOL! Are we feeling catty or what?
But I agree. Becky would have looked better minus the bug and with heels. And
Kit makes a perfect little gangster! Baloo should have let him do the talking!
Gidget: You mean letting him live
isn’t enough? ;)
February 2000 (originally written)
November 2001 (updated with Cody’s two cents)