Spin It! (A Talespin Retrospective)

[Mesterius]

Nov 26, 2021 12:09:14 GMT djnyr said:

Oops; that'll teach me not to post after Thanksgiving dinner (too much turkey evidently fogs the brain). It'd been a while since I read that Rosa quote in full, and I obviously forgot the bit about the producer-provided synopsis. I've revised the original post accordingly; thanks for the correction. Rosa’s full quote leaves me wondering, though, just what elements of the original synopsis "wouldn't work" in animation and were jettisoned, since the most implausible (but visually entertaining) gimmick of the synopsis--the iceberg airlift--stayed in.

I don't think Rosa's quote necessarily means the producers didn't think the storyline worked "for animation". I see it as more likely they simply felt it didn't work as a storyline - and that's what they only realized after reading a full script by Rosa which followed their original synopsis. I imagine that kind of stuff happens frequently when doing a full-fledged animated series of this type, especially when you're starting it up.

In this regard, it's also interesting, as you note, that the characters still have their early pre-production designs in the storyboard sample by Rosa. Other examples I've seen around the web of these early concepts seem to suggest somewhat different personalities for several of the characters. Maybe that, too, could be one of the reasons rewrites had to be made before the episode went into production.

Nice to see that you modified the post. Though, I will say that the sentence immediately after with "...I am fairly certain that other elements of the finished episode are traceable to Rosa as well..." still kind of makes it sound like you think Rosa came up with the aerial iceberg idea.

[djnyr]

Fixed that sentence too; thanks for pointing it out. I'm looking forward to covering the other Rosa episode, "It Came From Beneath the Sea Duck"--it's an interesting study in that, while you can see some Rosa quirks and Barks references in the plot and dialogue, it's very unlike his Duck work in other regards.  I was surprised to learn that, according to Rosa himself, it followed his script pretty closely. 

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes

III. “Time Waits for No Bear”

Due to an ill-advised stop for a burger and fries at Louie’s island, which quickly becomes an all-night party, Baloo is late in delivering his cargo; to make matters worse, he apparently loses the cargo (a small, ornate box) while hurrying back to Cape Suzette. Becky loses a $10,000 payment from a client as a result, and decides to put Baloo on a strict written schedule for his next assignment, an aerial sight-seeing tour around Cape Suzette. The lost cargo subsequently turns up in a cranny of the Sea Duck, and Baloo sets out to return it to the client before the delivery deadline expires, drafting Wildcat to take his place on the tour. The cargo, however, is a stolen crown, and the client is a crime boss; Baloo and Kit wind up being chased through the city by gun-toting gangsters, while Wildcat subjects a pair of hapless tourists to a punctual but terrifyingly erratic flight, much to the ire of Becky (who believes Baloo to still be at the Sea Duck’s controls).


Another of the seven “preview” Disney Channel episodes, “Time Waits for No Bear” is a neatly-plotted and fast-paced comedic episode, written by Jeremy Cushner and Karl Geurs, with Mark Zaslove as story editor. The twin ticking clocks of the delivery deadline and the tour schedule are used to give structure to a story that could otherwise have turned into a mere string of farcical incidents, and the finale—with Baloo using Wildcat’s single-minded adherence to the schedule to defeat the gangsters—neatly ties together the episode’s plotlines together by means of the unifying “time” theme.

 

We get our first extended look at Wildcat here. Pat Fraley had not quite nailed down the voice for the character yet (it’s somewhat deeper and more chuckling than in subsequent episodes—more obviously similar to Frank Fontaine than the “mature” version of the voice), but we receive a good look at the mechanic’s eccentric thought patterns, as he adheres scrupulously to the schedule and conscientiously switches back and forth between playing pilot and flight attendant, while oblivious of almost everything else around him (including the skyscraper restaurant he flies through).  We also get to explore Cape Suzette in-depth for the first time, both in the course of Wildcat’s tour flight and Baloo and Kit’s encounters with the gangsters; the light-colored skyscrapers lining the streets and the bright blues of the city harbor give a sprightliness to the visuals which complements the sprightly comic antics of the characters.
 

“Time Waits” features the first of three appearances by the show’s only recurring antagonists other than the air pirates, the Thembrians, and Shere Khan—namely, the diminutive, bad-tempered crocodile gangster Trader Moe (who’s actually not named in “Time Waits;” we learn his moniker in a subsequent episode), and his hulking and dull-witted henchmen (a gorilla and a rhinoceros who never received any names other than “the Goons”), whose impressive stupidity continually drives the irritable Moe up the wall.



Moe, voiced by Jim Cummings, was a functional but not particularly distinctive villain, especially when compared to Karnage, Colonel Spigot, or Khan, but his apoplectic reactions to the Goons were great fun and the Goons themselves were highly enjoyable characters, whether reacting to chewings-out from their boss or being outwitted by Baloo and Kit. They were both intimidating and lovable, blazing away with machine guns at one moment and apologizing politely the next; a large part of their appeal came from their vocal characterizations by Cummings (the gorilla) and Chuck McCann (the rhino), whose perfectly timed delivery of the Goons’ characteristic echoing dialogue (“Aw, sorry boss.” “Yeah, sorry.” “That was dumb.” “It was dumb.” “We were just following orders.” “Yeah, orders.”) made lines which were mildly amusing on paper genuinely funny on screen.

The Goons were obviously inspired by the many powerful-but-dumb antagonists from many Bugs Bunny cartoons; they’re particularly reminiscent of the recurring Bugs foil Mugsy, while Trader Moe bears a noticeable resemblance to Mugsy’s boss Rocky (the lack of height and the oversized hat are a particular giveaway). I tend to be leery of attempts to inject too much Looney-Tunes-style humor into Disney animation—Warners’ anything-goes farcicality and Disney’s somewhat more grounded approach to plotting and action doesn’t always mesh well. A good balance is achieved here, however; the Goons are used for some excellent comic/absurdist humor (the “Ready, Aim Fire!” routine is an especial highlight), but the episode as a whole doesn’t toss logic to the winds for the sake of jokes and keeps the wackiness within a coherent plot framework.



Next: "A Touch of Glass," the official introduction of Louie (the orangutan formerly known as King Louie) and the Talespin writing debut of Libby Hinson.  

[djnyr]

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes

IV. “A Touch of Glass”

Rebecca decides that Higher for Hire is going after a “fancier class of clientele.” An ad in an expensive magazine targeted at this class appears to produce immediate results in the form of Buffy and Muffy Vanderschmeer, a snooty vulpine couple who charter the Sea Duck to fly them and their valuable jewels to their family estate at Hyeanasport. Unfortunately, Becky had to cash in her business insurance policy to pay for the new ad, and thus (to Baloo’s consternation), the Vanderschmeers are given title to the Sea Duck for the duration of their trip, as “collateral insurance” to cover any loss of the jewels. The flight makes a stopover at the island establishment operated by Baloo’s old friend Louie, where Louie’s rough-hewn ways quickly antagonize the Vanderschmeers, to the annoyance of Becky. Then the jewels disappear, and Louie appears to be the number one suspect—but appearances can be deceiving.



The third Disney Channel preview episode (after “I Only Have Ice for You” and “Time Waits for No Bear”), “Touch of Glass” was written by Libby Hinson, with Jymn Magon as story editor. “Glass” was intended to give the original audience its first look at Talespin’s version of Jungle Book’s King Louie, now the proprietor of a bar/restaurant/nightclub/hotel/gas-station on an island along the air routes to Cape Suzette, instead of the ruler of a simian kingdom. Louie had, of course, first appeared in “Bad Reflection on You”, but that episode, as discussed, was shelved for expansion into a two-parter and didn’t air until much later—while he was only mentioned, without appearing, in “Time Waits for No Bear.” We also get our first extended look at Louie’s place of business, a wonderfully designed crazy-quilt building with a main floor built of refurbished portions of wrecked ships and constructed around jungle trees, with treehouses for upper rooms.


The episode’s “mystery”, which is pretty transparent, makes more sense when you consider the context in which “Glass” originally aired. Louie, after all, had been a villain, albeit a funny villain, in Jungle Book, so you could see the audience for the preview episodes being willing to believe that this new TV version of the character might be a thief. I originally saw the episode in the sequence followed by the DVDs of the set, which follows the order in which the episodes aired on the Disney Afternoon; there, it followed several other episodes with Louie as an acknowledged recurring good guy, which made the “did Louie steal the jewels?” question seem obvious and banal and made Baloo’s angry confrontation with Louie, after the orangutan’s guilt has seemingly been proven, feel contrived. Baloo’s anger, and Becky’s persistent dislike of Louie for much of the episode, play much more naturally when you discard any preconceptions of the Talespin Louie formed by the episodes that post-dated “Glass.”

“Touch of Glass” works better when you consider its original context, but it is still one of the show’s more pat and predictable entries (its setup is also a little unconvincing—surely some other way could have been found to create the necessity for the “collateral insurance” idea; having Becky cash out her insurance policy to pay for the ad makes her seem somewhat uncharacteristically financially reckless). The episode’s moral—don’t judge by appearances, smart clothes don’t make smart people, etc.—is sound but rather obvious (like the moral of Magon’s adaptation of “Status Seekers” for Ducktales), and is telegraphed early enough that it’s pretty easy to foresee that the Vanderschmeers are up to no good, even if you are willing to entertain doubts of Louie as well. The moral is not hammered home as aggressively as it might have been on Ducktales, however; Becky acknowledges that she’s been “judging people all wrong” before the episode’s climactic action, in which she and Louie team up to defeat the Vanderschmeers and recover the Sea Duck for an injured Baloo. This gets the moral-pointing out of the way early and allows the story to conclude on a high note with action and humor, rather than didacticism.

 

The plot of “Glass” may be too predetermined (just like the myriad live-action TV episodes in which a lower-class character is accused of a crime by an antagonistic upper-class character), but the character writing is good throughout. Libby Hinson doesn’t rise to the emotionally compelling level of some of her subsequent Talespin scripts, but her handling of the characters is already very self-assured and multi-faceted. Becky is a bit too generically snobbish in the opening scene (although even this is somewhat justified as a response to having a load of fertilizer dumped in her office), but her more specific dislike of the vulgar Louie and her excessive respect for the seemingly polished Vanderschmeers in the body of the episode doesn’t feel like a trait tacked on for purposes of the episode’s moral, but a believable flaw that grows naturally out of her white-collar background and education. Her attitude is also made somewhat understandable by Louie’s own behavior, since Hinson takes care to avoid making the ape into a saintly diamond in the rough. He’s given an excellent moment of straightforward dignity when he stands up for himself and for his patrons in the face of suspicion, and shows caginess in exposing the Vanderschmeers’ scheme, but is also sufficiently crude and obnoxious to give us some sympathy with Becky’s irritation—particularly when he’s outrageously attempting to flirt with her; this particular character dynamic was never revisited on the show, which was probably a good idea, since it could have become off-putting if pushed any further. Here, though, it serves the purposes of the episode, and is satisfactorily concluded when Becky gives him a slapstick comeuppance for his over-romantic antics at the very end.


Baloo also has some good character beats, including a piece of cool-headed aerial heroics early in the episode to prevent the loss of the jewels. His awkwardness and embarrassment when he’s trying to politely explain to Louie that Becky is suspicious of him, and his disappointment and anger when he’s convinced of Louie’s guilt (after he’s spent much of the episode trying to defend Louie), comes off as emotionally real and something that most of us have probably experienced at some time in our lives. Having Becky sympathize with Baloo over his disappointment, instead of gloating “I told you so” is also a good humanizing touch.

All of the foregoing, perhaps, makes the episode sound more “serious” than it is; there’s plenty of humor to be found in Becky’s reactions to Louie and his place (“Baloo, I’m going insane, and I’m taking you with me!”) and in the Vanderschmeers’ verbal affectations (Buffy: “What say we leave today, ah, three-thirty-ish?” Becky: “Ummm, fine-ish). Linda Gary and Frank Welker voice the Vanderschmeers, with Welker (in one of his few Talespin appearances) using a funny Thurston-Howell-III type accent (until the foxes drop their façade towards the end).



All in all, “Touch of Glass” is a good example of Talespin’s generally high level of quality; even when the plotting, as here, is excessively obvious, the characters, action, and humor are more than enough to make the episode entertaining as a whole.

Up Next: Don Rosa's Talespin encore (also, sadly, swan song), and the official introduction of Molly Cunningham, "It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck."  

[djnyr]

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes

V. “It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck”

To demonstrate his dependability to Becky, and to make some extra money, Kit takes on the job of babysitting Becky’s daughter Molly while Becky is out shopping with Baloo. While Kit is doing his best to take care of the energetic and imaginative little girl, Don Karnage’s henchmen Dump Truck and Mad Dog bring a small submarine into Cape Suzette’s harbor on a surreptitious plundering expedition; their breach of the harbor’s shark net allows a giant cephalopod (the script calls it a squid, but it looks more like an octopus) to sneak into the harbor as well; the sea monster acquires an appetite for ice cream after getting a taste of Molly’s “Frosty Pep”, leading to an unexpectedly adventurous afternoon for the kids, the pirates, Becky, and Baloo.
 
This was Don Rosa’s second and last Talespin script, with Jymn Magon as story editor.  It was one of the seven Disney Channel preview episodes; just as "Touch of Glass" provided a full-length introduction to Louie, this episode serves to give us a full-length introduction to Molly Cunningham.  According to Rosa himself, as quoted on the Animation Source page I linked to in connection with his other Talespin episode, “It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck” was animated almost exactly the way Rosa wrote it. I would assume that, as with “I Only Have Ice for You”, Rosa was working from an initial synopsis, since I have a hard time picturing him coming up with a kid-focused storyline on his own—but what impresses me is how well Rosa handles what, for him, is a rather atypical assignment.

As someone with multiple younger siblings, the quasi-brotherly/sisterly interactions between 12-year-old Kit and 6-year-old Molly ring much truer to life for me than such scenes normally do in movies and TV, being neither too antagonistic nor too cutesy. Kit alternates between capably cajoling Molly into behaving herself and panickily rushing to keep her out of trouble, while Molly is enthused to have Kit to play with but shows absolutely no regard for his nominal position of authority. The authenticity is helped by the voice work of the child actors, but Rosa’s writing deserves real credit here—particularly since depictions of children were rarely one of his strong points in his Duck stories (as witness his generally mature and perfect Nephews); I can only think of one thing from Rosa’s Duck comics that somewhat resembles his handling of Kit and Molly here—namely, the background gags involving young Matilda and Hortense in “The Last of the Clan McDuck”; Matilda’s solicitous and somewhat harried efforts to keep Hortense out of trouble, and Hortense’s blithe recklessness, are akin to many of Kit and Molly’s interactions here.


The kids’ interactions form the central thread of the episode, which is woven skillfully with the other threads (the sea monster, the pirates) to form a satisfying episode which has plenty of humor in both dialogue and animation, some of it in the kids’ interactions, some in the interactions of the pirates. The cheerfully blockheaded Dump Truck is given his first prominent role in the series, and paired with the whiny and bad-tempered Mad Dog to form a villainous comedy team that would be utilized in most subsequent air pirate episodes. Karnage himself only appears at the beginning and end, but gets some good bits, particularly when he’s nonchalantly stuffing his henchmen inside their submarine and dropping them into the ocean to send them on their way. Karnage’s bizarrely off-the-wall (even for him) language as he insults the Cape Suzette cliff guards (“Missed me, you sisters of a warthog”) has a Monty-Python-like sound to it that makes me think it came come directly from Rosa’s pen, and Karnage’s line towards the end (“I don’t need no stinking sink!”—it makes sense in context) is even more certain to have been Rosa’s work, knowing his fondness for Treasure of the Sierra Madre.


There are also some noticeable Barks references in Rosa’s script. The method by which Kit finally gets rid of the squid—feeding it red-hot pepper in the guise of ice cream—recalls the defeat of the octopus in Barks’ “Ghost of the Grotto,” while the monster’s craving for ice cream calls to mind the peppermint-loving jellyfish from Barks’ “Status Seeker.” The cephalopod itself is basically comic in terms of its animation and motivations (it’s out to eat ice cream, after all, not people), but is big and persistent enough to provide a credible menace. Rosa also has Baloo exclaim “Great flaming catwhiskers!” at one point, which I know I’ve encountered in Rosa, and which I believe originates from Barks (although I can’t pin down the story in my mind).


Although the tone of the episode is light on the whole, it also features an exciting action climax—with the squid (or octopus) first attacking Becky’s apartment (conveniently located by a waterfall leading to the harbor) before latching on to the Sea Duck, leading in turn to a wide aerial ride as Baloo attempts to shake the monster back into the ocean. The highlight of the finale, however, is Kit’s use of his airfoil (a sort of aerial surfboard which appears here for the first time in the production order) to rescue a freefalling Molly; both kids’ expressions, as they alternate between alarm and enjoyment while they glide safely to the ocean, wonderfully encapsulate both their personalities without a word, and the adventurous appeal of the show as a whole. There’s also a good non-verbal moment of pathos, with Becky, after vigorously battling the squid but failing to prevent the apparent loss of Molly, sitting somberly in her apartment clutching one of the little girl’s dolls, just before her daughter comes back to her.
 
In addition to Kit’s airfoil, the Dump Truck/Mad Dog team, and Becky’s apartment (which would be used somewhat inconsistently on the show; sometimes she lived there, but in other episodes she appeared to be living at the Higher for Hire offices, rather like Scrooge and his money bin), yet another recurring Talespin story element makes its debut here—namely, Molly’s fascination with the radio show “Danger Woman,” a Wonder Woman take-off that also incorporates allusions to Superman (the radio show’s intro announcement) and Batman (references to a “Dangermobile” and a liaison with the police department). Molly’s fascination with this character was an indicator of her imaginative and adventurous personality, just as Kit’s air-surfing was an indicator of his own daredevil nature—but neither “Danger Woman” nor air-surfing represented the sum total of Molly and Kit’s preoccupations and personalities, as the New Ducktales production crew appeared to think. Sorry to mar a generally positive post with callbacks to the Show That Should Not Be Named, but I had to make that remark in passing.

“It Came From Beneath the Sea Duck” does not reach the emotional depths of some Talespin episodes, but there are few episodes of the show that were simply as much all-round fun as this one is. As often as I criticize Rosa, I will be the first to admit that the man had real talent for comedic but adventurous storytelling, and it’s delightful—and almost liberating, in a way—to watch him exercising that talent without any concern for continuity, historical allusion backstory, or similar preoccupations of his later years. It’s frankly too bad that he didn’t write any more Talespin episodes; I think that working with characters who didn’t carry nearly as much weight in his mind as the Ducks would have been a good exercise—and, perhaps, a good release—for him, and the result would have been good for the audience as well, if this episode is any indication.



Up Next: “Stormy Weather,” the first of the show’s episodes centered primarily on dramatic and non-comic character conflict.

[djnyr]

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes

VI. “Stormy Weather”

Kit’s daredevil cloud-surfing catches the attention of Daring Dan Dawson, the glib proprietor of an air circus, who promptly sets out to sign up Kit as his star attraction. Baloo takes an immediate dislike to the oily, show-offish Dan, but his blunt and rather clumsy efforts to squelch Kit’s interest in the idea of becoming an aerial stunt star only serve to make Kit resentful and more interested in the idea, culminating in a blow-up and Kit’s departure from Higher for Hire to join Dawson’s show. However, Kit will soon find out what “stardom” with Daring Dan really entails, and will realize that Baloo was right in telling him that some chances shouldn’t be taken.



“Stormy Weather,” another of the seven Disney Channel preview episodes, was written by Jan Strnad with Karl Geurs as story editor. Strnad was a notable comic-book fanzine editor who became a notable comic-book writer, for numerous independent publishers as well as Marvel and DC. He made his TV-writing debut with this episode, and would later do extensive animated television work, including a second Talespin episode and several episodes of Darkwing Duck, including the excellent “Days of Blunder” (one of Darkwing’s more successful attempts to inject a little pathos and character examination into its trademark off-the-wall comedy).

Strnad’s script for “Stormy Weather” has some echoes of Pinocchio, as well as any number of other cartoons and live-action features in which a young or naïve character learns that show-business life isn’t everything it’s cracked up to be. The focus, however, is not on this familiar message but on the specific personalities and relationship of Baloo and Kit, which are showcased by means of a conflict between the characters which feels completely real and uncaricatured, unlike most similar efforts at family drama in both Original Ducktales and New Ducktales.



“Stormy Weather” builds on traits that we have already seen in Baloo and Kit and uses those traits to spin a moving and effective drama. We get a real sense here of how much Baloo wants to be a dad to Kit, but also of how awkwardly the parental mantle fits on his easygoing, careless personality. His alternately angry and despairing outbursts as he comes to believe that he’s “losing” Kit are the believable reactions of someone who’s tried to avoid responsibility and emotional ties for most of his life and is now desperately playing catch-up after finding something he really cares about--and finds it very hard to find any middle ground between being indulgent and being strict. 



We also get a close look at Kit’s strengths and flaws; we see how skilled and confident he is when it comes aerial stunts as well as more mundane aviation chores (like acting as Baloo’s navigator), but we also see that his confidence in his skills can easily turn into cockiness and susceptibility to flattery; he's also keen on making big money, which feels like a realistic concern for a Depression-era orphan. Although Kit’s negative traits are very much in evidence in this episode, Strnad intelligently doesn’t have him simply act like an unrelieved jerk until he learns a lesson at the end. Kit doesn’t immediately reject Baloo for Daring Dan; he’s enthused about becoming an aerial acrobat, but he keeps trying to get Baloo to share his enthusiasm and approve of it, and is reluctant to actually join the circus or sever ties with Higher for Hire until Baloo directly orders him to stay away from Dawson and gruffly dismisses Kit’s dreams of fame and fortune—leading to a painful outburst (“You can’t tell me what to do! You’re not my dad!”) and Kit’s subsequent departure, the very outcome that Baloo was awkwardly but earnestly trying to prevent. Even after this blowup, Kit is shown as missing Baloo, while his realization that he was wrong and Baloo was right comes before the true depths of Dawson’s criminal recklessness are revealed, another good narrative choice.



The final reconciliation between Kit and Baloo, after a dramatic, storm-lighted aerial rescue and satisfying comeuppance for Dan, is also handled very well--understated but moving, with no forced sentiment. Kit starts to apologize, but Baloo cuts him off to ask him if he knows where he can find a good navigator; Kit gets the message, picks up the map, and slips back into his old role; Baloo then caps the episode with a jovial “Welcome home, partner.”



If the episode has a flaw, it’s that Dawson is a little too obviously telegraphed as a scoundrel in advance; while veteran voice actor Cam Clarke does a breezy, effervescent voice for the character, he regularly underscores it with slimy and raspy notes which, coupled with Dan’s appearance (he’s a weasel or ferret of some kind), let us know that this guy is bad news from the first time he appears. I would have preferred him to be presented as somewhat more dashing and charismatic, and a more seemingly viable alternative to Baloo as a father/mentor figure, to sharpen the episode’s dramatic conflict and make his ultimate revelation of his nastiness as big a surprise to the audience as it is to Kit. Gregory Weagle, in his review of the episode, states that the original vocal choice for the role was Phil Hartman (who did voice another Talespin guest character in a later episode); I’m not sure of Weagle’s source for this statement, but I think Hartman would probably have done a better job of making Dan come off as convincingly charming and jaunty. The lively visual depictions of Dan’s aerial stuntwork, however, help to give suitable flair and appeal to his air circus, if not its proprietor.



Kit’s own stunts have a lot of flair as well. This episode provides our first look at Kit’s “cloud-surfing”—i.e., riding on his airfoil (first seen in the previous episode, “It Came From Beneath the Sea Duck”) while holding on to the Sea Duck by means of a rope, like a water-skier riding behind a motorboat. I would assume that this is aerodynamically impossible in the real world, but it’s a great visual gimmick for animation, and is sold convincingly in the dialogue, in part because of the specificity with which Kit rattles off the jargon of the imaginary sport (“It was just a half-gainer and a flying dismount.”) The cloud-surfing, as I’ve mentioned before, also provides a nice indicator of Kit’s exuberantly adventurous personality—without, however, making him seem like an impossibly “cool” and invincible superhero of the skies; as the finale demonstrates, there are stunts which Kit can’t handle (and which he realizes that he can’t handle).


Although the focus of “Stormy Weather” is mostly on Kit and Baloo, Becky gets a good scene in which she gently points out to Baloo that Kit might be cut out for something better than hauling cargo and that, if so, “who are we to hold him down?’—but then encourages Baloo not to give up on Kit without a fight. Molly, for the first of many times, is absent without explanation (due to Janna Michaels’ limited acting schedule); it would have been nice to see her reaction to Kit’s potential departure, but this might have diffused the drama of the Baloo-Kit relationship.  Wildcat provides a few mild humorous moments, pretty much the only comic bits in a largely serious episode.



“Stormy Weather” is not one of the more rewatchable Talespin episodes, due to this general seriousness—it’s not exactly lightly entertaining to see two likable characters involved in a bitter and realistic quarrel—but it’s a rewarding and ultimately satisfying episode, which demonstrates, for the first but not the last time in this show’s production history, that “funny animals” are as capable of carrying as heavy a dramatic and emotional load as human characters.

Up next: "The Bigger They Are, the Louder They Oink."  

[aldwayne]

Building on what you said on how Baloo's attitude towards Kit's wish to join the sky circus roots in how he doesn't really know how to handle being genuinely responsible for someone else (and his surrogate son at that, you just don't treat a son the same way you treat a buddy), Rebecca's approach is interesting since it comes off as rooted in her own life experience. She's a single mother who runs a functional business, she would be far more used to needing to be responsible for not just herself but others too and needing to leverage differing or even clashing personalities to achieve her ends. And yet, when she gives her stance on the situation, she's more immediately respectful of Kit's desire to find a career that plays to his strengths than Baloo. At the same time, she doesn't tell Baloo to just let Kit do whatever he wants either since she knows how much Kit means to him and surely knows herself that regardless of how much Kit adores his new job Baloo DOES have a point in that it's a dangerous one that Kit either can't see the danger of or is refuses to see it. 

It's an example of how the show did a swell enough job showing Baloo and Rebecca's different strengths and weaknesses.

[djnyr]

Dec 8, 2021 3:29:38 GMT aldwayne said:

Building on what you said on how Baloo's attitude towards Kit's wish to join the sky circus roots in how he doesn't really know how to handle being genuinely responsible for someone else (and his surrogate son at that, you just don't treat a son the same way you treat a buddy), Rebecca's approach is interesting since it comes off as rooted in her own life experience. She's a single mother who runs a functional business, she would be far more used to needing to be responsible for not just herself but others too and needing to leverage differing or even clashing personalities to achieve her ends. And yet, when she gives her stance on the situation, she's more immediately respectful of Kit's desire to find a career that plays to his strengths than Baloo. At the same time, she doesn't tell Baloo to just let Kit do whatever he wants either since she knows how much Kit means to him and surely knows herself that regardless of how much Kit adores his new job Baloo DOES have a point in that it's a dangerous one that Kit either can't see the danger of or is refuses to see it. 

It's an example of how the show did a swell enough job showing Baloo and Rebecca's different strengths and weaknesses.

An excellent point; Rebecca's reaction is a great way of conveying the idea that she actually has some experience with parenting, and knows how to strike a middle ground between sheer indulgence and strict overreaction.  

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes

VII. “The Bigger They Are, the Louder They Oink”

Rebecca, ever on the lookout for new entrepreneurial ventures, decides to add truffle-hunting to the list of Higher for Hire’s business activities, and sets out to purchase a pig for the purpose—much to the irritation of Baloo, who would prefer to spend the same money on repairing the Sea Duck’s pontoon (damaged when another business venture went sour at the beginning of the episode). Pigs prove to come at a higher premium than Becky expected, and she winds up buying a huge, unmanageable porker on the cheap—a beast with an insatiable appetite which flies into a rage at the mention of the word “bacon” and which can only be soothed by crooning “Rock-a-bye Baby”. The subsequent truffle hunt, on the jungle island of Zibaldo, becomes a wild and wooly series of misadventures, thanks to a punctilious border official, a hungry lion, a fierce tribe of pygmy crocodiles, and the unruly pig itself.

 

“Louder They Oink”, written by Jeremy Cushner and edited by Mark Zaslove, is an enjoyable adventure-farce, but easily the least memorable of the seven Disney Channel preview episodes. Unlike the other preview episodes, it does not introduce a major recurring character or provide any fresh insight into the leading characters’ personalities. The clash between Baloo’s pragmatism and Becky’s adherence to theory is showcased again, as it was in “I Only Have Ice For You”, but their conflict feels a lot more superficial here, since, unlike the clash of personalities in “Ice,” it arises not from aviation-- something fundamental to Baloo’s identity, essential to Becky’s livelihood, and central to the series itself—but rather from a whacky one-time gimmick idea (truffle-hunting) obviously chosen for its comedic potential rather than for any real connection to the characters’ personalities.

 

Arbitrary though the central plot gimmick feels, its comedic potential is nevertheless effectively extracted, with the pig’s voracity and its periodic Tasmanian-Devil-style rampages giving rise to lots of amusing, rapid-fire slapstick and sight gags. There’s also some good absurdist verbal humor when the characters are trying to sneak the pig across the Zibaldo border (Kit: “Well, if it looks like a pig, sounds like a pig and smells like a pig, it can't be a pig, right?”). The manic, gleefully cannibalistic pygmy crocodiles (who would make a few cameos in later episodes) provide further laughs, and Baloo’s attempt to infiltrate their village via song and dance is a nice unobtrusive callback to the sequence in the monkey city in Jungle Book.



In many ways the episode recalls any number of later Barks and Van Horn ten-pagers in which Donald comes up with a bad or off-the-wall idea and keeps doubling down on it as things descend into chaos. Becky, who alternates between cheerful over-optimism and fanatical desperation as she pursues her truffle-hunting plan, is definitely in the Donald slot here, and the unselfconsciousness with which the production crew put a female character through slapstick routines is refreshing—you never get the impression that they’re worrying about making her appear either unrealistically ladylike or heavy-handedly empowered; instead, they treat her just like any other funny-animal protagonist. Baloo, for the most part, fills the function of naysaying chorus that the Nephews would in a Barks ten-pager, making sarcastic remarks about the pig and the truffle-hunting plan—although, unlike the Nephews, he doesn’t single-handedly save the day at the end; it’s actually Becky who provides the day-saving idea at the climax.



All that said, if the writers and editors had continued to rely exclusively, in Rebecca-centered episodes, on the plotting formula of “Becky stubbornly pursues a goal, gets everyone into trouble, makes amends by helping to save the day” (which could describe “I Only Have Ice for You” and “Touch of Glass” in broad outline, as well as this episode), both the character and the show would have become a lot more grating than they in fact did. However, the production crew would, fortunately, take Becky in much more varied directions in subsequent episodes. We’ve already seen something of the deeper aspects of Becky's personality, particularly in "Stormy Weather" (as Aldwayne and I have both noted), and will see much more as the series proceeds.



Trivia Addendum: Jymn Magon's blog explains the origin of the peculiar name "Zibaldo" at the link below (short version: it was from the Steve Allen show); from his remarks, I would deduce that it was added to this script by editor Mark Zaslove.  It would be reused, more memorably, for a guest character in a later episode:

finetooning.wordpress.com/2012/07/25/b-players-part-1/

Next: “For a Fuel Dollars More.”

[Mesterius]

I recently watched both of the Rosa-penned TaleSpin episodes. "I Only Have Ice For You" is actually one of the best TaleSpin episodes I've watched. Great mix of humor, action and drama; and very good animation too. It's also interesting (as always with this type of early-prodused episodes) to see how certain elements are getting "introduced" even though their in-universe introduction would come in the "Plunder and Lightning" movie. Don Karnage and his ship makes a particuarly grand entrance.

I also agree completely with you that the joke with Wildkat and the propeller feels entirely like Rosa. If this was one of his comics, it would likely have played out as a background gag in a succession of panels where we see Baloo and Rebecca arguing in the foreground.

"It Came from Beneath the Sea Duck" (which I had watched before) was more of a disappointment. The constant cutting between the main plot with Kit, Molly and the octopus and Karnage's henchmen out on assignment led to the episode never really building properly for me in terms of the narrative. So it felt underwhelming despite several fun and at least potentially exciting moments.

I don't expect you to agree with this, as I know you enjoyed the episode more; and you're also a bigger TaleSpin fan than I am. TaleSpin is a series that I have wanted to like, as I find the concept and universe appealing. But too often when I sit down to sample an episode, the series has ended up feeling underwhelming to me for one reason or another... whether it's overly-obvious or not very exciting writing, or generic-but-not-great animation. Some of the exceptions from this has been "I Only Have Ice For You", "Save the Tiger" (which I watched after reading your recommendation; a surprisingly good character study) and the TV movie "Plunder and Lightning".

[djnyr]

Thanks for joining in again, Mesterius; it's great to hear your take on the show and particular episodes, even if it's not necessarily the same as mine.  I would never claim that each and every Talespin episode is a gem, but I definitely will maintain that it had the highest batting average of any of the Disney Afternoon shows.  Howard Hawks once said that a "good" movie should have three good scenes and no bad ones; by my count, Talespin had at least twenty really good episodes, and no really bad ones; even the most predictable and routine episodes never had the "eh, who cares, it's only for kids" feel of some of the weakest Ducktales episodes like "Ducky Horror Picture Show" or "Once Upon a Dime," or the "who cares if this doesn't make sense, it's Whacky (TM)" feel of some Darkwing Duck episodes.

I agree with you that "Plunder and Lightning" and "Save the Tiger" are among the really good ones.  Among the other episodes that I would highly recommend (but which it will take me a while to get to in the course of this retrospective) are "Her Chance to Dream", "The Old Man and the Sea Duck", "Bygones," "Jolly Molly Christmas," "Louie's Last Stand," the two-parter "Bad Reflection on You", "Flight of the Snow Duck," "A Star is Torn," "Captains Outrageous," "From Here to Machinery" and "Whistlestop Jackson, Legend."  

[Mesterius]

Dec 15, 2021 2:50:30 GMT djnyr said:

Thanks for joining in again, Mesterius; it's great to hear your take on the show and particular episodes, even if it's not necessarily the same as mine.  I would never claim that each and every Talespin episode is a gem, but I definitely will maintain that it had the highest batting average of any of the Disney Afternoon shows.  Howard Hawks once said that a "good" movie should have three good scenes and no bad ones; by my count, Talespin had at least twenty really good episodes, and no really bad ones; even the most predictable and routine episodes never had the "eh, who cares, it's only for kids" feel of some of the weakest Ducktales episodes like "Ducky Horror Picture Show" or "Once Upon a Dime," or the "who cares if this doesn't make sense, it's Whacky (TM)" feel of some Darkwing Duck episodes.

Thanks; I appreciate hearing that even though we don't agree about everything.

So you rank TaleSpin above Gargoyles too then? Gargoyles is my own favorite Disney Afternoon series, and has been so ever since I watched it back in 2014. (The original series, that is, not the sequel The Goliath Chronicles.) I found it an amazing show in many respects; both in terms of the storylines and subject matters it pushed, and the complexity of several of the characters. Plus, I loved the continuity and the universe that the series gradually built. And the animation, while not great in every episode, generally holds a very high standard, impressively so in many of them.

My second favorite DA show is another bear: Adventures of the Gummi Bears! I haven't watched all of this, but a couple of years ago, I watched around the first two seasons. Until then I had considered the show a little too childish for my taste, but once I started actually watching it (and in the original English language, not dubbed to Norwegian), I was very impressed. Appealing characters, interesting universe, great writing and animation. The animation quality was also a LOT more consistent than most of Disney's syndicated shows -- including TaleSpin, where I feel like too many of the episodes have this semi-generic look and feel to the animation. Of course, in the case of Gummi Bears, it helped to only have to do 13 episodes per year and have a top team of TMS animators working on them.

Dec 15, 2021 2:50:30 GMT djnyr said:

I agree with you that "Plunder and Lightning" and "Save the Tiger" are among the really good ones.  Among the other episodes that I would highly recommend (but which it will take me a while to get to in the course of this retrospective) are "Her Chance to Dream", "The Old Man and the Sea Duck", "Bygones," "Jolly Molly Christmas," "Louie's Last Stand," the two-parter "Bad Reflection on You", "Flight of the Snow Duck," "A Star is Torn," "Captains Outrageous," "From Here to Machinery" and "Whistlestop Jackson, Legend."  

I didn't mention it, but I actually also watched "A Bad Reflection on You" recently. I really liked the suspense they built in Part 1 with the mystery of the disappearing air planes. The introduction of Khan was good too -- I especially liked the scene where it dawns on him that Baloo is "exactly the kind of fool I need". (One thing that bugged me: I can't believe that Kit would REALLY be able to fly on his board like that in the scene where Baloo is driving him through the city. Okay, sure, this is a cartoon... but you should draw the line SOMEWHERE in a series where the characters can be in real danger and stakes are involved.)

Part Two was more uneven: 

SPOILER: Click to show

{Spoiler} It was a bit of a letdown that the villain was Karnage. I mean, who else, but it really felt predictable. I also felt that the "moral of the story" was kind of beaten down the viewer's head - a problem I've often had with Talespin - with Baloo even resignedly saying to himself over and over that he shouldn't have let everyone's praise make him think he was infallible. Additionally, I felt like a little too much of the second act depended on one of Karnage's henchmen - Dumptruck, who is chasing Kit - being really, really stupid. It just feels a bit lazy to me; I much prefer that the villains pose a real threat to the good guys and make things more difficult for them, rather than sabotaging themselves to the extent Dumptruck does. The finale where Baloo and Kit make up and do the stunt flying over the mirrors was definitely better, though.

[djnyr]

Even though I technically know it was part of the Disney Afternoon, I tend to think of Gargoyles, with its realistic design, human characters, and serious plots, as separated from the more humorous and fanciful funny-animal adventure-comedies that made up the rest of the Afternoon, so I was unconsciously omitting it from any comparison to Talespin or the other DA shows.  I need to explore the show in depth before I can give a really informed opinion on it; my impression from a handful of episodes and clips is that it was a little too complex, high-concept, and self-consciously "dark" for its own good, but that's a very snap judgment; I know many people like yourself who have enormous respect for the show, and although urban fantasy is not one of my favorite genres, I do intend to give a more in-depth examination some day.

As for Gummi Bears, I caught some of its episodes in my younger days, and came away with your initial impression--i.e., that it was a "kiddie" show (it made me think of "The Smurfs"; I much preferred Ducktales and Rescue Rangers at that age).  I need to revisit it with a more mature eye; I know that Jymn Magon was heavily involved with its creation and production, as he was with Talespin, which makes me think it was probably a lot better than I gave it credit for.  I've seen Magon mention in interviews that it was inspired by his love of Tolkien, who is also a favorite of mine.  I definitely love the theme song, and as a fan of Jay Ward's cartoons I love the idea that the show reunited the voices of Bill Scott and June Foray--although, sadly, not for very long (Scott passed away early in the run).  

In regards to "Bad Reflection", I'll save some of my responses to your thoughts for when I do my own full review of the completed two-parter, but I will mention that, as much as I enjoyed the pair of episodes overall, I can sympathize with your reaction to the identity of the culprit behind the plane disappearances--the buildup was so eerie that I was hoping the revelation would be something a little more out of the ordinary, although it's hard to come up with alternatives--space aliens, perhaps, but while it would have been fun to see a Flash-Gordon-ish retro-take on aliens, such a high-concept idea might have dwarfed the human element of the Kit-Baloo plot, which I found to be the heart of the episode.  Plus, aliens were rather overused on original Ducktales, and I'm somewhat glad Talespin avoided falling into that trap.  At least the scheme used for downing the planes was something more than a run-of-the-mill hijack.  

[djnyr]

Spin It! Part 5--Episodes


VIII. “For a Fuel Dollars More”

Rebecca decides to open an aerial refueling operation, despite the grumbling of Baloo and the warnings of a crochety Inspector from the Aviation Board, both of whom dismiss the idea as dangerous and unnatural. The refueling operation actually turns out to be a rip-roaring success—but unfortunately cuts into Louie’s business, since pilots no longer need to waste extra time by stopping to fuel up at his island. Louie opens his own airborne filling station in an attempt to recapture lost clientele, and he and Baloo are soon engaged in an escalating competition for customers, each trying to top the other in proffering attractive goods and services—and each becoming gradually more irritated with his erstwhile friend.



“For a Fuel Dollars More” was not one of the seven preview episodes.  It was, however, the first Talespin episode without air pirates, gangsters, cannibals, or some other menace. Written by Chuck Tately with Jymn Magon as editor, “Fuel Dollars” manages to be quite lively despite this lack of a villain. The escalation battle between Baloo and Louie keeps the pacing quick, while the inventiveness of the mid-air fueling efforts, and the veritable flying gas station/restaurant platforms that Baloo and Louie finally end up operating in the course of their one-upmanship, provide a steady succession of appealingly quirky and fanciful visuals and clever bits of animated business.



The episode also manages to avoid the common pitfalls of a TV episode in which two of the principal characters are feuding with each other; so many episodes of this kind can only orchestrate their conflict by setting up an idiotic misunderstanding or having the characters act out of character. Here, however, it feels quite in character for the canny and roguish Louie to do his darnedest to out-hustle a competitor. It likewise feels entirely believable for Baloo to forget his initial opposition to the refueling station idea and become obsessed with getting the better of Louie by making it succeed, once Louie challenges him on his own turf—i.e., the skies.



I’m slightly ambivalent about the resolution of the episode’s conflict, however. Baloo and Louie’s eventual reconciliation—after their tussle aboard the platforms has resulted in them narrowly surviving a harrowing fall—works well, but Baloo’s subsequent plan to resolve the conflict between the two enterprises (by perpetrating a bit of sabotage to antagonize the Inspector and put Higher for Hire’s refueling operation out of business for good) is more questionable. I appreciate the unspoken moral that friendship should prevail over the inhuman forces of “the market,” (which is foreshadowed by the opening bit in which Louie lets Baloo and Kit have some ice cream on the house), but it feels rather unfair to wreck the business venture behind Becky’s back--although such underhanded shenanigans are not out-of-character for Baloo, while it would have been a little out-of-character for Becky to voluntarily jettison a successful venture for no other reason than doing Louie a good turn.



That said, Baloo’s sabotage plot leads to a good climactic combination of humor, irony and suspense as he tries desperately to save the unsuspecting Becky and the Inspector from his own time bomb, and the cosmic balance of the episode is effectively redressed by his ultimately getting hoisted by his own petard (in the original and literal meaning of that phrase). The closing gag is also good, in that it demonstrates that Baloo will never really be able to rid himself of Becky’s creative business ideas, while the little inside joke of the names of his hospital doctors indicates that he’s slated to undergo a little more comedic payback for his scheme after the episode is over.



When I originally sat down to watch this episode, I was frankly dreading it, having read a capsule plot summary and having seen and disliked so many “comedic rivalry” episodes of both live-action and cartoon series in the past. Instead, I found myself amused throughout the episode, and while it’s not particularly deep or exciting, it’s consistently entertaining and does no violence to the characters’ personalities, unlike so many other episodes of its ilk (even though it does its share of physical violence to some characters’ persons).



Bonus: A fun retro-jazzy promotional song for Louie’s fueling service, written by Chuck Tately and the Silvershers and recorded for this episode, but cut for time; it subsequently turned up on a Disney Afternoon soundtrack album:



Up Next: “The Idol Rich,” featuring the introduction of that Thembrian terror, Colonel Ivanod Spigot.

[aldwayne]

On another side, I find Shere Khan's overall use interesting in that he could in one episode be an undeniable villain (the one where he uses the Air Pirates to make an artificial fuel shortage, the one about his decades long feud with an old ace pilot), another where he works with the protagonists against a mutual threat (if only through manipulating them as he did in the giant mirrors episode), one where he's not at all responsible for the villainy in the episode but rather it's his employees scheming to carry favor with him or exploit their position (the cowboy town one and the one where Louie's island is invaded by Khan's goons), having him reward Baloo for a favor with no tricks to get out of paying Baloo only for his generosity to be abused (the same one), and yet another where he needs to be rescued from the villain (the superhero one). I think it's interesting since he's a character who could have been easily casted as the show's main big villain when not up against the pirates or the pigs, but instead they apparently kept him as this inscrutable force who's not really solidly on the heroes' side or against them. Even in "Save the Tiger" you can kinda see where he's coming from since yeah, Baloo didn't just squeeze every penny from him but had the nerve to insult him.

[Matilda]

Dec 15, 2021 2:50:30 GMT djnyr said:

I agree with you that "Plunder and Lightning" and "Save the Tiger" are among the really good ones.  Among the other episodes that I would highly recommend (but which it will take me a while to get to in the course of this retrospective) are "Her Chance to Dream", "The Old Man and the Sea Duck", "Bygones," "Jolly Molly Christmas," "Louie's Last Stand," the two-parter "Bad Reflection on You", "Flight of the Snow Duck," "A Star is Torn," "Captains Outrageous," "From Here to Machinery" and "Whistlestop Jackson, Legend."  

This was a timely post! I have Disney+ right now for a few months and I'm watching a slew of Disney Christmas stuff. There was an article online with a list of the best Disney show Christmas episodes, and I've been working my way through them. The animated ones listed were from Lilo & Stitch, Kim Possible and Phineas & Ferb. But! Thanks to your post, I added "A Jolly Molly Christmas" to my TBW list...and I liked it the best of the four.

[djnyr]

Aldwayne: I agree entirely about how interesting the show's handling of Shere Khan was; it would have been so easy to just make him "The Villain", but they continually kept you in doubt as to whether he would be antagonistic or helpful in any given episode. It's interesting to note that several of the tie-in Talespin comics (particularly the ones produced in France) failed to understand the ambiguity of the character and simply had Khan be a cartoony, one-note bad guy, donning goofy disguises and using the air pirates as his regular henchmen. I can understand their difficulty in dealing with Khan, however, since there aren't many comparable figures in Disney comics; one of the only ones I can think of is Barks' early Scrooge, who could be on the good guys' team ("Old Castle's Secret"), an out-and-out villain ("Magic Hourglass"), or somewhere in between ("Christmas for Shacktown").



Matilda: Glad you got to see and enjoy "Jolly Molly Christmas." It was the second-to-the-last episode produced, so it'll take me a very long time to get to it in the course of this retrospective, but since Christmas is coming up I'll add a few preview thoughts on the episode myself: to my mind, one of the reasons it works so well is that it doesn't go overboard on either sentiment or cynicism; so many Christmas cartoons go too far in one or the other of those directions. Molly is neither too naïve nor too skeptical throughout the episode; Baloo and Louie try to fulfill her Christmas wish with just the combination of kindness and harried awkwardness that one would expect from a couple of middle-aged bachelors in the circumstances; the episode does not conclude on a forced, everybody-laughs-heartily scene or a noisy group affirmation of affection, but instead ends on a keynote of awe and a moment of quiet but moving mother-daughter love. The episode as a whole is a good example of the writing abilities of Libby Hinson, who penned at least three episodes that would place in my Talespin top ten--this one, "The Old Man and the Sea Duck," and "Her Chance to Dream."