Let's Watch This: "The Tigger Movie" (2000)

Hey, everybody, guess what? This is my fiftieth review on this blog! I don't think it's the fiftieth review I've ever written (I write these reviews months in advance), but it's the fiftieth review POSTED on here! That's exciting, right?

Well, I suppose it'd be more exciting if it weren't for the fact that I post reviews on this blog pretty frequently (I used to post something on this blog every week, then I changed it to every other week), so it didn't take long for me to reach fifty reviews. But still, fifty reviews. I knew this would have to be a big review. A review of something either really good or really bad (as opposed to a review of something that's just okay or a review of something that's bad but far from the worst thing I've ever seen). After thinking about it for a few days, I decided that my fiftieth review should be another opportunity to take a trip into the Hundred Acre Wood.

I previously wrote a review of DisneyToon Studios' first Winnie the Pooh production, 1997's Pooh's Grand Adventure: The Search For Christopher Robin. Their next film starring that silly ol' bear of very little brain, the one that we'll be looking at today, actually got a theatrical release.

The Tigger Movie was released on Febuary 11th, 2000. It was directed by Jun Falkenstein (also the director of 1999's Winnie the Pooh: Seasons of Giving and Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas). Despite not being the biggest success at the box office (in total, it made $96,159,800), it is today one of the most beloved of DisneyToon Studios' Pooh films and was even nominated for a few Annie Awards. The Sherman Brothers also came in to write new songs for the film. It's always been a personal favorite of MINE, to. So, why are we still talking about it? Let's get started!

But first, I suppose I should bring up the Elephant in the Room.

No, not you, Lumpy. I'll probably get to your film at some point, though.

Anyhow, back when the film first entered production (back then, it was called Winnie the Pooh and the Family Tree), the original plan was to have Paul Winchell, Tigger's original voice actor, reprise his role. He participated in a 1998 recording session for the film, but Disney kicked him off the project because they felt he sounded too old and "raspy". This is not the first time they'd done something like this, as they previously did the same thing to Phil Harris when he was supposed to reprise his role as Baloo for TaleSpin. The fact that they treated Paul like this is (obviously) awful, but two good things did come out of it. First off, they gave the role of Tigger to Jim Cummings, who'd previously filled in for Paul as Tigger in multiple different projects. And Jim does a great Tigger (and please don't blame him for what happened, he had nothing to do with it aside from just being the guy chosen to replace Paul). Second, when the Disney Imagineers found out how Disney treated Paul, they felt so sorry for him that they invited him to come in and do the voice of Tigger one more time for the then-under construction Winnie the Pooh attraction at Walt Disney World. And I personally think that Paul's Tigger sounds just fine on the ride.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let's start the film. Like most Winnie the Pooh films, the movie begins with a live action segment showing us the bedroom of Christopher Robin, with stuffed animals that look like his friends scattered around the room. I recall them reusing this exact footage for one or two other Pooh films. The narrator (John Hurt) does the usual "This could be the room of any young boy, but it belongs to Christopher Robin. He has many animal friends, and they all have adventures in the Hundred Acre Wood" spiel. As we see a Winnie the Pooh doll (now available at your local Disney Store!) sitting next to a book with its name on it, the narrator brings up Pooh Bear and the book suddenly opens on its own. Because apparently Christopher Robin's bedroom is haunted.

Then Tigger, voiced as I've said before by Jim Cummings, appears to complain. "It seems to me that most of these stories are about that silly ol' bear!" he points out. Why not a story about HIM for a change? So what if the title of the book is "Winnie the Pooh"? He can fix that - which he promptly does.

I'm with Tigger - that IS a wonderful title.

After that, Tigger bounces inside the book and the movie gets started. It's a beautiful Autumn morning, and Tigger is out and about, bouncing through the woods and singing "The Wonderful Thing About Tiggers".

Tigger says at least three times during this song that he's "the only one".
Remember that - it's very important.

Tigger's bouncing leads him right to the house of Pooh, of course ALSO voiced by Jim Cummings. Tigger invites Pooh to do some bouncing with him, but Pooh politely says that he can't because he needs to count all of his honey pots and make sure he has enough for the winter - and with an appetite like Pooh's, who knows how many he considers enough for the winter. We get some shenanigans involving Tigger getting his foot stuck in a honey pot, and then he heads off.

I honestly don't have a funny caption here, but I figured I needed to have
a screencap of Pooh's first appearance in the movie.

Next, Tigger visits Piglet (John Fiedler) and asks if HE'D like to do some bouncing. Alas, Piglet's busy making preparations for the winter as well - making sure he's got enough firewood. Tigger tries to help by tossing a wooden chair into Piglet's fireplace, but that doesn't satisfy Piglet, so he leaves. His next stop is Kanga (Kath Soucie) and Roo (Nikita Hopkins)'s house to ask Kanga if SHE'D like to do some bouncing, but she's too busy as well.

Sitting atop a large rock, Tigger wonders why nobody wants to play. Then he realizes that there's plenty of OTHER characters he hasn't asked yet, and bounces off... and in the process, he accidentally launches the rock off of the cliff that it was perched on. It lands on Eeyore (Peter Cullen)'s house. Fortunately, Eeyore isn't harmed.

Somebody tell Piglet that the Hundred Acre Wood just received a bumper
crop of firewood.

Eventually Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit (Ken Sansom), Kanga, and Roo come by to see what they can do to help. Rabbit has a plan to get rid of that rock and restore Eeyore's house. It involves building this:

Ladies and gentlemen, say hello to Rabbit's Rock Remover. I have no idea how it's supposed to work, and I don't think any of the characters do either.

Eventually Tigger shows up. Predictably, Rabbit is in a mood and tells him that they can't go bouncing with him because they need to get rid of the rock. Tigger, of course, believes that the solution to "movin' that old thing" is through - what else? - bouncing.

Long story short, Tigger's bouncing winds up getting the rock moving - and thanks to Rabbit's Rock Remover, it winds up getting Rabbit, Pooh, Piglet, Kanga, Roo, and Eeyore dragged along for the ride. Roo winds up in a tree, Eeyore winds up in a briar patch, and everyone else winds up in the mud. 

What the heck was a fish doing in a pool of mud? Don't fish prefer
cleaner water?

Rabbit is enraged and starts screaming at Tigger for wrecking his "Rock Remover", even though chances are it wouldn't have worked anyway. "Everything's ruined! And all you can think about is BOUNCING?!" he shouts.

"But that's what Tiggers do best..." Tigger says. "Exactly. Unlike US," Eeyore replies. Kanga, Piglet, and Pooh point out that even if they weren't so busy, they couldn't bounce with Tigger because they're not Tiggers. Didn't stop them at the end of Winnie the Pooh and Tigger Too, but whatever. Tigger glumly walks off and sings another song, "Someone Like Me", about how much it actually stinks being the only Tigger in the world.

Just look at these gorgeous backgrounds.

Roo catches up with Tigger and tries to cheer him up. "Aren't there other Tiggers? I've got a mama. Don't you have a family somewhere, too?" he suggests. This plants an idea in Tigger's head - he MUST have a family! He immediately makes it his mission to find them.

So he and Roo head over to Owl (Andre Stojka)'s house, where Owl of course begins yammering about his relatives while showing off some portraits of them.

I want more information about Owl's relatives. What's the story with
the owl dressed like Elvis?

We get some WHACKY SHENANIGANS involving Tigger accidentally knocking the portraits off the wall, and when he puts them back up he arranges them all so that it looks like Owl's got a tree full of his relatives on the wall. This, along with Owl bringing up one's "family tree", gives Tigger another idea...

I'm glad that my relatives don't all look exactly like me.

"Why didn't I think of thinkin' of that?!" Tigger exclaims. "So long, Beak Lips! Thanks for the tip!" He and Roo head out to find Tigger's "family tree", Owl is confused, and I will now be calling Owl "Beak Lips" throughout the rest of this review.

And so begins Tigger's grand search for his "family tree". When Roo asks how he'll know which tree it is when he spots it, Tigger says that it'll definitely be the biggest tree in the forest - and it'll be all stripedy, just like a Tigger. The only question is, where could his family tree be?

Then we cut to Rabbit attempting to rebuild Eeyore's house. And failing at it.

An architect you are not, Rabbit.

Tigger and Roo show up, and when Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore hear that they're looking for Tigger's family, they decide to help out by searching for them as well. If nothing else, it beats watching Rabbit try and fail to fix Eeyore's house. I wouldn't expect Rabbit to get his own house-renovating show on HGTV anytime soon.

They ask Rabbit if he's going to help them, to which he snaps, "To go look for MORE Tiggers?! As if ONE wasn't bad enough!" Besides, he has too many winter preparations to make.

Out of context, this screencap looks like Rabbit went insane and is arguing
with a bunch of sticks, and Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore are understandably
quite concerned.

I mean, it'd hardly be the first time Rabbit went crazy.

Once Tigger and Roo arrive back at Tigger's house, Tigger digs through a barrel in the hopes of finding some sort of clue as to their whereabouts. I would like to point out here that Tigger has a lot of crap he probably doesn't need (an apple core? A dog collar?). Eventually, he brings up some sort of bounce called the "Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper-Bounce", a special kind of bounce that only the bestest bouncers can bounce. Roo asks if Tigger could teach HIM to do it, but Tigger dubs the idea "ridickerous" - it's a very powerful bounce, only for "professional bouncers". But he's still going to sing a song about it!

Now, half of the Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper-Bounce
is ninety-percent mental. If you calculate the specific, Tiggerjectory of year,
Stripcelleration Diviferous, by the Square Boot of your Rebounce, your Vertical
Situituation Indicator and your Striperconic Sprigertia should Rica-Tic-a-Chet
your Hydraulific Fu-Silly-Age into an Accelerometric De-Orbit!

Any questions?

After demonstrating the bounce, Tigger begins filling Roo in on the safety rules and regulations - always bounce in a well-lit area, never bounce near an open flame, don't bounce right after eating, etc. But Roo's not paying attention and decides to try the bounce for himself... and winds up flying into a closet, where he finds a locket. Tigger comes to the conclusion that the locket has a picture of his family inside and tries to get it open.

Okay, where the heck did Tigger get a SWORD? Did he recently go
to a Medieval Times restaurant and buy a souvenir?

But the locket turns out to be empty. Tigger is bummed, but Roo has another idea - writing the other Tiggers a letter.

By the way, does anybody know what the heck this thing is?

What is that? It has spots... is it a leopard costume? Why does Tigger own a leopard costume? Is it a Halloween costume he never bothered to throw out?

Meanwhile, Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore are out searching for Tigger's family. They come across some frogs and assume they're Tiggers, since they have stripes and hop. I would love to know what's going through these frogs' minds as Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore try to coax them into coming with them to Tigger's house. They're probably thinking, "What the heck's a Tigger? I'm a frog. I sit on a lily pad, eat flies, and get mistaken for a toad every day. Let me be!"

Say, how come the frogs can't talk in a movie where bears, tigers, rabbits,
owls, pigs, donkeys, and kangaroos can?

Eventually, Pooh and Piglet decide that these aren't the right sorts of Tiggers after all. Eeyore, meanwhile, sinks into the mud.

Tigger is hard at work on his letter - "Dear T-I-Double-Guh-Errs - Tiggers - Greetin's and salutations. Please drop by any old time. On accounta my house is your house and vicey-versey. Love, Tigger!" he writes.

"Dear Michael Eisner, the Winnie the Pooh ride you built at Disneyland stinks.
Disney World's version is good, but Disneyland's is garbage."

Once the letter is finished, Tigger lets it blow away in the wind. Now there's nothing left to do but wait for them to write back.

Back to Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore. Pooh spots a tree where bees live and decides that he can go for a small smackarel. I like the visual of Pooh's paw reaching into the tree accompanied by his humming. But in order to get to the honey, Pooh needs to soothe the bees, which he accomplishes with another song, "Pooh's Lullabee". As Pooh eats, Piglet points out to Eeyore that he's been up in that tree for quite some time now. "Most likely he's stuck. Been known to happen," Eeyore says, referencing the events of Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree. So Piglet climbs up to see if Pooh's okay... and accidentally knocks him into the hole in the tree where the bees are sleeping, waking them up. D'oh.

"NOT THE BEES! NOT THE BEES!"

As Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore are running from the bees, Tigger and Roo are still waiting on a letter from the other Tiggers. Once night falls, Tigger assumes the lack of response means there are indeed no other Tiggers. Could just be that the wind wasn't even blowing in the direction where other Tiggers live, but Tigger doesn't think of that. "I might as well face it. There AREN'T any other Tiggers," he moans.

Back at his house, Roo tells Kanga about how lonely Tigger is. "I wish I had a big brother like Tigger," he admits. Kanga reassures him that Tigger IS part of their family - and as long as they care for him, he always will be. Still, Roo wishes he could do something to make him feel better.

We then cut to Roo, Kanga, Pooh, Piglet, and Eeyore gathered at Beak Lips' house. Beak Lips fills us in as to what's going on - Roo thinks it would cheer Tigger up if they all wrote him a letter.

I love the pose on Owl... uh, I mean Beak Lips... here.

The letter will be from Tigger's family to him. "Dear Tigger," Beak Lips writes, "Just a note to say... what shall it say?" Everybody starts suggesting things. Kanga suggests "Dress warmly." Pooh suggests "Eat well." Piglet suggests "Stay safe and sound." Eeyore suggests "Keep smiling." Roo suggests "We're always there for you." "Wishing you all the best... signed, your family," Beak Lips adds.

The next morning, everyone (except Rabbit, apparently... and Gopher, but he's not even in this movie, so yeah) is woken up by Tigger, who's in a much better mood. He's got a letter from his family. He's so excited by it that he's going to sing about his family, giving the animators an excuse to go crazy and give us some surreal visuals.

Let's see... we've got parodies of famous paintings...

They did a scarily good job of imitating the original paintings' art styles...

Tiggers that look like the Country Bears...

I love it when Disney references their theme park rides in their movies.

Brady Bunch Tiggers...

It's really weird seeing female Tiggers. It's like seeing Tigger in drag.

Space alien Tiggers...

Uhhhhhhhhh... Houston, we have a problem?

Jerry Springer Tiggers...

So, we're supposed to assume that this stuff is all going on in Tigger's mind, right?
If so, how does Tigger know about Jerry Springer? Does he even have a TV?

Dinosaur Tiggers...

Even the mighty Tiggersaurus Rex had teeny tiny arms.

And is it just me, or is Tigger rocking the tux here?

Seriously, he looks really dang good in that tux.

But what REALLY makes Tigger excited is that he has somehow come to the conclusion his family is coming to see him tomorrow. Sure, it doesn't actually SAY THAT in the note, but with Tiggers you've gotta read between the lines.

Later, Roo pays Tigger a visit, finding him hard at work adding a family room to his house, so his family will have somewhere to live after the party he's throwing. He's so excited that Roo can't get a word in edgewise, and he really can't bring himself to tell Tigger the truth about the letter anyway. So he asks Pooh to do it. Alas, Pooh doesn't get the chance to do it either. Nor does anybody else - Tigger's too excited, and they don't have the heart to tell him the truth.

Then Roo gets another idea. They'll disguise themselves as Tiggers and show up at his house so Tigger won't be disappointed.

Eeyore becomes a zebra.

This leads to another song, "How to Be a Tigger". In the middle of the song, Rabbit shows up and chews them out for goofing around instead of preparing for the long, cold, snowy winter. This briefly bums everyone out, but Roo gives them a pep talk and they're all on board with the plan again. Sooooooooo... minor detour gotten by, I guess.

The snow's a-comin' down, and Tigger's starting to get worried. He decides to go out and find his family, only to open the door and see this:

It's Tigger's family... who just so happen to have the exact same proportions
as Tigger's friends!

Yes, Tigger actually buys it. He doesn't even recognize their voices. Though to be fair, I'd seen far worse disguises.

So the party begins (and I, for one, would love to attend a party thrown by Tigger), with Tigger not suspecting a thing. Everything's going great... until Roo decides to do the Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper-Bounce. He winds up flying into the closet again, and in the process, his mask comes off - resulting in Tigger realizing that the little Tigger who suggested doing the bounce was in fact Roo the whole time. He puts two and two together and starts unmasking the other Tiggers, discovering that they're actually his friends. "We only wanted to help, Tigger," Pooh protests.

Well, now, HERE'S a rare sight indeed... an angry Tigger.

Tigger is understandably, and uncharacteristically, quite hurt. "Now I understand. It was all a big joke," he says. "Well," he adds, grabbing the locket and the letter, "That's alright. Because somewhere out there, there's a Tigger family tree, full of my REAL Tigger family. I've got a letter to prove it. And I'm gonna find 'em!" He storms out of the house, leaving his friends just standing there ashamed.

Once everyone heads home, Roo goes to Pooh's house and begs him to help him find Tigger. "What we need is an expotition!" Pooh says. "To the place where Tigger is... or was... or will be. I believe Rabbit should lead us." Rabbit needs some convincing from Pooh, Piglet and Eeyore, but he comes around.

Meanwhile, Tigger isn't having much luck finding other Tiggers. Eventually, he finds a tree that just might be his family tree...

I mean, how many other trees have Tigger-esque stripes on them?

He immediately begins searching the tree for other Tiggers, but alas, there aren't any. "Maybe they forgot I was coming..." he says, tearing up. "But... but I thought you were always there for me..."

Fortunately, the others find Tigger. When he hears their calling to him, he assumes that they're other Tiggers... and is promptly disappointed to discover that they're not. Rabbit is all "Come home with us! It's not safe out here!" to which Tigger shouts, "EXACTICKALLY! That's why you should all go home, where it IS safe! But I've gotta wait here, in my family tree, for MY... REAL... FAMILY!"

All of that shouting, of course, causes an avalanche.

Word of advice - if you're in a cartoon, and you're near a mountain,
don't shout. Chances are it'll cause an avalanche. It's just common knowledge.

Tigger gets all of his friends to safety, but gets caught in the avalanche himself. Looks like it's up to Roo to save the day with the Whoop-de-Dooper-Loop-de-Looper-Alley-Ooper-Bounce (and I'm really getting tired of typing all that). Long story short, he and Roo manage to fly to safety. The avalanche stops, everybody's safe, and Roo's a hero. Tigger's still bummed about the whole "lack of other Tiggers" thing, though.

Beak Lips and Kanga catch up with them - and they've brought Christopher Robin with them.

All together now - D'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAW...

Pooh fills Christopher Robin in as to what's been going on - they've been looking for Tigger's family. "Tigger's family? You didn't have to go looking for them," Christopher Robin tells Tigger. Beak Lips, Kanga, Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and Roo recite the letter as a way to tell Tigger that THEY wrote it. Tigger now realizes that Christopher Robin is right. He DIDN'T need to go looking for his family. His friends are his family. "I should've seen it all along," he admits.

To thank his friends, Tigger gives them all presents. He gives Eeyore that family room he built as a new house. Kanga gets a hat, Christopher Robin gets a toy airplane, Beak Lips gets a yo-yo, Pooh gets (of course) honey, Piglet gets a ton of firewood, Rabbit gets a promise that Tigger will watch where he's bouncing from now on, and Roo? Well, he gets the locket. "Only the best... for my bestest little brother," Tigger tells him. Everybody takes a photo to put in the locket, and we end with a Kenny Loggins song. The end.

I guess Gopher doesn't qualify as a member of Tigger's family?

So, that's The Tigger Movie. And there's a reason why it's possibly the most popular of DisneyToon Studios' Winnie the Pooh productions. It's a touching film, with wonderful animation, a nice moral, and great songs. And quite possibly Jim Cummings' greatest performance as Tigger. I'm not sure which film I like more, this or Pooh's Grand Adventure. They're both great movies. I highly recommend that you give The Tigger Movie a watch. It's impossible not to smile at least once while you're watching it.

We've got more Winnie the Pooh films to look at. But, my next review shall be about another animal with stripes. I won't give it away, though...

Let's Watch This: An Episode of "The Mask: The Animated Series"

In 1994, a film called The Mask was released.

I have never seen it, but here's the plot of the film as far as I know: this guy named Stanley Ipkiss, played by Jim Carrey, comes across a mask. When he puts it on, he becomes a green-headed lunatic with godlike powers. Hilarity ensues. Eventually he hooks up with Cameron Diaz. It was a critical and commercial success. And this was the 1990s, when anything and I mean ANYTHING could be a cartoon. So somebody said, "Hey, here's an idea! Let's make a cartoon show based on The Mask!" Thus, 1995 saw the premiere of The Mask: The Animated Series on CBS.

The plot doesn't stray too far from the film's: Stanley Ipkiss has a mask that when he puts it on turns him into a godlike lunatic. Despite the fact that (I think) the show is supposed to take place after the movie, with some differences... the movie ends with Stanley getting rid of the mask. Cameron Diaz's character, Stanley's love interest? Yeah, she never shows up. I don't think she's even mentioned. Oh, and the movie also had this one character who sold Stanley out to some mobsters. Here, she's one of the good guys and Stanley's friend. He's super-forgiving. Rob Paulsen took over as the voice of the Mask (and Stanley too, of course). It also has an awesome theme song.

I've watched a couple episodes of this show before, and I don't recall finding it all that great. Here are the episodes I distinctively remember watching:

- The first episode, in which Stanley tries to get rid of the Mask by throwing it in cement, but must get it back to defeat this evil dude voiced by Tim Curry.

- The second episode, in which Stanley babysits an infant who puts on the Mask. Includes a mob boss or something that plays a Barney the Dinosaur parody.

- An episode in which Stanley fights this evil dude who can inflate his body (voiced by Jim Cummings using his Winnie the Pooh voice).

- An episode in which Stanley puts on the Mask and hangs out with his favorite cartoon characters, who are parodies of Yakko, Wakko and Dot from Animaniacs.

- And an episode in which the Mask travels to the future or something like that.

But I watched those episodes a long time ago, so who knows, maybe the show was better than I remember it being. Today, we shall be watching the episode "Martian Mask".

The episode begins on a rainy night. We see a sign reading... um... "Keep Edge City Fluffy"? What? Is "fluffy" slang for "clean" or something? And if so, when did THAT happen?

I mean, I'm not exactly an expert on 1990's slang, but has anyone
EVER used "fluffy" as another word for "clean"?

At the moment, the Mask is in the middle of a car chase. Specifically, he's being chased by this guy named Lieutenant Mitch Kellaway (voiced by Neil Ross) and his sidekick, Detective Doyle, who's voiced by Jim Cummings... and also has his underwear pulled over his head. Ha ha? Kellaway's shtick, apparently, is that he wants to capture the Mask. And Doyle's shtick is that he's a massive idiot. The Mask disguises himself as a police officer so he can pull Kellaway over and pull HIS underwear over HIS head! Underwear! It's automatically funny, right?

"You'll never defeat me, Kellaway! I'm the main character
of the show!"

As he drives off, the Mask presses a button in his car... which causes an umbrella to pop out of his head. Uh... what? Kellaway tells him that he's in violation of the law and to pull over his vehicle NOW. To get away from him, the Mask goes into "warp drive" and turns his car into a rocket ship, then proceeds to fly off into outer space. However, Kellaway isn't too phased. "He's got to come down sometime," he growls, "And when he does, I think I know just where we can find him..."

Look at his pose here. Who does this guy think he is, BATMAN
or something?

So, for those of you who have no idea just what exactly is going on... join the club. We've got jackets.

Then we cut to, um, this...

Didn't Mr. Crocker from The Fairly OddParents have a vehicle like that?

Inside the vehicle, a scientist guy (Jeff Bennett) named Crosby tells this man named Agent X, also voiced by Jim Cummings, that their base in the Arctic or whatever picked up a signal of an "unidentified flying object". Agent X demands photos of this object. Uh, what's going on? When did this turn into X-Files: The Animated Series?

This is Agent X. Is it just me, or does he look a lot like Vallejo from
Fillmore!? Y'know what, new headcanon - this IS Vallejo. He got buff.
I know this show premiered years before Fillmore!, but just work with me
here...

The "unidentified flying object", of course, turns out to be the Mask's rocket. And since the Mask has green skin, Agent X and Crosby immediately come to the conclusion that he's an alien. "This could be a matter of cosmic significance! Not to mention national security!" Agent X announces. "Crosby! Initiate Level A Surveillance! We'll cling to that E.T. tighter than a woodtick clings to your face!" Okay, I still have no idea just what, exactly, is going on, but I think I like this Agent X guy. Of course, his being voiced by Jim Cummings probably has something to do with that...

When did that scientist guy from Looney Tunes get so TALL?

The Mask, meanwhile, attempts to use his ejector seat as he comes in for a landing, but that just results in WACKY SHENANIGANS. Once he lands, he does this...

Okay, that might not be "the visuals in Son of the Mask" levels of creepy,
but it's still pretty dang creepy.

And he realizes that he landed right next to his apartment building! Then we cut back to Agent X and Crosby tracking him. They figure out that he lives in Edge City. But, Agent X wonders, is this a GOOD alien like Zoidberg from Futurama, or an EVIL alien like the one from, well, Alien? Or just an incredibly obnoxious alien like Roger from American Dad?

The next day, we see Stanley minus the mask talking to his dog Milo (Frank Welker) about his run-in with the authorities. He's worried that they're "onto us". Honestly, Stanley, I don't think you have much to worry about. The only real similarity between the normal not-masked you and the Mask is the voice of Rob Paulsen. If Kellaway hasn't noticed "Hey, the Mask's voice sounds very much like that of Stanley Ipkiss" and put two and two together by now, I don't think he EVER will.

Crosby is watching Stanley through a telescope. "I have the subject under surveillance in the designated location," he says to Agent X through his headset, "But he seems entirely human." Agent X tells him that the alien must be a shapeshifter... or just really good at disguising himself.

Meanwhile, completely unaware that he's being watched, Stanley decides that he has to "chill out", and what better way to do that than by watching some TV?

Something you'll notice is that the animated Stanley Ipkiss doesn't look
all that much like Jim Carrey. This presumably is because the animation
company behind this show didn't have the rights to Jim Carrey's likeness,
and they were afraid that if they made the animated Stanley look like Jim
he might sue them or something. It's a common thing in animated shows
based on live action movies.

And he's just in time to watch Lizard Men From Vermont! Funny, I've been to Vermont a couple times and I don't recall seeing any Lizard Men. Then again, I did go there in the winter... maybe they migrate south like the birds do?

Notice the poster of the Wolf from Red Hot Riding Hood in the background
there?

Well, actually, the Lizard Men aren't from Vermont... they're from outer space! It's a sci-fi movie! And the episode's plot revolves around these two guys thinking that Stanley is an alien! Oh-ho-ho the irony!

Isn't that the iguana from the Rainforest Café? You know, this guy?

As Stanley and Milo watch their movie about the rejected Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles villains, Crosby uses a robotic pigeon to pick up "audio transmissions" outside Stanley's window, allowing him and Agent X to hear the movie on TV.

And wouldn't you know it? The Lizard Man in the movie can disguise himself as a human! He takes out a device and speaks into it, "Phase One of my mission is complete. I have assumed humanoid form. I will now anhialate the Earth creatures and pave away for a total conquest of the planet! Bwahahahahahahahahahaaaaaaaa!" WHAT ARE THE ODDS THAT STANLEY JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE WATCHING A MOVIE ABOUT ALIENS WHO DISGUISE THEMSELVES AS HUMANS SO THAT THEY CAN TAKE OVER THE EARTH WHILE TWO GUYS WHO BELIEVE THAT HE'S AN ALIEN DISGUISED AS A HUMAN SO THAT HE CAN TAKE OVER THE EARTH ARE LISTENING IN ON HIM?

Agent X tells his hazmat suit-wearing henchmen that they're going in for a pre-emptive strike. They and Crosby barge in and up the stairs, onto to wind up literally running into Kellaway and Doyle (yeah, they're still in this episode). Agent X's all "This is a raid!" and Kellaway is all "Well, we're doing a stakeout!" and they start going at it. "You're out of your league, Flatfoot! Behind that door is an alien bent on world domination!" Agent X barks. "Alien?! He's a common criminal!" Kellaway snaps. Then he grabs one of the hazmat suit-wearing guys and demands, "Where'd you get your training, the Twilight Zone?!" "YOU'RE interfering with a government operation, Brickhead!" Agent X shouts. "YOU'RE trying to steal my collar-glory, guy!" Kellaway shouts back. Here's a suggestion, Kellaway: work on your snappy comebacks. I don't even know what a "collar-glory" is.

So Agent X and Kellaway start brawling. I don't know about you, but I'm rooting for Agent X. Meanwhile, Doyle asks one of the hazmat guys how they're able to use the bathroom in those suits.

"You know, I really loved you guys in Monsters Inc.!"

Back in the apartment, Stanley and Milo are still watching their movie. Apparently, the lizard man fell in love with a human woman while disguised as a human, and he did a Heel-Face Turn for her. The end. Then it cuts to an urgent news flash! The newscaster (Tress MacNeille) announces that a mutant with putty-like superpowers escaped from the "State Pen" the night before, accompanied by a big fish. Stanley recognizes them as Fish Guy and Putty-Thing!

A bit of backstory here: Fish Guy and Putty-Thing made their debut in a previous episode of the show. They were initially a pair of normal teenagers named Dak and Eddie who irradiated themselves so that they could become supervillains. Why did they want to become supervillains? I don't know, I haven't actually seen that episode.

"I have to do something!" Stanley says, but then Milo's barking makes him decide that he should just chill out. Yeah, chill out and let Fish Guy and Putty-Thing commit acts of evil. Great idea there, Stanley. Aren't you supposed to be the hero of the show? Then the newscaster adds that the police are still searching for the Mask after another series of public humiliations, and this makes Stanley decide that a little do-gooding might "offset some bad press" and puts on the mask.

"MASK WILL CRUSH PUNY FISH GUY AND PUTTY-THING!"

The Mask dashes off to save the day, and then Agent X, Crosby, Kellaway, Doyle and the hazmat guys barge into the apartment... and find it to be, with the exception of a dog, empty. And yes, they do indeed play the "wah-wah-wah-wah-waaaaaaaaaaaah" sound effect here. "Nice going, Agent Skywalker!" Kellaway snaps, because apparently all he can think of when it comes to insulting Agent X is referencing random sci-fi movies. The two start going at it again, while one of the hazmat guys (also Frank Welker) sits on the couch eating popcorn.

Then we cut to a convenience store where we finally get to meet (unless you unlike me watched the previous episode where they first showed up) Putty-Thing and Fish Guy. This is Putty-Thing:

I personally think the hat really completes the look that he's going for here.

And this fine fellow is Fish Guy:

Wow, the Incredible Mr. Limpet has really let himself go...

They are voiced by Cam Clarke (who also voiced the Lizard Man from the movie before) and Jeff Bennett respectively. To their credit, they actually decide to PAY for all the stuff that they're grabbing instead of just stealing it like you would expect a supervillain to do, but Putty-Thing asks how they're going to pay for it when they don't have any money. Then they hear on the radio that a prison-escapee with putty-like superpowers just hijacked a car and was last seen in the desert and also a big fish with no powers escaped as well. This makes them realize, hey, they CAN just steal everything that they want because they're villains and villains do things like that. I'll be honest, I initially thought that the radio announcer said "a prison-escapee with MONEY-like superpowers" and that they would bring in a THIRD supervillain who Putty-Thing and Fish Guy would steal money from to pay for all the stuff they want to get. I guess it's for the best that they're not going in that direction, because this episode's got enough opponents for the Mask as is.

So Putty-Thing and Fish Guy attempt to rob the place, but the idiot counter-worker guy (Frank Welker again) asks if he can have Putty-Thing's autograph. He's already got autographs from Thelma, Louise, and Walter (who I believe is another recurring villain on the show) - he doesn't want Fish Guy's autograph, though, because in his own words "ya got no powers and ya smell like my feet!"

In retaliation for the guy's insulting Fish Guy, he and Putty-Thing begin to trash the store. After escaping, the counter-worker guy boredly walks up to the screen and tells the audience, "Ain't my place. I just fill in for Zed on Tuesdays. Generally I fish on weekends!" I like this guy. I honestly want the episode to just be about this guy now.

Seriously, is this guy a recurring character? I will gladly watch more episodes
of this show if it means I get to see more of this guy. He's the best part of this
episode.

Putty-Thing and Fish Guy, as it turns out, are headed for the beach, where not only will there be gnarly waves and hot babes that'll totally want to get it on with them (if they're into that sort of thing, I mean), but also where nobody will ever make fun of Fish Guy again. Because, Putty-Thing says, then Fish Guy will be right where he belongs, "And you can make friends with all the hermit crabs, huh-huh-huh-huh-huh-huh!" However, their little road trip is interrupted when they run into the Mask. The Mask smells Fish Guy by turning his head into a giant nose (thank you for the flashbacks to that one scene in Son of the Mask, I really needed that!) and asks him, "Think of using a deodorant?" "Yeaaaaaaaah..." Fish Guy replies. "Try INDUSTRIAL-STRENGTH!" the Mask exclaims before spraying him with pesticide. After that, Putty-Thing grabs the Mask and, uh, absorbs him, I guess...

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to get putty out of this suit?!"
"Dude, of course I do! Why else would I be doing this?!"

…and then proceeds to spit him out as a skeleton. "I didn't know I had such gnarly powers..." Putty-Thing admits. But then the skeleton jumps up and starts laughing insanely, freaking Putty-Thing and Fish Guy (and me) out, before it turns back into the Mask. He takes down Putty-Thing with a giant sack of flour and a rolling pin. Then it's on to Fish Guy. Taking him down involves dressing as Captain Ahab, shouting "I SEE THE WHAAAAAAAAAALE!" and getting out a harpoon. If you couldn't already tell by now, the Mask is for all intents and purposes PSYCHOTIC.

"There's an all-you-can-eat buffet at the local Red Lobster, and YOU'RE
GONNA BE PART OF IT!"

I honestly feel kind of sorry for Putty-Thing and Fish Guy. I mean, I obviously don't approve of their robbing the convenience store and trashing the place, but they just want to go to the beach so Fish Guy won't be made fun of anymore. Again, that doesn't justify any acts of evil that these two plan on doing, but still...

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Fish Guy screams, but thankfully before the Mask can go all harpoon-crazy on him a bunch of helicopters show up... NOT to take Putty-Thing and Fish Guy away but rather to zap the Mask with their laser beams, which helicopters are known to have. It's just common knowledge. Putty-Thing and Fish Guy escape and the laser beams carry the Mask off and place him in Agent X's vehicle. Now they shall transport him to their underground installation... for laboratory experiments! Dun dun dun!

Crosby and Agent X try to communicate with the Mask, but he's too busy being obnoxious to just tell them that, you know, he's not an alien, he's a human being with a mask that gives him godlike powers (then again, I doubt they would believe that anyhow). "It's no use trying to communicate! The only language these aliens understand is FEAR!" Agent X snarls. "Proceed with the experiments!"

I still like to think this guy is Vallejo.

First, they decide to spin the room that the Mask is in around at an incredible speed, but because it's the Mask, he enjoys it. Crosby then decides that bombarding him with "gamma rays, tech-rays, microwaves and high-intensity radiation" should produce interesting results. If this results in the Mask becoming one of the X-Men or something, well, I won't have expected it.

Instead, it causes the screen to go all static-y as the Mask complains about how they interrupted his movie or whatever. "He thinks this is a JOKE!" Agent X snaps. Crosby suggests that they try altering his brain waves. Let me guess, that's not gonna work either, is it? Spoiler alert: it doesn't. Although it does cause him to, uh, become a hippie?

I have no idea what's going on right now...

"Where's the pulverizing switch?!" Agent X demands, fed up with the Mask's annoyingness (well, that makes two of us) and ready to destroy him for the good of humanity. But before he can, Kellaway shows up and announces that he's taking the Mask into custody. As he and Agent X go at it again, the Mask starts... swimming. Why is it that I'm STILL not used to the things that this character can do?

Jeez, and I thought Newton from Ned's Newt was annoying...

The Mask breaks out of the room that he's in and breaks up the fight between Kellaway and Agent X. Agent X asks how he got out of there. The Mask replies, "Oh, plee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-hee-heeeeeeeeeeeeease! That old thing? Hey, I just stuck around because you're almost as amusing as old Liteurant Kellaway here! In fact, you remind me of him. No, YOU remind me of HIM! No, YOU remind me of HIM!"

The Mask dashes off, and we cut to Fish Guy and Putty-Thing. Fish Guy is getting cold, and then they spot a bunny in the road and decide to bang it. I was honestly expecting the bunny to turn out to be the Mask, but then the Mask shows up and tells the audience, "Don't worry, folks! We just threw the cute bunny in there for the cliffhanger effect! I'm going to save him. But FIRST..."

This, I'm guessing, is the part where it cuts to the commercial break. But since I'm watching this online, there are no commercials, so instead it just immediately cuts to him saving the bunny. "Didn't I tell you I'd save him?" he asks. "Didn't I?" After that he catches up with Putty-Thing and Fish Guy and does a bad John Travolta impression, then pretends to be a game show host and tells them that they've won a swiss army knife-esque object that murders fish. Again, I would like to remind you that the Mask is psychotic.

Long story short, Putty-Thing and Fish Guy wind up driving off the road, then when they go after him again he whacks Putty-Thing with a giant mallet. "SOMEBODY STOP ME! AH-HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" he shouts before driving off. Then Putty-Thing makes Fish Guy take the wheel so he can clobber the Mask, but Fish Guy can't drive (his fins don't work all that well with the pedals). Then the Mask becomes a sumo wrestler.

If I had to look at this, then you have to look at this too.

Eventually, the three of them wind up driving off a pier and into the water. Putty-Thing, as a result, winds up melting or something, and it turns out that Fish Guy, despite being, you know, a FISH (with hair and glasses, mind you, but still, a FISH) can't swim. "You're not only a lame mutant, you're a lame FISH!" the Mask snaps. Then he scoops the two out of the lake with a large net. "Maybe the beach wasn't such a rad idea after all..." Putty-Thing groans. "Now, you're putty in my hands. Had to say it," the Mask tells him.

Then Kellaway, Doyle, Agent X, and Crosby show up. Kellaway still thinks the Mask is just a criminal. Agent X still thinks that he's an alien. Doyle just thinks that he's misunderstood and what-not. "According to the computer analysis of his test, he's just some guy in a weird mask!" Crosby exclaims... but he and Doyle shrug off this theory as stupid. And wouldn't you know it, THEN AN ACTUAL UFO SHOWS UP.

Why am I not surprised by this?

No, really, WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED BY THIS?

And then an alien beams down from the UFO. Let me guess, it's gonna turn out to be the Mask in disguise.

Eeyup. It is. Were you really expecting it NOT to be?

Anyway, the Mask tells Agent X that he's an "Intergalactic Agent, not unlike yourself". His mission was to take down the Earth mutants and deliver them into Agent X's custody, as only he could comprehend the cosmic threat that they posed and ensure their permanent captivity. Then he pinches Agent X and tells him that "Galactically speaking, we are now even, Steven." And with that, he beams back up into his UFO and flies off.

Agent X turns to Kellaway and snaps, "I TOLD YOU he was an alien!" However, Kellaway knew that the Mask isn't really an alien. He still doesn't believe in aliens. And then the Mask beams him up with his UFO, gives him a wedgie, and beams him back down. "I'LL GEEEEEEEEEEEET YOOOOOOOOOOOOU, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAASK!" Kellaway shouts, and then the episode ends.

WHAT'S THE VERDICT?

There's at least ONE good thing that I can say about this episode - it's got great voice acting. Jim Cummings in particular is awesome as always. And Rob Paulsen is certainly the best choice to voice the Mask. Oh yeah, and that eccentric counter-worker guy was great too. Aside from that, I found the episode blah. Blah and VEEEEEEEEEEEERY irritating. Mainly because the Mask himself is incredibly annoying. There's a right way and a wrong way to do "wacky" characters, and when you do it wrong, it results in a character who drags the entire production down with their obnoxious "look at how wacky I am" shtick (see also Pinkie Pie). I dunno, maybe fans of the movie would like it, but it's just not my thing.

Still much better than Son of the Mask, though.