Let's Watch This: An Episode of "Tutenstein"

This show stars a mummy, so it qualifies as a Halloween review.

If you watched Discovery Kids in the 2000s like I did, there's a very good chance that you at least saw a promo for Tutenstein. Produced by Porchlight Entertainment, this cartoon premiered on Discovery Kids on November 1st, 2003 and received three seasons, plus a movie called Clash of the Pharaohs. I was pretty surprised to find out that it was based on a comic book... a comic book that, incidentally, was created by Jay Stephens, who would go on to create The Secret Saturdays for Cartoon Network (note to self: review The Secret Saturdays at some point).

Tutenstein is about a ten-year-old mummified pharaoh named Tutankhensetamun (voiced by Jeannie Elias, except for a few episodes of Season 3 where Donna Cherry did it), awoken from his slumber by a twelve-year-old aspiring Egyptologist named Cleo (Crystal Scales) and her cat, Luxor (Daran Norris). He lives in a museum, desperately trying to get the hang of the modern world. Also, there's an evil god named Set, the god of disorder and violence, who wants to get his hands on Tutenstein's scepter so he can - you guessed it - take over the world.

The show received positive reviews from critics and won two Emmys for "Outstanding Special Class Animated Program". You can currently find episodes on YouTube. It's been on my "to review" list for quite some time, and since Halloween is just around the corner, I figured, why put it off any longer? We're gonna watch the eighth episode of the show, "The King of Memphis", and see if Tutenstein is a good show or something that should be, like a mummy, kept under wraps. Sorry, couldn't resist...

"The King of Memphis" starts off with Cleo arriving home, excited that she has a three-day weekend. I can confirm that there are very few things more satisfying than getting home from school the day before a three-day weekend. A minute or so after she gets home, the doorbell rings, and guess who's at the door? Hint: their name is the title of the show.

Yep, it's Tutenstein... and to be honest, I'm a little amused by the thought of him walking around in broad daylight to Cleo's house, oblivious to everyone giving him confused or terrified looks. I mean, if you lived in... wherever this show takes place and you saw a mummy walking around, how would YOU react?

Maybe they all just assumed he was on his way to a costume party?

Cleo hears her mom approaching and hides Tutenstein in a closet. When Cleo's mom comes down the stairs, she tells her that they're going to Memphis, Tennessee. For those unaware, Memphis is considered the birthplace of rock 'n' roll, and the home of Graceland, where Elvis Presley set up shop - and it's named after a city in Egypt, so I wonder if Tutenstein will be confused and think THAT'S where they're going.

Eventually, Cleo's mom hears Tutenstein making noise in the closet and opens it up. Her reaction to seeing a mummy in her closet is, oddly enough, less "AAAAAAAAAAAH! A MUMMY!" and more just confusion. Cleo claims that he's just a friend from her school's drama class, and then Tutenstein says that he shall be joining them on their journey to Memphis.

I've heard of having skeletons in your closet, but this is ridiculous.

Cleo's mom is cool with letting Tutenstein tag along on their trip, and then Cleo explains to Tutenstein that they're not going to Memphis, Egypt but rather Memphis, Tennessee. This doesn't bother Tutenstein at all. But wait, Cleo's mom did say that they needed Tutenstein's parents' permission for him to come along. How will they pull THAT off? Easy - the talking cat will call her up pretending to be Tutenstein's dad. I wonder if Luxor is ever tempted to reveal to Cleo's mom that he can talk. He'd probably never have to worry about her having him neutered if he did...

He's basically the show's equivalent of Salem from Sabrina the Teenage Witch.
With the voice of Cosmo from The Fairly OddParents.

Once they get to Memphis, their first stop is Kingland, an amusement park all about Elvis. And no, I looked it up, there is no actual Elvis amusement park in Tennessee. It's a cartoon, they have artistic license.

If Uncle Jesse from Full House were to build an amusement park, this is
totally what he would build.

And how exactly does Tutenstein get around the whole "people are going to freak out if they see a mummy walking around" thing when they're at Kingland? He puts on sunglasses. Apparently that's enough to hide the fact that he's a mummy. Okay then...

Cleo's mom tells them that they'll meet up in front of the Blue Suede Shoes store at 6:00. Wait, she's just gonna let her kid, her cat, and her kid's "friend from drama class" walk around the crowded amusement park on her own? Yeah, Cleo's got her cell phone, but that doesn't seem like great parenting to me. When my family goes to an amusement park, we always stick together. Unless my sister wants to go on some scary-looking roller coaster, in which case I wait outside.

Eventually, Tutenstein notices that there's a whole lot of Elvis around Kingland - Elvis impersonators, people wearing Elvis t-shirts, kids holding Elvis dolls, Elvis statues, even the janitor is wearing an Elvis costume. I've never been to Graceland, is this what it looks like?

That custodian is probably thinking about how much he hates his job.

"Where are all the statues of ME?" Tutenstein complains. Perhaps a better question is, why does nobody notice the presence of a MUMMY? This cartoon takes place before everyone became glued to their phones and were too busy checking their Instagram to pay attention to the world around them, surely SOMEBODY would see the kid with green skin wrapped in bandages. No way the sunglasses are enough to hide his appearance. If you brought a lion into, say, Washington DC and put a Nationals hat on his head, people would still notice that he's a lion!

Tutenstein is getting his bandages in a twist over all the statues of this other guy referred to as "the King" instead of him. "I will show him who is the ruler of all!" he declares before dashing off to pick fights with Elvis impersonators (one of whom sounds like Pat Buttram, interestingly enough). And I think it's just a rule here that everyone who works at the park needs to be dressed like Elvis, because even the security guard is an Elvis impersonator.

Here's a joke for you: how many Elvises does it take to outwit a mummy? Answer:
one. Everybody knows that mummies love rock 'n' roll music... but their absolute favorite
genre of music is WRAP. Thank you, I'll be here all week!

Tutenstein assumes that this "King" has some powerful magic that allows him to duplicate himself. Well, two can play at THAT game. He takes out his staff and two coins, then chants a magic spell calling upon the two spirits of his soul to step out of his body and take his form in the "here and now". In other words, we now have THREE Tutensteins for the price of ONE.

"Is my head really that big?"

Tutenstein 1 tells the other two Tutensteins to seek out all the Elvises and force them to renounce their claims to his throne. Tutenstein 2 is nice, Tutenstein 3 is evil. So when Tutenstein 2 gives a kid an ice cream cone, Tutenstein 3 swipes it and eats it himself. And when Tutenstein 2 helps a lady carry her bag full of merchandise, Tutenstein 3 dumps it in a trash can.

Eventually, Luxor manages to catch up with Tutenstein 3 on a roller coaster - which is inconvenient for him, since he's a literal scaredy-cat.

I imagine Luxor didn't see the "You Must Be This Tall To Ride" sign.

Oh, and Tutenstein 3's head falls off, right into Cleo's hands. Speaking of Cleo, I just realized something... is Cleo's name supposed to be a reference to Cleopatra? Y'know, the EGYPTIAN queen? If so, very clever...

Put that thing down, Cleo. You don't know where it's been.

After Tutenstein 3 gets his head back on, ticks off Cleo, and wanders off, Tutenstein 2 shows up. And then Luxor runs into Tutenstein 3 again. Tutenstein 1 shows up to explain the situation - if Elvis can multiply himself, so can he.

[Insert reference to that meme with the three Spider-Mans pointing at each other here]

Cleo tells Tutenstein that according to ancient writings, the parts of the soul - the "Ba" and "Ka" - can never be separated from the body for too long. Why? Because unless they're reunited by sundown, Tutenstein will die... again. But wouldn't you know it, the three Tutensteins wander off before they can hear that part. And it's already starting to get dark! Cue the dramatic music.

One Tutenstein winds up at a peanut butter and banana sandwich-eating contest, another is spraying water at people, and the other is trying to stop Tutenstein 3 from ruininng everyone's fun. Some poor kid gets a look at Tutenstein 2's unwrapped arm... and yes, I'm including a screencap. If I had to look at it, so do you. Sorry.

Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeugh...

Cleo and Luxor find Tutenstein 1 after he wins the contest (there are benefits to having an empty body cavity), allowing Cleo to tell him that he needs to reunite with the other two Tutensteins or else it's bye-bye Tutenstein. Tutenstein laments that he's a fool, but then Cleo and Luxor give him a pep talk and he decides that he WILL find the other two Tutensteins before sundown no matter how impossible it seems. Unfortunately, Tutenstein 3 (the evil one) will not go gentle into that cold night, and he's dragging Tutenstein 2 (the nice one) along with him. Eventually, all three wind up back on the roller coater, which they fall off, landing in a Gravitron just as the sun is going down. Out stumbles one, very dizzy, Tutenstein. Huzzah.

I believe this is the same expression I had after going on a Chairswing ride at
King's Dominion.

Today, Tutenstein has learned not to act hasty. And also not to eat a hundred peanut butter and banana sandwiches before going on a Gravitron. Now I'm curious, are mummies capable of vomiting?

What's the Verdict?

I'm not sure why I never watched Tutenstein when it was on, but now that I actually HAVE watched it, I personally found it pretty good. You'd think the fact that the episode takes place in a modern day theme park based on Elvis' existence means that they wouldn't be able to do much with the "Egyptian mummy in modern times" thing, but they do! I liked the characters... or at least Tutenstein and Luxor, Cleo's not super-interesting but for the straight man she works fine. Most of the jokes work, the animation is good, and the voice actors all do a good job. I think the show's being on Discovery Kids, which as I said before in my review of The Save-Ums! was never as popular as Cartoon Network or Nickelodeon, is the main reason for its obscurity nowadays. Ah well, by doing a review of the show, I'm doing MY part to make it a little more well-known.

A reboot of Tutenstein was also announced recently. We'll see if that helps to boost awareness of the original show. But for now, I'm giving it four Elvis Presley impersonators out of five. That's a wrap!

Get it? Wrap? 'Cause it's a show about a... look, I'm trying really hard here.