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.