Welcome back to another action and comedy-packed edition of the Toon Log! I'm your host Steve Magnum and I have to say that it's a great time to be an animation fan. Not only is "Avatar" back on the airwaves, but "The Boondocks" has returned as well! And the latest Looney Tunes Golden Collection has been released on DVD! Not only that, but the third Donald Duck volume from the "Disney Treasures" collection is about to be released.
Additionally, I just found out that one of my favorite Christmas specials has just been released on DVD. That's right, I'm talking about "Opus and Bill: A Wish For Wings That Work". Man, the only thing that could make this any sweeter is if Disney got back on the ball and continued releasing Gargoyles on DVD and started releasing Kim Possible on season sets. I know, it's not likely to happen anytime soon, but I can hope. Anyway, enough of my introductory babbling. Let's get on with my normal Toon-related ramblings. I'm proud to present the latest edition of the Toon Log. Enjoy.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 3: The Painted Lady - So Aang and co. arrive at a Fire Nation village that's located in the middle of a river. The river is the village's primary source of...well, everything. Unfortunately the river has been polluted by a nearby Fire Nation Army factory. Katara hates the effect that the factory is having on the village and starts to covertly aid its citizens. The citizens think that the aid they've been receiving is from their patron spirit: The Painted Lady. So Katara really throws herself into it with a disguise and theatrics and such.
I was honestly concerned that this was going to be another overly preachy "save the planet" type episode (like Season 2's "The Swamp"), but it was actually pretty good. They didn't pound you over the head (too much) with the message and it was highly entertaining with a very cool bending battle sequence.
The Boondocks - Season 2 premiere - ...Or Die Trying - In the world of Huey, Riley and Robert "Grandad" Freeman, a new film has been released. It's called "Soul Plane 2: The Blackjacking". Yes folks, you read that right. The Boondocks ventured somewhere that even Hollywood was too afraid to go: a sequel to one of the most hideously incorrect stereotypical films in decades. I'm talking about "Soul Plane". Riley and Grandad Freeman decide to go see a movie... without paying for it. And they drag everyone's favorite radical scholar and kung-fu master, Huey Freeman along. Unfortunately, they also bring Jasmine Dubois, an innocent girl whom they will no doubt throw to the wolves of high-priced theater chains.
To say that I missed this series is an understatement. It's been a long time since we last saw the Freeman clan. And it's good to see them back. I love watching Huey fight for what's right. Both intellectually and physically. I still shake my head in embarrassment every time Riley opens his mouth to speak. And I feel nothing but pity for Jasmine as she's forced to play the sacrificial lamb. But where the heck is Michael Caesar?! Huey needs Caesar to be the Linus Van Pelt to his Charlie Brown. Hopefully McGruder will introduce the character to the series later this season.
Also of import is the quality of animation. It's gotten significantly better since last season. But that's not to say that last season's quality of animation was in any way bad. It's just that the art looks a little tighter, a little more finely tuned. And the series is all the better for it.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 4: Sokka's Master - Having watched over two seasons worth of episodes from this series, I can say without a doubt, that this was one of the greatest episodes of "Avatar" that I've ever seen. Sokka has always been the primary source of comic relief in the show (much like the character Xander is to the "Buffy: the Vampire Slayer" mythos). He is also the only one of his friends without any bending powers (again, much like Xander). But Xander had "The Zeppo," an episode that helped him become comfortable with who he was and gave him the confidence to say "yeah, I'm just a human in a world where everyone else is super-human. I'm surrounded by slayers, witches, werewolves, vampires and other entities with powers far beyond those of mortal men, but I'm a part of this world too, and I can keep pace with all of them."
This episode is Sokka's "Zeppo episode". It starts off with a meteor crashing near a Fire Nation town. Aang and Co. head to the crash site and put out the fire using all of their bending powers. Sokka offers his help, but is told to protect Momo (Aang's pet lemur). Later, the gang is eating and all of them notice Sokka's depressive state. Upon inquiring as to the cause of his mood, he explains that he doesn't feel like he contributes to the group in any way. The others try to console him by explaining that he's the brains of the operation as well as their source of humor. This doesn't help. They suggest going shopping and this excites him immensely. They enter a weapon shop and explore a variety of arsenal improvements (all with less than successful results) until Sokka spots a magnificent sword. The shopkeeper tells them that it was made by the greatest sword master (who also happens to live nearby). At that mention, the gang suggests to Sokka that he apply for an apprenticeship with this master.
He approaches the sword master's estate and knocks on the door. He is shown inside and is brought before Piandao, the sword master. Piandao, having heard numerous boastful interview speeches from arrogant applicants presumes that Sokka is like all of them. But he's surprised by Sokka's humility and agrees to take him on as a student. What follows is a training montage in which Sokka manages to fail just about every challenge put before him. But that doesn't stop him from giving his all in each challenge. Meanwhile, Aang, Katara, Toph, Momo and even Appa are all bored to death because Sokka isn't there to keep them on schedule or entertain them with his jokes. He does improve a little in his sword fighting ability by the end of the montage, but he's far from being ready to challenge Apollo Creed.
The next day, Piandao, standing in front of a table full of metallic bricks instructs Sokka to choose the materials that he would like to use to forge his sword. Sokka, once again thinking outside the box, asks his master if he may leave and retrieve the material for his sword. Piandao approves of this line of thought, and Sokka returns to the gang and asks them to help him haul the meteor up to his Master's estate. Using the meteor, Sokka chips off enough of the meteor for a blade, heats up the furnace and keeps it ablaze long into the night until Piandao pulls out the molten metal and pours it into the forge, hammers it into shape and assembles the hilt and sheath.
As he presents the black blade to Sokka, Sokka reveals that he is from the Water Tribes. Piandao immediately draws his sword and prepares to attack. Toph, Katara, & Aang all stand up in preparation for a battle, but Sokka tells them that this is his fight. What follows is one of the most beautifully choreographed fight scenes that I've ever seen on Avatar. I wouldn't do it justice to even attempt to describe it. But it ends with Sokka lying on the ground, unarmed as his master stands with his blade aimed at Sokka's neck. As Sokka's friends jump into action to prevent the death of their friend, the Master sheaths his sword and states "I think I'm a little too old to be fighting the Avatar". He reveals that he knew all along that Sokka was from Water Tribes. He then helps Sokka up and compliments him on a wonderful display of skill. Piandao praises Sokka's ingenuity in battle and encourages him to continue training on his own saying that "If you keep on this path, you may one day become an even greater sword master than I am". When asked why he would knowingly train someone who is not from the Fire Nation, he states that the art does not belong to any one person or country. It should be shared by all.
As the gang leaves Piando's estate, his butler catches them and give Sokka a pouch. As he leaves, Sokka looks into the pouch and finds a Pai Sho tile featuring the White Lotus (now where have we seen that before....). Putting it away, Sokka gives Toph a small chunk of the meteor for her to have and bend as she likes.
Now, while all of that was awesome, there was more. The B-plot of the story focused on the imprisoned Iroh. Every time the action would cut back to him you would see him looking feeble and in a mental stare of decline... until the guard would leave. Then Iroh would begin exercising inside his cell and eating just a little bit until the end of the episode when he took off his robe and we saw a pad fall from his stomach area to the floor, revealing a toned and muscular body as he continued to hone his body and mind. What will the future hold for the Dragon of the West? Only time will tell, but I can't wait to see how this subplot plays out.
The Boondocks - Season 2, Episode 2 - Poor Tom Dubois. The man just can't seem to catch a break. Not only does his wife flirt with R&B singer Usher on their anniversary dinner date, but then she boots him out of their house because of the resulting argument. He crashes at the Freeman house, much to Riley and Grandad's chagrin. While he's there, Tom has a dream sequence where he and the neighbors perform a hilarious dance number in the street to Usher's song "Burn". Naturally, the Freeman patriarch wants him out of the house fast. So they hire "A Pimp Named Slickback" (you have to say the "A Pimp Named" part too. It's like "A Tribe Called Quest") to teach Tom how to handle women. The results are anything but successful. However, they are hilarious (and no, I won't ruin the ending for you. It's worth watching). While this episode wasn't as good as the season premiere, it was still damned funny and I don't mind saying that I have sorely missed its presence from the television airwaves. But seriously, where's Michael Caesar?
Avatar: The last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 5: The Beach - After such an awesome episode like Sokka's Master, it's a shame that the series creators decided to create and release this episode. It follows the Fire Nation foursome of Zuko, Azula, Mai & Ty Lee as they are sent to a vacation island by the Firelord while he conducts meetings. None of them really want to go, but the Fire Lord's orders are law, so they must abide.
While they're on the island, they keep their real identities secret in order to blend in with the other teenagers there. Insecurities come to the surface and internal conflicts are dealt with as the four of them have it out on the beach at night, each one revealing something about themselves (much like the infamous scene in the Breakfast Club). The main problem is that the reveals feel so forced. There's no natural feel to it. I understand what the writers were trying to accomplish, but they just went about it in an uninteresting way.
The B-plot to this episode was much more entertaining. It featured Zuko's hired killer attacking Aang and Co. while they try to fight and then flee from him. It was just a really weak episode and I hope that it's the only one for this season.
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 6: The Avatar And The Firelord - This was such an amazing episode. It might even trump "Sokka's Master" because of the wonderful tale that it told. It begins with Aang being told in a dream by his previous incarnation, Roku, to go to Roku's island in the day of the Solstice. Meanwhile Prince Zuko receives a mysterious note that tells him to seek out the history of Firelord Sozin. So Aang arrives on Roku's island, a desolate and charred isle, while Zuko sneaks into the Fire Nation Archives at the same time. Aang enters the spirit world and converses with Roku as Zuko finds and begins reading the scrolls that detail Firelord Sozin's life. As the story of Roku and Sozin unfolds, we see their friendship grow over the years and then as it begins to disintegrate with Sozin's lust for power. As their tale came to a conclusion, both Aang and Zuko learned a little bit more about themselves and the war. Plus, Zuko gets what could possibly be the biggest surprise of his life from his uncle Iroh. (Nope, I'm not revealing it. You wanna know what it is, then you've got to watch the episode.)
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 7: The Runaway - This was a decent episode that focused on Toph. It starts off with Toph, Sokka, & Aang wandering through a city in the Fire Nation in need of a way to obtain more money. Toph detects a man who scams people out of their money in a game of "chance". But she's wise to his tricks and beats him at his own game. She continues doing this with Sokka's help and soon the Gang has acquired a fair amount of coin. Unfortunately, all this gets a bounty put on Toph's head and to make matters worse, Katara isn't fond of their actions. Tensions mount until Sokka takes Toph aside and explains his sister and her motivation to his Earthbending friend. However, Katara manages to overhear their conversation and comes to a realization of her own. She and Toph ease up on each other and decide to pull off one last major scam that plays upon the bounty on Toph's head. Unfortunately, the best laid plans of mice and men too often go astray. In this case, Zuko's assassin with the third eye is the wrench in the gears of Katara's plan. The newly christened Combustion Man (because "Sparky Boom Boom Man" just didn't roll of the tongue that well) strikes, but the gang manages to get away and disrupt his ability to make things explode. As I said earlier, it was decent, but not the greatest episode. However the comedic moments (usually involving Sokka's new pet messenger hawk, "Hawkie") were top notch.
Your Friend The Rat - Pixar Animated Short - Remember those old Disney Technicolor animated shorts like "The Truth About Mother Goose" and "Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom"? Well the creative minds at Pixar certainly did and they created a new short of their own that chronicles the history of the rat (at least as it relates to humans) as well as providing fun facts about rats and their behavior. But the cool thing is that while the short features Remy and his Brother Emile rendered in shiny CGI the bulk of the short is all done in the classic "2-D" (Oh, how I hate that term) Technicolor style of animation akin to the aforementioned Disney shorts of the 1950s and 1960s. It was so entertaining; I played it again right after watching the first time. I truly hope that Pixar uses this animation style again in a future short or better yet, a full length animated feature film. That would be awesome!
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3, Chapter 8: The Puppetmaster - In a remote forest area in the Fire Nation, several strange disappearances have been happening under the full moon. As Toph begins to hear voices coming from under the mountain that they're resting, a strange old woman named Hamma appears and offers to let them stay at her inn. They take her up on it and discover that she's a Waterbender that was captured from the Southern Water Tribe (the same tribe that Sokka & Katara hail from). However, there's something shady about the old woman and she teaches Katara some new techniques. However, she learns too late what Hamma is capable of and is forced to learn Bloodbending (a way to control other people through the water in their bodies) in order to save Aang & Sokka from being killed by Hamma. It's darker that I describe it and had very little humor (unfortunately). But I'm sure that this technique will come into play later in this season (hopefully with much less drama and darkness).
And that wraps up this mammoth edition of the Toon Log. Thanks for stopping by. I'll see you next time.
