111: Dr. Rottenstein (prod 116)

 

Filming in July 2004. A CARROT! HEALTHY, NUTRITIOUS, AND FRICKING DISGUSTING!!

Original airdate: September 27, 2004

Story by Rocky Garibaldi, Tom K. Mason, Dan Danko, Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Ronald Binion, Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Amanda Maddock

Rottenstein is one of the most recognized episodes of the show. So today I’m going to be revisiting it.

The episode begins with an awesome Sportacus move that was taken from the pilot in 2003 - he throws a watermelon in the air, does a cartwheel, jumps in the air and does a handstand on the watermelon. Then he stands up, kicks the watermelon and then does the power jump. Then he eats the watermelon. Not only is it the best trick he’s ever done but the melon doesn’t break!

The episode begins with the LazyTown kids growing some sports candy in their.. well.. gardening clothes. Stingy has marked everything he’s grown with a sign that says ‘Mine’ (A lil bit excessive) Ziggy attempts to carry a box full of tomatoes because he’s the world’s strongest hero.

However he manages to carry it.. actually Sportacus does. Ziggy ponders about how Sportacus is so strong and then he says he gets it from Sports Candy (a carrot). But Robbie is eavesdropping. We all know where this’ll go, right..?

He then does a cool flip to demonstrate. However, his crystal beeps and he frontflips over Robbie out of the screen. Robbie then asks himself about 'HOW HE DOES THAT?!?!’ when Sportacus literally just explained it. Everyone tells Ziggy to EAT THE CARROT but Robbie stops him.

Robbie asks Ziggy how Sportacus gets his strength and Ziggy says 'this’. Robbie mistakes the carrot for a box. LOL! Might be the funniest moment in the episode. Ziggy starts talking about how he is going to eat them for the rest of his life, then Robbie leaves. Ziggy then forgets everything he just said and decides to have it later.

Meanwhile in his lair, Robbie Rotten, the man that despises health, fruits, vegetables, exercise and sports-candy, is examining his very own sports candy. A carrot. He then realises that if anyone has sports-candy that they will be moving around and healthy, like a sickness.

Then he has the great idea to make Sportscandy sound like a sickness, which will mean the kids won’t eat Sports Candy. He decides it is disguise time and he walks through the wardrobe, shaking his head and blubbering (LOL) until he gets a doctor outfit.

So, anyways, they sing ’Good Stuff’ (I used to be obsessed with this song) and in between moves Robbie is seen sprinkling dots onto the food that the kids are growing. Ziggy gets some spots on his 'sick’ lollipop and him too. Everyone has some spots and they don’t know. Once again a really smart plan (but didn’t last long)

Dr. Rottenstein “examines” them and he says that it is a rare case off the spotty vegititius - the rarest disease in the entire world. Then he announces that to cure it they must eat junk food.

He also says that the person whose name starts with S and flippity flops around a lot (it took them about 6 guesses, even when Robbie said 'a name starting with S’, someone guessed Pixel) must stay away from LazyTown forever.

Everyone is devastated (I would be too) but Sportacus knows something is wrong. He writes letters to Stephanie, Ziggy and Pixel. Meanwhile, Stephanie is lazing around in bed while Milford has given her a tray full of.. peanut butter, marshmallows, chocolate, fries, burgers, butterscotch, chocolate syrup, soda and shakes. I am just surprised nothing fell off. Props to the producers.

Sportacus does his usual routine to send letters (he sends Stephanie’s first.. hinty hint?), but Ziggy is the only one who actually knows he got a letter (he was also super excited to dig in until he realized the dots were fake). Maybe it’s just me, or does Ziggy progressively become a better character over episode? But at the start of a new season he’s back to square one.

Meanwhile, Robbie is enjoying his life. Junk food and television. He couldn’t be happier! Ya do realize where this is going, right? He’s the villian, he will never ever ever EVER EVER EVER!! catch a break.

Anyways, during a ridiculous use of metaphors (It’s not like sports candy just comes from the air!), he realizes Sportacus has a bunch of sportscandy and sports equipment in his airship. He has a plan to make a small visit to the airship once Sportacus leaves.

Sportacus has still left his ladder up while meeting Ziggy. Ziggy tells Sportacus about how the disease was fake and that they were actually getting worse from their junk food. Meanwhile, Sportacus’ airship flies away and he has to go get it back.

Robbie is in the airship and this is just so shocking to me. I’m just used to seeing Robbie in dark places with inventions and gadgets, but now he is in his worst enemies’ airship. The following sequence is pretty funny. He messes with buttons and manages to get himself hurt.

Anyways, he messes with this pedal looking thing and the airship goes cuckoo thanks to Sportacus fighting the ladder. He looks completely crazy while doing it, but it’s kinda cool he can basically carry an entire airship.

Ziggy is going to his friends’ houses and begging for their help but they are too weak and lazy thanks to the junk food. So Ziggy decides to finally eat that carrot he was supposed to and he throws some carrots through his friend’s windows. Character development is awesome!

He becomes determined and cool in a circling shot and acts like a ninja throwing stars. Everyone takes a bite of the carrots he gave them and they all become strong enough to help Sportacus. They hold the ladder for him while he goes to save Rottenstein.

So anyways, Sportacus connects Rottenstein to a rope and pushes him off that little piece of floor that comes with the pole (what is that CALLED?!). He makes it safe. Then comes an awesome sequence when Sportacus stops the ship from crashing into Milford’s house.

Milford didn’t really care about potentially dying, but more about his new paint job nearly being ruined. Anyways, they all sing Bing Bang and the episode ends with Robbie sitting on that carrot he was examining. He throws it, but it bounces off the walls and woulda hit his face if he didn’t block it with a plate (the carrot was actually already on the plate).

This ending scene wouldn’t be as funny without Stefan Karl’s hilarious acting.

In all honestly - good morale, good song, good climax, and episode.

8.5/10

 

110: Lazy Scouts (prod 104)

 

Filming in March 2004. LAZYWAR: RATED MA15+.

Original airdate: August 26, 2004

Story by Mike Weiss, Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Rocky Garibaldi, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Ronald Binion, Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Heather Asch

Lazy Scouts is the fourth episode of LazyTown produced, so this was of course prone to mistakes. But does it make up for it with the plot and music?

The episode begins with a recycled opening from ‘Sleepless in LazyTown’, with Sportacus going to bed. However, the title card is not night time in this episode. Funny thing is, you can see the first mistake as soon as there is a zoom in the title card. After it zooms in, there is a tiny frame of the airship where it is actually day and not night.

Anywho, the episode opens with Sportacus brushing his teeth and jumping into his pod ready to visit LazyTown. Stephanie is going scouting with the kids and is packing her bag. Milford tries to bring a buncha stuff that could be useful, like toenail clippers (you don’t want your feet to be uncomfy while walking up a mountain) and a curling iron (gotta make sure ya look gooooddd), but Stephanie decline.

Anyways, she gets outta the house and blows the horn to get the kids ready. Robbie is in his fluffy chair, sucking his thumb with a bowl of packing peanuts (what an intimidating villian!) and the kids wake him up. He declares that he will not let those kids ruin his day. But at this point, he should know that it would just take as less much effort to put some orange fluff in his ears and ignore them.

So anyways, while the scouts are trying to go somewhere, it turns out that the LazyTown kids (excluding Stephanie) are really unprepared scouts. Trixie leads them the wrong way (and also wears her what the wrong way), and Ziggy has a lollipop. Anyways, Trixie and Stephanie are disagreeing on which way to go (sworn besties), and in comes Scottie the Scoutmaster.

Look at him, couldn’t you tell by his very real looking scout uniform? Ziggy says they’re going on a hike but Scottie says that’s for dogs and chickens. He offers to tell them how to make up lies. Stephanie wants to do stuff like help old ladies cross the road, and Scottie says that he’s done it 100 times. Then he sees Bessie crossing the road, stops the cars (Sportacus lives in an airship, all the puppets are scouting with Stephanie and Robbie, Milford is probably doing mayor work and the cat can’t drive, so who is driving those cars..?) then crosses Bessie over.. 100 times.

I mean, you gotta appreciate the dedication. Then Bessie tumbles over. HILARIOUS! So, anyways, Robbie presents the cool badges, which are obviously to lure the kids into doing lazy and bad stuff. Luckily Stephanie notices that. When they do the scout salute, they instead do a yawn.

Stephanie says that this is not what scouting is about and Robbie says this is Lazy Scouts. Then they perform the song ’Lazy Scouts’, which I kind of find annoying. Then again, GetLazy’s name derived from here. Anyways, when Stephanie brings up food and shelter, Robbie gives a badge to anyone who ignores the 'girl with the pink hair and bad attitude’.

Anyways, when Stephanie talks about going hiking, Robbie and the scouts go on a 3 second walk to a tree. But Stephanie is annoyed (as she should be). Robbie tells her that she should go home if she wants and Ziggy would have came with her if Trixie hadn’t given him a lollipop.

So, anyways Stephanie is really really sad and Milford sees her and he asks if he forgot anything (HILARIOUS MOMENT) and Stephanie tells him everything. Milford has the right person to call - Sportacus. Thus commences a wholesome scouting montage. I love the music in this montage SO MUCH it pisses me off there isn’t an official release.

Sportacus asks where Stephanie’s friends are and she says that they wanted to scout differently from her and Sportacus says that just because she disagrees with them doesn’t mean they aren’t friends. He further explains this argument by saying that if he liked jumping in mud puddles (I knew this show had some relation to Peppa Pig, not to mention the pink hair!) that they would still be friends.

So, anyways, after that talk, it starts to become windy and Ziggy doesn’t feel so safe. Robbie however is snoring away. I think if the puppets were sane they could tell RIGHT AWAY that Robbie is the scout master. It becomes so windy that Stephanie’s scouting hat and Ziggy’s lollipop fly away.

Meanwhile Stingy’s car rolls away (better then him rolling away). While Milford is worrying about Stephanie, Sportacus brings her safely. Then Bessie barges in and her hair looks absolutely crazy (LOL!).

Ziggy’s lollipop is even stuck to her back. So, Pixel is hanging onto what Milford thinks is a giant soup bowl (but is really a satellite dish) and Sportacus saves him, Stingy and Robbie. After his hat and mustache fly away his disguise is revealed.

Robbie was not expecting to be tied by a rope, saved by Sportacus on a windy day. So I was right, it would’ve taken shorter to just.. ignore them. Meanwhile, after a day of arguments, Trixie and Stephanie save each other then they become best friends for the rest of the show.

Anyways, Robbie is brought in and everyone has some hot cocoa.. with marshmallows. Stingy is peeking at Robbie’s cup hinting to let him have it (lol). Anyways, the weather suddenly becomes great and they all go outside. Sportacus tells Robbie that it is a bad idea to be unprepared.

Then Robbie starts rambling about how he IS ALWAYS prepared (didn’t he sing “being ready isn’t good”?) until Trixie, Ziggy and Stingy blow air behind him. Then he hilariously yells and climbs over the wall. They then sing the Bing Bang song.

THE END!

Honestly, that was an okay episode. The story was good, Robbie’s disguise was obvious and the featured song was mediocre.

6/10

109: Happy Brush Day (prod 110)

 

Filming in May 2004. JELLY, DO NOT EAT THOSE PACKING PEANUTS. THEY TASTE LIKE CHEETOS WITHOUT THE CHEETO TASTE.

BoredJedi (youtube.com/user/LazyBlueHaze) gave me an .iso of the “Superhero” Australian DVD from 2008. To finally put the .iso to use, I decided to take all the screenshots in this episode myself. I also watched it using VLC.

Original airdate: August 25, 2004

Story by Magnus Scheving

Written by Noah Zachary, Cole Louie, Mo Williem, Magnus Scheving

Directed by Magnus Scheving

Executive producers - Magnus Scheving, Ragnheidur Melsted, Raymond P. Le Gue, Mark Read, Brown Johnson, Kay Wilson Stallings

Starring Magnus Scheving, Stefan Karl Steffanson, Julianna Rose Mauriello

Puppeteers - Ronald Binion, Gudmondor Thor Karason, Jodi Eichelberger, David Matthew Feldman, Julie Westwood, Amanda Maddock

Happy Brush Day is the first of two episodes focusing on Ziggy’s birthday (not to mention the spinoff where he is the main star), so I guess the producers finally realized that Ziggy has some story potential.

The episode begins with some foreshadowing - Sportacus brushing his teeth in his airship. I call this foreshadowing because the episode is about brushing your teeth (kinda). Anyways, the citizens in LazyTown have just woken up happily (excluding Robbie who hilariously uses packing peanuts to drown the noise of his alarm).

Stingy is admiring his collection of four toothbrushes (Is it really necessary to own more than one toothbrush..??). Pixel is using one of his gadgets to brush his teeth (later on in the episode he has completely forgotten what it is) and Stingy keeps his in a lock. Meanwhile, Ziggy is still asleep using his lollipop as a cushion.

Anyways, Robbie is eating his scrumdiddlyumptious creamy cake (My god, I just want a bite of that), and Pixel walks over to Ziggy’s to tell him it’s his seventh birthday. This just aggravates me, WHO NEEDS TO BE WOKEN UP ON THEIR BIRTHDAY?! My birthday is in one of those 2 week school breaks, and in one of those days you couldn’t blow a horn to get me to wake up before 11am. But on my birthday I wake up at 7am with no problem. Anyways, Ziggy is mailing a letter to Sportacus while eating taffy.

Anyways, when Ziggy mentions his birthday, Robbie spits out his cake. He has another devious plan. In my opinion, I never really liked the idea of ruining Ziggy’s birthday. His plan was to make a machine that spewed taffy all over the place. 1 - Ziggy loves taffy. 2 - It’s his birthday. 3 - Ziggy loves taffy. Meanwhile, the kids are deciding what to get him for his birthday.

Anyways, when Stingy mentions all he wants is taffy every year, he pops up looking for taffy. Now, forgive me, since Taffy was invented in the US, but, it is really that good??

Also, if you didn’t notice (SOMEONE must have noticed), the background music for when he walks out the shot is a reprise of ‘Siggi’ from Afram Latibaer. Anyways, Robbie does his classic disguise time (I think this is the funniest of the first season).

Robbie decides that to accompany his outfit (that looks like something a fairy from a 2000s 3D animated straight-to-VHS movie classified “G” by the Australian Classification Board would wear) with a gift. Off camera he thinks up the perfect thing. Meanwhile, Sportacus has gotten Ziggy’s letter, which is one of those cards that plays an undeniably catchy tune when you open it.

Sportacus is having some trouble deciding what to give Ziggy as a gift (his first two choices being balls). Anyways, the camera cuts off to Milford putting up the birthday stage for Ziggy. Everyone is excited for the party until Bessie comes with her birthday speech for little 'Wiggie’, then everyone is seriously dreading it. (judging from a transcription Chris Crow made on the GL forums, Bessie possibly just wrote down random words on a piece of paper and lied to herself.)

Anyways, after a bit of begging, Milford is convinced to start the party with the presents. Very surprisingly, Stingy decides to go first. His gift is a quarter-bitten piece of taffy. A single one. You can see from the box there were supposed to be nine pieces.

Anyways, Stingy takes back the box & the lid. I don’t know why it’s so funny. “Happy birthday, here’s my gift, gimme the packaging.” So anyways, Trixie goes next, and HER gift is a jack in the box. (If I was Ziggy, personally I wouldn’t take that kinda disrespect.) So anyways, Pixel gives him his gift which is in an envelope. Ziggy is thankful enough for the envelope (what a pure soul), until Pixel tells him to OPEN the envelope.

In the envelope is a piece of paper that reads “www.taffy.com” (it’s a real website and is still up to this day, it’s just not related to LazyTown at all). It turns out to be a website Pixel has made consisting of “jpegs of every taffy ever made!” I get this was written in 2004, but why JPEGS? PNG for the wiiiin!! (I’d geniunely enjoy that gift, but maybe with something else like LazyTown screenshots or old 80s action movie posters.)

So, anyways, Ziggy wants to eat the taffy and is kinda annoyed when Pixel says it isn’t possible. Anyways, when Bessie announces she has added five more extra minutes to her speech, Milford gives HIS gift, which is a huge square of taffy flavoured taffy.

Stephanie’s gift is her very own choreographed 'Taffy Cheer!’ and everyone likes it so much Ziggy even says he could taste the victory taffy. Coming from a boy whose whole diet consists of candy, that is the highest compliment you can receive.

Anyways, Sportacus does a frontflip into the scene right about when Bessie is about to start her speech. (Is it just me or do the events if this show have TOO many coincidences some times?)

Sportacus is hyping his gift up very much. Ziggy guesses a truckload of different candies twice, but Sportacus does an amazing flip (he doesn’t have the box in his hand in this shot), lands on his feet and shows Ziggy the toothbrush (now he is holding the toothbrush but there is no box to be seen?).

Anyways, everyone has some questions. Pixel wants to know where the remote control is and if you have to plug it in. Eventually he searches it up in his database, but Ziggy still has no idea what it is. Then he reveals that he keeps some of his favourite foods in his food. Everyone is disgusted. Including me.

Anyways, they sing a whole two minute (recommended length for brushing your teeth) song about brushing your teeth the Twenty Times way. After it’s finished, Ziggy shows more interest in brushing his teeth until The Birthday Fairy (a disguised Robbie) shows up. Trixie makes fun of him, indirectly insulting Stephanie (you’re girlier then she is, and that is saying a lot!)

Anyways, Robbie (or Pixel) introduces his (honestly really cool) gift, the Electro Ultra Voice Activated Candy Matic! Robbie then reveals that Ziggy and only Ziggy can tell it what to do which is a pretty dumb thing. What if Ziggy falls asleep and while he does he says that his friends can have some of his taffy?

Anyways, Ziggy throws Sportacus’ gift on the floor, and I’m surprised Sportacus didn’t get mad. You know how bratty you have to be to throw your birthday gift away in front of the gifter? Anyways, Ziggy calls for taffy a bunch of times and he catches most of it in his mouth. Stingy is kinda annoyed.

Or as the subtitles say.. (SEETHING WITH RAGE). Anyways, Stingy climbs right up to the thing and yells TAFFY as loud as he can. Then his face gets splattered. Robbie, the liar! Anyways, while nobody is looking, Robbie deviously puts the level of taffy up to 'red’, and taffy starts flying all over the place.. really fast! However, Ziggy can’t yell 'stop’ because his mouth is full of yellow taffy.

Anyways, it’s not long before the stage becomes a sea of taffy, Sportacus goes up to his airship to get some sports equipment to stop the machine and Robbie’s advice is to just eat the candy. Milford announces it and everyone starts eating.

Anyways, Robbie quickly gets tired of the taffy and he decides to go back to his car, but unfortunately he cannot drive away. Totally your fault, dude. You started this by putting it on RED. Anyways, his car is basically underwater, except the taffy is the water.

Meanwhile, Sportacus is in his airship, carrying some tennis rackets in his shirt (some of the frames are slowed down, possibly to meet the 24:42 time limit or just look cooler), and the taffy is up to the chins of the puppets. So Bessie grabs onto the birthday banner (in real life that would’ve just ripped off). Anyways, Sportacus has arrived and he starts hitting every single piece of taffy that comes his way, and for a few seconds the machine stops working.

Sportacus puts on his goggles (it’s taffy, not salty ass water) and he dives in to find Ziggy’s toothbrush. He doesn’t move for a few seconds and everyone thinks he’s dead (I don’t blame them) until he pops up with the toothbrush!

Stingy throws the toothbrush to Ziggy and he brushes his teeth the Twenty Times way. Finally, he gets the taffy out his mouth and yells STOP!!!

Finally! (: Anyways, Robbie puts his arm through the door and waves it out frantically so Sportacus notices him. Sportacus pulls off his hat and everybody realizes that it was Robbie all along!

Anyways, they sing the Bing Bang song while Bessie does her speech. Now this is the part I don’t like because it just scraps what Bessie and the kids said earlier in the episode - the speech goes on and on and on (and this year she added five more minutes), but the Bing Bang song is only 53 seconds and somehow she finishes her speech in the span of the whole Bing Bang song. Anyways, good episode.

THE END.

So kids, what did we learn in this episode of LazyTown? Brush your teeth every day and night or a bunch of taffy will come flying out of nowhere and nearly drown you.

7/10