On Whiskers, On Lola, On Cheryl and Meryl

On Whiskers, On Lola, On Cheryl and Meryl (1-31)

Written by: Russel Marcus

Storyboard by: Zac Monnerief & Chuck Klein

Directed by: Timothy Björklund

Date of release: December 2004

Synopsis: Brandy expect Santa Claus to come to the Jungle in order to go back home to Florida for the Holidays, but she have soon to jeopardize her plans by make a squad for delivers presents to kids after Santa's sled was crashed on the Jungle. The only half-hour episode of the Brandy & Mr. Whiskers series.

First, Merry Christmas to you all and let's go finally, for the review of the only show's half-hour adventure that worth to be seen every year at Christmas time.

The episode begins with Brandy where she is lay in her bed, very sad and depressing because she can't even celebrate Christmas at all by be stuck in the Jungle for months. Her friends, including Gaspard for some reason, tried to give her comfort as they can. For the Jungle friends, Christmas is rather gibberish, even for Whiskers except... for the mention name of Santa Claus. Mr. Whiskers been scare of it but we never knew the origins of all that, which makes it all the more enigmatic to watch.

Brandy explain the magic of Christmas with all the traditions that came out, which makes the perfect opportunity to using the local settings for be more wintery and Christmas-y as possible. Even such of a temple is using with a cheminey in there. Even a big whale was using for testing just in case Santa Claus stopping there.

Later, after a chit-chat between the canine dog girl and the gecho dictator, the crew reveal their first (and last!) Christmas tree, very well decorated, shiny and perhaps most obvious at all, the Public domain staple song O Christmas Tree playing in the background, that means the composer of the show Kevin Manthei understood the nuances to add Holidays music for a change of the faux exotic music that playing very often in the background of these shorts. The half-hour will be ended on a right note but no-- we have 18 minutes before the episode is over.

No need to explain you the obligatory Claus/Claws pun. Much Looney Tunes style.

While in bed, it's there the meat of the story really begins for this unique half-hour episode that I wish the crew does more, and if Disney didn't having delayed the release of later half-hours for something most of the overseas countries have playing most of the Season 1 cartoons shorts as quick when in the America, the Season 1 series took a long year before to be all aired. If it's certainly a case of poor quality production or lack of trust from the Disney corporation in regards to this is unknown. The series never been a favorite for many people, even for those working for Disney Channel in circa-2004, so much that they were already in reruns less than a month after the series' premiere. The likes of Toon Disney (Remember it before it turns all to Disney XD for attract boys?) on Europe have stolen times when USA (And worse, in Canada by Family Channel that had took a long year before to be seen for a shorter period) has wasted one long year before achieving at last, all the Season 1 episodes without it comes too convoluted.

And it's also there the weakness of this Christmas special came along. The two argued together instead to sleep by waiting Santa Claus, when for the pooch girl, it was more to less to get back home to Florida. Even Gapsard came back to their bed for the talk he having with Brandy before. Then, Santa arrive but sadly, Whiskers have all planned his presence.

Brandy do anything to stop Whiskers to threatening Santa Claus. The old man came back to his sled (albeit with a electronic touch) and Brandy with its two luggages asked him to be on-board of the sled until in Florida while the rabbit continue to threatening him. By introducing herself as the old "I'm Brandy. Brandy Harrington..." shtik for make her more cultivate and from an elite, Santa realized that she was part of... his naughty list!! And at a reward, Santa give her a piece of coal. She kick the coal to Santa's sled and it crashing down to the jungle, which makes it at one of the most unlikable parts of the show for a while. Is Christmas suppose to be a time of cheers and joy and not for greed? Because Brandy was rather greedy in these sequences.

Now injuring and his rear broken, Santa fears that Christmas is cancelled and that it's all Brandy's fault. She will soon regret her mean acts. Meanwhile, Whiskers still scare of the old man with a white beard and red suit, but he enjoyed his silly antics anyway. Whiskers start to realize he weren't bad at all, that Santa give him a candy cane. Whiskers reactions to him are priceless, but not anything that we haven't seen before.

At a way to restore the Holidays and fix her "mistakes", Brandy thought to take in charge of the Christmas gift distribution by have Mr. Whiskers at help and for about reindeers, they have Ed, Lola, Cheryl and Meryl at reindeers for replace them. Santa Claus told them that the sled work by a bunch of elves where instead, you see three stereotypical "tough" elves playing a poker game, which makes the show more adult than it is. Totally unnecessary, but it's a much memorable punchline than what the show usually offers.

The winter visuals on the background is very lovely to look at. The episode is one that is completely free of that awkward "still pictures" shtik utilizing at flashback just for delivering a lame gag that is not funny for started. But for all intents and purposes, this is not the most memorable Christmas special I ever saw. At someone who growth to be sick of the commercialization of Christmas and that lots of foods and Christmas wrapping paper end their lives to the garbage bin instead to be recycling/composting, Christmas is also the worst time for wasting on anything. The 2023s year was a point of no-return of our actions against the climatic crisis. It would be only great if the show existed today, it will surely mentionned that, but looking that most of the crews were more busy to make unfunny and sadistic jokes on their plate, the cartoon series formula is rather archaic for 2023s Disney where they are more concerned to made characters more inclusive and values that actually represent the kids' reality of the current era.

The scene with the toddler kid is perhaps the most weirder, but also most touching ever figuring in the whole series, by contributing the works of Björklund in not only this, but also Teacher's Pet which the show gaining lots of critical fame back it was originally seen. Today, both shows are rather obscured but it's indeed, a much satisfactory effort to do something apart of the corporation's mold than the ugliest 2013s Mickey Mouse series of shorts that may looks like if child rapist John K. has worked for that mouse! (Remember, Steamboat Willie and the 1928s rendition of the Walt Disney/Ub Iwerks iconic character going to be part of Public Domain by January 1th 2024, despite any of the corporation's insistence to keep legit this character property!)

And then, the last exit as we know, a little tour of what looks to be the Mansion where Brandy lived before to be stuck on the Amazon Rainforest in the first cartoon when she encountered Mr. Whiskers. In some ways, it's neat. It would be only better if the series ended like it has promised, but alas, it weren't. The actual series finale ended by a non-ending and the show's production suffered hard because of this. Fanfiction writers does a much admirable and better job to depicted what would be the Brandy's life if she weren't part of the Amazon Rainforest than anything seen in this show...

...And we have that obligatory toilet flush sound in the background when Whiskers visiting the bathroom. Is it was a thing too?

This, make it like a wasted opportunity if this half-hour existed only from Disney comitees and their engagement to add any Christmas themes for all their creative works. The crew goes faster and faster after a series of errors through their journey and they'll go back to the Jungle and nonthenless, it would be end with this, but no-- We have two long and tedious minutes of Brandy speaking about the lesson she learning about Christmas like if she tried to monologuing to an invisible audience. For a show that seems to be magical when it came out in my life first, it's a rather dreary-looking and pointless ending and that serve nothing, except but Kaley Kuoco to act as if she doing lecture to the audience. All of that is innapropriate for a cartoon series that don't need of any 4th wall-breaking jokes, but did it more often and badly than it actually needed.

The episode ending when Santa quit the Jungle, without Brandy and then, all its friends laughed to her when the pooch girl told them she would be much nicer the next year. A rare true lesson of humility that the protagonist deserved more for her "mean" schemes.

"Boo-ooo-ooo! What I have do for working in such of a lame cartoon by a lame supporting cast?" as Brandy seems to says to the audience. (Actually, she says Ho-Ho-Ho!, but you know the point though.) The half-hour is done. Fade out.

And as usual, here's the critique like I originally wrote on this blog:

Perhaps the most well-known and seen episode of the entire series due to its inclusion at Christmas-time and by be the one most people remembered with probably Mr. Whiskers First Friend and Pedigree, Shmedigree, this unique half-hour cartoon adventure is high on visual designs but still inept in substance. The main conceit to make discovering Christmas to the Amazon Rainforest animals is fun at its own right, but is sadly marred to the fact this is a very stunningly average effort. There are a couple of punches that works right: The Christmas music in background are pretty effective. Whiskers says "FEE-FI-FO!" is one of the most hystericals one-liners as of late. The Santa Claus and toddler kid designs are a nice fit to it, thought someone came close to says that they share the same kind of universe than the cult classic series Teacher's Pet in which Timothy Björkland was also involved at producer. But all these good moments are burried by the fact Brandy just don't care of Christmas at all and that she only wanna get home while Mr. Whiskers shows his own hate to Santa by wrote a letter to him. The fact that Whiskers was in the part of Santa's good list and Brandy the bad one makes one merely suspect, as if Santa have a sixth sense to detected the kids that are part of his annual good/naughty list. Brandy's long message to Santa of what she learning through her experience to take the big man's job with her own squad of reindeers (That are just Ed, Lola, Cheryl and Meryl at reindeers) for delivering gifts to kids is too forced and listless by exists only for ran more times before this ordeal is done. This was the one and only half-hour episode that is not separated by two 11-minutes shorts in the series, and one would wish the crew doing it more. There was lots of potential to make the jungle adventures more interesting than 11 minutes of gross and sadistic slapstick, but for that, that was it. On Whiskers, On Lola, On Cheryl and Meryl is clearly a modern classic for anyone who goes crazy with Christmas productions where they may ran it every year in Holidays time, but for an one-off half-hour, it's doubtful that it could own the same kind of timeless prestige and yuletide like A Charlie Brown Christmas, Chuck Jones' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! or anything from Rankin-Bass. It's only typical of what the series had to offers. After it, it will be business as usual until we hit the very abysmal series finale Rip Van Whiskers almost 18 months after this episode will be originally airing.