Taking Paws

Taking Paws (1-12)

Written by: Brian Swenlin

Storyboard by: Zac Monrieff

Directed by: Timothy Björklund

Original airing of date: September 4th 2004 (According to the epguides page of the show)

Synopis: A game of Hide-and-Seek with Otter Ed make Mr. Whiskers to met a fearsome jaguar name Lorenzo, which by both falling down, Lorenzo's paw been bite by a spine. He dealt with the rabbit to befriend him if only, he remove the spine.

Man, what a very oft-putting episode to watch. After such numerous earlier episodes that worked out fine, here's that the revolving door of writers started to shown the series's true colors. This time, it's Brian Swenlin. Seems that he weren't informed for which characters he have to wrote for. A shame that Russel Marcus is no longer the exclusive writer to what he was credited first to be their "makers".

The cartoon start by a Hide-and-Seek game between Whiskers and Ed. Early on, one start to noticing that it's becoming another generic cartoon show that was shown elsewhere at that time, like on Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Teletoon, anywhere else. Even so in Disney Channel! The bunny finding his otter friend by be hiding near of him and it's to Ed's turn to close his eyes and counting when Whiskers do anything to hide and be never be find. Even the characters designs looked more flat episode by episode, by explaining how low-budget the show really were.

The rabbit have tried to hide himself into a tree trunk on his way. He grabbed all his body to it but was too stuck inside it. He detsroyed it by his big muscles (As showed in The Babysitter's Flub) until he goes to a lake by one straw (Hopefully it's a Bamboo one!), but poor him! He losed his breath by swallow air and even a bird out of his mouth. Then, he finally found "the" perfect place: In the bushes up to a tree but soon, he facing with a very ferocious and fearsome jaguar that frightened the rabbit on his Hide-and-Seek game. Whiskers tried anything to cool him down, until the branch broke and the two falling to the ground.

One of the much better "flashbacks" uses on the TV show. Just look of the beautiful airbrushs shadows to Whiskers' ears. Why the actual cartoon can't be as well-drawn like this?

Mysteriously, the named jaguar Lorenzo seen his paw bite by a spine, by convincing the rabbit to hold it, by even crying out loud to his life. Whiskers would of course, but at first, he seems to knowing the ruse that goes about. But Lorenzo insisted anything to remove the spine in exchange to befriend him. And then, for a long eight minutes, the cartoon drags onto the Treehouse with Brandy by be an antagonist than the Disney-girl protagonist of the series.

(As you probably know, some online sources claimed the jaguar name to be a direct reference to voice-artist Lorenzo Music. But inevitably, this is mostly not accurate. Music passed away in 2001, long before the animated series was in production and didn't voiced Garfield since the 80s/90s saturday morning TV series were gone in 1994. So, don't think Lorenzo (as grating his design was) was muchly a nod to Lorenzo Music if nobody, outside of the animation elite would bears to knew it!)

The whole ordeal started at the 2:16 of the cartoon. Brandy warned Whiskers that jaugars eat rabbits but, the latter admantently to seen it at a cliché of the natural animal kingdom. But then, it all dragged of the fact that Lorenzo was just a loud-mouth, talkier and also annoying and very grating character to be company of the two leads. It made the conflict much bothersome after a while. If it weren't to Ed at the begin and by a surprisingly well done fake-out, that would be only Brandy and Whiskers arguing each other like says in Lame Boy. (Ironically, this segment is featuring in the same half-hour than the one I reviewed about.)

All of what Lorenzo does all of his presence in the Treehouse is make lame punny jokes, talking about his family and all the crap and eventually, breaking the whole structure of the house. There's even a very unfunny toilet joke in there. (Whiskers tried to go pee but Lorenzo was busy in there and he smells stink. Since then their Treehouse having to own a bathroom?) That conclude that basically, it's just a very average animated show that have none chance to lived much longer. And from a year in which creative control was as its worser. Is anyone else expected to get back in 2004 to how depressing the whole mass-entertainment actually was?

After a horrendous night that ran like an eternity, Brandy having enough of the jaguar and obliged Whiskers to get rid of it. The whole treehouse is a true mess due to him, even if in some occasional segments, Whiskers have destroyed it by his rampant childish games. When Whiskers finally get out his new friend, Lorenzo get back... but this time with his family. You know what is strange there? Lorenzo and all his family are much look-a-like each other, with very ugly clown noses and not the actual, real-life jaguar we suppose to have instead. For that time, the series was a real breath of fresh air of the supposed serious, dramatic and faux-intellectual tone of much cartoons and Anime of this era, but it's all downhill there when the whole "convincing" theme of holding a spine out of its paw was like the juvenile approach of those dull late-1940s Screen Gems cartoons. It's close to be meriteless, though. The animation is pretty decent and expertly competent, thanks to Animation studios like Wang or Toon City that have the inevitable task to handle the whole thing.

You know the best part out of this thing? It's when Brandy ranted to Lorenzo to how "annoying" he was, by checking his face to the dictionnary (We see that in the next scene). The whole purpose of "annoyed" is 1. to cause slight irritation to (another) by troublesome, by often repeated acts. and 2. To harass or disturb  by repead attacks. v. intr. To be annoying. And by the "annoying" word, we see him and also... the rabbit! By it, the duo made rid of all the Lorezno's family out of treehouse and Lorenzo only want to eat not only, the rabbit, but the pooch itself, by wreck chaos even to the roof. But another spine in the paw made the jaguar some pity to surrendered and give up all his annoyance and freeloading.

Sorry, Lorenzo! Whiskers and Brandy have no longer business to work with you anymore! You're fired of the cartoon! Period.

The cartoon end on almost the same way that it beginning. Brandy finally fix the house while she explained to Whiskers to be careful by choosing his friends. But the rabbit is nowhere to be found. He found a giant dragon that have a spine on its paw. He holded it and then, WHAM!! His face is all crushed to the ground! What a weak ending for a weak cartoon.

Or is it? After a long ten minutes, Ed appeared and finally go to find Mr. Whiskers on his way. But such thing that would appear better if it was set in the middle of this episode unfortunately. Here, it's just a wasted opportunity to what would be a clever ending by a punch (no pun intented) to the rabbit's face.

Critique:

It's in the point on the show that the crew started to directed almost average, generic plots to the Brandy & Mr. Whiskers series, which it make no longer the difference between this and other past animated productions or those made in the same period. The main problem with Taking Paws is its plot; a very Paint-by-Numbers episode to those who were already familiar with cartoons that share the same plot. The whole Hide-and-Seek game between Whiskers and Ed is fairly inventive, but it went abandonned when Lorenzo seen his paw biting by a spine and asked the rabbit to remove it in exchange to be his chum. All of that made it at a very tame "Bro-friendship" in which almost all the segment appear in the Treehouse; while Lorenzo only goes more grating than funny, by doing lame wordplays jokes, excessively talking about his family or the desire to eat Whiskers and also Brandy by the way (Why Whiskers don't react to his "newer" friend's impulses is another question). When the pooch ordered Whiskers to kick Lorenzo out of the treehouse, we're know what's going to happen, as Lorenzo's big family come to their door and wreck chaos anywhere in the house. The revolving door of writers continue to clash on the writing with this time, Brian Swenlin, and it seems like he didn't give any newer flavors to a show that need some. Brandy's rantings about how "annoyed" Lorenzo was (And then, the scene featuring the dictionnary with not only his face, but Whiskers too!) is appropriate, but a bridge too far to a very uneven segment in general. Sadly, all the best elements of the earlier series are missing in this adventure and even the call-out/fake-out gags are predictable at best. And for the record, voice-artist Lorenzo Music have anything to do with the jaguar character's name as he passed away in 2001, one year before the series went in production. It speaks a lot to how misaligned and lazy some online sources may be because of some cartoon nerds who think to known everything than those who producing of what they've documented. Generally weak ending(s) for a very weak episode.