Rip Van Whiskers

Rip Van Whiskers (2-18)

Written by: Lenny Ripps

Storyboard by: Rossen Varbanov

Directed by: Timothy Björklund and John McIntyre

Date of airdate: August 25th 2006 (According to the epguides.com, but it may be playing anywhere before that date)

Synopsis: After to be attacking by a "orange frog with black stripes", Whiskers have to get sleep for fifty years, according to the legend. The only time where Brandy (off-screen) kissing the rabbit. Final episode for the series. Final episode in production.

First, APRIL FOOL'S EVERYONE! Then, it's BOOO-RRRIING!

It is the very first time that I do make a review and critique about the second season of the show. Fewer things looked out different or better than in the very ugliest Season 1's episodes. Characters designs and the Amazon Rainforest environments are less the flat things of before. And what better than reviewing the final segment ever made? Let's see if it worth our time or that it aged well.

The first scene seen the pair after hunting for clams. Brandy getting a bucket of it in her hands while they encounter a strange amphibian creature. A orange frog that covered with black stripes put intrusion to their way. Brandy trying to get rid of it but it finally put its gross slime to her feet.

It is such weird that Timothy Björklund was involved to directed the finale pair's episode, but it appears to me at contractual where in the Season 1, he was the "exclusive" director, which means several of the brightest spots (Pedigree, Shmedigree, Cyranosaurus Rex or the whole first half-hour) does to him and a crew who just wanted to do their job. At least, it's more classy than the needlessly gross and ugly The Bagel & Becky Show (A show that "trying" to copying the gimmick, but fail) were.

But seriously, this finale is a slow burn because nothing works. There is a reason why I never ever reviewed the season 2's episodes in this blog. This is there where the show looked like more those 1940s Screen Gems shorts where more fillers does up the heaviest-lifting. Even if this one is free of that horrendous idea to include a Temple as a Shopping Center out of nowhere in the Amazon Rainforest, (How that they build it in few times is another question) it's doubtful that we will get a real conclusion that fans waiting for too long- That Brandy gets back home to Florida, and without Mr. Whiskers' involvement. But nothing does happened after that.

Then, a welcomed Ed (Still voiced by Tom Kenny) encountered the duo and the frog as well. The legend says that any connection with the orange frog with black stripes is sucked to the victim's blood by a permanent death sleep for... 50 years! We seen a slideshow featuring the demonstration of a somewhat person to be bitten by it. But really, that would be another character and results will be the same. The McIntyre versions of Brandy and Mr. Whiskers looked to me less likable than it went by Björklund, if he do know exactly for what characters he directed then.

See the Ren & Stimpy/Spongebob Squarepants influence here?

While knowning the conspiracy, the rabbit imagined himself to be awake fifty years later, with a long-beard like the Rip Van Winkle novel... and then, a family to raise!

Regardless of who written this, gags and ideas are at the mercy of a very rampant John McIntyre direction that has put more pains to the series than it does delivered back the series was a new thing, created a very strong fan-community online by the Brandy Harrington character at a Rule 34 one and of course, lots of outrage and hatred on Toonzone. 

Whiskers has made a list of wishs he's make before his permanent sleep, like kissing a girl, eating lots of wienies, (Gaspard have a hot-dog stand now?) plays basket or more ludicrous, be a star on a TV show. But eventually, the latter wishlist is all the more devious if we finally known that they aren't survivalists, but actors in this!

Muffy? Mr. Whackadoo? What's this crap?

Despite all the conspiracies, Whiskers was just glad to achieving all his plans with Brandy before to sleep for a long fifty years, until he still wanna kissing her! This didn't took so long for the pooch to be embarassed until the pair hit the Treehouse when all their friends made a last farewell to a faithful Amazon Rainforest resident.

Everything is arranged for make sure that the Whiskers' long sleep would be made with the biggest respect and care he deserve, like a new bed, manufactured by Gaspard himself, (He's made mattress now?) and then, cut to the next scene, a sloth witnessed the rabbit (and the audience) of his own experience by the mattress. You know, when the sloth (Apparently the same one from The Fashion Fascist when Brandy felt in despair by the Whiskers' popular fashion business plans.) is apparently the last funniest moment on the show, that's not a good sign.

Zootopia! Eat you Heart Out!

In the next scene, we seen Whiskers' new pillow. Brandy find it sweet and cozy, but the next part shown where they took the feathers for make this pillow. Just enough for make a very forced gag, and not an original one for that.

After a long series of arguings, it was time for says "Farewell" to Whiskers until he just says in line that all his plans didn't matter, that infuriate Brandy where she do helping anytime her friend to make his last day in life the best experience at possible. Suddenly, the rabbit expected only to kissing any girl, including Brandy, which was the motives of what make the online fans so intrigued by the show first. It was a fun and dynamic pair, but wasted by the Disney "Do It Cheap!" politics of this era. It was all a victim of this. Even by been one of the worst Disney TV Animation shows to be made and why nobody wanna argue about it again in the Tiktok and Netflix age. (The Buzz On Maggie is times worse than this, but unlike them, it didn't getting renewed for another season without any clear confirmation that it was real or fake.)

Not knowing that it would be the series' last, Brandy put all her best to kiss Whiskers (Even off-screen) by even crying to lose her best friend in the entire world. That would be only great if that could end like that, but then, Lola stopped all this for make clear of the Orange frog conspiracy, as it was done from... rhymes?

You know that they weren't getting a third season for such of lousy and bland level of writing touch. Back in the day, Disney Channel was more stressed out to delivering its many DTV movies and kidcoms by put all their animated programmings in the graveyard. 

Sure, The Replacements have its own fans, but it's a weird mix of Brandy and Whiskers at human siblings with Fairly Oddparents granted wishs all done for greed (In them, this is super parents instead of the godparents like in the Butch Hartman cartoon). And the much comic-book artstyle didn't helped it. There was another additional Kim Possible season the following year, but it seems to appear as too late, when such characters like them couldn't stand as longer. Glad to have not be raised by these murky Disney properties in the long and dreadful late-00s.

The final scenes are sadly, all the more dubious. Clearly a sign that the writers were hurry up to finishing with this thing. Whiskers is getting awake by thinking to have sleep for fifty long years, but can't he see anything has changed? His 50 years lasted like... 50 seconds? And we don't buy the sobbing Brandy to losing her friend seen earlier neither. It appears to me at very hypocrite. Actually, all the trimmings and decorations on the treehouse smelled like mere hypocrisy, as in a Peanuts' series of strips when the gang pretended to make a party... only for make Charlie Brown like a jerk! But it wasn't at funny. The series ended by a off-screen bunk in Whiskers' head to get back to sleep again.

Such amusing that the first scene of the series started by an airplane and then, the final scene is about the pair's exterior home without any characters that are involved. We didn't getting (Again!) any rewards for our own troubles.

Critique:

We made it! The final Brandy & Mr. Whiskers' episode airing/on production is sadly, a disaster challenge to watch. Because nothing works there. From the inept idea of a curse about orange frogs with black stripes that supposedly be stepped to rhymes like as the show's crew wanted the series to be wordy to the awkward Whiskers' wishlist (Like to made a symphony by just burping or starring on a TV series while he's already on one?) before to sleep for fifty years after his horrific curse. Björklund's involvement to this finale is probably more contractual because everything that what makes the characters as magical first are now-on missing, no thanks to John McIntyre and his obnoxious traits to producing and writing. Without knowing that this will be the series' end, the Brandy's kiss to the rabbit and Whiskers' last wish are all sounded in the worst form of hypocrisy, as if everything is tricked because this is just a silly cartoon. The segment is a victim of that time, where everything from Disney sounded like a cheap and bland form of corporation (And that still hung around twenty years later by its unneccesary remakes of classic animated movies, such as 2023s The Little Mermaid, an unnauthorized Pinnochio remake from the Carlo Collodi's estate and the just-current Snow White flop) for giving to the show and crew every strings they need in order to survive. But eventually, it's all ended by a off-screen bunk to the Mr. Whiskers' head for get him back to sleep forever, when it is a very sad, bitter and lame punchline to finishing with this thing. Even the crew from one of the worst Disney TV animated series in history deserved better forms of attention or respect.