Today's PPG episode: "Nano of the North"

[Brainatra]

New PPG episode today....

The girls are forced to fight off a bunch of nanites (appearing from out of a storm cloud) via shrinking down to microscopic size (thanks to Prof. Utonium).

Kind of a so-so episode, mostly centered around the fight scene in the last act between the Girls and the nanites (er, sorry, "nanobots"). Did like their initial attempt to fight the little 'bots via stomping around in a water puddle (and their subsequent nudity after their clothes get dissolved, heh :-) and the "mega"-bot's defeat at the end...

The only other observation about this episode is (as was noted) how Townsville's suburbs (like the one the Utonium family lives in) usually seems to come through unscathed by the various villain attacks/etc.---one advantage of dwelling in suburbia, I guess... ;-)

-B.

[Sharklady]

You're right; not a great ep. I had heard this one included a lot of obvious filler- especially the Townsville sequence at the beginning- and I heard right.

It would've been much improved if they'd packed lots of little refs into the Townsville scenes, as they did with 'Him Diddle Riddle' last night (I take it you missed that ep, Brainatra, so I'll say no more. The less you know about the plot ahead of time, the better.)

[DR. BELCH]

I'll just incorporate my review into this thread, if no one minds--save a little bandwidth.
*The title is a parody of Nanook of the North (doc., 1922).
*Boy, can the narrator chew scenery. He talks for five straight minutes in the open. And some of the fight scenes and exposition seem a bit padded...although it was interesting seeing the Girls' attacks (laser "fingers" for Buttercup, ice breath for Blossom, sonic scream for Bubbles) and how, after being reduced, it takes them minutes to fly a mere three feet. Also the whole bit about the glass jar with the holes in the lid to transport them, and Prof. Utonium gilding the lily a bit.
*A lot of shrinking movies referenced--Amazing Voyage, obviously, which is the one about the scientist team minaturized and injected into a prominent politician's body to save his life...the Professor's headgear is an homage to Rick Moranis in Honey, I Shrink the Kids, in which he's dangling from a clothesline over the backyard wearing an absurd magnifying glass helmet...and the Girls' voices when tiny sound like The Chipmunks, which reminded me of April O'Neil's voice under similar circumstances in a TMNT ep.
*It's evident the nanobots eat only nonliving carbon, like clothes and buildings, which is good for the people (and the ratings, because seeing folks have their flesh sucked off their bones may be a little too gros for Saturday morning).
*It isn't that strange that it only rains in town--where I live, often it'll start raining in the city before the storm moves to outlying areas (or vice-versa).
*Why does the Prof cover his eyes at the sight of the Girls naked? I mean, doesn't he ever have to bathe them?
*The Prof's final dealing with the giant nanobot--all of six inches--reminded me of Giles' handling of a nightmare demon on Buffy the Vampire Slayer--*squish*!
*It's never clear where the 'bots come from--I mean, they have elements of Him's grand-scale scheming and Mojo's knowledge of tech, and maybe Princess money to pay for it. Eh....

Pokemon's "Right On, Rhydon!" features a Rhydon who gets over its fear of water to swim across a lake and gorge on its favorite food, apples (akin, I suppose, to a cat learning to swim to hunt prey). Misty and Brock think Ash has lost his mind or was dreaming when he claims to have seen this...but they soon meet a girl named Pietra who confirms it is real. She wants this legendary beast to help dig a tunnel through a mountain, which her rock Pokemon can't do because they fear getting dripped on while carving out then last few feet.
Notable scene--Team Rocket tries to deliver their motto with their mouths full of apple and nearly choke. Also, they prove what bad hunters they are in not being able to tell Rhydon tracks (three-toed) from Wobafett tracks (round).
Of course they want the amazing swimming Rhydon, as it's pretty rare, but as usual they fail and wind up blasted off again (first running afoul of the beast in its feeding area, then accidentally catching Wobafett in their pit trap, and finally having their balloon popped during battle).
Watch for the bit where Pietra loses her darn mind and goes Steve Irwin on the Rhydon, wrestling it underwater. Eventually she does wear it down, catch it and puts it to work for her.
Not much else to note, except another use of Japanes cartoons' favorite cliche, the booger bubble (here, with Jessy). Why is it when characters are sleeping in anime there is invariably a huge globule of snot coming out of their noses? :p Use a tissue! :o

[a.k.a. Skarr~~]

U know, we do have a CCF board! That's where this should be!

[Sharklady]

> A lot of shrinking movies referenced--Amazing Voyage, obviously, which is the one about the scientist team minaturized and injected into a prominent politician's body to save his life... <

I think you mean 'Fantastic Voyage'; the 1966 movie, based on an Issac Asimov novel, that starred Stephen Boyd and Raquel Welch (in those days, there was an unwritten Hollywood rule that any woman cast as a doctor or scientist *had* to have substancial chest measurements [prehaps to reassure the audience she was hetero?])

[Mackenzie Rainelle]

::snork:: My favorite part was the six-inch tall mega bot, and then when the Professor stomped the sucker. XD

[Brainatra]

Forgot one more observation, my seeing that Buttercup has generic energy blasts as a (presumably unique) superpower. Guess I'll tack it onto the "Girls vs. the Silver Age Superman" list of power comparisons.... :-)

As for "being on the CCF board", I think it's perfectly on-topic here (plus since I don't have cable, I usually don't read that particular board, and not sure that some of the other regulars of this board would see my review of this here), esp. since this is airing as a KWB show/falls under the "general cartoon discussion" territory...

-B.

[Sharklady]

> Forgot one more observation, my seeing that Buttercup has generic energy blasts as a (presumably unique) superpower. <

That power has been seen once before, in the 'Octi Evil' episode.

[Brainatra]

Originally posted by Sharklady
> Forgot one more observation, my seeing that Buttercup has generic energy blasts as a (presumably unique) superpower. <

That power has been seen once before, in the 'Octi Evil' episode.

OK then (haven't seen that one yet).

And yes, I missed that new "Him" episode, not really knowing anyone with cable and working on Friday nights usually....

-B.

[Sharklady]

> And yes, I missed that new "Him" episode, not really knowing anyone with cable and working on Friday nights usually.... <

Then here's hoping you can locate somebody who videotaped it and is willing to loan you the tape. Reviewers all over the internet agree that 'Him Diddle Riddle' is a fine ep; very probably one of the best ever.

[Sailor V]

The part where The PPG are naked that was scary!:eek: I'm Ok I hope.

[Tak Mazé]

Please don't revive these dead topics -_-;;

[Wanted]

Do newbies come here with the intention to revive OLD threads? Seriously, this gets old after a while.