Sunday, February 17, 2008

Adventures in Care-a-lot Episode 11


I didn't tape episode 10, and I want to give it the proper treatment, so I'm skipping it for the time being.

Dare Bears - "My tenderhearted friend"
This episode starts with Tenderheart actually having a part that's longer than two lines! Grumpy invited him over to test his latest invention - not the one behind the neon green curtain, though, that one isn't ready yet (foreshadowing!). No, what Grumpy really has planned are a pair of Bouncy Boots, which Tenderheart takes to with gusto. Grumpy, however, gets nauseous just watching (hence why he didn't try them out himself), and sends Tenderheart outside. Tenderheart uses the boots to confound Funshine, before grabbing him and taking him along. After an offhand comment that the boots are great for "daring" feats, Funshine dares Tenderheart to jump over the hedge. And he does. Then they switch, and Tenderheart dares Funshine to jump over a rainbow. And he does, but it was too high, and they end up bouncing out of control once they come back down. Only a quick lasso-ing from Cheer saves them from being dunked in the fountain. Cheer chatises the boys, and they promise to be more careful, but clearly, she'll believe it when she sees it.
Since the dares you can do with bouncing boots are pretty limited, and since Tenderheart brags that he'll take on any dare, Funshine comes up with a new dare for him: deliver a basket of bumbleberries -- to Grizzle! Tenderheart is apprehensive, but when Funshine accuses him of being scared, he knows he can't back down. So he sneaks into Grizzle's lair, all the while reminding himself that he's done scarier things (no examples, though). Everything seems to be okay when suddenly he hears Grizzle's voice! But he's just talking to Mr. Beaks (they're playing checkers), so Tenderheart sets down the basket, bangs on the wall (since there isn't a door), and high-tails it out of there. Grizzle is not pleased at being interrupted, bellowing, "Who dares disturb me on game day!" (I love it!) But finding the basket, he wonders who could have sent it. It looks like Tenderheart and Funshine are about to be found out, but Grizzle surmises that it must have been Mr. Beaks. He gives Mr. Beaks a hug, which crushes him, but Grizzle doesn't seem to mind.
Back in Care-a-lot, Fushine congratulates Tenderheart on a dare well done, and comments on how scary it was just to watch. Tenderheart at first admits that doing it was pretty scary, too, but then backtracks. Funshine tries to head home, but Tenderheart insists that he has to do a dare to make things even. But before he can think of one, they spy Grumpy heading their way. Turns out his "latest new invention" (heh) isn't coming together, so he's trying to clear his head. Funshine tries to help by playing Sun Frisbee, but no luck. Tenderheart is eager to try out the new invention, but Grumpy pointed tells him that no one touches it until he's done with it. And now Tenderheart knows what to dare Funshine.
Funshine and Tenderheart peek into Grumpy's workshop and Tenderheart outlines the dare: all Funshine has to do is touch Grumpy's latest new invention (he says it, too!). Funshine does a better job of objecting that Tenderheart did to his dare (ugh, the feelings talk), but caves just as easily when Tenderheart accuses him of being scared. So in he goes. As he inches his way to the sheet-covered invention, Cheer shows up with a basket of berries for Grumpy. Seeing Funshine, she demands to know what's going on. Tenderheart starts by explaining the earlier dare at Grizzle's lair, and Cheer wigs out. Which means it's lesson time! Long story short: don't do dares, they're stupid. Then Tenderheart explains what Funshine's doing and Cheer tells him what she overheard Grumpy say: his latest new invention is touch activated! Yes, it's that contrived to drive the message home.
At that very moment, Funshine touches the bottom-most part of the invention and it springs to life, grabbing him with a huge hand and then breaking out of Grumpy's garage. Turns out the latest new invention is a variation of the bouncy boots, a bouncy car. It jumps all over town square, breaking up the pavement, with Funshine trapped in the cockpit, no clue how to stop it. Grumpy, how happened to be nearby at the time, seems to take the whole thing in stride, only yelling at Funshine that he could get hurt, and stop tearing up the street. He just happens to have the bouncy boots with him (probably because they're based on the same technology), so he suits up and enters the fray, causing Tenderheart to call him "the most daring bear of all." After a bit of a chase, Grumpy manages to land on the boucing car and turn it off, right in front of Share. And that's the last bouncing invention you'll see him make, that's for sure.
Later, Funshine contemplates the destruction he inadvertantly caused, and apologizes to Grumpy, who just complains that all his work was for nothing. Plus, Funshine could have gotten hurt, so what was the point? Tenderheart fesses up to coming up with the dare, and Grumpy lays down the law. And Cheer sets them up to fix the street. Grumpy stays nearby, working on something new, with such a smug expression that I'd swear he was thinking "All according to plan," but what kind of plan could he have had that ended with Tenderheart and Funshine dressed as construction workers? Unless Funshine and Tenderheart daring each other is nothing new, and he made both inventions, and blatantly dropped hints about the bouncy car just to cure them of their darelust? Man, Grumpy, you could give Light a run for his money.

Battle of the Bands - "You know, this is not the Harmony and Cheer Show."
Apparently, the star boy band that formed back in "Here, Cheer, and Everywhere" decided to play regular gigs in Care-a-lot, but they're so loud that you can hear them all the way up in Grizzle's lair. And since they only play at night, Grizzle gets no sleep. Not a good situation there. But it's good for me, because it means we get to see Grizzle in his pajamas (which he wears over his suit). Back with the band, one of the stars invites Harmony on stage, and she sings Emma's song from "Emma's Dilemma" on the Grizzle-ly Adventures DVD. After the song, everyone congratulates her on her singing, and just like that, the decide to make their own band! No need for the stars when you've got all the talent of Care-a-lot at your fingertips. Cheer wants in, Love-a-lot can play the drums, and True Heart displays a hidden talent for guitar. Share wants to join, too, but she can't sing and she can't dance. So she gets to be the crew. With the band members in place, they christen themselves The Care Bear Hunnies and a band is born!
Unable to sleep, Grizzle tries watching TV, but the only thing on is Adventures in Care-a-lot. This did allow him to see the birth of the new band, more bad news for him. The band practices all the next day and into the night, preventing Grizzle from getting to sleep again. For a reason I cannot fathom, he puts a towel over his head while frying an egg (Grizzle's kitchen! Yes!). To help with the noise, I suppose. But there's no helping anything at this point. There's going to be no sleep for Grizzle ever again if he doesn't break up that band, and quick!
The next next day, the band finishes practice and Cheer is approached by Grizzle in disguise as Busybody Bear (Grizzle in drag? I love it!). "She" instantly starts spreading dissent (in a southern accent) by telling Cheer that she heard Harmony say that Cheer would be a bad leader. Cheer doesn't buy it, but the seeds are sown... Grizzle continues by talking to Harmony, feeding her a line supposedly said by Cheer. Harmony thinks it's just a misunderstanding, so Grizzle replies, "Oh, you're right. She just said that you're bossy." Now that gets a reaction. (I just want to stop for a sec to applaud the animators for having Grizzle cross "her" legs while sitting with Harmony and then take a moment to readjust "her" dress. A throwaway gesture, perhaps, but I appreciate it.) Then, after a game of belly ball, Grizzle tells Love-a-lot and True Heart that Harmony and Cheer said they were useless, and almost outs himself, but he's able to recover quickly.
Later, the band gets set to practice again, but instead, they start accusing each other with all the gossip "Busybody Bear" spread around (and Love-a-lot and True Heart swap voices!). Share, whom Grizzle forgot about, since she's only in the crew, has no clue what's going on and suggests they hash it out. Cheer says that she's mad because she thinks she's a good band leader, and Harmony interjects that she's the band leader, and things just escalate from there. That night, the star boy band plays again, but the Hunnies are still mad at each other. Tenderheart comes up and tells them how excited he is, but gets caught in the crossfire of their sniping at each other. Despite this, they still claim to be a band. Share threatens them all with a discussion, and goes to get the rest of the equipment. Grizzle, hiding behind the bush, heard the whole thing, and he couldn't be happier. He takes off his wig for no good reason and brags to Mr. Beaks just as Share comes along. She easily pieces together what's going on, but Grizzle tries to deny it, with no help from Mr. Beaks, but finally he tells it to her straight - he did it to break up the band. Share tries to guilt him, but he doesn't care, so she conjures up a huge lollipop (not to whack him on the head with, unfortunately), scoops him up, and deposits him in front of the other Hunnies. True Heart is struck by the resemblance, and Share tells them all what's been going on. Cheer yells at Grizzle, who denies full blame, although he's surprised to find out that he was justified. But as Share points out, it takes two to lie, one to lie and one to listen. And then, hoo boy, does she guilt trip them good. So they all agree with her quickly, there are high fives all around, and everyone is happy again, except for Grizzle, who is physically hurt by their camaraderie. True Heart points out that it's probably just his high heels, and he limps away, vowing to return later. And they all laugh at him.
I'm not sure if it's the same night, or a different night, but Funshine introduces the Hunnies, and they play away, singing a song that we haven't actually heard before. Share even gets to play the tamborine, and the everything ends as it should.

Y'know, you can't really blame Grizzle this time. All he wanted was some sleep! Of course, if he'd gone down and asked (or even demanded) that they stop so he could get some sleep, they would have toned it down, 'cause they're just that nice (as we'll see in the next episode). But that wouldn't have been nearly as fun, would it? Oh, and I'm not at all annoyed that no one recognized Grizzle in disguise simply because Grizzle as Busybody Bear was almost the best thing ever.

Screenshots!
Dare Bears
Don't look behind the curtain
Tenderheart has no clue what he's talking about
Piggyback!
Funshine has the perfect dare
Grizzle and Mr. Beaks, BFF
Grumpy is annoyed
The bouncy car
Grumpy in full gear
No more dares for these bears!
Fix the street
Grumpy's new plans

Battle of the Bands
Grizzle in bed
Grizzle can't sleep
True Heart rocks the guitar
Grizzle watches TV
Grizzle's kitchen!
Busybody Bear
Grizzle is discovered
True Heart gets airborne
Wig askew
Funshine points to Share, Grumpy is proud

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