|
The Racing Mule
Ernie, Oskar, and Mr. Hyunh buy a racehorse - or at least what
they think is a racehorse
Written by Steve Viksten, Michelle Lamoreaux
Story by Steve Viksten, Joseph Purdy, Craig Bartlett, Michelle
Lamoreaux
Storyboard Direction
by Aldin Baroza
Animation Direction by Christine Kolosov
Storyboard Artists: Kelly James, Ted Seko
Assistant Storyboard Artists: Louis C. Gallegos, Elyse
Whittaker-Paek, Jason Sellin
Cast:
Arnold - Spencer Klein
Grandpa, Russell Bains - Dan Castellaneta
Ernie - Dom Irrera
Mr. Hyunh - Baoan Coleman
Oskar - Stephen Viksten
Suzie (crdited as "Susie" in the reduced credits) - Mary Scheer
Race announcer - Billy West
-
This story is cursed!
The first time it was supposed to air was on the first "U-Pick
Live" that had Brent and Candace, on October 11, 2002; by
mistake, they started to air "Married" instead, and didn't catch
the error until just after the second half started, when they
switched to "Curly's Girl" just after it had started.
Nickelodeon then decided to hold onto it for over a year,
scheduling it for on November 19, 2003 - and they started
"Married" again! This time, after about six minutes, they
switched to "The Racing Mule" (when Russell Bains hears which
mule Arnold would be racing). Finally, on January 11,
2004, Nickelodeon aired it in its entirety.
-
Nickelodeon - the
network where you can't mention alcohol or cigarettes, much less
use them, but gambling on mule races is OK.
-
In fact, Arnold is
far too young to be a jockey (you need a license to do it, even
in mule races); however, he did have one advantage - he was much
smaller, and presumably much lighter, than the others.
(Usually, jockeys' weights are controlled to give one horse or
another too much of an advantage, but in this case it's possible
it was a "handicap race" and the race organizers felt Glueboy
was so bad that they gave Arnold a large weight handicap.)
-
"Russell Bains" is a
variation on Russell Baze, one of California's (and the USA's)
top jockeys, although he's probably much better known in
northern California. Speaking of California, "Santa
Conchita" race track is similar to Santa Anita, and most
"organized" mule racing seems to be limited to California at the
moment (mainly during summer county fairs in northern California
that are held at racetracks, but it seems to be getting into the
southern half of the state as well). However, as far as I
know, there is no such thing as an "All Mule Racetrack", like
the Santa Conchita sign said.
-
The voice Billy West
uses for announcing the race is similar to race callerTrevor
Denman, who has appeared as himself in some movies, and was an
unnamed race track announcer in an episode of The Simpsons.
-
Actually, hitting
another jockey with your whip is illegal, and there are judges
and cameras sitting in booths all over the racetrack watching
for fouls like this.
-
For some reason,
there were mules numbered 7, 13, and 21, even though there were
only six mules in the race; also, the post positions were
numbered backwards (they should be numbered from the inside of
the track to the outside).
-
"A horse!" "A
mule!" "Horse!" "Mule!" Sounds like the
opening to Fiddler on the Roof...
|
|
Curly's Girl
When Rhonda wears a mink coat that's meant to be a birthday
present for her mother and gets it stained and needs Curly's
help, he makes her act like his girlfriend for a week
Written by Michelle Lamoreaux, Joseph Purdy
Story by by Michelle Lamoreaux, Steve Viksten, Joseph Purdy
Storyboard Direction
by Tim Parsons
Animation Direction by Christine Kolosov
Storyboard Artists: Kelly James, Ted Seko
Assistant Storyboard Artists: Louis C. Gallegos, Elyse
Whittaker-Paek, Jason Sellin
Cast:
Arnold - Spencer Klein
Helga, Sheena - Francesca Marie Smith
Curly - Michael Welch
Rhonda - Olivia Hack
Phoebe - Anndi McAfee
Stinky - Christopher Walberg
Brainy - Craig Bartlett
Buckley Lloyd (Rhonda's father) - Sam McMurray
Uncredited: Park
- This is a rare story where
Arnold doesn't have anything to do with the main plot.
- Helga calls Rhonda
"Cruella"; for those of you who think that Nickelodeon used
one of Disney's trademarks, Cruella De Vil was in the original
book version of 101 Dalmatians.
- Why is it that when Arnold
and Helga kiss, you always see just the back of Helga's head
(at least before the movie), but when Curly and Rhonda kiss,
you see their lips together?
- Speaking of Curly and Rhonda
kissing, this is the second time they've kissed - and the two
stories where it happens just happen to be two of the three
where somebody besides Adam Wylie voices Curly.
- Now there's something you
don't see every day: Curly without his glasses.
- Now there's something else
you don't see every day: Sheena in a dress (at the art fair).
- There was a "Contributing
Guest Artists" credit with the following names: Katie Bartlett
(Craig's daughter), Madison and Morgan Buteyn, Danny Friemark,
Grant and Justin Higa, Eric Keefer, Dan and Rachelle Lyman,
Melissa and Michael Mark, and Helena and Paris Shaffer; I
assume they did the paintings shown at the art fair. I
assume that these are children of staffers (of course, Katie
is Craig's daughter, and the voice of pre-school Helga in
"Helga on the Couch"); Younghee Higa and Dave Lyman are sheet
timers, Brian Mark is a layout supervisor, and Karen Shaffer
is the final checker (there was nobody named Buteyn, Friemark,
or Keefer credited, but those could be the children of female
staffers who use their maiden names, for example).
|