Sticky Fingers Duck

So let's take a look at a couple episodes today. One is called Sticky Fingers Duck from Best O' Plucky Duck Day, and one is called Two Tone Town, which is probably my favorite Buster and Babs centered episode.

ooh... candy...

First off, Sticky Fingers Duck. It starts off with Plucky playing a rather odd space game at the Arcade, only to lose and to be lead out by Shirley the Loon (oh god why?) and Hamton. Hamton talks about how hungry is so the gang decides to head across the street to the candy store. After peering through the window, it's obvious what they want. The Acme Super Duper Munch and Crunch Bar (With Almonds). But there's a problem, they spent all their money at the arcade, so how are they going to get the chocolate now? Plucky says it's no problem at all. He turns red, growing devil horns and a tail suggesting that they steal. This display of devil horns reminds me of another episode where Buster suggested that the gang drink beer. In that episode Hamton noticed how out of character it is for Buster to say such a thing. So one can assume that characters only display themselves as devils when they're at their absolute worst or acting out of character.

Shirley leaves once she hears the suggestion about stealing (thank goodness, no one wanted her there anyway) and Hamton and Plucky head inside to steal the candy bar. While the two have a hard time doing so (and a rather hilarious one at that), they eventually manage to tuck the candy bar inside Hamton's overalls, and sneak out the store being undetected.

One would think that if Plucky was truly bad or evil, he'd have been happy for his victory, but this isn't the case. Both Hamton and Plucky feel absolutely terrible about what they did. So much so, that they imagine the candy bar coming to life as a monster to eat them. The candy bar torments them about the "dark side," chasing them around and eventually drowning them in chocolate. This bothers Plucky and Hamton so that they rush to the candy store with the intent of returning the bar that they stole.

When they arrive, they approach the clerk and explain to him that they stole the candy bar and that they never felt so bad about anything they've ever done before. "It was a nightmare!" they scream. The clerk agrees that what they did was wrong but is glad they did the right thing. Plucky hopes that because of their honesty they'll be rewarded with the candy bar. But things don't quite go as well as the clerk angrily yells at them, and says if he sees them in his store again he'll call the police. Not that I can blame the guy.

So here we have an episode that shows Plucky when he's at his worst and obviously acting a bit out of character. We see him steal but we see him feel remorseful for what he's done, and he tries to set the matter straight. It's a good lesson for kids too. Don't steal. Even though Plucky should have never taken the bar in the first place, it's nice to know that he has a conscious and will do the right thing when it comes down to it. One things' for sure, Plucky won't be stealing again any time soon.

Next, we'll take a brief look at the episode "Two Tone Town." This episode begins with Buster watching a commercial on a TV in a store. There's auditions for the upcoming TV show "Acme Oop!" Babs then stops by and reminds Buster that he promised to take her to the Two Tone Cinema. Buster isn't sure about the movie anymore though. He'd rather skip it and audition for the new show, but Babs insists that they don't need to because they have their own show. Funny, I thought the show was called "Tiny Toons" not "Buster and Babs' Show." It's interesting to see how Babs views the show as only belonging to her and Buster.

Buster and Babs to block...

Buster still isn't sure though for according to him, Tiny Toons could get the axe at any time, or they could lose their time slot, become has beens and end up on Toony Wood Squares. Babs tells Buster that he's a star and their careers are safe. Enter Plucky, who comes in swinging on a rope attached to... uh... well hey it's a cartoon. He informs Buster and Babs that he's showing the Network Executives his new movie, Hudson Duck. He's convinced it'll be so good that Acme Oop won't even see the light of day. He then heads out telling the rabbits that there'll welcome to wait outside for him while he auditions and beg for their autograph. Buster and Babs find this hilarious, and decide nothing could possibly go wrong for Tiny Toons and head for the Two Tone Cinema after all.

Two Tone Town turns out to be an old fashioned Black and White cartoon town. Buster and Babs view a movie staring old fashioned foxes named Foxy and Roxy along with a dog named Goopy Geer. All of which are actual old cartoon stars from the 1930's. It's almost kind of a shame Tiny Toons made new footage of the old cartoons. Seeing the originals would have been kind of neat.

Darn, I gotta steal...

Anyway, long story short, Buster and Babs loved the old cartoon so much that they decide to help Foxy, Roxy and Goopy get back on their feet. While Babs gets the group ready to audition for Acme Oop, Buster heads out to find music and sound effects to help out. How does Buster do this? By turning himself into Robin Hood and stealing from other cartoons. He stole music from Daffy at a concert and then stole sound effects from Yosemite Sam.

He even prefaces it with "Darn, I gotta steal." when asking for free stuff didn't work. Babs said it herself, Buster is a star. He should have no problem getting access to things like sound effects and music. So why would he steal? Why not ask Bugs for help or something? If that's not weird enough for Buster, he actually leaves his full name behind at the store where Yosemite Sam where he stole the sound effects. Maybe it's just me, but I think it's bad practice to steal things and leave your full name behind.

Buster ends up being late for everything anyway, and the Two Tones are kicked out of their audition for not being marketable (never mind Animaniacs) and in the meantime Plucky is showing his movie idea to the executives. Buster eventually catches up with the group, and despite hearing the bad news, hands out the stolen sound effects and music anyway. This allows Foxy, Roxy and Goopy (and there's some bee named Zippy too) to get their confidence back and start an act right there on the sidewalk. It's such a great act there there's laughter all around, causing the executives to ignore Plucky, and pay attention to the Two Tones instead. It's just as well, his audition wasn't going very well.

The executives are so impressed that they decide to do away with the Acme Oop! idea and give the Two Tones a show instead. I find it interesting that Plucky was the one who called the Acme Oop! show not happening. But what I find even more interesting is the ending to this cartoon. Here's the opening to the Two Tone Town show:



It's the same tune as the Tiny Toon's because apparently, this show has actually overridden Tiny Toons. Buster and Babs can do nothing but watch the ones they tried to help prance around and enjoy the success they brought to them. Kind of cold, eh? Also notice the inclusion of Plucky on the show. He's not a Two Tone, so what is he doing there? Why wouldn't the Two Tones take Buster and Babs onto the show? One might think they were maybe offered and declined, but this can't be the case as we find out they actually took a job on Toony Wood Squares which is what they were trying to avoid. The idea the makes the most sense is that either the Two Tones or the Executives saw talent in Plucky and wanted to take him aboard. What truly makes this funny for Plucky fans, is that Buster and Babs initially laughed at the idea of Plucky doing better than them with his movie. In the end, Plucky may not have gotten his movie deal, but he certainly got a better deal than Buster and Babs. Perhaps this is the karma Buster and Babs get for thinking the show only belongs to them and running around stealing things they probably could have gotten some other way.

So I always thought the ending to this episode was a very fitting end to Buster and Babs reign. Granted they were trying to be helpful with the Two Tones, their way of going about it was questionable. And instead of getting praised for what they did, they get tossed out and forgotten by the very people they were trying to help, and Plucky ends up much higher on the food chain.

The morals are, don't steal, don't be selfish and if you do something wrong, always try to do the right thing to make it better.

Thanks for reading