Thomas & Friends TV Series "Down The Mine" TV Series Version Review

It's safe to say that i've taken a bit of a liking to reviewing classic episodes of Thomas The Tank Engine And Friends and what's not to like about this show as it's just so charming. With the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today being one that was actually a remake of the shows pilot episode with this episode being an improvement over the pilot in some respects but not in others and so then join me as I review the episode that finally sees Thomas and Gordon become friends with the episode in question being called simply just "Down The Mine" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Thomas makes fun of Gordon after he fell into a ditch Thomas soon finds out that he might be needing Gordon's help to get himself out of trouble. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as while the episodes plot was simple and very easy to follow that's all it needed to be as all the episodes of this show ever really need is just the basic setup and premise for the episode and that's really it and while yes it would have been nice if this episode did have a more slightly complicated plot as this is afterall still a show that's aimed at toddlers that would also go against not only the book as the books also had really simply plots to them as well but it would also stop the characters from being there fun and charming selves as the episode would have to explain more thigs about the plot for the shows target demographic where as with this episodes plot it doesn't and really shouldn't do any of that as part of what makes this show and what made it work for almost thirty plus years was the fact that the stories were simple and easy to follow along with and while this episode might not be the best example of that as it does cap of the series long story arc of Thomas and Gordon finally becoming friends it is a good example of how to do a simple story that both kids and adults alike can understand and like with the plot of this episode also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

With this and all future Thomas reviews being based off of the UK dub of the episode where ever possible that does mean that starring in this episode is Ringo Starr as the episodes narrator. To be frank this is an episode that really could have benefitted from having maybe one other person doing the voices for the characters as it does get hard to tell during this episode who is talking between Annie and Clarabel as they both do look the exact same and therefor giving them each a different voice would have helped to make it easier to tell just who is talking at any given time with the same thing being true for when Gordon and The Fat Controller are talking just because of the fact that Ringo does put on the same authoritative kind of voice for both characters which is something that does fit both of those characters but at the same time it does make it harder to tell just who is meant to be talking alot of the time not that the voices he uses for either character is bad it's just that it would have helped to tell them both apart if there was another voice actor in the episodes and while he's story telling skills are on point as the man does have this silky smooth voice that is just nothing more then pure comfort to the ears it would have helped the episode if he did have other actors there just to bounce off of as that is something that might have made the episode alot more better to watch then what it already is even if it's just to have voices in the background something which would have made alot of the scenes where you can quite clearly see alot of the people in this episode feel more real and the world of the show more real as well but in saying that tho having just one person doing all of the voices for the show is something that was kind of a tradition for alot of the kids shows over here in the UK and to the episodes credit Ringo Starr does have a great voice to be telling us these kinds of stories in the first place. with it also being helped by the fact that he is perhaps the most famous person to ever be a story teller on this show as well.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With it being clear as day that Ringo really does have a love and passion for not only these characters but these stories and while he can't really turn that good of a performance as he's not a trained actor he's a musician he does turn in a a performance that was more fitting for the show at this point in time as while the latter episodes of the show went out of there way to hire trained actors for roles in either the show or movies here they didn't do that and instead went for name recognition above all else and this is a case where it really did work as it put more eyes on the show with those those eyes then staying with the show due to how good the stories were with Ringo Starr himself being both the episodes best and worst actor as he was of course the episodes only actor with something that would have helped him performance wise was if he gave say Gordon for example a more posher sounding voice instead of just using his ordinary voice like he does for all of the characters as that is something that would have been more fitting for that character as would giving Thomas a little bit more of a youthful sounding voice but that might not have been possible given that he was forty five years old in 1985 with the acting that's in this episode really being helped by the fact that this episodes script was just so good that all this episodes actor has to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will com out of him naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode.  

Character wise this episode does fair really well even tho it only has less then a handful of characters in the whole entire episode. With the characters of Thomas and Gordon being handled the best out of all of them which is something that really does make alot of sense as they are meant to be the main characters of the episode with characters like The Fat Controller and Annie And Clarabel basically having nothing more then cameo roles in the episode which is fine as that what the episode really called for them to have but at the same time given just how important that both sets of characters are to the other characters it would have been nice to have seen them interacting with both Thomas and Gordon alot more then what end up doing in the final episode with the episode really focusing more on the characters of Thomas and Gordon with Thomas basically being the annoying kid little brother to Gordon's big brother even down to the fact that Thomas teases him for crashing into ditch water in the previous episode which is something that does feel like something that this early version of Thomas would do whereas now due to the events of this episode he'd be willing to help whoever crashed out a little bit with Gordon basically being ashamed of his accident and not being the older more wiser engine that he would eventually become with both characters being handled really well in this episode as it would have been really easy for the makers of this episode to get the characters wrong given the fact that this episode was produced in the shows first season but the fact that they didn't shows that they have great respect for not only the original source material but also the characters themselves.

For those of you that don't know this episode is actually the second time that this story was made for the show. As back in 1983 it was adapted into the shows pilot episode which was done no doubt because of it's small cast of characters and limited number if sets and while the pilot was thought to be lost for decades now and only a few shots and bits of footage surviving with alot of that footage even being used in this episode it wasn't until this year that the full pilot episode was not only found but also pieced back together and officially released by the current owners of the Thomas & Friends franchise Mattel and well to say that the pilot is rough around the edges would be like saying WCW in the year 2000 was bad as while the episode does have the same amount of charm as this one it also gives Thomas some really creepy faces with the models even looking like toys alot of the time but in saying that tho this pilot episode does also give us a truly wonderful Ringo Starr performance near the end episode and the mine collapse scene is done better in the pilot then it is here but yeah watching these two is like night and day as while this one might be the better version of the two this one only turned out so good because of the fact that the makers of this episode worked out what worked and what doesn't work during the production of the pilot with them ditching the creepy looking smiling Thomas faces and making the models a little bit more bigger then what they were in the pilot version of the episode with this episode even having the added benefit of continuity as Thomas's line about Gordon smelling like ditch water now makes alot of sense due to it taking place after the previous episode where as in the pilot we don't have that added context to go off of.

It is genuinely hard to say if this episode is better then the pilot version or not because while the pilot version is very rough around the edges the one thing that it got better then this cut of the episode was the big crash scene. As in the pilot episode you get to see the ground slowly start to give way while Thomas is on the tracks so there's a nice bit of build up being done before the accident happens with there even being several shots as well all before Thomas finally does fall down the mine where as here he just falls through the mine with there being no build up to it and so it does come out of nowhere and heck even the narrator for this episode doesn't even explain all that much about why it's dangerous for Thomas to be here and why he shouldn't go past the board in the first place with him going into more detail about both of those things in the pilot episode and heck even when Thomas does fall down the mine it just looks like he fell into a hole and doesn't look like the big accident that the episode is making it out to be and while this might be more true to the books that is only something that could have worked in the books as then you have your imagination to fill in all of the blanks where as here you don't really have that as an excuse and as such more of an effort should have gone into making the accident be all the more big and dramatic as the episode clearly wants it to be like not to the point where it starts to scare little kids but to the point where you believe that Thomas has really gotten himself into trouble with this being something that was more handled well in the original pilot and while the makers of the show had a good reason to re-filming all of this episode due to the fact that they use different models when compared to those used in the pilot episode they still could have redone the big crash scene as that's a big plot point in the story and yet it feels more like an afterthought.

As was stated at the very start of this review this episode concludes the entire first series character arc for both Thomas and Gordon with them now becoming friends. Something which they very firmly weren't even at the end of the shows very first episode where at best they were just acquaintances and that's really it however due to them helping each other out over the course of this series they do start to become more like friends and while they will never be the best of friends as there personalities are just to different for that to happen and yet even tho he was most likely ordered to come and help Thomas out by The Fat Controller when he did get there Gordon didn't make fun of Thomas and didn't tease him like Thomas had teased him earlier on in the episode he instead tried to emphasize with him by saying that even he was in disgrace Thomas did still make him feel better when he teased about smelling like ditch water because he made him laugh and now Thomas like him was also in disgrace with that being the thing that really does bond them both together as friends who are more then willing to help each other out something which they do promise to do at the end of the episode and it's that very thing that does proof that those two characters do make for good friends as friends will always be willing to help each other be it by making them laugh and feel better about something or in this case helping them when they fall down a mine and not tease them about it but in saying that tho there friendship could have done with a better build up as while it could be argued that the previous episode and this episode are kind of similar as they show the other engine getting into trouble with it only being this episode that shows someone actively pulling them out we don't really get to see much of them talking nicely to each other all throughout this first series with this being something that really could have helped with there growth as characters.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly five minuets and thirty two seconds. Which to be fair to this episode is pretty much the exact grand total running time that you'd expects alot of these early Thomas episodes to have and to be fair to this episode this episode really does have the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first place with the episode even making as good a use of its running time as it possibly could have done with the episodes plot being as well developed as it possibly could have done given the episodes running time which does mean that every single scene has to be about pushing the plot forward and developing the plot of the episode as well and while somethings like why Thomas isn't allowed to go past a certain point could have been better explained as it does feel like that it was added in there jus at the last minuet to help to explain somethings in the episode it really doesn't explain why Thomas can't go past and yet a heavier train like Gordon can be on the same tracks that Thomas was one and pull him out of the mine but that is at best a very minor issue with the episode with the episode even having some pretty decent character development in it as well as it's due to the events of this episode that both Thomas and Gordon do start to become more friendly to each other and while that was more due to the fact that it was there character arc for this series it was something that was payed off in this episode and was done in way that felt true to there characters at this point in time but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. As the episode much like the rest of the show does have some really cute jokes in it all of which are things that do work really well as they feel true the characters and therefor do come across very character driven and while the episodes jokes can seem pretty child like and childish that is something that does work really well for the show as these characters are meant to be very child like and at times childish in nature as well with the episodes best joke being one Thomas spends a good amount of time just teasing Gordon about him falling him into ditch water only for Annie And Clarabel to tell Thomas to stop teasing him as they have alot of respect for Gordon however tho oddly enough the pilot version of the episode has a much more better joke at the end of the episode where Thomas struggles to pronounce the allegiance something which is oddly cut out of this version of the episode which is odd as it would have been a really solid joke to end the episode on and yet the episode instead just fades to black after Thomas is rescued by Gordon but credit it were it's due the joke about Gordon smelling of ditch water is a really good joke and it's also a really good call back the previous episode as well with that episode called Off The Rails and is a good example of this show not only having some really good continuity but also telling some really good jokes as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall this is a really fun episode that does do a decent enough job of fixing alot of the issues that people didn't know that they had with the recently released pilot as the episode does show the characters being there fun and charming selves which is more then enough to stop what could have been seen as being a really dull and boring episode and make it something that's also really fun to watch as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad thigs that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Thomas The Tank Engine fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great the official Thomas The Tank Engine fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on the official Thomas The Tank Engine fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Doctor Who: The Web Planet Review

Classic Doctor Who is usually seen as being something that has alot of really good episodes in it and while that is true there indeed some shockingly bad episodes in it as well. Case in point the very episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as this is a episode that is one of the few episodes in early classic Doctor Who that is just straight up dull to watch with the episode even having some of the worst looking villains in it as well and so then join me as I review the episode that sees The Doctor go up against what can only be best described as being giant alien ants with the episode in question being called simply just "The Web Planet" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when The Doctor , Ian , Barbera and Vicki land on the planet Vortis they find themselves drawn into the war between the planets original inhabitants the Menoptra and the evil Animus and it's slaves the Zarbi. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad however tho this episodes plot really isn't all that good as to be frank nothing happens in this episodes plot that makes it interesting or even worth watching in the first place as the plot of the episode is so thin that at times it truly does feel like that your just watching the characters seemingly doing these random things for little to know reason when even in the worst episode of Classic Doctor Who you could at the very least say that there was some attempt at making a decent plot out of it's concept where as here there's none of that with this episode feeling like that it was made on the cheap with everything about the episode reflecting that approach with the episodes plot not even getting alot of focus alot of the time as they set up something that whenever the Zarbi are basically talking to each other Vicki gets a headache which would be a good thing to bring back into the plot in a meaningful way but it's gets dropped around the halfway point which makes that plot point seem pointless with the episodes plot on the whole being one of the more weaker plots from classic Doctor Who with the plot of the episode not even being really rather entertaining and nor is it really rather engaging either in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is William Hartnell as The Doctor , William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright. Also starring in this episode is Maureen O'Brien as Vicki , Roslyn De Winter as Vrestin , Arne Gordon as Hrostar , Arthur Blake as Hrhoonda , Jolyon Booth as Prapillus , Jocelyn Birdsall as Hlynia , Martin Jarvis as Hilio , Ian Thompson as Hetra , Barbara Joss as Nemini and Catherine Fleming as The Voice Of Animus.

Now then inters of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With this episodes acting being an awful lot better then what this episode really demanded that it be as by all rights this episodes acting should have been really bad as nothing regarding the episode says that it demands good acting and yet that's exactly what all of this episodes actors give us with them all turning in some really good performances all throughout the episode with the regular series leads really just out acting all of the episodes guest actors which is something that really does make alot of sense as they would have been playing there characters for alot longer and would therefor have a better grip on how there characters would act in any given situation and heck even Maureen O'Brien who joined the show in the series that this episode is in has a solid grip on her character and acting does reflect that with the best actor in the whole entire episode not even being any of the main four series regulars as rather it's Catherine Fleming as even tho she just voices a character in this episode there really is a certain amount of threat and menace behind her voice that really does make the character of Animus seem to be all the more threatening with it being made clear as day that she really had a blast in playing this character in this very episode with the acting that's in this episode not really being helped by the fact that this episodes script is just so bad as it gives none of this episodes actors absolutely nothing to work with interms of what it is that there actual characters personalities are even meant to be in the first place which is something that really does help to hurt the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.

Whilst Doctor Who was always known for being a very cheap show there was a certain inventiveness that made the show charming to watch with that being shown again here in this episode as to show the effects that the planet has on itis habitants the only thing that the crew did was rub Vaseline on the camera. Which granted is very inventive thing to do especially when you have a really small budget and therefor can't afford to make the set itself look all that visually interesting but at the same time tho it does make it kind of hard to see what's going on in screen as just looks like they just poored a whole tub of it on the camera when only adding a very small amount would have worked just as well and yet because they chose not to do that it does come across as being more of a detriment to the episode as all us the audience are now left doing is wondering what's actually happening on the screen because it really is so hard to work out just what's going on in the scene but to give the episode credit where it's due doing something like this in the early to mid sixties was a new thing to do as alot of shows back then really didn't do that sort of thing and in this regard it does make the makers of this episode seem to be all the more forward thinking then what they actually were as all they were doing was using something that would have most likely have been cheap to find in any shop back in the sixties and working well within there budget but in saying that tho this is the kind of episode that really didn't need anything added to it to make it seem more visually interesting with this being due to the fact that it doesn't make the episode on the whole any better it just makes us the audience confused as to what's actually happening on screen at that point in time.

This episode was made at a time when the BBC were trying any and all villains that could possibly replace the Daleks. With none of there experiments working with it being worse here as the helpers for the villain of the episode are basically just giant alien ants and that's it with the original habitants of the planet Vortis the Menoptra basically being nothing more then either giant alien bees or giant alien wasps and that's it with being obvious that the Zarbi themselves are just men in costumes which doesn't make them look scary it makes them look more comical then anything else and it makes the episode come across as being all then more cheap to make then what it most likely already was in the first place this is despite the fact that the Zarbi on the whole aren't a bad concept they just needed to be better executed as the idea of having these giant bug like creatures that can only communicate through these clicking noises which yes granted does get to be really annoying really fast it doesn't change the fact that they are a good idea it just would have been more effective of an idea if they were smaller and made to be less obvious that they were just men in costumes as then you could play with the fear that people do have for bugs and have that be what makes them scary as people are afraid of bugs and so so it would work as a really good and creepy idea for their first outing on the show as for the Menoptra they are literally just people in bee costumes and because of that there's really no way to fix it as there always going to look cheap and you can't remove them from the plot as they play a pivotal role in the episodes plot.

Look just to be frank here this episode is so boring as for alot of the episode it's either just stuck on repeat mode at best or nothing happens to advance the episodes plot. Which would be fine if this was say a twelve part episode as then you could argue that it's like that due to the episodes pacing and that the better stuff would be coming later on in the episode however this is only six episodes long and it's really something that could have benefitted by being alot less boring and alot more exciting to watch as there are whole segments of this storyline that could have been cut out as we don't need to see Barbara and a Menoptra go to this one specific place and see there entire journey across the planet itself just like how we don't need to see Ian possibly have a love interest with Vrestin either as while there journey to try and find Barbera and catch up with The Doctor and Vicki is an exciting part of the episode it also adds nothing to the episode on the whole as if anything this is an episode that could very easily do with the treatment that both The War Games In Color and The Daleks In Color gave to there respective stories where they just cut down in certain bits of the story and presented in a new feature film like format as this is something that would stop the episode from being less boring to watch and then there would be chance that things would actually be happening instead of just having whole episodes where the characters go from being held prisoner by one group of people to them escaping to them being captured by the same group of people as that makes the episode feel like it's a chore to sit through this is despite the fact there are some impressive shots and effects done in this episode all of which do make the episode a decent watch.

It could ever be argued that The Doctor himself doesn't really play that big of a role in the episode as both he and Vicki spend a good chunk of the second half of the episode being held captive by the Animus. Which is a creature that's bit hard to describe as it looks like a giant brain in some shots which to be to the episode is a fitting design for the character to have as it does make the character look all the more creepier then what it already is in the first place but what lets that design down is the fact that the character doesn't really have that much of a plan to begin if since all it really wants to do is just make the Menoptra leave the planet and that's really it which if anything that just makes it look selfish and isn't really much of an evil plan with it feeling like that the episodes writer Bill Strutton really couldn't be bothered to come up with a plan for his evil villain either that or he saw the design that they were going with and he realized that the creature couldn't really do much either way there needed to be something done to make sure that the Animus had an evil scheme as it just looks like that it's being evil purely for the sake of being evil where as with creatures like the Daleks or even the Cybermen there was a method behind the madness as it were and it's that method that made those characters seem all the more scary then what they already were where as here despite Animus having a really creepy design it comes across as being less scary because of the fact that all of the ideas behind the character can't be fully realized due to the fact that the character doesn't really have an evil scheme to think of in any way whatsoever.

Now then I cannot for the absolutely life of me remember whatever this episodes grand total running time even was but I do know that for a fact that this episode has / had an exact grand total running of roughly two hours and twenty minuets. With the episode being made up of six episodes all of which are twenty five minuets apiece with the episode having the right amount of running time there to fully cover that amount of running time and while the episode does use it's running time wisely by developing it's plot as well as it could have done this is an episode that really could have done with being one or two episodes shorter as that would then make the episode be more of a tighter episode to watch and we wouldn't have scenes that go nowhere and might actually finish plotlines that it starts as the episode could have something interesting with Vicki getting a headache every time that the Zarbi talk like maybe that's how they work out the Zarbi are actually just underlings for a much more bigger threat or something like that rather then just dropping the plot line all together and pretending that it never happened in the first place but in saying that tho if the episode was shorter then it would risk not developing any of the episodes characters as while the episodes regular characters of course don't really need character development in this episode as they have several other episodes in which to get it it's the episodes guest characters that would suffer as they would come across as being very one dimensional and while there not that well developed in this episode there is still something given to the important guest characters that does make them stand out like the fact that Vrestin is someone that does want to some good no matter the cost and that is something that might be lost if this episode was shorter then what it already is in the first place but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is an action show that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual action that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With this episodes action being the best part of the episode simply because of the fact that's when the episode gets to be actually exciting and it's when things actually happen as alot of the time you really can't tell what's happening even in the episodes action packed cliffhanger endings alot of which are really good like the ending to episode three "Escape To Danger" where Vrestin accidentally causes a cave in in the case that she and Ian are forced into hiding in when there being chased by Zarbi but the best action scene in the whole entire episode being the one in the episodes third act when Barbera has to use a machine that The Doctor had invented to take out the Animus which yes is a simple action scene but given that this era of the show didn't really do action scenes not like Doctor Who does these days then it's a wonder that the episode had some really good action in it's own right with this episode having alot more better action then what it really should have done as by all rights this episodes action should have been really dull due to the fact that the Zarbi can't really do all that much and Animus can't do anything at all and yet even with that in mind this episodes action was alot more better then what it really should have been something that the episodes third act action scene can really attest to in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. 

Overall this episode might just be the worst William Hartnell episode of Doctor Who out there as despite it's ambition what lets the episode down is it's lame script and budget which only limits the episode to a few locations all of which look exactly the same with the episodes script nit being bad but needing a re-write to make it be all the more then better then what it ultimately ended up being in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . UK , the official Doctor Who fandom wiki page and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Muppets Haunted Mansion Special Review

When you think of halloween specials the one group of characters that you don't expect to have one is The Muppets. Yet in 2021 that's exactly what Disney and The Muppets Studios released on Disney+ with those few years being spent really pushing The Haunted Mansion as just a few years later we got another film version of the ride and so then join me as I review the special that is to date the last special that The Muppets have ever done with the special in question being called simply just "Muppets Haunted Mansion" enjoy.

The plot of this special is when Gonzo and Pepe are invited to take part in a halloween challenge in the worlds most haunted mansion they have to conquer there fears before they become the mansions newest inhabitants. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty really good as it's a plot that takes itself seriously enough to be considered epic but also not to seriously that it stops The Muppets from being there usual charming selves with this specials plot doing a good job of including elements from both franchises and making the crossover aspect seem seamless and yet in saying that tho this specials plot is one that isn't as good as it really could have been as while focusing the special on just two characters is a good idea it's also one that limits just how fun that this films plot could have been as it would have been all the more fun if the special had more of the muppet characters in main roles and not just in supporting roles like they are in this special with the plot of this special not really getting alot of focus as they do ham fist in another plot near the end with Gonzo trying to save Pepe from marrying an evil bride that kills all of her husbands which is a decent plot but at the same time it adds pointless stakes to the special and comes into play far to little to late for it to have any real effect on the plot as a whole with the plot of this special also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.  

Starring in this special is Dave Goelz as The Great Gonzo , Dr. Bunsen Honeydew , Waldorf , Beauregard , Randy Pig , Chip and Zoot and this specials co-writer Bill Barretta as Pepe The King Prawn , Rowlf The Dog , Dr. Teeth , Johnny Fiama , Howard Tubman , Bobo The Bear , Big Mean Carl , Swedish Chef , Andy Pig , Bubba The Rat , Beautiful Day Monster , Clean Gene The Behemoth and Party Tomato. Also starring in this special is Eric Jacobson as Miss Piggy , Fozzie Bear , Sam Eagle and Animal , Matt Vogel as Kermit The Frog , Floyd Pepper , Pops as a Duelist , Crazy Harry , Lew Zealand , Uncle Deadly as the Justice of the Peace and Sweetums , Peter Linz as Walter, Robin The Frog , Statler , Joe The Legal Weasel , Lips and The Ghosts , David Rudman as , Scooter , Janice , Beaker , Wayne and Squid Ghost , Brian Henson as Sal Minella , Julianne Buescher as Yolanda Rat , Beverly Plume , Wanda as a Happy Haunt and Screaming Goat , Alice Dinnean as Miss Cartier , Mummy , Caretaker's Dog and Pee Wee , Bruce Lanoil as Duddy , Ballroom Rat and Mo Frackle , Nicolette Santino as Party Tomato , Alex Villa as Pumpkin , Will Arnett as The Host / The Great MacGuffin , Yvette Nicole Brown as The Hearse Driver , Darren Criss as The Caretaker , Kim Irvine as Haunted Mansion Maid , Quinn McPherson as Hallway Knight , John Stamos as Famous Person , Ed Asner as Claude , Jeannie Mai as Maude , Chrissy Metz as Harriet , Alfonso Ribeiro as Fred , Danny Trejo as Huet , Sasheer Zamata as Mary and Taraji P. Henson as The Bride.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty really good. With this being something that's not really all that surprising as alot of the actors that are playing the muppet characters have been playing them for decades at this point in time and so they would of course know how there characters would act in any given situation with this being helped by the fact that the special director and co-writer Kirk Thatcher has directed these muppet actors in other Muppet productions and even wrote the film Muppet Treasure Island so he would have an idea of how these characters would also act in any given situation as well with the acting from the specials human actors being where the acting does take a slight dip in quality as you can tell that alot of them are just playing up to the fact that there in a Muppets special and therefor aren't going to be taking it as seriously as they would aby other film or TV show and that is something that really does shine through with the best example of this being Will Arnett who spends alot of the special just over acting in alot of the scenes that he's in with the best actor in the whole special really being hard to tell as it could be either Dave Goelz or Bill Barretta as they both get to show off new sides to there characters be it the fact that Gonzo does have fears or the fact that Pepe just wants a girlfriend and yet they both make them work so well for there respective characters and yet if push did come to shove i'd have to say that the best actor in this film is Dave Goelz just because of the fact that Gonzo does have an arc in the special with the acting that's in this special really being helped by the fact that this specials script is just so good that all this specials actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very special.

Whilst this isn't the first time that we've seen The Muppets take on ghosts as they did appear in The Muppet Christmas Carol this is the first time that they've been featured in something that's meant to be seen as kid friendly horror. As you don't really expect The Muppets to not only do a halloween horror special in the first place and yet at the same time embrace it as much as they could possibly do by having ghosts and other scary things in it in the first place with those things being something that does oddly work for this special as they keep them scary enough for kids as that's who this special is primarily aimed but at the same time tho they also add in enough of The Muppets to make them feel like something that could belong in the world of these characters be it by having several well known muppet characters openly play ghosts in this special as well as there regular selves or just having newly introduced characters appear as ghosts or even having a pair of ghosts whose sole purpose in the special is to get laughs out of you these are all small things but they all add up to the fact that The Muppets aren't really afraid to add in these things that could potentially be seen as being two scary for kids and all because of the fact that they put there own Muppet twist on them and while the special doesn't have any blood and guts or anything that you might find in a Terrifier movie for example the fact they did at least try to have these spooky things in this special does say that the makers of this special knew how to include elements from The Haunted Mansion ride and do them in a way that won't scare kids two much but will also feel true to the muppet brand as a whole.

Incase you didn't know this special came out after Muppets Now and my god does the special really want you to know that. As they include not one but two characters from that special in slightly big cameo roles as we have both Beverly Plume who hosted a cooking segment on Muppets Now with Swedish Chef and Joe The Legal Weasel who is meant to be The Muppets new lawyer but just comes of as being a less funny Sam Eagle those two characters really didn't need to be in this special as they very easily could have used characters from other Muppet shows , movies or specials in those roles and it would work out just the same and while I might be one of the few people that actually enjoyed Muppets Now that doesn't mean that I want to see those new characters in everything that The Muppets do as they very easily could have had Clifford who hosted Muppets Tonight or even Deise from the 2015 version of The Muppets for example come in and play the roles that both Joe and Beverly play in this special as while those characters would have been very deep cut characters there also characters that alot more people would know as Muppets Now barely got any views and so not alot of people are going to know about those characters despite the fact that those characters in this special were alot more funnier then they were in that show just due to the roles that they played on the show itself with it feeling like that those characters were only included because of the fact that Disney wanted to make sure that the special had characters that only kids would know and not really for them to have any deep cut kind of characters appearing in the special.

This special dies also do something that really doesn't work for the special in that instead of pairing up Gonzo with Rizzo they instead pair him up with Pepe which granted there was a reason for this as Disney not The Muppet Studios but Disney fired Rizzo and Kermit actor Steve Whitmire all because of the fact that he dared to fight to keep Kermit in character during the production of the 2015 The Muppets TV Series. With this being the first time since Muppets From Space that Gonzo plays a leading role in any Muppets productions as he is usually more of a recurring character and while it was nice to see him taking the leading role in a Muppets production again it's his pairing with Pepe that doesn't really work as with Rizzo Gonzo could be more of the funny man of the duo with Rizzo acting more of the straight man of the two thus giving the duo someone to bounce off of when something crazy needs to happen but here with Pepe they are both being the funny man and the straight man with neither character committing fully to either role as both characters had previously been established being more of the funny man in whatever duo they were apart of and so having them team up doesn't really work as they both need someone who can be that straight man to bounce off of and while both character do indeed have the potential to work well together that would mean having to completely change alot of who those characters are just to make it work when it would be much more better to have had have another Muppet who is usually the straight man be the third man in this duo like for example both of them would have worked really well with some one like Rowlf or Scooter.   

To give this special a bit more credit they do try infuse the special with as much horror as they possibly could do. Be it by having Ghosts and skeletons appearing in the special but perhaps the best example of this is the fact that they have the character of The Bride in this special and not only that we get to see her openly try to kill Pepe several times during all of their scenes together which is something that you just wouldn't get to see in a lot of Disney horror films or specials as they'd be more focused on trying to remain as kid friendly as possible and while of course we the audience know full well that she's never going to kill him it's the fact that she trys to do that makes it worth while but in saying that tho he storyline with Pepe gets introduced far to late into the special and so it does come across as the makers of the special trying to force in what might be another Haunted Mansion character just for the sake of doing it where as having the characters confront there fears head on was a more solid plot for them to have in this special and feels more true to the ride and while it was nice seeing Taraji P. Henson play the role in this special it would have been more funny if they got Uma Thurman to play the role but then instead of having her act straight up evil like she does in this special she has like a yellow stripe down her wedding dress and is trying to kill Pepe because she thinks his name is Bill and just make there whole plot line one big Kill Bill joke as that storyline is more of a B plot anyway it wouldn't have hurt to make it more comical and just go nuts with it but in saying that tho the Bride's plan in this special does work for the more horror based tone that the special was going for with her trying to kill Pepe and have him join the ghosts of all of her other dead husbands which is perfect horror plot and to be fair it is something that does work for this special as well.

Now then this special has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly forty nine minuets and fifty one seconds. Which is a perfectly solid running time for a kid friendly horror special like this one to have with this special even having the right amount of plot there to cover that amount of running time and while the special doesn't fully use it's running time all that wisely as it does have to squeeze in a few songs and therefor it doesn't really have the time that it really did need to further develop it's plot for something that was never really mean to by adults and was clearly made with kids in mind it is something that does work really well even taking into account that this special is pretty much just there just to promote both The Muppets and the Haunted Mansion ride and therefor it really didn't need to have a plot that that's well developed in the first place as all it needed was the basic set up which in this case was just simple enough to make the whole special work in the first place and while Gonzo does get some character development as he gets over his fear of never being able to see his friends which is something that does no doubt stem from the 2011 The Muppets movie it still would have been to see Pepe get some character development as even tho he's a popular character so much so that just last year he officially became a meme he gets nothing in terms of character and still remains the exact same character coming out of the special that he was going into the special when it would have helped the character out a little bit if he was given some form of character development as that could mean that more people would get to like him as a character but I really will admit that this special really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this is comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very special was in all honesty not that bad. As we do get to see alot of the typical mayhem that these characters are known for including a ghost version of Fozzie getting heckled by ghost versions of Statler and Waldorf but at the same time tho this special really isn't all that funny with it being made clear that the makers of this special put alot more effort into the films horror aspect then they did it's comedy when the balance really should have been more fifty fifty with this being a Muppets production afterall people would expect it to have alot of jokes in it something which doesn't happen in this special as the comedy does at several points take the backseat to the specials horror element that's not to say that there isn't some funny moments to be found in this special it's just that there alot more hard to find with the best joke in this special being one of the specials more cutest moments as we get to see Kermit dressed as Miss Piggy and Miss Piggy dressed as Kermit something that was Piggy's own idea and seeing Kermit just absolutely hate his costume let alone the poorly written sketch that Piggy has written purely to feed her own ego is a good solid joke and is a good example of just how funny that this specials can be alot of the time it's just that the special has alot more unfunny jokes then it does have some actually funny jokes in it in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall it's clear as day that this project is the better Gonzo lead Muppets project as it's miles better then Muppets From Space but with that being said tho this is a special that could have been alot more better then what it was as the special does have alot of things wrong with it and that keep it from being one of the more memorable Muppets projects but it is still a really enjoyable special all the same in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very special in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very special really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from the official Disney fandom wiki page and the official The Muppets fandom wiki page. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very special that I used in this very review being the really great the official The Muppets fandom wiki page really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very special with alot of them really being better quality then what you'd really think of and really all of the images are really of course up and really on the official The Muppets fandom wiki page are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.

Worzel Gummidge "A Home Fit For Scarecrows" Review

It's been a good long while since anything to do with Worzel Gummidge was last talked about this is despite my best efforts to get a review for another episode of the ground. Well one has finally managed to happen and it just so happens that the episode that i'm going to be talking to you all about today just so happens to be one my all time favorite episodes of the show due to how much fun of an episode it is and so then join me as I review the episode that is one of two musical episodes in the show with the episode in question being called simply just "A Home Fit For Scarecrows" enjoy.

The plot of this episode is when Worzel starts stealing odd pieces of furniture from around the village the kids have to find him before the grown ups do. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that he actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad as this episodes plot was nothing short of fun in the best ways possible as while yes it could be argued that the episode was rather light on plot this is however an episode that really doesn't require alot of plot in order to be good as all it needs is the basic set up and that's and that's exactly what we got in this episode a plot that is simple and fun to watch and at the end of day not every episode of any show needs to be super dark and complicated as alot of the time that will get the way in the characters just being their usual fun and goofy selves and that is something that the makers of this show fully understood as they would frequently have plots that are really simple but they would also be plots that are just fun to watch as they would allow for the shows character to just be there usual fun and goofy selves and with this episode only being the shows second ever episode it was a wonder that it turned out as good as it was as usually the second episode of a show has the more weaker plot to it and while yes the plot of this episode is weaker then the shows first episode it was still a good plot in it's own right with the plot itself also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Starring in this episode is Doctor Who star Jon Pertwee as Worzel Gummidge and Jeremy Austin as John Peters. Also starring in this episode is Charlotte Coleman as Sue Peters , Are You Being Served star Mike Berry as Mr. Peters , Norman Bird as Mr. Braithwaite , Myrtle Devenish as Mrs. Liversedge , Megs Jenkins as Mrs. Braithwaite , Norman Mitchell as P.C. Parsons , Michael Ripper as Mr. Shepherd and Last Of The Summer Wine star Sarah Thomas as The Waitress.

Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty not that bad. With the episodes acting being on par with the rest of the shows acting as that's just how good all of the actors are in this episode with this being down to two things the first of which being alot of this episodes actors are a bunch of really good good actors in their own right and the second of which is the fact that the shows director James Hill was not only known for directing feature length films but also directed the OSCAR winning film Born Free with him brining those expertise to this show as he really did strive to get the best performances out of all of his actors in this show and episode and it is something that really does shine through in the final product as you can see that every single actor in this episode even those that only have a small role are still giving it there all with the best actor in this episode being Jon Pertwee as he gets to make some really funny faces in this episode with him also delivering a really earnest performance as Worzel Gummidge something that makes you wonder why he didn't lead more films and TV shows as he really is just that good of an actor with the acting that's in this very episode really being helped by the fact that the script for this episode is just so good that all this actors have to do is just say the lines as they are written and a good performance will come of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very episode. 

What helped to make this episode all the more fun is the fact that we got to see just what Worzel thinks a house looks like. Which in typical Worzel fashion is nothing more then just old things that he's found lying about the farm yard with there even being a random tire thrown in for no reason and yet at the same time tho it's something that really does work really well as this is a character that has very little brain to begin with and so of course to him something like a tire would make for a good chair but in saying that we do also see that he has a chair that he uses as a chair and a nightstand which he uses to keep his hedgehog hairbrush in which yes is a literal hedgehog that he uses as a hairbrush it's silly and dumb but it's both of those things in all of the best ways possible with even the fact that Worzel has his own walls that no one but him knows about and a door that's made up of a door frame all of which does make his house look odd and yet at the same time fitting for this character as this is a character that would have all of these things and then some and the fact that he's not ashamed of it does go to show that Worzel is just a delightful character as he know that he's not the smartest person out there and yet he's still happy just having fun and getting into trouble with his own version of a house being a good example of this as he would have had to have stolen those things from somewhere and before it makes you wonder not only how he managed to do it in the first place but also why he did it as well as in the first episode he made no mention of having his own house in the farm yard barn and yet from this episode onwards it would become his "home" as it were.

This episode along with the shows only Christmas special s the only episode of the main show to be somewhat of a musical. With Worzel singing a song that helps John and Sue to speak "Worzeleze" which is a language that only scarecrows can speak with it being a really easy language to pick up once you know what your doing as all you do is spell out each letter but put a wor in between each one and at the end but when it comes to the end of the word if it ends with three or less letters you then end it with dip or if it's four or more you then end it in zel with the song itself a being a delightful little song that does get stuck in your head after a while with the song pretty much being designed to show of John Pertwee's singing skills as he really does knock it out of the park with the song as while the actors playing John and Sue are good singers there clearly not trained singers as they just sound really wooden when there singing the song both times in the episode and yet John Pertwee comes out sounding like a really good singer with the song itself being a song that whilst it's not one of the best songs that the show would do as alot of those songs are featured in the Christmas special it's also not one of the worst ones either as it's a song that does exactly what it was meant to do which is be a fun way to tech the kids something new and add some lore to the show and that's really it and that in that respect it does serve it's purpose really well as well as serving a great bookend to the episode as well but in saying that it would have been nice if there was more then just the two verses that we actually get to hear in the episode as the song rally is just a fun little song.

John in this episode does actually bring up a very good point very early on in the episode as he states that Worzel doesn't get blamed for anything around the farm as it's always him and Sue that get all of the blame. Which is a very good point as even in the first episode they were getting the blame for all of the sticks and bits of mud that Worzel had left in there house and they would continue to get the blame for alot of his antics all throughout the show and yet they are still somehow friends with him which ranted would make the show a very short show if they stopped being friends with him but even so the point that John makes is a very good one and it is something that does go along way t explaining why he doesn't trust Worzel all that much as while Worzel is seeing fun and adventure in certain things all John manages to see is what he's going to be getting the blame for next and that's it which is something that does lead to John not really trusting Worzel all that much but still willing to be friends with him and help him out of trouble as and when he needs it with the only thing that lets this point down is the fact that it is only the second episode and therefor John still shouldn't be jumping to conclusions this early on as he still really doesn't know Worzel all that much and he is therefor judging a book by it's cover but on the flip side of that is his sister Sue who is perhaps a little bit to trusting of Worzel as she just believes that he didn't take Mrs. Braithwaites rocking chair even tho he is the only one that could have took it in the first place but this is something that could explained by the fact that even tho The Crowman is Worzel's father figure in the show then perhaps Sue is his mother figure and is therefor just being kind and loving towards him.

This an episode that starts of the tradition of having new characters play smaller roles in one episode before becoming major side characters in the rest of the show. As in this episode we get introduced to Mr. Shephard who only pretty much has a cameo role in this episode as he only appears in two scenes both of which are near the end of the episode but would go on to become a major side character for the rest of this show show four series with him just seen here doing a spot of gardening at home before racing of to find P.C. Parsons as Worzel's in his bed with the character being again near the end of the episode with the rest of the villagers in a field in Worzels own home built house made up of things that he's taken from them just trying to convince them to come round to his house so that they can arrest Worzel which is somethin that does seem pretty on brand for this character as he is the type of character who despite being a bit of an everyman is more then willing to become the centre of attention should he really want to and the fact that Worzel was quite literally in his house is something that really does make his case for Worzel being arrested really strong but at the same time tho given just how many times he does see Worzel in this show it makes you wonder why he doesn't restart his quest to get him arrested as that could have made for a cute running joke with the character with him trying to get Worzel arrested just for Worzel to get away before he can do so and while the show would eventually kind of start of running joke with him as they have him always loosing then fining his Aunt Sally alot of the time that's more of an excuse to get her into the plot of an episode and really isn't that much of a running joke.

Now then this episode has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly twenty four minuets an forty one seconds. Which to be fair for this episode is pretty much the exact grand total running tome for alot of this shows episodes with this episode really having more then plot to really cover that amount running time in the first place but in saying this tho the episode really doesn't take as full advantage of this it's running time in one respect as it really could have done as the episode has the thing that's really meant to get Worzel intro trouble happen near the end of the episode with him going around the village and taking random things that he needs for his new house in a field whereas this is something that would have worked better if it was around the middle of the episode as then we would have gotten the chance to see Worzel have more interactions with the villagers and set him as this type of character that the villagers say terrorizes them in later episodes but in this episode they don't get the chance to have a good look at him as he runs off before they have that chance with the episode even dropping the whole point that Mrs. Braithwaite makes near the start of the episode where she says that since John and Sue are saying that he's falling apart then Worzel shall go on the compost heap first thing in the morning something which never comes into play outside of Worzel running away and that's really it but to be fair to this episode tho while it doesn't give the characters any kind of character development as both John and Sue remain the same at the end of the episode as they were at the start of the episode the episode does give Worzel some character development as he finally says thank you to john and Sue for helping him out of trouble but I really will admit that this episode really does have some really good pacing to it tho.

So now then as this a comedy that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual comedy that's actually featured / presented to us in this very episode was in all honesty really good. With all of this episodes jokes being cute in a funny kind of way which is something that this show is really good at doing as this is show is known for having episodes that are either really sad , really scary or in this case really funny as alot of the episodes jokes are just really funny jokes with John Pertwee making alot of faces that help to make those jokes even more funnier then what they really should have been and heck even the idea of Worzel thinking that beds have feeling just because like him there made of straw is a really cute and funny idea as it's something that this character would say and is more then likely something that all scarecrows in this show also believe to be true as well with the best joke in the whole entire episode being when John and Sue enter Worzels home in the barn and he stops them several times the first of which is due to them stepping through what he thinks is his bedroom wall before then getting them to knock on a door that he doesn't really have all the while the kids are quite clearly trying not to crack up laughing which is just such a cute joke even more so when they bring that joke back at the end of the episode when the kids find him in a field and this time step through what he believes is his front window with alot of the episodes jokes being just as delightfully silly and wonderfully well done as those two jokes were as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.

Overall this episode is one that is really a good example of the show when it was at it's absolute best as it has all of the thins that helped to make this show as good as it was as it's really just such a good episode and is one of the shows more better episodes but in saying that tho there more better episodes of this show out there in my freaking opinions anyways / at least. Now then i.ve talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very episode in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very episode really does earn itself a grand old score of exactly an 8 out of 10 from me.

Now then as for where I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Amazon . Co . Uk and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get the images from this very episode that I used in this very review being the really great Google Images really simply just due to the fact that really alot of if not really all of the images that are all really from this very episode with alot of them being better quality then what you'd really think of and all of the images are really of course up and really on Google Images are also really all fairly high in quality and as well as them all being really fairly freaking high in definition.