Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Avenue of Tropes

At last, the Get Along Gang or at least the Sat-AM cartoon series, has it's own page on tvtropes.org. Unfortunately it's looking a little threadbare, even though the show's a textbook example of  Trope Overdosed. *

There are so many G.A.G. related tropes that could be there*:

Merchandise Driven
Somewhat.

Crowning Moment Of Heartwarming
"The Bullies"
"Head In The Clouds"
"Zipper's Millions"
"Woolma's Birthday"
Most episodes in fact...:)

Amusing Injuries, Slapstick, Toon Physics
More than you'd think, given the type of show some have accused it of being. It has moments that come close,(see above) but Barney it ain't.

Inevitable Waterfall
"Camp Get Along"
"Caboose On The Loose"

Pinball Gag
Portia Porcupine in "The Wrong Stuff"

Shout Out
"Half a Map is Better Than None"
A wall carving in the Mole-Tec temple spells out the initials AG.
Some of Green Meadow's businesses are named after the show's background artists, Bridget Bottorf, Ted Blackman and Joe Pearson.

Applied Phlebotinum
"Montgomery's Mechanical Marvel"
(Hermie the Robot and his control box.)
"A Pinch Of This, A Dash Of That"
("Anti-gravity" paint)
"Engineer Roary"
(The old firewagon)
The Clubhouse Caboose

Food Fight,Covered In Gunge
"Caboose On The Loose"
(Leland Lizard with a big cake, although it's meant for Bingo.)
"Follow The Leader"
(Catchum Crocodile and Leland Lizard's comeuppance, with an even bigger cake. The Mother of All Cakes to be exact.)
"That's the Way the Cookie Crumbles"
(The whole Gang, with flour.)
"The Bullies"
(Montgomery Moose becomes "Moose a la Mode" when the Pig Sisters work him over with a can of aerosol cream and a handful of cherries.)


Kent Brockman News
"Nose for News", naturally.

Cultural Cross Reference
"Pick Of the Litter"
Bingo gives a Tarzan yell as he swings across The Old Swimming Hole on a rope.
"The Get Along Detectives"
The gang watch a movie called the Maltese Duck, starring Dogey and Fifi Bacall.
"Get Along Gang Go Hollywood"
A lobby poster for "The Maltese Duck" appears in one scene.
"Half A Map Is Better Than None"
Pretty much the whole episode is a ten minute nod to Indiana Jones, particularly "Raiders of the Lost Ark" .
"Them's The Brakes"
The Clubhouse Caboose jumps a gap in the tracks like the mine car in "Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom". Also has a "perilous mine car ride" sequence of its own.

Tree Buchet
"Zipper's Millions"
Used to catapult Zipper to the rescue of Dotty, Bingo, Woolma and Portia as they careen down a steep slope towards a cliff edge and certain doom. In a house.

Alliterative Name, Species Surname
Most of the characters.

Big Ball of Violence
"The Bullies"

Cross Dressing Voices
Bingo Beaver - Marla Lukofsky (Nelvana)
Zipper Cat - Robbie Lee (DiC)


Four Fingered Hands
Most characters, most of the time.

Limited Wardrobe
"Snowbound Showdown".(Lampshaded)

No O.S.H.A. Compliance
Dear God, too many to mention. Let's just say it's a good job they're cartoon characters...

No Mouth
"A Pinch of This, a Dash of That"
Portia Porcupine, by mistake.

No Fourth Wall
"The Get Along Gang Detectives"
DOTTY DOG: If the thieves are in this building, we'll make sure they never get out!
PORTIA PORCUPINE: And if they do get out, we'll make sure they never get back in again... (Dotty turns and stares at the camera in disbelief/bafflement)
The credit sequence (DiC)
(Towards the end, the Gang all turn and wave to the camera.)

Character Derailment
Dotty Dog, to a small degree. She was the gang's mechanical and scientific genius in the Nelvana produced pilot episode and some of the G.A.G. storybooks. In the regular series that talent belongs to Montgomery Moose.

Drowning My Sorrows
"Bingo's Pen Pal"
(parodied)

The Complainer Is Always Wrong

Has been falsely accused of promoting this.

(*Yes I know, it's a WIKI, so why don't I just edit them in myself? Don't think the thought hadn't crossed my mind but each time it tried, two words barred the way - Edit War. Frankly, life's short enough as it is without wasting time and keystrokes arguing with the insane.)

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