Guests of the Grunges is the first Teddy Ruxpin VHS tape I ever got when I was a kid. I also watched all the time growing up. This was one of three VHS tapes that I had on constant repeat to the point where I'm amazed that I didn't wear the tape out. Though I'm pretty sure I came close to it.
Before I get to the story though I'd like to talk about the front cover of the cassette box itself. I think it's one of the coolest covers for a Teddy Ruxpin VHS tape ever. The other covers explain what the episode/episodes are about. But this one? This one just shows Teddy, Wooly, Grubby, and a Grunge scared of some being in an old fashioned suit of armour, over some sort of cauldron. So if you don't know who that soldier is or what's cooking in the cauldron, then it's still a cool image to look at regardless.
As I mentioned in my review of The Treasure of Grundo "Guests of the Grunges" is a filler episode as a place to introduce the Grunges and the Wooly What's-It while extending the story arc to five episodes to fit into the five day airing cycle the show had back in 1987. But, it really doesn't do much more than that as we saw last time, because they were able to edit Wooly's introduction scene into Volume 1, between the end of episode 2 "Beware the Mudblups" and episode 4 "In the Fortress of the Wizard" without a problem. Unlike a lot of shows, the filler episodes of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin aren't bad episodes. They're pretty well written, the stories are pretty cool, and there's still usually some sort of character arc for one of the main characters. The only difference is that they're standalone episodes that don't add anything to the ongoing narrative of the series as a whole. They're simply there for us to enjoy.
"Guests of the Grunges" is the first episode of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin that I ever saw because of this tape. I think I got it before I ever saw the show in reruns on TV. In fact I'm almost certain that I saw this episode on VHS before I ever saw the show on TV. There's a lot in the episode that I only ever picked up on as an adult. For example, Prince Arin is pretty upset that the group is waylaid at the Grunge Village when they're supposed to be going to see the Wizard of Grundo to ask for help in locating Princess Aruzia. Upset enough that the Vitamin Z in the Grunge Gumbo transforms him into the Iron Warrior. Which is pretty typical with shows like this. There's always an episode where somebody falls under an evil spell, turning them against their friends. Or they're replaced by an evil doppelganger.
When I was a kid I actually thought that "Guests of the Grunges" was the introduction of the Fobs on the show because I didn't see the first episode, "The Treasure of Grundo" until I was an adult. The episode certainly made it seem like it was the introduction of the Fobs. Also, they're a little meaner in this episode than they were in the first episode, and are later in the series. Especially to Wooly.
It's actually kind of amazing that Tweeg and L.B. actually made it to the Treacherous Mountains considering how many wagon accidents and personal mishaps Tweeg had between episode 1 and episode 4. There also isn't that much time between the end of episode 2 and the beginning of this episode, so they covered a good span of distance from the edge of the Great Desert to wherever they were in this episode.
Despite not having a physical copy of the tape anymore, just the digitized version, I still have the recipe card for Teddy's Friendship Chocolate Chip Cookies in a box somewhere. I don't remember if my mom ever actually made cookies using that recipe or not, but just having that artifact from the cassette box is pretty cool. Even if I'm never able to use it. Also, I think this is one of the shorter live action intro/outro segments of the six of them that there are. It's definitely not as long as the one on Volume 1.
Overall Guests of the Grunges is my favourite Teddy Ruxpin VHS tape because it's the first one I ever owned, and it's the one I watched the most when I was a kid. I only ever had four of these tapes, and I actually watched all four of them fairly regularly but for the longest time this was the only one I had so I watched it a lot. I could go on for hours about this tape and about the episode itself, but I'll spare you by not doing so. Next week I'll be reviewing a Teddy Ruxpin tape that I swear we rented one time when my siblings and I were staying at the apartment of a friend of the family during a move, but my sister doesn't remember doing so. So hurry back, I'll be waiting for you. So long for now!
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