Teddy and the Mudblups is a tape that I didn't own when I was a kid. However the episode of the same name, which this tape contains is one I watched a lot because it's one of the ones my dad recorded off the TV for me on the second of two tapes containing batches of episodes of The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin from when they originally aired in 1987. And yes, I know that the episodes, at least some of them, were from their original airings in 1987 because the McDonald's Star Wish commercial that aired in December 1987 is on one of the tapes during a few of the episodes. I had to look it up on YouTube to find out what year that commercial was from. So yeah I watched this episode a lot as a kid.
"Teddy and the Mudblups" is a weird episode to go back to on it's own. Mainly because it's actually part of a story arc that began in episode 26, "Uncle Grubby" and ends in episode 30 "Tweeg Joins M.A.V.O." and it brings some temporary changes to the landscape of Grundonian life. Namely the dynamics between Tweeg and L.B. are different in this episode than they normally would be. At the end of "Uncle Grubby" Quellor appoints L.B. to be Tweeg's supervisor as he completes the M.A.V.O. bad deeds checklist that he'd been struggling with since episode 11 "The Faded Fobs". Which means that now L.B. is Tweeg's boss and gets to order him around rather than the other way around as it had been for who knows how long. Also now, Tweeg's mother, Eleanor, is living with Tweeg and L.B. at Tweeg's Tower and also orders Tweeg around. Which is driving Tweeg absolutely nuts and making us as the audience laugh our heads off.
In the original story from the book and tape set, Tweeg and L.B. don't appear at all, therefore the argument between Grubby and Gimmick just kind of comes out of nowhere and is resolved before they even leave for the Great Desert in the Airship. However, while Tweeg was responsible for igniting the spark of the argument, it had actually been festering since episode 27 "The Crystal Book" when the crystals told Gimmick that he's inventive. Since then Gimmick forgot how to treat his friends somehow and began ignoring his responsibilities in his own house leaving Grubby and Teddy to pick up the slack. So naturally when the argument starts, Teddy immediately puts an end to it as he does in the original story. But then for some reason, without Tweeg's help it pops back up again once they arrive at the Great Desert. It's one of those weird attempts at inciting drama but it ends up having that quick '80s cartoon resolution at the end of the episode. Because of that, it's almost unnecessary in a way.
This episode is the first time we see the Mudblups since episode 2 and there's actually a huge difference between them here and how they were back in episode 2. There the Mudblups were less articulate with their speech and they seemed like nothing but giant mud monsters. Here though, they speak like normal people almost, and their voices are less gurgling than they were in their first appearance, which is interesting. Also the entrance to the Mudblup Caves is a normal cave entrance instead of an underground city like it is in the beginning of the series. The cave is also more brightly lit for some reason and less atmospheric than it was in it's previous appearance.
Like Tweeg Gets the Tweezles, Teddy and the Mudblups contains a preview for Volume 7 Come Dream With Me Tonight at the end of the episode. But instead of the same preview with Teddy singing "This Lovely Night" he sings "Go to Sleep" which is the first song he sings on the tape after "Come Dream With Me Tonight" (known as "The Teddy Ruxpin Theme" on the original book and tape set). And unlike the preview on Tweeg Gets the Tweezles, there's no intro saying "Hi there. I hope you liked that story. Now here's a little something special for you. Part of my Come Dream With Me Tonight lullaby video collection" or any kind of special cutting or anything. It just starts when the episode is over. Also it comes after the end credits and the production company logos instead of at the very end of the episode like it did on Tweeg Gets the Tweezles. This makes this the last tape to have any sort of extras on it as the live action intros and outros were stopped with Teddy Outsmarts M.A.V.O. while the in package bonus gifts stopped with Come Dream With Me Tonight.
Overall this is a good tape. "Teddy and the Mudblups" is one of my favourite episodes simply because it's one that I did watch quite often when I was a kid since I had it taped off of the TV. This is the part of the series where there are less outright filler episodes and more episodes that feed into the week's story arc (The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin aired daily from Monday to Friday during it's original run) with each arc becoming more and more four episode and five episode arcs, which hadn't actually been done since the first five episodes.
Well that's all for me for today. 11 tapes down, and one more to go. Of the main series anyway. I still have The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin and Teddy Ruxpin: The Movie to do at some point though it probably won't be right away as I do have Barney & The Backyard Gang and Disney Sing-Along Songs to get to. But maybe those two remaining Teddy Ruxpin VHS tapes will be reviewed as just straight up movie reviews at a later date. We'll see though. In the meantime I've got lots of reviews coming your way this week and then in a week from today I'll be back for the last Teddy Ruxpin VHS review. Have a good one. So long for now!
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