History Recap / TheNostalgiaCriticS12E21

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: Critic explaining why Barney the Dinosaur is so hated:

-->'''Critic''': So, looking at this eye-saurus after all these years, it ''is'' hitting me with more clarity why it's so easy to dislike him. One of the biggest reasons: he's creepy looking! When you compare him to, say, Disney characters or the Muppets, who spent years trying to perfect their designs, you can start to tell why. First off: the eyes. They're the most expressive part of the face, so either making them very large and complex or smaller and simpler can make a big difference. Barney's eyes are both big in the wrong way and small in the wrong way. The actual size of his eyes are tiny, but not simple enough to leave a gentle impact. Yet his pupils are huge and literally glassy, always looking dead, stoned, or possessed by Yoshi Satan! On top of that, his weird-ass teeth! Again, Disney and the Muppets rarely incorporated that much dental unless they wanted them to look intentionally weird. You probably noticed a big smile with a lot of teeth often comes across as domineering, or even a little scary. [[SelfDeprecation Heck, just look at this asshole]]! [[UncannyValley And not making them sharp, if anything, kinda makes it even]] ''[[UncannyValley more]]'' [[UncannyValley creepy]]. [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Remember when Sonic had normal-looking teeth]]? Remember when sharks were photoshopped with normal teeth? It didn't help anything; it just made shit scarier! So before Barney even says a word, you're already put off by him. But, books and covers and all that; maybe his personality has more charm than I remember.\\

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, only a few minutes into Barney's appearance, the Critic already has an epiphany as to why he has quite the hatedom, namely his creepy appearance (i.e., small, inexpressive eyes (which he claims are even more frighteningly wide when viewed from a higher angle) and rows of semi-realistic teeth) and his perpetually (and equally creepy) cheery disposition even in serious moments.

* {{Mondegreen}}: The Critic points out how having an orchestra provide the music to "Old [=MacDonald=] Had a Farm" would sometimes make a "CL" sound like an "F", playing a clip of Barney singing the "cluck-cluck" part of the song to demonstrate.

'''Eric:''' You don't wanna know.\\

** Later, when Cody wishes upon a star for a great adventure, the Critic warns him to BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor, showing another clip from ''Jurassic Park III'' of Eric being abducted by a Pteranodon, smugly stating this will never be the last ''Jurassic Park III'' joke he will ever make.

->'''Critic''': So, looking at this eye-saurus after all these years, it ''is'' hitting me with more clarity why it's so easy to dislike him. One of the biggest reasons: he's creepy looking! When you compare him to, say, Disney characters or the Muppets, who spent years trying to perfect their designs, you can start to tell why. First off: the eyes. They're the most expressive part of the face, so either making them very large and complex or smaller and simpler can make a big difference. Barney's eyes are both big in the wrong way and small in the wrong way. The actual size of his eyes are tiny, but not simple enough to leave a gentle impact. Yet his pupils are huge and literally glassy, always looking dead, stoned, or possessed by Yoshi Satan! On top of that, his weird-ass teeth! Again, Disney and the Muppets rarely incorporated that much dental unless they wanted them to look intentionally weird. You probably noticed a big smile with a lot of teeth often comes across as domineering, or even a little scary. [[SelfDeprecation Heck, just look at this asshole]]! [[UncannyValley And not making them sharp, if anything, kinda makes it even]] ''[[UncannyValley more]]'' [[UncannyValley creepy]]. [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 Remember when Sonic had normal-looking teeth]]? Remember when sharks were photoshopped with normal teeth? It didn't help anything; it just made shit scarier! So before Barney even says a word, you're already put off by him. But, books and covers and all that; maybe his personality has more charm than I remember.\\

** While Grandpa Greenfield is taken aback at the kids introducing Barney to him and his wife, the Critic dubs lines to him stating he saw Barney in ''Series/Dateline'''s "To Catch a Predator" segments, where suspected sexual predators are lured by law enforcement.

** While noting how creepy Barney looks, the Critic contrasts his dead-fish eyes to the comparatively livelier ones of [[Anime/KikisDeliveryService Kiki]], [[WesternAnimation/{{Tangled}} Rapunzel]], [[ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes Calvin and Hobbes]]. As for his teeth, the Critic also notes how Creator/{{Disney}} characters (showing in particular WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse, WesternAnimation/MinnieMouse, WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck and WesternAnimation/PlutoThePup) and Franchise/TheMuppets are rarely depicted with a full set of teeth unless they are deliberately designed to be weird (showing Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem from the latter) or are used to characterize them as mischievous and/or menacing (showing ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}, ComicBook/TheJoker as he appears in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', [[WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine the Blue Meanie]], [[Manga/OnePiece Monkey D. Luffy]], [[WesternAnimation/TheEmperorsNewGroove Yzma]], [[WesternAnimation/TheEmojiMovie Smiler]], and even a picture of the Critic from the title card of the ''Film/AlienVsPredator'' review).

* DelayedReaction: How the Critic reacts to Barney appearing for the first time behind the shower curtain.

* MushroomSamba: Seeing that the house of Mildred Goldfinch, a neighbor of the Greenfield family, has decorations which suspiciously look like marijuana leaves, the Critic jokingly claims the neighborhood is always happy because of all the second-hand smoke wafting from Mrs. Goldfinch's household.

** The Critic grows to like Cole's cynicism early in the film, claiming he'd pay good money to see him verbally roast toddlers at their birthday parties together with [[Film/TheAdventuresOfSharkboyAndLavagirl Linus]].

** As the three kids ride on horseback with the dreammaker egg through a thick forest while whimsical music plays, the Critic thinks they have entered Film/EdwardScissorhands' Franchise/JurassicPark.

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, only a few minutes into Barney's appearance, the Critic already has an epiphany as to why he has quite the hatedom, namely his creepy appearance (i.e., small, inexpressive eyes and rows of semi-realistic teeth) and his perpetually (and equally creepy) cheery disposition even in serious moments.

** The Critic sarcastically compares Barney walking solemnly while the kids are despondent over the Dream Maker Egg being blown into the sky to [[Film/CitizenKane Charles Foster Kane]] muttering "Rosebud" before walking solemnly past a hall of mirrors... before truthfully compares the scenario to a Creator/ChuckECheese mascot wandering down an arcade.

** The Critic sarcastically compares Barney walking solemnly while the kids are despondent over the Dream Maker Egg being blown into the sky to [[Film/CitizenKane Charles Foster Kane]] muttering "Rosebud" before walking solemnly past a hall of mirrors... then truthfully comparing it to a Creator/ChuckECheese mascot wandering lost at an arcade.

* BaitAndSwitchComparison: At the beginning and end of this episode, the Critic makes these kind of jokes when comparing Barney the Dinosaur and his own father, Barney Walker. The first time, he says there are two kinds of Barneys in the world; one being an obnoxious dinosaur that nobody likes to listen to, and the other one being purple. The second time, he says that Barney might be a better character if he had a good sense of humor, and that the dinosaur could use some help as well.

** Barney, Abby and Marcella singing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star" to the tune of the ABC song has the Critic jokingly imitate either one of the girls having an epiphany that Barney's music is a lie. The Critic further justifies his joke with a screenshot of [[https://apnews.com/b900b901d6f7fcee478e22b0ad8b0457 an Associated Press article]] proving that the show indeed faced allegations of copyright infringement over a song (i.e., "I Love You", filed by a Washington music publisher who claims to have already bought rights to the song in 1983, long before the show even aired).

** While highlighting an odd moment where Barney gets interrupted (which in itself is an example, as the Critic replays it shortly afterward), the Critic jokes that the director must have pulled out the actor's vocal cords after discovering his secret tantric sex business. The review goes back to movie footage ("You don't even wanna find it!") before the Critic interrupts, saying, "No, don't play the rest of that clip," before showing a news article that demonstrates that there's some truth to his sex business joke.

* OwMyBodyPart: The sight of Barney swinging around with his legs flailing has the Critic thinking he is less swinging happily and more like his suit actor David Joyner hanging on for dear life.

* FakeInteractivity: {{Referenced|Trope}}. When the movie instigates a ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve moment, the Critic refuses to participate, and the movie's credits seem to roll, before the Critic ends the facade and claims the movie's rigged.

* {{Mondegreen}}: The Critic points out how having an orchestra provide the music to "Old [=MacDonald=] Had a Farm" would sometimes make a "C" sound like an "F", playing a clip of Barney singing the "cluck-cluck" part of the song to demonstrate.

* NotMakingThisUpDisclaimer: While highlighting an odd moment where Barney gets interrupted (which in itself is an example, as the Critic replays it shortly afterward), the Critic jokes that the director must have pulled out the actor's vocal cords after discovering his secret tantric sex business. The review goes back to movie footage ("You don't even wanna find it!") before the Critic interrupts, saying, "No, don't play the rest of that clip," before showing a news article that demonstrates that there's some truth to his sex business joke.
-->'''Critic:''' You are every flavor of welcome for that!

** The Critic grows to like Cole's cynicism early in the film, claiming he'd pay good money to see him verbally roasting toddlers at their birthdays together with [[Film/TheAdventuresOfSharkboyAndLavagirl Linus]].

** Noting on how Barney is perpetually happy, the Critic contrasts it with the more sensible mirth of [[Anime/CowboyBebop "Radical" Edward Tivrusky IV]], [[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants SpongeBob SquarePants and Patrick Star]], as well as the ability of other child-friendly shows to show a far wider range of emotions, such as ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', and/or discuss difficult topics, such as the June 7 1968 special episode of ''Series/MisterRogersNeighborhood'', which aired in the wake of the assassination of UsefulNotes/RobertFKennedy just two days prior, and the Thanksgiving 1983 episode of ''Series/SesameStreet'' dealing with the death of Mr. Hooper (whose character died with his actor Will Lee almost a year prior).

* UncannyValley: InUniverse, only a few minutes into Barney's appearance, the Critic already has an epiphany as to why he has quite the hatedom, namely his small, inexpressive eyes, his rows of teeth, and his perpetually cheery disposition even in serious moments.