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Recap / Tiny Toon Adventures S 1 E 55 Viewer Mail Day

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The 55th aired episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, "Viewer Mail Day" is centered around Buster and Babs getting mail from viewers, three of which subsequently lead into shorts.

Short One: "Pluck o' the Irish": Plucky and Hamton are in Ireland selling cartoon gags on behalf of ACME. They wind up spending the night in a large Irish castle that is haunted by a banshee. When the banshee turns Hamton into a statue, Plucky teams up with the castle care-taker Bridey O' Connor to defeat the banshee.

Short Two: "Out of Odor": Fifi La Fume discovers that Elmyra wants to keep Fifi as her pet. Fifi proceeds to do everything she can to keep herself out of Elmyra's clutches, while Elmyra tries to get rid of Fifi's smell.

Short Three: "Buttering Up The Buttfields": Plucky has a job at a fancy restaurant and runs himself ragged trying to please a particularly persnickety and heavyset rich couple with huge butts.

This episode includes examples of:

Overall:

  • Fourth-Wall Mail Slot: A number of the letters in the ACME Mailbox are allegedly from viewers of the show.
  • Credits Gag: Thanks To Our Loyal Viewers - Both of you
  • Littlest Cancer Patient: The letter Buster and Babs receive in the second wraparound is apparently from someone like this, who requests a visit from Fifi La Fume, their favorite character. Fifi is more than happy to do so....but it turns out to be Elmyra trying to get to the "pretty little kitty".
  • Think of the Censors!: Implied; the minute Buster finishes reading the third letter that requests a short with a plot revolving around people with big butts, alarms start blaring and he and Babs dive for cover.
  • Three Shorts

Pluck O' the Irish:

  • Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence: It's suggested that the banshee does this once it is defeated and becomes a fairy-like character. Bridey tells Plucky and Hamton that the banshee's "a free soul now".
  • Chekhov's Gun: The only way to stop a banshee is to make her laugh. It's a good thing Plucky and Hamton had all of those gags they were selling...
  • Foreshadowing: When initially entering the castle, Plucky and Hamton notice the statues of very frightened people littering the main hallway. All of them were likely victims of the banshee.
  • Leprechaun: As it turns out, the castle is owned by a whole bunch of them, and even Bridey was actually three leprechauns in a combination Totem Pole Trench / Latex Perfection disguise.
  • Mythology Gag: A few nods to the Porky Pig cartoon "The Wearing of the Grin"; most noticeably the leprechauns at the end of the short.
  • Oireland: The setting of the episode.
  • Our Banshees Are Louder: They apparently also have the Medusa-esque ability to turn people to stone.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: The leprechauns would gladly buy Plucky and Hamton's gags, but by the time they show themselves, Plucky and Hamton have had enough of magical creatures/people for one day and head for the hills.
  • Taken for Granite: Poor Hamton falls victim to the banshee and spends a chunk of the episode as a statue.
  • Totem Pole Trench: It turns out that Bridey was three leprechauns on each other's shoulders, with the top one wearing a realistic rubber girl mask. Also doubles as an Unsettling Gender-Reveal.

Out of Odor:

  • Downer Ending: Even though Fifi regains her stench after Elmyra douses her in tomato juice, unfortunately for her, Elmyra has an allergic reaction to roses in a parade float and loses the ability to smell Fifi's stench, thus enabling her to capture Fifi.
  • I Am Not Weasel: Fifi spends much of the first half of the short trying to convince Elmyra that she is a skunk, and not a cat. Not that it helps.
  • Latex Perfection: Elmyra disguises herself flawlessly as Pepe Le Pew as a trap to catch Fifi and remove her stench. Despite her voice sounding nothing like Pepe, it manages to fool Fifi anyways.
  • Not Even Bothering with the Accent: In an attempt to douse Fifi in tomato juice to get rid of Fifi's smell, Elmyra dresses in a full-body Pepe Le Pew costume and tries to pass herself off as him without even disguising her voice. Fifi still falls for it.
  • Plot Allergy: Elmyra is allergic to roses, which results in her being unable to smell Fifi even after Fifi regains her skunk smell.
  • Recursive Canon: During the Rose Parade, you can see a poster advertising episodes of Tiny Toon Adventures.
  • Rule of Three: Elmyra gives Fifi three gifts to get her to be her pet "kitty"; a dish of cream, 300 flea collars, and a sandbox.
  • Shout-Out: Fifi goes full Rambo as she fires smell clouds out of her tail at Elmyra near the end.
  • Smelly Skunk: Fifi, which is why Elmyra wants to get rid of her stench.
  • Soundtrack Dissonance: This short ends with happy upbeat music. While Elmyra might have liked the ending, Fifi didn't and noted it stinks.note 
  • Stalker without a Crush: Elmyra's behavior toward Fifi comes off as this (albeit in her usual Obliviously Evil/And Call Him "George" way).
  • Tomato Skunk Stink Cure: Elmyra does some research in the ACME Looniversity Library, and finds out that the only way to get rid of a skunk's foul odor is with tomato juice. Fifi ends up becoming an unfortunate victim of this, though she later manages to wash it off at the Rose Parade (not that it helps due to Elmyra's rose allergy).
  • Weaponized Stench: Elmyra drenches Fifi in tomato juice so she can capture her. Fifi is eventually able to wash off the juice and tries to fight back by firing smell clouds out of her tail at Elmyra. Unfortunately, an allergic reaction to roses leaves Elmyra unable to smell anything, which allows her to capture Fifi anyway.

Buttering Up The Buttfields:

  • Bad Boss: Subverted, while the manager of the fancy restaurant is pretty rough with Plucky, his frustration is pretty understandable as Plucky doesn't seem to take his job very seriously.
  • Comically Oversized Butt: Plucky has a job at the ACME Acres Country Club, where he runs himself ragged trying to please Bottomly and Fanny Buttfield, a particularly persnickety and heavyset rich couple with butts so huge that they have to sit in two chairs at their table.
  • Fat Bastard: The Buttfields, who are so big that they both have to sit in two chairs at their table. They also get so impatient when waiting for their food that they almost go homicidal.
  • Furry Confusion: The Buttfields want to eat a meal that turns out to be roast duck in orange sauce. Did we mention that their waiter is a duck? The episode runs with this trope as Pete Puma (the kitchen chef at the restaurant) decides to use Plucky for the dish and the impatient Buttfields begin chasing Plucky with silverware, who of course, wants no part in it. Buster gets caught in the fracas as well when Plucky convinces the Buttfields to have something with rabbit in it, leading to they and Pete going after Buster, too.
  • Mythology Gag: There is an allusion to the famous "how many lumps do you want" gag from "Rabbit's Kin" involving Pete as Buster gets Pete out of the picture.
  • Heh Heh, You Said "X": Plucky cannot keep himself from laughing the first time he hears the Buttfields' name.
  • Smelly Skunk: Fifi, which is how Buster and Plucky drive the Buttfields away.
  • Take a Third Option: To ensure neither Buster nor Plucky end up as the feast of the Buttfields, the two join forces and serve them the finest French delicacy; Skunkette A La Fifi.

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