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CoolGuy1013
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- Apr 20, 2019
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So, the Princess Story. I don't have much to say for setup, so is this episode young and sweet, or nothing but charmless? Let's find out.
The episode starts with an amusing cold open featuring Grover, dressed as a prince, setting up the theme of princes and princesses by attempting to find a princess to put a glass slipper on, only for a giant monster foot to show up. It's actually kinda funny, especially when he says "This may take a while". I agree with Antsamthompson that this was a bit of a missed opportunity to include Jen's Zoe, but that's probably a blessing in disguise.
The story itself features the 3 main female Muppets (at the time of the original episode's airing), Zoe, Abby, and Rosita deciding to make up a princess story, must to the latter's reluctance. They get Leela (that's probably the first time I've typed that name) to write down their story, only to realize they never even named their protagonist. Zoe and Abby come up with different names, both of which Rosita likes. Leela suggests they combine the names and call her "Princess LucindaLulla", one of the dumbest names I've ever heard. But everyone else likes it, so they go with it. The story starts with her stuck in a tower, needing to be rescued. Zoe suggests a prince saves her, and Abby suggests a fairy godmother saves her. (By the way, this is their solutions for all the conflicts they come up with, so from here on out, I'll only mention Rosita's solutions).
Rosita comes up with the princess saving herself by tying her tiara to a rope and throwing it at a tree trunk, then using the rope as a zipline by sliding down it with one of her shoes. The other 2 love this and request Leela write it down. After she gets to safety, the girls decide for her to get stuck in a forest. After Zoe and Abby mention their aforementioned ideas, Rosita suggests she finds a toolshed and builds a pogo stick/skateboard hybrid to escape. Once again, the other 2 love it and Leela adds it in. The final conflict they come up with involves her facing a fire-breathing dragon. Zoe and Abby once again recommend their respective ideas, Rosita decides to have the princess calm the dragon down with a song (which is actually pretty catchy), and he becomes a belly breathing dragon instead. You've probably guessed what happens next by now. Anyway, now that they're finished, Rosita suggests they write another one.
All in all, this street story was fine. I liked Rosita's more creative ways of having the princess save herself (especially as opposed to Zoe and Abby's more traditional methods). But it was really, and I mean really repetitive and formulaic. And it was only less than 10 minutes long! How did they have that little material?
Oh well, maybe the letter of the day can cheer me up. It's P, and we get an actual letter segment! Hallelujah! The segment features a boy and a girl's voiceovers playing with their prints as a prince (who has a pink pony) and a pirate princess (who has a parrot), throwing a pancake party at a purple palace. I bolded all those Ps for a reason. This one is another great one, and a highlight of the episode.
And speaking of highlights of the episode, Star S'mores! I'm a sucker for Star Wars parodies, and this one doesn't disappoint. From brief cameos by Oscar and Snuffy in the Only One Cannoli scene, to Stephanie's excellent Carrie Fisher impression as Princess Parfaita, to Darth Baker just casually telling Luke Piewalker he's his father, to Cookie (as Flan Solo) stopping the music to show Luke why he can't have a cookie for a partner, to Cookie eating Parfaita's hairdo (which looks like it was made of Oreos).
But none of those can even compare to the best in-joke in Sesame Street history - Groda.
The joke (even if unintentional) of having a character originally played by Frank Oz playing another character originally played by Frank Oz must've been too perfect to resist, and they didn't. And it was awesome. What makes it even better is that he wants Cookie/Flan to sing! And since I'm a Weird Al fan, you could probably guess what happened next...
Now that I'm done gushing about Star S'mores, I can discuss the number of the day, which is 4. We don't get anything, so I'll move on.
Alright, now to review Elmo the Musical: Prince the Musical. No, this is not a musical featuring only songs by the singer Prince (that'd probably be called "Weird Al Better Not Spoof Any of These Songs: The Musical). It's a musical featuring Elmo playing a prince on his way to save his kingdom from a dragon. I'll get more in depth on this one when I review Birdie and the Beast in a few reviews (that episode features pretty much the entire segment), so it won't really affect (or is it "effect") my rating here.
And speaking of my rating, this episode gets an 8/10. The story itself wasn't that great, but the cold open was fun, the LOTD segment was actually educational about the letter, and Star S'mores was probably my favorite CCP so far, even better than the Aveggies one I reviewed last time. Sadly, this looks to be the last good one for a bit, as next time, I will (begrudgingly) review Enthusiastic Penelope Penguin. Pray for me...
The episode starts with an amusing cold open featuring Grover, dressed as a prince, setting up the theme of princes and princesses by attempting to find a princess to put a glass slipper on, only for a giant monster foot to show up. It's actually kinda funny, especially when he says "This may take a while". I agree with Antsamthompson that this was a bit of a missed opportunity to include Jen's Zoe, but that's probably a blessing in disguise.
The story itself features the 3 main female Muppets (at the time of the original episode's airing), Zoe, Abby, and Rosita deciding to make up a princess story, must to the latter's reluctance. They get Leela (that's probably the first time I've typed that name) to write down their story, only to realize they never even named their protagonist. Zoe and Abby come up with different names, both of which Rosita likes. Leela suggests they combine the names and call her "Princess LucindaLulla", one of the dumbest names I've ever heard. But everyone else likes it, so they go with it. The story starts with her stuck in a tower, needing to be rescued. Zoe suggests a prince saves her, and Abby suggests a fairy godmother saves her. (By the way, this is their solutions for all the conflicts they come up with, so from here on out, I'll only mention Rosita's solutions).
Rosita comes up with the princess saving herself by tying her tiara to a rope and throwing it at a tree trunk, then using the rope as a zipline by sliding down it with one of her shoes. The other 2 love this and request Leela write it down. After she gets to safety, the girls decide for her to get stuck in a forest. After Zoe and Abby mention their aforementioned ideas, Rosita suggests she finds a toolshed and builds a pogo stick/skateboard hybrid to escape. Once again, the other 2 love it and Leela adds it in. The final conflict they come up with involves her facing a fire-breathing dragon. Zoe and Abby once again recommend their respective ideas, Rosita decides to have the princess calm the dragon down with a song (which is actually pretty catchy), and he becomes a belly breathing dragon instead. You've probably guessed what happens next by now. Anyway, now that they're finished, Rosita suggests they write another one.
All in all, this street story was fine. I liked Rosita's more creative ways of having the princess save herself (especially as opposed to Zoe and Abby's more traditional methods). But it was really, and I mean really repetitive and formulaic. And it was only less than 10 minutes long! How did they have that little material?
Oh well, maybe the letter of the day can cheer me up. It's P, and we get an actual letter segment! Hallelujah! The segment features a boy and a girl's voiceovers playing with their prints as a prince (who has a pink pony) and a pirate princess (who has a parrot), throwing a pancake party at a purple palace. I bolded all those Ps for a reason. This one is another great one, and a highlight of the episode.
And speaking of highlights of the episode, Star S'mores! I'm a sucker for Star Wars parodies, and this one doesn't disappoint. From brief cameos by Oscar and Snuffy in the Only One Cannoli scene, to Stephanie's excellent Carrie Fisher impression as Princess Parfaita, to Darth Baker just casually telling Luke Piewalker he's his father, to Cookie (as Flan Solo) stopping the music to show Luke why he can't have a cookie for a partner, to Cookie eating Parfaita's hairdo (which looks like it was made of Oreos).
But none of those can even compare to the best in-joke in Sesame Street history - Groda.
The joke (even if unintentional) of having a character originally played by Frank Oz playing another character originally played by Frank Oz must've been too perfect to resist, and they didn't. And it was awesome. What makes it even better is that he wants Cookie/Flan to sing! And since I'm a Weird Al fan, you could probably guess what happened next...
Yep. I started singing Yoda.
Alright, now to review Elmo the Musical: Prince the Musical. No, this is not a musical featuring only songs by the singer Prince (that'd probably be called "Weird Al Better Not Spoof Any of These Songs: The Musical). It's a musical featuring Elmo playing a prince on his way to save his kingdom from a dragon. I'll get more in depth on this one when I review Birdie and the Beast in a few reviews (that episode features pretty much the entire segment), so it won't really affect (or is it "effect") my rating here.
And speaking of my rating, this episode gets an 8/10. The story itself wasn't that great, but the cold open was fun, the LOTD segment was actually educational about the letter, and Star S'mores was probably my favorite CCP so far, even better than the Aveggies one I reviewed last time. Sadly, this looks to be the last good one for a bit, as next time, I will (begrudgingly) review Enthusiastic Penelope Penguin. Pray for me...