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Rock TV: Difference between revisions
Relocated trivia and removed the points about the fourth wall break and similarities to other cartoons
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"'''Rock TV'''" is the tenth episode of the [[Super Mario World (television series)|''Super Mario World'']] animated series. | "'''Rock TV'''" is the tenth episode of the [[Super Mario World (television series)|''Super Mario World'']] animated series. This episode can be seen as a commentary on {{wp|Television addiction|television addiction}}, an issue that had gained widespread focus by the time it aired. In 1990, the year before this episode aired, the United States {{wp|Federal Communications Commission}} enacted the {{wp|Children's Television Act}} which required networks to strengthen educational values in children's television. After ''Super Mario World'' aired its lone season, {{wp|NBC}} followed suit in 1992 by discontinuing its Saturday morning cartoon lineup in favor of expanding the morning news program ''{{wp|Today (American TV program)|Today}}'' to Saturdays. | ||
==Plot== | ==Plot== | ||
While pacing back and forth in [[Bowser's Castle|his castle]], [[Bowser|King Koopa]] muses about how he | While pacing back and forth in [[Bowser's Castle|his castle]], [[Bowser|King Koopa]] muses about how he has not done anything exceptionally evil in a while. Trying to think up a plan of some kind, Koopa remembers one of his trips to [[Earth|the Real World]]; more specifically, how television can put people in a near vegetative state. Suddenly, Koopa comes up with the idea of using TV to rot the minds of the cave-people in [[Dome City]]. | ||
Later, [[Oogtar]] the Caveboy rushes to the [[Dome Castle]] of [[Mario]], [[Luigi]], [[Yoshi]], and [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]], telling them to come quickly and see something. Following Oogtar, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Toadstool are surprised to see what appears to be a giant, screenless television set. | Later, [[Oogtar]] the Caveboy rushes to the [[Dome Castle]] of [[Mario]], [[Luigi]], [[Yoshi]], and [[Princess Peach|Princess Toadstool]], telling them to come quickly and see something. Following Oogtar, Mario, Luigi, Yoshi, and Princess Toadstool are surprised to see what appears to be a giant, screenless television set. | ||
[[File:Rock TV.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Mario and co. discovering the giant, screenless television.]] | [[File:Rock TV.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Mario and co. discovering the giant, screenless television.]] | ||
As the cave-people stare in awe at the giant television set, King Koopa appears behind it with [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy]] and [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], who are helping him put on a rather crude [[human]] costume. Going into the giant television's empty screen, Koopa, in costume, introduces himself as "Robby Rockwell". "Robby" proceeds to tell all the onlookers that he | As the cave-people stare in awe at the giant television set, King Koopa appears behind it with [[Larry Koopa|Cheatsy]] and [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], who are helping him put on a rather crude [[human]] costume. Going into the giant television's empty screen, Koopa, in costume, introduces himself as "Robby Rockwell". "Robby" proceeds to tell all the onlookers that he is here to introduce "Rock TV". Oogtar proceeds to ask what Rock TV is, and Koopa explains that it has hundreds of different shows such as "''Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood''" (which Yoshi finds fun) and "''The World Dinosaur Wrestling Federation''" (which is really nothing more than dinosaur puppets bumping into one another). After being booed for this poor performance, Koopa shows the cave-people "Rock, Rock TV" with such stars as "Vanilla Ice-Age"; after saying this, Koopa proceeds to dress-up and dance around. Leaving the stage, Koopa returns in his Robby disguise and proceeds to tell everyone that they can buy their own "[[Koopasonic Rock TV]]" for ten [[coin]]s and a coin a minute. | ||
[[File:The Phone bill.jpg|200x400px|thumbnail|right|Mario's reaction after getting the phone bill.]] | [[File:The Phone bill.jpg|200x400px|thumbnail|right|Mario's reaction after getting the phone bill.]] | ||
Later, Mario and Luigi are in line to buy a Rock TV. Despite Mario saying that ten coins is a great deal, Luigi says that one coin a minute can really add-up and reminds Mario of the "Speak to [[Santa Claus|Santa]] Hotline" incident in [[Brooklyn]], which added up to a $1,295.31 phone bill. Hearing this, Mario simply tells Luigi that paying for their TV will be easy, as all they need to do is bash [[Brick Block|blocks]] to get them. Approaching Koopa, Mario proceeds to buy a TV, despite Luigi's suspicion of "Robby Rockwell" | Later, Mario and Luigi are in line to buy a Rock TV. Despite Mario saying that ten coins is a great deal, Luigi says that one coin a minute can really add-up and reminds Mario of the "Speak to [[Santa Claus|Santa]] Hotline" incident in [[Brooklyn]], which added up to a $1,295.31 phone bill. Hearing this, Mario simply tells Luigi that paying for their TV will be easy, as all they need to do is bash [[Brick Block|blocks]] to get them. Approaching Koopa, Mario proceeds to buy a TV, despite Luigi's suspicion of "Robby Rockwell". | ||
[[File:Yoshismw.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Yoshi reacting to King Koopa's "preview" of "Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood".]] | [[File:Yoshismw.jpg|thumb|left|200px|Yoshi reacting to King Koopa's "preview" of "Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood".]] | ||
Once the TV is at home, Princess Toadstool proceeds to tell Mario and Luigi that she won't have any part in watching the TV, saying that she and Yoshi are going for a nature walk, and proceeds to walk out with a protesting Yoshi. Putting a coin in the TV, Mario and Luigi are suddenly hit by the spell of a [[Magikoopa|Koopa Wizard]] hidden in the TV. Appearing to go into a trance, Mario and Luigi crouch down on their couch and begin watching "everybody's favorite Kooparobics show, ''Koopa Sez''!". As Koopa, wearing sports equipment, begins giving demands on TV, Mario and Luigi and all the cave-people begin to follow him in a daze. | Once the TV is at home, Princess Toadstool proceeds to tell Mario and Luigi that she won't have any part in watching the TV, saying that she and Yoshi are going for a nature walk, and proceeds to walk out with a protesting Yoshi. Putting a coin in the TV, Mario and Luigi are suddenly hit by the spell of a [[Magikoopa|Koopa Wizard]] hidden in the TV. Appearing to go into a trance, Mario and Luigi crouch down on their couch and begin watching "everybody's favorite Kooparobics show, ''Koopa Sez''!". As Koopa, wearing sports equipment, begins giving demands on TV, Mario and Luigi and all the cave-people begin to follow him in a daze. | ||
After a while, Koopa says he | After a while, Koopa says he has "a game he wants everybody to play", at which point Mario and Luigi's TV breaks down, snapping them out of the trance. On the rest of the televisions, Koopa orders all the cave-people to go to Dome Castle and capture Mario and Luigi. Like robots, the cave-people obey Koopa and, grabbing anything nearby to use as weapons, rush off to Dome Castle. At Dome Castle, Mario, frustrated with his broken TV, throws it out a nearby window and into the moat surrounding the castle. As Mario does this, he notices a mob of cave-people storming the castle with clubs. Before Mario or Luigi can do anything, they are captured by the zombified cave-people. | ||
Brought to King Koopa's giant TV, Mario and Luigi are forced to participate in "All-Star Prehistoric Tag-Team Wrestling", which has [[Lemmy Koopa|Hip]] and [[Iggy Koopa|Hop Koopa]] as the judges and [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth Koopa]] as the announcer. After going on an extremely long-winded speech, and introducing the [[Tyrannosaurus Twins]], Big Mouth is finally shut up by Koopa, only to return, and then as he is introducing the Marios, one of the twins tosses him out. Koopa proceeds to introduce Mario and Luigi into the ring. | Brought to King Koopa's giant TV, Mario and Luigi are forced to participate in "All-Star Prehistoric Tag-Team Wrestling", which has [[Lemmy Koopa|Hip]] and [[Iggy Koopa|Hop Koopa]] as the judges and [[Morton Koopa Jr.|Big Mouth Koopa]] as the announcer. After going on an extremely long-winded speech, and introducing the [[Tyrannosaurus Twins]], Big Mouth is finally shut up by Koopa, only to return, and then as he is introducing the Marios, one of the twins tosses him out. Koopa proceeds to introduce Mario and Luigi into the ring. | ||
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*[[Paulina Gillis]] — female singer, cavelady #1, cavelady #2, Oogtar's sister, Oogtar's Mother | *[[Paulina Gillis]] — female singer, cavelady #1, cavelady #2, Oogtar's sister, Oogtar's Mother | ||
*[[Michael Stark]] — [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], Orange T-Rex twin | *[[Michael Stark]] — [[Ludwig von Koopa|Kooky von Koopa]], Orange T-Rex twin | ||
==References to real media== | |||
*The family King Koopa spies on watch ''{{wp|Wheel of Fortune (U.S. game show)|Wheel of Fortune}}''. | |||
*"''Mr. Koopa's Neighborhood''" is a parody of the children's show ''{{wp|Mister Rogers' Neighborhood}}''. Mario also tells Princess Toadstool and Yoshi that "maybe [he will] see them on {{wp|Public Broadcasting Service|PBS}}," referring to the network on which ''Mister Rogers' Neighborhood'' was broadcast. | |||
*The "World Dinosaur Wrestling Federation" can be seen as a parody of the World Wrestling Federation, now called {{wp|World Wrestling Entertainment}} (WWE). | |||
*"Vanilla Ice-Age" is a parody of the American rapper {{wp|Vanilla Ice}}. Oogtar also says "Ice Age Baby", a reference to "{{wp|Ice Ice Baby}}". | |||
*The company name "Koopasonic" is a pun on the Japanese electronics company {{wp|Panasonic Corporation|Panasonic}}. | |||
*Mario's line "I want my Rock TV!" is a parody of {{wp|MTV}}'s slogan at the time, "I Want My MTV." | |||
==Animation and continuity errors== | ==Animation and continuity errors== | ||
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==Trivia== | ==Trivia== | ||
*This is the only ''Super Mario World'' episode in which the real world made an appearance. | |||
*This | *The family King Koopa spies on in his flashback strongly resembles [[Norman]]'s family from ''[[The Adventures of Super Mario Bros. 3]]'' episode "[[Mush-Rumors]]", except [[Missy]] is not there. | ||
* Six of the Koopalings can be seen in "Rock TV", making it the ''Super Mario World'' episode with the most Koopaling appearances. [[Wendy O. Koopa|Kootie Pie]] is the only one absent, and Big Mouth is the only one with dialogue. | |||
*The family King Koopa spies on | |||
* Six of the Koopalings can be seen in "Rock TV, | |||
** This is also Kooky's last animation appearance. Similar to Kootie Pie in "[[Send in the Clown]]", Kooky has no lines despite his screen time. | ** This is also Kooky's last animation appearance. Similar to Kootie Pie in "[[Send in the Clown]]", Kooky has no lines despite his screen time. | ||
**While Big Mouth has actual dialogue in the episode, Bully, Kooky, and Cheatsy only vocalize in grunts while Hip and Hop do not vocalize at all. | **While Big Mouth has actual dialogue in the episode, Bully, Kooky, and Cheatsy only vocalize in grunts while Hip and Hop do not vocalize at all. | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||