Toadie

TAKE ME TO THE PICTURES

Toadie

Name of show that this character is from: Gummi Bears
Title of Episode:

Original Air date: October 19, 1985 (NETWORK: NBC )
Where can I find this episode now?: NO LONGER AVAILABLE

EPISODE TYPE: Growth Potion (Formula)
(see Common Themes section for more on this category)

WHAT IS TOADIE?: An anthro, furry, light green ogre

IS HE MACRO ORIGINALLY?: No

HOW DID HE BECOME MACRO?: Fell into well with growth potion in it

WHAT DOES HE BECOME AFTER HE GREW?: Larger version of himself.

IS GROWTH SHOWN?: No (We see something growing underground but not directly see him grow)

MACRO NAME: --SAME AS BEFORE--

QUOTE: "Where's my friend!!?"

SEX: Male

LOCATIONS: Duke Igthorn's Castle

MACRO SIZE (Approx or Average ): 50 feet

NATURE: Heroic Evil

DESTRUCTION LEVEL DONE: Medium - Catapult, sides of the castle walls. Water well and the ground under it

SYNOPSIS OF EPISODE: The Gummi Bears sit around a table with baskets full of Gummi Bears. They all look exhausted from picking berries for the harvest. Sunni runs in with a potion in her hand telling them all that their problems are over. She picks up one of the berries and drops a drop of her potion on the berry and it grows in size filling up part of the table. Tummi wakes up from a nap sensing food and takes a bite out of the huge berry, gagging as the size may be good but the taste sure isn't. She is told to get rid of the potion as it's useless to them if they can't even eat the berries after using it.

Toadwart (Toadie) meanwhile at Duke Igthorn's castle is busy trying to get Duke's attention as Duke works on a new bow and arrow catapult. Duke just dumps gears and supplies onto Toadie as Toadie continues to complain. Toadie gets so mad that he calls Duke a tyrant. The next thing we see is Toadie is strapped to the huge arrow and has 'volunteered' to test it. They shoot the arrow with Toadie on it into the distance as Duke just files his nails not carring. Sunni meanwhile is looking for a place to dump the useless potion only to see the arrow with Toadie land in the side of a cliff. Toadie cries for help and Sunni realizes that she can't just leave him down there and goes to help him by untying the ropes . Toadie climbs back up the cliff chasing Sunni but not to attack her but to thank her. He is very grateful and wants to serve her in any way he can. She just wants him to get rid of the potion and he quickly grabs it dumping it down the well next to them. Toadie though so badly wants to get back on Duke's good side and thinks about taking Sunni back to him but Sunni reminds him that he promised to serve her. Toadie starts to pound on his own head hating himself as he can't decide what to do. Sunni tells him to have confidence in himself and that if he doesn't like himself how will anyone else? Before he can answer that a huge ogre appears and grabs Sunni. It seems they came back to get the arrow and now have a Gummi Bear as well. Toadie tries to stand up against them but the two much larger ogres just blow Toadie into the well and walk off with the captured Gummi Bear and arrow. The ground shakes suddenly as if something was growing underneath it.

Back at the Gummi Bear's lair, Tummi still stares over the large Gummi Berry wishing that it tasted good. The berry suddenly shrinks in size much to Tummi's horror at the whole idea of food actually getting smaller. Back at Duke's castle, Duke starts to question Sunni about the Gummi Bears. Wanting to know how many spies they have and how many they have in total. He doesn't believe a word of hers as she explains they are just 6 in number. A panicked ogre runs in telling Duke that Toadie is back. He tells him to just throw him out. The ogre doesn't seem to want to and Duke then says he will do it then. Toadie's voice booms demanding that he find his friend. Duke freaks out as a gigantic Toadie stares in on him. Toadie's huge hand grips around Sunni putting her on his huge shoulder. He then reaches back into the castle picking up Duke who accuses Toadie of being a traitor working for the Gummi Bears. Toadie just places him in his pocket with his hairball collection as Duke almost passes out from the smell.

A few ogres fire an arrow from the catapult at him just missing Toadie who is hanging on a tower. The giant Toadie swings over to the ogres position and punches a fist through a wall getting an ogre who tried to escape. He puts the ogre onto the catapult and shoots him into the distance while tossing the catapult away as well. Sunni asks how he could do such a thing. Toadie explains that he's bigger then them, that's how. Duke climbs back out of Toadie's pocket and starts to threaten Toadie. Toadie picks him up holding him at his face upside down and shakes Duke about playfully. Duke then grovels telling Toadie that he can be his second in command, lead all the ogres if he just puts him down. Sunni says he should just put him down as Toadie thinks about it. As Toadie thinks he starts to shrink as the potion wears off. Sunni and Toadie, now back to his regular size, quickly start to run from Duke who is furious. Sunni quickly hides in the bushes while Toadie stalls Duke. He tells Duke he was always loyal to him and points in the opposite direction that Sunni heads off in. Sunni waves good bye as Toadie realizes that they will not be friends again and that Duke is going to be real mad at him when Duke returns. But Toadie can take it and smiles at that.

REVIEW OF EPISODE: A fun episode actually and considering it was one of the first Disney Afternoon type cartoons made, it started off a great trend that would continue for a long time to come. Toadie made for a good giant and the situation flowed nicely but was far from perfect, but a very good attempt overall.

Toadie makes for a fun giant and seems to take full advantage of the situation. But the story is anything from original. It's been done before. Little guy gets picked on, little guy suddenly becomes really big, little guy who is now big guy turns the tables on those that abused him, little guy loses size at end with everything going back to normal and never referred to again. But it is a formula that works and Toadie seemed like only to obvious a choice for this but of course a Gummi Bear gone big would have worked well too. But this way at least we have him abusing the bad guys rather then a good guy afraid to do anything due to his size.

There were a few story details that didn't work for me though. Just the whole small world syndrome that goes on sometimes in cartoons bothers me. RIght place at the right time as well. Sunni happens to have been looking for a place to dump her growth potion as Toadie gets shot on an arrow to where she happens to be. She winds up untying his binds and the potion gets dumped into a well that Toadie happens to get blown into by the same ogres that bullied him earlier. I don't know, sometimes I wish they could be a little more original with the ideas and stuff.

Toadie was very out of character in this episode to make things work as well. Mouthing off to Duke, becoming mr. nice guy to Sunni due to her saving his life and then becoming an enemy to Duke and the ogres all to save Sunni. Of course even after Toadie has his fun as a giant, everything at the end seems to be forgotten where Duke takes Toadie back and Toadie doesn't care that he is just someone who is abused and blindly goes back to them saying he won't be friends with Sunni anymore. Made me kind of wonder if there was even a point to what Toadie just went through as he learned nothing at all from the whole experience. There were a lot of cool moments though. Toadie looming off the side of a building as if doing his King Kong impression while grabbing for Sunni was something you never thought you would see in a Gummi Bears episode. And the way he totally abused Duke was a nice turn of power there. Sticking poor Duke into his pocket with his hairball collection was a fitting torture I felt. It's too bad they didn't show Toadie bursting out of the ground though as he grew, I don't know why they couldn't show it, its not like we couldn't figure out what had happened. I guess the shock value wouldn't have been as great for when he shows up at the castle giant sized. The situation was well handled for the most part. Toadie proved his point quite well and the episode ended with Toadie being taken back so there wouldn't be any questions left to ask in the next episode.

A few negatives I think to this episode were that Toadie didn't do much with his size besides hold Duke, save Sunni and put some ogres in their place. Just seems like more could have been accomplished then was. I also felt the ending was too quickly wrapped up and conveniently worked out when after all Toadie and Duke went through in the moments before would have told us otherwise. Toadie also complained of hating himself while talking to Sunni as if she was Lucy from Peanuts behind her Therapy stand for $.05. It was an awkward moment to say the least. Its just sad that the ending was so far fetched as it was. I think it could have been better ended with Duke and the ogres running away in fear or something as Toadie still giant sized winks saying "I could learn to like this" or something similar like that would have perhaps worked better. Its very hard to believe that Duke forgives Toadie after all he did just because he would tell where Sunni was. Duke isn't much of a dictator if that's the case.

Overall I think it's a fun episode. It was one of the first 80's Disney toons to have a good giant situation that would set a mark for years to come in Disney tv toons. It could have been better but I do think people will get a kick out of the situations and the funny moments that Toadie as a giant finds himself in. The character is a good choice for being macro and Sunni makes for a good innocent bystander who seems to have gotten mixed up in this feud between Duke and Toadie while coming out of it no worse for words. It should and could have been much more but for a short 11 minute episode it pulls off the situation as well as could be expected given what we had to work with and the characters involved in the story.

RATING: B

MEMORABLE QUOTES AND MOMENTS IN EPISODE:

(A grateful Toadie starts to kiss Sunni's legs for saving his life as she looks down at him cluelessly)
Toadie: "You save Toadie's miserable life. Now miserable life belong to you."
Sunni: "What are you doing?"
Toadie: "Why I'm thanking you."
Sunni: "Look..umm you are welcome. But I have to go now.."
(Toadie starts to lick Sunni's feet)
Sunni: "Stop it.. ewww"
Toadie: "Don't send Toadie away. I was first in my groveling class, am a diligent worker and make a perfect footstool."

****************

(A panic and scared ogre runs in on Duke Igthron as he is interrogating Sunni)
Ogre: "Dukie!! Toadie back!!"
Duke: "Well just throw him out again.."
Ogre: "I'd rather not..."
Duke" Then I'll do it!"
Toadie's voice: "Where's my friend!!?"
Duke: "What is that!!?
Ogre: "Toadie!!!"
(A huge Toadie eyeball looks in on the window of the castle starring down Duke)

*****************

Duke: "You've always been a turncoat for those vile little Gummi Bears."
Sunni: "Will you quiet him up please?"
Toadie: "With pleasure your gummiocity. I'll just place him in my pocket with my hairball collection."
(Toadie places Igthron into his huge pocket on his lower outfit)
Duke: "No! No!! The smell!!!"

FINAL NOTES:

*One of the few Disney Cartoons that actually lasted for more then 2 seasons. Originally this was a Saturday morning cartoon shown in 13 episode segments a season. Disney has a strict 65 episode policy so the show kept going until they reached that number of episodes which was the 6th season. This cartoon appeared on various networks throughout it's run. Starting on NBC and eventually going to ABC and then syndication as part of the Disney Afternoon.

*This episode was an 11 minute short that was shown before another episode called "Go Home Loopy" about a wolf cub that Cubbi adapts who becomes to much trouble for the Gummi Bears as it gets older.

*This episode is the only purely growth based episode that would appear in the series. There would be giant monsters and creatures that show up at various points but as far as a character or animal growing in size, this would be the only time that happened.

*Sunni is the only Gummi Bear that has any long moments in this episode. Gruffi, Tummi, Zummi and Grammi all make quick blink moments and besides Tummi who is seen for another blink moment as the berry shrinks, this was purely a Sunni episode. With the focus primarily at Duke Igthorn's castle.

Errors--

Factual -- If one drop of the growth potion made the Gummi Berry grow as big as it did, the whole well full of the potion that made Toadie bigger, should have made Toadie much larger then he became due to him absorbing a whole bottles worth of the potion.

Factual -- Toadie grew inside the well, yet we see him as a giant with the top part of the well on his head as if he grew under it. This is not likely to have happened even though they show him growing underneath it as the well would have broken from his size and not stayed in one piece at the top like it did.

Continuity -- After Toadie is rescued you hear the arrow fall off the side of the cliff and break. But when the two ogres return for the arrow, it is in perfect shape. How did they get the arrow if it was all the way down the long cliff bottom and how wasn't the arrow broken?

+ :Fun episode where Toadie gets to turn the tables on the ogres and Duke Igthron who have always bullied him. Toadie has lots of fun as a giant and there are some good moments to be found here with Toadie being the bully instead of the other way around for a change.

- :No growth moment. Just the ground growing under the well. Toadie's reign as a giant ends quickly and the ending seems quickly wrapped up contradicting everything else prior.

PICTURES OF TOADIE

Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut

Two ogres spoil Toadie's demeaning himself

Oh no.. don't blow him into a well of growth potion

AVI:

1 Minute
Toadie becomes a giant due to a potion in a well he falls into and gets revenge on the ogres and Duke Igthorn who picked on him prior. This situation has been edited focusing on the macro elements only.