Movie: (1966) A Russian version of the Cinderella story includes a mushroom sprite, a bear-headed hero and house with legs.
First shown: 7/12/97
Opening: Mike Nelson IS Lord of the Dance!
Intro: Mike mediates a squabble between Bobo and Brain Guy
Host segment 1: Crow hires a Russian expert
Host segment 2: Crow’s a bear, while Bobo and Brain Guy find common ground
Host segment 3: Crow hires another Russian expert–or someone like him
End: Tom fails in his attempt to be cute; Bobo and Brain Guy discuss ape movies, but Pearl returns to settle the matter
Stinger: “Bring on my fiancee!”
(285 votes, average: 4.65 out of 5)
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• For the longest time, there was the “Russo-Finnish troika” of “Day the Earth Froze,” “Sinbad” and “Sword and the Dragon.” The Sci-Fi era needed one too, I guess, so now it’s a quartet, and wow, is this one ever out there. It’s not directed by Aleksandr Ptushko, as they other ones were, but it definitely has that weird vibe that gives them plenty of riffing fodder, and they do a great job with it. Some of the host segments are great, others don’t do much for me.
• Check out Mary Jo’s take on this episode here.
• This episode was included on Shout!Factory’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XVIII.
• To start things off, we get one of the host segment highlights of the season as Mike parodies human peacock Michael Flatley, especially his deeply self-satisfied, nose-breathing smirk.
• Mike almost puts one over on Brain Guy, who is almost sucked into the theater, but not quite.
• Obscure reference: Hildegard von Bingen. Even I needed to look that one up. The next time somebody tries to tell you all MST3K does is fart jokes, remind them of THIS.
• The segment where Crow becomes a bear is another gem, a great example of Bill’s slightly demented Crow, very different from Trace’s Crow but very funny. Grr!
• Crow is still a bear when he returns to the theater.
• That’s Patrick as Yakov Smirnoff; and that’s Paul as Earl Torgeson. Both the “Crow hires an expert” segments didn’t do much for me. Yakov’s standup act wasn’t quite as lame as they make it out to be, and the second bit just sort of wanders off without a real payoff.
• In the comments, a number of readers have noted that by about eight episodes in, Bobo’s character had totally, well, devolved. When we first met him at the beginning of the season, he was a sophisticated gentleman and scientist. Slowly but surely the writers changed him into the happy-go-lucky, termite-eating dimwit who so exasperates Brain Guy and Pearl. Not really a criticism. Just an observation.
• Dalesim: As thug smells his hand, Mike: “Hm. I thought I was Dale!”
• Cast roundup: Georgiy Millyar and Valentin Bryleyev were both in “The Day the Earth Froze.” That’s it.
• CreditsWatch: Kevin again gets the “Produced & Directed” credit. Following this episode, Grip Mike Parker takes two episodes off. And this was the last episode interns Tamara Melloy and Randy Smith worked on.
• Fave line: “Apparently there’s no Finnish word for ‘subtle.’ ” Honorable mention: “I thought Jerry Garcia was Father Mushroom.”
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Thomas K. Dye #19: Why did the dubbers decide on “Hunchback Fairy”? Did they think that Americans couldn’t understand a simple name of four syllables?
I imagine it was because the average American didn’t know squat about Russian folklore then (and doesn’t really know any nowadays), so the name Baba Yaga would be totally meaningless to such audiences.
monoceros #28: Eh, I kind of mind. Just because Campbell saw fit to cram all the world’s storytelling into his rigid scheme of “archetypes” doesn’t mean that such archetypes actually exist except in the vaguest way.
The main reason I mentioned Campbell and his archetypes was to explain the reason why Ivan was such a knuckleheaded braggart. Anyway, Crow brought him up first.
Iggy Pop’s Brother Steve Pop(#24) I really wanted to say King Kong but I think the qualifier for the argument is that the movie has to contain a regular, found in the wild kind of ape. And there aren’t that many out there.
I think I would definitely have to say the best ape movie ever is Gorillas in the Mist.
Has anyone pointed out that The Baba Yaga is a main character in the Hellboy comic books? In one of the early short stories Hellboy shot out her eye and she’s been pretty mad about it since then – she is quite a nasty baddie.
Anyway, I love this episode! The movie is entertaining in its own right and the riffing just takes it to that next level. I think the stepsister’s yelling a Father Frost was the high point, very funny.
Funny you should mention that about the Hildegard von Bingen riff Sampo, since my textbook example of an intelligent riff comes from this ep as well: In Nastinka’s absence, when the stepmother smacks her own daughter for no reason and then gives her a sucker to stop her crying, a shocked Servo observes, “Wow, classic case of Munchausen Byproxy Syndrome”. If I’m remembering correctly from high school psychology class…more or less, yeah. Just goes to show you that most fairy tales actually employed some rather dark material to scare kids straight and make them appreciate how good they had it.
Speaking of which, I skimmed the story of Grandfather Frost in a book of Russian fairy tales, but am otherwise not well versed in them. Were all the threads not having to do with Nastinka’s family simply made up by the producers using characters and vague ideas from elsewhere in the mythology, or did they wholeheartedly slam 4 or 5 different stories together? “Yes, EVERY culture’s mythology features the young hero chasing after a pig-sled!”
And to readers who haven’t seen this one, don’t assume the vain hero/fool/bearhead’s name is pronounced the way we say Ivan the Terrible’s; despite being spelled the same, the dub pronounces it more like “Yvonne”, with a long e, then an “aw” sound with the greater emphasis. Was it originally pronounced like any other Ivan, but deliberately mutilated for cold-war American audiences?
This is the only Russo-Finnish MST I’ve ever seen. I’d also never heard of Baba Yaga before this, but just about everyone I showed it to had, mostly from RPGs. I was wondering, is the witch in The Day the Earth Froze also supposed to be Baba Jaga? The story I read with her name in the title claimed she controlled the dawn, sun, and moon, and the witch in their first R-F-ish outing stole the sun…
And were they both the same actress…or actor? Were they men in magical drag, or am I thinking of the guy that played Witchie-Poo and Weenie-Geenie for the Krofts?
I love this one, even moreso because it’s the closest thing to a Christmas movie they did for SciFi. It’s also a great introductory ep for bringing in new fans who might be scared off by an actual bad movie.
This may be a minor nitpick, but I feel compelled to say it: this film and all three of the Ptushko films are constantly referred to as “Russo-Finnish,” but only Sampo/The Day the Earth Froze is actually a Russo-Finnish production. The other three are purely Russian, having nothing to do with Finland. Just bugs me, is all. But regardless of national origin, all of these films are by far the most watchable in the MST oeuvre. I’d willingly watch them unriffed (although ideally subtitled, not dubbed.)
one of my 10 favorite episodes, it’s great
Gypsy’s reaction in the opening segment always makes me laugh: “Did the other one die?”
And it makes for a nice callback during PPTV’s pledge drive, but that’s still to come…
I haven’t seen this one since the last time it aired on Sci-Fi. Would love for it to be released on DVD.
The “ape movie” host segment is one of my favs.
Very, very weird movie. Great host segments and most of the movie was odd-ball fun. Father Shroom and Hunchback fairy with chicken leg cabin harkens back to consuming techno watermelon at a Grateful Dead jam in Golden Gate park circa 1978. Pig sleds, treemen, schnausermen, babooshkas galore, werebears. I did find the matchmaking of 12 yr old girls to 30+ mommas boys (with momma in tow no less) not that tasteful so I gave this one a 4.4
Naturally I count this among my favorites of the entire series. Too many good lines to list.
But I do enjoy Crow explaining why he’s a bear all of a sudden. “That mushroom guy, he did it.”
A very odd film. Wait, let me correct myself. This is a bizarre film.
This episode is a milestone. This is Jim’s last onscreen appearance as Gypsy. Although he is in the credits of ‘Riding with Death’, he vever appears on camera. Patrick did a terrific job following him, but still let’s say a proper goodbye to the “real” Gypsy.
Fav quote: “She’s imprinting on the geese.”
I love this episode. The movie is so utterly absurd and as a consequence there’s a lot for them to comment on. The film is also very colorful, both literally and figuratively.
While I agree that this film is better made than most, and has a fun feel to it, I can’t quite go so far as to call it “good.” The thing that bugs me about this film and the other Russian films they did on MST3K is that the plot points just seem to *happen*. No explanations, no justifications; things just occur because they’re “supposed to.” Our heroine can talk to animals, invoke the sun god, inspire magical foliage to grow, etc. Why? She’s the heroine. Our hero, despite having any unique roots or supernatural past, has Herculean super-strength. Why? He’s the hero. The same sorts of things happened in “The Sword and the Dragon.” Some random peasant wanders into town, and almost instantly they give him the magic sword of power, declare him their national hero and start following his orders; he also had unexplained super-strength. While I understand that it’s supposed to be a kid’s fairy tale, it’s still jarring and feels like several fairy tales randomly jammed together. Perhaps the original audience’s knowledge of the legends made them more accepting of these leaps in logic? Or perhaps I’m just lacking in imagination; I never was much for fairy tale stuff, even as a kid.
As for my favorite character: definitely Marfushka. One of Mary Jo Pehl’s all-time favorite MST characters, and I have to agree. While she is designed to be a “wicked stepsister” archetype, her tough, graceless and, mannish nature is refreshingly opposite of the sugary-sweet lead character. The scene where Jack Frost yells for help while she kicks the crap out of him is priceless. Also, I’m gonna give her some leeway considering that the dysfunction level of her family would send Dr. Spock running.
This was a tough choice, nonetheless, because there were several other memorable characters in this psychedelic film. Baba Yaga was a close runner up: she’s thoroughly hideous and crazy but her I find her insane dancing hilarious. Jack Frost and Father Mushroom are also brimming with delightful lunacy.
#55 This Guy – Just before the film, BrainGuy states that Jack Frost is a Russian-Finnish co-production. I think most people refer to the film in that context because of that line. Was that a mistake on the part of the MST3K crew? You seem to be familiar with the film outside of MST3K. IMDB says that it’s origin is strictly Soviet Russia, but I know that IMDB is not always completely accurate.
This is only episode I ever showed to someone who ended up yelling at me because of it; I think his exact words were: “You made us all sit through HOBGOBLINS when you had THIS the whole time!?! Karen would have would have loved this!!” But that’s a story for next year…
I recorded my copy in the fall of ’98, which turned out to be the best possible time as there’s a commercial somewhere in the third quarter with grizzly bears wallking by a stream. I’ll have to check what it was for.
That brings me to a scene no one has commented on, despite it being the most bizarre of them all: Shortly after Ivan’s transformation, some girls are in a field and notice some actual trained bear cubs scampering about on their hind legs, gathering giant mushrooms. Naturally this brings out some of the best riffing (Hurry! The DNR’s coming!), and it obviously symbolizes something about the curse ol’ wok-hat laid on our hero…but I’m seriously at a loss as to just what that something is. Was it about revenge against mushroom guy’s relatives? A shift in the cosmic balance? The Day of the Animals?
And yeah, what was up with that confused moral? Was blind stick-lady really Father Mushroom in disguise, or did he teleport her walking-stick back to her once he knew Ivan showed genuine concern but that he might commit suicide before he could actually take it back if he didn’t become human again?
This is my favorite of the Sci-Fi episodes. The riffs are top of the line with some good host segments as well. It also happens to be the first Sci-Fi episode I ever saw, and it was a little confusing to me wondering where Dr. Forrester and Frank were and what was up with that Planet of the Apes guy hanging out with the Grim Reaper?
One of the things that I like about the episode is that the movie is pleasant to look at. The Russian landscape is gorgeous, Nastinka is adowable, and even the ugly people are interesting in their ugliness instead of repulsive. This is probably the prettiest movie MST3K ever did and is a stark contrast to last week’s ISCWSLABMUZ which is one of the ugliest movies they did. (That could make an interesting weekend discussion thread, prettiest and/or ugliest films.)
Tom’s giant eyes are just pwecious.
Favorite Riffs:
Tom: “Well the world is thrown into chaos. Earthquakes, floods. But that’s fine, you knit your sock.”
Tom: “Peter must be walking around denying everybody this morning.”
There is one Wizard of Oz reference:
Baba Yaga flies overhead.
Mike: “Wow, those winged monkeys now use jetpacks.”
That reminds me, was “Frodo gets drunk and decides to mess with his neighbors” the only LOTR reference?
“I thought Jerry Garcia was Father Mushroom.”
Does anyone know why they found it necessary to redub Baba Yaga as “the Hunchback Fairy”? It sounds stupider every time they say it – as M&TB recognize.
Still, I loved this episode – one of the better episodes of the SciFi era (although, Lord of the Dance – jeez. And Crow’s search for a Russian expert went on forever – and in the end had no payoff).
“You look like a queen!” Mike: “In that you look like Freddie Mercury.”
And the girl who played Nastenka was cute. Sue me.
“I love watching people’s mental illness.”
Bolem: I’m pretty sure the first time we see the bandits, Crow calls out “Damn, Burahobbits!” – that’s Bilbo’s weak slide when he first encounters Gollum.
This is one I really loved because the movie itself was enjoyable, and the riffing just improved on it. Plus it had some great host segments, like you said. I laugh every time I think of the line, “Why are you so mean to me, Tante Ernest Borgnine?”
Bolem (#67) – This episode had a few LOTR references, such as comparing Father Mushroom to Tom Bombadil.
#54 (IVAN) I think the pronunciation like “yvonne” is correct in Russian. “Eye-vin” is simply the anglicized pronunciation. Sort of like if a French movie features someone named Monique, the proper name is still Monique, not Monica.
“So be it”…oh it’s a commie movie.
This could have been the best episode in some seasons; amazingly, ISCWSLABMZ and Space Mutiny edge this out for me and Riding With Death is gently easing up on its mud flaps. Season 8 rocks!
The Bolem #54: I was wondering, is the witch in The Day the Earth Froze also supposed to be Baba Jaga?
Probably not. The Baba Yaga is part of Russian folklore, while The Day the Earth Froze was adapted from the Kalevala (the Finnish national epic poem).
Kali #69: Bolem: I’m pretty sure the first time we see the bandits, Crow calls out “Damn, Burahobbits!” – that’s Bilbo’s weak slide when he first encounters Gollum.
Actually that’s from when Bilbo gets caught by the trolls.
Back when Sampo had the “When did you know they were gonna be okay?” weekend thread, I cited this episode as my moment I knew they were back. In fact, right after the end credits and stinger played, I said to my dad, “That was a great episode…they’ve definitely found their stride again!”, to which he agreed. Outrageously fun movie, consistently great riffing, and I thought even the host segments were decent. (I got a chuckle from the Earl Torgelson sketch because Crow says he’s from Sanford, Maine, where I have several family and friends.) I would love to see this ep come out in a future box set, and if it’s accompanied by Day the Earth Froze, Sinbad, and The Sword and the Dragon, all the better.
About the bots frequently maxing out Mike’s credit cards: I think the mads (especially Dr. F. and Pearl) don’t get credit for their obviously extremely generous salary to Mike to pay off the bots charges and getting Mike access to additional credit cards. Although, come to think of it, perhaps it was just credit card mentality, raising his credit limit every time (Crow especially) swiped his cards.
I suppose Brain Guy could have arranged for direct deposit.
Sampo- yeah, I know. I remembered that about half an hour after posting. I will retire to the corner in shame. :cry:
Yearning for more Ivan-Ushka-as-a-half-bear action? Check out Lucio Fulci’s Conan cash-in, ‘Conquest’. The sorceress Okron employs actual “dog-soldiers” that BEAR an uncanny resemblance. They also might just be the most competent evil henchmen in the history of fantasy film (well, at least in that one scene near the end) It’s way better and more unique than your average Conan rip-off, but has enough dull, silent stretches that CT could have a lot of fun with it. Someone here once mentioned it being their favorite Fulci film, and I certainly like it better than some of his stuff…
And in addition to all the Tolkien references, this was the first time I ever heard a reference to Narnia, a bit before that hit the big screen as well. (Though oddly, I knew the titles of several C.S. Lewis books)
And are the magic twigs Father Mushroom waves about from any particular type of plant? They seemed to have some signifigance that wasn’t explained.
By far my most wanted episode on DVD. My VHS from the original showings is getting old.
Another multi-generational episode.
Love the line- “Tree gang violence is a problem” (or something like that…)
#64 – I confess to knowing only what I’ve researched about the film on the web, but yes, I believe the Brains were mistaken about this. It happens sometimes.
It’s no surprise, when you think about it–“Sampo” is based on the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala, but the others are based in Russian folklore. The most conclusive evidence comes from a reading of the various films’ original credits, as shown on IMDb–with “Sampo”, you’ve got a fair few Finnish names among the Russians, but the other films have all-Russian casts and crews.
54: The witch in “Day the Earth Froze” is called Louhi.
In the latest core Pokemon games, Diamond and Pearl, the main electric type is an disgustingly adorable white squirrel called Pachirisu. To me, it looks so much like the deranged squirrel glimpsed in the powered sleighride sequence that I named mine “Bridgebomb” in its honor.
Is that a common species of squirrel in Russia?
Often, the most memorable MST moments are when the gang just breaks down laughing at something so absurd, there’s just no conceivable riff to make. There are 3 instances of this in Jack Frost:
1. When the rooster answers Nastinka about the sun. The English voice dubbed in was just SO ridiculous, it somehow didn’t connect with me that it wasn’t one of the ‘bots until the third viewing, even though they were all clearly laughing at it, so it must’ve shorted out my logic center.
And this scene leads to my favorite riff: “This has been a test of the Emergency Broadcast Chicken”
Man, that takes me back; the Emergency Alert System just won’t be as much fun in the event of a nuclear attack.
2. Grandpa Frost’s incantation at the end of his song. Even if I understood Russian, that would still be the perfect combination of goofy intonation, facial expression, and gestures.
3. Ivan and Baba Yaga’s debate over which way her house should be facing. Anyone who actually knows who Baba Jaga is knows her magic is stronger when her house faces the woods (or somthing like that). And yet, calling her “Hunchback Fairy” clearly indicates the U.S. distributors assumed their audience wouldn’t know anything about her (though that name is still so nonsensical they may as well have just stuck with Baba Yaga). So why they didn’t shoehorn in a brief explaination of why she wants her house to face the woods and Ivan doesn’t before they get into this violently heated argument over her walking house’s direction is beyond me. They could’ve employed the trick Funimation used of having DBZ characters talk when the camera’s off of them to fill silent stretches, and actually put it to good use; as the camera cuts to Baba Yaga:
“Iknowyourmagicmayblockmypathifyourhousefacesthewoods. Oh, andwatchoutforsnakes”
Not the most eloquent solution, but a solution.
“Ugh, when am I gonna’ pass this witch?”
Wow, “Behold a Pale Horse” was referenced in this episode. Obscure? I think so.
Interesting side note: in The Dead Talk Back, Tom tells Mike that he can’t be a world class dancer, but apparently Tom was wrong because now, Mike Nelson IS Lord of the Dance!
Sheesh! I knew who Hildegard von Bingen was before I saw this episode. Although this does explain why I’ve never heard anyone else laugh at that joke.
5 out of 5 easily. I remember watching this for the first time and marveling at the razor sharp wit. This was clever, well thought out observational comedy, perfectly tuned in with the weird flick. I was struck at how they were delivering smarter material than I’d normally find on TV. Not simply a great MST ep, but one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen – from TV, film, book or whatnot.
I’m glad the original movie has its defenders; I recently discovered it on DVD, subtitled without edits, and found it quite charming. (I’m not the Rifftrax-era-Mike sort who goes out of his way to hate and piss on everyone and everything.)
That said, this is also one of my favorite MST3K episodes. Gypsy’s reactions to Mike’s “Lord Of The Pants” performance, Servo’s verbal audio, and Mike’s performance itself absolutely kill the hell out of me every time.
You know, I never really noticed Bobo’s “de-evolution.” After he put on a diaper, I was ready to accept anything. And I suppose that losing his status as an important head scientist in the ape world and being reduced to Pearl’s hapless, constantly-abused foil would break even the hardiest soul. (I forget in which episode he throws his own excrement at Brain Guy. “Space Children,” I think. Crapping into your own hand and hucking it? You don’t get much lower than that.)
The ” Wait till they find out I blew up the bridge” remark has been used so often on road trips with my pareants. Then again I think my neck of the woods as a squirrel problem. So it makes sense sometimes.
I’m a bit late on this one and it looks like everyone else has already said what I was going to, so I’ll just list favorite riffs.
Mike: “Now he’s haunted by other vegetables he didn’t eat as a child.”
Crow: “Dammit, Puck! This time you’ve gone too far!”
Servo: “Find Forrest Gump, stick him in the eye, and KILL HIM!”
And favorite host segment line.
“Um…. yaaaaay! Did the other one die?”
I’m pretty sure I saw Jack Frost on TV when I was little. I remember a bear being shot by an arrow and turning into a man and in how many weird fairy tale films does that happen. For a kid, watching Frost trippy. Just the way the whole thing is shot, the dubbing, it kind of freaked me out. Bad movies are more surreal than surrealism when you’re a little one. Dali and company can’t compare to stuff like Jack Frost, Manos, et al.
I also rented the uncut Russian version of this once. When you see this with a beautiful print you’re seeing a different film. It is not “murky” at all…the cinematography is superb. The voices and acting are proffesional (but exagerrated as in all children movies of that time). There were some cool scenes they cut…also, there is a narrator at the beginning who I believe is the wicked stepmother…
I first heard of Baba Yaga long before this ep aired. Baba Yaga’s hut was in one of the Dungeon and Dragons Dungeon Master guides. I let my players find it. That was a mistake. The hut is pretty much all powerful and on, yes, chicken legs.
Oh, yeah…the ep. A great one with consistent riffing. I like the KGB joke with the flowers and Nastinka. I love her scene with Jack Frost.
A
Oh right, there’s a fourth moment where the gang break down laughing that’s perhaps the best of all: After Ivan helps “Granny” back home with her sticks and realizes her blindness requires him to explain Father Mushroom turning him into a bear, the shocked/exasperated tone of her dubbed voice asking, “WHAT?!? WHO DID?!?!” bespoke M&TB finally encountering a character within the movie who was as confused by it as the audience. Really, what other response could they have given?
Not that the movie’s incomprehensible, but unlike so many of their movies with long, boring pauses begging to be filled with riffing, this one moves along so fast that it’s easy to miss something the first time through. This means that in some places the ‘bots are giving helpful commentary rather than riffing; in other words, State Park Jokes become borderline acceptable.
The scene I’m mostly thinking of is Baba Yaga rewarding her amazing pets for disposing of our heroic couple. Does she give the pig deviled ham in the original, or was that a joke made by whoever did the dub? Not that anyone wouldn’t get it, but the movie moves on to other things so fast that it’s actually a tad helpful when Mike states the obvious, “Deviled ham?! Oh my God, that’s sick! I-I-I can’t believe you’re making me eat this!”
Of course, I might just be thinking of this because of that commercial (currently airing as of this post) where 2 pigs in a restaurant are, “…just enjoying the flavors of a fallen friend. What, you think this is wrong? I’ll tell ya’ what’s wrong: Cell phone companies charging hidden fees…” Another one of those riffs that seems a little more timely all of a sudden.
“Start running, ‘shroom!”
This was the best (or almost the best) episode of Season 8.
The movie itself is actually a nice fairytale that I’d show to my small children if I had the original film. As an adult you see the bad dubbing and over the top theatrics. As a child these are part of the magic.
Because of this, it is the perfect episode to introduce new viewers to the magic of MST3K. You can “get the joke,” easier with this one than with other films that are just plain bad. You understand the point of the show. They are not just criticizing the movie, but enjoying it. (The same can be said for “Riding with Death,” another good introduction episode for new MST3K fans.)
Every time I watch this one I have to laugh. Whether it is “Jack Frost,” berating himself (or coming in so late to his own movie), having ”Tran-ya” with the mushroom king, or the witch (who is a whole movie unto herself) there is plenty to enjoy here.
I love the Earl Torgeson bit- the brains must have got his name from the late Baseball player (he was on the Tigers in the late ’50’s,
“What’s the matter? Am I unBEARable?”
and yes i too pray for the death of Jack Frost.
I really like the Kevin Murphy Shout! Factory intro for this episode. I wish there was an intro for every commercial release. But that is another story. The thing I like about this one is just watching the passion Kevin shows in discussing the topic. You can tell he really has an affinity for this kind of thing. I’d love to meet the man and just sit back have a beer and listen to him tell war stories for several hours.
Four years ago I commented on the MST/Denis Leary connection on Michael Flatley. Leary was just as hard on Flatley in his own unique was as the Brains were. Which is to say both camps gave Flatley exactly what he deserved.
So how come Mike gets sent down to the planet and the back to the SOL without the usual Observer sound effect? This time we just get a lame popping noise.
I have to say Brain Guy really does stink. I can smell it from this side of the TV. Love the fight he has with Bobo.
The biggest problem of Mike becoming the host of the show was loosing their best Hexfield Viewscreen visitor. Here we get a Patrick Brantseg as Yakov Smirnoff who makes me do a double take and at first think it was Mike playing the role.
So this whole movie was simply killing time while we waited for the club tossing plot point from the beginning to pay off. Why not?
Favorite Riffs:
Mike “So the first plot point involves knitting socks. Looks like we are in for quite a ride.”
Mike as Nastenka “Every time I meet a man he’s either gay or a bear.”
Crow about the stepsister’s makeover: “And now a bag on your head completes the look.”
Jack Frost’s sleigh speeds past. Crow “I can’t drive 55.”
A cat stands behind a spider web. Crow “How do you like my website?”
Jack Frost berates himself for leaving his scepter behind. Mike “I enjoy watching people’s mental illness.”
Jack Frost passes the Bechdel Test. Nastenka and the stepmom have multiple non-male conversations, as do the stepmom and Marfushka.
For those who can’t make it out, the title of the book Servo is reading in the DVD menu is Grimm’s Fairy Tale Ripoffs.
Personally, I think Riverdance greatly benefited from Michael Flatfoot leaving them.
Kind of weird how, just before Ivan is waylaid by the bandits, there’s a whistling sound even though it’s quite obvious that he’s not whistling.
Since the last time we discussed this episode, I saw a PBS feature with Joseph Campbell. And wow was he ever a gasbag.
Gotta say, this portrayal of the Baba Yaga is a lot goofier than is traditional (and the cartoon sound effects don’t help).
Granted Host Segment #3 was a lot of build up with little actual payoff. But in this case I think it was more about the journey than the destination so to speak.
Bobo’s beer is of course Simian Adams. However, I wasn’t able to make out the labels on Observer’s and Mike’s beer bottles. As for Pearl, it looked like her’s had the Deep 13 logo on it.
@ #87: It was actually the previous episode (Incredibly Strange Creatures) where Bobo poo-flinged Observer (and may be the true source of Observer’s B.O. in this episode).
Favorite riffs:
You know Mike, I think I just don’t like evil Russo-Finnish grandmas.
Hey doll derry doll Tom Bombadillo.
You’re going down, Mushroom Boy! You mincing little fungus!
Chernobyl’s exploding again! Let’s go watch!
And the Freelance Shame Squad is there.
The wolves are just laughing out loud. They’ve got the B Squad in to eat this guy.
Later, in Tingly Wingly Pixie Wixie Land.
Jack Frost opened fire on a stand of willows today.
It’s nice to see they’ve gotten past the Oven Incident.
Wait ’til he finds out I blew up the bridge.
Well Mike, I guess this is just a magical land. I hate magical lands.
Is this true love or just a kidnapping?
I enjoy watching people’s mental illness.
They’re swimming in my chili, the creeps!
I’m quite miffed at your attempted murder.
“And they lived happily ever after.”
Yeah right, until the mushroom guy moved in.
“Mushroom Guy’s startin’ to piss me off!”
*Mushroom Guy disappears*
“We now conclude our Elf broadcast day…”
This has been a test of the emergency broadcast chicken.
Really love this episode. the morals it puts forth are all over the place. Ivan never really follows through with his good deed, but gets credit anyway… really?
This was the second episode I ever saw, in my freshman year of college. A couple of guys on my floor were MSTies, and they hooked me up with DAP copies of almost the entire SciFi Channel run of the show. It wasn’t until almost a year later that I finally got a hold of the Comedy Central episodes too.
But oh man, is this ever a good one for a beginner! Such an insane movie, with top-drawer riffing throughout. I still remember which riffs made me almost fall over laughing the first time – “So the first plot point involves knitting socks, I think we’re in for quite a ride, fellas!”, “This is a test of the Emergency Broadcast Chicken”, “I think he’s missed the point of juggling”, “Touch any part of this rock for more information”, and so on. Great stuff :)
And now, if you’ll indulge me…
I have a theory – just a theory, nothing more – that, throughout Season 8, the Brains were trying to create SciFi-era counterparts to some of their more well-known Comedy Central episodes, perhaps based on the knowledge that the CC episodes would never be broadcast again. This one obviously apes the trilogy of “The Day the Earth Froze”/”The Magic Voyage of Sinbad”/”The Sword and the Dragon”, but it’s hardly the only one. “The Incredibly Strange Creatures…” seems like the SciFi equivalent of “Manos: The Hands of Fate”, especially since Ortega went on to become a Torgo-like recurring character. “Prince of Space” and “Invasion of the Neptune Men” clearly try to recapture the spirit of the Sandy Frank episodes of Season 3. “The Horror of Party Beach” is surprisingly similar to “Attack of the The Eye Creatures”, another cheapo teen horror flick where they just didn’t care. And even though SciFi put that dumb restriction on them where they could only use sci-fi or horror movies, the Brains still managed to squeeze in single examples of the genres that became fan favorites on Comedy Central – indecipherable Roger Corman dreck (“The Undead”), angsty teen drama (“I Was a Teenage Werewolf”), failed TV pilots from the ’70s (“Riding With Death”), big dumb spy movies (“Agent for H.A.R.M.”), etc. Sort of like the Brains were trying to compress their entire seven-year history into one season, as a sort of primer for people who’d never seen the show before, to say “Here’s who we are, and here’s what we do best.”