Title: Gopher Bash
Episode Writer: Brooks Watchtel
Technically there are no gophers in Dinosaur World (they are called Monty Moles). Of course, nobody in DiC had that information at the time. Still, Gopher Bash is full of hillarity and possibly the best episode that showcases the sneakiest, bleach-haired Koopaling of all: Cheatsy.
The story starts out in a field outside Dome City. Luigi begins teaching the cave-cretins how to farm. Mario has his doubts, but the princess has hopes for Luigi's dreams of making the citizens less moronic. However, the cavepeople aren't as enthusiastic as Luigi.
Poor Luigi. He gets no love. Of course, they're only minor characters, so it shouldn't matter.
Anyway, the first lesson: plowing. Luigi ties Yoshi up to the plow that is made of a stick and a large turtle shell. He orders the ox, err Yoshi, to move forward to plow the field. It works for a while, until Yoshi finds a berry and tries to grab it with its tongue, causing him to move in different directions. In the end, the farming field is set with a Yoshi picture drawn into the soil.
If I see a farming field with Yoshi drawn on it like that in real life, I'd take a picture. Thank goodness for Google Maps and Mapquest.
Meanwhile, Koopa and his bleach-haired son, Cheatsy, are spying on the Dome City citizens. This act of evolution worries the Koopa King. That is, until Cheatsy conjures an idea on stealing the crops. With that plan, they can start a famine, as well as cut down any faith the cavepeople have in themselves. While Koopa pats himself in the back, he leaves Cheatsy in charge in carrying out the plan.
The second lesson continues with planting seeds. Unfortunately, Luigi tells the simple-minded cavepeople that planting is putting stuff on the ground. So, they basically bury anything but seeds: other cavepeople, trees, and apples (hey, the apple planter was close). As Luigi and Yoshi dread on the fact that the cavepeople take things too literally, Cheatsy, too, gets disappointed (no crops means no food to steal).
Now comes the third and final lesson: irrigation. Luigi proceeds by watering the ground with a water bucket and tells the cavepeople to go find some water. Unfortunately, Luigi doesn't tell the cavepeople how much water he needs. In other words, the cavepeople rush to a well and pour all the water, flooding the field. Cheatsy even thinks with this calamity, the cavepeople could be dumb enough to be members of the Koopa army. Mario shows up to check on Luigi's progress, and sure enough, he's right. Luigi, however, still has hope in evolving the cavepeople.
Sure enough, he was right. The next scene, the field is full of crops, practically at the point of picking. The cavepeople also seem to pick up on proper farming techniques. Mario admits that he was wrong and points out that Luigi was "good at growing." Luigi continues the pun by gloating why he's the tall one.
That night, where all the crops seem to be berries, Cheatsy (with pupils showing up outside the eyelids) and his team of Monty Moles are underground, preparing to pilfer the crops. In the end, they wound up with a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables (I guess we never get to see the veggies, previously). The villains get their laugh and begin their next operation: replacing the stolen crops with booby traps.
Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi find the crops stolen the next morning. When Mario closely observes the field, he finds what Cheatsy and his Monty Mole brigade replaced: a Piranha Plant! Luigi tries to attack it with a plow, but the hungry plant eats it. Luckily, Yoshi was more hungry and eats the plant. Soon, the field is full of Piranha Plants. Soon, the Mario Brothers and Yoshi are surrounded by the munching plants. Even worse, Cheatsy and his Monty Mole minions grabs the roots of the Piranha Plants to advance on the three heroes. The three manage to dodge the advancing plants. It gets even better for them when Yoshi gets hungry, so he starts eating all the Piranha Plants, one by one (he even comments a spiky Piranha Plant tasting like salsa).
Underground, Cheatsy begins to panic. Just as Yoshi begins to eat the last one, a Monty Mole grabs the Piranha Plant's roots. Cheatsy tells the rest of the minions to "don't just help him, stand there."
Heh, heh. Classic. Of course, he means to help him get their fellow Monty Mole down.
The Piranha Plant tug-of-war continues for a couple more seconds until Yoshi pulls Cheatsy and his minions out of the ground. The Mario Brothers corner Cheatsy. After a round of alliterations, Cheatsy ends up with the last laugh, for he still has the crops and is holding them at his lair. He and his Monty Mole minions make their move (see, I can do alliterations, too) and escape underground. Mario, Luigi, and Yoshi follow them underground, as well as the pipe that takes them to Cheatsy's domain.
You will also notice that there are roots hanging overhead. I guess Cheatsy missed a couple. Either that or they're from a row of bushes.
Anyway, Luigi begins to proceed, but Mario suggest that they could stop the crops and just eat berries for a while. However, Luigi admits that he told the cavepeople to not pick berries, since he was so sure of his success. Luigi cries in guilt, knowingly he has doomed the cavepeople come winter. Seeing his twin upset, Mario prepares himself to retrieve the crops, with Yoshi offering help and cheering up Luigi. The crop retrieving team is set up as they head into the pipe. On the other side, they fall through a chasm. Luckily for them, Mario finds a 'magic balloon' (I mean, P-balloon).
I'm sorry. This is what happens when I spend too much time on the Internet.
With Mario puffed up like a balloon, he slowly lowers Luigi and Yoshi to the ground. Upon landing, Mario is deflated. Not far from where they landed, they spot Cheatsy, congratulating the Monty Moles on a job well done. He even sings a self-tribute song, entitled "Cheatsy's Life".
I have to admit. That's the best song in the entire Mario cartoon collection, not just this show.
During the song, while Cheatsy and the Monty Moles dance and sing, Mario, Luigi and Yoshi start capturing the Monty Moles, one by one. In the end, Cheatsy becomes so shocked, his screams with his jaw dropped and green eyes popped out, cartoony style (best moment ever)! Mario tells Luigi to release the tied-up Monty Moles, which squish Cheatsy. This leaves Luigi, Mario, and Yoshi to carry the bag of crops and make their way home.
Back at Dome City, Luigi empties the bag. Unfortunately, Yoshi rolls out with his belly full of crops! Upset with Yoshi eating all the food, Luigi tells his dino-friend to replant everything, starting from square one.
As I have said, this episode is practically dedicated to Cheatsy's badness. Of course, Yoshi does shine by having his appetite save the day, while at the same time ruining it by eating the crops in the end. The episode stands out great during Cheatsy's antics: his alliteration argument with Mario, his orders to get the Monty Mole down, and his singing performance, which I have said, is the best song in this series, and his downfall where his jaw drops and his eyes pop out and where he gets squished by his tied-up minions. There aren't too many technical errors, which is good. My goodness, I hardly see anything abismally bad to discuss here. I guess I would say that Gopher Bash is really good and definitely recommended to watch.
