[MG43] Maggie In Peril --- The Thrilling Conclusion

Maggie in Peril --- The Thrilling Conclusion           Written by Matt Groening
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[$Id: mg43 1.2 92/04/25 08:41:54 raymond Exp Locker: raymond $]
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> Didja notice...
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    Voice credits:
        NANCY CARTWRIGHT as Bart

    Animation producer was Margot Pipkin.
    Animators were Wesley Archer and David Silverman.

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> Freeze Frame Fun
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> Assorted comments and observations
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Brian Howard {bh} gives the timing for this short as 0:56, whereas the
syndication package contains 1:10 of animation.  Huh?

The recap at the beginning of this short shows Maggie grabbing the branch,
immediately followed by the branch breaking, suggesting that the branch
broke as a result of her grabbing it.  But actually, it is a splice of
two scenes, first the scene where Maggie grabs the branch, then the scene
where the branch actually breaks.  If you freeze-frame it, you can see the
discontinuity.

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> Quotes and scene summary
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% B = Bart, H = Homer
%
% Scene:  The Simpsons backyard.  Bart and Lisa, heads buried in comics,
% in chairs in the backyard.  Maggie in her playpen bouncing a ball.
% Marge in the car (which is in the driveway), Homer by the car door.

B: [VO] As you may recall from our last `thrilling' episode, me and Lisa
   were minding our own beeswax in the backyard.
   The old man yelled at us...
H: Bart, Lisa.  Keep an eye on Maggie.

% Bart and Lisa wave good-bye, not even looking up.

B: And he and Mom went off shopping for weed killer.

% The car zooms off.
%
% Maggie bounces the ball out of the playpen, and Bart kicks it away.
% Maggie hops out of her playpen...

B: The sun was shining...

% Maggie lands on Bart's skateboard and rolls away...

B: The birds were tweeting.  Real relaxin', nuthin' goin' on.

% Maggie rolls down the sidewalk in pursuit of the ball.

B: Totally mellow, man.

% Maggie follows the ball into a drainage pipe, emerging in a
% river, still in pursuit of the ball.

B: Just sitting there reading comic books.

% Quick shot of Bart, head still buried in a comic book.

B: The best of all possible worlds.

% Maggie, atop the skateboard, approaches a waterfall.

B: Everything was groovy and peaceful, man.

% Maggie goes off the falls, grabs an overhanging branch, which breaks.

B: And now, on with our story.

% Maggie falling, ball in her left hand, skateboard in her right hand,
% sucking furiously while falling.
%
% Maggie lands in the mist at the bottom of the falls, and miraculously
% emerges, balanced on the skateboard, and still clutching the ball.
% Even more miraculously, she is still dry.  She floats down the river,
% and hits a sloped rock, which acts as a ramp, propelling her through
% the air, landing on a grassy cliff, which leads to a fairground.
% (Signs read, ``Ball toss'' and ``Jumping frogs''.)
%
% Passing through a crowd of people, Maggie gets hold of a bunch of balloons,
% which slowly but surely lifts her off the ground.  The ball is in her
% right hand, the skateboard between her legs.
%
% Scene:  Homer and Marge in the car, Homer driving.  Both look rather
% tired.  They see Maggie floating by.  They look at each other.

H:  Naah...

% Floating along, Maggie intentionally lets the balloons go, one by one, so
% that she gently lands on the roof.  She skates off the roof, at which point
% the skateboard sails away.  With her pacifier, Maggie hooks a tree branch,
% which bends gently, depositing her in her playpen, the ball still in her
% hand.  The skateboard lands with a clunk at Bart and Lisa's feet.  The two
% peek to the side of their comic books to watch the skateboard land, as Homer
% and Marge skid into the driveway.
%
% All peer into the playpen with concerned expressions, to find Maggie
% bouncing her ball in an innocent childlike way and sucking away on
% her pacifier.  The other family members smile in relief.  Maggie
% stops her bouncing, looks at the camera, and says, ``Phew!'', pacifier
% still in her mouth.  She then resumes her bouncing.
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Shorts summaries Copyright 1992 by Raymond Chen.  Not to be redistributed
in a public forum without permission.  (The quotes themselves, of course,
remain the property of The Tracey Ullman Show, and the reproduced articles
remain the property of the original authors.  I'm just taking credit for the
compilation.)