You know, in this blog, I go on and on about my favorite characters. I especially go on and on about LarryBoy. But for this editorial, I'm going on and on... NOT about LarryBoy? SOLD! (No offense, LarryBoy.)
Besides LarryBoy, I go on and on about Dr. Blowhole, the villainous dolphin from the show Penguins of Madagascar.
I already reviewed all three of his appearances: Dr. Blowhole's Revenge, The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole (redundant-much-redundant?), and The Penguin Who Loved Me. I remember praising the first two installments of Dr. Blowhole, because of the villain being so unique in so many ways. However, I remember grading the third installment pretty low, because one, it had little to do with Dr. Blowhole; and two, this one, overall, didn't seem and feel like a legit Dr. Blowhole story. I guess for the third chapter of the Dr. Blowhole saga, the writers left their brains at Comic-Con or somewhere, because The Penguin Who Loved Me was tasteless and mediocre. Now, Dr. Blowhole fans (including me) are wondering: Will he make a comeback?
Before we talk about Dr. Blowhole, it's best to talk about... Dr. Blowhole.
Once upon a time in February of 2010, Nickelodeon announced that Penguins of Madagascar would have its first-ever special, Operation: Blowhole (as dubbed by Nickelodeon),
or as the show itself calls it "Dr. Blowhole's Revenge."
This was when viewers were introduced to the dolphin supervillain through clever advertising. Advertisers thought of just showing teaser trailers (the ones where they don't show Dr. Blowhole's face) near the start of February 2010, so that it would make viewers curious and want to see the special. Some time later, advertisers released the trailer for this special, but this time, not only showing Dr. Blowhole's face, but also giving viewers the gist of what they'll see if they watch the special.
The trailer was then followed by a series of mini-ads, where the character Kowalski would talk a little about the dolphin supervillain- ranging from his technology, to his spying, to his mispronouncing the word "penguin."
Now I'll admit, I didn't get to see the premiere of this special, because one, I wasn't into the series yet; and two, I was curious to know who Dr. Blowhole was, but lied low to see what people thought about it. I didn't see the special until sometime in June of that same year. I remember being at my dad's house, flipping through channels to see what was on. Then I found this special on Nickelodeon; the opening credits had already started rolling, so I sat back to view this special. And let me tell you: this special changed my life forever- it was that amazing. To this day, I still kick myself for not getting myself into the Dr. Blowhole fad sooner.
As time went on, I became addicted to Dr. Blowhole. I became so addicted to his image, that I always wished that he would be the villain in other movies that had a much-relatable premise as the Penguins. However, this addiction worked against me, because little to no one in my high school didn't talk about Dr. Blowhole or even acknowledged him as something. (That was one of the reasons why Dr. Blowhole was in my Top 10 Most Underrated Villains list.) If only there was a sequel that would cure me if this awkward-social punishment...
(The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole)
There we go!
Near September 2011, Nickelodeon announced that the first-ever Penguins of Madagascar TV movie The Return of the Revenge of Dr. Blowhole (or as Nickelodeon called it: "Blowhole Strikes Back") would premiere on September 9, 2011.
The trailer, just like the one for Dr. Blowhole's Revenge, was really impressive. In fact, this trailer was more fascinating than the first. It had Dr. Blowhole (obviously),
suspense,
some jokes here and there,
and the gist of what the plot would be.
I remember pestering my grandmother to Autotune the movie for me (we have DirectTV); and I remember rushing home from school to catch the premiere. On the first sit-through, I was both excited and nervous, because I was getting to see Dr. Blowhole again- it was like a Dr. Blowhole fan's dream come true. After the first viewing, I remember trying to look for it again on TV and online, so that I could get my Dr. Blowhole fix. I remember my fix being ultimately cured when I bought the Operation: Blowhole DVD sometime in January 2012. That was how addicted I became.
So I was content with the first two installments of Dr. Blowhole, until I began wondering: Will he ever come back? True, he was (SPOILER ALERT) wiped clean of his memories in the second installment; but I had a gut feeling that his memories would be stored sooner or later. And that proved to be true in The Penguin Who Loved Me.
However, it wasn't what I had expected. The third installment had Dr. Blowhole in it, but he wasn't his legit self until the last ten minutes of the special.
-That's pretty bad.
To make matters worse, the writers foolishly had a platypus character as the legit villain, when the opening title sequence made it perfectly clear that Dr. Blowhole was to be the main villain.
-That's pretty bad also.
What's even more worse, is that the relationship between Kowalski and Doris (SPOILER ALERT: Dr. Blowhole's sister) isn't all that interesting.
It's like watching an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond if it only focused on Ray and Debra and not the rest of the family.
Gee. What would be even more worse than all that? This show had the audacity to rip off Perry the Platypus's abilities. Like I said on my review for this special, I criticized Parker the Platypus of being too similar to Perry the Platypus.
Just ditch the fedora hat and change the skin color... and you get fuckin' Perry the Platypus! I mean, tell me if this sounds familiar:
a platypus that can fight and go on secret missions, while working for somebody top secret...
(Perry the Platypus)
I guess this was the show's way of saying to Disney: Yeah, we've lost the Kids' Choice Awards, because y'all were in the competition along with Spongebob Squarepants. You think you can try to stick it to us? Well, this is what we think of your Perry the Platypus! It's weird how Disney didn't sue DreamWorks for this yet.
(pause)
...
I'm guessing you want to know what's worse than that?
(pause)
Okay. What's worse is... THE SPECIAL NEVER AIRED IN THE U.S. What the hell?! The Penguin Who Loved Me special aired only in different countries, instead of in the U.S. And boy, were Dr. Blowhole fans outraged, because we had to do some digging on the Internet to find it on Google or Youtube!
-That was disappointing.
I'm not sure if there was a dispute between a cable/satellite provider and Nickelodeon or not, but that still was no excuse to give us this disappointment... Well, even if this special did air in the U.S., it would still deprive Dr. Blowhole of his own role.
Now that I went through my experiences with all three of the Dr. Blowhole stories, we can all tell that we're now faced with a new dilemma: whether or not Dr. Blowhole will return. That's a legitimate question, because:
1. Skipper tells Private that they may see Dr. Blowhole again... that is, until he rebuilds his base; and then the special ends with Dr. Blowhole, alive and well, on a raft board with Parker
2. Dr. Blowhole has his memories back, and still wants to get back at the Penguins... but has to deal with Parker at the end
The dilemma is also legit, because I keep hearing that there's going to be a Penguins of Madagascar movie coming out on March 2015. As of now, no one knows what the story will be about, and no one knows who the villain is going to be. Right now, I'm crossing my fingers, because I'm hoping that Dr. Blowhole will be the villain. Why?:
1. This would be a great opportunity to give us the real backstory of Dr. Blowhole on why he became evil in the first place
(In Dr. Blowhole's Revenge, Dr. Blowhole himself mentions his past as a performing dolphin who was humiliated by the humans, but that was only through exposition with no visuals, other than what was happening right there and then (in explaining his Ring of Fire device)).
2. Dr. Blowhole fans (like me) want to see him make a comeback, after the lousy attempt in The Penguin Who Loved Me.
And that reminds me: later on, this year, when I find out the premise of the Penguins of Madagascar movie and see the trailer for it, I will do an editorial on it- whether it's good or bad.
-I'm hoping for some good news.
So back to my big question: WHY SHOULD DR. BLOWHOLE MAKE A COMEBACK?
Dr. Blowhole really needs a comeback, hands down. There has to be another shot for him. He's amazing;
he's pretty bad-ass;
he has the right toys;
and he takes his role seriously, than simply running around like a psycho that's hell-bent to take over the world
(well, he did at some point, but has composure).
So that was my editorial. Hoped you enjoyed it.
Plus, for those of you that haven't heard or figured out, Mystery Review #1 is my review on Barney's Great Adventure.
Whatsoever Critic
Sources:
Penguins of Madagascar
Phineas and Ferb
Courtesy: DreamWorks Animation and Disney.
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