Maple Town Episode 2 Commentary

Now without further ado, let's move onto the next episode of Maple Town!

Maple Town Episode 2
English Dub Title: The Stolen Necklace
Japanese Title:  "Nerawareta kubikazari" (ねらわれた首飾り)
Spanish Dub Title:  El Robo Del Collar


This episode continues to build up on the previous episode as it introduces many of the children of Maple Town; in the first episode, we met Patty Rabbit and her family along with Bobby Bear.  More characters get introduced, namely because this episode deals with Patty's first day in Maple Town's school.

The episode opens with Patty Rabbit waking up in her new home and being excited because it's the first day of school.  I'm not sure whether this episode takes place the day after the first episode or a few days after as the English dub never says.  Anyway in her excitement, Patty rushes to wake up her sister Rachel, who's upset about being awakened since it's still too early.  Patty rushes downstairs to the kitchen where her mother and little brother Ricky are.  We learn it's so early that Mrs. Rabbit hasn't even started breakfast yet.  

Patty in her pajamas rushing to wake Rachel

Again, from a technical standpoint, the camera shots and landscapes are just as beautiful as they were in the first episode.  We get a nice view of the surrounding wilderness, a bird's eye view of the town and a zoom up to Patty's bedroom window.  While animation in Japan for television does have lower budgets as opposed to theatrical animation, it is still astounding what the animators can do.

While comparing the American English dub against the Spanish dub, I noticed a difference.  The English dub has Ricky taunting Patty and then implies Patty running off to change for school.  The Spanish dub has Patty angrily running after Ricky and shouting at him.  I'm not sure why this was changed for US television.

Mmm...croissants...

By the time breakfast is ready (the Rabbit family is having some tasty looking croissants), Patty comes downstairs wearing a lovely looking party dress.  Her parents though object and make her change into her regular dress for school.

Patty Rabbit trying to wear her party dress for school

Patty and Rachel then head off to school, only to encounter a car passing by with Fanny Fox and her brother Freddy Fox.  Freddy taunts Patty with an eyelid pull (a taunt familiar to anyone who's watched anime), which leads to Patty retaliating by sticking her tongue out at him.  Rachel promptly yells at Patty for doing that, ordering her to stop.  Given Rachel's attempt to assert authority over Patty plus her taller height, it is implied she's older than Patty and much of the other schoolchildren.  Her exact age isn't clear; she's most likely in her early teens.  As a big sister, Rachel's attempts to assert authority over Patty does lead her into conflict with Patty in the future - but that's a whole other episode.

Freddy Fox (right) taunts Patty & Rachel

Danny Dog meets Patty and Rachel

Soon after, they meet Danny Dog and strike up a conversation with him.  The three walk to the Maple Town schoolhouse.  During this scene, we get another lovely shot of the school with the various students running around before class starts.  Not unlike television in the Western world, television animation in Japan has a limited budget but in spite of this, they still manage to make the art look incredibly beautiful.  

Fanny Fox, Suzie Squirrel and Penny Pig

Anyway, local rich girl Fanny Fox (we met her parents Mr. and Mrs. Fox in the first episode) stands waiting while wearing a beautiful dress; alongside her are her friends Suzie Squirrel and Penny Pig.  Fanny calls out to Danny but the very shy Danny walks off.  Suzie laughs over this and Fanny angrily stomps on her tail.  

Cut scene from USA broadcast

The next scene cuts to Wilde Wolf along with something that was cut from the USA version.  He decides to practice with his flintlock pistol and accidentally shoots himself in the face while doing so (he doesn't get hurt).  The part with him actually looking into the barrel of his pistol was cut from the USA broadcast version of Maple Town due to concerns over violence.  (On another note, such censorship is much stricter nowadays but that's another discussion.)  The USA version splices in a scene of Oscar Otter fishing (from the first episode) and commenting that Wilde Wolf's gun isn't real.  This was probably done for time due to broadcast requirements.  Wilde Wolf gets angry when Oscar Otter taunts him while walking by; this leads to a hilarious scene with the wolf just throwing a tantrum over that insult.

We cut back to the school where Bobby Bear meets up with Patty; Fanny, Penny and Suzie are amused when they hear Bobby asking Patty if she wants to go hunt bugs with him.  She brushes him off and heads into the school.  While that is going on, Wilde Wolf takes an interest in the beautiful dress that Fanny is wearing and decides to steal it.  

Patty gives Bobby the brushoff 

Wilde Wolf in a dress?  No...just no.

The next scene takes place inside Maple Town's schoolhouse where Miss Deer introduces Patty and Rachel.  Their seats get assigned next; Rachel sits next to Skippy Squirrel (no relation to the Animaniacs character of the same name) with Patty getting to sit next to Danny.  

Inside the Maple Town school, Miss Deer introduces Rachel and Patty Rabbit

The two Skippy Squirrels: Animaniacs (left), Maple Town (right)

Fanny is not happy about this (Bobby seems upset too) and decides to do something about it.  This leads Fanny to remove her necklace and drop it near Patty.  She aims to get Patty in trouble by claiming Patty stole her necklace.  Danny accidentally intercepts the necklace though and before anyone can say something, Wilde Wolf bursts into the school with sword in hand.  With Miss Deer and the students terrified, Wilde Wolf decides to steal Fanny's necklace.  Miss Deer goes to the office of Dr. Goat, the schoolmaster, and calls the local sheriff Barney Bulldog for help.  This ends up snapping Dr. Goat out of a nap he had been taking...a rather funny scene if you ask me.

Fanny Fox removes her necklace to make it look like Patty stole it.

Wilde Wolf steals Fannie's necklace from Danny Dog

Sheriff Bulldog shows up, gets all the details from Miss Deer and goes off to find Wilde Wolf.  Another scene cut from the USA version has Sheriff Bulldog acting happy, thinking he'll win favor with Miss Deer for catching Wilde Wolf.  Unlike the obvious reasons for cutting the above scene with Wilde Wolf's pistol, I don't know why this was cut.

Cut scene from USA broadcast

Fanny is not happy with her necklace stolen and berates Danny for letting Wilde Wolf steal it.  She claims it's valuable, being made of diamonds, and she wants to be repaid for it.  There's no way that Danny can pay for the stolen necklace so Fanny says she'll forgive everything if Patty or Danny can get it back from Wilde Wolf.  Bobby Bear scoffs on hearing that, claiming Wilde Wolf would not let them just walk up and take the necklace back.  After getting taunted by Fanny, Patty resolves to go after Wilde Wolf and get the necklace.  She runs out of the school and off into the wilderness.  Bobby ends up following her.

Patty ducks down to avoid being spotted by Wilde Wolf

Patty eventually catches up to Wilde Wolf and sneaks up on him trying to get the necklace back.  This leads to a hilarious scene where she crouches down to avoid being spotted by Wilde Wolf.  Wilde Wolf is then distracted by a coin on the ground (attached to a string); Patty is able to grab the necklace while while he's chasing after the coin.  The coin was a ploy by Bobby Bear, but the wolf catches up to him and Bobby flees.  Bobby meets up with Patty and they run for it with Wilde Wolf in hot pursuit.  Meanwhile back at the schoolhouse, Fanny is sad.  She openly admits the necklace isn't diamond and not really valuable.  Overcome with tears, she realizes (as does the rest of the class) that she's put both Patty and Bobby in danger.  Fanny goes off after Wilde Wolf...as does the whole class and Miss Deer.  The next scene goes to Mr. Rabbit and Sheriff Bulldog; the sheriff fills Mr. Rabbit in on what's happening and the two take off after Wilde Wolf.

Meanwhile, the wolf catches up to Patty and Bobby.  He demands the necklace back but Patty refuses.  Fanny arrives and tells everyone the necklace isn't worth anything; Wilde Wolf loses interest and decides to steal Fanny's exquisite dress.  All three children run off with Wilde Wolf in pursuit and then followed by all the other school students, Miss Deer, Sheriff Bulldog and Mr. Rabbit.  

Fanny Fox confesses her necklace is just cheap costume jewelry

The chase leads through a briar patch where Fanny's dress gets torn up.  Patty, Bobby and Fanny climb into a tree to get away from Wilde Wolf.  Wilde Wolf tries to climb up after them but managed to get himself catapulted into the distant lake.

Fanny's dress gets ruined

The adults catch up to Patty and friends, Fanny mourns the destruction of her pretty dress, and the episode concludes with Patty and Bobby running off into the wilderness.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  This is an excellent episode that builds upon the first episode, introducing more characters like Fanny Fox and Miss Deer.  This episode gets an A from me.

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