Well, someone fave’d my last drawing of Frisky today …and because I hate that drawing and desire not to be reminded of it again, I have decided to draw Frisky once more …and this is the result.

It’s not good, but it’s better than what I came up with in 2017. :p

Unfortunately, the 2017 card had a review attached to it, so I’m including that with this upload.

I drew this new Frisky (in what is an original pose for the character) via my ‘Zephyr’ pencil by Wallace Pencil Co, and delineated her via the Rapis Extra (which is a somewhat unwieldy pencil).
The featured pencil is an antique Schuler pencil. This pencil is from Hungary, and dates back to (around) the 1920’s. It’s a primary school pencil (for little fingers). :3

And, yes, I dunno what happened, but I’ve never cut a card as badly as I have this one! XD :p :3

Anyway…

Below is the re-view of episode 111 of Chucklewood Critters, exactly as it was written in 2017,

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As some of you know, my reviews tend to be very longwinded—my Redwall review (to print) was 33 pages in length and was over DeviantArt’s character limit for text submissions (I kid you not).
Additional feedback came once my ‘At Jesus Side’ review was discovered by my S/O—she subsequently criticized it for being overly subjective (as well as too long). I was also told I shouldn’t write reviews as play-by-plays. Sweating a little…

I concluded on my own that my reviews are in fact far too long, and I can agree they would benefit from greater objectivity. However, I will continue constructing reviews as play-by-plays—it’s simply my preference to do so.

So, for the sake of quality, this review will be (comparatively) concise. Where subjectivity is concerned: opinion and impression are intrinsic to my critique–I will not negotiate there.
Even so, I can give this review a more objective ‘tone’ and sophisticated style by avoiding any words that would refer to me (‘I’, ‘me’, etc). I will also avoid words that refer to or include the reader (‘you’, ‘we’, ‘us’, etc).
To add to the challenge, I will (for this review) not use the word ‘that’.

Why?

When writing essays in community college, I made it a point never to use the word ‘that’ in my work. I imposed that rule on myself for to help me focus on my work/form better sentences.

I’m strange. Sweating a little…

EXCEPTION: a forbidden word is excused only when included in a character’s quote.

GO!

***SPOILERS!!!******SPOILERS!!!******SPOILERS!!!******SPOILERS!!!***SPOILERS!!!

Buttons (bear cub) and Rusty (fox cub) were characters created by Bill Hutten and Tony Love.

‘Buttons and Rusty’ began as a series of holiday specials in the 1980’s: ’The Christmas Tree Train’ (1983), ‘Which Witch is Which?’ (1984), ‘The Turkey Caper’ (1985) and ‘A Chucklewood Easter’ (1987).
In the 1990’s, the principal characters were given their own television series: ‘Chucklewood Critters’, also known as ‘The New Adventures of Buttons and Rusty’.

This is a review of episode 111.

The episode may be viewed here: …09/27/2021 EDIT: Actually, it seems the episode has been deleted from YouTube. If anyone has an updated link, please comment here and I’ll edit it in taps Z’s shoulder

EDIT: The episode has been found (link tested 11/22/2021): https://archive.org/details/buttons.....OICOMEFROM.mp4

Thx, JonAcme: https://www.deviantart.com/jonacme

The story begins with the cubs: Buttons, Rusty, Bearbette (bear cub) and Frisky (fox cub) playing hide-and-seek in the canyon.
Frisky chooses a nearby cave as her hiding place, discovering some old-looking tools and pottery inside. Excited, Frisky calls to the others to come see her treasures (thus ending the game).

The cubs share the find with their schoolteacher, Franklin (an owl). Franklin is uncertain about the antiquity or significance of the found objects, but is interested to take them to his study for analysis. The cubs follow. En route, the subject of history and ancestry is raised and is thence proceeded with a brief lesson on the meaning and structure of family trees.
This is an issue of discomfort for Frisky, as she is unsure about her lineage—Frisky was adopted by Bearbette’s parents (Darwin and Bearnadeen) when she was very young; Frisky never knew her biological family.
Franklin says while not every critter shares a direct relation, their family trees are all rooted in the same forest (could Franklin be a Creationist?). Franklin’s words were well-intentioned but failed to hearten Frisky.

The story cuts to the treehouse of Buttons and Rusty. The two have installed a turn-crank elevator (intended to facilitate bringing ‘goodies’ into the treehouse) and are testing it out. Their task is interrupted by Bearbette, calling to them from below. Buttons and Rusty tell Bearbette to come up to them via the elevator.
As Bearbette is slowly lifted, she explains the recent lesson about family history has left Frisky unhappy and withdrawn. Bearbette proposes for Buttons and Rusty to invite Frisky over for play, as doing so might cheer her up–especially if they play Frisky’s favorite game: house!
The boy-cubs dislike the game, but will acquiesce for their friend’s sake (cute)!

Frisky happens to be standing around below. The cubs call down to her, inviting her up for a game of house. Frisky is uninterested—in fact, she has no interest in socializing at all. The cubs leave her be (for now).

The show cuts to sometime later at the den of Buttons and Rusty. They, with their friend Bearbette, explain Frisky’s situation to their moms, hoping for advice. Effectively, the moms suggest the cubs be patient and understanding—Frisky will get over it eventually.
This leads to another (semi-irrelevant) lesson in family structure, the gist being ’not all families are alike’. The moms choose to convey this through the medium of rap—yes, the moms rap about family constitution (gotta love the 90’s)!

This segment is embarrassing and poorly executed (and forced, besides!), but some of the song’s lyrics are curiously progressive, esp. those asserting some cubs may have two moms/dads.

Anyway, the cubs decide to share the song with Frisky. They walk to Bearbette and Frisky’s den for this purpose, but discover Frisky isn’t home. Frisky left a note behind, reading:

“Have gone in search of my family tree. See ya later -Frisky”

The cubs conclude Frisky’s destination to be River Valley, as foxes are known to abound there and it isn’t too far away.

Darwin and Bearnadeen seem very unconcerned by this—in fact, they encouraged their daughter’s departure!

BEARNADEEN: “…we sent (Frisky) over there to ask the other fox families about her kinfolk”

DARWIN: “We never did meet any of her folks ourselves, but I imagine they had to be just as sweet and good as she is!”

Seriously?

BEARNADEEN: “‘Course, it was *Lester who found Frisky, back when we were all living in Crystal Bayou”

DARWIN: “Yeah, we told her he’d be the best to ask if she didn’t find some answers in River Valley”

*Lester is an affable, albeit dimwitted alligator who’s friends with the cubs. He lives in an old shack built alongside a river.

The cubs decide to go forth after Frisky, for to assist in her quest.

The episode cuts to Frisky, inquiring of some fox strangers whether it’s possible she’s related to them.
The foxes bear no relation to Frisky, but they seem to know her somehow and suggest she go see The Snort …Wait! Wrong story! Sweating a little…
The foxes suggest Frisky chat with Lester. Frisky takes this advice and hurries off.

Meanwhile, the other cubs arrive at the home of this same fox family, asking if they’ve been visited by Frisky. The cubs learn Frisky is heading to Crystal Bayou to see Lester. As Crystal Bayou is afar off, the cubs decide to use the adventure machine to fly there! …as if Frisky has managed to get very far—they would need only to run to catch her. Oh, well!
Cut to Frisky. She’s walking carefully along the edge of a cliff (why so close?). She looses her footing and slides helpless down its slope. She comes to a halt, mere inches from going over the side. Trapped!

Time passes. Buttons, Rusty and Bearbette are flying through the air in their adventure machine, hoping to spot Frisky somewhere below.
The cubs spy Frisky struggling on the cliffside. They land and rescue their friend. Afterwords, the four board the adventure machine and fly to Lester’s!
Once the cubs arrive, Lester is asked about how he found Frisky and what (if anything) he can tell about her fox family.

The story is rather convoluted and reeks of padding, but this is it…

During hunting season, a tea crate was left on Lester’s porch. Inside the crate was a baby fox cub! Lester brought her inside and took care of her through the night.
The next day, Lester (somewhy) returned the fox cub to the tea crate on his porch, leaving her there while he went out in search of her parents.
On the way, Lester happened upon Darwin and Bearnadeen. Bearbette was with them also—herself no older than the little fox cub. Lester explained the situation to the bears and they, too, joined the search (Bearbette in tote).
During the search, Lester’s foot was ensnared in a hunter’s trap. Unable to free himself, he could only call for help. Meanwhile, the weather had taken a severe turn: a heavy rain had come and was flooding the bayou!
Luckily, Darwin was near enough to hear Lester’s call. Darwin freed Lester and the two hurried back to Lester’s home to check on the fox cub left out on the porch.

Upon arrival, they discovered the porch submerged by rushing flood water—the crate long washed away!
Lester and the bears followed the current, hoping to find the crate. Hours passed. The rain abated, but had left no trace of cub or crate.
The crate came to rest somewhere far along the river bank, its foxy passenger unharmed!
Ah-ha, but every story needs a villain! The fox cub was discovered by a random panther who desired to eat her! Thinking quickly, the cub overturned her crate for to hide under it. The panther was too dumb to roll it over, therefore providing the bears time to arrive on the scene.
A hornets nest, hung conveniently over the head of the panther, was disturbed by objects thrown by the bears. The hornets were enough to send the panther running for its life!
Lester arrived the second the panther made its exit. Lester and the bears tipped the crate, but found the cub had magically disappeared!
Nothing much happened after–suffice it to say the happy cub was eventually found by Darwin. The story ends.

FRISKY: “Did you ever find my folks, Lester?”

LESTER: “sigh I’m sorry to say we never did. But I know they did everything they could to make sure you was safe”

…By leaving her gift-wrapped on the front porch of an alligator’s house!

Having lost her last hope, Frisky pads away disheartened. Lost in her distress, Frisky doesn’t see the puddle of quicksand in her path! Bearbette catches Frisky just in time to avoid disaster!

Frisky thanks Bearbette for saving her, and follows with this,

FRISKY: “I may never find the roots of my fox family tree, but my bear family tree and my friends sure have a lot of branches to give me support. Thanks, you guys. …And thank you, Lester!”

The story effectively ends here. Franklin appears in order to follow up on the status of the artifacts found in the cave. They were left behind, fairly recently, by some other cubs who had been playing ‘prehistoric cave critters’.

RUSTY (to Franklin): “You mean they’re just sorta toys?”

FRANKLIN: “Sometimes your family tree just isn’t planted where you thought it was”

Huh?

FRISKY: “You may not be able to rely on your family tree, but you can always rely on your family!”

~Fin

This was among the series’s better episodes. Despite a few hiccups, the episode provides some important insight into Frisky’s life, specifically how she became adopted by the bears.
Although Lester’s story doesn’t explicitly say so, Frisky’s fox family likely befell to hunters (their fate is left open enough for the episode to maintain a kid-friendly rating).

How well did the episode convey its intended message to its audience? It neither succeeded or failed here.‘Chucklewood Critters’ isn’t the ideal series to teach kids anything–it plays it safe with its messages and doesn’t take itself (or its audience) too seriously. This episode, ultimately, was about Frisky, and should be received and regarded (and appreciated) as nothing more. :) (Smile)