This is already a troubling sign. Cartoons should be designed to entertain children, with lessons being a bonus.
Each episode is 10 minutes long, so I will do the first three.
The first one is called "The Flying Machine"
The theme song suggests that this show is about capitalism and how it marginalized people who are unable to turn a profit. It's clever because it implies that capitalism turns the proletariat into products, and any discreteness between them are undesirable.
The owner puts all the rejects into the reject bin. Clearly, the reject bin is a metaphor for unemployment. It's impossible for the dolls to climb out of the reject bin.
If your last name is "Grimes", maybe don't use it for your toy company name.
The show tells us that we should just say "I just don't care" if we have imperfections. So you are going to give away the lesson? Now I don't have to watch the episode.
Now, it is an admirable idea to make a show teaching kids to think positively about people with disabilities. You know what would be even more admirable? Putting effort into that show.
The gimmick with this show is that the narrator speaks throughout the entire episode as if it is an audio book. I'm going to assume that this is so blind children can watch it and isn't just a gimmick. The problem is that the narrator also does all the voices for the characters and it is really distracting.
The Raggy Dolls try to decide what to do.
They decide on Leapfrog and the narrator is a good idea because he tells us all of their names.
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| DOTTY |
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| PRINCESS |
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| HI-FI |
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| CLAUDE |
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| LUCY |
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| SAD SACK |
Claude asks what Leap Frog is and Sad Sack says it is a rotten game about jumping over each other.
He is sad because he can't jump over anyone else.
This brings up an interesting questions. We see all the dolls on the factory line at the beginning. They are making Princess dolls.
Are the names of the individual dolls also the name of their respective doll lines? Are all the dolls sentient, or only the rejects. What does that imply about society? Is Sad Sack sad because of the way he was marketed? What does that imply about determinism? Don't you think the first episode should explain the mechanisms of this universe before talking about leap frog?
Sad Sack really doesn't fit in with the other dolls aesthetically.
Lucy suggests playing cricket. They can all be fielders and Sad Sack can be at bat.
By "suggests", I mean Lucy doesn't give them any other options. This show has great tips on friendship for kids!
I take a break to look up the rules of cricket.
Dotty runs up and pitches the ball. It creates a cloud of dust. Sad Sack misses
Dotty claims Sad Sack is out. Sad Sack says he isn't out, but doesn't offer any reasons. Dotty repeats that Sad Sack isn't out, but doesn't offer any reasons. So this is a precursor to Internet debates.
The narrator claims Hi-Fi tries to reason with them, but doesn't actually show Hi-Fi trying to reason with them. Isn't an unreliable narrator a sophisticated concept for young children?
Claude calls the English crazy with stupid rules. Okay, one, that's two ableist slurs in one sentence in this show "designed to encourage children to think positively about people with disabilities" Two, that's an awful French accent and stereotype.
Princess says that it is a decision for the umpire. (Back-to-front) He is staring at the sky. 4 minutes into this 11 minute episode and we are finally getting to the title.
Hi-Fi explains that airplanes fly people all over the world.
Claude wonders whether they fly to France because being French is his only trait.
The twist is that there is a boy controlling the model plane. The episode shows us this, but the Raggy Dolls keep thinking that it is a real airplane. Isn't dramatic irony a sophisticated concept for young children?
The narrator claims that the boy is going to try his most "daring trick", called "the victory roll" but he is just flicking the joystick up and down.
The trick is corkscrewing downwards towards the dolls and crashing.
The point of this show is (allegedly) to show that everyone is different and that's okay despite their faults. Turning perceived negatives into positives is an admirable message.
Calling a dangerous move that lands in a crash maybe isn't the way to express that message.
The Raggy Dolls look happier about the crash than the cricket game
Dotty says "Thank goodness nobody is hurt!" Without even looking in the airplane.
Even Sad Sack looks happy
The dolls decide to fix the plane and carry the pieces from the field to...another field.
I'm not questioning the logic of Raggy Dolls, but why is this new field inherently superior to plane-fixing than the other field?
The boy looks for his plane in the first field. How far away did the dolls carry it? He doesn't see them?
When the show cuts back to the dolls, the plane is fixed. That was easy. Remember kids, if your complex toy breaks and you don't know how to fix it, don't ask an adult. Just try to fix it yourself and it will work out!
Even though the plane looks completely fixed, the dolls continue working on it.
By "working", I mean "repeating the same few frame of animation."
Like, what is Sad Sack even accomplishing?
Good thing Lucy has the exact same shade of red paint as the plane.
The melody of the theme song plays.
The airplane is looking as good as new". If you say so, narrator. Not sure what the bandages around the two front supports are doing.
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| THERE ARE DOLLS ON THE WING |
Sad Sack whirls the propeller.
The engine roars. If you say so, narrator.
Hi-Fi decides to try some aerobatics. PSA: Don't try this at home, kids.
Man, the company who made this toy airplane sure went for a niche market when they decided to make working controls on the airplane.
Sad Sack thinks the airplane could be cheering him up.
Hi-Fi notices that the airplane is running out of fuel. I love toy airplanes that run on fuel and have fuel meters!
Kids, don't try to land an airplane without a runway.
The boy finds his airplane right in front of him looking as good as new. Somehow, he didn't notice the Raggy Dolls landing beside him, and getting off while talking.
Sad Sack wants to be an airplane pilot. Dotty reminds him of the cricket game.
Sad Sack and Dotty argue about who ruined the cricket game.
At the end of the episode the Raggy Dolls climb back into the reject bin. Ending on a good message for the kids.
The show was "designed to encourage children think positively abut disabilities" I made a list of the positive messages about disability from the first episode.
On to Episode 2: The Big Top
So these were originally children's books
The Raggy Dolls are in a field. This show is already recycling ideas and it's only the second episode,
Lucy and Princess are looking at the wildflowers. Dotty is painting.The male characters are doing nothing in particular. So glad this show is reinforcing gender stereotypes
Princess marvels at the different shapes and colors of the wildflowers. Just look at all these different white flowers with four or five petals!
Lucy and Princess want to make necklaces, bracelets, and crowns. Remember kids, inclusiveness is great, and also there are strict roles for BOTH genders.
Dotty yells at Sad Sack to keep still. Sad Sack is the punching bag of the group. Aesthetically.
Sad Sac says he is sitting on a thistle or something.
"Well, thistle make it harder to paint you" Dotty doesn't say.
Sad Sack finds a sharp stone underneath him.
Claude is upset that a "posh, French doll like himself" isn't doing anything in particular. So glad this show is reinforcing cultural stereotypes!
A loud noise starts the plot. It's a circus!
An elephant runs towards them. Claude asks what the elephant is.
The joke here is that elephants aren't native to France. But they are in the UK?
The dolls run, but the circus performers surround them.
Dotty picks up the edge of a tarp lying on the ground and tells the Raggy Dolls to hide underneath it. She is unaware they they will all float down there.
Note that there was clearly no pole in the center of the tarp before the dolls went underneath, but now men are pulling it up a pole with ropes. When did they rig this up, and how did they not see the dolls?
The canvas shoots upwards, then unfurls. The Raggy Dolls are stuck at the top. This would be horrifying to a young viewer.
Why would the clowns be making pies inside the tent? Where is the oven? Why wouldn't they make the pies beforehand
Back-to-Front carries Lucy, Princess, and Dotty to safety. So glad this show is reinforcing gender stereotypes.
Hi-Fi and Sad Sack decide not to wait for Back-to-Front to return and go on the trapeze.
Even though the trapeze clearly swings towards the viewer, while the tightropes go on either side, Hi-Fi and Sad Sack SOMEHOW collide with Back-to-Front, Lucy, Princess, and Dotty.
Princess holds her skirt down because the question "Are the Raggy Dolls anatomically correct?" is beyond the scope of this show.
(Someone might call me out on that. My defense is that a 1986 British cartoon toy manufacturer would view cis as normal.)
Sad Sack Lands on a seal.
Back-to-front lands on a horse.
Hi-fi lands on a drum
Lucy lands in a pie.
DottY and Princess land in a lion cage,
This would make sense, as Hi-fi and Sad Sack collide with the others at an angle, which should scatter everyone. It WOULD, except the shot of them falling depicts all the dolls clustered together
Dotty picks up the lion whip and hits the lions, which stops them from eating the dolls.
Kids, if you are ever in a lion's cage, pick up the whip and hit them. Lion trainers have no special training and anyone can do it.
Claude is all alone at the top. Back-to-front decides to use a trampoline as a safety net. Claude jumps down, and the narrator claims it was a soft landing
Kids, this doesn't actually work.
The circus animals all clap because they liked the circus act. It's a clever reversal, because the circus performers are now the audiences. I have no idea why the lions are happy.
The Raggy dDlls wave goodbye. A long line of people are outside. Claude says "They must be crazy [ableist slur] to go in there."
Sad Sack says yes, especially since they missed the best act; the Raggy Dolls'.
Then he laughs and exclaims "I made a joke!" Hey, a funny line.
Seriously, the reject bin at the end kind of ruins the mood.
Episode three: The pigeon race
This one breaks the trend and starts with the Raggy Dolls climbing out of the reject bin in the morning.
Hi-Fi and Back-to-Front notice that Sad Sack is sad.
Sad Sack is sad because he is fat. Not because of his name.
Back-to-Front suggests that Sad Sack go walking with him and Hi-Fi to help him lose weight. Sad Sack declines, because he is too fat too walk
Hey, this is a good message about how what is healthy for one person might not be for another person because we are all different, especially for disabled people. Can double as a body acceptance message.
How long until they throw this opportunity into the reject bin?
Not to mention that dolls being able to lose weight through exercise is...confusing.
Hi-Gi and Back-to-Front go on a walk without Sad Sack. They find four men carrying a large basket.
One of the men pulls out a stopwatch. another man opens up the basket and a flock of pigeons flies up. One pigeon is far ahead of the others, so he turns his head back to look.
Hi-Fi exclaims that the pigeon is looking in one direction and flying in the other.
In case kids miss the point, Back-to-Front says "It's not that difficult."
In case kids miss the point again, Back-to-Front says "I do it all day long"
The men pick up the basket and walk away. Hi-Fi and Back-to-Front continue their walk.
The rules of this universe are already confusing. And it's a 10 minute children's cartoon! Let's make it more confusing. Hi-Fi and Back-to-Front walk past a scarecrow. The scarecrow says good morning to them. Its name is Pumpernickel.
So...how many inanimate objects are animate in this world?
Hi-Fi and Back-to-Front rest by a telephone poles. They hear a "help" from above. The pigeon who was leading the race is tangled in the wire.
Another instance of confusing continuity in this show. The previous episode established that lions, seals, and horses can't talk. But pigeons can? What is the hierarchy of sentience?
The pigeons can't fly down because he hurt his wing.
A character is stuck on a wire strung between two poles and has to get down. If this show is going to
recycle plots, can they at least not have them in consecutive episodes?
Hi-Fi takes off his headphones and yells into the earpiece: "R-raggy dolls to the rescue"
The Raggy Dolls appear "as if by magic," the narrator claims.
I'm not one to nitpick a kid's show, but none of the other Raggy Dolls have earpieces.
The Raggy Dolls don't know how to help. Then Sad Sack comes running up, late. It's funny because he is fat. (?)
Back-to-Front says that Sad Sack being fat makes him the only one who can help.
Wow, they are actually going with the body positivity message!
It would be better if they did the body positivity message well.
Kids, it's okay to be fat. Society needs fat people, in case a pigeon is stuck on a telephone wire and needs to jump on your stomach for safety.
Kids, you only have value if you can help others.
The pigeon jumps off and lands on Sad Sack's stomach safely. Dolls don't feel pain! The bird thanks Sad Sack.
Lucy takes Claude's neck scarf to make a sling for the bird's wing.
Kids, it's okay to take your friend's property off their body.
The pigeon rests and dreams of his owner winning pigeon medals.
The Raggy Dolls sans Sad Sack come back with food for the pigeon
Hi-Fi has beef burgers
Princess has a bowl of strawberry ice cream
Back-to-Front has a banana milkshake
Dotty has chocolate mousse
Claude has French onion soup
The pigeon says that pigeons don't eat any of the food the dolls brought. The Raggy Dolls are all understanding, except Claude, who is offended because French stereotypes are funny.
Sad Sack comes with a big cob of corn. He went back to the scarecrow and asked what pigeons eat.
Man, that Chekov's gun sure fired in this ten minute cartoon.
So, the lesson is that fat people have value because they have big stomachs and know about food. Great message.
Lucy tells the pigeon to do some wing exercise. She flaps her arms to demonstrate
Kids, if you meet someone with an injury or medical condition about which are are ignorant, just make something up. It will totally help them.
The pigeon takes off. The Raggy Dolls have a feast.
Claude starts eating beef burgers instead of the soup. That might be an attempt at humor.
The narrator tells us what everyone is eating, but leaves out the french onion soup.
I suppose this is a good show, but it completely fails to teach kid's lessons about disabilities. Which was the point of the show. All I've learned are French Stereotypes, rigid gender roles, and pigeons eat corn.
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