Episodes 11-20:
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11) TITLE: The State of Sanrio Address
SYNOPSIS: The Sanrio kids are in San Francisco (the headquarters of Sanrio U.S.A), all dressed up in their best business attire! They are preparing for their first-ever State of Sanrio Address, where they will give a one- hour speech of the state of the Sanrio company (for 2003) on national TV. Hello Kitty spends two weeks preparing to read the long speech, revising, editing, and changing parts of it with a dedicated Sanrio speech-writing team (don't know who those kids will be yet). During the hectic days of preparing for the big day, Badtz-Maru sorts through his mixed feelings about the whole event. Not only does he think that he'd be the best one to read the speech, but also that the speech should be all about him and his merchandise and activity achievements (he even dreams of calling the speech the "State of Badtz-Maru Address"). From time to time he lets his two cohorts Pandaba and Hana-Maru, and a number of other Sanrio kids know his own vision of the State of Sanrio Address. Hello Kitty, as she continues her preparations, overhears Badtz-Maru's wishes as well. Then one morning, just two days before the big speech day, Hello Kitty wakes up with a very sore throat. She has trouble talking, her voice sounding very dry and raspy. Later in the afternoon, she loses her voice completely! All of Sanrio gasps in great shock to hear this disastrous news. They scramble to find a solution to her problem, fearing that they may have to cancel the State of Sanrio Address altogether. But then Hello Kitty gets a very bright idea---she declares (well actually, her twin sister Mimmy declares it for her) that Badtz-Maru should read the State of Sanrio Address. Hello Kitty manages to explain in a raspy whisper that Badtz-Maru would make a great replacement, because he is dynamic, he loves people and being on TV, and (remembering the parts of Badtz-Maru's own speech-telling she overheard) and has the bold, strong, clear voice that is needed to read a speech to millions of people. Badtz-Maru can't believe it---it's an absolute dream come true for him. He starts cheering wildly, but then stops a bit short once he remembers how he got the job---by the unfortunate event of Kitty losing her voice. It's rather tough for him to show apologetic feelings to Kitty (since he's hardly ever apologetic to anybody), but he manages to do so. He promises Kitty and the rest of Sanrio that he will be able to deliver the speech powerfully and well, even in just two days. All of Sanrio enthusiastically agrees, and works at an accelerated pace to re- prepare for everything in the last two days. On the night of the State of Sanrio Address, the speech hall (which looks very similar to the U.S. House of Representatives room) is jam-packed with Sanrio kids, reporters, and T.V. cameras. Keroppi (as the announcer) announces "Mr. Speaker of the Sanrio House (which is Pochacco), presenting Bad Badtz-Maru!" The crowd stands up and cheers in loud, enthusiastic applause as Badtz-Maru enters the room, shakes hands with many Sanrio kids who are lined on both sides of the walkway, and proceeds over to the podium where he reads the State of Sanrio address to the world.
NOTES:
---This episode is a parallel of the State of the Union Address that the President of the United States gives.
---Behind the podium where Badtz-Maru will stand and deliver the speech is a taller podium. On that podium, Hello Kitty sits on the right side (where Badtz-Maru was originally supposed to be), and Pochacco (as the Speaker of the Sanrio House) sits on the left side.
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12) TITLE: Panda-bare
SYNOPSIS: One day in the Sanrio clubhouse, while the other kids are away (I haven't yet decided where they've gone off to)), and Badtz-Maru and his two cohorts have the house to themselves, Badtz-Maru is working on more of his world-domination planning on his laptop computer, with Pandaba sitting next to him helping him out---currently on choosing Persian rugs for the hallways of one of Badtz-Maru's future palaces. Meanwhile Hana-Maru is in the kitchen, raiding the cupboards for some snack foods. He hits the jackpot when he finds a box of peanut-brittle bars hidden behind the box package of Top Ramen noodles. He hollers out at Badtz-Maru and Pandaba about his goldmine find, which instantly perks up the attention of the both of them. Pandaba suddenly exclaims to Badtz-Maru that last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg, and immediately bolts for the kitchen. Badtz-Maru is surprised at this, but reacts in a split second, bolting off after Pandaba. He is so strongly determined not to lose to Pandaba that when he catches up to her from behind, he grabs hold of her skirt and yanks it down. The skirt falls and gets caught in front of Pandaba's feet while she's running, so she trips over---and out of---her skirt. She tumbles to a stop in the middle of the kitchen floor, just a foot before the table of peanut-brittle bars. Hana-Maru helps Pandaba up, asking if she's all right...and is puzzled when he doesn't see a skirt on Pandaba. He asks Pandaba where her skirt is, and at first Pandaba doesn't know what he's talking about (she's still feeling dazed from the fall---and plus, she always has her skirt on). But once Pandaba comes to her senses, she looks down at herself...and screams! She doesn't have anything on! Where is her skirt?! She turns around...and finds Badtz-Maru teasingly waving the little dark-pink skirt in front of her. She gasps in shock, half-smiling while turning red in embarrassment. She demands her skirt back many times, but ends up having to having to play wild-goose-chase as Badtz-Maru runs all over the house, tossing and waving the skirt around, wearing it over his neck like a Hawaiian lei as he dances a hula dance, smirking at Pandaba the whole time...anything to drive Pandaba even more nuts and embarrassed about wanting to have her skirt back. Badtz-Maru wonders why in the world Pandaba is acting so panicky---it's not like she's naked or anything. Pandaba at first exclaims that she IS naked, but Badtz-Maru counters her claim, telling her that she has an animal body (a panda body, specifically)- -- not a human body. Plus, her small skirt never even hides anything on her--- it just goes around her waist, that's all. So for these main reasons, he concludes, she is not naked. She is just standing around in her regular panda body. Pandaba pauses for a minute, thinking over what Badtz-Maru said, and admits that they are good points. But she succumbs to her nervousness again, saying that she still FEELS naked. But Badtz-Maru counters again, saying that if Pandaba really did feel naked, then why didn't she grab the nearest blanket and wrap it around her as she went around chasing him? Pandaba is taken aback again, realizing that she had indeed been chasing Badtz-Maru around the whole time without ever once thinking to grab a blanket to cover her up. Pandaba slowly starts to wonder if Badtz-Maru is right about this whole thing---that there's really no such thing as her being "naked," and that she's only feeling that way because she has always had her skirt on, and has never had it off in public before. Badtz-Maru continues to playfully hula-dance around the room, wearing Pandaba's skirt around his neck like a lei. And Hana-Maru just laughs and has fun the whole watching this bizarre, silly, and yet oddly interesting situation.
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13) TITLE: TV Out of Order
SYNOPSIS: One day the Sanrio kids discover that their TV is broken! As the kids speculate and try to figure out how the TV broke, someone points out that he/she (haven't decided who this person is yet) saw Pekkle near the TV not that long ago, fiddling around with the antennas from time to time. But Pekkle immediately retaliates, saying that he didn't break the TV. He then points out that he remembers seeing Pandaba watching the TV. But then Pandaba retaliates back, saying that she did not break the TV. The argument goes back and forth for a while, until Pandaba suddenly declares that she wants a lawyer. Badtz-Maru, siding with his best friend, is more than happy to volunteer to be Pandaba's attorney, and prove that Pekkle is the one guilty of breaking the TV. Pekkle gasps in panic---how is he going to defend himself with Badtz-Maru being the prosecuting attorney?? He turns to Hello Kitty and begs her to defend him. After a bit of uncertainty and hesitation, Hello Kitty gradually agrees to be Pekkle's defensive attorney. And so the Sanrio kids decide to find out who broke the TV using the American judicial system---the court. They turn the living room of the Sanrio Clubhouse turns into a courtroom---complete with a judge (Spottie Dottie), a prosecuting lawyer (Badtz-Maru) and his client Pandaba, a defending lawyer (Hello Kitty) and her client Pekkle, a jury of 12 Sanrio kids (who don't usually live at the clubhouse), and some witnesses.
NOTES:
---The title "TV Out of Order" is a combination of the TV being out-of- order (broken), and the common court phrase "You're out of order!"
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14) TITLE: Sanrio Zany Races
SYNOPSIS: Sanrio holds a wild and crazy car race called Sanrio Zany Races. Eleven teams of racers race against each other from one point A to another point B (I haven't yet decided what those two places will be), going through many different obstacles and terrains. During the race, Badtz Dastardly and his sidekick Hana Muttley use all sorts of cheating tactics to slow down the other teams and knock them off-course. But just when they think they have the race in the bag, a mysterious racer (she only identifies herself as Racer P) enters the race late and tries to beat Badtz Dastardly. (Not until the end is it revealed that Racer P is none other than Badtz-Maru's best friend Pandaba).
The Racers: ---Badtz Dastardly and Hana Muttley
---Patty Pitstop and Jimmy Jumper-Cables
---Professor Pekkle Pending
---The Thunder Brothers (Goropikadon)
---Luke no Tabo and Mr. Bear Blubber
---The Red Dog (Pochacco)
---The Okigaru Clowns
---The Kitty Coupe (Hello Kitty and Mimmy)
(And then there are three more teams I still have to come up with)
NOTES:
--- This episode pays homage to the classic old-school Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races, each team either paralleling (or replacing) the real teams of Wacky Races.
---Pandaba as the mysterious Racer P is a nod to the old Japanese 60's cartoon Speed Racer, where there is a mysterious racer called Racer X (who is really Speed's long lost older brother).
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15) TITLE: The Doctor (and Nurse) in the House
SYNOPSIS: Standing at the subway station one summer day is Badtz-Maru, dressed up in his doctor outfit. He is waiting for his younger sister and nurse, Tsunko, to arrive on the subway. When Tsunko arrives, she is delighted to see her dear big brother---whom she hasn't seen in a long time- --and gives him a great big hug and kiss on the cheek (much to Badtz- Maru's annoyance and embarrassment). They hop on another subway---one that takes them to the city hospital---and catch up on old times as they ride there. The walls of the subway are old and worn, and not that clean--- giving Badtz- Maru the perfect opportunity to grab one of Tsunko's markers and artistically mark his territory on a small piece of the subway wall. In other words...graffiti. At first, Tsunko gasps at what Badtz-Maru is doing. But soon she declares that she wants to tag the wall, too---and does so with her markers, under Badtz-Maru's writing. (Their subway car is empty--- the only other two people in their car are an elderly couple, but they are sitting in the very back of the car...and they're sound asleep.) Once they reach the hospital, Doctor Badtz-Maru and Nurse Tsunko go to work, taking care of patients. Towards the end of the story, Badtz-Maru and Tsunko don blue suits and hats, black ties, and black shades---and break out into their own rendition of the Blues Brothers...calling themselves the Blues Brother-and-Sister. They sing and dance to "Soul Bird" for the whole hospital!
NOTES:
---This story is inspired by the real Sanrio Badtz-Maru Doctor merchandise line.
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16) TITLE: Bad Hansel and Gretel
SYNOPSIS: The classic children's story of Hansel and Gretel, but with a twist---starring Badtz-Maru as Hansel and his younger sister Tsunko as Gretel. Once upon a time in a cottage house in a forest lived the two children. They had just finished eating their last small portion of food on that day, and were wondering how they were going to get more food. They soon realize they have to set out deep into the forest to try and find berries and other plant foods. So on that warm afternoon day, the two children set out deep into an unfamiliar territory of the forest in search of food. Because they have no map, Tsunko (Gretel) drops little bits of bread crumbs on the ground as they go along their pathway---this is done so that they will be able to follow the bread crumbs back home. After having no luck in finding any food, the kids decide to return home. But they see that the birds have swooped down and eaten all the bread crumbs! How will they return home now?! So the two wander around the forest for a while, lost---until they come upon a house...a gingerbread house! Life-sized! As Badtz-Maru (Hansel) and Tsunko (Gretel) rush over to the house and joyfully eat many of the outside pieces of the house, a strange old lady opens the door and finds the two children. She introduces herself to them as the owner of the gingerbread house, and invites them in for more yummy sweet foods. Then the strange old lady, who is really an evil witch, retracts into the kitchen and secretly prepares the oven for cooking the children. She forgot to close the door, so when Badtz-Maru (Hansel) passes by the front kitchen door, he overhears her talking aloud to herself about her plan to cook and eat both him and Tsunko (Gretel)! He rushes over to Tsunko and tells her what he overheard. Tsunko shrieks with fright, while Badtz- Maru burns in anger for having been deceived by her apparent friendliness the whole time. Little does the witch know that she will be dealing with not two weak, vulnerable children---but with two witty and mischevious children, full of tricks of their own up their sleeves. And when Badtz-Maru and Tsunko put their heads together, they come up with a great plan to drive the witch nuts with their mischevious, playful, trouble- making behavior.
NOTES:
---If you want to read the real story of Hansel and Gretel, do a search for "Hansel and Gretel" on Yahoo!, and click on the first or second link it gives you in the Web Results.
---In this Sanrio version of the story, there are no parents in it, there is no duck in it, and the kids do not get trapped in a cage.
---At the end of the story, after they shove the witch into the oven and kill her, Badtz-Maru and Tsunko call the gingerbread house their new home. They won't have to devour the outside of the anymore, either---the kitchen is chock-full of food for them to eat.
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17) TITLE: The Pillowtrix
SYNOPSIS: What started out as a simple, little innocent game of pillowfight (started by Badtz-Maru attacking the kids and then each of the other kids soon attacking each other after that) soon escalates into an all- out grand- scale pillow war in the virtual reality computer world known as the Pillowtrix. Badtz-Maru (as Neo), Pandaba (as Trinity), and Hana-Maru (as Morpheus) are a team of three, fighting against the evil agent forces (played by many other Sanrio kids who have banded together to fight the Badtz-Maru (Neo) team. Who will be the ultimate winner of the Pillowtrix war?
NOTES:
---The "Pillowtrix" title and the story are a homage to the first Matrix movie. It may have elements of the second and third Matrix movies in it...once I actually get the chance to watch those other two movies :) .
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18) TITLE: Little Mac vs. Big Mac
SYNOPSIS: Doki Doki Yummychum's hamburger stand is a popular place that the Sanrio kids like to eat at in the park. But one day Doki's little hamburger business is threatened by a new, bigger, and more powerful fast- food chain that moves in across the street---Kentucky Grilled Burgers (KGB). The owner and mascot of the chain is the ever-so-rich-and-powerful Colonel Badtz-Maru from Kentucky. His two friends are Miss Pandabelle (the Colonel's Southern belle) and Honky-Tonky Hana (a little country boy who loves to wail out honky-tonk music on his banjo). KGB is a highly modern and amazing place--- many varieties of delicious burgers plus some other foods, commercials with singing and dancing cows, KGB kids' meals with toy figurines of Colonel Badtz-Maru and his two friends, and much more. All the Sanrio kids are instantly in awe at the super-huge KGB restaurant and all it has to offer, and immediately leave Doki's tiny, little hamburger stand. Doki is absolutely crushed to lose all of his customers. How in the world is he going to compete against such a giant state-of-the-art restaurant---without losing his business altogether?
NOTES:
---Colonel Badtz-Maru's KGB restaurant comprises elements of both Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds. The title "Kentucky Grilled Burgers" (KGB) parallels "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (KFC). Colonel Badtz-Maru (founder of KGB) parallels Colonel Sanders (founder of KFC). The kids' meals/toys featured in the KGB restaurant parallels the Happy Meal meals/toys of McDonalds.
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19) TITLE: (No title yet)
SYNOPSIS: Po Sawyer (Pochacco) and his best friend Chocoberry Finn (Chococat) are two little Mississippi boys sitting on a raft in the middle of the Mississippi River one day, fishing. Soon they discover a giant, fancy riverboat on the river coming their way. They row towards it to see what it's all about. Turns out it's a Riverboat Casino, owned by the famous Colonel Badtz-Maru (that's right, he's back!), with his two friends Miss Pandabelle and Honky-Tonky Hana (they're back, too!). Colonel Badtz- Maru's Riverboat Casino promotes his huge, successful KGB (Kentucky Grilled Burgers) fast food chain---and it's also a cruise-boat style riverboat where people can gamble, enjoy entertainment, eat (KGB food, of course), and even sleep (in their many luxurious hotel rooms). Colonel Badtz-Maru spots Po Sawyer and Chocoberry Finn on the little raft and lifts them up onto the riverboat. After introductions, Colonel Badtz-Maru offers jobs to the two boys as card-table dealers, with $5.00/hr pay rate. The two boys (both being poor and therefore seeing five bucks an hour being a whole lot of money) enthusiastically agree, and soon they start working (Chocoberry Finn as a poker dealer, and Po Sawyer as a blackjack dealer). They enjoy themselves at Colonel Badtz-Maru's Riverboat Casino. The two boys get a room to sleep in in the boat, too.
(I'm not done with this summary yet...I'll add the plot to this story soon, in a few days time).
NOTES:
---Elements of Mark Twain's two famous novel characters are in this story--- Tom Sawyer (played by Pochacco, as Tom Sawyer), and Huckleberry Finn (played by Chococat, as Chocoberry Finn). The setting of Mississippi comes from the Tom/Huck novels as well, for that's where the two boys lived.
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20) TITLE: Clubhome Improvement
SYNOPSIS: The Sanrio company is funding a major construction project going underway at the Sanrio clubhouse: construction workers are building and attaching a new room to the clubhouse. The group of 11 Sanrio kids are having trouble deciding what they want the new room to be, as well as what they want it to look like. They visit a home department store to look around at the many home-decorating items the store has to offer, hoping that they will offer inspiration and ideas in how they want to decorate the new clubhouse room. But they all have their own clashing ideas as to what they want the room to be like. Soon a woman approaches the isle the kids are in. As the woman watches the kids argue, she lights up in surprise upon seeing---and recognizing---Hello Kitty. She approaches the kids and greets them. Hello Kitty and Mimmy are astonished to learn that the woman they are meeting is none other than Kitty Bartholomew, famous lifestyle and interior home decorator. The other Sanrio kids, however, have not heard of Kitty Bartholomew, so Bartholomew takes the time to tell them all about herself and her profession. Excited to learn that she is an expert in interior decorating, the kids explain their new clubhouse room situation to Bartholomew and eagerly ask her if she can help them come up with a theme for their room and decorate it. Kitty Bartholomew agrees, and so the hard work and planning goes underway to create the best new room in the entire clubhouse. Badtz-Maru is not pleased about the fact that he is having to deal with two Kitties, so at first he doesn't fully welcome Kitty Bartholomew. But once Bartholomew gives a wonderful insight into a decoration idea for a part of the room looking through Badtz-Maru's perspective, then he grows to appreciate and like her better.
NOTES:
---As mentioned in the Synopsis, the guest star in this story is famous interior home decorator Kitty Bartholomew. You can learn about her by visiting her official website at www dot kittybartholomew dot com.
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11) TITLE: The State of Sanrio Address
SYNOPSIS: The Sanrio kids are in San Francisco (the headquarters of Sanrio U.S.A), all dressed up in their best business attire! They are preparing for their first-ever State of Sanrio Address, where they will give a one- hour speech of the state of the Sanrio company (for 2003) on national TV. Hello Kitty spends two weeks preparing to read the long speech, revising, editing, and changing parts of it with a dedicated Sanrio speech-writing team (don't know who those kids will be yet). During the hectic days of preparing for the big day, Badtz-Maru sorts through his mixed feelings about the whole event. Not only does he think that he'd be the best one to read the speech, but also that the speech should be all about him and his merchandise and activity achievements (he even dreams of calling the speech the "State of Badtz-Maru Address"). From time to time he lets his two cohorts Pandaba and Hana-Maru, and a number of other Sanrio kids know his own vision of the State of Sanrio Address. Hello Kitty, as she continues her preparations, overhears Badtz-Maru's wishes as well. Then one morning, just two days before the big speech day, Hello Kitty wakes up with a very sore throat. She has trouble talking, her voice sounding very dry and raspy. Later in the afternoon, she loses her voice completely! All of Sanrio gasps in great shock to hear this disastrous news. They scramble to find a solution to her problem, fearing that they may have to cancel the State of Sanrio Address altogether. But then Hello Kitty gets a very bright idea---she declares (well actually, her twin sister Mimmy declares it for her) that Badtz-Maru should read the State of Sanrio Address. Hello Kitty manages to explain in a raspy whisper that Badtz-Maru would make a great replacement, because he is dynamic, he loves people and being on TV, and (remembering the parts of Badtz-Maru's own speech-telling she overheard) and has the bold, strong, clear voice that is needed to read a speech to millions of people. Badtz-Maru can't believe it---it's an absolute dream come true for him. He starts cheering wildly, but then stops a bit short once he remembers how he got the job---by the unfortunate event of Kitty losing her voice. It's rather tough for him to show apologetic feelings to Kitty (since he's hardly ever apologetic to anybody), but he manages to do so. He promises Kitty and the rest of Sanrio that he will be able to deliver the speech powerfully and well, even in just two days. All of Sanrio enthusiastically agrees, and works at an accelerated pace to re- prepare for everything in the last two days. On the night of the State of Sanrio Address, the speech hall (which looks very similar to the U.S. House of Representatives room) is jam-packed with Sanrio kids, reporters, and T.V. cameras. Keroppi (as the announcer) announces "Mr. Speaker of the Sanrio House (which is Pochacco), presenting Bad Badtz-Maru!" The crowd stands up and cheers in loud, enthusiastic applause as Badtz-Maru enters the room, shakes hands with many Sanrio kids who are lined on both sides of the walkway, and proceeds over to the podium where he reads the State of Sanrio address to the world.
NOTES:
---This episode is a parallel of the State of the Union Address that the President of the United States gives.
---Behind the podium where Badtz-Maru will stand and deliver the speech is a taller podium. On that podium, Hello Kitty sits on the right side (where Badtz-Maru was originally supposed to be), and Pochacco (as the Speaker of the Sanrio House) sits on the left side.
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12) TITLE: Panda-bare
SYNOPSIS: One day in the Sanrio clubhouse, while the other kids are away (I haven't yet decided where they've gone off to)), and Badtz-Maru and his two cohorts have the house to themselves, Badtz-Maru is working on more of his world-domination planning on his laptop computer, with Pandaba sitting next to him helping him out---currently on choosing Persian rugs for the hallways of one of Badtz-Maru's future palaces. Meanwhile Hana-Maru is in the kitchen, raiding the cupboards for some snack foods. He hits the jackpot when he finds a box of peanut-brittle bars hidden behind the box package of Top Ramen noodles. He hollers out at Badtz-Maru and Pandaba about his goldmine find, which instantly perks up the attention of the both of them. Pandaba suddenly exclaims to Badtz-Maru that last one to the kitchen is a rotten egg, and immediately bolts for the kitchen. Badtz-Maru is surprised at this, but reacts in a split second, bolting off after Pandaba. He is so strongly determined not to lose to Pandaba that when he catches up to her from behind, he grabs hold of her skirt and yanks it down. The skirt falls and gets caught in front of Pandaba's feet while she's running, so she trips over---and out of---her skirt. She tumbles to a stop in the middle of the kitchen floor, just a foot before the table of peanut-brittle bars. Hana-Maru helps Pandaba up, asking if she's all right...and is puzzled when he doesn't see a skirt on Pandaba. He asks Pandaba where her skirt is, and at first Pandaba doesn't know what he's talking about (she's still feeling dazed from the fall---and plus, she always has her skirt on). But once Pandaba comes to her senses, she looks down at herself...and screams! She doesn't have anything on! Where is her skirt?! She turns around...and finds Badtz-Maru teasingly waving the little dark-pink skirt in front of her. She gasps in shock, half-smiling while turning red in embarrassment. She demands her skirt back many times, but ends up having to having to play wild-goose-chase as Badtz-Maru runs all over the house, tossing and waving the skirt around, wearing it over his neck like a Hawaiian lei as he dances a hula dance, smirking at Pandaba the whole time...anything to drive Pandaba even more nuts and embarrassed about wanting to have her skirt back. Badtz-Maru wonders why in the world Pandaba is acting so panicky---it's not like she's naked or anything. Pandaba at first exclaims that she IS naked, but Badtz-Maru counters her claim, telling her that she has an animal body (a panda body, specifically)- -- not a human body. Plus, her small skirt never even hides anything on her--- it just goes around her waist, that's all. So for these main reasons, he concludes, she is not naked. She is just standing around in her regular panda body. Pandaba pauses for a minute, thinking over what Badtz-Maru said, and admits that they are good points. But she succumbs to her nervousness again, saying that she still FEELS naked. But Badtz-Maru counters again, saying that if Pandaba really did feel naked, then why didn't she grab the nearest blanket and wrap it around her as she went around chasing him? Pandaba is taken aback again, realizing that she had indeed been chasing Badtz-Maru around the whole time without ever once thinking to grab a blanket to cover her up. Pandaba slowly starts to wonder if Badtz-Maru is right about this whole thing---that there's really no such thing as her being "naked," and that she's only feeling that way because she has always had her skirt on, and has never had it off in public before. Badtz-Maru continues to playfully hula-dance around the room, wearing Pandaba's skirt around his neck like a lei. And Hana-Maru just laughs and has fun the whole watching this bizarre, silly, and yet oddly interesting situation.
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13) TITLE: TV Out of Order
SYNOPSIS: One day the Sanrio kids discover that their TV is broken! As the kids speculate and try to figure out how the TV broke, someone points out that he/she (haven't decided who this person is yet) saw Pekkle near the TV not that long ago, fiddling around with the antennas from time to time. But Pekkle immediately retaliates, saying that he didn't break the TV. He then points out that he remembers seeing Pandaba watching the TV. But then Pandaba retaliates back, saying that she did not break the TV. The argument goes back and forth for a while, until Pandaba suddenly declares that she wants a lawyer. Badtz-Maru, siding with his best friend, is more than happy to volunteer to be Pandaba's attorney, and prove that Pekkle is the one guilty of breaking the TV. Pekkle gasps in panic---how is he going to defend himself with Badtz-Maru being the prosecuting attorney?? He turns to Hello Kitty and begs her to defend him. After a bit of uncertainty and hesitation, Hello Kitty gradually agrees to be Pekkle's defensive attorney. And so the Sanrio kids decide to find out who broke the TV using the American judicial system---the court. They turn the living room of the Sanrio Clubhouse turns into a courtroom---complete with a judge (Spottie Dottie), a prosecuting lawyer (Badtz-Maru) and his client Pandaba, a defending lawyer (Hello Kitty) and her client Pekkle, a jury of 12 Sanrio kids (who don't usually live at the clubhouse), and some witnesses.
NOTES:
---The title "TV Out of Order" is a combination of the TV being out-of- order (broken), and the common court phrase "You're out of order!"
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14) TITLE: Sanrio Zany Races
SYNOPSIS: Sanrio holds a wild and crazy car race called Sanrio Zany Races. Eleven teams of racers race against each other from one point A to another point B (I haven't yet decided what those two places will be), going through many different obstacles and terrains. During the race, Badtz Dastardly and his sidekick Hana Muttley use all sorts of cheating tactics to slow down the other teams and knock them off-course. But just when they think they have the race in the bag, a mysterious racer (she only identifies herself as Racer P) enters the race late and tries to beat Badtz Dastardly. (Not until the end is it revealed that Racer P is none other than Badtz-Maru's best friend Pandaba).
The Racers: ---Badtz Dastardly and Hana Muttley
---Patty Pitstop and Jimmy Jumper-Cables
---Professor Pekkle Pending
---The Thunder Brothers (Goropikadon)
---Luke no Tabo and Mr. Bear Blubber
---The Red Dog (Pochacco)
---The Okigaru Clowns
---The Kitty Coupe (Hello Kitty and Mimmy)
(And then there are three more teams I still have to come up with)
NOTES:
--- This episode pays homage to the classic old-school Hanna-Barbera cartoon Wacky Races, each team either paralleling (or replacing) the real teams of Wacky Races.
---Pandaba as the mysterious Racer P is a nod to the old Japanese 60's cartoon Speed Racer, where there is a mysterious racer called Racer X (who is really Speed's long lost older brother).
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15) TITLE: The Doctor (and Nurse) in the House
SYNOPSIS: Standing at the subway station one summer day is Badtz-Maru, dressed up in his doctor outfit. He is waiting for his younger sister and nurse, Tsunko, to arrive on the subway. When Tsunko arrives, she is delighted to see her dear big brother---whom she hasn't seen in a long time- --and gives him a great big hug and kiss on the cheek (much to Badtz- Maru's annoyance and embarrassment). They hop on another subway---one that takes them to the city hospital---and catch up on old times as they ride there. The walls of the subway are old and worn, and not that clean--- giving Badtz- Maru the perfect opportunity to grab one of Tsunko's markers and artistically mark his territory on a small piece of the subway wall. In other words...graffiti. At first, Tsunko gasps at what Badtz-Maru is doing. But soon she declares that she wants to tag the wall, too---and does so with her markers, under Badtz-Maru's writing. (Their subway car is empty--- the only other two people in their car are an elderly couple, but they are sitting in the very back of the car...and they're sound asleep.) Once they reach the hospital, Doctor Badtz-Maru and Nurse Tsunko go to work, taking care of patients. Towards the end of the story, Badtz-Maru and Tsunko don blue suits and hats, black ties, and black shades---and break out into their own rendition of the Blues Brothers...calling themselves the Blues Brother-and-Sister. They sing and dance to "Soul Bird" for the whole hospital!
NOTES:
---This story is inspired by the real Sanrio Badtz-Maru Doctor merchandise line.
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16) TITLE: Bad Hansel and Gretel
SYNOPSIS: The classic children's story of Hansel and Gretel, but with a twist---starring Badtz-Maru as Hansel and his younger sister Tsunko as Gretel. Once upon a time in a cottage house in a forest lived the two children. They had just finished eating their last small portion of food on that day, and were wondering how they were going to get more food. They soon realize they have to set out deep into the forest to try and find berries and other plant foods. So on that warm afternoon day, the two children set out deep into an unfamiliar territory of the forest in search of food. Because they have no map, Tsunko (Gretel) drops little bits of bread crumbs on the ground as they go along their pathway---this is done so that they will be able to follow the bread crumbs back home. After having no luck in finding any food, the kids decide to return home. But they see that the birds have swooped down and eaten all the bread crumbs! How will they return home now?! So the two wander around the forest for a while, lost---until they come upon a house...a gingerbread house! Life-sized! As Badtz-Maru (Hansel) and Tsunko (Gretel) rush over to the house and joyfully eat many of the outside pieces of the house, a strange old lady opens the door and finds the two children. She introduces herself to them as the owner of the gingerbread house, and invites them in for more yummy sweet foods. Then the strange old lady, who is really an evil witch, retracts into the kitchen and secretly prepares the oven for cooking the children. She forgot to close the door, so when Badtz-Maru (Hansel) passes by the front kitchen door, he overhears her talking aloud to herself about her plan to cook and eat both him and Tsunko (Gretel)! He rushes over to Tsunko and tells her what he overheard. Tsunko shrieks with fright, while Badtz- Maru burns in anger for having been deceived by her apparent friendliness the whole time. Little does the witch know that she will be dealing with not two weak, vulnerable children---but with two witty and mischevious children, full of tricks of their own up their sleeves. And when Badtz-Maru and Tsunko put their heads together, they come up with a great plan to drive the witch nuts with their mischevious, playful, trouble- making behavior.
NOTES:
---If you want to read the real story of Hansel and Gretel, do a search for "Hansel and Gretel" on Yahoo!, and click on the first or second link it gives you in the Web Results.
---In this Sanrio version of the story, there are no parents in it, there is no duck in it, and the kids do not get trapped in a cage.
---At the end of the story, after they shove the witch into the oven and kill her, Badtz-Maru and Tsunko call the gingerbread house their new home. They won't have to devour the outside of the anymore, either---the kitchen is chock-full of food for them to eat.
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17) TITLE: The Pillowtrix
SYNOPSIS: What started out as a simple, little innocent game of pillowfight (started by Badtz-Maru attacking the kids and then each of the other kids soon attacking each other after that) soon escalates into an all- out grand- scale pillow war in the virtual reality computer world known as the Pillowtrix. Badtz-Maru (as Neo), Pandaba (as Trinity), and Hana-Maru (as Morpheus) are a team of three, fighting against the evil agent forces (played by many other Sanrio kids who have banded together to fight the Badtz-Maru (Neo) team. Who will be the ultimate winner of the Pillowtrix war?
NOTES:
---The "Pillowtrix" title and the story are a homage to the first Matrix movie. It may have elements of the second and third Matrix movies in it...once I actually get the chance to watch those other two movies :) .
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18) TITLE: Little Mac vs. Big Mac
SYNOPSIS: Doki Doki Yummychum's hamburger stand is a popular place that the Sanrio kids like to eat at in the park. But one day Doki's little hamburger business is threatened by a new, bigger, and more powerful fast- food chain that moves in across the street---Kentucky Grilled Burgers (KGB). The owner and mascot of the chain is the ever-so-rich-and-powerful Colonel Badtz-Maru from Kentucky. His two friends are Miss Pandabelle (the Colonel's Southern belle) and Honky-Tonky Hana (a little country boy who loves to wail out honky-tonk music on his banjo). KGB is a highly modern and amazing place--- many varieties of delicious burgers plus some other foods, commercials with singing and dancing cows, KGB kids' meals with toy figurines of Colonel Badtz-Maru and his two friends, and much more. All the Sanrio kids are instantly in awe at the super-huge KGB restaurant and all it has to offer, and immediately leave Doki's tiny, little hamburger stand. Doki is absolutely crushed to lose all of his customers. How in the world is he going to compete against such a giant state-of-the-art restaurant---without losing his business altogether?
NOTES:
---Colonel Badtz-Maru's KGB restaurant comprises elements of both Kentucky Fried Chicken and McDonalds. The title "Kentucky Grilled Burgers" (KGB) parallels "Kentucky Fried Chicken" (KFC). Colonel Badtz-Maru (founder of KGB) parallels Colonel Sanders (founder of KFC). The kids' meals/toys featured in the KGB restaurant parallels the Happy Meal meals/toys of McDonalds.
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19) TITLE: (No title yet)
SYNOPSIS: Po Sawyer (Pochacco) and his best friend Chocoberry Finn (Chococat) are two little Mississippi boys sitting on a raft in the middle of the Mississippi River one day, fishing. Soon they discover a giant, fancy riverboat on the river coming their way. They row towards it to see what it's all about. Turns out it's a Riverboat Casino, owned by the famous Colonel Badtz-Maru (that's right, he's back!), with his two friends Miss Pandabelle and Honky-Tonky Hana (they're back, too!). Colonel Badtz- Maru's Riverboat Casino promotes his huge, successful KGB (Kentucky Grilled Burgers) fast food chain---and it's also a cruise-boat style riverboat where people can gamble, enjoy entertainment, eat (KGB food, of course), and even sleep (in their many luxurious hotel rooms). Colonel Badtz-Maru spots Po Sawyer and Chocoberry Finn on the little raft and lifts them up onto the riverboat. After introductions, Colonel Badtz-Maru offers jobs to the two boys as card-table dealers, with $5.00/hr pay rate. The two boys (both being poor and therefore seeing five bucks an hour being a whole lot of money) enthusiastically agree, and soon they start working (Chocoberry Finn as a poker dealer, and Po Sawyer as a blackjack dealer). They enjoy themselves at Colonel Badtz-Maru's Riverboat Casino. The two boys get a room to sleep in in the boat, too.
(I'm not done with this summary yet...I'll add the plot to this story soon, in a few days time).
NOTES:
---Elements of Mark Twain's two famous novel characters are in this story--- Tom Sawyer (played by Pochacco, as Tom Sawyer), and Huckleberry Finn (played by Chococat, as Chocoberry Finn). The setting of Mississippi comes from the Tom/Huck novels as well, for that's where the two boys lived.
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20) TITLE: Clubhome Improvement
SYNOPSIS: The Sanrio company is funding a major construction project going underway at the Sanrio clubhouse: construction workers are building and attaching a new room to the clubhouse. The group of 11 Sanrio kids are having trouble deciding what they want the new room to be, as well as what they want it to look like. They visit a home department store to look around at the many home-decorating items the store has to offer, hoping that they will offer inspiration and ideas in how they want to decorate the new clubhouse room. But they all have their own clashing ideas as to what they want the room to be like. Soon a woman approaches the isle the kids are in. As the woman watches the kids argue, she lights up in surprise upon seeing---and recognizing---Hello Kitty. She approaches the kids and greets them. Hello Kitty and Mimmy are astonished to learn that the woman they are meeting is none other than Kitty Bartholomew, famous lifestyle and interior home decorator. The other Sanrio kids, however, have not heard of Kitty Bartholomew, so Bartholomew takes the time to tell them all about herself and her profession. Excited to learn that she is an expert in interior decorating, the kids explain their new clubhouse room situation to Bartholomew and eagerly ask her if she can help them come up with a theme for their room and decorate it. Kitty Bartholomew agrees, and so the hard work and planning goes underway to create the best new room in the entire clubhouse. Badtz-Maru is not pleased about the fact that he is having to deal with two Kitties, so at first he doesn't fully welcome Kitty Bartholomew. But once Bartholomew gives a wonderful insight into a decoration idea for a part of the room looking through Badtz-Maru's perspective, then he grows to appreciate and like her better.
NOTES:
---As mentioned in the Synopsis, the guest star in this story is famous interior home decorator Kitty Bartholomew. You can learn about her by visiting her official website at www dot kittybartholomew dot com.
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