A/N: Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas everyone. First off, I do want to let you all know I haven't given up on "Gang of Four" I needed to take a break from it so I could recharge my batteries a bit. SO in the meantime, I'm revisiting an old story you all liked with a new segment I had been working on and off on since earlier this summer. Although someone did recommend I do Jokahontas, I will do that in the near future. So far I haven't thought up enough funny stuff for that one yet. But right now, break out the eggnog, cookies, or whatever food you have near you at the moment, and enjoy.
Chapter 5: Fortune Cookie Says…
"Piano Rag"
Spring of 1993
"...Alright, you all know what to do right?" said Mike, the director. He always held a last-minute meeting with the cast shortly before filming. The six cast members before him nodded their heads. One half of them, the Warners, were eagerly hopping in place, waiting for him to start filming already. Tonight was a very exciting night for them. The shooting for the current episode "Piano Rag" would be the very first time they did a short off studio grounds. After filming a good couple of episodes within the studio walls, branching outside was a welcome change. Granted it was at a local theater just a few blocks away, but it was a good start.
"Exsqueze me, Mr. Director?" The oldest Warner asked, tapping Mike's pant leg.
"Yes, Yakko?"
"What's that supposed to be?"
He pointed to the local theater that was being used for the shooting. Its facade was temporarily remodeled to look like Carnegie Hall.
"The Carnegie,"
"But the Carnegie is in New York," Wakko stated. Mike looked at the theater and back at him with a blank stare.
"Yeah so?" the director replied. Dot slapped a hand to her head.
"So, why aren't we filming it there?" she asked. Mike sighed and bent down to their height.
"Guys, Plotz really doesn't want you off studio grounds, you really think he'd want you in New York?"
The Warners pondered this for a moment. It had been just a few months since they escaped from their water tower and got a new show. And Mr. Plotz was still little uneasy about them.
"Good point. He'd definitely save on air fare," Yakko answered.
"Right, so if you want to be able to get out more often, keep the zaniness down a bit. Okay?"
"Okay, but remember-" Yakko said before embracing his siblings with an arm around each of their shoulders. All three beamed bright toothy grins. "We are habitual misbehave-rs!"
Mike rolled his eyes as he turned his attention towards the other three co-stars standing above them.
"Any other questions?" he asked.
"Ja, Is it too late for me to hire a double?" Dr. Scratchensniff pleaded.
The others were not as ecstatic about the short as the Warners were. Scratchensniff was still recovering from the headache-inducing experience that was "Taming of the Screwy". Nurse wasn't too happy to know she only got one line of dialogue in the entire short, but she supposed it was better than nothing. Ralph on the other hand really didn't care, as he was too busy scarfing down a box of fortune cookies.
"Ralph, you know you're not supposed to just eat those right?" Nurse asked.
"Huh?" Ralph garbled, crumbs sputtered out of his mouth, and onto Scratchensniff's face.
"You ninny! Your supposed to crack them open und read the tiny paper message inside!" the psychiatrist replied irritably.
"That's why these things taste funny," Ralph gagged as he pulled a tiny wet strip from his mouth.
"Deegusting!" Dot exclaimed.
The bulbous guard held the note to his face and read it. "Ahh...Be on the lookout for coming events; They cast their shadows beforehand." Ralph's grin lessened a bit after reading that.
"Ooh. Sounds profound," Dot answered.
"Sounds foreboding," Yakko added.
"Doesn't sound like anything to me," Wakko said while lifting his ear.
"Who cares how it sounds? Let's get started already!" Mike barked. The group quickly dispersed as he took out his megaphone. "Places everyone, places! This is a short script. If we're lucky we should have this done before midnight. Annnd…!" he dropped his voice to a whisper "Action."
[Scene 1 Take 1]
The shot opened with a panoramic shot across a city street in downtown Burbank. The setting sun created a warm glow across an empty alleyway. It was a beautiful shot, and then the cartoon started.
"The Warners have escaped! Get them!" Scratchensniff's voice yelled. Three non-distinct blurs whooshed by, sending trash and papers everywhere.
"Holy…!" Mike yelped as a second blur whipped by moments later. "Alright, Cut!" When the director ran out of the alleyway and into the street, Scratchensniff and Nurse ran towards him. Both dropped their nets as they stopped to catch their breaths. "What's going on? Why did you guys fall behind?"
"Fall... behind? The Warners... sped ahead!" Scratchensniff huffed breathlessly. "Ralph's the only one who can keep up with them,"
The director looked to his left to see Ralph and the Warners zipping down the road, clearing at least 3 city blocks.
"But that's impossible, The Ritalin in their drinks should have kicked in by now," he muttered.
"How many times do I have to tell you? It doesn't vork for them!"
"No…" Yakko's voice made Mike jump. The Warners suddenly appeared at his side "But it seems to work on bald guards just fine" he pointed toward Ralph trudging towards them in slow motion.
"Geet… baack..her… you… guys…" the guard distorted voice slurred, just before he collapsed on the ground.
"Attempting to drug a minor, Plotz will looove to hear about this!" Dot retorted.
"I wasn't trying to..." Mike muttered. "Someone get Ralph a cup of coffee over here. Warners, can you guys please slow down a bit? It'll be hard to film you three going at Mach 5!"
"Will do," the trio replied.
[Scene 1 Take 2]
"The Warners have escaped! Get them!" Scratchensniff's voice yelled. This time the Warners distinct silhouettes appeared as they taunted their pursuers.
"Lally lally loo lally laly lee! You can't catch us were the Warners three…" the trio ran off, Ralph appeared a second later, butterfly net in hand. Scratchensniff and Nurse followed not far behind, also with nets in hand.
The Warners did the scene as rehearsed as they ran towards the camera in a new shot further down the street. They stopped as soon as they heard a rumble of thunder, then groaned when it started to rain.
"When I asked for some water earlier this is not what I meant!" Yakko griped.
"What do ya know, the weatherman was right for once today" Wakko uttered underneath his dripping cap.
"Makeup!" Dot shrieked as her bow drooped.
"Cut!" Mike yelled.
[Scene 1 Take 3]
After half an hour, the rain had already passed. The shooting resumed. The Warners redid the scene as they ran across the slick road towards the camera… and right into the cameraman.
"Ow! Damn!" Ed the cameraman exclaimed as the Warners sprawled all over him. Dot clambered on top of the cameraman's pot belly.
"You have beautiful eyes!" she complimented.
"Get off! the cameraman growled.
"Cut!" the director yelled again.
[Scene 1 Take 4]
This time Warners ran towards the camera again but stopped when Rita and Runt walked into the shot. After that delay, they ran right past the cameraman.
"Shouldn't we…?" the previously trampled cameraman began to ask.
"Just leave it in Ed," Mike grumbled. The rest of the scene went off as planned. Scratchy and Ralph ran right into each other before bypassing the cameraman as well. Nurse trotted behind them as a steady drumbeat pounded from out of nowhere. As soon as she was out of shot, it stopped. She looked around in confusion.
"Mike, you hear that? Where is that coming from?" she asked.
The director scratched his head. "Don't know, the soundtrack isn't supposed to be made until after we finished filming."
"But its really distracting!" Nurse protested. The drumbeat happened again as she walked around a bit.
"I don't see a problem," Ed commented. She barely noticed him gazing a little too closely at her hips. However, Mike did and gave him a quick thwack on the head.
"It's probably nothing," the director added. Nurse shrugged as they moved on to the next part of the scene. Ralph had stopped at a street corner and cautiously peered behind a brick wall. Then he gobbled down another fortune cookie from his pocket. "Cut!"
"Ralph, will you stop eating those cookies?!" Scratchy yelled off camera. Ralph pulled out another strip from his mouth.
"Reveal something special to others, just don't embarrass yourself while doing it " he read.
Yakko popped up from a trash can he was hiding in and blew a kiss. "Goodnight everybody!"
"Cut!" Mike growled.
[Scene 1 Take 5]
The scene resumed with Ralph peering behind the wall. A stray can that was tossed by Dot appeared at the other side.
Ralph pressed his fingers to mouth as he looked around the other side. "Shush"
Yakko burst from the trashcan and pinched Ralph's backside. "Tag you're it!"
Ralph yelped as he literally sprung out of his pants and slammed into the streetlight above him. Unfortunately for Yakko when Ralph came down, he flattened him. After a brief dizzy spell, Ralph looked down and immediately blushed bright red.
The guard used his cap to cover the red hearts on his white shorts."My undershorts, Dah fortune was true!"
Cut!" Mike yelled.
[Scene 1 Take 6]
This time the scene was done again. Ralph shushed himself as he peered around the corner. Except he had forgotten one detail.
"Oh my god, Ralph put your pants on!" the director yelled.
Ralph looked up. "Huh?"
Yakko came back out again. "Tag you're it!"
Yakko immediately regretted doing this as Ralph jumped out of his undershorts. After getting a good look at the full moon, Yakko scrambled out of the trashcan just before Ralph crushed it. The guard's face was a deeper shade of red now.
"Cut! Someone get some bleach for my eyes!" Mike screamed.
"Your eyes, what about mine?!" Yakko yelled.
[Scene 1 Take 7]
"Tag, your it!" Yakko teased. Ralph jumped out of his pants again. This time around he landed right back in them. Irritated, he lifted up the lid of the trashcan. A green faced Yakko slithered out from the can and onto the ground.
"Yakko are you alright?!" Dot asked as Ralph helped him up.
"Yep, but the smell of bad tuna really gets to you after a while," Yakko uttered groggily.
[Scene 1 Take 8]
Ralph lifted up the lid again only to find out Yakko was missing. Then he smelled the bad tuna inside. He fell down, green-faced as well.
[Scene 1 Take 10]
Ralph ignored the smell as he lifted up the lid again. He scratched his head to figure out what happened until Yakko blew a raspberry behind his back. The guard instantly swiped his net at him.
"I caught em doc! I got em!" he gloated. He looked down to see he really did catch Yakko by mistake. The eldest sibling pouted as he crossed his arms. "Is really did caught em!" the guard's eyes widened. The eldest Warner jumped on the edge of his net.
"You are correct sir, Tell em what he's won!" Yakko cheered.
Dot popped out of Ralph's shirt collar. "A free facial!"
She slammed a custard pie in the guard's face. Some of the custard also splattered onto Yakko, who in retaliation threw a meringue pie. It accidentally hit Ralph and its intended target. Within moments, a pie fight broke between the two siblings with Ralph acting as a barrier, taking most of the blows.
"Cut! Cut!" Mike called out before a stray pie splattered on his cheeks. He whipped his head around.
Wakko blushed behind him. "Oops,"
"Makeup!" Dot shrieked.
[Scene 1 Take 11]
After a brief wash up, the scene was given another go. Ralph swiped his net again.
"...I caught em doc! I got em!" he repeated his line.
"Good for you," Scratchensniff groaned.
"Good for me,"
Ralph saw he 'accidentally" caught Scratchy by mistake.
"You got me you big dummy!" the psychiatrist began to strangle Ralph just as Nurse walked into the shot. The steady drumbeat pounded again. Nurse paused to look around. It stopped again.
"Seriously! There it is again" she said.
Ralph grimaced as he rubbed his neck."Doc, your hands are cold."
"Come on guys, Cut!" Mike complained.
[Scene 1 Take 12]
Nurse ran into the shot, ignoring the drumbeat.
"Um, there they are," she said, delivering her sole line and pointed down the street. Scratchensniff pulled off the net to look at where she was pointing at. The Warners had run towards the theater and looked back at them.
"Get them!" he yelled as they followed after them. Behind the Warner trio was a long line of wooden decoy crowd members. They clawed and squeezed their way in an attempt to get inside. Dot filed at the edges with a nail file while Yakko rammed a crowbar in between the gaps.
Cut!" the director interrupted, just as Wakko was getting ready to blaze the decoys with a flamethrower. "You do know there was a latch you could open, right?"
Mike demonstrated by pointing at a latch within the crowd. He pressed it and three decoys swung open like a door.
"You do know you could have told us about it, right?" Yakko retorted.
[Scene 1 Take 13]
The Wanrers opened the makeshift crowd door and disappeared behind the line. The other trio caught up with them.
"Ralph you take the back, Miss Nurse..." Scratchy spoke. He stopped mid sentence and dropped his net. "I'm sorry, but are you sure about this line? Nurse, You take my breath away?"
"What's the problem?" Mike asked.
"It's just that I'm not attracted to Nurse like that! Vere just vorking partners!"
"Yeah, I'm little weirded out by that line too," Nurse added. Ed happened to pass by, carrying his camera.
"What's wrong, she takes my breath away..." he mumbled before Mike stuffed his cap inside his mouth.
"Look, It's just something the writers made for the show, no one is going to think this is real. I promise," Mike persuaded. Scratchy and Nurse looked at each for a few seconds before they gave their responses.
"Fine" They replied.
[Scene 1 Take 14]
The trio rushed towards the line again. Scratchensniff took charge as he gave the other two directions.
"Ralph you take the back, Miss Nurse you take my breath away..." he responded dreamily before catching himself. "No no no, you take the side und Ill go in the front!" The group split off in three directions. Once out of shot, Scratchy cringed at what he just said.
"See, was that so hard?" Mike remarked. A glare from Scratchy was his response. The scene ended as the Warners raced through the theater's double doors.
[Scene 2 Take 1]
Inside, the theater gradually filled up as more people came in. Or at least that what was to be intended on screen. Although it looked like a full house, in reality, it was 200 extras hired to fill the 1000 seat theater. The remaining 800 were filled in by more fake decoys. This was a result of the strict budget Mike had to follow.
The Warners ran down one of the aisles, mowing down audience members in their path. They disappeared through some red curtains and reached a side door backstage. Yakko opened the door. Gobsmacked, he gazed up at what he saw. Nurse stood in the middle of the doorway, net raised and ready to strike. The camera shifted from bottom to top, emphasizing her curvaceous body.
"Hello, Nurse!" Yakko swooned. Meanwhile, Ed happened to be filming this particular shot. His jaw dropped to the floor.
"Hello indeed…" the cameraman panted. Yakko jumped right into her net.
"Take me away I've been a bad boy..." he added slyly.
"Cut! Yakko, you're supposed to run away from the Nurse!" Mike griped.
"Uhh... I don't know. That seems really out of my character, at least for me it is."
The director raised a written document in his hands. He pointed at it. "Really? The script begs to differ…"
[Scene 2 Take 2]
This time the scene was repeated again. Mike, however, quickly caught Ed zooming the camera lens on the Nurse's more "prominent" parts.
"Cut!" he muttered, giving Ed another smack in the head.
"What did you do that for?" Nurse asked. Mike didn't want to let on at what happened.
"Oh just giving a fellow cameraman a thankful gesture for his special camera work," He gritted his teeth on the last few words. Ed cursed under his breath.
[Scene 2 Take 3]
This time around, Yakko said his correct line. "Good-Bye, Nurse!" he slammed the door. Unfortunately, it was a lot harder than he intended, as a Nurse shaped imprint melded onto the door. Horrified, Yakko opened the door. Nurse held her head as her eyes swirled around. "Oops! Sorry!"
"What did you do that for Yakko?!" Wakko yelled.
"Yakko, you just slammed the Nurse!" Dot exclaimed before she covered her mouth. Yakko blew another kiss.
"Good night everybody!" he joked.
"Walked right into that one..." she groaned.
Mike rustled his hair. "Oh, cut!"
[Scene 2 Take 4]
The whole scene played out as planned, except for the drumbeat that decided to reappear once again. "Goodbye, Nurse!" Yakko shut the door and ran off.
When they had left, Nurse reopened the door and dropped her net. "Seriously, who's doing that drumming? It's getting annoying!"
Meanwhile, the Warners had already run to the back door. The door opened up to reveal Ralph waiting for them.
"Duh... Gotcha!" said Ralph, net raised to strike.
"Duh... Not!" Yakko retorted sharply. He slammed the door, leaving a Ralph shaped print on the door. This time it was intentional.
"Perfect! Let's move on to the next scene," said Mike. Ralph emerged from the door, completely unfazed. Puzzled, the Warners were surprised he wasn't seeing stars after that. Wakko pinched the edge of the door, to his surprise it was soft and squishy.
"Hey, It's made of putty! You cheated!" Wakko said, pointing at Ralph. The guard guiltily kicked at the ground.
Nurse rubbed her forehead. "Hey, how come he got the putty door?"
"We weren't expecting two people to get hit with a door tonight!" Mike complained, arching an eyebrow at Yakko.
"I said I was sorry!" Yakko snapped back.
[Scene 3 Take 1]
A few minutes later, filming resumed. The Warners poked their heads out through the curtains on the stage. They noticed three empty seats at the front row. Without hesitation, they took them immediately.
"We'll hide in here till the coast is clear," Yakko said softly. He quickly noticed that a few crowd members had gotten up and moved away. Pretty soon the audience had created a 30 ft barrier of space between them. Yakko was honestly confused. But it took a small whiff from his siblings to know why.
"Yakko! You reek!" Dot exclaimed
Wakko held his nose. "Ugh! That's awful!"
"You try smelling good after spending 10 takes in a garbage can!" Yakko called out.
Mike held his nose. "Cut! Yakko go wash yourself in the bathroom sink or something, "
After a 30 minute wash up in the restroom, Yakko smelled decent enough to continue with the scene.
[Scene 3 Take 2]
"We'll hide in here till the coast is clear," Yakko repeated his line. Just then, the lights dimmed as the audience applauded at the special guest coming on stage. A spotlight beamed down. It was the pianist Tympanini in an all-black tuxedo. He swelled with pride as he took in all the attention he was receiving. The attention was supplied by all 200 extras, including an applause track playing over the sound system.
"Ooh a magic show, this oughta be fun!" Wakko commented giddily. Tympanini began to introduce the piece he was about to perform. Unfortunately, no one could hear the words coming out of his mouth.
"Are you a silent film actor?" Dot shouted.
"We can't hear you!" Yakko added.
Cut!" Mike barked.
[Scene 3 Take 3]
"Franz Schubert…" Tympanini tried again, his voice barely audible.
"Friends Super?!" Wakko asked.
"Still can't hear you!" Yakko shouted.
[Scene 3 Take 5]
Annoyed,Tympanini repeated a little louder this time. "Franz Schubert…"
"What was that? France Sherbert?" Wakko responded. The pianist slapped a hand to his face. He climbed down from the stage and stood in front of them.
"Franz Schubert, Schubert!" he screamed, his voice blowing in their faces.
"Ohh..." They realized in unison.
"Cut! Someone bring out the sound guy." Mike commented. A crew member came forward and tugged at Tympanini's shirt collar. He adjusted a small microphone hidden underneath.
"Try it now" he answered softly.
[Scene 3 Take 6]
"FRANZ SCHUBERT INTENDED THIS..." Tympanini's voice boomed, followed by the squeal of the microphone. The trio covered their ears as well as the extras around them.
"Oww! Holy fuck! Dammit, My ears!" several of them cried out.
"And I thought we were surrounded by classy people," Dot pouted.
[Scene 3 Take 13]
"After a few more deafening readjustments later, Tympanni's mike situation was under control. The rest of the scene went off just fine.
"Franz Schubert intended this scherzo, to reflect the struggle between intellect and the creative process" Tympiani explained, his voice finally audible.
"Uh… I don't think he's a magician" Yakko said skeptically.
"Sure he is, this is just his set up," Dot reassured.
"Hey mister! Pull a rabbit out of your pants!" Wakko called out. The audience shushed them in response.
"What are you, leaky tires?" Yakko retorted. Tympanini continued with his speech.
"...However, Schubert was simply incapable of expressing the delicate nuance, but thanks to my genius…"
In the middle of his sentence, the spotlight gave out. Tympanni frowned in the dark at having his moment ruined.
[Scene 3 Take 14]
"...but thanks to my genius, I will perform this great work, not as the composer wrote it, but as he intended it. Schubert's intermezzo andante opus nine"
The pianist sauntered towards the piano behind him. Just as he approached the stool, he slipped up and landed on his rear end. The Warners jumped on their seats amidst chuckles from the audience.
"Bravo! Encore! What a performance! Bravo!" they cheered.
"I haven't started yet!" Tympanini growled.
"But it had a great ending!" Yakko commented.
[Scene 3 Take 15]
Tympanini walked over to the piano again and sat down on the stool. He lifted one finger and pressed a key. Everyone jumped at the thunderous crash that followed from the entire piano collapsing into a heap of rubble. Tympanini simply facepalmed.
"Cut! Just wheel out the next one." Mike ordered. A stagehand pushed away the damaged piano while another one wheeled out a new piano towards a very peeved Tympanini.
[Scene 3 Take 16]
He pressed the same key again. His expression soured as he turned his back to the instrument.
"Stop! This piano is out of tune," Tympanini complained.
How can you tell? You only hit one note!" The director replied.
"How can I tell? I'm a concert pianist…!"
Wakko and Yakko gasped, the brothers rushed the stage with bars of soap in hand.
"It's 'Roll Over Beethoven' all over again!" Dot complained as she wielded a bar of soap of her own.
"Cut! Take that soap out of his mouth!" Mike yelled as he ran on stage to intervene.
[Scene 3 Take 17]
This time another new piano was wheeled out. Tympanimi pressed the key again, this time it is in tune. The rest of the scene finally moved forward. The Warners brows lowered in distaste.
"We're out of here," Yakko said flatly.
The three siblings sprinted from their seats and climbed over several crowd members. "Excuse us! Gang Way! Coming through! Pardon us...!"
When they reached one of the aisles they skidded to a halt.
"Uh Oh!" Dot commented. Scratchensniff was searching through a row of seats several feet ahead of them.
"Hit reverse, sibs!" said Yakko. The Wanrers jumped…and quietly walked back to their seats. Mike had told them in advance that they would simply use the playback from the camera and reverse it to look like they were running backwards.
"There are some tricks even we're not that good at," Yakko said aloud.
[Scene 4 Take 1]
Meanwhile in the back, Scratchy Nurse and Ralph sneaked down the aisle, their feet squeaking loudly against the carpeted floor. This caught the attention of Tympamini who immediately stopped playing. An usher approached them.
"The concert has begun, take your seats!" he whispered as he hastily pushed them into three conveniently empty seats.
"Your mother uses Pampers," Scratchy muttered as the usher walked off. Next to him, Ralph bit off half of another fortune cookie, he pulled out the strand on the uneaten part.
"Dah...Unknown obstacles shall pass your way. Duck." Ralph read.
Scratchy winced when the usher's flashlight clocked him in the back of the head. Ralph flipped the note over and read the other side "Well, we told you to duck" Irritated, the psychiatrist growled as he snatched the strand and tore it up. This earned a choir of shushes around him.
"Once again, the Schubert" Tympani declared. After straightening his tie, he prepared to start again. Suddenly the munching of popcorn interrupted his concentration once more. The Warners were busily snacking on popcorn and taffy. At the same time in the back, Scratchensniff's brow furrowed as Ralph took out his box of fortune cookies.
"Ralph will you please get rid of those cookies?!" he whispered.
"But I didn't gets to have lunch today" Ralph replied with his mouth full. "Sides the Warners get to eat "
"Cause vhat's their part in the script!"
The guard ignored his complaint as he pulled out a strand from the bottom of the box. He swallowed before reading. "A heavy burden shall descend upon you,"
The psychiatrist waved it off as he brought his attention back to the stage. Tympanini was struggling to hold the tower of candy the Wanrers had poured out from Wakko's gag bag. It was all going according to the scene, then he remembered what was supposed to come next.
He looked up. Harnessed by a few wires, a pink candy store freely dangled from the ceiling. It was previously used for a short the Warners had finished filming earlier that morning, " The Big Candy Store" Then the harness snapped. The store came whistling down not on Tympanini, but on top of him and the others. Nurse and Scratchy jumped from their seats to escape, only to have Ralph stumble over them in his own attempt to escape. Scratchy squeaked as it came down. Crash!
The vibration from the impact caused Tympani to lose his grip on the leaning tower of candy, and it toppled into the crowd. Dot conveniently opened up an umbrella which shielded her and her brothers from the falling shower. Popcorn and candy covered the entire floor like an overnight snowstorm. Several of the extras cursed as they wiped nacho cheese and taffy off their now ruined outfits. Ed along with the other cameramen wiped butter and mustard off their camera lenses. Oddly enough, the store was still in one piece after the fall.
"Cut! What was that?!" Mike yelled as he squeezed himself through the commotion. "Did no one seriously check to see if this was hanging in the right spot?!"
While the director went off on an angry tangent on who was incompetent enough to let this happen, the candy store's door fell down. Although battered and bruised, the adult trio was okay…. somewhat. Scratchy, who head was covered in chocolate syrup, flopped down on the ground. Nurse fell right on top of him, leaving a dust of powdered sugar in her wake. Then Ralph fell down and squished them both. Cotton candy covered his head as his eyes swirled like peppermint candy. The Warners huddled around them.
"Are you okay?" Wakko asked.
"I think so," Scratchensniff's muffled voice answered.
"Uh huh," Nurse's voice added.
"Six Thix thistle sticks..." Ralph droned dizzily.
Yakko gave a thumbs up. "Yep, these guys are O-Kay!"
"Good, except now we're going to have to do that bit all over again!" the director said with a stomp of his foot. After a few minutes of cleaning and setting everything back up, filming resumed.
[Scene 4 Take 2]
The entire portion of the scene is redone from the beginning. The Warners munch on their snacks when Tympani approached them. Having been caught glove handed, they gave up their snacks.
"All of it." Tympanini held out his hand. A snap went off. The store came sailing down prematurely. Tympanini dodged the falling prop with a successful action roll, but with a not so successful landing. The Warners winced when he rolled off stage and landed head first on the floor.
"Aww no! Cut!" Mike yelled.
[Scene 4 Take 5]
"Annd... Action-" The snap happened again, followed by another crash in the audience. The scene was over before it started. Mike threw up his hands "Really?!"
[Scene 4 Take 10]
It snapped again. Yakko and Dot shrieked as it came down on them this time. Wakko burst from his seat and stopped it with his gloved hands. He strained as he held the enormous setting prop above them.
"Even for cartoon logic, this is ridiculous!" Yakko scoffed. Stunned, Wakko broke into a grin.
"Look at me, I'm Superman!" he gloated. At the same time, Ralph read another strip.
"The mind is a powerful thing, but it doesn't make you Superman," And then Wakko arms wobbled under the weight. Crash.
"Thanks for that acknowledgment" Yakko's muffled voice replied.
[Scene 4 Take 20]
After several takes, the entire scene went off as intended. After the Warners loaded off their candy supply in Tympanini's hands, he struggled to hold the tall load. Then, the candy store finally lands in its correct spot. Thud. It wobbled precariously on top of the leaning tower of treats. Wakko took out a tiny box of red and green candy balls. He flicked a green one the very top. The added extra weight sent Tympanni crashing through the wooden floor. However, this was part of the script, so there was no further harm done.
"Cut! Take a break everyone," Mike cheered halfheartedly. This scene alone had already taken way too much time, but at least it was finished. The Wanrers climbed on stage and looked down the hole.
"Hey mister, are you okay?"' Wakko asked flicking another gobstopper in his mouth.
"I thought I said, all of it..." the pianist croaked from below. With a groan, Wakko tipped the box, tossing the remaining ones down the hole.
"Where are you going Mike?" Yakko asked the director who was holding his head.
"Going to see if Nurse has any aspirin left in her office" he replied. They were only halfway through this short and Mike already wanted this to be over already.