Regular Show: Tales of the Terror Park
Your favorite Park Employees ring in the Halloween Festivities with Haunting Stories
A
It is my favorite time of year in the park. Tradition has it that each week leading up to all Hallows eve that the park workers will swap ghostly stories sure to entertain and set the creepy mood just in time for the holiday. Much like the Simpsons Tree House of Horror yearly episodes, they feature humorous but spooky vignettes to pump up anyone ready for Halloween.This years central story that inhabits the employees tales involves meeting Muscle Mans mom. You know, the punchline to all of Mitch's jokes. While he tries to stall, Pops, Benson, and Rigby share a story to past the time.
Each story pays homage to some sort of Halloween trope. Pops first tale tries to set the horror but the good nature of Pops prevents a haunting tale which is not only funny but also offers the campiness that surrounds terror. Bensons complicated twist ending was a great reference to the films that throw away plot just for the sake of the reveal. It also featured some great surreal imagery of the ghost versions of Mordecai and Rigby. Rigbys tale is an great reference to "The Ring" and also puts the best genres of horror cinema. The slasher tale also poked fun at the cliches of scary films which made for great comedy.
I love the Regular Show tradition and I hope they continue throughout the years to come. They are fun, creative, and a great way for the animators to experiment with travel size stories. The main plot is also just as alluring as the novellas. When the gang finally makes it to Muscle Man Mothers house will they been in for a treat or a trick?
Cool things Noticed
1. Minty Lewis (Eileen) storyboarded Pops story. What a talented lady!
2. High five ghost has a skeleton in The Hole story.
3. "Barber told me to meet him here. Made sense at the time."
4. "Well that was uncomfortable"
5. Anyone see any Regular Show costumes this Halloween?
I preferred Terror Tales Part 3, but this was still quite fun, what with the multiple types of horror being sent up. My favorite line: "I said scary stories, not retellings of classic literature!" I was amused at how there was no clear favorite this time - everybody thought everybody else's story was lame. And it was cool to meet Muscle Man's legendary mom.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, no Regular Show costumes. But then, kids have been known to skip our house trick-or-treating, so maybe there were and I just didn't see them.
I love Eileen's litany of regrets and sins as they fled through the video. One of her best moments.
ReplyDeleteLove Muscle Man's Mom too. Look forward to seeing her again for longer, sometime.
I rewatched all of the Regular Show Halloween episodes last week, and this just may be my favorite. The first has the advantage of novelty, but this seemed to have the most pronounced thematic differences between the stories. Pops' story was a great take on "The Lottery", Benson's was all about the shocking swerve at the end, regardless of how it works in the story, and Rigby's was a rapid fire string of homages to three disparate horror genres. I loved the epilogue in Pops' story as a good-humored nudge at overthinking the symbology in a horror story. Loved this one.
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis. I think a lot of kids would pay more attention to The Lottery in school if it had a Sarlacc pit at the end.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of a Sarlaac pit appearing out of nowhere that seemed to isolate the park from the outside world is pretty creepy in concept. The idea of it choking to death on Pops' head and its powers mostly being in the characters' heads was a riot.
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