The Ventriloquist Caper
| Saturday Supercade episode | |
|---|---|
| "The Ventriloquist Caper" | |
| |
| Segment | Donkey Kong Junior |
| Season | 1 |
| Episode | 5 |
| Airdate |  October 15, 1983[?] |
| Writer(s) | Michael Maurer |
| << List of episodes >> | |
"The Ventriloquist Caper" is the fifth episode of Saturday Supercade's Donkey Kong Junior segment.
Plot synopsis[edit]
Continuing their search for Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr. and Bones approach the Golden Gate Bridge while stuck in traffic, with the former commenting that they have to follow in spite of the traffic. The latter reads a newspaper detailing an annual children's show at the Golden Bridge Theatre, located in San Francisco, and mentions that one of the performers, the Wrestling Gorilla, whom he believes is actually Donkey Kong. Jr. agrees to drive to the theater, but Bones mentions that they cannot drive there in this traffic. Jr., however, mentions that they can go up, and drives his motorcycle on the side of the bridge to detour around the traffic, scaring Bones. As Jr. and Bones arrive at the theater, two shady figures, Slick and Shorty, peek behind a wall.
Inside the theater, Donkey Kong Jr. takes Bones backstage, where he believes the Wrestling Gorilla can found. However, it is nowhere to be seen. Just then, a boy walks up to them to inform them that he is late, and introduces himself as Peter Windson. Soon after, a ventriloquist named Dandy Andy enters, whom Peter praises as the best ventriloquist in the world, with him entertaining the group with his doll, Andoo. As Donkey Kong Jr. mentions that he is funny, Peter suggests that they should see his next show. However, as Andy walks by Slick and Shorty, who hide behind a curtain, the two shady figures wrap a curtain around him and Andoo and carry them into the basement, returning with their clothes, with Slick mentioning that it will be easy to steal jewelry while posing as him during his act.
During the show, Shorty throws Slick into the audience, allowing him to steal the jewelry from several theatergoers, after Slick sarcastically thanks the audience, rush offstage to the nearest exit. Peter worries that his father's reputation will be ruined with Slick and Shorty posing as him during their crime spree, but Jr. and Bones pursue the two criminals on ropes to block the exit, though Bones collides with one of the robbery victims, taking her coat and wig with him, and shortly after, his rope snaps, causing him to fall on Jr., allowing the imposters to head to the main entrance. However, Jr. pulls the rug from under them as they escape, causing them to trip, and they take them back to the auditorium, with Jr. trapping Slick in a chair. Bones attempts to trap Shorty, but Shorty takes offense when he calls him a doll and runs off. Bones chases him onstage, but Shorty ties his feet to a rope and suspends him in midair, with the former crying for help. Jr. runs over to save him, but this also allows Slick to escape with Shorty in a car.
In the car, Slick reads a paper detailing Dandy Andy's next performance, which takes place at the San Francisco Hotel. Shorty takes the paper from him and adds that the Regal Diamond is also being exhibited at the hotel, which is stored in a safe on the seventh floor of the building, and the imposters decide to drive to the hotel to steal the diamond, with the real Dandy Andy getting the blame when he arrives.
At the hotel, Jr. and Bones attempt to enter the exhibition, only to be stopped by a policeman, who tells that only performers are allowed. They then don disguises and pose as Dandy Andy and his doll in an attempt to enter the exhibition, but the policeman still refuses, calling them imposters, as Slick and Shorty have already entered the exhibition. Jr. and Bones then have the policeman skip rope and tie him up, then run into the exhibition. As Slick and Shorty run down a hallway in search of the Regal Diamond, Jr. and Bones follow them disguised as flowerpots.
At some elevators, Shorty notices that the flowerpots are following them, but Slick dismisses this, calling it impossible. When Bones and Donkey Kong Jr. rearrange themselves, Shorty insists that they are following, but the scent of the flower causes his nose to itch, resulting in him sneezing on the flowers, revealing Jr. and Bones. They promptly trap them in the flowerpots they disguised themselves as and throw them into an elevator. Slick opens its control panel and flips the direction of the elevator several times, causing its cables to snap. Bones prepares to say goodbye to Donkey Kong Jr., but Jr. bundles Bones's pants into a rope, then escapes through the hatch and throws it onto a nail, saving them and allowing to continue their pursuit of the two criminals.
Meanwhile, near the safe where the Regal Diamond is stored, Slick manages to convince the guards to allow them to store Shorty in the safe room by claiming that "Andoo" might be lost. In the safe room, Shortly promptly steals the diamond and runs out, with Slick closing the door behind the guards as they enter. Just then, Jr. and Bones reach the floor, and the imposters promptly escape out an open window using suction cups. Bones mentions that they will not be able to follow them, but Jr. grabs some plungers, he and Bones pursue them, though Bones is left hanging when one of his plungers becomes stuck. He manages to remove the plunger, but this also causes the other plunger to lose its suction, causing him to fall onto a flagpole. Jr. enters an open window on a lower floor, and when the two imposters climb onto it, he pushes it out. They then fall, only to be saved by Jr., who throws a plunger tied to a rope down to the window they are on. Slick and Shorty plead for Jr. to not let go of the rope, which he agrees to, provided that they return the Regal Diamond to its rightful place, and pulls the window into the room he is in. He then pulls Bones into the room by pulling the rope on the flagpole he fell on.
Back at the Golden Bridge Theatre, Dandy Andy thanks Jr. and Bones for stopping the criminals and saving his reputation. After he entertains the group with Andoo entertains the group one more time, Peter notices the Wrestling Gorilla. Donkey Kong Jr. notes that the gorilla is not his father, but the gorilla jumps excitedly and makes monkey noises, which Jr. can understand. Excited, Jr., despite the Wrestling Gorilla not being his father, walks off with him who makes more monkey noises, leaving a confused Bones to believe that they are acting.
Gallery[edit]
Title card
Characters[edit]
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Bones Bailey
- Peter Windson
- Dandy Andy
- Slick
- Shorty
- Wealthy women
- Security guard
Animation and continuity errors[edit]
- As Bones pursues Slick and Shorty on a rope, he disappears for a few frames in the transition to the next shot.
- As Slick and Shorty head off to the main entrance, Donkey Kong Jr.'s head is miscolored. This also occurs in one shot at the San Francisco Hotel as the police officer accuses him and Bones of being imposters.
- As Bones picks up Shorty, his hand clips through him.
- When Donkey Kong Jr. and Bones arrive at the San Francisco Hotel, the signs for the hotel misspell San Francisco as "San Fransisco."
- When Donkey Kong Jr. pulls Bones out of the elevator, the latter is wearing his pants despite the former using them as a rope at the time.
Names in other languages[edit]
| Language | Name | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Galician | Golpe de ventrílocuo[1] | Ventriloquist caper |
