Jimmy is presenting a holographic model of the planet, Twonkus-3’s orbit around the sun, yet fails to please his classmates. Shortly after, Principal Willoughby announces the grand opening of a library. He even wrote a song for the Lindbergh Elementary School chorus to sing when that time comes.
Later, Jimmy visits Twonkus-3 and gathers some crystals, but worries about something happening to his rocket. So, he plays music from it. However, an invincible monster tries to attack the vehicle, causing Jimmy and his robot dog, Goddard, to escape the planet carefully.
When the two come back to Earth and into the lab, Jimmy finds Carl and Sheen there, upset over two different things. Carl couldn’t get a pet due to his allergies, and Sheen got rejected from the school choir. But something comes out of the crystals that Jimmy and Goddard had collected – a cute little creature called a twonkie. Carl takes it with him, although Jimmy warns him against doing so.
The next day, Carl brings his twonkie to school and shows everyone some tricks it can do. Then it gives birth to various babies, leaving enough for the entire class to have. Jimmy still disapproves of everybody taking one as he worries that something could go wrong.
And so it does, once the twonkies hear music of any kind, including singing. They morph into monstrous and aggressive beasts, and attack the source of the music.
Jimmy announces to all of Retroville not to perform any type of music, including, but not limited to, singing, humming, whistling, or instrument-playing. It’s only a matter of time for Jimmy to get the twonkie monsters back to their home planet – or else they’ll be stuck on Earth for another year.
This TV special offered lots of memorable moments, both good and poor. First with the perks.
When Hugh, Jimmy’s dad, bought a dummy, many of the things it said cracked me up, including an adult joke that had glossed over my head as a child. I especially admire the part when the dummy said that he wanted to lose the amount of weight Hugh weighed. Hugh then said and extended, “Hey!” because it’s rude to ask people about their weight.
When Hugh had the dummy drink water and sing, that also made me laugh. The humor presented in this special is one of the strongest aspects. Even when the characters misbehaved.
For example, when Sheen auditioned for the chorus, but was rejected, Ms. Fowl, the teacher, would make rude remarks about his unbearable singing voice. Principal Willoughby had to remind her to stop. After all, that type of behavior is unprofessional for a teacher.
The clerk at the pet store would show terrible customer service get angry when Carl and his father had bad physical reactions to each pet. Where’s the manager when you need him or her?
Another time where poor etiquette was displayed was when Jimmy returned from Twonkus-3, and wouldn’t really care about Carl and Sheen’s sadness. Carl complained about how he couldn’t get a pet, and Sheen moaned about being rejected from the school choir.
But Jimmy continued to talk about his experience at Twonkus-3. You think he would have known better than that when his friends were blue, regardless of his passion for science.
Of course, characters can’t be perfect or well-behaved all the time. So, I don’t fret over these issues.
But what I can’t believe is when a space monster is in Retroville and everyone can remain allowed outside. The authorities of the town, and other surrounding areas, would have forced everybody into a strict lockdown, where no one could go near doors, windows, or make sounds. This has actually happened in real life, when dangerous people or animals wandered around areas – shelter-in-place orders had gone into effect.
There are other times Retroville would have gone on lockdown or required evacuations in different episodes. But plot matters more, as does cartoon logic.
Regardless of the flaws, the special had a bunch of strengths, such as when Hugh formed a bond with his dummy. The library song also sounded catchy with its fast tempo, lyrics, and notes. The one weakness, however, was the part where if one chewed gum or shouted, he or she would be thrown out. That would fail to attract the general public to the opening of a new place.
Many twists and turns occur as well, both happy and sad. See the special to discover what those surprises offer.
I rate this TV special 4.5 out of 5 stars.