Home Page

www.pojo.com

Episode # 194 - The Art Of Pokemon

It all starts when Ash, Misty, and Brock are walking to Olivine City and they pass the historic city called Whitestone. It was made of marble.

POKEMON! POKEMON! POKEMON!
Brock's guide book explains this phenomena. Generation after generation in Whitestone has painted all of the buildings white. After so many years, the layers have given the impression the city is made of marble. Just as the gang enters the city, they notice a band of Smeargle running amok, painting every bare wall in site with their tails. Dexter quickly explains these Pokémon express themselves by painting and the color in their tail depends upon the Pokémon's mood. Just then, the townsfolk appear in an angry mob, demanding the Smeargle stop this graffiti. Before the scene gets out of control, a famous artist I think is named Jack but forgot his last name appears to claim the Smeargle. All are astonished to find out this world famous abstract artist uses Smeargle to create his masterpieces. He begs the townspeople to allow the Smeargle to express themselves. Apparently, the Smeargle have been through a creative dry-spell and he hopes they will find a way to create beautiful artwork once again. All the Smeargle started to paint on everybody including Ash and Pikachu. Jack takes the group to his art studio and Team Rocket is already there. Team Rocket thinks of an evil plan to steal the art. Jessie just wants to make photocopies of it but Meowth said it isn't a good idea. So Team Rocket just steals the Smeargle. The Smeargle makes a trail of yellow paint for Ash to follow. They find Team Rocket and the Smeargle. Ash uses Pikachu to battle Jessie's Arbok. But Jack saw the sun rising and stops the battle. So Ash gives up and runs. The Smeargle painted the city of Whitestone on the wall and it shortly washed away by rain.
Do! Do! Do! Do! Do! Do! Pokemon Johto!
It shows Team Rocket in their balloon and Jessie's papers flew away all because of Wobbuffet.
Who's that pokemon? Its Beedrill!
By Cassie.
----------------
Episode Title Origin: The art of war, the art of cooking, there's a zillion others.
Teaser: Our heroes approach a not-very-colorful city, but they're about to have a very colorful adventure.
(Very colorful theme sequence here)
In town, they find that a group of Smeargle are painting the town red (among other colors). Ash, Brock, and Misty are accused of being their owners, until their real trainer, Jack Pollockson (character name origin: Jackson Pollock, famous painter). He gives the townspeople a blank check (James betrays his heritage to us again by objecting to the abuse of such a check by saying, "What if he's poor? He may need that million dollars!") to pay for damages. At this point, a TV reporter who was doing a documentary on the town shows up and starts trying to interview. As Brock informs us, Pollockson believes none of his Paintings should be witnessed in any from other than personally (I tend to agree). Jack does, however take our friends to his house (the Smeargle seem to have run amok in it). There, he shows them one of their masterpieces (which bears a striking resemblance to an actual Pollock work). At this point, Team Rocket shows up, but they decide not to steal the painting (since they will obviously be caught), and take a digital picture instead.
Jack explains to us that he feels he may have lost the ability to use his Smeargle to create anything good (he is a perfectionist, remember). Meanwhile, Team Rocket is trying to make copies of the pictures they took (using a photocopier from who-knows-where). Jessie decides this won't work, and the only way to get great are for themselves is to steal the Smeargle. They do exactly that, but the one with the yellow paint leaves a trail by dripping paint. The confrontation between Team Rocket and our heroes is very short, as Jack and the Smeargle find themselves inspired to paint the town at dawn. They do so, and the result is a magnificent work that is the talk of the town. Unfortunately, clouds roll in, and suddenly it begins to rain, and the painting is lost forever (so why the blank check? Remember, that was fresh Smeargle paint that washed away just now). Jack doesn't mind, though, because he's learned something much more valuable: He knows he can still make art. With that knowledge, Ash, Brock, and Misty continue on to Olivine City.
Tag: In Team Rocket's balloon, Jessie decides she can make a brilliant collage of the Smeargle prints. Unfortunately, Wobbuffet pops up and knocks them all out of Jessie's hands and out of the balloon.
Who's that Pokémon: Beedrill
Moral of the Episode: Beauty is best experienced in person.
Extending the Episode:
This is a new feature where for certain episodes I will try and enhance your understanding of the episode.
Vocabulary:
Mausoleum (MAW-zuh-LEE-um)
1. A large, stately tomb or a building housing such a tomb or several tombs.
2. A gloomy, usually large room or building.
Use in Episode: James remarks that his grandfather's house reminds him of a Mausoleum (which doesn't bode too well for his grandfather, I would say)
Definitions from American Heritage Dictionary Links:
http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pollock/
Information on Jackson Pollock (the basis for Jack Pollockson)
http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/picasso_pablo.html
Information on Pablo Picasso
http://artcyclopedia.com/artists/warhol_andy.html
Information on Andy Warhol (should help explain one of the episode's jokes)
Analysis: I must say, I really enjoyed this episode. In case you didn't know, I like to work Pokémon into all my art work, especially a certain Psychic one. In any case, the writers here did a very good job putting in multiple levels, and I think that adults could enjoy this episode very much. As you may have noticed, there's been a lot of focus on art in season 4, what with the painter in "The Light Fantastic," Todd in the Search for Articuno trilogy, and Jack Pollockson in this episode. This wasn't a terribly funny episode, but it was a lot of fun. I learned a lot about art in doing research for this review (I did not know that the Chicago Art Institute's "Mao" was painted by Andy Warhol, for example). I hope we see a lot more episodes with this kind of thought put into them.
Steven Reich
Webmaster Pokéwatch
http://www.smbhq.com/users/pokewatch/
www.pojo.com