unnatural

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Revision as of 16:14, 16 August 2021

"It's a giant Bubs from outer space!"

Bubs has grown to 100 feet tall! How will the other characters deal with this decidedly unnatural disaster?

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, The Cheat, Bubs (King Bubsgonzola Supreme), Homestar Runner, The King of Town, Marzipan, Strong Sad, Coach Z, Pom Pom

Places: Computer Room, Strong Badia, The King of Town's Castle, The Field, The Classroom, The Island, Bathroom of the Brothers Strong (Easter egg)

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, February 5, 2007

Running Time: 4:10

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Six

Transcript

STRONG BAD: I am Strong Bad, and I am not making an "I approve this email" joke.

subject: storms

Hey Strongbad,

'Sup, man? So I was just wonderin', does Strong Badia
ever have natural disasters, like hurricanes 'n stuff?

{Strong Bad enunciates "'Sup, man", "wonderin'", and "'n stuff" and reads the lack of a name as "From, Nobody".}

STRONG BAD: {dodges around} Hey! Whoa! Heh! Watch where you're flinging those apostrophes nobody. You could hurt somebody. You could hurt... yourself.

{Strong Bad turns away from his Lappy as quiet music begins to play.}

STRONG BAD: {speaking as if in a public service announcement} Hi. I'm regular Strong Bad. If you or someone you love is an anonymous apostrophe flinger, please call our hot-free number. {waves his hand as 1-800-APOSTROHOLIC appears in yellow lettering} Or give them a charley horse right away.

{Strong Bad turns back to his computer.}

STRONG BAD: As for H.R. Hurricanesnstuf, we've dealt with disasters, but mainly those of a decidedly UNnatural s-s-s-sort.

{Cut to Strong Bad and The Cheat having a tea party in Strong Badia.}

STRONG BAD: —and that's when I tampered with the DNA evidence!

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises}

{The ground shakes as the table bounces and the dishes clatter.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! {a second shake} What the—

{Cut to a long shot as the ground bounces a third time.}

STRONG BAD: Uh-oh. The King of Town must be getting a mega-physical.

{An enormous gray foot crashes down from the sky, destroying a section of the fence and sending everything flying.}

STRONG BAD: WHA!

THE CHEAT: {simultaneously} {very startled The Cheat noises}

{Japanese music plays as a pan upwards reveals the giant to be Bubs, dubbed "King Bubsgonzola Supreme".}

SINGERS: King Bubsgonzola! King- King Bubsgonzola, Supreme!

BUBS: {roars}

STRONG BAD: {terrified, as the camera zooms in} It's a giant Bubs from outer space! {the camera jumps back and starts zooming in again} Or... mutated by radiation! {the camera jumps back and starts zooming in yet again} Or... from the depths of the ocean! {the camera jumps back and starts zooming in one more time} Or... flushed down the toilet!

{Homestar appears a few feet from Bubs's giant foot.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh my crap! Bubs turned us all into ants! That fortune cookie knew what he was talking about! C'mon, everyone. Let's go steal a slice of chocolate cake from that picnic table over there.

{As Homestar is about to run, we wipe to a silhouette of Bubs as the background flashes orange with every crushing step as he stomps to The King of Town's castle. Japanese music is heard. Bubs roars.}

{Cut to The King of Town sitting at a table with a few bites taken out of it as the ceiling of the castle begins to fall.}

THE KING OF TOWN: Ooh! Whoo! What am I, getting my mega-physical?

{Transition to Marzipan and Strong Sad at a "Free Art Classes for Losers" seminar. Marzipan has painted a picture of a big apple and a tree, while Strong Sad has painted a yellow bar of soap with the word "Death" on it. Asian music and Bubs's footsteps can be heard in the background.}

MARZIPAN: See? The apple's not giant. It's just in the foreground.

{Bubs's giant foot crashes away the sign and Strong Sad's painting as Strong Sad runs away screaming.}

BUBS: {roars}

MARZIPAN: {unfazed} See? Bubs' foot isn't giant. It's just in the foreground.

{Cut back to Strong Bad at his computer.}

STRONG BAD: Things were looking grim, so we called an emergency town meeting. We needed an organized forum for people to shout out their ideas all at the same time!

{Cut to a slow pan of characters at a Town Meeting.}

STRONG BAD: I think we should kill it! I think we should kill it!

STRONG SAD: {overlapping} We must try and understand this creature! We must try and understand this creature!

THE CHEAT: {overlapping} {angry The Cheat noises}

COACH Z: {overlapping} I say we try to run the picket fence at him. A box in one!

MARZIPAN: {overlapping} It's just in the foreground! People, it's just in the foreground!

THE CHEAT: {inexplicably passing by again} {angry The Cheat noises}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {overlapping} We must protect the queen! I have six legs!

{Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {sarcastic} So of course, the nerdy scientist-type had it all figured out.

{Cut to Strong Sad standing next to a chalkboard and a boombox.}

STRONG SAD: I knew we had to try and understand this poor creature. So I recorded his roars and played them back at high-speed. Listen to my extremely scientific findings! {presses play}

BUBS: {roaring}

{Strong Sad presses fast-forward.}

BUBS: {slightly faster roar}

{Strong Sad presses fast-forward.}

BUBS: {slightly faster, semi-coherent} Chicken wings!

{Strong Sad presses fast-forward}

BUBS: {in normal tone} Don't eat my chicken wings!

{Strong Sad presses stop.}

STRONG SAD: Something in Bubs' chicken wings must have caused him to mutate and he's been trying to warn us all alon—

STRONG BAD: Cut to the chase. How do we kill it?

STRONG SAD: We don't. I was able to mix-up an anti-chicken-wing... which is really just a bowl of kashi. {he holds up said bowl} It's the culinary opposite of chicken wings.

{Drums play during a pan to the chalkboard, then the chalkboard fades into reality as silhouettes of Coach Z with a catapult, The Cheat, Marzipan, Strong Bad, Strong Sad, and giant Bubs stand at the ready. Coach Z lets fly the catapult of kashi. Bubs can be heard swallowing it.}

BUBS: {roars as he suddenly shrinks back to normal size} ...don't eat my chicken wings!

STRONG SAD: We know! The chicken wings will make us grow a hundred feet tall!

BUBS: No they won't!

STRONG BAD: Then why didn't you want us to eat your chicken wings?

BUBS: 'Cause they mine! And they good!

MARZIPAN: Then how did you grow a hundred feet tall?

BUBS: Oh, that. Well, it's kind of embarrassing, but I accidentally flushed myself down the toilet while I was shaving.

STRONG BAD: You have to shave?

COACH Z: {leaning in} You have a terlet?!

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {running up holding a bitten leaf above his head} C'mon, you guys! Let's all go jump in somebody's pants! Everybody, single file! {drops leaf and marches away} Hup-two-three-four! Ants...

BUBS: Well, I better mosey on. {Fade cut through black to a beach that looks a lot like The Island.}

{Japanese music plays as Bubs walks out to sea.}

SINGERS: King Bubsgonzola! King-King Bubsgonzola, Supreme!

{A Japanese symbol in gold appears as the screen fades to black. Cut to Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: {heartily} But Strong Badinians {he has some difficulty pronouncing this} are a strong people. We will recover. We will rebuild. We will reduce, reuse, recycle!

{The Paper comes down. After a while, Strong Bad says the following.}

STRONG BAD: We will be kind. We will rewind!

Easter Eggs

Huge in Japan

• Click on H.R. Hurricanesnstuff (prior to the cutaway to Strong Badia) to see a poster for "The Perfectly Baffling World of H.R. Hurricanesnstuff", featuring a variant of the Homestar Puppet resembling H.R. Pufnstuf.
• Click on Homestar's star after he mentions the fortune cookie to see what it said.

• At the end, click on "reduce" to see Strong Bad trying to flush himself down the toilet.

  {Strong Bad spins around in the toilet, grinning, while The Cheat watches. It stops}

  STRONG BAD: Try it again. I think I'm starting to mutate.

  THE CHEAT: {Affirmative The Cheat noises}

  {The Cheat flushes the toilet}

  STRONG BAD: Wheeeeee!

• At the end, click on "reuse" to see a poster of King Bubsgonzola Supreme.
• At the end, click on "recycle" to see Marzipan making Strong Bad recycle.

  {Marzipan and Strong Bad are standing in a field. A recycling box is next to Marzipan.}

  MARZIPAN: No, I heard you say it!

  STRONG BAD: Marzipan, I was just saying other things that start with R-E.

  MARZIPAN: I don't care. You said it. Now let me see your cans.

  STRONG BAD: What!?

Fun Facts

Explanations

• Strong Bad's breaking of the fourth wall is likely in reference to very special episodes, wherein an actor from the TV show will speak directly to the audience at the end of the episode.
• The idea of mutating after being flushed down a toilet is a reference to animals mutating in sewers, an urban myth popularized in science fiction.
• Coach Z suggests sports defensive plays, "box-and-one" and the picket fence. The picket fence is used in many different sports and denotes three or more people in a line defending.
• "1-800-APOSTROHOLIC" refers to addiction centers such as those that help people with alcoholism.
• Homestar's suggestion for everyone to "go jump in somebody's pants" is a reference to the expression "ants in the pants", used to describe someone who is restless or anxious.
• A Charley horse is a term used to describe a leg muscle cramp.

Trivia

• Bubs's roars are really his line "Don't eat my chicken wings!" pitch shifted down 2 octaves.
• The floppy disk container reads "dune 2".
• The line "We will be kind. We will rewind." was added shortly after the email was released.
• When the email was first released, Marzipan's recycle bucket was empty. Cold Ones and Coldson Lite cans were later put inside it.
• Marzipan's recycling bin has a design on the side that consists of several arrows making a star shape. The universally recognized recycling symbol commonly found on recycling bins has a similar design where three arrows form a triangular Möbius strip.
• This is the first time that Strong Bad's toilet is seen.
• This email contains Strong Bad smiling.
• The summary for the Podstar Runner RSS feed reads, "Find out how Free Country USA copes with the most unnatural of disasters."
• The phone number for "1-800-APOSTROHOLIC" is 1-800-276-7876-46542. However, the call will start going through after the eleventh digit is dialed, effectively making the number 1-800-APOSTRO or 1-800-276-7876. As of April 16, 2024, calling it does not connect anywhere.

Remarks

Two The Cheats!?

• In the scene with everyone talking in the meeting, as the camera pans to the right, two The Cheats are seen, and are briefly on the screen at the same time.
• When Strong Sad is explaining how to stop Bubsgonzola, his face is an older design.
• The "reduce" and "recycle" Easter eggs stated above do not work while Strong Bad is saying "We will be kind. We will rewind!". This is probably to accommodate the Easter eggs, which jump back to when they were clicked.
• The music during the apostrophe public service announcement is taken from CGNU.
• Strong Sad's recording of Bubsgonzola's voice is labeled "Bubsgonzola: The Demos".
• The plan to shrink Bubs back to normal was dependent on Bubs's growth being due to something being wrong with his chicken wings. If we accept Strong Sad's logic for his plan, then it shouldn't have worked given that Bubs's growth had a different cause (i.e. he had flushed himself down the toilet).
• The tank in Strong Bad's toilet must refill extremely quickly, given that The Cheat could flush again almost immediately.
• Strong Bad's toilet is pretty big, considering that the lower half of Strong Bad's body can fit inside it.
• The Japanese symbol when Bubs walks into the water resembles 「端」, which can mean "end" (however, this character means the end of a physical object like a street, or an edge; end in the sense intended here should be 「終」 or 「完」).
• The Japanese on the King Bubsgonzola Supreme poster reads 「譲歩の人」 Jōho no Hito, roughly meaning "person of concession" (though the meaning of "concession" is not that of "snack food", rather a synonym for "compromise"). A better translation would be 「売店の人」 Baiten no Hito.

Goofs

• When Strong Bad types "Watch where you're flinging those apostrophes nobody.", he forgets to put a comma between "apostrophes" and "nobody."
• After the apostroholic public service announcement, the words "could hurt...yourself" disappear off the screen; then "hurt...yourself" reappears, but the "could" is gone. As the screen pages down, the "c" in "could" can be seen briefly.
• Strong Bad appears to insert an extra space in between the comma after "Hurricanesnstuf" and "we've".
• Throughout the email, Marzipan's dress has one button which is not shiny like the others.
• The red circle on the record button on Strong Sad's tape player turns white when the play button is pressed, and turns red again once the recording stops.
• The tape in the boombox is playing while moving from right to left when it can only play when moving from left to right.

Inside References

One lump or two?

• Marzipan mentioned DNA evidence being tampered with while at a tea party with Homsar in the previous email, strong badathlon.
  • The table and tea set from that scene are reused in a palette-swapped version for this email. Strong Bad's coloration is used for the tea set, though the previous tea set did not match either Marzipan's or Homsar's coloring.
• The fortune cookie Easter egg is in the style of the old Fortune Cookies game.
  • Before the paper is fully unfolded, it also says other things, like the original.
• Strong Bad also asked Homestar if he had to shave in caper.
• Strong Sad's painting has the word "Death" written on it.
• The "free art classes for losers." sign is a reference to the "free concert for birds" sign from marzipan, and the similar "free concert" sign from Seasonal Sweaters.
• Marzipan teaching painting is also a reference to Joy of Painting, where Marzipan (albeit with an afro and beard) paints a landscape.
• The King of Town appears to be eating his table. Similarly, the leaf that Homestar carries appears to have bite marks taken out of it.
• Bubsgonzola is a portmanteau.
• Homestar believes that Bubs has transformed them all into ants.
• Strong Sad retrieves the bowl of kashi from hammerspace; he just reaches off-screen and the bowl appears in his hand.

Real-World References

• "I am Strong Bad, and I am not making an 'I approve this email' joke" is a reference to American political campaign advertising. Candidates are required by law to state their name and approval of the ad.
• King Bubsgonzola Supreme is a reference to kaiju monsters such as Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Mothra. The "King" in his name might allude to King Ghidorah or King Kong.
  • Furthermore, the methods that Strong Bad suggests how King Bubsgonzola Supreme got big are common plot devices in kaiju films.
  • The scene in which King Bubsgonzola Supreme makes his entrance and the theme music plays, as well as the end scene, are references to The Godzilla Power Hour.
  • The scene with Bubs going into the water and the Japanese symbol is a reference to Godzilla movies, some of which contain a similar sequence (usually at the end of the story) in which Godzilla slowly makes his way back out to sea after wreaking havoc or defeating an enemy.
• The "gonzola" in King Bubsgonzola Supreme's name refers to Gorgonzola cheese.
• The title and growl observed during King Bubsgonzola Supreme's appearance is reminiscent of the beginning of boss fights from the Nintendo game The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and later games in the series.
• H.R. Hurricanesnstuff is a reference to H.R. Pufnstuf, an infamously surreal kids' show with a brightly colored dragon as the star which began running in 1969.
• Strong Bad's line "Cut to the chase. How do we kill it?" is taken from the movie Hellboy.
• The drumbeats occurring when Bubsgonzola arrives, and when Bubs is leaving in the final two scenes, are taken from Age of Empires II.
• Coach Z's suggestion for dealing with the monster by "running the Picket Fence at him" is a reference to a line in the film Hoosiers, originally delivered by Dennis Hopper.
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a slogan used by conservationists to encourage consumers to save resources.
• "We will be kind. We will rewind" is a reference to "Be kind, rewind", a slogan once commonly used by video rental stores (such as Blockbuster) to remind the customer to rewind VHS tapes prior to returning them.
• The sound and shot of Bubs shrinking is a reference to the arcade game Rampage.

Fast Forward

• The King Bubsgonzola Supreme poster is reused in the following email, the movies.
• The DNA scene would be revisited in the big toon DNA Evidence, where it is revealed that Strong Bad's role in tampering with the DNA evidence was simply in prompting Bubs to tamper with it.

DVD Version

• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch the DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Matt Chapman, Mike Chapman, Strong Bad)

MATT: This is a crazy email, Mike. It's just crazy.

MIKE: Yeah?

MATT: Yeah.

MIKE: What's crazy about it?

STRONG BAD: Because it's crazy.

MIKE: Oh, {laughing} Strong Bad!

STRONG BAD: {Matt tries not to laugh} Yeah.

MIKE: Wow, that's pretty crazy.

STRONG BAD: Yeah. See? I say it's crazy, and I'm in it.

MIKE: {unfazed} That must mean it's really crazy.

STRONG BAD: Yeah. I mean... this is... this is just nuts. It's unnatural, it's an unnatural sbemail. It doesn't fit in the natural lineage of sbemails.

MIKE: {takes a breath} Okay.

STRONG BAD: You don't believe me?

MIKE: I don't believe you. Man.

STRONG BAD: Oh. Well...{pause until "H.R. Hurricanesnstuf"} Ooh. Click on that! {Mike chuckles} Hey, click on that.

MIKE: I...can't.

STRONG BAD: Why not?

MIKE: I don't have a clicker.

STRONG BAD: Oh.

MIKE: {simultaneously} A mouse.

STRONG BAD: Oh. Well, but there's a good Easter egg.

MIKE: Did ya ever call the remote control "the clicker?"

STRONG BAD: Uh...my—maybe—

MIKE: {overlapping, chuckling} Your—in your family?

STRONG BAD: —maybe my great-grandma called it "the clicker".

MIKE: Yeah.

STRONG BAD: She called it "the pterodactyl that flies out of a stone box that turns the TV on for you". {pause as the King Bubsgonzola Supreme theme plays} Whoa...that's a tall Bubs! That's one tall order of Bubs.

MIKE: Is that like the, um...Zelda bosses, does it always do that? Show their name...

STRONG BAD: {overlapping} Yeah, it gives 'em a little intro, and...tells you their name.

MIKE: Mm-hmm.

STRONG BAD: Mm.

MIKE: Dodongo, maybe? {chuckles}

STRONG BAD: {chuckles} Yeah, gotta watch out for Dodongo! Now, why is Ho— Homestar thinks that he's—we've all been turned into ants?

MIKE: Yeah.

STRONG BAD: —including, like, the world and objects around us?

MIKE: Everything but Bubs, apparently, he thinks has turned into ants.

STRONG BAD: Whoooa! The KOT was eatin' his table, Mike.

MIKE: What do you think of Strong Sad's painting there, Strong Bad?

STRONG BAD: What was it, soap?

MIKE: A bar of soap that says "Death" on it instead of "Dial?" {chuckles slightly}

STRONG BAD: Ohhhhh! Death soap.

MIKE: Yeah, it's pretty...it's heady stuff.

STRONG BAD: That's what he uses to...to not wash. {Mike chuckles} It just makes you smell like death.

MIKE: {laughs}

STRONG BAD: Ooh, the picket fence! We shoulda run the picket fence at 'im!

MIKE: Did they run the picket fence— did they run at, uh...

STRONG BAD: Cedar Knob?

MIKE: Cedar Knob, {laughs} "a buncha mites"?

STRONG BAD: Don't get caught watchin' the paint dry, {Mike laughs} Mike. {pause until Strong Sad explains his plan} Uuugh. Listen to this brainiac talk.

MIKE: Strong Sad, your brother— You don't like Strong Sad?

STRONG BAD: No!

MIKE: You— ...wait!

STRONG BAD: A new development has occurred...

MIKE: {overlapping} Wait— {laughs}

STRONG BAD: ...in my sbemails. {Mike continues laughing} I no longer like my little brother.

MIKE: Ahh. Uh—little brother?

STRONG BAD: Yeah.

MIKE: Oh, okay.

STRONG BAD: {imitating Bubs' pronunciation on the tape} Don't eat his chicken waaangs! I like that drawing of—of Bubs, though, on the— on the wall— on the chalkboard that he made...

MIKE: {overlapping} His...scientific diagram?

STRONG BAD: Yeah, that's a {trails off} pretty good-drawing Bubs. {speaking normally} Look at 'im! Fat Bubs...

MIKE: He's motioning you to come here.

STRONG BAD: Yeah, come 'ere! {poorly imitating Bubs} "Come 'ere, guys, I'm da Buuubs..." {Mike laughs} "...contessa man."

MIKE: {laughing} Contessa man?

STRONG BAD: {Bubs shrinks} Whoa, that was a good sound effect!

MIKE: Coach Z's a good shot with that {laughing} catapult—

STRONG BAD: {simultaneously, also laughing} He is!

MIKE: —that medieval catapult.

STRONG BAD: Yeah! Why don't...we play with that cat—that catapult, like every Strong Bad {chuckling} email?

MIKE: I think that catapult only exists in silhouette mode, Strong Bad. {chuckling}

STRONG BAD: {laughing} Oh-ho...that's why.

MIKE: Yeah, that's exactly why.

STRONG BAD: We only get silhouette mode in the third frame...

MIKE: {simultaneously} Maybe the next— {laughs}

STRONG BAD: ...of our Dennis the Menace cartoon.

MIKE: That's right.

{pause until Homestar runs up}

MIKE: {laughs}

STRONG BAD: Ants in pants! That's a big leaf.

MIKE: Yeah, well, he's a small ant.

STRONG BAD: {overlapping} It's backwards.

MIKE: Uh, is...going back to the, uh...

STRONG BAD: {simultaneously} Uh...they always go into the sea. {Japanese text appears} I'm sure that's wrong. {Mike laughs} Whatever that...Japanese character was.

MIKE: Yeah, uh, M—

STRONG BAD: I bet you take about two seconds to research that stuff.

MIKE: Yeah, probably—Matt probably did a two-second Google translation for...

STRONG BAD: Yup.

MIKE: "Orange man blue face".

Fun Facts

Watch out for Dodongo!

• A "clicker" is a slang term typically used for a TV's remote control, rather than a computer mouse.
  • Strong Bad's mention of a pterodactyl in a stone box refers to The Flintstones series. In the cartoon's stone age setting, modern technology would be shown by having animals perform the actions instead. The opening of spinoff show The Flintstones Kids featured a stone box labeled "remote" that, at the push of a button, released a small bird that flew over to the TV and turned it on.
• Bosses in all but one of the 3D games in the Zelda series have intro videos with a name caption. Most dodongos are regular enemies; at the time of this email, the only one to appear as a boss with a captioned intro was King Dodongo from Ocarina of Time.
• Mike and Strong Bad both quote the 1986 basketball film Hoosiers. They reference the team using the picket fence play against the rival team from Cedar Knob.
• Dennis the Menace is an American comic strip. Like many dialogue-driven comics, a panel will occasionally depict the characters in silhouette to add visual interest.

External Links

• watch "unnatural"
• watch "unnatural" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "unnatural"
• forum thread re: "unnatural"