unnatural
From Homestar Runner Wiki
| Strong Bad Email #166 |
|
Bubs has grown to 100 feet tall! What are the other characters to do?
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: February 5, 2007
Running Time: 4:10
Page Title: Lappy 486
Contents |
Transcript
STRONG BAD: I am Strong Bad, and I am not making an "I approve this email" joke.
subject: stormsHey 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}
{Asian 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' 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 Towns castle. Asian 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 with the word "Death" on it. Asian music and Bubs' footsteps can be heard in the background.}
MARZIPAN: See? The apple's not giant. It's just in the foreground.
{Bubs' 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: {from the tape, very slowly, almost incoherently} Don't eat my chicken wa!
{Strong Sad presses fast-forward.}
BUBS: {slightly faster} Chicken wa!
{Strong Sad presses fast-forward.}
BUBS: {slightly faster} Chicken wa!
{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!...
BUBS: Well, I better mosey on. {Fade cut through black to a beach that looks surprisingly like The Island.}
{Asian 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
- Click on H.R. Hurricanesnstuff (prior to the cutaway to The Field) to see 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.
into ants!
- 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 recyling 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.
- "Bubsgonzola" is a portmanteau of "Bubs" and gorgonzola.
- The idea of mutating after being flushed down a toilet is a reference to things mutating in sewers, a notion popularized by Futurama, the Alligator films, and other creative works.
- 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.
- Reduce, Reuse, Recycle is a slogan used by conservationists to promote consumers to save resources.
- "We will be kind. We will rewind" is a reference to "Be kind, rewind", a slogan formerly used by video rental stores to remind the customer to rewind the VHS tapes they rented prior to returning them.
- 1-800-APOSTROHOLIC refers to addiction centers such as those that help people with alcoholism.
- "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.
- 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.
- When discussing the apple in her painting, Marzipan is referring to the technique called foreshortening, where objects in the foreground appear larger than similarly-sized objects in the background.
Trivia
- Bubs' roars are really his saying "Don't eat my chicken wings!" slowed by approximately 350%.
- The floppy disk container reads "dune 2".
- The Japanese symbol when Bubs walks into the water resembles "
", 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 "
" or "
").
- The Japanese on the King Bubsgonzola Supreme poster reads "
" Jōho no Hito, roughly meaning "person of concession" (though the meaning of "concession" is not that of "Concession Stand", rather a synonym for "compromise"). A better translation would be "売店の人" Baiten no Hito.
- 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 Möbius strip.
Remarks
- In the scene with everyone talking in the meeting, as the camera pans to the right, two The Cheats are seen.
- When Strong Bad is doing the public service announcement he is breaking the Fourth Wall.
- 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.
- 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 make the Easter eggs jump back to the appropriate place when clicked.
- The music during the apostrophe public service announcement is taken from CGNU.
- This is the first time we see Strong Bad's toilet.
- Strong Sad's recording of Bubsgonzola's voice is labeled "Bubsgonzola: The Demos".
Goofs
- Strong Bad's mouth doesn't move when he says "wheeeeee" in the easter egg.
- Before The Cheat reappears on the other side of the screen during the "Town Meeting", two pieces of The Cheat's arm can be seen on each side.
- 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.
- In the scene where Strong Sad catapults Kashi into Bubs' mouth, Marzipan's dress has one button which is not shiny like the others.
- During Strong Bad's public service announcement, clicking on the Lappy's screen does not cause the normal rippling effect.
- Strong Bad's toilet doesn't have anything supporting the tank. In fact, the tank is not even connected to the bowl, which makes it impossible for it to flush.
- The fortune cookie message has poor grammar. It should have either an apostrophe-s next to Bubs , or the word "is" (as in "Bubs's gonna..." or "Bubs is gonna...")
Inside References
- 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.
- The fortune cookie Easter egg is in the style of the old game of the same name.
- Before it is fully unfolded, it also says other things. See Trivia in the Fortune Cookies article for more details.
- Strong Sad's patting his belly makes the same dodgeball noise it made in modeling and Cool Things
- The Easter egg also contains Strong Bad Smiling.
- Homestar makes a reference to pants.
Real-World References
- King Bubsgonzola Supreme is an obvious reference to kaiju monsters such as Godzilla, King Ghidorah, and Mothra. The "King" in his name might allude to King Ghidorah or to 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.
- 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.
- Kashi is a natural foods producer owned By Kellogg's, Inc. It is also the name used to market the company's proprietary combination of 7 whole grains and sesame which appears in the bowl.
- 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.
External Links
- watch "unnatural"
- watch "unnatural" on the old Flash site
- view the Flash file for "unnatural"
- forum thread re: "unnatural"
