Getting back into some more music based videos without it being music videos. That’s called a loophole boys and girls. Anyway, we’re getting into some…questionable morals here with this short and I would love to take a look at what you guys might notice or feel off about when watching. For this, we look at an empty bass case of Applejack’s and a couple of familiar faces that were behind it. If I were to give a moral for this short, it would be to stick to your convictions even in the face of an adversary. Either that or keep your bedroom door locked in case of very old and forgetful grannies trying to sell off your vintage game system thinking it was a fancy paperweight.
Thanks Exposition Jack for the discussion of apples. Wait, I think I have that backwards. I don’t have any problems with exposition sentences, especially with a short that’s about two minutes. It gets what we need to know out of the way to move onto the next steps of the plot and story. For this one, it’s Granny Smith accidentally selling off Applejack’s bass to a couple of suspicious brothers. Wonder who that could be that’s been involved with the Apple Family before.
See, if people think Sunset’s hair is supposed to be bacon, I’m pretty sure they didn’t see Flim and Flam yet. And of course they’re pawn shop owners instead of inventors of get rich quick schemes. But don’t get it twisted. Pawn shops are still a breeding ground for shifty dealers and haggling. And somehow must’ve haggled a certain boneless rubber chicken from someone. I can probably guess they have super curly hair and maybe an accordion.
Wow. They really do have everything under the sun, including references to items from Season 1 of the show. Anybody else feeling Pinkie Keen today?
Now I’ll say this much. That bass is not worth $1000. Just from a quick search I think the highest I found was a cosplay prop from Adventure Time with Marceline’s ax bass or a full upright bass and that didn't break $800. Secondly, for you to buy it from a garage sale for two buck and increase the price to that is criminal in itself. So I would be on the girl’s side if that’s all that was happening.
So another thing that’s questionable is the fact that I’m not sure how pawn shops work in this case. If something was sold by accident and you can prove that it does belong to you, can you just give back the $2 it was sold for and call it even? I’ll say it’s not entirely fair for the Flim Flam bros. only because they probably did drive around a few garage sales to get the products they wanted to sell at a better price and make back the profit of gas and travel. The Flim Flam bros. aren’t fully innocent with denying the proof staring them in the face with Applejack’s initials on the strap and just plain denying everything.
Hand to Luna, I didn’t mean to pause exactly here, but I’m using this image anyway. Mostly for this horrific face on Pinkie Pie and this possible rocking horse that reminds me of Spike the dragon a little bit. Especially with those concerned eyes looking back at Pinkie.
Ok see, NOW I can see this being at least a $900 bass with the detailing and paint job via magic transformation. Also the Flim Flam bros. are kind of jerks for even suggesting something like “I bet you can’t even play the bass.” Ok so what if she had just bought it and was learning it? This amount of shredding was fine, but if the initials on the strap wasn’t convincing enough, then how is being able to play better?
And this is where my biggest concerns lie. The fact that they had to muscle and threaten a little bit with this stance just to get their way. That’s not how your protagonists should be, right? That’s not to say that protagonists can’t stand up for themselves when wronged, but they didn’t even think of haggling or compromising. Just scowling. As businessmen, I understand not just selling this back for the $2 because, yes, they did have to travel to get the stuff they needed to sell off so there are things like gas and work fees to think about. Maybe an actual price that they can afford like $100-200 range? Maybe have the girls chip in the get a lower amount so that they get the bass back and Flim and Flam still walk away with a profit? I know you would want the main characters to succeed, but not by muscling in on it when a legitimate transaction was done. Maybe I would be more on the girl’s side if they showed Flim and Flam swindle or confuse Granny Smith out of the bass instead of Granny selling it by accident.
So Flim and Flam decided on a trade of interest. We give the bass back and you work with us to promote the pawn shop. That’s honestly fair enough since they needed something to help get their shop known. And what a better way to do that than with a bass playing banana? I don’t know who came up with that idea, but sure why not?
 |
| Granny Smith: “Since when do you play the bass?” |
Oh Granny. Never change. Just from this line alone I do want to believe that she was confused and probably taken advantage of by the Flim Flam bros. just to get that bass at an incredibly cheap price. For a garage sale, I could see it going for $50 max. At least with this ending, it’s not completely on the side of the protagonist since there’s still some consequences to trying to do business with swindlers. But look on the bright side AJ. That banana really compliments the orange tones in your bass.
And that was the Case for the Bass, a somewhat questionable short with some business morals I can’t fully agree and disagree on. When I re-watched this short, my mind went to The Gift of the Maud Pie, where something similar like this happened. A trade or deal that wouldn’t be completely fair and having to try to re-do the deal not through compromise, but aggression and force. I don’t know if it makes for a good thing to have kids watch or even understand. Maybe they wanted to stick with the basic “they’re good so it’s supposed to go in the good guy’s direction” instead of the idea of fairness. But then again, that might be evil Starlight talk with the idea of fairness. Probably not my favorite short, but I am always entertained by Flim and Flam mostly because of their tone and classy con man demeanor. They’re just a fun antagonist to watch just because they take their roles as swindlers so seriously that it always looks like they’re having fun. I’m Penny Wrights and I’m somehow craving banana pudding all of a sudden.
