Baloo has his liscense suspended, so Rebecca takes it upton herself to fly the delivery runs herself, with the aid of a book 'How To Fly Any Airplane In 3 Easy Lessons'.

Starring:
Rebecca, Baloo, Don Karnage, Kit

Appearances by:
Maddog, Dumptruck, Wildcat

Other/New Characters:
Prince Neverhasbeenbroke (hehe I can't spell)

We begin in the Sea Duck where Don Karnage has just hijacked the plane and is threatening Baloo, Kit and Rebecca with his sword. Since when does Rebecca come along on crago runs??

Rebecca: "You're in big trouble, mister! Where are your credentials?"
Karnage: "Read my lips - I am a pirate. I do not need credentials!"

Karnage demands that they had over the rubies they're apparantly carrying. Baloo, looking quite bored, actually, tells Karnage that he's mistaken, and that there are no rubies.
Kit, the quick little devil, catches on to Baloo's game and backs him up. Rebecca isn't so co-operative... Karnage starts getting narky and Rebecca tells Baloo to "give him the rubies, before he gets angry."
(Karnage: "Yes, Baloo, before he get's angry!")
Baloo, still Mr. Calm and cool, tells Rebecca that she must be confused - they're not carrying rubies, only strawberry jam (silly girl). He then sticks his entire arm into a barrel of jam, and starts munching (slurping?) away.
(Baloo: "Mmmmm-mmmmm. Finger lickin' good!"). Eeewwwwwww.
Karny looks positivly discusted, especially when Baloo drops some on his shoe! Hahahaha.

Unfortunatly, Rebecca seems to be having a bit of an off day and, thinking the rubies are misplaced, goes into a frenzied panic demanding Baloo tell her when the rubies are.

Rebecca: "I have a right to know these things! Now where did you hide the rubies?!"
Karnage: "Yes, yes, the rubies! Tell her so I can eavsdrop!"

(Dammit Becky - get with the program!)
Meanwhile, Kit jumps across the plane, looks out the window and (with a sly look) pretends to see a shore patrol plane. Karnage, now not so confident, makes a dramatic (and very quick) exit

Karnage: "I am feeling forgiving today. But, beware the dread pirate, Don Karnage!"

So, now that the Sea Duck's pirate free, the trio head back toward Cape Suzette, with Rebecca cracking the sads at Baloo for apparantly never telling her whats going on. Baloo, with an air of overconfidence, picks up the radio,

Baloo: "Yoo hoo, air pirates. You sure you don't want any of this dee-liscious strawberry jam?"
Karnage: "No!"
Baloo: "Cos that'd where I hid the rubies!"
Rebecca: "In the jam??"
Karnage: "In the jam?!"

The pirates planes screech to a halt (in mid-air), and turn to chase the Sea Duck. Kit's a little uneasy,

Kit: "I don't thik you should ocunt your pirates until they're dispatched, Baloo. We aren't safe in Cape Suzette yet!"

Baloo's confidence is shattered when he requests clearance from air partol for entry into Cape Suzette, only to be told that he has to wait as there's a bit of a que ahead of him (two planes and a blimp, to be precise). But, with the pirates on his tail, he decides that waiting isn't an option and zooms in through the cliffs anyway. Yay! They made it :)
An officer later shows up at Cape Suzette and tells Baloo that his liscense is suspended for a week, for entering Cape Suzette without permission. (Baloo, obviously, is not at all thrilled and looks positivly murderous as he rolls up his sleeve preparing to punch the guy!)

With no liscense, Baloo's now wondering who's going to fly the runs until he gets it back. In particular, the 'big job' Rebecca's got lined up for the afternoon - delivering a whole iceburg to a dessert prince, who paid Higher For Hire 50,000 shaboozies (is that how you spell it?!) upfront. Dum de dum - enter Rebecca! Along with her $100 book "How To Fly Any Airplane In 3 Easy Lessons" Sounds like a recipe for trouble to me!

So here we go - Rebecca claims Baloo's pilot cap and takes the controls, Kit assumes his usual position as navigator and Baloo is left standing in the background to offer Rebecca a little (unwanted) help. After a slightly rocky take off, along with a little upsidedown flying, Rebecca manages to successfully airlift an iceburg and head off toward the dessert. To Baloo's dismay, he's banished to the iceburg by Rebecca to practise his figure skating :) for the remainder of the flight.

Just as they're approaching the dessert, Karnage and the pirates appear and open fire on the Sea Duck. In a crisis like this, Rebecca does what any normal person would do - let go of the controls and consult your book, of course! Kit, unable to do anything about the situation, hides behind the dash board with a cry of: "Miss Cunningham! Look out!"
The Iron Vulture opens its beak and engulfs the entire ice burg, the Sea Duck and it's occupants, and also Baloo (who's gotten himself tied up in the tow rope). Gibber whispers something into Karnage's ear.

Karnage: "What do you mean the iceburg is too heavy?"

The Vulture plummets toward the ground due to the weight of the iceburg. Engines - full throttle - no more problems. Yay. :)

Rebecca and Kit exit the Sea Duck and run over to Baloo, who is still tied to the iceburg and hanging by his waist (or belly... whatever). Rebecca has a brief giggle at Baloo's misfortune, and Karnage explains his brilliant theory:

Karnage: "You're cargo! Most, most interesting! Let me see - last time, you hid red rubies in red strawberry jam. This time, you have a clear iceburg. What could you possibly be hiding in something clear?"
Gibber mutters something in his ear
Karnage: "No, not glass. DIAMONDS!"
And you gotta love the reaction:
Kit: "What's he talking about Baloo?"
Baloo: "Beats me"

Rebecca attempts to convince Karnage otherwise, by telling the truth
(Rebecca: "But it really is only ice, Mr. Karnage. We were delivering it to a dessert prince!")
(Polite, isn't she)
Karnage, of course, doesn't believe them and orders his men to chop up the iceburg. Rebecca protests ("Not my iceburg!") but she, Baloo and Kit are all thrown in the brig. Baloo pushes Karnage's temper just a little too far and scores himself a nice angle ball and chain as well (Shoudn't have made that crack about his mother, Baloo!). In the brig, Rebecca is busy rifting through her book looking up the most logical words you would look for in a "How to Fly" book, such as "Pirates" and "Escape" before finally realizing that the book contains nothing on any of these topis and IT IS WORTHLESS! (deep breath)

Rebecca then bursts into (rather comical) tears and has a bit of a breakdown. Kit, meanwhile, is sitting on a crate over in the corner, keeping himself occupied trying to protect the only candle in the room from being put of by water dripping from the ceiling. Quite a cute little scene here :)

Baloo actually looks sorry for Rebecca.

Rebecca: "We need heee-eeellp!"
Baloo: "Woah there boss lady! Since when does Miss 'I have a liscense and you don't' listen to me?"
Rebecca: "But Baloo, we're trapped!
Baloo: "I'm not listening! Hmm hmm hmmmmmm hmm hmm"
Rebecca: "Baloo I admit it! Just because I'm your boss doesn't mean I know how to do you're job! That book did get me into trouble. I shouldn't have listened to it. I - I should have listened to you.

Kudos to Becky. She admits she was wrong! She often finds herself having to admit to Baloo that she's stuffed up... This ep, in 'The Time Bandit', in 'The Bigger They Are, The Louder They Oink', 'For A Fuel Dollars More' etc etc etc.

Baloo, aggreeing to help Rebecca, demands she hand over the book, and oh does he look like he's been waiting the whole episode to do this.

Baloo: "Now, let put this thing to some good use."

He tosses the book to Kit, who jumps onto Baloo's shoulders and sticks his head out of the prison doors window.

Kit: "Mr. Guard, your shoelace is untied"

Dumptruck looks down at his bear feet, and Kit drops the book on his head, knocking him out. Geez, how thick can you get!

Baloo, Kit and Rebecca, discuised as pirates, head back toward the Sea Duck. I have to say here, considering Kit actually was a pirate, his getup is getup is probably the most non-convincing out of the three of them (four, if you include Baloo's ankle chain, which looks so cute with a moustache, hehe).
Anyways, they find that the pirates have chopped up the iceburg and, not suprisingly, found absoultly nothing (except ice) which totally dumbfounds Karnage. He decides to go ask the prisoners what the deal with the ice is, and he walks right past the discuised Baloo, Kit and Rebecca. Que Baloo - drop your ankle ball.

Karnage: "Uno momento... Those are no pirates. Those are the prisioners!"

The three make a break for the Sea Duck, shedding their pirate gear as they go. Passing the ice/snow, Rebecca stops to comment

Rebecca: "I can't believe they chopped up the WHOLE thing! The prince will nev-"

Thankfully Baloo grabs her and keeps running, only to be cornered by Maddog. Baloo examines a button on the wall

Baloo: "What's this red button do?"
Maddog: "Oh, that's the bomb bay door release"
Baloo: "Thank you!"

And he pushes the button. The doors open, and the pile of snow and the Sea Duck begin to fall. The Vulture, now considerably lighter, and the engines still on full throttle, is sent rocketing up into the sky. Baloo, Rebecca and Kit manage to climb aboard the Sea Duck, only to have Baloo's ball and chain get stuck in to door, preventng him from being able to reach the controls, hence stopping him from flying.

Baloo: "This things jammed, I can't fly!"
Rebecca: "I can..."
Baloo: "You!?"
Rebecca: "If you tell me how. I'll listen!"
Baloo: "Then strap in sweetheart"
Rebecca: "Now, which one is the starter button?"

Uh oh... Personally, I truely think Kit would have been the wiser choice here. Underage, yes, but at least he knows what he's doing! I don't think I'd want someone like Rebecca flying the plane in this kind of senario...
But, with Baloo's expertise, Rebecca manages to land the plane on the pile of show - which landed directly on top of the dessert prince's palace. Rebecca, feeling like a failure, admits defeat and goes to apologise to the prince for delivering him a mashed up iceburg. Surprisingly, the prince (voiced marvously by Jim Cummings, I might add!) is thrilled to the core, saying he was going to have his (many, many) servants chop up the ice anyway to make a ski slope. Looks like the pirates saved him the job!

And, to conclude the episode, we fade out with a delightful argument -

Rebecca: "Course you still don't have a liscence Baloo, not for another week. I'll have to fly the runs til then."
Baloo: "What?! You're crazy! Gimme my cap back!"
Kit: "Can I fly? Can I??"
Baloo and Rebecca: "No!"
etc etc etc..

Quote Of The Episode
Karnage: "Read my lips - I am a pirate. I do not need credantials"

Rebecca: "Give him the rubies, Baloo, before he gets angry"
Karnage: "Yes, Baloo, before he gets angry!"

Karnage: "I do NOT want any of your stinking jam!"

Karnage: "100 tonnes of ice? Why would anyone want 100 tonnes of ice?!"
Gibber whispers in his ear
Karnage: "Perhaps... But where would they get a straw big enough"

Karnage: "I will ask the prisioners. No... I will boil them in vinegar first. Vinegar, and maybe some salt... THEN I will ask them!"

Karnage's face when Baloo eats the jam then drips it on Karny's shoe.

Wildcat trying to get through the door of the Sea Duck carrying the prop.

Baloo and Kit screaming for dear life when Rebecca attempts to land the Sea Duck.

Karnage and Gibber getting nailed to the ceiling of the Iron Vulture due to the weight of the iceburg dragging it down.

Rebecca being suprisingly polite to Karnage (Mr. Karnage?!).

Rebecca breaking down into tears when her beloved book fails her.

Kit's war with the candle and dripping water

Baloo's evil grin when he asks Rebecca for the book.

Dumptruck checking his shoelaces - whilst not wearing any shoes.

Animation booboo - Check out Gibber's hat when the Iron Vulture takes the iceburg onboard then plummets! It's flashing brown then tan then brown then tan...

I have to say that I loooove this episode! Clever story, some absolutly priceless lines and beautiful animation tooboot!

Although this episode comes in 9th with the Talespin timeline, this was actually the first episode to be aired to televsion. If I had to pick an episode, excluding Plunder and Lightning, to premiere the series with, I would have to say that this one is a pretty good choice. All the main charcters (barr Louie and Shere Khan) are present, the story line's clever and interesting, the characters are all acting 100% within their personalities and the humour level's high - Karnage especially, had some great lines (as always).

You kind of notice in this episode that Disney is subtly making sure each of the charatcers are being introduced, without blatantly doing so, as if we are seeing for the first time and know nothing about them.

Some examples!

Karnage (getting frustrated) saying his name: "It is Karnage. Don Karnage!"
Karnage: "I am a pirate. I do not need credentials"
So now we know his name and that's he is a pirate!

Rebecca: "Wait a minute! I'm the owner of Higher For Hire"
Ta-da - we now know who Rebecca is!

Rebecca: "That's the navigator's seat"
Kit: "That's me!"
And hence Kit is introduced as the navigator.

I know that many of the charatcers often say things like this, but not all in the one episode and not all within the first 5 minutes! It appears to me that Disney is giving us an alternative intro to Plunder and Lightning. I could be (hehe and probably am) way off base, but oh well. It's just my personal view. I think it definatly accounts for the 'timeline glitch' - all the charcters are acting like 'Plunder and Lightning' never happened. Which always annoys me... They do this in 'It Came From Beneath The Sea Duck' too - Kit says the pirates have "never gotten past the cliff guns" and Maddog and Dumptruck don't even recognise Kit when they see him! Arg, the frustration... Anyway, that's enough out of me :) All in all, this is a quality viewing episode!

Til next time! - Lee ^-^