The Boy Wander

When Dr. Screwball Jones, a villain from Wander's past, makes a sudden return to force everyone to be happy, Wander transforms into a superhero and does whatever he can to stop him. But no one seems to take it seriously until his entrance, where things get stranger from there.

Episode Summary
After Sylvia wakes up from her rather uncomfortable sleep, She tells Wander that her pillow felt flatter than usual. She turns it over and a feather falls out, shocking him. At first, Wander thinks nothing of it, but then notices his pillow has a whoopee cushion in it. Suddenly, Wander becomes very serious and realizes that an old foe from his past has returned: a guy who thinks he's good, but is really evil, and is going to put a stop to it. With that, Wander turns into a masked and caped detective vigilante, much to Sylvia's confusion.

At the Museum of Ginormous Antiquities, a mysterious figure is shown stealing one of the diamonds on display before the police come to investigate. Then Wander and Sylvia arrive, the former wondering what the trouble is before discovering that the pillows from the gemstone exhibits were being stolen. Wander begins giving orders to get full background checks on the visitors, before saying the robbery was at 3:14. According to him, 3.14 is the digit for pi, which refers to pie which is delicious, which rhymes with wishes. And if wishes were fishes, they's have enough enough to eat! He realizes where the villain is going next and exits the museum, calling Sylvia "old chum" to her confusion.

The mission takes them to Emperor Awesome, whom Sylvia assumes is stealing the pillows to throw an evil slumber party. Wander interrogates Awesome, predicting he has a collection of feather boas and asks where they are. Awesome says he doesn't wear them and sticks to wearing actual boas, and he threw the feather ones away. Wander looks in the trash can and notices a rubber chicken, which is another message from the mystery villain. After Wander leaves, Awesome flirts with Sylvia and asks why she's in a hurry, but she ignores him.

Later on Cluckon, Lord Hater and Peepers are trying once again to invade the planet when Hater notices all the chickens have lost their feathers and are now naked. Sylvia thinks Hater is behind this, but Wander disagrees and examines one of the chickens' feathers, quoting he's "small potatoes in the baneful broth of the real villain's gumbo of repugnance". Sylvia, in total disbelief after being dragged around because of the items Wander found, decides not to move until Wander tells her who the villain is. A loud noise is heard in the distance, and Wander says that's the villain he's trying to follow.

A goofy looking ship appears while its rider introduces itself as Dr. Screwball Jones, and presents his latest weapon: a tickle machine which zaps the chickens, Hater and Peepers, causing them to be forcibly happy and laugh constantly. Sylvia is confused why Screwball is the villain and Wander explains why: he stole the feathers from the museum pillows to make the tickle machine, thus forcing everyone in the universe to be happy. Sylvia assumes that's just what Wander does, but he says he only presents the positive path, not force anyone. Then Sylvia goes onto Screwball's ship but is immediately zapped with the tickle ray, not feeling anything at first but begins laughing after the feathers tickle behind her knees.

Wander follows after Screwball and they begin to battle each other, which leads into a musical number between the two. As Wander begins to lose hope, he gets one last trick and tosses his banjo to Sylvia, who uncontrollably breaks the jar containing the feathers Screwball stolen. All the feathers plow him against the windshield, causing himself to laugh uncontrollably as Wander and Sylvia escape. Screwball proclaims, "Curse you, Wander!" and drives off to parts unknown.

After Wander reverts to his regular, happy space-traveling self, Sylvia promises him from then on, when he says something real dangerous, he'll believe him, even if what just happened was the stupidest danger they witnessed. At the same time, the tickle ray's effects wear off, and Hater wonders what happened. Peepers announces, "Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Wander and Sylvia", much to Hater's chargin. The episode ends as Wander and Sylvia pose heroically.

Songs

 * "Let the Pun Fit the Crime"

End Credits
Screwball is seen at his desk coming up with lame puns.

Background Information

 * In the song, Dr. Jones is seen playing a concertina. This is a reference to Al's trademark instrument of the accordion.
 * It is revealed that Sylvia is ticklish only behind her knees.

Trivia

 * This marks the first time Wander faces a villain in a one-on-one battle.
 * This is also the first time Wander is actually serious.
 * The Museum of Ginormous Antiquities reappears. ("The Tourist")
 * This marks the first time Awesome appears, but he is not accompanied by a version of his theme song "Let's Get Awesome".

Continuity

 * Wander's banjo power is used again after "The Brainstorm".
 * Awesome calls Sylvia "Becks" like he did in "The Party Animal".
 * Hater once again tries to invade Cluckon. ("The Funk")

Errors
TBA

International premieres

 * August 23, 2015 (Canada)

Allusions

 * William Tell Overture - A banjo version of the Ranz des Vaches section of this opera overture is heard in the beginning of the episode.
 * Batman - The title is a parody of Robin's title as the Boy Wonder. Much of this episode takes its inspiration from the 1960s Adam West series.
 * The star transition is a parody of the transitions used in the Adam West series.
 * Wander having his hat over his eyes is a parody of Batman's mask.
 * Despite this episode taking after the campy tone of the Adam West series, Wander mainly does an impression of Christian Bale's version.
 * The music in this episode is modelled after Neal Hefti's score from the Adam West series.
 * Dr. Screwball Jones is very similar to the Joker.
 * Let My People Go - Wander sings, "Let my Sylvia go" to the tune of this African-American spiritual.
 * The Powerpuff Girls - Peepers says, "Once again, the day is saved, thanks to Wander and Sylvia!" A reference to this other Craig McCracken series. Tom Kenny voiced both Peepers and the Narrator.

Production Information

 * Weird Al Yankovic guest starred in this episode as Dr. Screwball Jones.
 * Despite Al providing his voice, he did not play the accordion. It was played by Andy Bean.
 * Craig McCracken confirmed this episode when a fan asked if Disney could upload the The Dr. Screwball Jones clip along with "The Hiatus" in better quality.
 * Wander Over Yonder is the second animated Disney series that Weird Al Yankovic starred in, the first was Gravity Falls.
 * Coincidently, the episodes from both of the shows that featured Weird Al Yankovic aired 2 weeks apart from each other.

Cast

 * Jack McBrayer as Wander
 * April Winchell as Sylvia
 * Keith Ferguson as Lord Hater, Additional Voices
 * Tom Kenny as Peepers
 * Sam Riegel as Emperor Awesome
 * "Weird Al" Yankovic as Dr. Screwball Jones
 * Additional voices: Fred Tatasciore, Ashlyn Faith Williams