"Megablades of Grass" is the first segment of the fifth episode of Pepper Ann. It aired on October 11, 1997.
Plot[]
Pepper Ann must earn her own money for a new pair of rollerblades, but finds work too tedious, so she exploits Milo's talent for creating freshly mown art for cash.
Synopsis[]
While rollerblading in the park with Milo, Pepper Ann spots a fellow blader dawning the new Megablades 3000. Enamored, she begs Lydia to buy them for her, but she declines as her current blades are still good. She gives Pepper Ann another option: start mowing the lawn to build her allowance and soon she will have enough money to buy the blades for herself. While mowing the lawn, Pepper Ann gets tired and spots Milo. She convinces him to take a crack at mowing the lawn to bring out his artistic side and he complies, resulting in him creating a beautiful pattern on the lawn. A man comes up and offers to pay them for mowing his lawn to which Pepper Ann (and to a lesser extent, Milo) agree to.
Business ends up booming for Pepper Ann and Milo who manage to get customers who trust them. However, Pepper Ann does not do any of the actual mowings and leaves that to Milo who soon becomes tired. Pepper Ann soon grows power-hungry and becomes an intimidating presence for Chestnut Street. Nearly everyone is wary of doing garden work because of her, and when Dieter refuses to back down to her, Pepper Ann beheads the Liederhosen's prized giraffe topiary as a warning. Milo tries to convince Pepper Ann to stop as she has more than enough to buy the blades, but she refuses as she wants to "own" the town, but Milo reprimands her and quits. Pepper Ann tries to carry the business by herself but is unsuccessful.
Eventually, Pepper Ann has an imaginary conversation with Giraffe Head and realizes that she had forgotten why she chose to start the business in the first place. Using her hard-earned money, Pepper Ann buys a twin blade lawn mower and presents it to Milo as an apology. He happily rejoins her, but unfortunately for them, it begins to snow. The two are next seen ice skating in the park when Ned blazes by, now dawning fancy ice skates. Milo immediately flees and Pepper Ann gives chase hoping to convince him to start a snow plowing company.
Cast[]
Main cast[]
- Kathleen Wilhoite as Pepper Ann Pearson, Hippie Girl*
- Jeff Bennett as Ned Diggity* (no lines), Commercial V.A.*, Dieter Liederhosen, Croquet Man*, Roy*, Hippie Guy*, Disembodied Giraffe Head
- Danny Cooksey as Milo Kamalani
- April Winchell as Lydia Pearson, Billy*, Businessman*, Abriola Stark* (dropped; not seen)
* Marks an uncredited voice role
Additional Voices[]
- Don Adams as Principal Hickey (dropped)
Non-speaking Appearances[]
- Ned Diggity (not named; no lines)
- Major Attitude (does not speak)
- Melba (does not speak)
- Myrna (does not speak)
- Moose Pearson (cameo)
- Nicky Little (likeness only)
- Coach Doogan (mentioned)
- Gerta Liederhosen (indirectly mentioned)
- Abriola Stark* (dropped; not seen)
Desk Gag[]
"Ooh, a bicentennial quarter!"
Goofs[]
- When Pepper Ann confronts Dieter while he's on the mower, she's wearing a blazer. But when the scene focuses on Dieter, she can be seen wearing her usual purple shirt. This happens again when Pepper Ann tells Milo that now he can make Dieter's lawn more beautiful.
- In the scene where the town heckles Pepper Ann, Roy has the Croquet Man's voice while the Croquet Man's voice is that of Abriola Stark's; she is otherwise unseen in the episode.
Trivia[]
General[]
- This episode marks the first of a few things:
- The first absence of Nicky Little, who does not appear in this episode; a topiary resembling her is briefly seen in a fantasy sequence.
- The first appearance of Ned Diggity since his cameo in "Ziterella", he would not directly be referred to as Pepper Ann's cousin until a later episode.
- The first instance in which a major character, in this case being Coach Doogan, is mentioned before their debut; Pepper Ann inadvertently floods her lawn after striking a sprinkler.
- The first episode in which we see Dieter's eyes.
- The first episode in which only the main voice cast is present.
- It is also the episode with the fewest voice actors credited, as only four of the main cast is present.
- Don Adams is notably credited for playing Principal Hickey, likely being dropped from this episode.
- Dieter is shown to sleep with his glasses on.
Allusions[]
- This episode makes various homages to The Godfather. Pepper Ann quotes the film at various points, and she even goes so far as to amputate the topiary giraffe head and stuff it in Dieter's bed, a direct homage the famous scene in the movie where Tom Hagen beheads a stallion and stuffs it into Jack Woltz's bed.
- Pepper Ann trying to convince Milo to mow the lawn for her is possibly inspired by the whitewashing scene in Mark Twain's famous novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer in which the titular protagonist convinces the boys in the neighborhood to paint the fence for him.
- Milo states that he will mow the lawn to the "colors of the wind", which is most likely a reference to Pocahontas.
External links[]
