On Break

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Toon Category: Shorts
watch Compy Catalog The Animated Adventures of Puppet Homestar
"What is up, my fellow sweat factories?"

Three costumed mascots take a break and share their experiences.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, Coach Z, Homestar Runner, CGNU Freshmen, Pom Pom, Bubs, Child, The Announcer, Matt Chapman (voice only), Mike Chapman (voice only)

Places: The Field, Crazy Go Nuts University, Bubs' Concession Stand, The Athletic Field, Strong Bad's Mount Ridesplace! USA (Easter egg)

Date: Monday, August 24, 2009

Running Time: 2:24

Page Title: Thinking Mascots Union Local 282

Contents

Transcript

{Short opens with pan down to the field. Cut to a close-up of the Tragic Clown Dog's face. Zoom out to a medium shot of Strong Bad's face visible in an open flap of the costume, taking a drag off what appears to be a cigarette and exhaling audibly. Coach Z, wearing the Drive-Thru Whale costume, enters screen right.}

COACH Z: Well, hey there, fellow mascot! I didn't know you was the smokin' type!

{Cut to a close-up of Strong Bad}

STRONG BAD: {whisperingly} Shh! I'm not! {normally} But Bubs only gives me one of each kind of break. I've already used pee, coffee, and maternity leave today. And this is a white crayon.

{Cut to a medium shot. Homestar Runner enters screen left, wearing the Jolly Dumple costume.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: What is up, my fellow sweat factories?

STRONG BAD: Whoa, I didn't know you were working today.

{Close up of Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Yeah, it's freshman orientation. I'm in charge of orienting them freshly!

{Cut to Homestar in the field with the CGNU tower visible in the back, and silhouettes of freshmen in the front. The words of Homestar's song are shown at the bottom of the screen, with a ball bouncing as he sings each word.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {singing} You're gonna have to
share a bafroom
with some kid from Alabama
that kinda sucks.
The financial aid office
is closed on Tuesdays
and steer clear of the
beef stroganoff at the
dining hall!

{Close-up of Homestar.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: C! G! N! ...U! {whispering} And then, and then you guys all say "Me?"

{Cut back to medium shot.}

FRESHMEN: {mumbling} No way, no way.

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Ah, that's good, that's good. {dancing, quietly} We got spirit!

{Cut back to Homestar and Strong Bad.}

STRONG BAD: At least you get college kids! I got little snot-butted kids messing with my costume all day!

{Pan over to Coach Z.}

COACH Z: I used to have that prablem, too, but now I just swallow 'em up and spit 'em out in the baall baath! {throws several colored balls out from the mouth of his costume}

{Close-up of Coach Z. The top of his costume gains and loses bumps as an unseen child stuck in the costume knocks on it.}

CHILD: Mommy! Mommy! I don'— can't see!

COACH Z: Oop! Looks like I forgot one. He'll be fine for at least a week.

{Cut back to medium shot of all three.}

STRONG BAD: Hey, where's Pom Pom, anyway?

HOMESTAR RUNNER: Oh, P-squared's not in the union. He doesn't even get a break.

{Cut a low shot of Pom Pom strapped to the roof of Bubs' Concession Stand, with a sign that reads "RIGHT CAR! RIGHT PPICE!"}

BUBS: What is wrong with you? Attract more customers! {Cut to an inflatable gorilla with glasses behind the Gremlin with a sign that reads "YOUR TEXT HERE!"} That gorilla's pulling his own!

{Cut back to a close-up of Homestar}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {sniffing} Man, what is that smell?

{Cut to a shot of all three}

STRONG BAD: Uh, Homestar, we're three grown men working in mascot costumes in the dead of summer! What isn't that smell? {close up of Strong Bad} I can name about forty different odors emanating from this thing right now. There's death, rot, decay—

{Cut to close up of Coach Z}

COACH Z: Damp, moist, kimchi!

{Cut to a close up of Homestar}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {holding yellow alarm clock, which rings once} Ah! It's time. {shot of all three} Let's do this.

STRONG BAD: {as Homestar and Coach Z walk off} Ugh, not again....

{Cut to a close-up of a speaker on a wooden pole}

THE ANNOUNCER: That's right, ladies and gentlemen! {Cut to a shot of The Announcer in the booth} For your between-inning unjoyment, it's the Bumbling Mascot Race Around the Field!

{Matt and Mike sing "Yakety Sax" while Coach Z, Homestar, and Strong Bad move randomly around a baseball diamond.}

{Cut to the inflatable gorilla with a sign that reads "The Ending Here!"}

MATT: Does it end different?

MIKE: I dunno. Let's do it again.

Easter Eggs

  • Click on the Gorilla's mouth at the end to see an animation of a video game with the mascots.
    {A black screen with "GAME START!" appears. The mascots run around on platforms and ladders, referencing the old video game 'Burger Time', while Mike and Matt hum the theme music. Eventually, Mike stops humming. "GAME OVER" flashes on screen.}
    MATT: Go longer.
    {Mike starts and stops again}
    MATT: No, I mean you stopped longer.
  • Click on the word "Here!" at the end to see Homestar and Coach Z (as Poppy and Stoppy, respectively, from theme park) have a conversation at Mount Ridesplace, USA. Music plays and a pink border is present.
    HOMESTAR RUNNER: Man, these mascot costumes in Strong Bad's imagination are way better than the real-life ones!
    COACH Z: Boy, I'll say! Mine's got a minibar and air conditionin'!
    HOMESTAR RUNNER: My ol' Dumple costume had air conditioning. It conditioned the air to think it smelled like... dead zut.

Fun Facts

Explanations

  • Kimchi is a pickled Korean dish made with beef stock, cabbage, and hot peppers, and is known for its distinctive pungent smell and mildly spicy taste.
  • Mascots or other costumed figures are featured at several ballparks racing around the field between innings during baseball games.

Trivia

  • The RSS description of this toon is:
    Matt says - When you unintentionally create three different giant foam mascot costumes several years apart, you KNOW you're doing something right. Mike and I were walking from the car place to Oga's on a very pedestrian unfriendly highway when we wrote most of this short. There were lotsa car dealerships though, with all types of undualting, inflatable eye-catchers to help inspire us. Mike lost his flip flop crossing the 8-lane street and had to wait for the light to change to run back and get it.

Remarks

  • The collar and tie on Strong Bad's costume have been moved down since their last appearance, to make room for the door.
  • Although Strong Bad denies being a smoker, he's been seen smoking a cigar in a Store Thank You Message.
    • In consideration that the costumes are likely made from Polymascotfoamalate, smoking in one would be potentially dangerous (more so than usual), as seen in 4 branches; however, only the Jolly Dumple costume is known to be made of Polymascotfoamalate.
  • Strong Bad indicates that he, Homestar, and Coach Z are grown men; a rare clue as to their relative ages.
  • Just as it was in Blubb-O's Commercial, the Gremlin's passenger-side window is completely opaque and gray.
  • When the scene cuts back to the three mascots after the gorilla balloon, the "ball bath" balls have disappeared.
  • When Strong Bad runs around at the end of the toon and in the Easter egg, the door on his costume switches sides whenever he turns around. However, the animation in these sequences seems to be intentionally poor.
  • Even though Strong Bad says his "cigarette" is a white crayon, its tip seems to be smoking.
  • Strong Bad has a much easier time walking in his costume than he did in part-time job.

Goofs

  • When Homestar is holding his alarm clock, there is a very thin white gap between the black border and the bottom of the green background.
  • As Homestar walks away from Strong Bad, he vanishes shortly before he has walked completely offscreen.

Inside References

Real-World References

  • The instrumental "Yakety Sax" is sung while the mascots race around the Athletic Field.
  • The Easter egg activated by clicking the gorilla's mouth is a parody of BurgerTime.
  • The page title is a reference to the band Thinking Fellers Union Local 282.
  • When the kid shouts "Mommy! I don- can't see!", it may be a reference to the 1982 film Poltergeist, when Carol Anne shouts the same thing from inside another dimension.

External Links

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