| Sweet Sixteenth | Gallery | Transcript |
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"Sweet Sixteenth" is the second segment of the first season of The Mighty B! that aired on April 26th, 2008.
Synopsis[]
Bessie wants to ride on The Punisher, a roller coaster ride, but is told she is too short.[1]
Plot[]
The episode begins with Bessie practicing for a roller coaster she wants to ride, since she feels she's finally tall enough to ride it. She's actually riding on a chair in front of a moving background, with Ben moving it. However, Ben grows too tired to move it. Bessie yells to Happy to bring her the bucket, which she pretends to vomit in. Bessie then explains to Happy that it's a precaution, in case she does vomit on the ride.
The three of them, along with Hilary, then head to the amusement park by the docks. Bessie stares in awe at the roller coaster, called "The Punisher". She eagerly waits in line to ride it, even doing a little dance. However, it turns out, that without her hat, Bessie is still too short, only being a sixteenth of an inch, and is not allowed on the ride. This shocks and devastates Bessie, but she is not about to give up. So she has Ben and Happy pull her arms while she's hanging by her feet on the monkey bars, but all this manages to do is cause the monkey bars to literally sink into the ground. Bessie still won't give up.
Next, Bessie is holding on tight to one of the city's trolleys with Happy and Ben, who are tied to one of the dock's poles, holding onto her ankles. However, they accidentally lose their grip, which startles Bessie, who lets go of the trolley, which causes her to bounce all the way to the amusement park, in front of The Punisher. The ticket taker (Ride Guy) still says she's too short.
Bessie, Ben and Happy then go to the museum, where, after making sure nobody was there, Bessie ties herself to a rack where Happy turns the wheel to stretch her out, but it turns out people are there, and watching Bessie in shock. Bessie sees this and awkwardly says: "Hi, hello. Just, you know, stretching the old legs."
After that fails, the trio goes to the taffy factory. Bessie then tells them that if anything happens to her, Happy can have the Hive, and Ben can have her flip flops. She then mounts the conveyor belt, where the taffy stretching machine stretches her out, but leaves her extremely sick and dizzy. She tries to go on The Punisher again, yet it still doesn't work.
Bessie's final attempt is to trick the ticket taker by making him think she's a very tall Japanese lady, but the ticker taker sees right through it and shows that Bessie was simply on stilts under the dress. Bessie finally gives up and glumly tells Happy that they "should ride the stupid teacups".
Happy, upset at seeing his best friend so upset, finally takes a stand when the ticket taker isn't looking, chews the ride's height checker to bits, leaving only a few inches of the height checker intact, making it look like that Bessie is tall enough to ride, and the ticket taker just wasn't paying attention. Happy gets the ticket taker's attention and shows him that Bessie is indeed tall enough to ride, and threatens the ticket taker that he will tell his boss. The ticket taker buys this and nervously allows Bessie and Happy to ride it, in the last car. Just how they wanted it.
Bessie, despite her eagerness, is somewhat nervous, as well. But there's no turning back as they first go down a near 90 degree slope, and go through a series of flips, twists, and turns. The ride nearly ends, but the ticket taker loses focus, causing them to miss the end and go through the entire thing all over again. On the second time, the ticket taker stops the ride at the right time, and asks them, "Pretty sweet, huh?" Bessie and Happy were amazed and terrified, both of them were trembling. Bessie then vomits (off-screen) but this doesn't ruin her mood a bit, and she then shouts "Awesome!" as the episode ends.
Production Music[]
- Carousel Ride - Derek Holt [CPM] (Title card)
- Dracula 2020 C - Gregor Narholz (The Punisher)
- The Great Gate at Kiev - Helmuth Brandenburg, Modest Mussorgsky ("Behold its majesty.")
- Carousel Ride - Derek Holt [CPM] (Lil Pun)
- String Discord Stab - David Farnon [CPM] (Bessie's too short)
- Affrontements - Georges Tzipine, Maurice Jeanjean ("No!")
- Caliope Carousel - Roger Roger (Plays distorted as Bessie looks at the Lil Pun)
- Pizzicato Polka - Jean-Jacques Perrey, Harry Breuer (At the museum)
- Ballerina - Xavier Demerliac, Florence Caillon (Bessie reaching for a blimp)
- Ada Kunguma Poo J - Tony Tape, Veilumuth Chitralekha (Gong)
- Abject Terror - Paul Lewis (Happy chews up the height sign)
- King of Arms B - Gregor Narholz ("Outta the car, ladies. VIP coming through.")
- Abject Terror - Paul Lewis (Ride starts)
- Microbe - Mike Vickers (Bessie and Happy shot into space)
Cast[]
| Voice actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Amy Poehler | Bessie |
| Dee Bradley Baker | Happy |
| Andy Richter | Ben |
| Grey DeLisle | Portia |
| Dannah Feinglass | Penny |
| Brian Posehn | Ride Guy |
Trivia[]
General[]
- Comedian Brian Posehn guest stars in this episode as the ticket taker who refuses to let Bessie on the ride; the character is called "Ride Guy" in the credits.
- When both scenes of "The Little Pun" are seen, Hilary and Ben are seen riding it each time.
- Millie makes her first appearance in this episode, though she would not speak until "Little Womyn."
- A closeup reveals Bessie has freckles.
- Premiered as part of the Mighty Weekend block.
- The first appearance of the Honeybee Taffy Factory; it would later play a large role in "Something's Wrong With This Taffy."
- While Bessie and Happy are on the ride for the second time, animation is reused from the first time.
Cultural references[]
- The title of the episode is a pun on sweet sixteen, a birthday party celebrating a teenager becoming 16 years old.
- When Bessie is flung around San Francisco, a bust of pianist Ludwig van Beethoven appears for a split second before being destroyed by Bessie.
Production information[]
- First episode written by Jessica Chaffin and storyboarded by Chuck Klein.
- Along with its sister episode, "So Happy Together", this episode was viewed by 5.2 million people when it first aired.[2]
Goofs[]
- The man says Bessie is too small for the ride, but a few Honeybees are shorter than Bessie. A few other people who were short were also let on the ride.
- This is likely because without this conflict, the episode itself wouldn't even exist.
- This is also likely to help show the Ride Guy's carelessness, as he appeared to not be paying attention when the other Honeybees were boarding, and later on he accidentally lets Bessie and Happy ride the coaster twice.
- It is clear, in some shots of Bessie, that she is tall enough to ride the roller coaster. However, a split shot later, she is too short again.
- Although Jessica DiCicco and Megan Cavanagh are both credited, neither Gwen nor Hilary have lines.
References[]
- ↑ Frey, Jennifer (April 26, 2008). 'Mighty B!': A Very Animated Heroine. The Washington Post. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ↑ Bynum, Aaron H. (May 2, 2008). Nick: 'The Mighty B!' Premiere Ratings. Animation Insider. Retrieved December 23, 2020.