Heaven, Heaven is a place...
We went to the library and chose a book about fire trucks and then, for something different, a book about firefighters. Then we chose a DVD about fire trucks and firefighters, and another one about trucks which are not fire trucks, and I quickly scanned the "Ps" and grabbed something called "Potty Time with Max and Ruby," because it is, in fact, potty time.
Later we watched fire trucks and non-fire trucks and they were both pretty short, so I popped in "Potty Time" and waited for something to happen. Nothing ever did.
Max and Ruby are bunnies living in a bunny world where it mostly appears to be about 1949, judging by the furnishings and generally slow and bunny-scaled pace of their darling, picturesque bunny life in a darling bungalow in a picturesque suburb. Somewhat less charmingly, they appear to be children left entirely to their own devices (albeit in an apparently inexhaustibly well-stocked home), with the 7-ish Ruby entirely responsible for the care, feeding, and education of mischievous (potentially evil, actually) preschooler Max. No adult supervision at all. Something terrible could happen.
It doesn't, though.
Nothing does.
Ever.
Even the theme song can't promise anything more than "Max and Ruby/Ruby and Max." At least it's honest. Yep, I see Ruby. And there's Max.
The first thing that didn't happen was anything to do with potties. There was a tea party, and a birthday party, and eventually I think some other sort of party. I'm not sure. By the third party I finally got up to check the DVD box, which read, of course, "Party Time With Max and Ruby." Too late for us, though. The children were hooked. We were stuck.
We've since TiVo'd a bunch of them, and I'm telling you, nothing ever happens. You know the palpable, itchy impatiience you feel waiting in a line that never seems to get any shorter, probably due to some stranger's malevolent incompetence? That's how it feels to watch "Max and Ruby." Like you might pop something with frustration. Like you would rather have your jugular gnawed through by rats than watch another second of it. Like your brain might melt and the last thought that would go through it, like the proverbial mosquito's ass, would be "Thank... God."
I guess these guys felt the same way.
Comments
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I madly love the book Max's Chocolate Chicken, however.
You're an older sibling, right? Janey Garnet and I have observed that all younger siblings think Ruby is a terrible bitch, and all older siblings think Max is an unbearable pain in the ass.
Posted by: Marya | July 21, 2009 at 08:37 AM
I'm in the middle, so I hate them both.
Posted by: Andrea | July 21, 2009 at 08:41 AM
I remember being fond of Max and Ruby despite not liking Ruby's bossiness. There was something so deeply neurotic about Max, I just couldn't help feeling affectionate toward him.
But we only had the books, never the TV show.
Posted by: onna monopia | July 21, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Lachlan loves Max and Ruby more than pretty much any other tv show, except maybe Tigger and Pooh. He asks for specific episodes and we have three dvds for car trips and trips to Grandma and Grandpa's. He finds it soothing and comforting.
Oh, and the Chocolate Chicken episode may be Lachlan's favorite.
Posted by: heide | July 21, 2009 at 06:20 PM
We recently watched a couple episodes, and it struck me overwhelmingly as big-sister propaganda.
Seriously, every moment of what we saw was about how little brothers are there to be a pain in the neck and generally irritate big sisters. Further, it is meet and right that big sisters should be ever employed in the business of squashing their brothers' souls at every juncture.
Janey and Marya did not pay me to say that.
Posted by: Patrick | July 23, 2009 at 07:23 PM
Good Lord, I hate Ruby. What a prig. And her voice makes my eye twitch. Could she be any more stereotypical? Tea party! Fairy princesses! Dancing! She never gets dirty. Heh - you know what they say about rabbits - wait till puberty, Ruby.
Then there's the sinister monsyllabic menace known as Max, who just wants his robot/candy/brownie. I do love the annoyed looks he gets when stupid Ruby dresses him as a prince or wants him to come to her dtupid tea party.
Of course my son loves the show. Damn them.
Posted by: Alicia | August 02, 2009 at 06:31 PM