Greenhouse Gorilla

The continuous attempt to recapture Donkey Kong has led our heroes, Mario and Pauline, to a small village. The mischievous ape abuses a signpost to vault his way over a wall and into a nursery, where he gorges himself on a convenient banana tree.

Devious things are afoot in the garden, however, as an unnamed criminal is on the lookout for the owner of the nursery! He spies on the greenhouse where Stanley the bugman is feeding Herman, his pet venus flytrap, a scoop of nuts and bolts.


"That's his metal-eating plant that's going to make me a fortune!"


"And this is how I'm going to get it!"
... really? A tiny bug? This may sound like a spectacularly terrible master plan at first...
 

... until you see that Stanley is totally OCD about spraying every bug he sees and chases it around the greenhouse, giving the criminal the chance he needs to sneak away with Herman in tow!

The stupid oaf slips on a banana peel during his exit, though, and Herman flies into the hands of a surprised Donkey Kong. The two hit it off right away, and the criminal (who for the sake of convenience I'll refer to as Mr. X from now on) abuses the big lug's naiveté to convince him that Stanley wants to hurt Herman, so he hurls a few beehives at the bugman to keep him busy.
 

Mr. X makes a getaway in his truck with DK and Herman in the flatbed, cackling evilly as he narrates to himself how he'll use the plant's metal-eating abilities for evil but Donkey Kong will get the blame for everything. Stanley watches in despair as the truck drives away, just in time for Mario and Pauline to stop by and ask if he's seen Donkey Kong, showing him what he looks like by violating the fabric of the universe in the process.

Learning that Donkey Kong kidnapped Herman (they don't even attempt to make a terrible "plant-napped" pun. What kind of ridiculous 80s cartoon is this?!), Mario and Stanley agree to help each other so they can find the plant and the ape. Meanwhile, Mr. X sets his sinister plan into motion... by visiting a supermarket! The fiend!

After scoffing the entire hardware section, Herman is told to eat the cash register* while DK scares away the store manager, allowing Mr. X to pocket the loot. Mario and company arrive outside the store, but before they enter, Mario makes sure to bring along his latest invention - the Vac-U-Trap!

Seeing his red-capped nemesis, Donkey Kong tries to make a break for the back of the store, but is sucked up into Mario's cage. Welp, that was easy. Who knew a giant vacuum cleaner could solve a runaway ape problem so easily? Before they can return to the van, Herman eats his way through the cage and the two escape to the fruit aisle...

Where the make use of an endless shelf of watermelons to rain pain on our heroes. Stanley has a total ridiculous idea of spraying goop into the air to shield them, but since spray guns can only hold so much and the endless shelf of watermelons is goddamned endless, they end up buried in the stuff.
 

Mr. X and his two assistants flee into the street, but not before commanding Herman to eat a truck containing fat stacks of cash. Mario and crew give chase in the circus van, though only after the villains magically teleport back to the store so they can drive away in their truck. Continuity, what's that?
 

Mr. X presents Donkey Kong with a gift - a tuxedo! His ridiculous explanation for this lies in a newspaper article - the three of them will be going to the Grand Ball at Hornby Manor, where only the richest folks will be attending and Herman will once again be used as a cash-stealing utility. For no reason other than a cheap way of driving the plot, Donkey Kong sneezes and blows the newspaper out the window...

... and onto the windscreen of Mario's van, causing the group to drive through a car wash and succumb to a tired visual gag. They deduce that the Grand Ball must be where the criminal's next heist will take place, and they intend to stop it!

Mr. X, Donkey Kong and Herman get dressed up to enter the ball, though the latter two are left to their own devices while X moseys around. Stanley and his allies arrive at the ball dressed up as waiters, recapping their plan to distract Mr. X so Pauline can... let Donkey Kong know what's happening. Huh.

You'd almost think distracting Mr. X would be the more sensible part of the plan, but Mario achieves it by thrusting a humongous bundle of balloons into his hand, carrying him into the air, having them popped by a chandelier and then dropping him into a fruit bowl. You'd think yelling "look, a decoy!" would've been just as effective.

Pauline catches up with Donkey Kong and Stanley is reunited with Herman. Pauline explains to DK that the dude he's been hanging out with is a crook (you don't say!) and has been using him and Herman to steal money, but the next time he tries to steal something, she wants DK to catch him red-handed. The ape agrees with a frighteningly love struck expression, complete with floating hearts. I guess French maid outfits are appealing even on an interspecies level?

Before he can walk even twelve paces, Stanley spies another bug fluttering harmlessly through the air, so he drops Herman and goes on another bug-spraying rampage, running through a giant cake in the process. After munching on some poor shmuck's trumpet, Herman is reclaimed by Mr. X as he and Donkey Kong venture to the manor's safe.

Munching their way in, Mr. X stands around making gesticulating about how much cash there is while Donkey Kong turns against his malicious master and throws vases at him while Herman grabs him in his mouth. Stanley, Mario, Pauline and two police officers enter the room, all very chuffed with this outcome - Stanley has Herman back, and Mario has Donkey Kong!

"Look again, Mario!" Donkey Kong sneaks behind their backs and hops out the window and into the seat of a conveniently placed gorilla-sized automobile, as he drives away into the distance. Mario utters the harshest expletive Saturday morning cartoons can allow, but Pauline merely laughs at this turn of events: "That's our Donkey Kong!"

Some of you might ask, is Stanley's fixation on bugs ever properly explained aside from a cheap means of driving the plot? What do you think?

The criminal is referred to as "Mr. X" when being introduced to the dinner party. Since it's the only name he's referred to during the episode (aside from Pauline referring to him once as "a crook"), it's the best choice I've got, unless you want me to keep referring to him as synonyms of "thieving bastard" for the whole write-up.

*Apparently the cash register is just a big lid, and the cash sits on the counter beneath it.

Great security, fellas.

Mario is voiced by Peter Cullen. Small world! I don't know who voiced Stanley, unfortunately; Soupy Sales as Donkey Kong is the only one whose role is properly identified in the credits.

Big ups to NintendoWizard22 on YouTube for uploading this rare little gem.