Angelina at the Fair (Angelina Ballerina)

"Angelina at the Fair"
Okay, Angelina's done some bad things in the TV series, but putting her cousin through constant torment and then losing him has to be one of the worst.
Series: Angelina Ballerina Part of Season: 1 Episode Number: 3a/5 Air Date: May 18, 2001 (UK) June 15, 2001 (UK; ITV) June 15, 2002 (US; PBS Kids) September 30, 2005 (US; Sprout) Writer: Barbara Slade Jan Page Director: Roger McIntosh Previous episode: Treasure Tandems Next episode: The Ballet Tickets

"Angelina at the Fair" is the fifth episode and first-half of the third episode in the first season of Angelina Ballerina.

Plot

Angelina reluctantly takes Henry to the fair with her friends. Poor Henry is forced to go on rides that he does not like. When Angelina leaves Henry on his own; however, she loses him, but then she finds him and makes up for her selfishness.

Why It Doesn't Deserve to Go to the Fair

NOTE: This doesn't apply to the book this episode is based off of because that is much more tolerable than this episode.

1. It's a Henry-torture episode, with the young mouse being constantly forced to go on rides he doesn't like, and just getting scolded by his older cousin.
2. Angelina is near, or actually at, her absolute worst in this episode as she torments Henry for wanting to ride the bigger rides, won't buy him a balloon, and puts him through constant torment. What's worse is that she actually loses him in the climax of the episode!
   • She also gets no comeuppance at the end of the episode, which makes her a Karma Houdini.
   • She's also a bit unlikeable in the beginning for rudely telling William to hold the bags while she helps Alice untie her shoes, leaving William to carry all the bags.
     • This being said, William is also unlikeable later in the episode as he doesn't do much to better the situation and just seems as much angry at Henry as Angelina is.
3. The voice acting, while mostly passable, still has the annoying crying, which is ear-grating to listen to.
4. The concept, while it sounds good on paper, is poorly executed. If it followed how the book went, it would end up being better.
5. The scene where Henry gets frightened might be scary for younger viewers.
6. Alice, while likeable, asks the tall man to hold on to Henry. This could've gotten the man in trouble had he gotten a hold of Henry as it might've been seen as kidnapping.
7. This episode is pretty mean-spirited, mainly being targeted at Henry.
   • Speaking of Henry, he's a basic punching bag and is shown as pretty cowardly, not wanting to go on any of the rides, which could get annoying fast for some.
8. The Pinkpaws Twins' cameo is basically pointless, serving nothing more to the story than just to do their usual act of being stereotypical "mean girls."

Redeeming Qualities

1. Angelina's mother Matilda, Miss Lilly, and Alice are still likeable.
2. The ending was decent, despite Angelina getting off scot-free.
3. The beginning was alright.
4. The voice acting is mostly passable, as always.
5. The animation is pretty good, as usual for the first series.

Reception

It has a score of 6.4/10 along with its sister episode "The Ballet Tickets" on IMDb; however, it was hated by many people who have seen the episode.

Trivia

• This is the only episode to use cartoon sound effects.
• This is the first and only half-hour episode where Angelina and Henry cry in the same episode. This will happen again in the two specials "The Show Must Go On" and "Angelina's Princess Dance".
• This is the first episode where Angelina is seen in just her tutu.
• Most of the mouselings at the fair are gray like William.
• This is one of the very few times Angelina blows her nose.
  • It's also the only time Angelina uses a blue handkerchief as she usually uses a pink one.

Goofs

• Henry says he couldn't ride a bicycle, even though he rode one with William in "Treasure Tandems". This episode may have been produced before the other one.

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