The young critters of Chucklewood Forest go to school, just like human children. But there are times when they want to play hooky, and Professor Franklin Owl has to go round up his students on his own. Besides adorable Buttons and Rusty, his students consist of Freddy, a cocky raccoon, some nutty squirrels, and bunnies Skipper and Bluebell. Franklin comes to the realization that school just doesn't interest them, and so Ranger Jones advises him to step up his approach and get with the times. So, he decides to make himself look...cool. Make school cool, that's his new motto. He gives his students a lecture on forest survival...in rap. Unfortunately, Franklin could only keep up this cool facade for so long before reverting back into dull teacher mode, as he bored his students to death with a lecture on the history of Chucklewood Forest. Seems there had been a gold hunt in the underground caves a hundred years ago. Not wanting to listen to this boring story, Freddy decides to go exploring and entices Buttons and Rusty to go with him. They sneak off just as Franklin gets to talking about ghost coyotes. The kids don't get far in the dark cave, as they fall down a hole, land in a mine cart, ride it like a roller coaster through the miles and finally flying off the tracks and into an underground river. They abandon ship before the cart gets sucked into a whirlpool. They continue to wander the cave, and right when they stop to rest by a mysterious campfire, Buttons, Rusty and Freddy are cornered by a coyote tribe. Freddy managed to flee, leaving his friends at the mercy of the feral coyotes.
Meanwhile, Franklin reports to George and Abner that their children have gone missing, but the fathers aren't too concerned. They probably just ran off to play hide and seek. Maybe they went fishing. Maybe they got captured by a primitive coyote tribe who will eat'em for supper. Just keep fixing that stove, guys, don't worry about your kids. No big deal. Back underground, the children are taken to the tribe's village and locked in a cage...and what I love about cages in cartoons is that the bars are always big enough to where the characters could squeeze out, yet they still feel trapped. Buttons and Rusty could easily squeeze through those bars. Anyway, in trying to think of a way out, Freddy suddenly appears! Hooray! Unfortunately, when trying to dig his pals out of the cage, he gets spotted by the tribe, so now he gets to join them. Great plan, Freddy. Who can help the kids now? Well, thankfully, Franklin's persistence got George and Abner to come investigate the cave for the wayward cubs. He suggests making a map as they go along, but they laugh it off, saying they have a natural sense of direction. Ha ha, those two. Back at the coyote tribe, the kids have a tiny bit of luck trying to communicate with the coyotes, and realize fire may be the key. So Freddy starts a fire, allowing he, Rusty and Buttons to escape the cage, but they don't get far. I'm starting to think Freddy is bad luck to be around. Back on the surface, Franklin informs Bridgette and Rosie that their cubs AND their husbands are lost in the cave, and gets Jonesy to print out a map of the underground caves... why didn't he do that before Abner and George went down...? Never mind. Well, despite the run of luck they've had up until now, Rusty and Buttons seem to make some sort of connection with the tribe. They helped them make fire, which seemed to be a difficulty for them, and in exchange, they seem to make peace and the coyotes show the cubs the way out. They follow the mine tracks until they greet a familiar face: Jonesy! He'd come down to look for them, so now the kids were safe. But as for their fathers, well, history repeats itself when George and Abner wind up getting captured by the tribe. But it isn't long before Jonesy and the kids rescue them. Now that that's over with, Franklin can resume his class...with Abner and George as students, because... I guess they flunked his class when they were kids? So if anything, we learned not to exploring parts unknown, especially if the blind are leading the blind.
Very interesting little outing in the Chucklewood series. The new voices are distracting. I miss hearing Bill Boyett as Jonesy, Alvy Moore as Abner, Barbara Goodson as Buttons, Kathy Ritter as Rusty, and so on. And the version of this cartoon I saw had no music. Oh well, I guess that made it more atmospheric. That Franklin was hilarious, and of course, George and Abner are a riot. Love it when those lovable buffoons get into trouble. And that Freddy was a bad egg, well intentioned or not. So, heck, if you like Buttons and Rusty, and come on, we all do, check out School Daze, and get schooled on how they do things down in Chucklewood.
Meanwhile, Franklin reports to George and Abner that their children have gone missing, but the fathers aren't too concerned. They probably just ran off to play hide and seek. Maybe they went fishing. Maybe they got captured by a primitive coyote tribe who will eat'em for supper. Just keep fixing that stove, guys, don't worry about your kids. No big deal. Back underground, the children are taken to the tribe's village and locked in a cage...and what I love about cages in cartoons is that the bars are always big enough to where the characters could squeeze out, yet they still feel trapped. Buttons and Rusty could easily squeeze through those bars. Anyway, in trying to think of a way out, Freddy suddenly appears! Hooray! Unfortunately, when trying to dig his pals out of the cage, he gets spotted by the tribe, so now he gets to join them. Great plan, Freddy. Who can help the kids now? Well, thankfully, Franklin's persistence got George and Abner to come investigate the cave for the wayward cubs. He suggests making a map as they go along, but they laugh it off, saying they have a natural sense of direction. Ha ha, those two. Back at the coyote tribe, the kids have a tiny bit of luck trying to communicate with the coyotes, and realize fire may be the key. So Freddy starts a fire, allowing he, Rusty and Buttons to escape the cage, but they don't get far. I'm starting to think Freddy is bad luck to be around. Back on the surface, Franklin informs Bridgette and Rosie that their cubs AND their husbands are lost in the cave, and gets Jonesy to print out a map of the underground caves... why didn't he do that before Abner and George went down...? Never mind. Well, despite the run of luck they've had up until now, Rusty and Buttons seem to make some sort of connection with the tribe. They helped them make fire, which seemed to be a difficulty for them, and in exchange, they seem to make peace and the coyotes show the cubs the way out. They follow the mine tracks until they greet a familiar face: Jonesy! He'd come down to look for them, so now the kids were safe. But as for their fathers, well, history repeats itself when George and Abner wind up getting captured by the tribe. But it isn't long before Jonesy and the kids rescue them. Now that that's over with, Franklin can resume his class...with Abner and George as students, because... I guess they flunked his class when they were kids? So if anything, we learned not to exploring parts unknown, especially if the blind are leading the blind.
Very interesting little outing in the Chucklewood series. The new voices are distracting. I miss hearing Bill Boyett as Jonesy, Alvy Moore as Abner, Barbara Goodson as Buttons, Kathy Ritter as Rusty, and so on. And the version of this cartoon I saw had no music. Oh well, I guess that made it more atmospheric. That Franklin was hilarious, and of course, George and Abner are a riot. Love it when those lovable buffoons get into trouble. And that Freddy was a bad egg, well intentioned or not. So, heck, if you like Buttons and Rusty, and come on, we all do, check out School Daze, and get schooled on how they do things down in Chucklewood.
