Toying with Jenny is the first half of the twelfth episode of season 2 of My Life as a Teenage Robot.
The episode was produced in 2005 and premiered worldwide on March 27, 2005 in the United Kingdom and on Nickelodeon in the United States on September 9 of that year.
Synopsis
After premiering on her first cover story on the Tremorton Tattler, Jenny is greeted by a self-proclaimed toy maker by the name of Mr. G. Petto, who makes a deal with Jenny to create a toy brand line of dolls based on her resemblance. These "Action Jenny Dolls" as they are called, sell like hotcakes and Jenny is taken in by the fame. However, it soon is revealed that these innocent dolls are actually one of Krackus' and Vexus' plans to conquer the world!
Plot
Brad and Tuck congratulated Jenny on her first front page appearance. Even Sheldon wanted Jenny to autograph his pictures of her. Suddenly a man in a limo, G. Petto, invited Jenny to his place to make her famous. Later, Jenny appeared at Brad and Tuck's house to introduce to Action Jenny action figure that moved and did cool things. The action figure then went into mass production.
Tuck wanted to wait in line for the popular Action Jenny toy. He also wanted to talk to the newly famous Jenny but was thrown into a dumpster by security. At home, an angry Tuck made his Action Jenny do a stunt that landed it in the garbage. Something was wrong when the toy was moving by itself. "G. Petto" noticed the figures activated prematurely. He decided to activate all the figures and they did violent actions to their humans.
When the real Jenny was basking in the glory of her popularity by her pool, Brad and Tuck warned her that the figures have gone evil. Jenny didn't believe them until she saw a figure put itself back together. As Jenny, Brad, and Tuck were about to save the city, it was revealed that "G. Petto" was actually Krackus and Vexus in disguise. While Jenny was fighting the figures, Brad and Tuck found a deactivation switch and all of the Jenny figures became inanimate again.
The town (and Jenny) was saved! Vexus reprimanded Krackus for using an activation switch. Krackus messed up again as their escape rocket fell apart, landing not far on the earth. Sheldon ran from the evil Jennies in his head then casually found another Action Jenny figure he had not yet collected.
Quotes
after Jenny gets into G. Petto's limo
Tuck: "Well now I feel about this tall."
Brad: "You are that tall."
Tuck is angry at Jenny for assumingly ignoring him so he takes it out on a Jenny doll.
Tuck: "[in mocking tone] Ooh, look at me. I'm Arctic Freeze Jenny I'm too famous for my friends. What's that? You say it's time for your death-defying ski jump? Be my guest!"
Brad: "What kind of mega-villain would have an on/off switch?"
Tuck: "The intelligence of mega-villains is highly overrated."
Brad: "Oh?"
Tuck: "Indeed. Allow me to explain. Take Krackus, perhaps the most incompetent mega-villain in the galaxy..."
In a brief montage, Tuck explains background reasons for on/off switches in great detail while Brad diligently listens. The scenes go back and forth from Tuck's visual lecture to Jenny trying to escape the clutches of the evil dolls.
Brad: "So what you're telling me is all we have to do is pull that lever right there and all those creepy Jenny dolls will just stop in their tracks?"
Tuck: "Uh, pretty much."
Brad ponders for a moment
Brad: "Let's do it!"
Jenny: "Sorry, guys. I guess I got wrapped up in that whole fame thing and forgot what was really important. Let's makes sure nothing comes between us ever again."
Sheldon (To Brad and Tuck): Guys, guys! Jenny is there signing autographs, and they're giving away free hats with every 200 dollar purchase! Now I got an Action Jenny for every day of the year! Jenny: It’s not programmed to do that.
Trivia
- Like most episodes of the series, this episode premiered in a handful of countries before the United States.
- This episode premiered in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2005.
- This episode premiered in Australia on April 8, 2005.
- Sheldon spent $200, which means he purchased 20 Action Jenny dolls (1 Action Jenny toy costs $10). Though it could have been fewer, due to additional tax.
- Mr. G. Petto's name is likely a pun on the character Geppetto, the woodcarver and toy maker who created Pinocchio, the puppet who came to life (like the Action Jenny dolls in the episode).
- The scene in which the Action Jenny dolls come to life and attack their owners bears resemblance in some ways to the scene in Toy Story in which Sid's abused, disassembled mutant toys come to life. In particular, one of the Jenny dolls takes a form that strongly resembles the mutant toy known as "Baby Face", with its robotic and sinister spider-like body unfittingly attached to its cute doll head.
- When Tuck rips off one of the Action Jenny's heads, it sprouts spider legs. This is a reference to the movie The Thing (1982).
- This episode, along with its companion episode Teenage Mutant Ninja Troubles (2005), were skipped on Nicktoons for unknown reasons.
- Vexus' detail with the shape of her eyes and head seem to be different than usual previously in the rest of the series.
- After Vexus and Krackus were forced to parachute out of their Jenny doll space ship, stuck on Earth, it is most likely that Vexus created her Space Vortex for them to leave the planet, as the other times she did in the previous episodes.
The name "G. Petto" was taken from the name of the builder of the Pinocchio marionette puppet, Mister Geppetto, in The Adventures of Pinocchio, a novel by Carlo Collodi.
- During the hype and long lines to obtain a Jenny doll, when Sheldon talked to Brad and Tuck, he had bags of Jenny dolls and wore a hat of Jenny's pigtails with his name "Shel" embroidered on it. This is another allusion to the Mickey Mouse ear hats with a name embroidered on the cap portion.
- After Brad and Tuck discovered the Action Jenny toys were evil and ran off to warn Jenny, the dismembered head grew spider legs and walked briefly. This could be similar to Babyface, the babyhead with spider legs in Disney's "Toy Story."
- This was another rare appearance of the Wakeman pool with the first appearance being in "Pest Control" (S1).
- When Tuck landed in a dumpster, the boxes said, "made in Togo." Togo is presumably a small country in Africa.
- As seen in Tuck's Action Jenny torture course, we see Brad and Tuck have a reel-to-reel player at their house. Not many people have something like that anymore.
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