Clum Babies

Infobox Television episode
Title=Clum Babies
Series=Drawn Together
Season=2
Episode=5
Airdate=November 16, 2005
Writer= Jonathan Kimmel


Caption = Wooldoor produces his first Clum Baby.
Director= Rich Moore
Production = 204
Guests = Chris Edgerly
Victor Yerrid
Will Ryan (Uncredited)
Prev=Captain Hero's Marriage Pact
Next=Ghostesses in the Slot Machine

"Clum Babies" is the twelfth episode of the animated series "Drawn Together".

toryline

While trying to rescue drowning animals in the pool as part of their latest reality show challenge, the housemates are startled by a commotion inside the house. They enter to find the kitchen completely trashed, and Wooldoor humping everything in sight. Foxxy explains that Wooldoor has finally reached puberty, and realizing he needs an outlet for his newfound urges, she teaches him how to masturbate. This leads to the "birth" of his magical Clum Babies, which have healing powers. Foxxy and Spanky decide to make a profit using Wooldoor's Clum Babies to heal people who are sick and injured. Clara, representing the conservative Christian viewpoint, declares that Wooldoor's constant masturbation and the use of his Clum Babies to heal the sick are acts against God, and vows to stop them. She recruits a group of Christian vegetables known as the VeggieFables (a parody of the VeggieTales), who convince Wooldoor masturbation is a sin.

In a second plotline, Ling-Ling is revealed to be a regular clubgoer who has been picking up other battle monsters to fight with and abandon the next morning. After one such encounter, Ling-Ling receives a call from his father telling him that it's time to settle down and find one battle monster to fight with for the rest of his life; even worse, he informs Ling-Ling that he has already chosen him a partner. Ling-Ling resists the idea, but changes his mind upon meeting the monster his father sets him up with, the beautiful Ni-Pul. Ling-Ling and Ni-Pul have a passionate affair, but before too long, Ling-Ling realizes the spark may have gone out of it already. He tells Ni-Pul that perhaps the two of them shouldn't be tied down to each other, and suggests they begin seeking other partners to battle against. Ni-Pul suggests to Ling-Ling that they should drop the battle metaphor and just have sex. Ling-Ling happily agrees.

Shortly after getting Wooldoor to swear off masturbation forever, Clara becomes ill with tuberculosis, leaving it up to Foxxy and Spanky to convince Wooldoor to produce another Clum Baby to save her life. As Wooldoor has been brainwashed by the VeggieFables, Foxxy and Spanky are forced to kidnap him and show him a pornographic film in an attempt to get him aroused; the plan works, as shortly after the film begins, a Clum Baby pops out of Wooldoor's mouth. As Clara cradles the Clum Baby in her arms, the two lead vegetables, Bob the Cucumber and Larry the Tomato, confront the foursome and demand that Clara put the Clum Baby down, insisting that if she uses it to heal herself, she would be disobeying the word of God. Foxxy tries to explain that The Bible is more of a guideline to live a good life than a literal set of rules. Clara and Larry the Tomato decide that Foxxy may be right, but Bob the Cucumber refuses to listen. Instead, he goes psychotic, pulls out a gun, and proceeds to go on a mad killing spree; whilst chasing Wooldoor through the house, Bob shoots everyone he encounters, housemates and guests alike.

Bob finally corners Wooldoor and prepares to kill him. As Wooldoor begs for his life, a Clum baby touches Bob, curing him of his psychosis. Bob is happy -- until he realizes the he caused, and, filled with grief and remorse, he kills himself. Wooldoor decides that God killed off everyone but him so that he could finally masturbate the way God intended: alone. It is implied at the end of the episode that when Wooldoor has finished masturbating, he will use the Clum Babies to resurrect the others; when a Clum Baby approaches Clara's corpse, he says "No, no. Don't bring them back little friend. Not yet."

Musical number: "God Is Watching Everything You Do", a little ditty the VeggieFables (Bob, Larry and two unnamed others) sing to convince Wooldoor to stop masturbating, alternating between a typical children's song and the VeggieFables menacing Wooldoor. Also, in a parody of "The Karate Kid, Part II", Peter Cetera's "Glory of Love" plays during Ling-Ling's battles with Ni-Pul.

Notes and inside references

* Ni-Pul's voice is provided by Cree Summer. The character's name is a pun on the word "nipple".

* Many fans have pointed out that the way Wooldoor produces his Clum Babies is similar to SpongeBob SquarePants's elaborate ritual for producing bubbles underwater. However, Executive Producer Bill Freiberger has stated that "SpongeBob SquarePants" is not being referenced in any way. "No, it wasn't based on that SpongeBob episode. When we came up with the idea of satirizing stem cell research we had to jump through a lot of hoops to get the episode past the broadcast standards and practices department. That's why the masturbation process is so weird and complex -- it couldn't in any way reflect actual masturbation. That's also the reason he makes Clum Babies instead of just secreting a liquid of some sort and the reason that they come out of his mouth." [http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=1975899&postcount=31] Freiberger also added, "Standards and Practices wouldn't let us have Wooldoor jerk off into a spoon and then have sick people drink his semen so we made his sperm big and cute so they looked like small animals as a compromise." [http://forums.toonzone.net/showpost.php?p=1981231&postcount=60]

* Ling-Ling's father speaks English (albeit heavily accented) in this episode. In his previous appearance, he spoke in the same subtitled dialect as Ling-Ling. He would also speak English in his next appearance in "Freaks & Greeks". Ni-Pul and the other battle monsters speak English as well, although not perfectly ("Oh, Ring-Ring, it not you."); however, they have no trouble understanding Ling-Ling's language.

* When Ni-Pul suggests that she and Ling-Ling drop the "battle" metaphor and just have sex, Ling-Ling ironically replies with another metaphor: "So you suggest we drop metaphor, and Ling-Ling dip crispy noodle in your duck sauce?"

* After Spanky and Foxxy kidnap Wooldoor, they throw him into the back of a car whose license plate reads "CLM BB 1" - Clum Babies One.

* When Bob the Cucumber goes on his killing spree, he kills, in order, Clara, Foxxy, Larry the Tomato, Spanky, Captain Hero, Xandir, Toot, Ling-Ling, Ni-Pul, the masturbating teenager, Steve from Long Island, and Steve's two female companions. Though their slayings are not shown, the corpses of those who were healed by Clum Babies can also be seen, including a naked Farmer Alfalfa (left on the kitchen counter with a knife in his back) and the crippled boy whose leg braces were "cured" from squeaking (impaled with one of his crutches).

* Foxxy's euphemisms for masturbation include "going number 3", "firing off knuckle children", and "choking the chicken".

* It would later be revealed in the episode "Super Nanny" that Ling-Ling sees everyone as anime characters. However, in this episode, while he is scanning the room looking for Hoochie, he seems to see perfectly normally.

* Shortly before Bob runs into the confessional and kills her, Toot says, " [I knew what Xandir was trying to tell me,] that I was fat, and guys aren't into real w [omen anymore] !". These were lines she originally spoke in "Hot Tub"; however, it cuts off in the middle of her dialogue, and she is killed before she can finish the statement.

* Jonathan Kimmel, the writer of this episode, invented the word "clum" in reference to when semen takes on a clumpy form.

* This is co-creator Dave Jeser's favorite episode. [http://tv.ign.com/articles/746/746056p3.html]

* According to web site commentary for the episode "Freaks & Greeks", the "Drawn Together" creators expected this episode to produce a great deal of controversy due to its graphic violence and attacks on religion. However, the only note they received expressed concern over whether the blind boy was masturbating when he died. [http://www.comedycentral.com/podcasts/index.jhtml]

Goofs

* During the "God Is Watching" musical number, Bob and Larry's voices are reversed after the first chorus; however, they return to normal for the rest of the song and throughout the rest of the episode.

* During the scene where Bob kills them, one of Steve's companions, a lady dressed in blue, is shown wearing high-heel sandals. When she is shown again later, after Bob has committed suicide, she is wearing ordinary pumps.

Animated cameos

* Sylvester from The Award wining Warner Bros Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes cartoons can be seen at the Clum Babies sale seeking a cure for his broken leg.

Farmer Alfalfa, from Paul Terry's "Terrytoons", is at the sale as well, hoping to be cured of his Alzheimer's disease, which, ironically, is shown to be a fictional disease later in the season.

Cultural references

* Foxxy teaches Wooldoor to masturbate by using the force and a lightsaber vibrator, both references to the "Star Wars" films. Her vibrator is also a reference to the Jack Rabbit vibrator, famously seen in "Sex and the City". The animal here, however, is a dolphin instead of a rabbit.

* When Foxxy talks about masturbation being natural, Clara informs the others that they'll all go to hell, and vanishes in a puff of black smoke. This is a reference to the Wicked Witch of the West from "The Wizard of Oz".

* Ling-Ling describes his new shampoo (Prell) as his worst lingual enemy; he pronounces it "Plerr", providing another instance of Ling-Ling switching L's and R's. When he then asks how "Plerr" can give his hair such shine and body yet leave his soul with shame and embarrassment, a giant sweat drop forms on his face; the sweat drop is a common symbol in manga and anime used to denote embarrassment or exasperation. Later in the episode, after Ling-Ling sees Ni-Pul for the first time, a vein stroke can be seen in his front; this is another manga symbol, in this case indicating anger or irritation.

* When Wooldoor demonstrates his masturbating skills and lifts up a Clum Baby, everyone bows down. This is a reference to Disney's "The Lion King".

* Clara voices her moral objections not only to masturbation, but also regarding the use of Wooldoor's Clum Babies for their healing powers. ("This is madness! Sacrificing potential lives to save existing ones?") This is a satire of the contemporary debate over stem cell research.

* After hearing the news that he is to have an "arranged battle," Ling-Ling exclaims, "Yoko Ono!," a pun on the "oh no!" in her name, but also a reference to the potential disruptive influence of the female battle monster in question (the point of reference being Ono's alleged role in the breakup of the Beatles). Ling-Ling would use Ono's name as an expletive again in "Freaks & Greeks".

* The blind boy with hairy palms is a reference to an old wives' tale that masturbation leads to vision loss and hair growing on the palms of one's hands.

* The way Spanky Ham introduces the Clum Babies to the public is a parody of the Leptoprin advertisements that ask, "When is a diet plan worth 153 dollars a bottle? When it works!"

* Bob the Cucumber and Larry the Tomato are based on two "VeggieTales" characters, host Bob the Tomato and supporting vegetable Larry the Cucumber; the characters' names are simply reversed. Despite the name of Bob and Larry's group, both tomatoes and cucumbers are fruits.

* When Spanky sends the Clum Baby seekers away after Wooldoor stops producing Clum Babies, Spanky says "You don't have to die at home, but you can't die here," a reference to the line, "You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here". The line, which appeared in the Blues Brothers, is a phrase often used by bartenders trying to shoo away their last remaining patrons at the end of the night.

* When Foxxy debates over whether she should help Clara, at one point, she changes to a kid version of herself and says, "But the frosty side of me told me I had to help!" This a reference to TV commercials for Kellogg's Frosted Mini-Wheats, which featured adults saying they liked the cereal's wheat side for its fiber content, but then changed into kid versions of themselves and said something to the effect of "but the kid in me likes the frosted side!"

* The scene in which Spanky and Foxxy strap Wooldoor in a chair with his eyes clamped open and force him to watch pornography in order to produce a Clum Baby for Clara is a parody of the Ludovico technique from the Stanley Kubrick film adaptation of "A Clockwork Orange", though in "Clockwork" the method was used to reduce a character's violent inclinations.

* The movie shown to Wooldoor to induce him to masturbate, "Sockbats Gone Wild", is a parody of the "Girls Gone Wild" video series.

* There are flying doves in scenes where Ling-Ling with Ni-Pul and Steve from Long Island are killed. This is a reference to John Woo's use of doves in climactic gunfights in his movies.

* Clara's pose as she lies dead at the end of the episode resembles that of the sleeping Princess Aurora from Disney's "Sleeping Beauty".