Synopsis: Mokey gets jealous of another local artist, and the Trash Heap gives her a Magic Paintbrush to make art faster.
Original air date: February 24, 1986
When I was in middle school, I knew Fraggle Rock existed, but I’d never seen it. I didn’t have premium cable, and Fraggle Rock was not a show for basic cable children. But my friend Brice got HBO, and he told me about his vivid memories of an episode where “Mokey gets a magic paintbrush and it comes to life.” For years, I imagined a walking, talking paintbrush puppet. I didn’t actually see the episode until Season 4 came out on DVD in 2008, and I was startled to realize that I was all wrong about the Magic Paintbrush.
So what *is* the deal with the Magic Paintbrush? Read on to find out . . . (or, you know, watch this episode of Fraggle Rock.)
We begin with Red and Mokey sprucing up their apartment. Red wants to replace Mokey’s painting with one by local artist Pedley. Here’s what I love about that: Mokey’s is a painting of Lanford, her pet who lives in that same cave. Red’s Pedley original, meanwhile, is a painting of herself fighting a dragon, which is hilarious.
Red really wants to get rid of Mokey’s Lanford painting so she suggests that Mokey hang it in the Great Hall next to another Pedley painting. Soon, everyone is standing around admiring both paintings. But then it all goes awry, because one of the dumbest things in the history of Fraggle Rock happens.
Everyone praises Pedley’s painting, and then Gobo says Mokey’s is “typical Mokey,” while Wembley says “Once you’ve seen one of Mokey’s paintings, you’ve seen them all.” Mokey overhears them and tearfully runs away. But, of course, Gobo meant that Mokey’s paintings are typically great. I can allow that one, I suppose, but I can’t abide Wembley’s next line. He clarifies that Mokey “paints the best pictures around. And once you’ve seen one of her paintings of anything, you seen all the paintings you need to see about that thing.”
The others shake their heads and tell him no. But this is *such* a stretch. It doesn’t make any sense as an expression. This is just an episode of Three’s Company at this point.
The plot needs Mokey to be insulted, so they forced a misunderstanding. They also have Wembley keep saying things like “That’s another one of those expressions!” to cover up for the fact that the original one is nonsense. But that doesn’t change the fact that this moment feels very much like a first draft.
When Mokey displays her new painting of Blossom Boulder later in the episode, Wembley mistakenly says “Beauty is in the eye of the boulder.” Red exasperatedly corrects him. That’s a mistake that makes sense! I absolutely believe that Wembley would think that’s an expression, which is what separates it from the earlier one.
Look, I get it. Sometimes you don’t want to spend extra time writing something. Maybe you’re in the fourth season of a children’s TV show. Maybe you’re in the fourth season of reviewing a children’s TV show for a Muppet fan website. You don’t take as much care as you used to, and you get sloppy. Happens to the bets of us.
Anyway, that’s the low point of an otherwise terrific episode. Next, Mokey goes to the Trash Heap to get a new paintbrush. Madame Heap gives her a magic paintbrush. She heads out to paint Blossom Boulder, a beautiful location named for all of the flowers in it. The magic paintbrush allows her to paint it immediately. Just brush her hands across the canvas and a finished picture appears. The Magic Paintbrush makes art so easily, like all Mokey had to do was prompt it with an idea.
But when she demonstrates for her friends, she finds that she can’t put the brush down and she can’t stop painting. She goes to the Trash Heap for help, and Madame Heap tells her “If you want to stop painting, start painting.” The Trash Heap reveals to Red and Wembley that Mokey “said the brush had all the power, so the brush took her at her word.”
I’m no artist, but this sure feels like some sort of metaphor for “artists” who “make art” by typing a prompt into an AI program. The Magic Paintbrush should be a tool, but Mokey has given it complete control of her creativity. The Fraggle Rock production team couldn’t have known in 1986 how prevalent this sort of “just let a machine to do” approach to “art” would be 40 years later.
Mokey decides that the only way she can stop the brush is by taking back control. She completely drops the new technology and goes back to basics, using her tail as a paintbrush. This reminds her of “everything I used to love about painting,” and once she’s finished the picture, the curse is broken and she drops the Magic Paintbrush.
We can create art by relying on ourselves instead of technology, and I can’t imagine a better message for Fraggle Rock to give us in the year 2026.
Strongest Moment: Mokey’s demonstration of the Magic Paintbrush for the other Fraggles is a tour de force.
Weakest Moment: I already spent a long time in the main review focusing on Wembley’s misuse of “Once you’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all” but it’s that. Scroll back up to read my thoughts on why.
MVF (Most Valuable Fraggle): As is so often the case on Fraggle Rock, this one is all Mokey’s show, and she’s wonderful in it.
First Appearance Of…: Pedley Fraggle, a classic example of “everything revolves around this guy who supposedly lives here for one episode, and he’s never seen or mentioned again.”
Most Classic Moment: The scene where Traveling Matt gets lost showing Mokey to Blossom Boulder is a terrific use of the new “Traveling Matt lives in Fraggle Rock now” status quo.
Musical Highlight: “Show Me” is a wonderful showcase for Kathy Mullen’s gorgeous voice. It’s one of my favorite Mokey songs in the entire series, and she sang a lot of great ones.
Coolest Sound Effect: The vibrational tones of the Magic Paintbrush really help sell it as a strange object. It sounds like some sort of UFO.
Fraggle Lore: The Trash Heap and her sidekicks are getting ready for the Swap Meet and Garbage Gala. I would love to know who else is attending that event.
Obscure Terminology Watch: Mokey says she’s going to make a painting so good it will “curl their baloobiuses.” As far as I know, that term for the tuft on the end of a Fraggle’s tail was previously only used in season 3’s “Scared Silly.” I love to see continuity details like that.
One More Thing…: Doc calls the common dog game “fling and fetch” rather than just fetch. I really like that – both participants get to be in the name.
Okay, One More Thing…: The Magic Paintbrush appears to be a wide brush more suitable for house-painting than the finer work of painting pictures.
Click here to make a painting so good it will curl their baloobiuses on the Tough Pigs Discord!
by Anthony Strand
