Defeeted

Defeeted

Why don't you use your hands?

Episode no. 02 Original airdate August 16, 2004 Story by: Scott Gray Written by: Noah Zachary Magnús Scheving Máni Svavarsson Scott Gray Directed by: Magnús Scheving Featured song(s) "Always a Way" Robbie's Disguise(s) Rob U. Blind Lazycus Guest character(s) -

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Premise

On Spectacular Sports Day, Robbie tricks Sportacus into putting on a pair of radio-controlled boots, ruining our hero’s spectacular soccer kick and making it all but impossible for him to function as a superhero. Enter Robbie as Lazycus to become the new town hero. Can Sportacus defeat his own feet? “There’s always a way!”

Plot synopsis

Prologue

Sunrise, the cock crows (wait what? Where is this cock? On an airship?) Or is it the computer?

Main episode

Stephanie can’t play with the kids because Stingy won’t share his new soccerball, Pixel only wants to play on the computer and Ziggy has to take a nap after breakfast so that he can be hungry for lunch. Robbie laments the fact that this was his favourite day before Sportakook came to town, and now it has been designated as another activity day! Robbie wants to turn the “Town Hero” into the “Town Zero” by using a new invention that mimics Sportacus’ boots and turns them into remote controlled terror machines. He plans to swap Sportacus’ real boots for these fake boots.

Epilogue

As he shuffles away in the fake shoes, Robbie does a little bit of a dance to the Bing Bang Song.

Trivia

• It's seen this episode uses a totally different setup to the rest of the series. Apparently Sportacus was in the town before Stephanie arrives, and the Sportacular Day is a show always presented when the kids get lazy.
• A continuity mistake exists between this episode and Sleepless in LazyTown: In this episode the Mayor references the last year's Sportacular Sports Day when Sportacus did a baseball trick, but in Sleepless in LazyTown Sportacus doesn't know how play softball and Stephanie is teaching it to him.
  • It is possible that Sportacus did a trick with a baseball, without actually playing the game itself, just as kicking the football as he did in the episode requires no knowledge of the soccer rules.
  • It is also possible that Sportacus knew how to play all along and was merely humoring Stephanie by letting her explain the game to him in Sleepless in LazyTown.
• Stephanie’s bed base is orange, just like Robbie’s recliner chair.
• Continuity: The mayor uses a glass tube to contact Sportacus. It’s not the same tube we will see later in the show (this one is just a clear plastic tube). Since this episode was made before “Welcome to LazyTown” (in which the Tube is actually introduced to the viewers), we must assume that the Production Team had not yet decided on the look of the Tube or had not had chance to decorate it in Sportacus’colour scheme. The clear tube is also used in the next chronologically produced episode "Lazy Scouts".
• Continuity: Likewise, when Sportacus receives the tube mail from the Mayor he says “This must be important!” and does his signature arm movements to indicate he is “on his way!” But the arm movements he does are not the correct 12-8-2 pattern. He only does left and right.
• Mistake? When Sportacus first jumps into his pedal control chair, he ends up facing backwards, smiles and has to turn around (might be intentional).
• Science: There no visible rudders on the airship (only stabiliser fins), but Sportacus is able to move from left to right and change altitude fairly quickly.
• We see Sportacus face fairly close up when he goes to meet the Mayor, and his cheeks are noticeably more rosy than later in the show. His make-up also seems to be finding it’s place.
• Sportacus asks the Mayor what is wrong… “Flood, Fire, Earthquake, Thunderstorm…”, but the mayor responds that nobody wants to go outside and play. Sportacus declares that is indeed terrible. Fortunately it is not as terrible as a natural disaster!
• Continuity/Mistake: The Mayor asks Sportacus if he remembers “last year” how he showed everyone how to play Baseball, but this is only the second episode and the Mayor only just met Sportacus (no.10) in the last episode, so how does he know about what happened “last year”?
• Sportacus has a logo of himself on the side of the pedal control chair.
• How did the Mayor know to make up a Banner for “Sportacular Spectacle Day” even before he speaks to Sportacus?
• Sportacus tells the mayor he had better go and practise his “Spectacular move” because he doesn’t want to “disappoint Stephanie (or anyone else)”, but the Mayor has so far said nothing about Stephanie, only that there are no kids playing outside. Is Sportacus already developing a soft spot for Stephanie? Who can blame him?
• Unclear: Robbie says that this used to be his favourite day before Sportacus came along. There was pie-eating contests and something, something…. Else? What is the second thing he liked about this day?
• When Ziggy is anxiously pacing around in Pixel’s house waiting for the Spectacle to be performed by Sportacus, the TV announcer that Stephanie is busy watching is talking about the “ Sportacular Spectacle Day”.
• We find out that Sportacus does this special stunt every year on the “Sportacular Spectacle Day” (but see the problem mentioned at point no.8.
• Pixel’s computer screen displays the question “What is 42?” – The answer to which of course is “The Answer to life, the universe, and everything” – This comes from Douglas Adam’s series of books “ The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy”. The animation on the screen at the same time shows a planet being destroyed, then the words “Error, Error!” - It’s the little things like this that make LazyTown lovable!
• The bicycle kick that Sportacus is practising was immortalised by the famous soccer player, Pele’.
• Robbie’s smelly, slimey goop that he pours out over Sportacus’ boots is of course purple.
• When Robbie hands over the fake shoes to Sportacus you can see that the soles are covered with felt material, which will enable Sportacus to do the “fancy footwork” later on the podium as Robbie is ‘controlling’ the shoes.
• When the Mayor asks Pixel for some drums, he lines up a nifty, rocking drum solo on his data device. Stephanie immediately jumps up and starts dancing (don’t you just love that about her?). But the Mayor was actually looking for a drum solo. Stephanie sits down and has a little apologetic look on her face!
• The remote control for Robbie’s “Fleet Feet Tracer Maker 6000” is also shaped like an upside down shoe.
• When Stephanie is upside down on Sportacus back and flashing us her pink panties (in that famous shot), the line in the song goes “try to turn the problem upside down…”
• The “way out” in this case is for Sportacus to use his hands and bypass his feet.
• Why does Stingy go fly a kite in the middle of the action during the song?
• The Mayor immediately recognises that Lazycus is Robbie Rotten. One of the few times that he recognises him in a disguise.
• Robbie’s cape is actually his table cloth.
• The Mayor calls Robbie “Loonicus” instead of “Lazycus”.
• Robbie tells Sportacus to go join the Circus. There will of course be an episode later with the LazyTown circus.
• Robbie’s Feet Crazer Maker 6000 has an auto button.
• Mistake: Pixel recognises the device as a “Feet Crazer Maker 6000” but earlier in the show Robbie told us it was one of his “Newest inventions”.
• That’s quite a big hankie you have in your handbag there Stephanie!