"Carnival Of The Darned" is a Season 3 episode of Johnny Bravo.
Synopsis[]
Believing that his mother Bunny doesn't love him anymore, Johnny decides to runaway from home and join a "freak show", only to gain hatred from the former star attraction.
Plot[]
Carl is showing Johnny his newest invention with various uses. Johnny is half-paying attention while eating cookies. He realizes he is down to his last cookie, then gets an idea. He decides to use Carl's machine to create a giant mutant cookie that he can eat forever. Johnny tapes the cookie to the machine, then puts it in the microwave to cook, despite Carl's warning not to. This results in an explosion that destroys part of the kitchen. Bunny enters and sees the mess, then says she is disappointed in Johnny. She leaves in tears, and Johnny says that Bunny likely doesn't love him anymore. Carl bluntly agrees.
Johnny puts together a hobo bindle with a few items, then leaves the Bravo house, not wanting to cause Bunny anymore misery. He barely makes it across the street when he gets hit by a bus and carried out to the city limits. When Johnny arrives, he looks around for some food. He sees a big hot dog, and goes to take a bite. But, the hot dog speaks to him in protest. Johnny panics and tries warning a nearby kid of the hot-dog-headed man, but the kid turns around and croaks like a frog. A contortionist, Tina, arrives and calms Johnny down. She explains that she and her friends are with a traveling circus. Johnny greets them all, and tells them he ran from home. The carnies ask Johnny to join them, and he eagerly accepts.
A week and a half later, Carl arrives at the Bravo house with groceries for Bunny. Bunny is crying on the couch. Carl tries consoling her, but she says she is crying about a soap opera she is watching. Carl tells her that Johnny has been missing for 10 days, and Bunny resolves to find her son...right after the episode finishes.
Meanwhile, at the circus, one of the carnies, the Bearded Man, is admiring his strangeness in the mirror. Tina shows up to tell the Bearded Man about Johnny's "talent." Johnny tries his luck at tightrope walking, but falls off and lands on his head. He starts getting back up with minimal injury, which amazes the other carnies. Johnny and his incredibly hard head will bring in a crowd, and the carnies cheer. This makes the Bearded Man jealous, and he vows to sabotage Johnny.
Later, Carl takes Bunny to the circus to cheer her up. To her and Carl's surprise, the first act of the night is Johnny on the tightrope. But, the Bearded Man walks to where Johnny will land when he falls, and layers the ground with pillows, which will make the act less exciting. Bunny somehow notices that the pillows are made with polyurethane, which Johnny is allergic to. She runs down to the Human Cannonball in his cannon, and commandeers it just as Johnny starts falling. She fires herself out of the cannon, intercepting Johnny, and bringing him to safety with some acrobatics. The crowd cheers for Bunny, but Johnny falls to the ground anyway. He isn't too upset since the crowd cheers for him as well. The other carnies realize what the Bearded Man tried to do and threaten him. Johnny stops them, saying that the Bearded Man is part of their family. The carnies see Johnny's point, but pummel the Bearded Man anyway.
Bunny brings Johnny home. Johnny promises never to run away again. Bunny is positive he won't, because she has leashed him to a tree in their front yard.
Characters[]
- Johnny Bravo
- Bunny Bravo
- Carl Chryniszzswics
- Tina
- Leon the Tattooed Pediatrician
- Frog-Boy
- Hot Dog Head
- The Bearded Man
- Willy the Goldfish
- Bus Driver
Trivia[]
- At the beginning of the episode, Carl's rambling about the many scientific uses of his invention is mostly nonsense.
- Carl owned glitter make-up. Due to being stored inside of his invention, it exploded.
- Johnny has a pet goldfish named Willy.
Cultural References[]
- When the circus group fully accepts Johnny, they chant "You're one of us now! One of us! One of us!", a reference to the infamous 1932 film Freaks.
Video[]
