pop-up

Strong Bad Email #146

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"It was the book of my dreeeeams!"

Strong Bad shows off his own Strong Bad pop-up book.

Cast (in order of appearance): Strong Bad, The Cheat, Gavin, Homestar Runner, The Tire, Bubs (Easter egg), Strong Sad (Easter egg)

Places: Computer Room, Strong Sad's Room (Easter egg)

Computer: Lappy 486

Date: Monday, February 20, 2006

Running Time: 3:12

Page Title: Lappy 486

DVD: strongbad_email.exe Disc Five

Transcript

STRONG BAD: {rapping} I was born to check email and eat lots of cake!

subject: dream book

Dear Strong Bad,
I had a dream that my friend had a Strong Bad
pop-up book. It was the book of my dreams.
Kat
Spokane, Wash.

{After reading the main part of the email once, Strong Bad repeats it twice as a rap. He says "Wash." as the word "wash".}

THE CHEAT: {The Cheat noises from offscreen}

{Cut back to show The Cheat next to his keyboard}

STRONG BAD: Oh, all right. One more time.

THE CHEAT: {approving The Cheat noises}

{Strong Bad jumps on his stool and dances as The Cheat plays on his keyboard and dances.}

STRONG BAD: {rapping} I had a dream that my friend had a Strong Bad pop-up book! It was the book of my dreeeams! {on "dreams", he jumps up, almost hits the ceiling, and lands on his stool} There you go, little one. Now get back in there and win me a car!

THE CHEAT: {affirmative The Cheat noises; he salutes and rushes off.}

{Cut back to the Lappy}

STRONG BAD: You know, I feel like that sentence could really apply to anything. {moves the cursor up to "pop-up book" and replaces it with "salad".} Like, uh, "I had a dream that my friend had a Strong Bad salad. {scrolls over toward the other "book" and replaces it with "salad" as well.} It was the salad of my dreams." Or maybe like, {adds "taco" before each "salad"} "I had a dream that my friend had a Strong Bad taco salad. It was the taco salad of my dreams." {moves the cursor below the email, types} Anyways, a Strong Bad pop-up book. This sounds like a job for: makin' stuff up.

{Cut to an image of a pop-up book. The inside cover reads "From the libarry of D. Squirrel" with a dead squirrel drawn in. The first page reads "STRONG BAD'S POP-UP BOOK of your dreams by Strong Bad, for Strong Bad".}

STRONG BAD: {voiceover} The Strong Bad pop-up book would obviously feature...

{The page turns to show Strong Bad near two cherubs. The text reads "This is a good kid." A tab is seen under Strong Bad's head.}

STRONG BAD: ...me hangin' out with some of those wing-a-ling babies! {The cherubs bob up and down} And I'd have a little tab on my fleshtangle so you could make me talk! {As the pop-up Strong Bad, who waves his arms} You little almost-naked babies are so cute, I could just dip you in beer batter and fry you right up! {As the cherubs, who bob up and down} Okay, Mr. Strong Bad! {as himself} Oh! And don't forget the ab-tab!

{The tab moves over and Strong Bad's chest obtains Sharpie abs. The page turns to reveal an image of a computer resembling the Tandy 400. On its screen is the message "HOW TYPE BOX GLOVES?" Two tabs are visible, one to the right of the screen and one on the keyboard. A speaker can also be seen on the keyboard.}

STRONG BAD: Hey look! It's my crappy old computer! Asking the same crappy old questions!

{The tab on the screen moves and the screen changes to "DELETED!!"}

SPEAKER: {very indistinctly} Deleted!

STRONG BAD: The lake head? What does that mean?

{The tab goes back, taking the screen with it, and changes to "DELETED!!" again.}

SPEAKER: Deleted!

STRONG BAD: Police quest?! This thing is obviously broken.

{The other tab is pulled, and smoke appears above the computer.}

STRONG BAD: No wonder I got rid of that old buncha beige.

{The page turns. Strong Sad is seen covered in cement. A backhoe, cement mixer, and Strong Bad in a construction helmet are seen in the background. The text reads "Strong Sad is covered in Gray cement" with "Gray cement" in a box. A turning wheel is seen on the right, and another tab is seen at the bottom.}

STRONG BAD: Oh, look! Strong Sad has wandered onto my construction site. What sweet fate did I bestow on him from the cement mixer? {The wheel turns, the liquid on Strong Sad turns red, and the box reads "Ram's blood".} Ram's blood? {The wheel turns, the color becomes light yellow, and the box reads "Boston Cream".} Boston cream? {Again, to a transitional color and "Magic Eye".} Magic Eye? Don't forget the flab-tab! {The tab is pulled out, and Strong Sad's upper body flips down to make him look flabbier.}

{The page turns to a "NegativeZero" fridge. It has a sticky note on it that reads "2 more eggs!"}

STRONG BAD: The next page is snack time! What am I gonna have to eat today?

{The door opens to reveal a single burger patty with two pickle slices on it. A carton of "mmmilk", two eggs, a small paper box, a bottle of "pop!", and a jar of mayo are drawn onto the back.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! A real-live burger! Do I get one of these every time I turn the page?!

{The page turns back to Strong Sad, then to the fridge again. When the door opens this time, there are two burgers inside.}

STRONG BAD: Whoa! Two burgers! {Gavin appears from under a flap and crawls around a little} Clearly, this pop-up book {The fridge door closes, and Gavin crawls out from under it a moment later} is a source of unspeakable power.

{Spooky jungle music plays. The page then turns to Homestar Runner's image, which has a black eye and two saws stuck through him.}

STRONG BAD: Why look. It's the Homestar Runner! {pauses for a moment} Bye, the Homestar Runner!

{The page turns to a StrongBad Libs version of Strong Bad and The Cheat in front of a cave. The sun can be seen overhead, and there's a tree in front of the cave. There's a tab above the cave and one at the bottom of the page.}

HOMESTAR RUNNER: {rapidly decreasing volume} SeeyalaterStrongBaaa...

{A wheel under the cutouts of the sun rays starts moving back and forth.}

STRONG BAD: Uh-oh! It looks like The Cheato Bandito has stolen all of Senor Muybueno's gold!

{The tree flips down, revealing a pile of gold underneath.}

STRONG BAD: Let's help him get some Cheat-tribution.

{The lower tab is pulled and pushed back several times, and as it does, "Senor Muybueno"'s foot rises and "The Cheato Bandito" moves upward. "Senor Muybueno"'s head also looks up in the process.}

STRONG BAD: Boot 'em up, boot 'em up, boot 'em up, y'all. This is like Kicking The Cheat Lite! All of the flavor, with only half the chance of rabies!

{The upper tab is pulled, and a bear pokes down in the cave. The tree goes back to normal, and the page turns. Strong Bad's head, with flashing lights for eyes, is in the center. Two towers with ropes between them, and The Tire hanging from them, are in the upper-left, with a sliding tab below it. A "Cold One" is seen to the right of that, with a turn wheel above it. Near it is the BMW Lighter, with a pull tab to its right. A box is in the lower right. A cherub over a "FAT FRYER" is in the lower left, with a tab to its left. In the background, it reads "Slide! Spin! Grasp! Pull! His Head! Tap the flabs! Pull!!!" near each object.}

STRONG BAD: And the last page would be a veritable cornucop-pourri of pop-up mastery!

{The various objects all move. The Tire simply falls off its wires. The Cold One has its label replaced over and over. The BMW opens up with a flame, and closes. The box flips over, revealing the same box tipped the other way. The cherub moves into and out of the fryer.}

STRONG BAD: There'd be tabs and flaps, flabs and taps, the string thing that doesn't work, and some more sound chips and dips.

SPEAKER: Holy crap!

STRONG BAD: Sounds like they improved on the technology since page 2! Aaaaaand, don't forget the crap-flap!

{A flap turns down with a pile of whatsit underneath. Cut back to the Lappy.}

STRONG BAD: {typing} So now the pop-up book is primed and ready for the four year-old, or The Cheat, in your life to use as a tissue! That thing'll provide seconds of non-ripped apart fun! Speaking of seconds, I'm gonna go eat my burgers.

{He leaves. The Paper comes down.}

Easter Eggs

• Click on the words "Kat Spokane, Wash." after Strong Bad raps for The Cheat to reveal a Beverly Sportsinterviews book titled "Cat," spoke Anne, "Wash!".
• Click on the pop-up Tandy 400 after Strong Bad says "The Lake Head" to see a comparison between Strong Sad's head and Manicouagan Reservoir in Quebec, a circular lake formed by a meteor impact in the late Triassic.
• At the end, click on "The Cheat" to see The Cheat win Strong Bad a car.

{Cut to The Cheat, Strong Sad, and Bubs playing dominoes in Strong Sad's room. Bubs is smoking a cigar.}

STRONG SAD: Oh, The Cheat wins again. Pay up.

BUBS: Well, she's all yours! {He drops a car key on the table.}

THE CHEAT: {Jubilant The Cheat noises, does a dance}

Fun Facts

Explanations

• The wing-a-ling babies look vaguely like winged infants known as Putti.
• While the name "Senor Muybueno" has no inherent meaning by itself, the corrected Spanish name "Señor Muy Bueno" would be equivalent to "Mister Very Good" in English.

Magic Eye

Trivia

• This is the first time the ceiling of the computer room, or any other room on the same level of the house, has been seen.
• This is the second time Strong Bad's jumping abilities have been seen, the first time being in unused emails.
• The label on the disk in the floppy disk container reads "codename: iceman".
• Decompiling the Flash file reveals that the Magic Eye image is a working stereogram of Saturn, from Magic Eye: How to See 3-D (ISBN 0836204670).

Remarks

• The "Gold Circle" award in the "Cat, spoke Anne" Easter egg is, in fact, green.
• One of the quickest ways to destroy a pop-up book is to turn the pages without resetting the tabs to their original positions, as Strong Bad does throughout.
• When he is visible and the page is turning, Homestar has a visible tongue.
• When Strong Bad mentions the sound quality has improved since page 2, he is referring to the second pop-up spread. With a traditional page-counting method, this would be pages 4 and 5.
• In the ending Easter egg, the chain of dominoes ends or starts with a five. One of the shown dominoes has a five on it, so Bubs or Strong Sad could have won.
• The car key Bubs gives The Cheat more strongly resembles a house key, notably in the shape of the head and the fact that it is cut on only one side, a rarity in car keys.
  • Older model GM and AMC cars, such as the AMC Gremlin that Bubs owns, would have this style of single-cut key. However, those keys are distinctly different in appearance from the key that Bubs had.

Goofs

• The Cheat's keyboard stays in place in the bottom corner of the screen for the first frame of Strong Bad's jump, instead of staying down on the floor.
• While Strong Sad's flab tab drops it's the shape of Strong Sad's head with holes in it, not the shape of the flab.
• When Strong Bad turns back to the Strong Sad page to create another burger, the flab tab has been reset.
• On the page when The Cheato Bandito gets booted up, the line on the other side of the tab when he is near the top of the page isn't lined up with the ground, but this might be a reference to imperfect construction of real pop-up books.
• In the Easter egg, when Bubs moves, so does the column of smoke from his cigar.

Inside References

• The following running gags make appearances in this email:
  • How do you type with boxing gloves on? (on the Tandy page)
  • DELETED (on the Tandy page)
  • Strong Bad hurting Strong Sad (on Strong Sad's page)
  • Sticky notes (on the refrigerator door)
  • Burgers (in the fridge)
  • Kicking The Cheat (on Senor Muybueno's page)
  • BMW Lighter (on the last page)
  • Smoking (Bubs's cigar in the Easter egg)

Recessed lighting indeed...

• Strong Bad's intro references cake.
• This email confirms Strong Bad's statement in different town that his house has recessed lighting.
• Strong Bad edits the email to talk about taco salad.
• Strong Bad calling the putti "wing-a-ling babies" is a reference to dragon, where Strong Bad calls Trogdor a "wing-a-ling dragon".
• The "ab tab" shows Strong Bad after using the Ab-Abber 2000.
• "Cheat-tribution" and "cornuco-pourri" and both portmanteaus.
• Strong Bad was also drawn as a construction worker in Teen Girl Squad Issue 10.
• "2 more eggs" was an ingredient in Strong Bad's EGGS in morning routine.
• The design of "Senor Muybueno" comes from the Strong Bad Libs Easter egg in lackey.
• Strong Bad says "Boot 'em up, boot 'em up, boot 'em up, y'all".
• The Cold Ones on the last page of the book are from property of ones, excluding the original Cold One, which was briefly seen in the Theme Song Video.
• The arm movements of The Cheat's dance are similar to those of his hip hop dance in New Boots.

Real-World References

• The "Gold Circle" award (found on the book "Cat," spoke Anne, "Wash!") plays off of the fact that the two best-known awards for children's books in the U.S.—the Newbery Medal and the Caldecott Medal—are circular and golden.
• Police Quest is a series of adventure games published by Sierra between 1987 and 1993.
• Magic Eye is a series of books that feature autostereograms, which allow some people to see 3D images by focusing on 2D patterns. The viewer must diverge their eyes in order to see a hidden three-dimensional image within the pattern; however, not everyone can see the images, especially those with certain visual ailments.
• The Cheato Bandito is a reference to the "Frito Bandito", a character created by Tex Avery who appeared in many Fritos commercials from 1967 to 1971. Cheetos and Fritos are both brands of snack foods.

Fast Forward

• "2 more eggs" later became the title of a series of Disney XD shorts produced by the Brothers Chaps (written as Two More Eggs), starting in June 2015.
• On June 16, 2019, @StrongBadActual posted the picture of the Manicouagan Reservoir crater used in the Easter egg in response to a landmark resembling The Cheat, complaining that Strong Sad "copied [him] by having a giant meteor hit Quebec like 200 million years ago".

DVD Version

• The Cheat dances for a much longer period of time in the final Easter egg, changing directions a few times like he does during his first scene.
• The DVD version features hidden creators' commentary. To access it, switch the DVD player's audio language selection while watching.

Commentary Transcript

(Commentary by: Mike Chapman, Matt Chapman)

{pause}

MIKE: How long do you think we can go without saying anything?

MATT: {laughs} Look, here's another—well, this is a nice song, A, that he sings here, and it reveals that he indeed has recessed lighting as he, uh, pointed out in sbemail99, different town. Um, watch.

MIKE: What reveals it? This part coming up. {overlapping}

MATT: Just watch. He launches up to the ceiling.

MIKE: Oh, there it is.

MATT: Little one. Do you think he's calling him little one and just pronouncing it weird, or is he calling him little Juan.

MIKE: Little Juan.

MATT: J-U-A-N.

MIKE: There's one time where The Cheat was wearing a top hat that said Tito.

MATT: {laughs} Little Tito?

MIKE: Maybe little T—little Juan is a friend of Tito's.

MATT: Yeah. {pause} "Cat," spoke Anne, "Wash!" That's a, uh, another {laughing} Beverly Sportsinterviews book. If you click on the Easter eggs.

MIKE: Beverly Sportsinterviews books are among my favorite, uh, Easter eggs. {laughs}

MATT: Dead squirrel. {Mike laughs} From the library of dead squirrel. {pause} Uh, I would like a real one of these books, Mike.

MIKE: That kid. I wish that there was a post-it note that said "That kid" on this. Or this kid?

MATT: This kid.

MIKE: Matt had this old Star Wars poster in his room {laughing} that had a post-it note pointing to Luke?

MATT: It was just over to Luke's gun, I think.

MIKE: And it just said "This kid".

MATT: Yeah.

MIKE: Ha!

{pause}

MATT: Ew. The lake head? What's the name of that place in Canada? That crater... that looks like Strong Sad?

MIKE: I don't remember but it's good.

MATT: You should look it up on Google Earth. It's amazing.

{pause}

MATT: Oh, these are the dial—I love the dial things, in um, in pop-up books. The dial function.

MIKE: I like the Magic Eye function in pop-up books.

MATT: {laughs} What was that—didn't you get—what was that Magic Eye of? Do you know?

MIKE: I don't remember. Probably a dolphin.

MATT: {simultaneously} A dolphin.

{both laugh}

MATT: Two more eggs!

MIKE: There's a post-it note!

MATT: Did that say Negative Zero on that? Uh. It does. Negative Zero—

MIKE: Yeah. That was nice.

MATT: That was the punk band that I was in. I just saw two of the members of that. One of which is in Of Montreal nowadays.

MIKE: When?

MATT: Uh, the other day.

MIKE: What was you guys's best song? Negative Zero.

MATT: It was definitely Depravity.

MIKE: Depravity. {laughs}

MATT: Yeah. It has some swears, so I won't sing it for you, but... {pause} Oh, Señor Muybueno. Senor probably.

{long pause}

MIKE: You know with the little one I've got a lot of pop-up books these days.

MATT: Do you?

MIKE: Yeah.

MATT: Little Juan?

MIKE: This—These are much better than the ones she has.

MATT: Do you call her Little Juan?

MIKE: I will now.

{pause}

MATT: Uh, look at that fat—Fat Fryer! That's like Thy Dungeonman III, Fat Fat Fryer! Spin, slide it, pull. Pull the flabs. This is the grand finale.

{Strong Bad says "Don't forget the crap flap!"}

MATT: {both laugh} If it made that noise every time, it'd be good. {pause} Yeah, I remember... lots of cool pop-up books, and nev—like, I don't—there were several pop-up books that were around as a kid at grandma's house or something, and I don't remember them ever functioning. They were always tore up.

MIKE: Toe up.

Fun Facts

• Matt mentions the Fat, Fat Friar from Thy Dungeonman 3.

External Links

• watch "pop-up"
• watch "pop-up" on the old Flash site
• view the Flash file for "pop-up"
• forum thread re: "pop-up"