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| “ | Minergy residue. The Power Bandz! Madcap! I hate that guy. Hope you're awake, team. Some brat kid just let Madcap escape. We got a big problem. Ten-hut! | ” |
—Sarge Charge, "Unboxing Part 1" | ||
"Unboxing Part 1" is the first episode of the first season and the series premiere of Power Players, and it is the first part of "Unboxing Special". It first premiered on August 30, 2019 on the Cartoon Network website and it later premiered on TV on September 21, 2019 on Cartoon Network.
Synopsis[]
Axel ventures into his uncle's strictly off-limits basement lab in hopes of fixing a broken toy and ends up unleashing living ones instead: the renegade Madcap and a whole team of superpowered toys dedicated to stopping him![6]
Plot[]
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In the living room of a Toy Store, young Axel Mulligan is playing video games on his cellphone. His uncle Andrew arrives and interrupts his playtime and scolds him for not doing his chores. He also explains that since Axel has recently moved in with him while his parents are away for a diplomatic mission, Axel must learn how to take responsibility and not shirk his obligations. Before Uncle Andrew leaves the house to go to the toy store, their next-door neighbor, Zoe, arrives and to see Axel. When Axel questions why Uncle Andrew gets so strict despite owning a toy repair shop downstairs, Zoe reveals to him that she heard from her father at a party that Uncle Andrew used to be a famous toy inventor back in the day and had created revolutionary toys in the house, but then he stopped suddenly and opened his toy repair shop instead. This causes Axel to become curious about it, and he goes downstairs to where Uncle Andrew is working. When he gets there, he becomes amazed at all the toys Uncle Andrew keeps in his shop and asks his uncle about the "revolutionary toys" he made. However, Uncle Andrew doesn't give his nephew a full detail of his past, and instead, he offers Axel two toys he has from his shop to play with: Porcupunk and Orangutank.
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That evening, Axel is in his room playing with Porcupunk and Orangutank when he accidentally causes one of Orangutank's arms to fall off. When Uncle Andrew comes his room to give Axel an accessory for Porcupunk, Axel panics and tells his uncle that he's hungry and asks him if they could have dinner right away to cover up his mistake. Uncle Andrew suggests he could go grab a pizza and leaves, much to Axel's relief. While Uncle Andrew leaves the house, Axel sneaks into the basement to try to fix Orangutank's arm before his uncle gets home. Along the way, he notices that Zoe is still at his house and watching TV in the living room.
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In the basement, Axel manages to find a screwdriver and a screw. He starts trying to fix Orangutank, but he loses his balance on the paint can he's standing on and accidentally tosses the screwdriver away. The screwdriver rolls on the ground to another room, and when Axel tries to open the door to retrieve the screwdriver, he accidentally presses his hand onto a door control screen and turns it on. The voice command asks him if he wants to play, and a nearby fighting game arcade machine turns on. This amazes Axel since he figures out that Uncle Andrew invented a "game lock" so that if he wins the game, he'll open the room. Axel successfully beats the game and enters the room to see that his uncle has actually created a secret lab in the basement.
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While exploring the lab, Axel accidentally steps on the screwdriver that had rolled into the room earlier, causing him to slip. When Axel tries to get back up, he notices a pair of wristbands underneath a table, and he curiously puts them on. Axel admires the wristbands and remarks that they don't do anything. However, he is proven wrong when he accidentally blasts Minergy into a nearby Toy Box and he hears a muffled voice from inside the box. He looks at a few sticky notes that are attached to the box that read, "Do not open under any circumstances! Ever!" Axel is at first confused, but then he hears someone talking to him from inside the box. The voice explains to Axel that he's trapped in the box and begs Axel to let him out. He even explains to Axel that he's a "revolutionary toy" and the Bandz Axel is wearing are revolutionary, too. He goes on to say that if Axel lets the trapped toy out, the toy will show the boy how the Bandz work. Axel's curiosity gets the best of him, and he opens the Toy Box with his Power Bandz. The toy reveals himself as Madcap, and he sucks the Minergy from the Bandz. Axel realizes he just made a horrible mistake and that he just unleashed a supervillain from the Toy Box. While fighting against Madcap, Axel accidentally blasts Minergy to a nearby fan, and Madcap escapes from the lab. While Axel chases after the villain, the Minergy that he accidentally blasted to the fan earlier fires at the remaining toys that are in the Toy Box. These toys are known as the Power Players, and when they get reawakened, they all notice that Axel is wearing the Power Bandz and is chasing after their arch-enemy Madcap. Feeling suspicious, the Power Players all follow the kid and the villain out of the basement.
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When Axel makes it upstairs to stop Madcap, he asks Zoe, who's still at the house, to lock all the doors, and he promises he'll explain everything to her later. While Zoe leaves the living room, Madcap wreaks havoc on the first floor of the house while Axel is trying to prevent him from escaping. As Axel chases after Madcap who's about to go upstairs, a toy, named Sarge Charge, overhears Axel saying to Madcap that he should have never let him out of the Toy Box. This causes a misunderstanding with the Power Players, and when Axel is chasing after Madcap, who's going upstairs, the team of toys arrives and attacks the boy on the steps of the stairs. The confused Axel wants to know what's going on, but he accidentally activates the Power Bandz again and causes himself to shrink down to a living action figure, ending the episode in a cliffhanger.
Characters[]
Major Characters[]
Minor Characters[]
- Uncle Andrew
- Zoe
- Bearbarian
- Sarge Charge
- Masko
- Galileo (non-speaking)
- Bobbie Blobby (non-speaking)
- Orangutank (dormant)
- Porcupunk (dormant)
- Slobot (background)
- Zoe's father (mentioned)
- Mr. and Mrs. Mulligan (mentioned)
Trivia[]
- The French title for this episode is "Origines - Partie 1", meaning "Origins - Part 1".
- On August 31, 2019, this episode was uploaded in its entirety to the official Cartoon Network YouTube channel in the US.
- Though, the entire special was later re-uploaded on February 26, 2020.
- The episode title refers to when Axel opens the Toy Box, freeing Madcap and the Power Players inside.
- According to Zoe and Axel, Axel has known Zoe for five days.
- When Axel is playing with Orangutank and Porcupunk, he calls himself "Action Axel". Following the events of the next episode, he would use that name whenever he transforms himself into a living action figure by the Power Bandz.
- Bearbarian's, Sarge Charge's, and Madcap's names are all seen in a blueprint inside the basement.
- Slobot, Bobbie Blobby, and Galileo are the only Power Players who didn't speak in this episode. Slobot, in particular, only appears in the background underneath Bearbarian after Axel opens the Toy Box.
- Orangutank and Porcupunk, the two toys Axel play before meeting Madcap, become Madcap's minions in the next episode.
Errors[]
- Even though Axel is playing a game on his cellphone at the beginning of the episode, Uncle Andrew erroneously calls the phone a "tablet".
- After Axel opens the Toy Box, he places Bearbarian and Sarge on a nearby shelf. However, in the very next scene, before Madcap grabs onto the Power Bandz, Bearbarian can be seen back in the Toy Box.
- Madcap's name is misspelled as "Mad Cap" on his blueprint.
Gallery
 Click here to view the gallery. |
References[]
- ↑ http://www.thefutoncritic.com/showatch/power-players/listings/
- ↑ https://twitter.com/CNschedules/status/1166156724014854147
- ↑ https://usa.newonnetflix.info/info/81204650
- ↑ https://www.france.tv/enfants/six-huit-ans/power-players/power-players-saison-1/1330375-origines-partie-1.html
- ↑ https://playtv.fr/programmes-tv/france-4/28-03-2020/
- ↑ https://www.cartoonnetwork.com/video/power-players/unboxing-part-1-episode.html