Walker’s plot is surprisingly complicated. From what I can gather, he first sends Wulf to sniff out Danny in exchange for his freedom before spreading his army of goons to terrorize Amity Park. A handful of them, plus his right-hand man Bullet, and Walker himself possesses over authority figures higher then Danny, a chain reaction that later involves the mayor whom declares Danny the ringleader of the ghostly invasion during his period of being overshadowed. He subsequently nominees Jack Fenton as head ghost hunter for an unknown reason, a possible explanation that his incompetent nature will never allow him to catch any ghosts that would otherwise thwart his plans. Wulf by that point has found and befriended Danny and co, so Walker tries to do away with him (unsuccessfully, unbeknown to him at the time). By the end, Walker, possessing Mayor Montez falsely accuse Danny of kidnapping him in his own City Hall. Maddie is an unfortunate witness who could back that up even when Danny witnesses the only good news of this entire event: Wulf sending both him and Walker back to the Ghost Zone.
In a nutshell.
Am I close because countless viewing of this episode still leaves me confuzzled on his plan. But his general intention rings clear: he wants to frame Danny as an act of revenge after the kid diminished his perfect record of crime prevention. And the kicker is, it works. Overlooking Wulf’s failed execution, everything went according to Walker’s plan that by end, Amity Park not only has knowledge of Danny Phantom’s existence (as well as their futile desires to deny all ghosts existence having flown out the window), they think of him as a homicidal menace to society. Most heroes first entry into the spotlight usually generate a positive light and with the exception of a few people (Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Paulina), Danny now has eyes darting in every corner. His human form is a shield that can only carry him too far; mess up and it’s game over. It’s an incredibly rare moment in the superhero genre--in a children’s cartoon--where the hero does not emerge from victory. It only ends up worse and it’s not going to get better by the next day. Walker is a true mastermind for what he did and is an effective antagonist in this episode; though neither his goons or Bullet have much in the way of character, the latter only makes one major appearance before relegating himself into ghostly crowds, the rest are cannon fodder.
Despite the 100 to 1 odds, Danny refuses to turn down his role as a hero. At this point in time, it’s become clear that there is no turning back. He’s reached the point of no return; he has two options left, just keep going or quit. If the former, he has to risk himself, possibly to the death, the latter--well, that's just being plain cowardly and selfish from a heroic perspective. He’s become far too passionate on his role, understands what the sacrifices he made and will make, and despite the number of hands pointing in his ghostly direction, Danny has love for his people. In a more subconscious and shall I say, selfish desire (and I use that term loosely), Danny’s path to superheroism can be seem as a goal, a bridge to maintaining an identity for himself. Unsure of who he is even with his new powers (which probably made him all the more confused), Danny slowly attached to the role of Danny Phantom, the more confident, braver, better version of himself. Finally, he has found something he can admire in himself, it’s no surprise he refuses to let go of that facade. I don’t think he has fully embraced who he is as much as who he wants to continue to be and that in itself is a selfish human desire. Luckily, he's taking a great step forward in the right direction, a path that will ultimately benefit him and those around him. After all, you have to fix yourself first before you fix others and making that [selfish] decision, Danny has started his path of maturity.
Wulf on the whole isn’t that big an interesting character to dive into. His sincere “friend” comment to Danny was heartwarming, but sort of haphazard when he and Danny really only spent a few minutes together. In reality, Wulf spent a greater time with Sam and Tucker and their chemistry wasn’t established whatsoever, leaving room for him and Danny. Rescuing him only to be licked in thanks is a small charming scene, but it doesn’t really emphasize. The story is too busily clunked with Walker’s path of vendetta that any and all ties between Danny and Wulf has to be taken for granted. “Claw of the Wild” does a better job between the two, though even that’s a problem better solved with Sam out of the picture. In the end, we get what is essentially a very clumsy plot of friendship that is mostly compensated by Wulf’s personality. Unique in that he cannot speak a word of English, you can still feel the determination and nobility he presents himself through his facial and body expression.
Like the solid, yet unnecessary complicated story, the animation is a mixed event. The first half presents one of the most impressive displays of artistry of Season One; the characters are achingly solid-designed and the colors are wide and plentiful. A good friend of mine has stated DP is very much it’s own palette of color. Unfortunately it’s bitterly ruined come the second half when the cast gets some of their most rubbery look ever. Even the coloring which is suppose to be identical to the first somehow gets uglier and painful to look at. The only saving grace they got going is the fluid and far more faster action sequences which is obvious the story boarders spent time choreographing.
Despite the extreme convulsion of both the art and story structure, the exciting narrative, the fast-paced battles, the somewhat downer ending, and rich characters keeps this from going behind bars.
8/10
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Article written revised in: May. 16, 2008
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