Top, Bottom, Jump is the first episode of the second season in the series A Little Curious, and the 26th episode in total. It first premiered on February 19, 2000, and focuses on the subjects of the words top, bottom, and jump.
Segments
Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top (Acrylic Painting)
Bob asks his friends what they should put on top of their ice cream sundae. Lacey puts chocolate syrup on top, then Bob adds whipped cream, then Mary Jane dumps bananas on top, Little Cup sprinkles some sprinkles on top, Mary Jane puts nuts on top, and then Lacey pours butterscotch. Finally, Bob tops the sundae with a cherry on top. The gang goes out to get spoons, when Plush jumps on the table and devours the entire thing. Bob tells them to take it from the top, and they recreate the large sundae again in fast motion.
A Little Reality
A group of kids climb up a rock hill, then slide down, then climb back up to the top.
Tight, Twist, Top (Cel)
Plush spots a soda bottle on a table, so he tries his hardest to get it open while a chorus sings in the background. Eventually, he gets it open and it erupts, causing a mess on the floor but half of it lands in his mouth, so Mop cleans it all up.
Way Down at the Bottom (Cel/Oil Painting Hybrid)
A couple of the characters are on a boat looking down at the glass bottom, seeing all the creatures down at the bottom of the sea while the choir sings.
Bottom of the Box (Stop Motion)
At breakfast, Mop shows Bob a new cereal box, which contains a prize. Bob wants the prize, but Mop explains that it's at the bottom and he'll have to wait until the cereal is all gone. He gets help from Mr. String and Little Cup who have bowls of cereal, and Bob finally gets to the prize at the bottom, which is a red rubber ball like him.
Jump Rope (CGI)
Doris teaches Mary Jane and Lacey a new jump rope song, and begins to sing it while Lacey jumps. She trips right when Doris says "B", so B is the first letter of her "sweetheart's" name. Mary Jane teases her that Bob is her boyfriend, when it's then her turn. Mary Jane makes it all the way to "L", and then Lacey teases her that Little Cup is her sweetheart. It's then her turn, and she makes it all the way to "P". Mary Jane teases her, and even Plush licks Lacey. Doris comments that puppy love always made her heart jump.
A Little Reality
In this segment, kids jump on haystacks and over pits to make to the other side.
Song: Plush (CGI)
The Plush song "Plush Rap Dance" is played.
High Jump (Version 2) (CGI)
Pad, Pencil, Mr. String, and Bob are on a sports field getting ready for a high jump, with Doris announcing. Bob, Pad, and Mr. String all jump, with Mr. String being the highest.
A Little Reality
Horses are seen jumping over poles with kids on their backs.
Top That! (CGI)
On a stage, Bob, Mop, Plush, and Mr. String take turns to tap dance.
A Little Reality
Also taking place on a dark stage, many kids perform tap dancing moves.
Song: Mr. String (CGI)
The Mr. String song "He's Jumpy!" is played.
Watch Her Jump (Watercolor)
Pencil draws a big top on Pad, and it zooms into a fantasy where animals are performing in the circus. Pencil, who is dressed as a ringmaster, showcases Pad on a horse jumping over barrels, trapezing, and riding under elephants. At the end of the fantasy, Pad claims that his art makes her heart jump, and the two spin and hug each other.
Jump Like a Frog (Chalk Drawings)
Bob and Little Cup play leapfrog, jumping and passing various frogs.
Bottom of the Pile (Cel)
Bob comes hopping over to Plush, who is sleeping in a hole filled with junk, asking for his baseball cap. Plush gets up and digs under, but didn't find anything, so he digs until he reaches the very, very, bottom and finds the blue cap. However, he loses Bob and gets sad, but Bob says he's at the bottom of the new large pile Plush created throwing everything out the hole. He digs him up and places the hat on his head.
A Little Reality
A little girl looks in an old trunk in an attic, pulling out various things until she reaches the bottom. She pulls out a top hat.
Jack Jumps Over the Candlestick (Watercolor)
Pad tells the poem of "Jack Be Nimble" by Mother Goose, with visuals illustrated by Pencil. At the end, Pencil is shocked that the story was over, but he'll never be over her.
Trivia
Production
- This is the first episode where one of the topics in the title card is colored yellow, in contrast to being just green and blue (most of Season 1) or just blue (Slippery, Sticky, Mirror).
- To fit in more with the "Jump" theme, the High Jump short has a few line changes compared to its initial debut in High, Low, Stretch.
- This episode seems to have top and bottom black bars that occasionally appear in some shorts, most notably in Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top. Also, one shot of Mop in Way Down at the Bottom has part of her hair popping out of the frame. These types of errors are especially common in the 2D animated segments, likely because they would've not been visible on CRT TV's due to how they crop the frame's edges.
Credits
- Outsourced Segments include:
- Pretty Please with a Cherry on Top: Produced by Stretch Films; Directed by John R. Dilworth
- Way Down at the Bottom: Produced by Funline Animation; Directed by Helena Uszak
- High Jump: Produced by IBC: Directed by Ben Porcari
- Under the Big Top and Jack Jumps Over the Candlestick: Produced by Magik Films; Directed by Maciek Albrecht
- Songs featured in episode:
- Tight Twist Top and Plush Rap Dance: Music by Pat Irwin; Lyrics by Alani Burgi
- Way Down at the Bottom: Music by Wayne Barker; Lyrics by Fred Stroppel
- Jump Rope: Music by Wayne Barker; Lyrics by Carin Greenberg Baker and Nicholas Hollander
- Top That, Top Hat: Music by Wayne Barker; Lyrics by Carin Greenberg Baker
- He's Jumpy: Music by Pat Irwin; Lyrics by Nicholas Hollander
- Jump Like a Frog: Music by Pat Irwin; Lyrics by Fred Stroppel
General
- The word jump would be focused again along with the words flat (from Drop, Lift, Flat), and squeeze (from Tight, Loose, Squeeze) in Jump, Flat, Squeeze, and the word top would be focused again along with the words push (from Push, Pull, Rock) and over (from Over, Under, Balance) in Push, Over, Top.
- In the fourth live action segment, if you listen carefully, a little girl tap dancer says "yeah" in a very quiet voice. Making this and Same, Different, Beat the only instances to have auditable dialogue from a human being.