"Raiders of the Lost Cinema" is the second Halloween episode of the Nickelodeon animated series It's Pony. It premiered on Nickelodeon in Australia and New Zealand on October 10 of 2021, before making its US debut on NickToons on October 29th of the same year.
Synopsis[]
The episode opens with Helen telling Annie and Pony the legend of Cal Gunderson, who, 50 years ago, single-handedly built the most extravagant movie theater ever and stocked it with the finest candy for the date he had arranged. But when his dream woman never showed up, he was so heartbroken that the ground beneath him and his theater also broke, sending both of them underground. Supposedly, the theater is still underground, and is haunted by Gunderson's "goat" (which everyone says instead of "ghost" so as not to scare Pony). After finishing the story, Helen offers suggestions for Annie and Pony's Halloween costumes, but Annie says she's probably not going to trick-or-treat this year, because every time she and her friends do, Heston's bullying older brother Kyle and his friends, Mitch and Max, steal their candy. Just then, George pulls out half of the ticket stub to the only movie showing at Gunderson's theater, affirming to Annie and Pony that the legend is real. Upon learning that kids have been trying to find the lost theater for years, this gives Annie an idea.
Come Halloween night, Annie announces to Gerry, Clara, Heston, and Brian that they're going to forego trick-or-treating and find the movie theater and claim the candy within. Pony, however, is afraid to go due to his phobia of Halloween, so Annie gets him to wear a "Booger Bear" mask (which does not have working eyeholes), convincing him that he can't be scared if everyone else finds him scary (she then convinces the gang to pretend to act scared of Pony's mask). As Pony is stumbling about with the mask, the other half of the ticket stub flies out of it. Annie's friends don't think they're getting anywhere and are about to quickly abandon the quest, but then Pony recognizes the popcorn scent coming from the tickets - it was made by Poppin' Pete. However, they soon find that Poppin' Pete's store is closed down, and Pony mentions it's because the man retired years ago and is now living at the nearby retirement home. At the retirement home, as Pony goes about poorly attempting to scare the old folks, Annie inquires Poppin' Pete and his delivery man, Roy, about the delivery they made to Gunderson's theater. Roy tells Annie the intersection they need to go to, but before he can give her the most important step, Pony spooks him, getting himself and Annie kicked out.
Annie, Pony, and friends head to the intersection that Roy mentioned and, noticing the sewer grate underneath them, figure that they're supposed to go down into the sewer. Unfortunately, while they're in the sewers, Pony wanders off and unknowingly runs into Kyle and his friends, who overheard Annie talking about the candy-stocked theater earlier and are following them. Kyle pretends that he's Annie (claiming that the lack of candy is making "her" voice hoarse) and tricks Pony into "reminding" him of Annie's plan. Shortly after getting separated from Kyle's group, Pony reunites with Annie and the others. They then hear music coming from somewhere, which Annie believes is the movie playing at Gunderson's theater as mentioned in the legend. They soon find the source of the music is actually the Poopa Cabana, the city's underground dance club. They find Mr. Gravlax there and ask him about the lost movie theater. Gravlax says that he and the other dancers are guardians of the theater, and one of the kids will have to beat their champions in a dance contest. Fortunately, Brian wins against the champions - a couple in skull masks - and Gravlax allows the kids to pass through.
As the kids make their way through the cave leading to the theater, a spider crawls up Pony's back and into his mask, making him start running about in panic until he bumps into some stalagmites, making his mask fly off. Pony is terrified and feels let down upon realizing he wasn't really scary, and begs Annie to take him home. As they walk all the way back to the city streets, Annie admits to Pony she just really wanted to do this adventure together. Pony then asks if she's going to start sounding like Kyle again, which leads Annie to realize that Kyle has found out about the plan, and she rushes back underground to go warn her friends.
Annie, Pony, and friends look over the candy they got from Gunderson's theater.
Clara, Heston, Gerry, and Brian, in the meantime, have found Gunderson's theater and the huge stockpile of candy within, when suddenly Kyle, Mitch, and Max appear, dressed as zombies, and force them to hand over the candy. Annie then arrives and demands Kyle return the candy. Kyle, Mitch, and Max at first refuse, but then they drop the bag of candy and run off, because a ghost has appeared right behind Annie. Annie and her friends, seeing the ghost, hide behind the counter, at which point Pony shows up, saying that even though he's still afraid of ghosts, he's come to protect Annie and her friends. The "ghost" then reveals that he actually isn't a ghost, but instead just an old man - Cal Gunderson himself, who has been pining for his lost love Phyllis ever since he wound up underground. Pony recognizes the old woman that Cal mentioned as someone who lives at the retirement home he and Annie visited earlier, and they bring Cal to meet Phyllis there. As it turns out, Phyllis had been running late on the night she was supposed to come to meet Cal, and when she arrived, the theater had already sunk underground. As Cal and Phyllis get reacquainted, Annie, Pony, and the gang help themselves to their bag of Cal's candy - which turns out to be really stale after 50 years. Despite that, the kids declare this their best Halloween ever. Later that night, as George and Helen are getting ready for bed, they hold up their skull masks, revealing to us that they were the dance-battle champions at the club earlier, and say they should improve their dance moves for next year.
Character costumes[]
- Annie Bramley:
- Pony (in the flashback)
- A witch (in the present)
- Pony: Annie (in the flashback)
- Clara Bornstein:
- A magician (in the flashback)
- A mummy (in the present)
- Heston: a vampire
- Gerry:
- An astronaut (in the flashback)
- A cat (in the present)
- Brian Mulrooney:
- A ghost (in the flashback)
- Frankenstein's monster (in the present)
Cast[]
| Voice actor | Character(s) |
|---|---|
| Jessica DiCicco | Annie Bramley |
| Josh Zuckerman | Pony |
| Abraham Benrubi | George Bramley |
| India de Beaufort | Helen Bramley |
| Taylor Polidore | Clara Bornstein |
| Josh Keaton | Heston |
| Noshir Dalal | Gerry |
| Bobby Moynihan | Brian Mulrooney |
| Dave Foley | Mr. Gravlax |
| Josh Brener | Kyle |
| Leah Lewis | Max |
| Kevin Michael Richardson | Mitch Roy |
| Kari Wahlgren | Phyllis Nurse |
| Phil LaMarr | Poppin' Pete |
| John Kassir | Cal Gunderson |