"Chowder Grows Up" is the 17th episode of season 3 of Chowder and the 93rd episode overall. It is the series finale of the show and it first aired on August 7, 2010[1].
Synopsis[]
Twenty years in the future, Chowder still has refused to grow up. He must accept the responsibility of training his own apprentice or everyone he loves will be unable to move on with their lives.
Plot[]
Chowder, Mung Daal, Shnitzel and Truffles are making some Flam-O-Burgers. Mung tells Chowder that when two are touched together "Kablooey!" it explodes the kitchen. Chowder doesn't listen and when he is about to put them together, Mung stops him and reminds him.
Mung tries to tell him how to make them, although Chowder doesn't listen because he "is so bored." Chowder then starts looking at two of the Flam-O-Burgers and imagining them getting married and everybody screams (except Truffles) after Chowder says "You may kiss the Flam-O-Burger!" and touches two of the Flam-O-Burgers together. The whole kitchen explodes, and Chowder and Mung float up in the sky and land into the hospital in the middle of the night, with bruises and scratches.
While in traction at the hospital, Mung tells Chowder that he needs to start being more mature/responsible as a chef -- noting that (unless Chowder somehow accidentally kills him) he'll eventually retire, Mung he needs to know that Chowder will be able to step up and take over the catering company once the time comes. Chowder suddenly appears in a nurse's outfit and reminds Mung that the point of the show is Chowder being Mung's apprentice. Chowder eventually goes into a musical number "I Don't Wanna Grow Up." He holds the last note for twenty long years, which he never noticed. Then Chowder asks Mung if they're going to finish the Flam-O-Burgers, and Mung explains that they already did twenty years previously.
Mung explains to Chowder that he was too busy singing to notice that time had passed and reveals that the day he had told Chowder about all those years ago has finally come: he and Truffles are getting ready to retire and Chowder has to get to ready to finally take over the catering company. Mung also explains that, because of Chowder's refusal to grow up, he's greatly affected the lives of those around him (even taking him flying to show him, since "anything's possible in these 30-minute specials"):
- Schnitzel married Endive, since she'll listen to him complain about Chowder with open arms.
- Panini's stuck in limbo, waiting to get married to Chowder and start a family with him. As a result, she takes it out on her apprentice, Ambrosia, by dressing her up like a baby and treating her like one.
- Gorgonzola, now the CEO of a candle company, considers his success to be a hollow victory since he doesn't have a nemesis (specifically Chowder) to brag about it to. Similar to Panini, Gorgonzola forces his own apprentice, Kabob, to dress up like Chowder and takes it out on him.
- Then, Mung takes him to Gazpacho's store, which has closed down. A recorder plays a pre-recorded message in which Gazpacho tells about his future (which he actually just made up): he has become a successful ninja and finally gotten to date girls.
Using Gazpacho as his inspiration, Chowder makes an effort to grow up, with the first thing being to choose his own apprentice -- he ultimately chooses a timid young box turtle that he names "Scraps." Mung then tells Chowder that he is ready to grow up. Then Scraps throws up (vomits) in his box and the part ends with Mung saying, "No, I said grow up, not throw up." Unfortunately, when Chowder tries teaching Scraps how to cook, he ultimately fails and the two end up fleeing Marzipan City, ending with getting lost in the raging hot Shmahara Dessert, with no water or food, causing the two to faint.
However, Gazpacho finds them and takes them back to what he calls his 'Man Cave'. They come to, and Chowder is surprised to learn that Gazpacho actually wasn't successful: his mother wanted him to get a 'real job' like accounting, but since Gazpacho had trouble with math and was suffering from boredom, he failed and hid. Gazpacho wants to eat Scraps, but Chowder stops him. Gazpacho then asks Chowder to live in his Man Cave with him because he's lonely. Chowder doesn't, but instead just camps out with Gazpacho for the night. During this camp-out, Gazpacho tells Chowder that his real dream was to open a stand-up comedy show/fruit stand (called the 'Fruit Stand-Up'). Chowder asks why he didn't do it, because it was the best idea Gazpacho has had to him. Gazpacho said that his mother told him growing up is about what's expected of you, not what you want to do. But Chowder argues that maybe Gazpacho's mother was wrong and convinces his old friend to follow his original dream. Gazpacho then asks Chowder why he's running away- he says Chowder was "built to cook." Scraps joins in and says that Chowder has made cooking fun. For the first time in his life, he isn't scared. Gazpacho wonders who Scraps is and again asks if he can eat him. Chowder introduces Scraps, then states that he is his master and that they are now going to cook a dish together before the night is done. Chowder and Scraps then head back to Marzipan.
Chowder, now back in Marzipan City, makes up a recipe with Scraps. The other characters are appalled at this, but Scraps stands up for Chowder and tells them that they should at least give the dish chance -- Scraps takes a bite of the dish himself and shocks the others when he doesn't die after eating it, which ultimately convinces the others to give Chowder's dish (which Chowder ultimately calls "Big Mess Cake") a chance. To everyone's surprise, Chowder's dish actually tastes really good -- Mung even suggests that Chowder should the Big Mess Cake his signature dish once he officially takes over the catering company. Chowder's voice changes to signify his transition into adulthood.
The episode ends to reveal the other character's futures:
- Mung and Truffles are happily retired.
- Shnitzel starts to like his marriage to Ms. Endive, Endive welcomes him with open arms as she listens to him complaining about Chowder.
- Gazpacho starts doing stand up while selling fruit at his new dream job just like in Gazpacho Stands Up.
- Gorgonzola gets to show Chowder just how successful he is to try to make Chowder jealous -- though this ends up failing (Chowder's actually proud of him).
- Chowder takes over the Catering company with Scraps as his apprentice. Chowder and Panini finally get married, and they end up having 50 children together.
At the end, just as adult-Chowder and adult-Panini are about to kiss, kid-Chowder appears and says that he "rejects this feature." He calls it evil, but kid-Panini shows up and tells kid-Chowder that they look so happy together as adults and starts chasing after him, with adult-Chowder noting how cute he and adult-Panini were as kids. Adult-Chowder tells adult-Panini no more babies, and she agrees to stop. After Scraps gets carried off by their babies, adult-Chowder chases after them to save Scraps. Then, the book that opens in each episode closes for the final time.
International premieres[]
- Poland (20 June 2010)
- America, Italy, Turkey, & Greece (7 August 2010)
- UK & Ireland (18 September 2010)
- Latin America (11 November 2010)
- Japan (15 June 2013)
Trivia[]
- This episode wasn't originally intended to be the series finale; it was in development before Cartoon Network relayed the news of Chowder being cancelled.
- The reason could be that this episode was the penultimate episode produced.
- The other reason was because C.H. Greenblatt was running out of ideas on what to do with episodes for the series.
- Chowder was also cancelled in favor of Destroy Build Destroy and other like shows during the "CN Real" era, as they felt it didn't fit their older boy demographic.
- C.H Greenblatt has said on his Tumblr he had always wanted to jump forward in time to these character's futures ala Dragon Ball Z, and this episode was merely meant to be a taste of that. Sadly, the show ended before he got the chance.
- This episode partially references A Christmas Carol and It's a Wonderful Life when Mung flies Chowder over Marzipan City and shows him how his friends have become lonely due to him not growing up.
- The flying sequence could also be a reference to the Disney movie Peter Pan, as when Mung is flying, he is wearing a hat similar to the title character's hat in the same movie.
- The episode's first broadcast was on June 20, 2010 in Poland, 48 days before the United States premiere.
- Some of the main cast reprises their roles while it takes place 20 years into the future.
- Ceviche did not appear in this episode, although his actor voiced Scraps in this episode.
- Additionally, although Ceviche never appeared in this episode, Ceviche was confirmed to have married Marmalade (though a part of him still has feelings for Panini), became a dancing master, and found an apprentice named Tartar.[2]
- Interestingly enough, Marmalade's voice actress voices Panini's apprentice; Ambrosia.
- This is the fifth two-parted episode of the show, after Shnitzel Quits, The Apprentice Games, Hey, Hey It's Knishmas!, and The Dinner Theater. It is also the only two-parted episode of Season 3.
- This is the only episode to premiere on a Saturday.
- When Gazpacho was in the Dessert, he was dressed similarly to a Tusken Raider from Star Wars.
- The Chowder Pop Up Marathon preceded the premiere of this episode.
- Chowder and Panini having 50 babies is a reference to a rabbit's huge reproduction rate (since both parents are partial rabbits in their species).[3]
- The song that Chowder sings near the beginning of the episode, "I Don't Wanna Grow Up", is a parody of the Toys 'R' Us jingle from the 1980s and '90s.
- It could also be a reference to the song "I Won't Grow Up" from Disney's Peter Pan.
- This is the only episode of Chowder to premiere during the Cartoon Network's CHECK it era.
- The show's creator, C.H. Greenblatt, provided the voice for adult Chowder as the character is actually starting to "grow up".
- The episode's puppet sequence depicts Chowder mentioning the episode's events as a dream.
Errors[]
- After aging 20 years, Mung is missing the remaining hair on the top of his head, but when he finally retires, his hair is there again.
Gallery[]
References[]