Pirate Radio (Danny Phantom)
| "Pirate Radio" Danny Phantom episode | |
| Season | 2 |
| Number | 23 |
| Prod. code | 023 |
| Airdate | July 22, 2005 |
| Writer(s) | Marty Isenberg |
| Directors | Wincat Alcala, Butch Hartman, Kevin Petrilak |
| Ghost Appearances | Youngblood (1st), Ember McLain |
| Abbreviation | PR |
| Previous episode Doctor's Disorders | |
| Next episode Reign Storm |
| Assault on the Pirate Ship | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Human-Ghost Conflict | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| people of Amity Park | Ghost Zone renegades | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Danny Phantom | Youngblood | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| indeterminate number of kids | unknown | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| none | unknown, but heavy | ||||||
"Pirate Radio" is the twenty-third episode on the animated TV series Danny Phantom. All the adults in Amity Park are being kidnapped by ghost pirate child Youngblood and his helper, Ember McLain, so it's up to Danny and the other kids of Amity to work together to fight back for their parents.
Episode Recap
Template:Spoilers Danny, Sam, and Tucker are atop the Fenton roof, stargazing. The radio they brought with them is irritating Sam, but no amount of changing radio stations can fix it as they are all playing the same New Age music. Their peaceful night is interrupted by a flying pirate ship holding ghost pirates and their leader, the 10-year-old captain Youngblood. He easily holds Danny off as his crew steals The Fenton Ghost Shield Generator. They then make their exit.
The following morning, the very same New Age music from earlier is affecting Danny's parents and even Jazz, shocking Danny since they didn't notice their ghost shield generator has gone missing. At school, he finds out both Tucker and Sam's parents are affected by the same music as well. They hear it again when Lancer plays it on their new school radio station. Danny auditions for a role as a DJ there, but his lack of popularity works against him while Dash successfully rounds up his fellow students with relative ease. Afterwards, Youngblood comes to attack and steal all the treadmills in the school's weight room. Danny again fights them, but fails.
The trio later walks back home. Danny suspects the music may be part of the ghosts' plan. To counteract the music, Sam suggests building their own radio station using the Fenton Opt Center. Danny quickly asks for their parents' permission, only to find them and Jazz missing, leaving behind a brochure of the M. Bersback Cruise Line as the three go on a weekend cruise, leaving Danny alone in the house. While Sam and Tucker express excitement over the new radio station idea, Danny is more suspicious over all this matter.
Even more suspicious, nearly every single parent is leaving for the cruise (Jazz included since she views herself as an adult mentally). Sam takes this time to host a party at Danny's house celebrating the new radio station (Tucker uses Nasty Burger to sponsor it). Danny, however, is not so pleased with the idea. Concerned about the parents, he goes over to find the cruise, only to see the parents board Youngblood's pirate ship (disguised as a cruise ship). Again Danny ends up losing the battle with Youngblood, causing him to lose the ship and everyone inside.
Back home, Danny's house is invaded by his partying peers, while Sam and Tucker station themselves above the Fenton Opt Center, providing music. Danny races upstairs, ordering them to stop the racket of the chaotic party downstairs (both Sam and Tucker are thrilled over the party). Then Sam scratches one of the New Wave Vapordrone discs causing the music to play backwards and sending out a subliminal message telling all adults to leave their kids and go on the cruise.
Even worse, the pirate ship returns creating a ghost shield (from the stolen ghost generator) that Danny cannot pass. Inside the pirate ship, he reunites with Ember who was in charge of the music. Seeing as both she and Youngblood hate adults, she provides him with a power source for his ship (namely the adults, who provide the power through the treadmills the ghosts stole) while he helps her take over the world. Their only true blockage is Danny's radio station which is jamming their frequency, so they commence an attack. The pirate ship nearly destroys the Opt Center until Sam discovers a way to counterattack by continuously scratching records that send a sound wave back at the ship. With Ember's music interrupted, the pirates kidnap any remaining adults.
The kids, distressed over the loss of their folks, follow Danny's instructions (seeing that he's the only child with ghost-hunting parents) since Danny Phantom cannot pass the ghost shield. He gets Paulina to dress Tucker up as an adult so that he can destroy the Ghost Shield Generator from the inside, Sam is told to continue scratching records with Kwan helping her in the defensive, and Dash goes with Danny on offense. With the team set, Tucker (now disguised as an adult) gets deliberately captured by the ghost pirates.
Danny then activates the control panel of the Opt Center (located near a ham in the refrigerator), turning the entire Fenton rooftop headquarters into a giant blimp. Using it, they reach the pirate ship where he and his team go off to battle while Tucker operates the Ghost Shield inside, being able to turn it off in 60 seconds. Everyone excels in his or her own way in battling; even Dash admires Danny's courage and fighting skills. Youngblood and Ember, however, manage to trap them all. Taking Danny since he is their leader, they make him walk the plank, causing him to fall hundreds of feet.
The ghost shield powers off, however, causing Danny to turn Phantom and wreak havoc on his ghostly opponents. He takes Ember's guitar, angering her. Ember then quickly gets up, takes off her pirate hat, her eyes flare red, and she uses her flaming hair as a weapon to shoot fire at Danny, but misses as she burns out the ship's sail. Bearing that in mind, she makes a quick getaway, leaving Youngblood to fend for himself.
Danny battles Youngblood until the parents break free of their spell. Without them as a power source, the ship starts to sink into the ocean. Gathering all the kids and adults, Danny takes them to safety, landing them nearby at a harbor. There he hides and becomes Danny Fenton once more, causing Dash to lose respect for him, thinking Danny ran away from a battle.
Afterwards, Danny's parents punish Danny for using the Opt Center and hosting a party. Grounded for a month, Danny listens to Sam who is overjoyed at having other music back while Tucker explains he kicked up the back-up system of the Ghost Shield Generator, trapping Youngblood in his own ship, now located at the bottom of the sea.
Allusions
- Title: Pirate radio also refers to bootlegging music. It also refers to radio stations who operate illegally, that is, without any required permits. Such stations exist in countries where radio or television is state-controlled.
- Ember says "Where's the splat?", which may be a reference to a similar line in Disney's Peter Pan.
- Early in the episode, Sam calls Youngblood "Short John Silver", an obvious take on Long John Silver, the pirate captain from the novel Treasure Island. Long John Silver is also the name of a popular seafood chain.
Trivia/Goof
- Nobody notices that the music that calms the adults is actually a slowed-down version of "RemEmber". Incidentally, the techno version heard during the party at Danny's house is also a different rendition of Ember's song.
- After Danny does the "come closer" hand gesture to the oncoming ghost pirates, the camera zooms out and when closely observed, Tucker and Sam both share a ghostly glow.
- Sam's line of "That's not a clue, it's a billboard" is mistakenly reversed (as the M.Bersback cruise line is indeed a subliminal clue to Ember's return).