Max's Big Day

“Max's Big Day”
Animated series episode
	; Max as a King of Native New Guinea Pigs.
Episode #	03
Written by	J. D. Smith
Original airdate	October 11, 1997
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police
"The Second Show Ever"	"Bad Day on the Moon"

Max's Big Day (Episode 2b) is the 3rd episode in the series The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police. It Premiered on Fox Kids on October 11th, 1997, alongside The Second Show Ever.

Synopsis[]

Sam & Max are dropped on an island and the New Guinea Pigs think Max is their 'chosen one'. But Max must say goodbye to Sam... can he really do it?

In-Depth Synopsis[]

While looking for a restroom, Max accidentally opened an exit hatch on an airplane and the episode starts with Sam and Max falling hundreds of feet to their undoubtful messy deaths. Max's quick thinking of using his latex skull, it made the perfect parachute for Sam, until a whiff of smoke made Max sneeze. They luckily land in a cauldron of hot water.

Or unluckily, as they had interrupted a ritual that the native New Guinea Pigs were having, and are mad at Sam and Max for messing it up. Before Sam and Max were to be put to death, the New Guineas instantly change their minds when Max farts in the water and later shows his talent of making armpit noises, impressing them of the "magic" they never seen before. They are in total awe with Max, thinking he was sent by the Gods, and crown him the new ruler and king of the tribe.

After what seems like a few hours, Sam visits Max in his new throne room to see his new role as King of The Tribe. Max's new found rulership role goes to his head quickly as he has the power to judge domestic affairs, has people to chew his own food, and is allowed to wear live skins of underlings. His contentedness with his pampered lifestyle follows through with a refusal to return to duty when The Commissioner gives Sam & Max a new assignment, after Sam heard native drums as a call to action. Sam is worried for Max as he refuses to go, thinking that the Native Guinea Pigs are making him talk crazy. On a closer inspection, Sam notices a scar on Max's Ear, looking scarily like a 'Telltale Cranial Scar', this casues Sam to yell and attempt to attack the natives, but Max quickly corrects him and tells him to not worry, because the scar was just there because Max previously put on his crown funny. Sam afterwards apologizes. Sam, who can not resist the opportunity of serving justice, reluctantly accepts Max's decision and so leaves the island without him (but with as much unnailed-down stuff he could take). Unknowingly to Sam, the natives are keeping an eye on him due to the unexpected act of him trying to attack the tribe, ready to ambush him at any moment.

Some time later, as the Guinea Pigs are still serving him, they notice Max isn't so happy with his descision anymore. Max regrets his choice of staying as king and wishes he could go back to be a Freelance Police Officer. Seeing their leader bored and depressed, the New Guinea Pigs present him a gift. Excited for what may be inside the box, he opens it eagerly before suddenly taken aback by the grotesque display of Sam's pelt inside (though it "feels nice" when he sobbed into it). While Max couldn't make of the situation, that's when Sam assures Max in a hushed voice that he is okay (as he has a weasel-like ability to collapse his bones and organs).

Max then turns to the natives and tries to politely decline the gift. This didn't please the gift-bearers as "no true Chosen One would turn down a gift from his people, especially one as nice as the hollowed out carcass of a close personal friend". Despite Max's attempts to conciliate, the natives are beyond angry and want to kill both Sam and Max.

Sam and Max make a run for it, but gets surrounded on a log bridge. When all seems lost, out of nowhere the Rubber Pants Commandos comes to the rescue. After fighting off the natives and summing up the so-called morals of the day (and not to forget the gratuitous blowing up at the local filling station), the episode ends with them flying safely off into the sunset.

Gallery[]

Characters[]

The Rubber Pants Commandos

Animation Errors[]

The animators tried an animation shortcut with Max after his "I can't leave" speech, but ended up making his arm look extremely odd. His head was put on a different cell from his body and the technique is obvious in the few seconds when he looks up.
In the scene after Sam says "I think we better cut to the chase.", Max's Crown is not on his head, but it appears immediately right after the scene of the two of them running away.

Trivia[]

The episode is a loose parody of The Man Who Would Be King by Rudyard Kipling.
Sam freaking out and attacking the natives when he mistakingly assumes that they did something to Max's brain is a reference to the scene from Planet of the Apes in which the main character Taylor has a similar reaction upon finding a rounded scar on the head of his fellow astronaut Landon, now speechless due to a brain surgery Dr. Zaius subjected him to, prompting Taylor to yell "You cut up his brain, you bloody baboon!" before attempting to attack the orang.
The "gratuitous blowing up of the local filling station" at the end could be a reference to a scene in the comedy movie 1941.
Apparently, not only does Max have a metal plate in his skull, his head is also made of latex.
Sam states he used "a like ability" the weasel uses to collapse himself into a pelt. Weasels (or rats, which are more commonly associated with so-called collapsible skulls and bones) don't actually have such an ability. Their skeleton and bodies are shaped in such a way to fit through most tight places, but nothing smaller than their head. So exactly how Sam was able to flatten himself out is questionable.
Years after the episode's release, many fans of The Sam & Max Community would go on to criticize this episode due to how The New Guinea Pigs were potraying Native Tribes in an offensive way, using stereotypical accents, uses of common chants such as "ooga chaka", and many other tropes about them that were seen as offensive.
- Some people would actually to go out and say it's the worst episode of the animated series due to the potrayal of Native Tribes, despite the cult following the episode received thanks to Sam & Max show compilation clips that went viral back in Early 2021.
Max's Big Day has the least amount of locations seen in an episode of the series.
According to the original presskit, this was supposed to be the fourth episode in order.