Peter and the Mega Forcefield!

Peter and the Mega Forcefield! is the ninth episode of ObjectTales. This episode is a retelling of the bible story of the Battle of Jericho.

## Plot

The Israelites, having been held as slaves in Egypt, are liberated by Moses (Mr. Bowlingpin) and led to the Promised Land. However, they question Neptune's methods and are found guilty by the court and sentenced to be banished from Israel to exile for forty years. Upon the completion of their forty-year exile, Moses has died, and Peter (Jerry the Clock) has become leader of the Israelites. Peter leads them back to the Promised Land, but the city of Jericho stands in their way. The Israelites are then met by the defenders of Jericho (the French Feather Dusters) who taunt them from atop the city's great walls. Peter tries to explain that Neptune has given this land to the Israelites and that therefore the defenders will have to step aside, but the Israelites are instead met by more insults and smug jeering. When a slushy falls off the wall and hits Jimmy on the head, Peter decides that the Israelites should fall back and regroup.

That night, Peter meets the commander (Grover) of the Army of the Lord who tells him how the Israelites are to take Jericho: they must march around the city once a day for six days; on the seventh day they are to march around it seven times while the priests blow their horns, and all scream as loud as they can at the same time. At this point, the messenger states, the walls of Jericho will fall. Peter reports this to his team the next morning, but the rest of the Israelites have ideas of their own. Pa Broomstick wants to go back to Egypt, and Jimmy and Jerry plan to attack the wall with a giant rocket they just constructed and the Israelites applaud (despite not having hands). Eventually, they agree to try it Neptune's way and proceed to Jericho later that day.

While marching around the walls, the Israelites face more trouble; the city's defenders insult them all the more, turning their taunts into a choreographed musical number, while Peter and the agitated Israelites try to ignore them. Unfortunately, the taunting turns to a super semi-frozen battle when the Jericho defenders use slushies as their weapons to attack the Israelites, forcing them to retreat. The end of the day finds the drenched and desperate Israelites on the verge of rebellion, while Peter refuses to quit. At this point, Little Tommy, one of the Israelites and the co-narrator, intervenes and convinces them to continue with the plan. He says that Neptune's way always works out in the end.

The Israelites agree to stick with the plan, despite more slushy attacks and taunts. On the seventh day they blow their horns and scream. At first, nothing happens. The Jericho feather dusters laugh, but then the walls collapse under them. The Israelites continue their journey towards the Promised Land.

## Trivia

* Saline is a mixture of sodium chloride (salt and sterile water). It's commonly used for contact lens solution and nasal irrigation sprays.
* This is the first time someone spits in a episode.
* This is the first episode Everett Downing worked on as an assistant storyboard artist
* This marks the last appearance of John Broomstick.
* This also marks the first physical debut appearance of Phillipe. Jean Claude was originally paired with Christophe and Phillipe was previously heard in the Christmas album.
* According to the concept art, there were a few differences between that and the final.
	+ The ark was going to be on wheels.
	+ The helmets on the army of Jericho were going to be colanders and something to an Asian straw hat. Also, the helmets would've covered the Feather Duster's eyesight, but they'd still see (ala John Broomstick and Mr. Wario).
	+ The wall was going to be extendable, meaning, starting as a low wall and folding up to become bigger.
	+ There was going to be a motorcycle.
	+ There was going to be more shots of the walls of Jericho collapsing for the episode, but they were cancelled due to money running low and the episode's deadline.
* Zack Nawrocki read the interactive storybook version on The Wonderful World of Auto-Tainment!
* At the end, Little Tommy asks Mario if the Israellites really built a rocket and got slushies dropped on their heads. This line was added in the script in order to prevent young children asking that question in Sunday School.
* This is the last episode to have the Word and Everland Entertainment box cover and the 1993 version of the theme song.
* Even though Little Tommy replaced Jerry in this episode, Jerry did appear with Mario in the next episode.
* This is the first time Little Tommy replaced Jerry to host ShapeTales.
* This was one of the first episodes to be release on DVD back in 2002, which was later release in 2009. Besides the art cover, the DVDs (both menus and features) are identical, with the exception of the FBI warning and trailers.
* The lighting has changed from what was from the previous episodes, despite the fact that Captain Timerpants! and the Goo from Planet Mars! was the first episode with a lighting department. Quinn stated this because they had a new lighting technician after the previous one left.
* This is also the first time the characters had a different color look, which results them not as shiny. This was done by their lighting director at the time and Jon Gadsby.
* This is the only time Jerry slept in (and Little Tommy replaced him) after the last episode.
* This episode has a few nods to Ian and the Giant Sock Puppet, such as:
	+ It's a retelling of a Bible story that takes place in the desert, and the costumes the characters wore (Jimmy, Jerry, John, and Little Tommy) were recycled.
	+ Gaston and the sheep are in it.
	+ The French Feather Dusters were portrayed as the bad guys.
* A few mentions of lack of body parts, such as:
	+ John stating to his father how they're clapping.
	+ Jimmy saying he has slushy in his ear.
* Like Ian, this episode contained a small nod to the Monty Python series. Here, the French Feather Dusters taunt Peter and the Israelites from above the wall. This is reminiscent in Holy Grail, where the French taunt King Arthur and his men from their fort.
* As Quinn confirmed, the moving arrow action on the map is similar what the Indiana Jones films did.
* Litte Tommy would become co-host again for a later episode, even the opening for this episode where they imagine themselves in the story.
* This episode, along with Ian and the Giant Sock Puppet, was turned into a touring live show in 2002. Both episodes were combined into one 90 minute show.

## Goofs

* The sun shown is actually a lens flare.
* Neptune's directions don't start at Egypt.
* After Neptune tells Moses about the Promised Land, you can still see part of the clothing after he leaves the screen.
* As you'll notice in some shots, the legs on the sheep don't touch the ground, making them float in mid-air.
* In the first of Jericho, the slushie cup isn't there until it shows up in the closeups of the Rectangles. It then vanishes again after the Feather Dusters ask Peter who he is. It then reappears after Peter tells the Feather Dusters to leave.
* One shot shows Jerry's eyes positioned too high.