Aaron Judge and his two dogs, Penny and Gus, in “The Crew Builds a Ballpark.” / Courtesy of Nickelodeon
Modern cinema tends towards spectacle. When I say that, I mean that there exists a lack of priority to characters, plot, and theme for the sake of “wowing” audiences with special effects, big names, and other factors. And while spectacles are fun to watch, they stray from drama’s intended purpose—at least according to Aristotle. For those unaware, Aristotle is an ancient Greek philosopher whose work covered many subjects including the arts. Aristotle’s Poetics establishes two important standards for what makes a great story (particularly dramas): the six elements of drama and the three unities.
In a world of Hollywoodized spectacle, I will make the case that Aaron Judge’s debut in Rubble & Crew perfectly satisfies Aristotle’s criteria for dramatic work.
The Three Unities
Aristotle defines the three unities as the framework for dramatic structure. These are “unity of place,” “unity of time,” and “unity of action.”
Unity of place is self-explanatory: the actions of the drama must take place in one physical location. The PAW Patrol spin-off Rubble & Crew takes place in the same location as its predecessor: Builder Cove. The episode begins with the pups playing baseball among themselves. Shortly after, Aaron Judge arrives in Builder Cove for the Builder Cove Home Run Derby. Though he comes from afar, the episode occurs after Judge’s arrival—right there in Builder Cove. Aristotle’s paradigm of drama is the Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex. If you’re unfamiliar with the play, that doesn’t matter in these circumstances. What matters is that the play takes place entirely in the Greek city-state of Thebes. And which other work takes place entirely in one city, you ask? “The Crew Builds a Ballpark” does. Therefore, the first unity is satisfied.
Unity of time is the next requirement. This unity is defined in part five of Poetics which says that a drama must “confine itself to a single revolution of the sun.” Aristotle specifically implies that a “tragedy” must follow this rule, and I’m sure that heavy traffic that keeps Aaron Judge from a home run derby is quite tragic. Anyhow, the events of Judge’s episode take place on the day of the home run derby—from Judge’s arrival to constructing the ballpark, and finishing with the derby that afternoon. That’s another satisfied unity for Rubble & Crew.
And then there’s Aristotle’s unity of action. This unity establishes that the drama should develop and resolve a single conflict. Before Aaron Judge shows up to Builder Cove, Rubble and his friends discuss the upcoming derby; they reveal that Judge must perform at the home run derby so that he can “try to break the record by hitting 100 [home runs].” As the episode progresses, the pups continue to help Judge so that he can accomplish this goal. They build him a ballpark, host the home run derby, and fix his lucky bat when it breaks. All of these points contribute to the main plot: whether or not Judge will break 100 home runs at the derby. The fifteen-minute episode has no side plots—only factors that resolve the main conflict. This central conflict accomplished the unity of action.
The Six Elements of Drama
Yes, “The Crew Builds a Ballpark” satisfies Aristotle’s three unities. But I’m sure the analysis has left you wondering, “What good are the three unities if the six elements of drama aren’t satisfied?” And you would be entirely correct. The six elements of drama are plot, character, thought, diction, spectacle, and song—established in part seven of Poetics. Aristotle believed that proper drama accomplished all of the following in a balance. And so “The Crew Builds a Ballpark” goes.
As described previously, a singular plot is crucial to a proper story. There must be a main action that drives this story forward. In this case, the main action involves whether or not Judge will hit 100 home runs. And we’ve already established this point, so onto the next.
Character depends on who is running the story. Since this is Rubble & Crew, the story is driven by a character ensemble. To satisfy this element, each member of the ensemble must have a stake in the central plot. And not to worry—they do. Each member of Rubble’s crew is a huge fan of Judge. At the opening of the episode, the pups’ stakes in Judge’s home run derby are established:
MOTOR: Who’s Aaron Judge?
The entire crew gasps.
RUBBLE: He’s the most puptastic baseball player ever!
MIX: See? She pulls out a baseball card. This is Aaron Judge holding his lucky bat.
COACH KARIMA: Yeah! And Tonight he’s gonna use it in a home run derby.
…
RUBBLE: He’s gonna try to break the record by hitting 100!
The dogs bark excitedly and run in circles.
Rubble and his friends are excited about Aaron Judge’s performance. Their reaction to his quest for 100 home runs explains it all. If they didn’t have a stake in the plot, why would they bark and run around excitedly?
Then, there’s thought. The “thought” is the psychology behind a story. In other words, the theme. Rubble & Crew’s uplifting message to kids revolves around the importance of working together. In an interview with MLB, Judge spoke to this: “Through my foundation work, I understand the importance of reaching kids and teaching them the importance of teamwork. It was so fun to combine two things I’m passionate about—dogs and baseball—to deliver this valuable message.” Take it from Judge: this episode is full of heart and thought.
Diction is all about how the dialogue achieves the episode’s goal. On that note, I leave you a few quotes that speak for themselves. “I love going boom with my bat,” “I’ll pitch to you, Judge-y,” “There’s always a construction solution,” “Booyah,” and “Wow, it’s puptastic!”
The spectacle exists in the episode in two forms: with the 100 home run celebration and the appearance of Aaron Judge. Judge being a character in the episode is a spectacle within itself. However, Rubble and the crew install a special fireworks metric into the stadium for when the 100 home runs are hit. A giant baseball over the jumbotron shoots fireworks as soon as Judge’s 100th home run soars over the fence. Even Judge stops to watch the show; he says, “Whoa! Fireworks—from a baseball? Nice touch.” This brings the perfect combination of spectacle.
And last but not least: song. As Aaron Judge obliterates the pitcher and hits ninety-nine consecutive home runs, the pups join in an electric rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” Is there a better way to accomplish Aristotle's dramatic element of song? Enough said.
Using Aristotle’s Poetics as a framework, “The Crew Builds a Ballpark” establishes itself as a cinematic giant. Whether you’re a die-hard Yankee fan or just someone looking for a great way to spend fifteen minutes, this special episode of Rubble & Crew is for you.
If you’re looking to catch the episode on Nickelodeon, get your DVRs set for Monday, September 9th at 10:30 am CT. Further dates will be announced as the episode continues through reruns.
Edited by Brooke Weinrich
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