Irona Story is the seventh of nine Zillion Dollar Adventures segments during the fourth and final season of the Richie Rich cartoon series. It first aired 5 November 1983 on ABC as part of the ninth episode of The Monchhichis/Little Rascals/Richie Rich Show.
Summary[]
Dollar is in a walk-in freezer, shivering, in an attempt to find ice pops. Richie repeatedly called out to Dollar, and Irona asked what the trouble was. After Richie explained the situation, Irona transformed her feet to have skis attached, and ski poles magically appeared. Irona efficiently located Dollar, and informed him of the consequences of trying to sneak snacks and offered to warm Dollar up with his feet in hot water, a hot water bottle on his head, and Richie giving Dollar a cup with a warm beverage prepared by Chef Pierre.
Then, Irona received a signal which Richie could not hear. Irona had abruptly decided to resign from her duties, without any explanation. As Irona was about to depart the Rich Mansion, Mr. Rich urged Irona to reconsider, even if it took a pay raise. Irona was unable to oblige, and entered a fake taxi with a suspicious kidnapper. Mrs. Rich, Chef Pierre, and Cadbury were all devastated by her resignation.
As Irona was on the highway, she did not realize that she was being kidnapped. That suspect was revealed to the viewers to be The Collector, disguised as a taxi driver.
Meanwhile, Irona's boyfriend, Suavo, approached Richie, and was about to offer her gifts, one of which was an engagement ring. When Richie informed Suavo of the news, Suavo fell apart, and arranged for Professor Keenbean to help put him back together. Richie realized it could be possible that Irona may have been reprogrammed. Richie sought Professor Keenbean for help.
At Rich Laboratories, Professor Keenbean showed home movies of Irona's life growing up. It even showed a suspicious guy named Grover whom Richie realized Irona's brain may have been reprogrammed by him to accept the Collector's commands.
Meanwhile, Irona, Grover and the Collector are in Paris, France, about to rob rare paintings at the Louvre Museum. Eventually, Richie turned on the news, and it was revealed the Louvre was hit with a robbery, and Richie now suspected that the kidnapper was actually The Collector.
Richie used technology to try to hunt down the suspect and free Irona from captivity. Richie retrieved an address and phone number displaying the Collector's whereabouts, and they learned that the suspect's hideout was in the Swiss Alps. They flew by helicopter to the hideout in Switzerland, and had caught the Collector and Grover, who in turn accused Richie and Suavo for snooping, and decided to hold the two in a giant glass container. Richie used a bow tie that could cut the glass to allow them to escape. But after successfully cutting it, an alarm was set off, but despite the Collector's demanding for Irona to destroy Richie, her brain was reset to what it should be, proved to be the stronger person, and captured the Collector, and having the villains wrapped up in a bow until the police came to make an arrest.
Suavo proposed to Irona, but Irona had to turn it down due to her busy agenda. Then, Irona and Suavo were seen kissing each other, setting off sparks from their lips. Richie declared it was a happy ending. Irona and Suavo were seen holding hands as a heart shape transitioned out, then turning red before the segment faded to black.
Trivia[]
- These were the final appearances of Irona, Chef Pierre, Cadbury, Richard Rich, Sr., Regina Rich, The Collector and Suavo in an original episode. Richard Rich, Sr. and Irona would appear three weeks later, on 26 November 1983 in "The Maltese Monkey", which was a repeat from the third season; and Cadbury would appear in a repeat of "The Giant Ape Caper" the following week on 3 December 1983.
- Unlike his other two appearances, The Collector does not use any form of shrinking in this episode - it is just a simple kidnapping, and he was looking to collect other objects, namely artwork.
- When the Collector was driving Irona to his hideout, his vehicle drove past a sign that read "55 m.p.h." - which was the national speed limit in the United States in 1983.
- This is one of two episodes from Season 4 not featured on the VHS compilations Richie Rich: A Boy's Best Friend and Richie Rich: Priceless Toys, both of which were released in April 1995 (the other is "The Quake Maker")
Voice Cast[]
- William Callaway as Professor Keenbean
- Joan Gerber as Irona, Regina Rich
- Stanley Jones as Cadbury, Richard Rich, Sr.
- Sparky Marcus as Richie Rich
- Robert Ridgely as The Collector
- Frank Welker as Dollar, Suavo