Tisha - Gardenview's Underrated Tragedy
If there were ever a Dandy's World character overlooked by the fandom, it would undoubtedly be Tisha. Though not unpopular, she is often disregarded as nothing but the "cleaning-obsessed" toon. But who can blame people for doing that, when her fellow toons do the same thing?
To understand this better, let's group Tisha's conversations into two categories:
Cleaning is brought up/mentioned.
Tisha and the other toon talk about literally anything else.
Of these categories, the first takes up nineteen of her dialogues and the second takes up nine. Compare these stats to toons like Shelly or Goob, who also have a certain gimmick they like to bring up. In categories of:
Dinosaurs/Hugs are brought up/mentioned.
They talk about literally anything else.
Shelly has a ratio of 14:17 and Goob has a ratio of 10:20.
Shelly has struck an almost equal balance and hugs only take up a third of Goob's dialogue. In comparison to Tisha, they don't reference their gimmick nearly as much. The only toons to outshine her are Finn and Shrimpo, whose gimmicks are baked into their everyday speech.
So, how does this help prove Tisha IS more than her cleanliness?
It's important to analyse why exactly Tisha talks about tidying up so much. One could assume it's because she enjoys it, like the other previously mentioned toons, and you wouldn't be completely wrong. Tisha's pleasure in cleaning is crucial to her character. It's her defining feature and is also essential to note. At the end of the day, she DOES like her job as Gardenview's janitor, and having this job is not the problem…
...Tisha's problem is that most toons assume that's all she is: a job.
For every exchange Tisha has where she raves about the benefits of cleanliness, she has one where she's begging toons to pick up after themselves.
This is a regular issue that her friends don't care to solve. It's not a situation of "nagging woman tells people to do chores," it's Tisha repeatedly wasting her breath on people who don't listen.
We see, too, toons ARE aware of how busy Tisha gets. It's something commented on numerous times, yet little is done to lighten her load.
Tisha's interaction with Cocoa is one I want to highlight. Firstly, it's telling that a toon around one month of the year would notice that Tisha is often stuck cleaning by herself, but what's really interesting is that Cocoa is the ONLY toon to ask Tisha if she needs help. Subtly or not, Tisha will ask toons for assistance.
She tries to make a "cleaning club" with Brightney...
...prods Poppy on how good she is at cleaning...
...and begs Looey to assist her with tidying up Yatta's room (to no avail.)
So then, why does she refuse Cocoa's help?
We don't have a concrete answer, but I believe we can infer Tisha's reasoning: Cocoa is just as busy as she is. She's constantly asking how she can aid others in her dialogue, often to the point where her friends will comment on it and tell her to take some time for herself.
It would be a plight Tisha could empathize with, and being as kind as she is, she wouldn't want to add to Cocoa's load.
So, Tisha is stuck cleaning for toons mostly ungrateful and unwilling to aid her, but is that it? Well, there is another point I've been meaning to bring up. If there are any toons unappreciative of Tisha's work, it is undoubtedly the Mains. This is something I don't see talked about at all. Of the toons closest to a specific main (Brightney/Vee, Cosmo/Sprout, Tisha/Shelly, Toodles/Pebble), Tisha is treated objectively the worst.
Brightney is Vee's favorite contestant and close companion. She is also the president of Astro's book club (and another close friend of his)...
...complimented on her intelligence by Shelly...
...and particularly worried about by Sprout.
Cosmo is Sprout's best friend. He is also very close with Astro (enough for him to make cookies of his face, at least)...
...introduced to Sprout by Shelly as seen in their storyboard...
...and friendly enough with Vee for Sprout to specifically ask him to check up on her for him.
And Toodles seems to be universally loved by the cast in general. Her interactions with the Mains specifically are usually positive.
Even Vee, who acts dismissive toward her silly question, doesn't ever put Toodles off.
The exception is Shelly, but her interaction turns sour by complete accident. She did not intend to upset Toodles by any means.
So, what about Tisha? What do her interactions with the Mains look like? In comparison, they are not great.
Astro and Sprout care little about her time, much to her dismay.
The latter of which does not even check up on her like he does with most toons, only concerned about the kitchen he dirtied getting cleaned.
And Tisha's rivalry with Vee is notorious.
(Side note: I don't believe the thing Tisha thinks Vee is "unappreciative" of is her cleaning, but that's another discussion for another post.)
Even Pebble has a negative interaction with her.
Brightney and Cosmo's aren't nearly as bad, especially when looking at Tisha's in comparison.
Though Cosmo gets Pebble angry, it seems his anger is more toward Sprout than him, seeing as how Sprout is the person who told Cosmo to stop supplying Pebble his treats.
The one exception to this is Shelly. Tisha's interactions with her are extremely positive, and in contrast to the other Mains, she seems eager to help her clean her fossils.
But why is this? Is it because Shelly is her friend?
Yes, but also not entirely.
What sets Shelly apart from the other characters is that she is by far the most appreciative of Tisha's work. We see this in their storyboard together. Shelly gets so ecstatic that Tisha went out of her way to polish her fossil, she drops it to pull her into a tight embrace. This level of thankfulness is unheard of for any other character to give to Tisha.
But the worst part? Tisha's twisted only reaffirms the mindset toons fall into. A mindless drone that sweeps away messes when left undisturbed. Her feather duster is coated in ichor. She can't even clean anything without making a mess, dooming her to a loop of tidying up forever.
Overall, Tisha is an overworked character whose efforts often go unrecognized. I hope this post can shed some light on just how sad her situation is. I really wish people would talk about it more. Thank you for reading and stay tuned for the next one!
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