Legends of the Mall

Urban legends haunt the Lanes, the Morgendorffers, and the Fashion Club in this episode of the animated MTV series Daria. When Quinn (voice of Wendy Hoopes) and her friends get stranded at the mall, Jake (voice of Julian Rebolledo) discovers that his car needs repairs. So he, Daria (voice of Tracy Grandstaff), Jane (voice of Wendy Hoopes), and Trent (voice of Alvaro J. Gonzalez) hop in Trent's dilapidated ride and head off on a rescue mission. On the way, Trent entertains his passengers with the tale of "Metalmouth," a Lawndale shop teacher who bears a striking resemblance to Mr. DeMartino (voice of Marc Thompson). Two decades earlier, this teacher forged himself solid-steel dentures after students made fun of his toothless grin. When his new teeth started picking up radio signals -- usually Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" -- the humiliated instructor took to the countryside, where he would terrorize citizens by taking bites out of their cars. As this tale comes to a close, Trent's car breaks down, providing Jane the chance to one-up her brother with a story of her own. This one involves a brainy '50s teen not so very different from Daria herself who accidentally gets locked in her parents' bomb shelter. Meanwhile, Sandi (voice of Janie Mertz) spooks out the Fashion Club as they wander Lawndale trying to find their way home. Her tale involves a beautiful student much like herself whose quest for fashion perfection led her to lose so much weight that her bones rattled. Vowing to avenge herself on the "in" crowd for their ridicule, she haunted them at night until all of other girls became wan and ugly from lack of beauty sleep. Eventually, both the Fashion Club and their would-be rescuers make it home, just in time to hear Helen (voice of Wendy Hoopes) report that strange bite marks appeared on her car at precisely the same moment she heard a phantom tune on the radio.