In production order, this is the fourth episode of the fourth season.
The episode’s book was announced long before its airdate, and its description was revealed on the Blaze Saves Christmas DVD two months before its release.
This episode was another time it excludes the cliffhanger fade-outs, but when it aired on Treehouse TV and Nick Jr., it has the cliffhanger fade-outs intact.
For the fourth time, happening once per season so far, Blaze gets a new job or position in this episode (ninja), the previous being Blaze of Glory (racer), Fired Up! (firefighter), and The Great Animal Crown (king of Animal Island).
It’s also the first time AJ gets a new job as well.
The martial arts skill that Blaze and AJ learn to become ninjas is ninjutsu, which is a special type of skill used by ninjas.
This is the first episode to involve nursery rhymes.
The songs Pickle sings, in order, are:
Row, Row, Row Your Boat
Mary Had a Little Lamb
Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star
Hush, Little Baby
Rock-a-bye Baby
Happy Birthday to You
If You're Happy and You Know It
Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes
The third time Crusher and Pickle are shown on the mountain, Crusher’s sobbing is reused from Axle City Grand Prix when he enters Gabby’s garage.
DJ Khaled guest starred as ninja master Blackbelt.
Speed stripes appear several times throughout the episode, mostly whenever Blaze is about to use a ninja move.
This is the fifth episode this season that only features Blaze, AJ, Crusher and Pickle, and the sixteenth episode overall.
This is the first time AJ wears an outfit other than his racing suit or variations thereof.
This is the first time AJ checks where someone is but does not use Visor View to do so.
Coincidentally, the ledges on the cliff with no skunks on them are higher than the others.
This is the first time AJ's skywriting is used since Fast Friends and the only time he uses it in Season 4, as well as the final time he uses it before relying entirely on his watch or Blaze's screen.
Twenty-first episode where Blaze does not greet the viewer.
The plot of the episode is similar to Stuntmania!, where one of the characters ends up being catapulted all the way to a snow mountain. Additionally, Crusher and Pickle being catapulted to the snow mountain by the catapult reflects them being booted to the snow mountain by the Bouncy-Boot Machine.
However, since Crusher is now a friend of Blaze, Blaze is the one who has to save Crusher, and not Darington.
Also, Crusher and Pickle get trapped and roll in a giant snowball like in said episode.
This is the first episode where, during a "repeat after me" prompt, Blaze and AJ repeat what Blaze just said (with the viewer).
When Blackbelt announces the return of Blaze and AJ after they save Crusher and Pickle, the same recording from the title card announcement is reused.
Force is taught again after The Driving Force; however, a different STEM song is used in this episode.
Pickle sings “Happy Birthday” in this episode due to the song no longer being copyrighted after September 22, 2015. However, he replaces the person’s name and every instance of the word “birthday” with the word “ninja” and does not sing the last line due to Crusher correcting him.
He, AJ, Gabby, and the other Monster Machines later sang the song in full and with the actual lyrics at Starla’s birthday in Starla's Wild West Birthday.
Running Gags[]
Pickle singing and substituting the term “ninja” with the lyrics, leading Crusher to correct him.
Allusions[]
The song Ninjas! and the montage that takes place during Blaze and AJ’s ninja training might be a reference to the song "I'll Make a Man Out of You" from the Disney film Mulan, where Shang teaches an army of men to be true soldiers to fight the Huns.
Goofs[]
The Yellow Ninja sounds male in this episode, but when he appeared in Meatball Mayhem he sounded female.
Crusher is annoyed when Pickle sings “Rock-a-bye Baby” with different lyrics, but in The Pickle Family Campout, he sang his own version of “Rock-a-bye Baby” to put Baby Gherkin to sleep. This might take place before that episode.
Throughout the episode, both Blaze and AJ have two cross-cross bo staffs attached to their backs, but whenever AJ is sitting in Blaze, his staffs are gone.
Crusher corrects Pickle by saying that the first lyrics of the nursery rhyme If You're Happy and You Know It is "If you're happy and you know it stomp your feet", when the first lyrics are really "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands.".
It might be possible that he doesn't know the first lyrics to the song.
