Tiny Toon Adventures

Tiny Toon Adventures
File:Tinytoons.jpg Babs and Buster Bunny, as seen on the show's opening sequence.
Created by	Tom Ruegger
Starring	Charlie Adler John Kassir Tress MacNeille Gail Matthius Kath Soucie Don Messick Joe Alaskey Maurice LaMarche Frank Welker Rob Paulsen Danny Cooksey Cree Summer Candi Milo Cindy McGee
Country of origin	USA
No. of episodes	99
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Original release
Network	FOX
Release	September 14, 1990 – May 2, 1994

Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures (also known as Tiny Toon Adventures or Tiny Toons) was an American animated television series created and produced as a collaborative effort between Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation. Its first season aired in 1990; the second season followed in 1991 and the third and final season aired in 1992.

Tiny Toons originated as an idea by Terry Semel, then president of Warner Bros. Wishing to capitalize on the success of TV shows featuring younger versions of famous characters (such as Ultraman Kids, Muppet Babies and Flintstones Kids), Semel proposed a similar show based on Looney Tunes, where the characters were young versions of the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters. A similar idea would have introduced the new characters as the offspring of the original characters.

Warner Bros. had reinstated its animation studio following the success of Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which featured appearances by many of its famous cartoon characters, and which had been co-produced by Spielberg's company Amblin Entertainment. The studio approached Spielberg (maker of many famous family movies, including An American Tail and The Land Before Time) to collaborate on Semel's ideas. Spielberg suggested that the new characters be spiritual, not literal, descendants of the Looney Tunes, and that the original characters make appearances as their mentors. This idea became the basis for Tiny Toon Adventures, which at first was to become a theatrical feature-length film, but was later changed to a television series format in December of 1988.

File:TV tiny toons logo with buster bunny.jpg

Buster Bunny in the Tiny Toons logo.

Characters

The series premiered in 1990. It revolved around a group of young cartoon characters training at Acme Looniversity to be the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. As a result most of the characters were designed to resemble younger versions of classic Warner Bros.' most popular cartoon stars.

Major characters include:

• Buster Bunny, modeled after Bugs Bunny.
• Babs Bunny, also modeled after Bugs Bunny (No relation to Buster).
• Plucky Duck, modeled after Daffy Duck.
• Hamton J. Pig, molded in the image of Porky Pig.
• Furrball, a cat based loosely on Sylvester.
• Sweetie Pie, based on Tweety Bird.
• Fifi La Fume, a young female version of Pepé Le Pew.
• Shirley the Loon, a somewhat ditzy and spiritual waterbird with a Valley Girl accent.
• Calamity Coyote, a young Wile E. Coyote-in-training.
• Little Beeper, modeled after Road Runner.
• Dizzy Devil, a junior Taz.
• Montana Max, based loosely on Yosemite Sam.
• Elmyra Duff, modeled after Elmer Fudd.

Bookworm, a minor character in Tiny Toons

The original inspiration for two of the characters was somewhat obscure compared to the others: Li'l Sneezer was a revival of Sniffles the mouse, and Gogo Dodo was based on the original Dodo from Porky in Wackyland, a theatrical Looney Tunes release directed by Bob Clampett in 1938. In fact, the latter became the only visible Acme Looniversity alumnus to be an offspring of a classic Looney Tunes character.

Other minor characters based on classic characters were:

• Barky Marky, a dog based on Marc Antony from several Chuck Jones-directed short subjects.
• Concord Condor, modeled after Beaky Buzzard.
• Fowlmouth, modeled after Foghorn Leghorn.
• Marcia the Martian, the niece of Marvin the Martian, appeared in a single episode, lampooning the original Duck Dodgers cartoons. While Daffy Duck (as Duck Dodgers) and Marvin attempt to convince Marcia and Plucky to take part in their age-old feud, the protegés decide it's more fun to play with each other.
• Witch Sandy, a witch who was based on Witch Hazel; she had a one-time appearance on the show in a parody of Hansel and Gretel.
• There was an unnamed sheepdog puppy who was based on Sam Sheepdog. He appeared very briefly in a few episodes.
• Arnold the pit bull was modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Bookworm, is based off bookworm companion of Sniffles. Since he is the Luniversity's librarian he could be the very same character, despite design changes similar to Bosko and Honey.

Minor original characters included a family of Italians fleas who lived on Furrball based off the animated movie An American Tail, a trio of singing girl roaches (modelled after and voiced by The Roches), Byron Basset, and the two Ralphs. One was a fat security guard who later migrated to Animaniacs, while the other was a slobbish Ralph Bakshi caricature.

Most of the series's original characters attended Acme Looniversity, a high school/university in the fictional city of Acme Acres (where most of the Tiny Toons and Looney Tunes characters lived), whose faculty primarily consisted of the mainstays of the classic Warner cartoons. In the series' internal continuity, the university was founded to teach cartoon characters how to become funny, with graduates receiving a "Diploma of Lunacy", giving them the opportunity to become full-time cartoon characters. Bugs Bunny taught the Outsmarting Antagonists class, Daffy Duck taught Puns and Catchphrases, Yosemite Sam taught both Firearms and Anvilology (the study of falling anvils for comic effect), and Elmer Fudd taught Booby Traps. The principal of the Acme Looniversity was a giant floating head like the one in The Wizard of Oz, voiced by Noel Blanc (son of Mel Blanc); the principal was later revealed to be Bugs Bunny in disguise. Wile E. Coyote was the dean at the Looniversity's School of Hard Knocks.

Guest stars included Henny Youngman as a chicken version of himself; Edie McClurg as Hamton's mother; Julie Brown as Julie Bruin; and the Roches as cockroach versions of themselves.

The series and the show's characters were developed by series producer and head writer Tom Ruegger, division leader Jean MacCurdy, and story editors Wayne Kaatz, Paul Dini, and Sherri Stoner. Among the first writers on the series were Jim Reardon, Tom Minton, and Eddie Fitzgerald. The character and scenery designers included Alfred Gimeno, Ken Boyer, Dan Haskett, Karen Haskett, Jeff Pidgeon and many other artists and directors.

Reputation and legacy

The show often contained "gross out" humor dealing with bodily functions as well as political and entertainment satire. Caricature versions of celebrities made frequent appearances, though were almost always voiced by imitators, and often appeared under parody names ("Tom Snooze" instead of Tom Cruise, "Michael Molten-Lava"/Michael Bolton, etc). The show also parodied other TV shows and cartoons of the day, including The Simpsons. A recurring parody was that of the Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs, which poked fun at the popular cartoon Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Both tactics would later be copied by the show's successor, Animaniacs.

Critics of the series considered the Tiny Toons characters to be little more than knock-offs of the original Termite Terrace creations. [1]

In order to complete 65 episodes for the first season, Warner and Amblin contracted several different animation houses to share the workload (now a common practice in modern television animation studios). These animation studios included Tokyo Movie Shinsha, Wang Film Productions, AKOM, Freelance Animators New Zealand, Encore Cartoons, StarToons, and Kennedy Cartoons. (Kennedy Cartoons left the project while working on the 37th episode of production, which became the pilot episode, "The Looney Beginning"). [2])

During production of the third season, Charlie Adler, the voice of Buster Bunny, left the show due to a conflict with the producers. At the time, Animaniacs (the follow-up to Tiny Toons) was being cast, and Adler was upset that he hadn't landed a role in the new show. Additionally, he took offense to the fact that small-role voice actors like Rob Paulsen and Maurice LaMarche (who went on to become the voices of Pinky and the Brain) were given starring roles. [3] Adler was replaced by John Kassir for the remainder of the show's run. Joe Alaskey, the voice of Plucky Duck, also left Tiny Toons for financial reasons, but returned when an agreement was reached with the studio.

One feature-length Tiny Toon Adventures movie was released direct-to-video in 1991, entitled Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation. [4] Its psychotic, chainsaw-wielding villain, "Mr. Hitcher," even appeared in several other shorts, including one with Plucky remembering himself as a baby. Other features released for Tiny Toon Adventures include Spring Break Special, It's a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special, and Night Ghoulery. Spring Break Special was shown on FOX during primetime on March 27, 1994. Christmas Special aired on December 6, 1992.

In 1992, The Plucky Duck Show was produced as a spin-off of Tiny Toon Adventures, focusing attention on the daffy young star. Except for the premiere (The Return of Batduck), the show was entirely made up of recycled Plucky-centric episodes from the original series. After just one thirteen-episode season, the show was canceled.

In 1998, another spin-off was produced, this one starring Elmyra alongside Animaniacs stars Pinky and the Brain, and was titled Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. It was a significant re-tooling of the 1995 spin-off Pinky and the Brain, and it too was canceled after thirteen episodes.

Suffering from high costs and low profit margins from its animated feature films, Warner Bros. cut back on the size of its animation studio, and production ceased for future animated series. Animaniacs and Tiny Toon Adventures reran in syndication through the 1990s into the early-2000s. In 2005, it was removed from the NickToons Network and is not currently airing on United States television. In the United Kingdom, however, it is currently airing on Boomerang.

The series is scheduled to re-run on Warner Bros. and AOL's new broadband internet channel Toontopia TV.

Awards

1991

• Daytime Emmy Awards, USA: Outstanding Animated Program (Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Ken Boyer, Art Leonardi, Art Vitello, Paul Dini, Sherri Stoner) - winner
• Environmental Media Awards, USA: EMA Award Children's Animated – winner (for episode Whales Tales)
• Young Artist Awards, USA: Best New Cartoon Series - winner

1992

• Daytime Emmy Awards, USA: Outstanding Animated Program (Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Sherri Stoner, Rich Arons, Art Leonardi) - nominated

1993

• Daytime Emmy Awards, USA: Outstanding Animated Program (Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Sherri Stoner, Rich Arons, Byron Vaughns, Ken Boyer, Alfred Gimeno, David West) - winner
• Young Artist Awards, USA: Outstanding Young Voice-Over in an Animated Series or Special (Whitby Hertford) - nominated

1994

• Young Artist Awards, USA: Outstanding Young Voice-Over in an Animated Series or Special (Whitby Hertford) - nominated

Voice actors and their characters

Voice Actor:	Characters Voiced:
Charles Adler	Buster Bunny / Roderick Rat / other various voices (1990-1992)
John Kassir	Buster Bunny (1992-1995)
Tress MacNeille	Babs Bunny / Rhubella Rat / other various voices
Gail Matthius	Shirley the Loon
Kath Soucie	Fifi La Fume / Li'l Sneezer
Don Messick	Hamton J. Pig
Joe Alaskey	Plucky Duck / Dr. Gene Splicer
Maurice LaMarche	Dizzy Devil (1991)
Frank Welker	Gogo Dodo / Furrball / Calamity Coyote / Little Beeper / other various voices
Rob Paulsen	Fowlmouth / Arnold Dog / Concord Condor / other various voices
Danny Cooksey	Montana Max
Cree Summer	Elmyra Duff / Mary Melody
Candi Milo	Sweetie Pie
Cindy McGee	Mary Melody (certain episodes)

Episodes

Main article: List of Tiny Toon Adventures episodes

Video games

Main article: List of Tiny Toon Adventures video games

Since its debut, numerous video games based on Tiny Toons have been released. Many companies have held the development and publishing rights for the games, including Konami (during the 90s), Atari, NewKidCo, Conspiracy Games, Warthog, Terraglyph Interactive Studios, and Treasure.

Trivia

• The credits at the end of the show always close with one or more characters appearing in the Warner Bros. logo and speaking a line. Among these:
  • Byron Basset: "Woof!"
  • Gogo Dodo: "It's been surreal!"
  • Elmyra Duff: "Let the show begin!"
  • Buster Bunny: "And that's a wrap!"
  • Plucky Duck: "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"
  • Dizzy Devil: "Show's over!" {spins around devouring the logo}
  • Furrball: "RRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR! Meow!" (In parody of the famous MGM logo.)
  • Fifi Le Fume: "Au revoir, mon petite potato du couch!"
  • Buster Bunny: "Say good night, Babs."
    Babs Bunny: "Good night, Babs!"
    (This is an homage to The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show.)
  • Babs and Buster Bunny: {simultaneously} "Alooooooo-ha!"

• In addition, a humorous message would appear among the credits shortly before the closing quote.

• Wackyland, the bizarre world that Gogo Dodo comes from, first appeared in the original Looney Tunes short "Porky in Wackyland", which featured a similar dodo that was later re-envisioned as Gogo's father.

• One episode featured an infant version of Plucky Duck, who appeared in a flashback while Plucky was attempting to create an autobiographical film. This flashback version of Plucky appeared again in later seasons of the show, and also made several cameos in Animaniacs.

• The episode "Elephant Issues" (an educational episode meant to address the issue of peer pressure) was banned from Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network because of the episode's final short, "One Beer," which depicted Buster, Plucky, and Hamton drinking beer. Although the short was intended to illustrate the dangers of drinking, the networks believed that it delivered the wrong message to the show's primary audience, predominantly young children — according to them, the object lesson was delivered in such an exaggeratedly heavy-handed manner as to be downright sarcastic.

• Another episode, "Toons from the Crypt", was never shown on most FOX stations during the initial run of the series. One segment, "Wait 'til your Father gets Even", was aired as part of the Plucky Duck Show, and another, "Night of the Living Pets", was released to home video. The entire episode eventually aired on Nickelodeon.

• The nonsensical word "narf" (made famous by Pinky on Animaniacs) first appeared in the credits for the episode "You Asked for It". The message: "Guy Who Says 'Narf' - Eddie Fitzgerald"

• One episode featured an alternate version of the Amblin Entertainment signature logo, which normally shows a silhouette of Elliot and E.T. (from the movie E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial) freezing in front of a full moon. The alternate version showed them comically bumping into the moon and falling off.

• The Strong Bad Email "theme song" on the Homestar Runner website includes a direct reference to Tiny Toon Adventures. During the email, an announcer says, "They're tiny, they're toony, they're ALL a little loony. It's the Cheat Commandos!"

See also

• Animaniacs
• Freakazoid!
• Toonsylvania
• Histeria!
• Pinky and the Brain

Airing History

United States

• FOX (1990-1995)
• Nickelodeon (1995-1997; 2002-2004)
• Cartoon Network (1997-2000)
• Nicktoons Network (2004-2005)

United Kingdom

• ITV1 (1991-1998)
• Cartoon Network (1999-2000)
• Boomerang (2006-)

References

• "Platypus Comix interviews......Tom Ruegger! (part II)" by Peter Paltridge, Platypus Comix, July 2006, retrieved August 23, 2006

External links

• Tiny Toon Adventures at IMDb
• Template:Tvtome show
• Tiny Toon Adventures at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• alt.tv.tiny-toon Frequently Asked Questions Tiny Toons FAQ
• TTA Reference guide
• Interview with Tom Ruegger on the creation of Tiny Toons
• Acorn Central
• Tiny Toons Gallery Plus
• Tiny Toon Fanart and Images