Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures is an animated television series created by Warner Brothers. It was the result of the first collaboration between Steven Spielberg and the newly reborn Warner Brothers Animation studio. The first season aired in 1990, the second season in 1991 and the third and final season was aired in 1992.
The animation studio was reinstated by Warner Bros. following the sensational success of the movie Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which featured prominent appearances by many of the classic Warner Bros. cartoon stars (including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck) as mentors. The studio worked with Spielberg to produce a new generation of cartoon stars for the 1990s, influenced by the classic Warner Bros. cartoons of old (and which Spielberg had long considered a major influence on his own career).
The series premiered in 1990, and it was an instant hit. It revolved around a group of young cartoon characters training at Acme Looniversity to be the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. Characters on the show include Buster Bunny and Babs Bunny (no relation), as well as Plucky Duck, Furrball, Sweetie Pie, Hamton J. Pig, Fifi Le Fume, and Dizzy Devil (modelled respectively after Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Pie, Pepe Le Pew, and the The Tasmanian Devil), and the token villains rich brat Montana Max and dippy animal-lover Elmyra Duff (modelled respectively after Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd). Somewhat of a more obscure reference than the others, the character of Gogo Dodo was based on the original Dodo from an older MM/LT cartoon, Porky in Wackyland. Minor original characters included a family of fleas who lived on Furrball, a trio of singing girl roaches (modelled after The Roches, an actual girl group), Barky Marky, Byron Basset, Concord Condor, Arnold the pit bull (who was modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger), Fowlmouth, a young chicken who cussed like a drunken sailor; and the two Ralphs. One was a fat security guard who later migrated to Animaniacs. The other was a slobbish Ralph Bakshi caricature.
The principal of the Acme Looniversity is a giant floating head like the one in The Wizard of Oz, voiced by Noel Blanc (son of the late Mel Blanc). Later it's revealed to be Bugs Bunny in disguise.
Though the characters were cute and colorful, the show had an edginess that made it quite unlike many other cartoons of the day. It often contained "gross out" humor dealing with bodily functions as well as sophisticated political and entertainment satire. Caricature versions of celebrities made frequent appearances, though were almost always voiced imitators, and appeared under parody names ("Tom Snooze" instead of Tom Cruise, "Michael Molten-Lava"/Michael Bolton, etc).
Critics of the series considered the Tiny Toons characters to be little more than knock-offs of the original Termite Terrace creations, but the series' writers proved that new life could be breathed into the old formula of producing "kiddie versions of adult cartoon stars" (a formula that had been worn dry by Hanna-Barbera). The characters were given distinct personalities of their own, especially Babs Bunny.
A number of episodes of the show relied heavily on the plots of the original Warner Bros. cartoons, and they had varying degrees of success. Several homages to the original cartoons were hugely successful ("The Anvil Chorus", "Fields of Honey"), though quite a few episodes of the show seemed little more than re-treads of the original routines from the classic Looney Tunes. Still, this was enough to win the show a wide following, and attract an adult audience as well (especially among college students). The success of Tiny Toon Adventures inspired Warner Bros. to make further investments in high-quality animation for television, leading to the creation of Animaniacs and the smash hit Batman: The Animated Series.
One feature-length Tiny Toon Adventures "movie" was released directly to video in 1991, entitled Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation. This heavily gag-laden feature is considered by fans to be the crown jewel of the show. Its psychotic, chainsaw-wielding villain, "Mr. Hitcher", even appeared in several other shorts, including one with Plucky remembering himself as a baby.
Other features were released for Tiny Toon Adventures includes Spring Break Special, It's A Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special, and Night Ghoulery. The Spring Break Special was shown on FOX during primetime on March 27, 1994. The Christmas Special was aired on December 6, 1992.
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
Voice Actors
| Voice Actor | Characters Voiced |
|---|---|
| Charles Adler | Buster Bunny / Roderick Rat / other various voices (1990-1991) |
| John Kassir | Buster Bunny (1992) |
| Tress MacNeille | Barbara Ann 'Babs' Bunny / Rhubella Rat / other various voices |
| Gail Matthius | Shirley the Loon |
| Kath Soucie | Fifi Le Fume / Little Sneezer |
| Don Messick | Hamton J. Pig |
| Joe Alaskey | Plucky Duck, Gene Splicer |
| Maurice LaMarche | Dizzy Devil (1991) |
| Frank Welker | Gogo Dodo / Furrball / other various voices |
| Rob Paulsen | Fowlmouth / other various voices |
| Danny Cooksey | Montana Max |
| Cree Summer | Elmyra Duff / Mary Melody |
| Candi Milo | Sweetie |
The Video Games
Since the creation of Tiny Toon Adventures, there has been a multitude of video games created that is based on the series. During the 90s, Konami was the ones that held the license to develop and publish the Tiny Toon Adventures games. Later on, several companies have held said license, including Atari, NewKidCo, Warthog, and Treasure.
A list of the Tiny Toon Adventures Video Games.
