What is Tiny Toon Adventures?

Tiny Toon Adventures
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	United States
No. of episodes	112 (plus 2 specials) (List of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes per episode
Broadcast
Original channel	FOX
Original run	September 14, 1990 – April 17, 1994
External links
IMDb profile
|/summary.html TV.com summary

Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures (also known as Tiny Toon Adventures or Tiny Toons) is an American animated television series created and produced as a collaborative effort between Steven Spielberg and Warner Bros. Animation.

Warner Bros. had reinstated its animation studio in 1980 after a decade of dormancy. But during the '80s, the new studio only worked on revivals of the classic characters. Tiny Toons was the first of many original animated series from the studio. A major precedent for the series was 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 (producer of many famous family movies, including An American Tail and The Land Before Time) .

Background

Premise

Tiny Toon Adventures had been set in the fictional city of Acme Acres, where most of the Tiny Toons and Looney Tunes characters lived. Most of Tiny Toon Adventures' characters attended Acme Looniversity, a high school/university whose faculty primarily consisted of the mainstays of the classic Warner cartoons. In the series, 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, 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.

Characters

The series revolved around a group of young cartoon characters learning at Acme Looniversity to be the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. Most of the Tiny Toons characters were designed to resemble younger versions of Warner Bros.' most popular Looney Tunes stars by exhibiting similar traits and looks.

Major characters included:

• Buster Bunny, a blue toon rabbit modeled after Bugs Bunny.
• Babs Bunny, a pink toon rabbit similar in design to Buster. Buster's partner-in-mischief and sometimes-girlfriend.
• Plucky Duck, an egotistical green toon duck modeled after Daffy Duck.
• Hamton J. Pig, a cleanliness-obsessed toon pig molded in the image of Porky Pig.
• Furrball, a light-purple kitten version of Sylvester.
• Sweetie Pie, a pink Tweety Bird-like girl.
• Fifi La Fume, a young purple-and-white skunk girl, modeled after Pepé Le Pew (including the faux french accent).
• Shirley the Loon, a spiritual New Age waterbird with a Valley Girl accent; possibly modeled after or inspired by Melissa Duck. Also a reference to Shirley MacLaine
• Calamity Coyote, a young Wile E. Coyote-in-training.
• Little Beeper, modeled after Road Runner.
• Dizzy Devil, a junior Taz.
• Montana Max, a bad-tempered money-hungry tycoon, best described as sort of a cross between Yosemite Sam and Ducktales' Flintheart Glomgold.
• Elmyra Duff, a clueless redheaded girl modeled (very loosely) after Elmer Fudd.

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, Gogo is the only Acme Looniversity alumnus (or at least, the only one in the on-screen cast) who is a direct descendant of a classic Looney Tunes character. (While a great deal of Tiny Toons fan-fiction suggests other relationships between the Classic and Tiny Toons characters -- sons, nieces, nephews, grandkids, etc. -- no such relationships have ever been stated in the actual cartoons.)

In some ways, both Buster and Babs Bunny can be said to be modeled after Bugs Bunny, with each having taken on different aspects of the original character's personality. Buster, for example, normally shares Bugs' coolness under fire and laid-back attitude until provoked; Babs, on the other hand, displays more of Bugs' earlier, "wackier" personality, along with his flair for confounding enemies (and friends) with quick costume changes and impersonations. That being said, it's generally accepted that Babs is essentially an original character, created specifically as a counterpart for Buster in keeping with what was then a general trend in animation towards having more and/or stronger female characters in kids' TV shows, rather than being specifically based on any particular member of the Looney Tunes cast. (Some have suggested that she may be based on or related to Lola Bunny, but this is obviously impossible since the latter character did not exist until the movie Space Jam appeared in 1996, long after Tiny Toon Adventures had aired.)

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, loosely 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 is based on Witch Hazel; she had a one-time appearance on the show in a parody of Hansel and Gretel. She lived in a house made out of carrot cake and drew the attention of Buster and Babs. She tried to use the two in a recipe like Hazel, turning Babs into a real rabbit and summoning her cutlery to try and kill Buster. But she got turned into a goldfish. Sandy wears a cute disguise but she is actually as ugly as Hazel.
• Byron Basset, the sleeping puppy, is based on Sam Sheepdog. He appeared very briefly in a few episodes and in the movie as well.
• Arnold, the pit bull, is modeled after Arnold Schwarzenegger.
• Bookworm, is based on the bookworm companion of Sniffles. Since he is the Looniversity's librarian he could be the very same character, despite design changes similar to Bosko and Honey.
• Tyrone Turtle is based on Cecil Tortoise and was voiced by Edan Gross.

Minor original characters included a family of Italians fleas who lived on Furrball based on 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.

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.

Production

Production History

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, A Pup Named Scooby-Doo 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. [1]

The studio approached Steven Spielberg in 1987 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. [2] Warners Bros. Animation v.p. Jean MacCurdy hired animator/producer/writer Tom Ruegger away from Hanna-Barbera to lead the development and creation of the new series.

Writers

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.

Voicing

Voice Actor:	Characters Voiced:
Charles Adler	Buster Bunny / Roderick Rat / other various voices (1990-1992)
John Kassir	Buster Bunny (1992)
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
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 (one episode)

During production of the series' third season, Charlie Adler, the voice of Buster Bunny, left the show due to a conflict with the producers; Adler was upset that he hadn't landed a role in the new show Animaniacs (the follow-up to Tiny Toons). Additionally, he took offense to the fact that small-role voice actors like Rob Paulsen, Maurice LaMarche, and Frank Welker were given starring roles in Animaniacs.^[] 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.^[0]

Animation

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".^[0]

Hallmarks

Credit gag

At the end of an episode, the credits at the end of the show always closed with one or more characters appearing in the Warner Bros. rings and saying a closing line. Among these lines were:

• 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!"
• Buster Bunny: "And that's a wrap!"
• Plucky Duck: "Parting is such sweet sorrow!"
• Fifi Le Fume: "Au revoir, mon petite potato du couch!"
• Byron Basset: "Woof!"
• Gogo Dodo: "It's been surreal!"
• Elmyra Duff: "Let the show begin!"
• Dizzy Devil: "Show's over!" {spins around devouring the logo}
• Furrball: "RRRROOOOOOOOAAAAAAARRRRR! Meow!"

In addition, a humorous message would appear among the credits shortly before the closing quote. This running gag would turn up in the later shows Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain, Freakazoid!, and Histeria!

Humor

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.^[2]

Films and television specials

One feature-length Tiny Toon Adventures movie was released direct-to-video in 1991, entitled .^[3] 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.

Spin-offs

Main articles: The Plucky Duck Show and Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain

In 1992, The Plucky Duck Show was produced as a spin-off of Tiny Toon Adventures that starred Plucky Duck. Except for the premiere (The Return of Batduck), the show was entirely made up of recycled Plucky-centric episodes from the Tiny Toons.^[4] After one thirteen-episode season, the show was canceled.

In 1998, another spin-off was produced, Pinky, Elmyra, and the Brain. This short-lived series starred Elmyra alongside Animaniacs stars Pinky and the Brain. The series was a significant re-tooling of the 1995 spin-off Pinky and the Brain which contradicted several elements of Elmyra's life on Tiny Toons; in the series, Elmyra had not attended Acme Looniversity or came in contact with any others on the Tiny Toons cast. The series was also canceled after thirteen episodes.

Awards

1991

• Daytime Emmy Awards, USA: Outstanding Animated Program (Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Ken Boyer, Art Leonardi, Art Vitello, Paul Dini, Sherri Stoner) - winner^[5]
• Environmental Media Awards, USA: EMA Award Children's Animated – winner (for episode Whales Tales)^[5]
• Young Artist Awards, USA: Best New Cartoon Series - winner^[5]

1992

• Daytime Emmy Awards, USA: Outstanding Animated Program (Steven Spielberg, Tom Ruegger, Sherri Stoner, Rich Arons, Art Leonardi) - nominated^[5]

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^[5]
• Young Artist Awards, USA: Outstanding Young Voice-Over in an Animated Series or Special (Whitby Hertford) - nominated^[5]

1994

• Young Artist Awards, USA: Outstanding Young Voice-Over in an Animated Series or Special (Whitby Hertford) - nominated^[6]

Merchandise

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.

VHS

In the early 90s, Warner Bros. had released several Tiny Toons videos:

• Best of Buster and Babs
• Two Tone Town
• Tiny Toon Big Adventures
• Tiny Toon Island Adventures
• Tiny Toon Fiendishly Funny Adventures

DVD

Currently, no DVD set for Tiny Toon Adventures has yet been officially announced, but Warner Home Video said in a chat on Home Theatre Forum that the show would be released to DVD "hopefully in 2008".^[7]

Media information

Broadcast History

Main article: List of Tiny Toon Adventures episodes

Tiny Toon Adventures along with Animaniacs 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 was airing on Boomerang until May, 2007. The series is scheduled to re-run on Warner Bros. and AOL's new broadband internet channel Toontopia TV.

"Banned" episodes

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.[3] Another episode, "Toons from the Crypt" (a parody of the Horror comic book and TV series, Tales from the Crypt), was never shown on FOX stations during the initial run of the series, and instead premiered on Nickelodeon in 1995.^[8] 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. [4]

See also

• List of Tiny Toon Adventures episodes
• Animaniacs
• Freakazoid!
• Toonsylvania
• Histeria!
• Pinky and the Brain

References

Further Reading

• Lenburg, Jeff (1999). "[TV Specials]". The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. New York, New York: Checkmark Books. 336-337. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. 
• Lenburg, Jeff (1999). "Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures [Television Series]". The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. New York, New York: Checkmark Books. 521. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. 

External links

• Tiny Toon Adventures at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Interview with Tom Ruegger on the creation of Tiny Toons