Tiny Toons: 20th Anniversary

[Dr. Toonhattan]

As I'm sure you all know, Tiny Toon Adventures will become twenty years old this September. For those of you who are lucky enough to remember the first Tiny Toons episode being broadcast (I was 1 at the time), can you recall your thoughts at that time? Also, as John Pannozzi mentioned in the other thread, do we want to have some sort of celebration? (I for one think so!)

I Also knocked together this special Anniversary logo. Does anyone else have an idea for their own TTA Anniversary logos.

 

[Dr. Toonhattan]

This may also be relevant to the descussion

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvhrF-HfLvs

 

[John Pannozzi]

Dr. Toonhattan, that is an awesome logo. Please explain how you made it.

 

[Old Guy]

For those of you who are lucky enough to remember the first Tiny Toons episode being broadcast (I was 1 at the time), can you recall your thoughts at that time?

I was 3, so I have no idea. Although I do recall my general reaction at the time of its first run (1990-92) and Fox Kids' repeats. To be honest, Plucky Duck was the only character I cared about. I don't know why. I will have to re-watch to show to see what it was about the other characters that didn't do it for me. But, even though its been years since I last saw the show, I still remember those Plucky episodes like yesterday. I remember when he flushed things down the toilet, when he dressed as Batduck, when he won that film festival, etc.

 

[Anthonynotes]

Ironic that I'm older than "OldGuy", but....

I was in high school at the time, and first heard of TTA in a Time magazine advertising section promoting the show---shots of Spielberg surrounded by Buster, Babs, and company, with a description of what the show was about, and brief biographies about the major characters (Buster was described as "he's not quite the son of Bugs... more like a distant nephew." Imagine Bugs' nephew Clyde would beg to differ on that point... ).

I finally saw the show (after more TV hype) on its CBS debut night, and I was easily impressed. Soon was watching it when it debuted on weekday afternoons...

-B.

 

[Peter Paltridge]

A local TV announcer said over syndicated credits, "Cartoons aren't just for kids anymore! This fall stay tuned for Tiny Toon Adventures!" I took that to mean TTA was an adult show and I'd get in trouble for watching. I didn't dare to turn it on until mid-October, and the first episode I saw was the latter half of "Europe in 30 Minutes." At that point TTA had gained a playground reputation as being too childish -- which, given some of the early episodes, can hardly be blamed.

 

[The Spectre]

It was the mid-90s and I was a pre-teen. The first TTA "episode" I "saw" was actually a comic. I saw it in a second-hand place while looking for old "Looney Tunes" comics, and was an Animaniacs fan who thought TTA looked interesting, so I bought it. I still have it, I'm glad to say, in very poor condition but with all the story content still surviving. There are two comic strip stories in it: "Car Alarmed" in which Hamton is sent to retrieve test papers from Elmer's car (but, because of a mix-up, has to contend with Yosemite Sam's villanous vehicle). The other is called "Wild, Wild Life" and involves Montana Max as a mad scientist with a plot to create Gogo clones.

The first actual episode I saw was "Flea for your life", an atypical episode. Then it was "Toon TV", then the Elmyra's family episode "Grandma's Dead." I remember waiting patiently for the main characters to do something other than introduce the adventures of other characters or act out music videos, so the following week's episode "The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain" was very welcome, even though the "horror" and "slumber party" elements weren't really familiar to my experience.

I would have really enjoyed an episode like "Her Wacky Highness" - the Babs-runs-away-to-Wackyland plot seemed like exactly the sort of story which I would have acted out with my younger sister and one or two local kids back in the day. I was treated to the closing credits for "Her Wacky Highness" though. Over and over and over again, at the end of every episode. How many times did I need to be told Elmer Fudd was a dolt?

 

[Fifi Fanatic]

Guess it's time for the old goat to weigh in, you young whippersnappers!

I was 19 in 1990, and to say that "The Bugs Bunny/Road-Runner Show" was a major part of my formative years would be an understatement. So, I was feeling excited that those characters were coming back.... sort of. I watched that first episode on CBS and was instantly hooked. I had spent my pre-teen and teen years watching (and still loving) Transformers and G.I. Joe. But now, in 1990, to have a "cartoony" style cartoon like I had grown up with back on my TV screen again was just beyond glorious. I can truly say that I felt like a kid again whenever I tuned in.... and I still do. TTA is still high up on my DVD viewing list whenever I want to go back to that special time and place when cartoons were just fun. Yes, they did get saddled with the dreaded "preachy" episodes. But fortunately, the cast was strong and charming enough to bounce back from them..... and I can always pretend those episodes were some "alternate universe" thing.

So, Happy 20th Anniversary to Tiny Toon Adventures. And a big thank you to Tom and whoever else from the crew might read this. Thanks for giving the world Buster, Babs, Plucky.... and obviously Fifi too. May they live forever!

 

[MetroSparkster]

This was one of those cartoons I usually wake up on a Saturday.

I watched most of the series more on Nick than WB.

I really hope WB celebrates this somehow...

 

[Itchy]

Man, time flies by fast. My memories from the early 90's are pretty vague, but I think the first episode I saw was Furrball Follies, which I loved a lot.
I also hope WB does something to celebrate this anniversary. It would be nice to get the characters from the show out of obscurity and back in the spotlight again somehow.

 

[Ghostbuster Man]

I can't believed it was 20 years when I saw "The Looney Beginning"!

Thank god I got the dvds of the first season.

This show is a worthy successor to the Looney Tunes next to the Animaniacs.

 

[Rick Jones]

Wow, it's insane that it's been that long already. I lived in the Caribbean back then and the show didn't debut until the Easter break of the year following the US debut. Easter break was usually a good time to see lots of animated debuts and special viewings, and after seeing the promo for TTA, I initially thought it was going to be some innocuous Easter bunny cartoon until I was scolded by my older cousin who set me straight. The show quickly became something that I always looked forward to seeing, whenever it was on, and Plucky and Babs were probably my favorite characters (still kind of upset that Plucky's show didn't really take off).

 

[Silverstar]

Still kind of upset that Plucky's show didn't really take off.

The thing is, The Plucky Duck Show wasn't an original show; it was just a compilation of all of the Plucky shorts from Tiny Toon Adventures. The only original episode was the pilot, "The Return of Bat-Duck". The show's theme wasn't even original--it was just the TTA theme with changed lyrics referring to Plucky.

 

[Elven Moon]

I was 9 when the show started. I have no idea what my first episode was, but I remember my dad bringing home some VHS with sample episodes of the series while he worked at a video rental. My sister and I also loved to play Buster Busts Loose on the SNES, though I don't believe we ever finished it

I hope this means WB will get off their butt and release season 2+!

 

[Rod Beauvex]

I was four year old when this began airing, and this is probably one of the few shows I can really remember small bits from.

I too cannot beleive it' been 20 years. I have since gone back and rewatched some episodes. It was kind of like being reunited with an old friend, but a reunion that drives home the point of how much time has passed. Still, I think it holds up fairly well.

 

[Startrekman700]

It's been that long. Jsut seems like yesterday.

I was 11 years old when I came out. I didn't reeally begin to pay attention to Tiny Toons until about the age of 14. I would watch it but i didn't get into the plots or stories. That happened in the mid-teens. But needless to say. It's my top favorite all time cartoons.

 

[dothesmartthing]

I was five when Tiny Toons debuted, but I didn't pay much attention to the show until Fox Kids aired it. That's when I became so attached to it, and I can now cite it as one of my favorite childhood cartoons. I even played a couple of Sega Genesis games based on the show.

 

[Beetlejuice1989]

I was only a year old when the show debuted, but I then got attached to the show like maybe when I was 3 or 4. Not really sure, lol. I do know for a fact that I even had dolls of Buster and Plucky and some of the TTA toys that McDonald's gave out, as well as the VHS of "How I Spent My Vacation." I also have the Buster & the Beanstalk CD-ROM game, which is still with me, but I no longer have the inserts, but still.

 

[Silverstar]

I have to say, all this "I was 1, I was 3, I was 4, I was 5 when Tiny Toons debuted" talk is seriously making me feel old, 'cause I was 20 when TTA debuted. I first read about the show in a TV Guide article in 1989, and was stoked for the premiere for a whole year; I even taped "The Looney Beginning" when it aired on CBS as a prime-time special.

It's been 20 years now, so, well, you can do the math.

 

[Narfpinky]

(You're not the only one, Silverstar. )

Back in that day I used to watch Entertainment Tonight to find out little tidbits on animation(...what internet?). It was about July/August on ET where they gave a behind the scenes look at TTA. With great interest, I set out to record the prime time premiere on CBS. I was a little disappointed to learn it was just a one time event in prime time, thinking of how The Simpsons became a success in prime time earlier that year.