They’re tiny, they’re tooney, they’re all a little looney and in this cartooney they’re invading your DVD collection!
I’m generally one of the first to complain about seasons being split in half by the studio, but Tiny Toons Season 1, Vol. 2 is four discs with thirty episodes. I think I’d have to say that splitting up the 65 episode season wasn’t such a bad idea in this case.
Tiny Toons is a really good idea. The next generation of Looney Toons learning the ropes from the masters. You have Babs and Buster Bunny (no relation), Plucky Duck, Hamton J. Pig, Calamity Coyote and others, which are all based on their older counterparts. Then there are new characters like the greedy Montana Max and the animal obsessed Elmyra Duff. You also get appearances by the masters like Bugs and Daffy which is always nice.
The show is not tied down to any one style. Sometimes the show is one long story while other times it’s split up into two or more short cartoons that may or may not be linked by some sort of theme. The show also breaks the fourth wall often with Babs and Buster talking to the audience who they refer to as “toonsters.”
It is most certainly a show for kids and has many great morals worked into the show covering all sorts of themes like friendship, greed, the environment, and sometimes the show teaches kids about things like getting their first job and dating.
The show holds up pretty well and the reason it does so is the talented people behind it. Highlights of the cast include Tress MacNeille and Maurice LaMarche who have also done voices for great shows like The Simpsons and Futurama. Then there is the creative team that includes Paul Dini and Bruce Timm who would also go on to help create Batman: The Animated Series and a the other great DC cartoons.
The show is pretty funny and while geared towards kids it works in enough jokes that parents watching along won’t be totally bored. I did enjoy revisiting a show I hadn’t watched in over fifteen years and I highly recommend watching the show with your little ones, I’m sure it will make the viewing experience all the better.
The only real negative things about this show is that the theme song is painfully catchy and after a few episodes you’ll find yourself humming it work and getting strange looks from your coworkers.
And now this review is done!
Episodes:
Disc One:
Animaniacs! 11/12/1990
Buster teaches Plucky how cartoons are made so he won’t fail is animation class.
Career Oppor-Toon-Ities 11/13/1990
Three shorts: “Buster’s Guide To Getting A Job” starring Buster and Babs, “Working Pig” starring Hamton and Elmyra, and “Falling To Pizzas” starring Calamity and Little Beeper.
Strange Tales of Weird Science 11/14/1990
Three shorts: “Scentimental Pig” starring Hamton, “Pit Bullied” starring Furrball and “Duck In The Muck” starring Plucky as The Toxic Revenger and Montana Max.
Inside Plucky Duck 11/15/1990
Buster, Babs and Calamity go into Plucky’s head to give us these two Plucky centric stories: “Bat’s All Folks,” the origin of Batduck and “Wild Takes Class.”
The Acme Bowl 11/16/1990
The Acme Acres football team competes against Perfecto Prep and Plucky is a double agent who might be trying to switch sides.
Dating, Acme Acres Style 11/19/1990
Three shorts: “Buster’s Guide To Dating” starring Buster and Babs, “Love Stinks” starring Calamity, Little Beeper and Fifi and “The Dream Date Game” starring Buster, Babs, Montana Max and Elmyra.
Looniversity Daze 11/20/1990
Three shorts: “The Learning Principal” starring Buster and Yosemite Sam, “Eating Between The Lines” starring Sweeite and Bookworm and “What’s Up, Nurse?” starring Plucky and Elmyra.
Best ‘O Plucky Duck Day 11/21/1990
Three Plucky centric cartoons: “One Minute Till Three,” “Stick Fingers Duck” and “Duck In the Dark.”
Disc Two:
Hero Hamton 11/23/1990
Montana Max challenges Hamton to a fight.
Whale’s Tales 11/26/1990
Babs and Buster have to rescue a baby whale from Elmyra then save the mother whale from a make-up factory.
Ask Mr. Popular 12/5/1990
Two Shorts: “Dapper Diz” starring Plucky, Hamton and Dizzy Devil and “A Pigment of His Imagination” starring Hamton.
Son Of Looniversity Daze 12/7/1990
Three shorts: “Plucky’s Dastardly Deed,” “Open and Shut Case” starring Hamton and “C Flat or B Sharp” starring Buster, Plucky and Hamton.
Mr Popular’s Rules Of Cool 12/10/1990
Three shorts: “Mr. Popular’s Rules of Cool” starring Buster as Mr. Popular, “Slugfest” starring Plucky and Hamton and “Venison Anyone?” starring Montana Max.
Fairy Tales Of The 90’s 12/12/1990
Two shorts: “Bunnochio” starring Buster and “Bear Necessities” starring Elmyra as Goldilocks.
Who Bopped Bugs Bunny? 12/14/1990
A jealous toon named Sappy Stanley kidnaps Bugs Bunny and frames Daffy Duck and it’s up to Buster and Babs to solve the mystery.
Tiny Toons Music Television 2/1/1991
Five shorts based around songs: “Istanbul (not Constantinople” and “Particle Man” by They Might Be Giants, “Respect” by Aretha Franklin, “Money (that’s what I want)” and “Sorcerer’s Apprentice.”
Disc Three:
The Return To The Acme Acres Zone 2/4/1991
Three Twilight Zone-esque shorts: “Real Kids Don’t Eat Broccoli” starring Buster, “Boo Hoo” starring Plucky and Hamton and “Duck Dodgers Jr.” starring Plucky, Daffy, Marvin the Martian and his daughter.
The Acme Home Shopping Show 2/6/1991
Three shorts: “Oh, For Art’s Sake” starring Plucky, “Teddy Bears’ Picnic” starring Elmyra and “I Was A Teenage Bunny Sitter” starring Babs.
Weirdest Story Ever Told 2/8/1991
Three shorts: “Robin Hare” starring Buster and others, “To Babs Or Not To Babs” starring Babs and Elmyras ‘Roung The World'” starring Elmyra and Buster.
Viewer Mail Day 2/11/1991
Three shorts: “Pluck ‘O The Irish” starring Plucky and Hamton, “Out Of Oder” starring Elmyra and Fifi and “Buttering up The buttfields” starring Plucky.
Son Of The Wacko World Of Sports 2/12/1991
Three shorts: “Buster At Bat,” “Buster’s New Bike” and Acme Acres’ Summer Olympics”
Pollution Solution 2/14/1991
Three shorts: “No Deposit, No Return Of The Trash Bad Despenser” starring Plucky and Elmyra, “Jungle Bungle” starring Buster and Babs and “Waste Deep In Wackyland” starring Montana Max and Gogo Dodo.
You Asked For It Again 2/15/1991
Three shorts: “Buster’s Guide To Goofing Off,” “Elmyra At the Mall” and Hold The Sugar.”
Disc Four:
Brave Tales of Real Rabbits 2/18/1991
Two shorts: “And All That Rot” starring Buster, Babs and Elmyra and “Day of Knight” starting Buster and Babs.
How Sweetie It Is 2/19/1991
Three shorts: “Egged On Eagle,” “Let’s Do Lunch” and “The Raven” all starring Sweetie Bird, the last featuring Vincent Price.
New Character Day 2/20/1991
Two shorts: “The Roches” starring Hamton and “Pluck Twacy” starring Plucky.
Here’s Hamton 2/22/1991
Three Shorts: “Milk, it Makes A Body Sprout,” “America’s Least Wanted” and “Drawn and Buttered” all starring Hamton.
No Toon Is An Island 2/25/1991
Buster, Babs, Plucky and Hamton find a treasure map and go in search of the buried treasure and learn a message about greed along the way. Well, all but Plucky that is.
K-ACME TV 2/26/1991
A collection of TV parodies starring much of the cast.
High Noon 3/29/1991
Buster and Babs take a wrong turn and wind up in a western town faced off against The Coyote Kid and his outlaw gang.
The show is presented in fullscreen 1:33.1. Sound is in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and 2.0 stereo. For the most part the show look fine. Sometimes some age shows, but not too often. The sound is totally fine.
Nothing.
Eighteen years later this is still a cute show for kids that has enough in it that parents can watch it along with them. It entertains and at times even educates. If you’ve got young ones I’d highly recommend introducing them to this fun show.
………………………………………
Warner Bros. presents Tiny Toon Adventures: Season 1, Volume 2. Created by Tom Ruegger. Starring Charlie Adler, Tress MacNeille and Maurice LaMarche. Running time: 646 minutes on 4 discs. Not Rated. Released on DVD: April 21, 2009. Available at Amazon.com.
