They weren't kid versions of classic Warner Brothers characters -- Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and so on.
They weren't the offspring of the classic Warner Brothers characters.
And they weren't tiny -- they were adolescents, aged 13-15. They lived with their parents while attending Acme Looniversity, where the classic characters taught them the art of being toons.
After years of decline -- no new cartoons, old ones chopped to bits to eliminate the violence -- Warner Brothers was trying to modernize for a new generation of fans. So the Tiny Toons began appearing in after-school time slots, first in syndication (1990-1992), and then on the Fox network (1992-1995).
They drew on the personalities of the classic characters, but their adventures were strictly modern, involving video games, cell phones, and lots of sly references to 1990s pop culture, from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous to Roseanne Barr.
There were no domestic partnerships, as in the Hanna Barbara cartoons of a generation before. Instead, the characters displayed the heterosexism of the major teen sitcoms of the era (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, California Dreams), with lots of dating and romance. But there were plenty of subtexts.
Plucky, an egotistical duck, and Hamton, a shy, sensible pig, are partnered for a number of adventures, including parodies of Batman and Star Trek, and sometimes are shown living together. They break up, seek out other "best friends," realize how much they care for each other, and reconcile.
The human character Elmyra usually lacks heterosexual interest -- she is busy hugging and squeezing "cute little animals" to death. But in one episode, she falls in love with a new girl named Rhonda Queen, and goes to absurd lengths to try to win her affection.
The character of Gogo Dodo also lacks heterosexual interest, and brings a vacuum cleaner to the school dance.
The gay kids in the audience had a lot to identify with. A lot more than with the horrid Animaniacs, which regrettably replaced Tiny Toon Adventures in 1993.
See also: Animaniacs
After years of decline -- no new cartoons, old ones chopped to bits to eliminate the violence -- Warner Brothers was trying to modernize for a new generation of fans. So the Tiny Toons began appearing in after-school time slots, first in syndication (1990-1992), and then on the Fox network (1992-1995).
They drew on the personalities of the classic characters, but their adventures were strictly modern, involving video games, cell phones, and lots of sly references to 1990s pop culture, from Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous to Roseanne Barr.
There were no domestic partnerships, as in the Hanna Barbara cartoons of a generation before. Instead, the characters displayed the heterosexism of the major teen sitcoms of the era (Sabrina the Teenage Witch, Boy Meets World, California Dreams), with lots of dating and romance. But there were plenty of subtexts.Plucky, an egotistical duck, and Hamton, a shy, sensible pig, are partnered for a number of adventures, including parodies of Batman and Star Trek, and sometimes are shown living together. They break up, seek out other "best friends," realize how much they care for each other, and reconcile.
The human character Elmyra usually lacks heterosexual interest -- she is busy hugging and squeezing "cute little animals" to death. But in one episode, she falls in love with a new girl named Rhonda Queen, and goes to absurd lengths to try to win her affection.
The character of Gogo Dodo also lacks heterosexual interest, and brings a vacuum cleaner to the school dance.
The gay kids in the audience had a lot to identify with. A lot more than with the horrid Animaniacs, which regrettably replaced Tiny Toon Adventures in 1993.
See also: Animaniacs
I'm pretty sure it was Buck Rogers, not Star Trek.
ReplyDeleteProbably not good to have Elmyra be a lesbian. Givrn, you know, Elmyra. Could be interpreted as a gay villain.
It's within "Generation Xerox" tolerance, IMO.
This show is why I can forgive Danny Cooksey (the voice of Montana Max) for the later years of DIFF'RENT STROKES. I always thought of Buster and Babs Bunny as the two sides of Bugs Bunny's personality: masculine and feminine.
ReplyDeleteWhich is itself kinda heterosexist. Bugs's androgyny worked because it allowed for drag bits. And it leads to Lola, a character created in the 90s who was of course always there. (WB seems to do this a lot. Barbara Gordon always dated Dick Grayson in high school and went to prom with him; her father saw him as just another boy eager to take his daughter's virginity. Even though, you know, she graduated high school when he was 7 and he was still in the circus with his very much alive parents. And he was her congressional page at 17.)
DeleteThere were one or two episodes where Elmyra had a crush on Montana Max. In one episode, she thinks he's her prom date. He tries to ditch her but the good guys force him to go. In another, Max's parents set them up on a blind date. Again, she's enthralled, he's repulsed, but after a good night kiss he finds himself falling for her.
ReplyDeleteFifi la Fume is an interesting character. The original Pepé le Pew was, of course, just north of a rapist, even using rapey language: "Your leeps say no, ah, but your eyes zay yes." By contrast, the poor cat doesn't have a name or a voice.
ReplyDeleteFifi is female, and in love with boys, to cover up what would otherwise be an extended rape joke. You see, unless she was ugly, the proper response to a male being raped (or especially statutory'd) by a female was "gratz brah". If she's ugly, the attitude is, the trauma is sleeping with someone who's ugly, since it's just inconceivable that a man would say no to an attractive woman. But because of her odor, it's still an extended rape joke.
Babs was also the template for Lola Bunny, who usually serves as a love interest for Bugs these days (a role traditionally played by one of his male antagonists, e.g. Elmer as Siegfried to his Brünnhilde in the famous Götterdämmerung parody).
Oh, on their sister show, Wakko Warner is now nonbinary. It's a pun (How can we have an agenda when Wakko doesn't have a gender?) but there you go.