Hiya there toonsters, and welcome to a quick review of the latest DVD release for the 1990 cartoon series Tiny Toon Adventures. The fourth volume of the series, titled “Looney Links” was released in stores on May 28th, 2013. It contains the final 16 episodes of the Emmy Award winning series. How does this DVD fare, and does the show still hold up after almost a quarter century?
Buster and Babs Bunny. No relation.
For those who don’t recall this show (shame shame), Tiny Toon Adventures was Warner Brothers’ answer to the opening floodgates of cartoons that were regressing their main casts to children to appeal to the younger demo. From the success of Muppet Babies, featuring toddler versions of the beloved Jim Henson characters came shows like The Flintstone Kids, Popeye and Son, a Pup Named Scooby Doo, and Tom & Jerry Kids.
Tiny Toon Adventures had a bit more of an advantage, as not only did they have Steven Spielberg directing the show, as well as a top notch group of writers and voice actors )most of which would move on to the golden age of Warner animation in the mid 90’s with shows like Animaniacs, Pinky & The Brain, and Freakazoid!), but it also featured a brand new cast of characters, who each took after beloved Looney Tunes of old. Characters like Buster and Babs Bunny (No Relation), Plucky Duck, Hamton J Pig, Montana Max, Dizzy Devil, Gogo Dodo, and others . The show saw massive success both on syndication and a season on the Fox network.
Buster meets his guardian toon
Tiny Toon Adventures is one of my favorite cartoons of all time. It was one of the first cartoons I had watched that was not only very hilarious in its zany comic writing, but was also an entertaining, albeit wacky view into the early 90’s pop culture. Which in turn could make the show a little dated by today’s standards. But nevertheless, the cartoon itself holds up quite well. Younger audiences can still get plenty of laughs from the great comedy of the show, while adults can get a sense of nostalgia from some of the show’s wacky 90’s parodies. Parodies along the lines of Saturday Night Live, MTV, many of the biggest celebrities and films at the time, and more.
So, let’s get to talking about the DVD. In this set contains the final 16 episodes of the show (not counting the Spring Break and Night Ghoulery specials that followed later after the show’s ending) Some of the episodes on this 2-disc set include:
Toons From The Crypt: A three act parody of Tales from the Crypt that features shorts involving Hamton fearing the worst after betting away his father’s bottle cap collection, Concord Condor being a veterinarian, and in a rather dark short, Elmyra faces the wrath of her deceased pets. The final short in particular would cause the episode to be banned from air on Fox.
Toon TV: Buster and Babs host an MTV style countdown with music videos starring your favorite Tiny Toons. These include classic songs like “It’s in His Kiss” “Yakkety Yak”, “The Name Game”, and “Do You Love Me”. It also contains an original song called “Toon Out, Toon In” that raps about all of the characters from the series.
The Return of Batduck: Plucky Duck tries to convince Tim Burton to make him the star of the next Batman movie.
Weekday Afternoon Live: A Saturday Night Live parody which features classic skits like Samurai Film Critic, The Cornheads, and other parodies. Hosted by Blard Simpleton. There’s an issue with this episode on the disc, but we’ll get to that momentarily.
It’s a Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special: In the final run episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, and a clear cut parody of “It’s a Wonderful Life”, Buster wonders what life would be like if he was never the star of Tiny Toon Adventures.
Yakety Yak (Don't talk back)
Video quality is decent,retaining the quality of the show as it was when these episodes aired in 1992. Subtitles are available, and there are only two audio options of English and Español.
Now there are some cons to this set, but only one may be a deal breaker for those interested in buying this. One con is that there are no extras, but the previous sets were devoid of any major extras either, so this is nothing major. Another thing that bugs me is the flat menu screen, and dull, bland looking menus for episode select and set-up.
But the biggest con, and one that may make you thing twice about purchasing this set is a massive botch with the Weekday Afternoon Live episode. Following the 2nd act, the episode instead randomly goes into the Toon TV episode right from the middle of the “Toon Out, Toon In” video. It’s unclear how a mistake like this happened, but considering Warner Brothers basically just pumping these out to get them released, it’s not shocking that it went unnoticed, and even less shocking that it’s likely that Warner Brothers may not fix this issue. So if this was a favorite episode of yours, prepare for disappointment.
Plucky protests Buster's directorial debut
But if that wasn’t a favorite of yours, or if having every episode in perfect shape doesn’t bother you, then you are in for a decent enough set with some great episodes from one of the most beloved shows of the 90’s. While their handling of the sets does annoy me, it’s at least nice to see Warner Brothers finally finishing up the sets for Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs, while also finally listening to fans and releasing shows like Duck Dodgers and Taz-Mania to new sets as well. Now if only Disney could do the same. Still missing plenty of episodes from their Disney Afternoon cartoons, as well as no real Goof Troop set yet either.
In the end, one big issue aside, this was a good set with some fun episodes. It should delight everyone from kids who are just being introduced to classic shows like Tiny Toon Adventures, to adults who grew up with them. I’d say it’s worth a pickup. Just hopefully the one major error on the disc isn’t a sign of things to come with future releases.
RATING: 3 out of 5