From: nowikoam@ucbeh.san.uc.edu (Tony Nowikowski)
Newsgroups: alt.tv.tiny-toon
Subject: Re: .. Looney vs. Tiny (battle of the toons)
Date: 6 Nov 92 04:13:29 EST
Distribution: world
Organization: Univ. of Cincinnati

In article <CMM.0.90.2.720941784.rjung@aludra.usc.edu>, rjung@scf.usc.edu (Robert Jung) writes:
> In article <Bx7KLo.I0v@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu> mwdenney@undergrad.math.waterloo.edu (Michael W. Denney) writes:
>>Ok, I don't like the idea of a 'battle of the toons' (my heart is with the
>>classics, but I like TTA.  Which side am I on?)
Thought I'd throw my thruppence (geez, I must be alliterate!) in on this
burning issue, having been a *massive* Looney Toons fan before I discovered
TTA.
> 
>>In article <1992Nov4.145601.23856@bcrka451.bnr.ca> isupstud@bnr.ca (Todd Strilchuk) writes:
>>>	Just for the sake of argument, isn't Tiny Toons a direct take off
>>>from Looney Toons. 
I don't see TTA as being a "take-off" of Looney Toons, not in the sense that
shows like Muppet Babies, or Tom and Jerry Kids are.  Certainly Buster & Babs
have Bugs' intelligence and wit (and tunneling ability?!), and Plucky has
Daffy's ego, (and, yeah, Dizzy, Calamity and Lil' Beeper *are* highly
derivative), but overall there seems to be enough different personality out
there to give TTA its own "spirit".
> 
>   Right. TINY TOONS is, IMO, an attempt to bring the "anything for a laugh"
> mentality of the original LTs in an acceptable, 90's style. It's supposed to
> be similar, but not entirely the same.
> 
>>>The reason that many of the good Looney Toon cartoons aren't
>>>being shown any more is because they were considered too violent for kids to 
>>>watch.
>>
>>as for violence, TTA does manage to slip
>>some in (why? well Buster says they 'crack up all the censors' but I think
>>the lack of actual explosives and firearms has a lot to do with it) but a
>>toned down tribute to WB can still have a similar feel.
> 
>   Focusing on the level of violence is missing the forest for the trees, I
> think. TTA slips in a lot of violence that probably makes tight-minded
> parents' groups twitch (grin). 

There probably *are* evil women wearing ugly glasses out there counting the
number of anvils that Plucky has been hit with! 
> 
>   As for explosives and firearms, don't say "a lack of". There's fewer
> appearances of dynamite and guns, but TTA has them as well ("Sorry, Monty.
> Exploding dynamite is allowed in TV cartoons today."  **BOOM!**  "At least
> in _this_ TV cartoon").
> 
>>TTA is more connected than the classic WB.  In the 'old days' Daffy and Bugs
>>could be friends in one episode, enemies in another, and be unaware of each
>>other in the next.
> 
>   Agreed. I think this is one thing that makes many Looney Tunes fans either
> love or hate TTA. The original LTs were more of an ensemble cast, and the
> characters were always "on the job" whenever they appear (fourth-wall humor
> being relatively rare in the '50s). The Tiny Toonsters address the fourth
> wall more often, directly or indirectly, and they have "lives" outside of the
> show. How you feel about fourth-wall comedy has a big influence on how you
> feel about TTA, IMO.
>
Y'all remember that series of LTs by Chuck Jones starring Ralph Wolf and Sam
Sheepdog, where the whole joke was that their mayhem was all "on-the-job"; they
left as friends when the time clock whistled 5:00?  Actually, IMHO,the best TTA
episodes have that 'Chuck Soul' ... a wonderful use of language, music, visual
humor, and just enough slapstick, as well as an ability to play with convention
and challenge that fourth wall.  (That's why I don't care for most Furrball
or Sweetie episodes ...*they* remind me of the worst of Bob McKimson -- too 
conventional.  Even Elmyra doesn't really excite me except when she's used as 
Buster or Babs' foil.)
I'm also glad to see that TTA has the good sense not to try any Calamity / Lil'
Beeper chase cartoons.  No way that there could *ever* be an improvement on
those originals!

I think the biggest difference, and the thing that most people from our
generation forget, is that the LTs were put out each as basically a "one-shot"
for theatrical release.  There was no need for consistency, or the maintaining
of a "story line".  Even the personalities of the characters varied from
director to director.
TTA, on the other hand, is a five-times-a-week TV show, which imposes a much
different structure.  Especially since most days the entire show is
thematically "structured" (i.e., it's not just three completely unrelated
cartoons) and frequently the entire show is one sitcom-length episode.  There's
just so much more room for inter-involvement of the characters. I, for one,
*love* the fact that TTA is not just cartoon characters; it's about the *lives*
of cartoon characters.

+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
|  Tony Nowikowski            | Sandy Witch: "You're not from the Acme Vacuum  |
|  University of Cincinnati   |  Cleaner Company!  You're a rabbit!"           |
|  nowikoam@ucbeh.san.uc.edu  | Buster: "Aaah, yer mother rides a DustBuster!" |
+-----------------------------+------------------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.tv.tiny-toon,rec.arts.tv.tiny-toon