Taz-Mania

Taz-Mania
Welcome to the land that's way under down under the sky's always yellow in rain or shine
Genre: Animated sitcom Running Time: 30 minutes Country: United States of America Release Date: September 7, 1991 – May 22, 1995 Network(s): Fox Kids Created by: Jean MacCurdy Tom Ruegger Distributed by: Warner Bros. Television Distribution Starring: Jim Cummings Maurice LaMarche Miriam Flynn Debi Derryberry Kellie Martin Rob Paulsen John Astin Seasons: 4 Episodes: 65 (121 segments) Previous show: Tiny Toon Adventures Next show: The Plucky Duck Show

Taz-Mania is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation in Burbank, California, and broadcast in the United States on Fox from September 7, 1991, to May 22, 1995. The show follows the adventures of the "Looney Tunes" character Taz (the Tasmanian Devil) in the fictional land of Tazmania (based on Tasmania). It lasted for a total of four seasons and 65 episodes. Unfortunately, it didn't catch on as much as other Warner Bros. shows at the time, such as Tiny Toon Adventures and Animaniacs.

The show was nominated twice for a Daytime Emmy Award and a Young Artist Award in 1992, but lost to both Tiny Toon Adventures (Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program) and Back to the Future: The Animated Series (Outstanding New Animation Series).

Why It Rocks

1. Taz the Tasmanian Devil is the only main protagonist of this show with his kind family, after the events of Looney Tunes. His solo episodes without any supporting characters were a breath of fresh air from the typical cartoon formulas and sitcom-style format in most episodes.
2. Speaking of which, despite the show focusing on Taz (an inarticulate character), there is a lot of talking put into it when the well-spoken characters are given enough screen-time.
3. It's faithful and perfect to the source material.
4. The animation is very nice and quite funny, especially the ones animated by Wang Film Productions and StarToons (who also animated the title sequence).
5. Great voice acting, especially from Jim Cummings as Taz.
6. Hilariously over-written writing to the point where the writing can be seen as ahead of its time on par with Duckman and The Simpsons.
7. Great music choices, especially the opening theme.
8. Funny, likeable, and memorable characters such as:
   • Bull and Axl (the two gator hunters)
   • Timothy and Daniel (the two platypus brothers)
   • Digeri Dingo (Taz's "best friend" who has an interest in bottle caps)
   • Mr. Thickley (a wallaby who works at Hotel Tazmania)
   • Constance Koala
   • Wendal T. Wolf (a neurotic Tasmanian wolf)
   • Buddy Boar (who became a director in a few episodes)
   • Francis X. Bushlad (A 13-year old tribal hunter who attempts to capture Taz to prove his worth of manhood)
   • Bushwhacker Bob (Taz's ill-tempered boss who has a heart deep down)
9. Hilarious gags, slapstick comedies, and underrated moments.
10. Interesting and great episodes, such as:
    • Frights of Passage
    • Nursemaid Taz
    • Taz and the Pterodactyl
    • No Time for Christmas (the Christmas special, which ended the third season on a heartwarming note)
    • Retakes Not Included
    • A Young Taz's Fancy
    • Woeful Wolf
    • Tazmanian Lullaby
    • To Catch a Taz
11. There are various characters from Looney Tunes that appear as guest stars or cameos in the series.
12. The series's attempt at a sitcom format predated The Looney Tunes Show by twenty years.

Bad Qualities

1. Molly is unlikable in the Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty episodes, because she never believed Taz that the kitty was dangerous.
   • Bushwhacker Bob, Francis X. Bushlad, and Willy Wombat can be unlikeable at times.
   • Kitty and Rex are easily the worst offenders of unlikeability.
2. The backgrounds can be seen as unfinished when the characters look well-drawn.
3. Most of the episodes can go a little overboard with the dialogue-based humour. They'd even go so far as to analyze the plot or events of an episode, resulting in being the most talkative cartoon of its time.
4. "Here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty" and its sequel are easily considered the worst episodes of the series. They are nothing more than Taz torture fests.
   • And to a lesser extent, some of the episodes where Digeri Dingo gets off scot-free, like in "Friends for Strife".
5. The episodes animated by AKOM were generally stiff and bland compared to the episodes animated by Wang Film Productions, Freelance Animators New Zealand and StarToons.
6. Sadly like Loonatics Unleashed, the show was never brought up again in future Looney Tunes media (save for a cameo of Axl Gator on Duck Dodgers).
   • This may be due to the crew's disdain for its dialogue-heavy approach for the other characters. It's also because Tiny Toons and Animaniacs did better in the ratings.
7. When the show aired on CBBC in the UK, select scenes of the episodes were either censored and/or cut for time reasons (including the elimination of strobe lights in the opening title sequence, although this was understandable considering the infamous Electric Soldier Porygon incident).
8. Even though it was considered a sitcom, most of the episodes had three separate 7-minute and/or two 11-minute stories. As a result, it feels more like a variety show than a sitcom.
   • Only a few select episodes ran for 22 minutes (the proper runtime for a sitcom episode), such as Woeful Wolf and The Dog the Turtle Story. Why can't all episodes run for 22 minutes?

Reception

It holds a rating of 6.8/10 on IMDB.

Trivia

• Despite its popularity, Greg Duffell is one of the few people to have disdain for the show and saw it as a violation of the Tasmanian Devil character.

References

https://www.facebook.com/groups/161346744015168/posts/1792962414186918/?comment_id=1792984124184747

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