In the late 1980's and early 90's there was trend in cartoons to have TV series that featured child versions of classic cartoon characters. Tiny Toons Adventures was both part of this trend, while providing a different twist on it. The series starred kid characters that were based off of the classic Looney Tunes characters but were still their own characters. They went to a school where they were taught by the classic Looney Tunes cartoons the art of cartoon comedy. The series wasn't always the most consistent and some episodes don't hold up the best. However, when the series was at its best, it was as great as any cartoon TV comedy had a right to be and because of this I feel it deserves the same praise that often goes to Animaniacs (which was made by the same people who made Tiny Toons. As wonderful as the best episodes of the show could be, the greatest highlight of the series was the direct to video movie that was based on the show.
This film doesn't just tell one story but multiple that are based on the premise of having the kids on summer vacation. Plucky goes on a road trip with Hamton's family to the theme park Happy World Land. Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation) have a water pistol fight that goes too far and the find themselves drifting out to sea. Fifi LaFume tries to get the attention of a dreamy movie star skunk, Johnny Pew. Fowlmouth invites Shirley the Loon to the movies but ends up talking through the whole show. Elmya tries to find a new kitty after Furball runs off.
What makes this movie so wonderful is that it is truly hilarious. This may actually be one of the laugh out loud funniest of the feature length Looney Tune movies. The humor consistently hits the spot (with the exception of some (though not all) of the then current pop culture references) with some truly great comedic set pieces. Some of the best of these set pieces include a Hamton's family picking up a very creepy hitchhiker that only Plucky is scared of, a wonderful movie theater scene (every single gag in this scene is hilarious) and a very clever parody of Deliverance (1972). Though I had seen this film as a kid, when I first saw it as an adult I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I laughed watching it (much of the satire makes it even funnier to an adult than to a kid). Another great reason this movie works so well, is that it does a great job balancing the different storylines. Never once do these storylines get in the way of each other and various points they do intercept in very clever ways. The use of multiple storylines also works perfectly for this type of cartoon comedy. They allow the movie to have the same silly comedic feel of the TV series and not try and turn this movie into something the TV show never was. At the same time it allows the movie to have the feel of a feature length cartoon, while not feeling like a TV episode unnecessarily stretched to feature length. This movie is also helped some solid animation by Tokyo Movie Shinsha. This animation may show its TV roots and is definitely not as extravagant as that seen in many theatrically released movies. However, with this in mind, like the TV episodes Tokyo Movie Shinsha has worked on, it is definitely on the higher end of television quality animation.
The movies do have some flaws though. Chief among them is that the writers don't seem to know how to end the film and the ending is a bit too much of a dues ex machina (though in true Tiny Tunes fashion, the writers make fun of their own dues ex machina).
The movie was released on March 11, 1992 and marks what might be the first animated direct to video feature length movie. The series ended later the same year this movie was released. making this almost the perfect ending to a beloved TV series that I still think deserves more love today. When the show was rerun on Fox Kids, this movie would air as a four-part episode of the TV series.
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