Monday, August 22, 2011

"Tiny Toon Adventures" Promotional Art

Here's an image of a postcard that was sent out to "Tiny Toons" viewers who wrote fan letters to Warner Bros. during the heyday of "Tiny Toon Adventures" in the early-to-mid 90's.


This was clearly not produced by the animation department.  Looks more like the work of Warner Bros. Worldwide Licensing.  Animators tend to avoid having characters float aimlessly in midair, as is the case with Elmyra and Little Beeper in this promotional piece.  I'm not sure what Furrball's problem is, but he looks like he's in desperate need of a litter box.   Calamity Coyote appears to be missing his neck and has no clear purchase on the rope by which he may or may not be swinging.  Dizzy Devil has no left foot, and it looks like he's about to eat a drumstick that is dangerously undercooked.  Babs is making a proactive pass at Hamton, or at least, at Hamton's hind quarters.  Fifi LaFume is positioned closer to us than Buster, and Buster is closer to us than Shirley the Loon, but Shirley the Loon's head is closer to us than Fifi.   It's sort of like an M.C. Escher drawing, but not in a good way.  

Thank you, Warner Bros., for this lesson in promotional art run amok!  

11 comments:

  1. Also like the spotlight beam that's slicing through the wooden plank that Dizzy is standing on. I guess that's what sliced his foot off too.

    While Elmyra and Little Beeper do have one foot on something, that cannot be said for Plucky. He's just high! ...and obsessed with the bow on Babs' ear.

    Babs doesn't seem concerned that Buster is stepping on her foot. She's too busy pinching Hamton's tail while looking strangely over his shoulder at something o.s.

    More Z-axis problems: Concord's beak somehow is in front of Furrball's tail while the tail is also in front of the Bookworm, who's at the same depth as Concord. I mean, I know Furrball's tail is a bit crooked, but...!

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  2. lol, looks like Plucky is in mid-air too. I thought it looked cool at first glance.

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  3. G'day Tom.

    Having a closer look at the promotional art, it looks like Little Beeper is actually standing on the top of a stepladder.

    But oddly enough, it doesn't explain the mid-air stance of either Elmyra or Plucky.

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  4. Beautiful job, Keeper! Love the laser beam cutting through the plank and Dizzy's foot. And I totally missed Plucky levitating back there! Should have been Shirley -- but on a different level -- a transcendental plane!

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  5. Ryan and Bruce: great observations!

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  6. Yep, as a graphic artist, those kind of mistakes drive me crazy! Reminds me of the clip-art-esque disasters on the DVD Sets, with characters floating in mid-air.

    Thanks for sharing! I love your Tiny Toons stuff. :)

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  7. Glad you like it. I'll keep it going.

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  8. I just noticed this is also in the Tiny Toons Wikipedia Article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiny_Toon_Adventures#Characters

    Fun! :)

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  9. This post made me laugh! And the more I looked at the drawing, the more I laughed :P

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  10. These appear to be poses copied and pasted from the original model sheets. Is that correct?

    I've seen an alleged original Calamity Coyote model sheet where he has that bandage on his face. I'm guessing that was scrapped at the last minute?

    Sorry I'm a year late to comment!

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  11. These are not from model sheets from the animation department. Rather, these poses are from the designs issued by the Warner Bros. Worldwide Liscencing Division, AKA Consumer Products, which puts out such "books" of "approved art" for licensees.

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