THE 7D -- New Episodes

New "Disney's THE 7D" episodes airing this coming weekend include:  

"Shapeshifter" 
Written by Paul Dini.  Directed by Alfred Gimeno.  
And guest starring Weird Al Yankovic as the nefarious arch enemy facing off against Lotta Glamour (Queen Delightful), Agent Bash (Bashful) and the entire 007D team. 
 

And yes, Hildy and Grim get in on the action as they collaborate with "Shapeshifter."

"There's A Monkey In My Hat" 
Written by Deanna Oliver and directed by Alfred Gimeno.

When Squire Peckington goes on vacation to Toucancun,  Queen Delightful gets an alternate animal advisor in her hat -- a monkey named Nanners.  Soon, all the citizens of Jollywood want a monkey is their hats, leading to chaos complicated by Hildy Gloom masquerading as the monkey advisor in Queen D's crown.

Vote Grump!

Silver Anniversary: "Tiny Toon Adventures"

Greetings Toonsters!  

"Tiny Toon Adventures" premiered on Friday night, September 14, 1990 -- 25 years ago today!

It began its daily weekday run on the following Monday, September 17th.

Thanks to all who made "Tiny Toons" happen.  

There's a book in this adventure.  Until then, enjoy a few visual memories...

"Tiny Toon Adventures" pep rally, Warner Bros. lot, 1990.  

"Tiny Toon Adventures" at the Rose Bowl parade, 1992 (above).  And below, a pre-internet visit to the bizarre.   

  

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today: The Premier of "Pinky & the Brain"

That's "Pinky & the Brain" the primetime series, which premiered at 7pm on Sunday night, September 10, 1995 on The WB.  After their success on "Animaniacs," the two lab mice broke into primetime with their own show.  The title of the first episode:  "Das Mouse," written by Peter Hastings, directed by Liz Holzman and Al Zegler, produced by Peter, Rusty Mills, me and Mr. Spielberg, and starring the vocal performances of Rob Paulsen as Pinky and Maurice LaMarche as the Brain.  

And, now it's 20 years later, and since the world is not yet in the Brain's control, we must assume that Pinky & the Brain have spent the last 7305 nights attempting to take over the world -- without success.  

But there's always tomorrow night.

"Why, what are we going to do tomorrow night, Brain?"

"The same thing we do every night, Pinky -- try to take over the world." 

"They're dinky, they're Pinky & the Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain, Brain." 

"Narf" forever!    

"THE 7D" -- NEW EPISODE -- "THE ROCK OF SAGES" -- SATURDAY SEPT. 12, 2015

Greetings, fellow Cartoonatics!  

Tune in for "The Rock of Sages," an all new half-hour episode of THE 7D on Saturday morning, September 12 on DisneyXD.  You'll meet...

...The Seven Sages (one is missing, above) who hold the key to saving Jollywood from the Evil Lord Grudgemunger...

This wicked wizard seeks to control all the magic in the Universe, with the help of his unwitting allies...the Gloom!  

Will Hildy become the new Queen of Jollywood?  

Has Queen Delightful's rule come to an end?  

Can the secrets of The Singing Scroll (guest star Paul Shaffer) help our heroes save the kingdom?    

Can the 7D thwart Grudgemunger's forces of doom?  

I'm thinking "definitely."
  
Find out for yourselves -- Saturday, Sept. 12  on DisneyXD -- with the premiere of THE 7D's "Rock of Sages."   (Multiple airings continue through the week.)  

 

And check your TV schedule for THE 7D, airing every day of the week on DisneyXD starting in September!     

"THE 7D": The Voice Actors, Part 4

Here's Kevin Michael Ricardson (the voice of Happy) with The 7D series' casting director, Abigail (Abbie) D'Andrea.

Among other casting coups for the show, Abbie booked Jimmy Weldon, the voice of "Yakky Doodle" from The Yogi Bear Show (1961), to voice the role of Whoopty Doopty Schmoodily Duck in the upcoming 7D episode entitled "Bing Bong Beans."   Jimmy, pictured below, turned 90 last December and is going stronger than ever!

   

Abbie also brought in two of our very favorite voice stars to perform in various 7D episodes:  Tress MacNeille (Duck Tales, The Simpsons, Tiny Toons, Animaniacs) and Rob Paulsen (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Animaniacs, Pinky and the Brain).  

These are just a few of the great casting choices made by Abbie during the first season of  The 7D.  

"THE 7D": The Voice Actors, Part 1

The 7D cast back when we did the pilot a couple of years ago.  That's Sleepy (Stephen Stanton), Doc (Bill Farmer), Bashful (Billy West), Grumpy (Maurice LaMarche), Happy (Kevin Michael Richardson) and Sneezy (Scott Menville).  That's me in the middle crashing the lower photo.  For the series, Dee Bradley Baker joined the cast as Dopey.  (Dee is on the far right, below.)     

Scott Menville, Maurice LaMarche, Kevin Michael Richardson, Billy West, Stephen Stanton, Billy Farmer, Dee Bradley Baker

 

In front, on the left, that's the best voice director in the business, Kelly Ward.  We're lucky to have him directing The 7D.  That's Kevin Michael Richardson next to Kelly.  In back:  Dee Bradley Baker, Scott Menville, Billy West, Stephen Stanton and me.

Additional members of our cast will be featured in the next post. 

"The 7D" Premiere Date on Disney XD Has Been Set: 7/7/14

Tiny Toon Adventures on DVD: How I Spent My Vacation

Coming August 14, 2012, on DVD:  Tiny Toon Adventures' How I Spent My Vacation. 

Above:  On the left, the new artwork for the 2012 DVD cover.  To the right, the artwork on the VHS cover, when "How I Spent My Vacation" was first released in 1992 as the first direct-to-video original animated feature.  

Back then, the folks at Warner Bros. Home Entertainment were dedicated to the notion that short movie titles were the only way to go, so they insisted that we change our original title, "How I Spent My Summer Vacation," to the insignificantly shorter title that omitted the word "summer."   

These are the same marketing geniuses who demanded that we change the title of the Animaniacs direct-to-video feature from "It's a Wakko Wakko Wakko Wakko Wish" to "Wakko's  Wish."  

I much prefer our original titles on both.  

As for the cover art, new and old, above  --  what can I say?   It's like the current regime at Warner Bros. isn't even trying.    

"Animaniacs": The Goodfeathers

The Goodfeathers:  Pesto, Bobby and Squit.

The actors who provide the voices for Pesto, Bobby and Squit.  

Chick Vennera (Pesto), John Mariano (Bobby) and Maurice LaMarche (Squit). 

"HISTERIA!" Crew Photos -- #5

More photos from "Histeria!"

Here are some of the voice actors who starred on the show.  Among them:   Maurice LaMarche, Nora Dunn, Paul Rugg, and Jim Wickline.  Also, from the recording department, blue-eyed Leslie Lamers, Kelly Foley and Andrea Romano.  

Can you correctly name each crew member in the photo?  

"Tiny Toon Adventures" Quiz #2 Answers -- The Voice Actors

Back row:   Don Messick (Hamton), Candi Milo (Sweetie), Frank Welker (Furrball), Gail Matthias (Shirley the Loon).   

Middle Row:  Maurice LaMarche (Dizzy Devil), Charlie Adler (Buster Bunny), Danny Cooksey (Montana Max), Tress MacNeille (Babs Bunny), Joe Alaskey (Plucky Duck), Kath Soucie (Fifi LaFume).    

Front Row:  Andrea Romano (voice director), Cree Summer (Elmyra, Merry Melody), Tom Ruegger.