Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Welcome to another edition of Animation Bang. We’re in July and summer fever is running wild. Kids are relaxing while some are getting ready for college and others looking for work. Summer has always been a time for kids to go on adventures and brag about it to their friends when they return. Case in point, Tiny Toons. Hands down one of the greatest cartoons from the 90s. The Tiny Toons Adventures aired from 1990-1992. A spin-off of the famous Looney Tune characters, the whole show follows the next generation of cartoon characters learning to be looney. There were a number of characters from the show but hands down the most memorable were Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation unless you watched the reboot), Plucky Duck, Hampton Pig, Montana Max, Elmyra, Fifi Le Fume, Shirley the Loon, the list goes on. The show was a hit thanks to it’s great writing, funny jokes, and great use of characters. Even though the show only ran for three seasons and didn’t reach the same heights as the original Looney Tunes, people still remember the Tiny Toons and look back fondly on the show. At the height of it’s popularity the show released it’s first and only movie, How I Spent My Summer Vacation. Released in 1992 by Warner Bros. Animation and Amblin Entertainment the movie was intentionally released for home videos instead of the theaters by Spielberg who believed animated features are well-suited for repeated viewing at home and he was right. I remember as I kid I would rent the movie from my local Blockbuster and watched it multiple times with my friends. While I’m sure it could have worked in theaters, I think the home video format was the way to go. It became the first feature-length animated film made for the direct-to-video market released in the United States which shocked a lot of people. This concept was so strange that many thought the movie was a collection of episodes and not a movie at all. The movie was revolutionary and showed the industry that a cartoon could be successful in a full-length format without relying on movie theaters. Opening up the doors for other cartoon movies to be direct to video. In the end, the movie was a big hit. It was praised by everyone who watched it and today I’m here to give my thoughts on the movie. Grab a drink and get ready to be looney. This is Tiny Toons: How I Spent My Summer Vacation
Plot
So the movie opens up with the Tiny Toons in school. It’s the last day of school and summer is around the corner. Once the final bell rings everyone leaves to enjoy their summer. From there we get a series of multiple stories focusing on the Tiny Toons and how they spent their summer vacation. Buster and Babs get into a water gun fight which escalates so much that they wind up floating away from Acme Acres and going on an adventure which sees them tour the southern United States (may God have mercy on them). Plucky goes on a road trip with Hampton and his family to HappyWorldLand (a parody of Disney World). Elmyra visits a safari zoo, Shirley goes to the movies with Fowlmouth, and Fifi spends her summer with the skunk heartthrob Johnny Pew. Buster and Babs’s story is the main focus of the movie and the one we concentrate on the most. It has good moments, plenty of laughs, and parodies of Spielberg movies sprinkled in there. If I had to pick the weakest story it would be Fifi’s. It has the least amount of time out of all the stories and is predictable. Which would explain why it got the least amount of time. Shirly and Elmyra also suffer the same thing as Fifi’s story but at least they had funny moments in them that place them higher. Plucky’s story is hands down the funniest story of the bunch and the best in my opinion. I honestly think the movie could have just focused on this story and it would still be hilarious and great. If you’ve ever been on a road trip with your family before in your life then you’ll know all the pain Plucky is going through. Hampton and his family drive him crazy and they pick up an escaped psychopath who hates pork and duck (scenes here: https://youtu.be/r3x8VCpRIPs?si=ZoZrn8BFsAWl01Jg and https://youtu.be/il8NCDuuhmA?si=pbnn64qpmRV5szkd). When they finally do reach HappyWorldLand it gives us honestly the biggest laugh in the entire movie that I won’t spoil here. It’s just way too funny. The movie wraps up with summer ending and the new school year starting.
Final Thoughts
This movie, still holds up to this day. While it does help to watch a few episodes from the cartoon, you can still go into this movie blind and get the same amount of enjoyment and laughs out of it if you were a fan of the show. We get some good music numbers and the animation does have moments where it shines and looks beautiful. While some stories could have been done better a majority of them are funny, use the characters well, and fit within the show. Many people thought this was a series finale, but no it serves as the bridge between seasons 2 and 3.
Final Score
The final score for How I Spent My Summer Vacation is a 7.5/10. It still remains one of my favorite animated movies outside of Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, and Ghibli. If you haven’t seen it yet, track it down and watch it. You’ll thank me later. It’s good 90s nostalgia. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.