Will admit to not being a sports fanatic, while active in walking (or at least the amount that my back allows) football and rugby don't really do it for me. Animation though has often done cartoons and episodes of animated shows based around some kind of sport, and there are some great ones out there of most sport activities. Where there is energy, the humour is funny and when they capture the spirit of the sport in question, though they are things not always seen.
"The Wacko World of Sports" is another segment-structured 'Tiny Toon Adventures' episode, something that 'Tiny Toon Adventures' did frequently and mostly very well though some episodes were uneven. Made up of three segments, "The Wacko World of Sports" includes three sport activities. Tennis in "Tennis the Menace", baseball in "Bleacher Bummer" and miniature golf in "Miniature Goof". To me it was an example of an uneven episode, with two great segments and one reasonably average one, but an entertaining one.
Found "Bleacher Bummer" to be the weakest segment. It is cute and amusing, there are clever moments like with the rival team, it's nicely animated and voiced and the rival team are well characterised. It is the segment though to be the least successful in the sharp wit and wackiness departments and the other two captured the spirit of their sports better and had more conflict.
Have seen more exciting and more inspired depictions of baseball in animation and the characters are more compelling in the other two segments. Furrball is an acquired taste and has always been a little mixed to me, inoffensive and likeable but on the bland side, and Dizzy works better partnered with a stronger character which didn't quite happen enough.
Luckily "Tennis the Menace" and "Miniature Goof" fare much better. The segment to be the most faithful to their sport and be the most exciting and daring is "Tennis the Menace", which did have the most convincing conflict and had a lot of clever moments. Buster, enormously compelling as ever, and Montana Max, growing on me all the time with each re-watch of every episode, are well paired.
It is "Miniature Goof" though that is my favourite, managing to make a potentially dull sport depending on how it's played continually interesting. In the writing, it is the wittiest, sharpest and wackiest, which makes it the segment that is most faithful to what the show is about, the biggest reason for its success. Also, Buster and Babs are two of 'Tiny Toon Adventures' best characters, the funniest and more consistently characterised, and they are on top form, their conflict with Roderick and Rhubella delighting.
Animation in all three segments is colourful and beautifully detailed, primarily "Miniature Goof" which was the cleverest in terms of expressions and how the characters reacted to things and each other. The music is characterful and infectious, the theme tune stays in the head all day without being a grating ear-worm. The writing is mostly great, underwhelming slightly only in "Bleacher Bummer", as is the energy. The voice cast contain some of the best and deservedly prolific people in the business, all on top form.
Overall, uneven but definitely worth watching and great most of the time. If only one segment was up to the standard of the others. 7/10
"The Wacko World of Sports" is another segment-structured 'Tiny Toon Adventures' episode, something that 'Tiny Toon Adventures' did frequently and mostly very well though some episodes were uneven. Made up of three segments, "The Wacko World of Sports" includes three sport activities. Tennis in "Tennis the Menace", baseball in "Bleacher Bummer" and miniature golf in "Miniature Goof". To me it was an example of an uneven episode, with two great segments and one reasonably average one, but an entertaining one.
Found "Bleacher Bummer" to be the weakest segment. It is cute and amusing, there are clever moments like with the rival team, it's nicely animated and voiced and the rival team are well characterised. It is the segment though to be the least successful in the sharp wit and wackiness departments and the other two captured the spirit of their sports better and had more conflict.
Have seen more exciting and more inspired depictions of baseball in animation and the characters are more compelling in the other two segments. Furrball is an acquired taste and has always been a little mixed to me, inoffensive and likeable but on the bland side, and Dizzy works better partnered with a stronger character which didn't quite happen enough.
Luckily "Tennis the Menace" and "Miniature Goof" fare much better. The segment to be the most faithful to their sport and be the most exciting and daring is "Tennis the Menace", which did have the most convincing conflict and had a lot of clever moments. Buster, enormously compelling as ever, and Montana Max, growing on me all the time with each re-watch of every episode, are well paired.
It is "Miniature Goof" though that is my favourite, managing to make a potentially dull sport depending on how it's played continually interesting. In the writing, it is the wittiest, sharpest and wackiest, which makes it the segment that is most faithful to what the show is about, the biggest reason for its success. Also, Buster and Babs are two of 'Tiny Toon Adventures' best characters, the funniest and more consistently characterised, and they are on top form, their conflict with Roderick and Rhubella delighting.
Animation in all three segments is colourful and beautifully detailed, primarily "Miniature Goof" which was the cleverest in terms of expressions and how the characters reacted to things and each other. The music is characterful and infectious, the theme tune stays in the head all day without being a grating ear-worm. The writing is mostly great, underwhelming slightly only in "Bleacher Bummer", as is the energy. The voice cast contain some of the best and deservedly prolific people in the business, all on top form.
Overall, uneven but definitely worth watching and great most of the time. If only one segment was up to the standard of the others. 7/10
