Test Stress is the fourth episode of Tiny Toon Adventures.
Segments[]
Never Too Late to Loon[]
Gogo appears from the clock in the Acme Looniversity clock tower to alert the students that a new day of school is about to start, bellowing out, "Cuckoo, cuckoo!" Buster, who is still in his pajamas, peeks out of his rabbit hole and realizes he overslept. He greets the "Toonsters" and hops back into the hole, then immediately comes out, now wearing his red shirt, with a balloon that takes him into the air. The balloon carries him up into space, where a space shuttle goes by and runs into the balloon's string, propelling Buster closer to school. He jumps on an asteroid heading in the direction of Acme Looniversity, and as he gets closer to his destination, he bolts off of it. He crashes through the window into an open locker door, startling Shirley and Plucky nearby. The dazed blue bunny, now with the busted locker door stuck to him, states, "I got to start setting my alarm," and then instantly collapses.
Later that day at school, Plucky is reading the school newspaper, The Acme Exaggerator, with the front page being headlined with "Students Panic! Midterms at Acme Loo." Buster walks by, carrying several thick schoolbooks and slams them down in front of Plucky, asking him if he is ready for the big test. Plucky is shocked and wants to know what test he is talking about, as Buster answers that it is a test on cartoon math, also giving examples, such as "weight rations of falling anvils," which appear over Plucky and fall on his head. Plucky feels he is doomed, but when he hears Shirley chanting, meditating and levitated in the air, he comes up with an idea, fixes his "hair" and approaches her with a favor. She already knows that Plucky wants her to help him cheat on his test and she refuses before he can even ask, as the egotistical mallard responds, "That's what I get for asking a mind reader."
Plucky doesn't give up, as he pleads with her to channel Einstein, Newton, or some other genius into his head so he can pass, but she denies him, remembering a week ago when he called channeling "new-age nonsense." Plucky continues to beg, clinging on to her shoulders as she tries to float away from him. Her aura comes out and tosses Plucky to the floor, slams him around and throws him into the trashcan. The beaten, but determined green duck refuses to give up.
Meanwhile, in the lunchroom where Little Beeper and other students are enjoying lunch, Shirley sits peacefully eating her food, a purple goo-like substance, by using telekinesis on the fork to feed it to her. Buster approaches her and wonders what today's "mystery meal" is, as she responds that it requires telekinetic communication by "molding with the meal," sticking her hands into it. She feels around and answers with "poultry," as she pulls out Plucky, causing her to lose her appetite. He dashes away and back quickly, now dressed in a tuxedo and a rose for Shirley. He pulls down a new backdrop, a nighttime setting similar to Lady and the Tramp, with music and Plucky speaking to her with an Italian accent, and asks her again to channel Einstein for him. She gets near his ear and angrily yells, "Like, bug totally off, man!," then takes off across the United States, as it shows a trail of her traveling on a map that reveals Acme Acres to be in Missouri.
Shirley ends up far south in Florida on a beach, relaxing in a bikini and reading a book, but Plucky suddenly pops his head out of the book and pleads with her some more. She slams the book closed and tosses it away. She then travels to the North Pole, where she is dressed in a coat and ice fishing near an igloo. She pulls out a large fish from the hole and is pleased with her catch, but the persistent Plucky comes out of the fish and she flees away from him. Back at school, an exhausted Shirley can not get a moment's rest, as Plucky suddenly approaches, begging her to help him. She finally gives in and decides to do it, if only for the reason to get him to leave her alone.
Plucky is overwhelmed with joy, kissing her feet and hopping up and down. Shirley chants, "I call upon the spirit world to answer my refrain, channel the genius of Einstein into this duck's pea-brain," as Plucky is sent through a hallucination, with multiple Einsteins that he dances with, fights with, and gets run over by, finally transforming him into an Einstein version of himself, having a much larger head, wily silver hair, black eyebrows and wearing a red jacket. The new and smarter Plucky begins speaking more intellectually and confusingly to Shirley, with a voice parodying Albert Einstein as well. She responds, "Geek me out." The bell rings, indicating to Plucky that it's test time, and he heads to his class. His head cannot fit through the door, as he has to force it inside with all his might. It sends him bouncing off his head into his seat next to Beeper and Monty, drawing laughs from them, as the teacher hands him his test.
Later, Shirley and Fifi are relaxing outside of Acme Looniversity under a tree, as they hear someone complaining nearby. Shirley wants to know who is invading her space and notices it's Plucky, still looking and speaking similar to Einstein, who is inside the school in a corner near an open window, wearing a dunce cap on his head. Shirley asks what he is still doing there, as school is over, and Plucky replies that he is in detention and it is all her fault. She is shocked that he blames her and responds, "My fault?," as he answers, "Yeah, you told me I had Einstein's genius, but I still failed the math test." Shirley chuckles and informs him that he does have Einstein's genius, but that she had forgot to tell him that when Einstein was a child, he flunked math too. Plucky feels that he has been "snookered" and collapses.
Lil' Sneezer[]
Buster tells the viewers that everyone in Acme Loo has to take tests, even Furrball has to make the grade with his mentor, Sylvester. The famous Looney Tunes feline is with Furrball at Acme Looniversity at the Hall of Cartoon Pussycats, explaining to him about the great stars of feline comedy, which are enshrined around the cat museum. He shows Furrball a giant golden statue of himself and believes Furrball has "similar aspirations to greatness." He wants to give Furrball a test worthy of the cartoon cats, as he holds up an umbrella and wears goggles with mini-wipers on them to block Sylvester's spittle. His idea is for Furrball to capture a mouse, or better yet, a mouse sandwich, as Sylvester hasn't eaten his lunch yet, promising him a spot in the Hall of Cartoon Pussycats if he succeeds.
Furrball searches a trash-infested alley, but with no luck. Disappointed, he overhears someone speaking above him from inside a building. He hears an Acme Employment Agent speaking to a Mrs. Mouse about sending the next available babysitter over to her home, 14 and 1/2 Mousehole Lane. Furrball is excited and writes the address down. He rushes over to the address, an apartment which is much smaller than the other apartments in the complex, equipped with a tiny door, tiny windows and flower boutiques, disguising himself in a wig and a dress to fool Sneezer's parents into believing he is the babysitter. Mrs. Mouse tells the "babysitter" that their son is taking a nap and there shouldn't be any trouble at all, as they are leaving to see a movie. On the way out, Mr. Mouse remarks to Mrs. Mouse that Furrball is the biggest babysitter that he had ever seen.
Furrball enters into their child's room, sadistically laughing as he lifts the blanket off of the sleeping child. It is revealed to be Li'l Sneezer, who Furrball thinks is adorable. He then remembers Sylvester's words about bringing back a mouse and quickly grabs Sneezer. Furrball keeps a firm grasp on Sneezer as the mouse begins chattering away, believing him also to be the babysitter. Sneezer then lets out a powerful sneeze, sending Furrball flying away into a dresser. Sneezer lands back in his crib and wipes his nose, saying that he has a little cold and giggling. The talkative mouse then wants to play dress-up with Furrball, dressing his face, which is sticking out of the dresser drawers, with a baby's outfit. An infuriated Furrball remembers Sylvester wanting him to make it a "mouse sandwich" instead, so Furrball begins to make a sandwich with Sneezer inside.
Sneezer, carefree and unworried, chats away endlessly to Furrball, whom he calls "babysitter mam," as the hungry cat adds toppings to the "mouse sandwich." Furrball stuffs a green olive in his mouth, as Sneezer continues to talk in a muffled voice, which triggers another hurricane-forced sneeze from him, sending Furrball into the refrigerator. Sneezer tells Furrball, still disguised as the babysitter now covered with food and an ice tray coming out of his mouth, that he is allergic to olives. Furrball quickly cleans himself off and chases the mouse around the house, as Sneezer believes it to a game of tag. He runs into a closet and shuts the door, as Furrball laughs and thinks that he is trapped. He is about to open the door until Sneezer starts speaking about a lot of dust in the closet, so the cat grabs some boards and nails and hammers up the door tight.
Sneezer is about to sneeze again as the frightened cat plugs the keyhole with his finger. He sneezes through Furrball's finger, filling him with all the stuff from the closet. Furrball spits all of it out and angrily rips through the boarded-up door. Sneezer pops out in a space outfit and throws an alien mask on top of Furrball's head, wanting to play "spacemouse and mutant alien," explaining that the alien chases the mouse and if he catches him, he gets to "cook him up and eat him." Furrball sounds pleased with the idea, and begins chasing Sneezer around the house and under the rug, making "alien sounds" the whole time. Sneezer places a piano on the other side of the rug, as Furrball emerges from underneath and plows head-first into it, leaving his mouth full of piano keys, which Sneezer plays quickly on. Furrball spits them out and grabs Sneezer, quickly tossing him into his mouth and eating him.
Inside Furrball's stomach, Sneezer wonders where he is and believes he spots a half-eaten anchovie, which he says he is allergic to as he lets out a powerful sneeze. It sends Furrball flying around the room as Sneezer remembers that the last time he sneezed this much was when he was around a cat, as he is allergic to cats most of all. He sneezes again, sending Furrball crashing into the wall and releasing Sneezer from his stomach. Sneezer believes that the "babysitter mam" looks sad so he has an idea that will cheer "her" up, which is a fresh bouquet of goldenrods. The pollen from the flowers causes Sneezer to begin to sneeze and a panicked Furrball to scratch and bust through the wall. He flees back to the Looniversity, losing his disguise, as Sneezer's sneeze actually ends up being a quick non-lethal regular sneeze.
Furrball rushes into the Hall of Cartoon Pussycats and hides behind the golden statue of Sylvester, as the real Sylvester confronts him and is ashamed that Furrball did not catch anything. Furrball shakes his head that he actually did catch something, which Sylvester is curious about. Furrball then lets out a violent sneeze similar to Sneezer's, sending Sylvester crashing into his own statue, causing it to crumble into pieces and Sylvester to lose all of his hair. Sylvester looks at Furrball in a daze and responds "Gesundheit."
To Bleep or Not to Bleep[]
Buster says that not every test in Acme Looniversity is academic. Such examples include the test of speed, which he demonstrates by running across the hall, the taste test, which he shows Dizzy Devil devouring his schoolbooks in a classroom, and the test of true love, where he enters the cafeteria and introduces a love-struck young rooster, Fowlmouth. Buster explains that Fowlmouth has been mooning over Shirley for weeks, and that he would love to ask her out to the school dance on Saturday, but he has one little problem.
Fowlmouth is trying to open a carton of milk by squeezing it, as he is too lovestruck to pay attention, causing the milk to burst open and get all over him and his food. He goes into a cursing fit, as his shocking and explicit nature scares the sausages to literally flee away from the kitchen and the cafeteria worker, a large, hairy, tattooed man smoking a cigarette while preparing food, to faint. During his raging, he burps, which causes him to become quite embarrassed and to stop cursing, and says, "Pardon me." Buster asides, "Fowlmouth swears so much is beak has been declared a toxic waste dump."
A gloomy Fowlmouth tells Buster, cursing nearly every other word, that after the mess of things he made, Shirley will never go out with him. Buster tells him that he has to "clean up his mouth" first, as a desperate Fowlmouth feels he just has to ask her to the dance on Saturday. Fowlmouth notices Shirley floating out of the cafeteria in her meditative state and follows after her. He yells to Shirley to wait up and dashes up to her, as she stops and greets him. Fowlmouth tries asking her out by using the "I'm a guy, you're a girl" routine, but curses several times in doing so. Shirley is shocked and faints, as her aura screams, puts a "For Sale" sign next to her body and flees. Shirley wakes up and looks directly at Fowlmouth, then screams and flees, mimicking her aura.
Fowlmouth grabs ahold of Buster's shirt and stands on his stomach, begging for his help, so Buster knocks him off with his foot and responds, "That's my weak spot...Vulnerable poultry." Buster tells Fowlmouth that he does not stand a chance until he cures his swearing habit, and then he takes him to some sort of chemistry room. He has Fowlmouth strapped into a chair with a metal helmet over his head, introducing him to the "Acme Behavior Modification System," a robot that can cure bad habits by someone pressing different levers or buttons that cause harm to the one strapped in the chair when they perform one of their nasty habits. When Fowlmouth curses, Buster pulls up or down on a lever or presses a button, as each time sometime different happens to Fowlmouth. He is hit with a pie to the face, sprayed with water, has a metal plate drilled over his mouth, which bursts with more swearing, and flattened by a mallet, but none of this has an effect on his cursing. The machine overloads, and as Fowlmouth yells, "With that and a cherry on top," it explodes into many pieces. A frazzled Buster, with his shirt and gloves ripped apart, shrugs and responds, "That's funny, it worked on nail biters."
Later, Buster is walking through the Acme Park, as Fowlmouth follows behind him, crawling on his knees and still pleading for help. Buster refuses and believes him to be hopeless, but as they approach a sandbox with three babies playing in it, Fowlmouth begs without saying one curse word, replacing them with words such as "golly", "gosh" and "for heaven's sake". Buster is stunned, but also overjoyed, as he lifts up Fowlmouth and exclaims, "F.M. You just said three whole sentences without swearing!" Fowlmouth points to the babies behind him and responds, "Sure, there's little kids here, ya know. What, do you think I'm crude or something?"
Buster feels this is the cure for Fowlmouth, but will need to tag along and help him if he wants to go on that date with Shirley. They hide in some shrubbery near a tree, as a levitated Shirley is nearby, meditating and chanting, "Ooommm...Or some Junk. Oooommm." Buster kicks Fowlmouth out of the bush and next to Shirley, but as he greets her, she floats away, calling him "Mr. bad karma with feathers." He begins to get mad and curse, but Buster holds out a baby from the bush, so he pulls Shirley back over to him. He calmly tells her that he realized he did not make the best of impressions on her earlier and to allow him to make it up to her by escorting her home. She is hesitant because of his cursing, but Fowlmouth reassures her that he will not curse and that she has his word. He extends his arm to her and she takes it, as they begin walking side by side to her house, with Buster secretly tagging along, carrying the three babies form the sandbox.
Fowlmouth and Shirley approach a ferocious-looking bulldog along their path, as Shirley suggests they just go around because she is getting hostile vibrations from the dog. Fowlmouth believes the dog to be a gentle canine and that he wouldn't hurt a fly, as he walk over to the dog and starts to pat his head. The bulldog opens his large mouth, revealing razor-sharp teeth, and bites down hard on Fowlmouth's hand. Fowlmouth is about to curse at the bulldog, but Buster pulls the dog away into a trashcan and pushes him back out, having quickly dressed him in baby's clothing and putting a pacifier in his mouth, causing Fowlmouth to calm down. Fowlmouth continues where he left off, escorting Shirley to her house, but as they walk away, he pulls the pacifier from the bulldog's mouth, causing the dog to burst into a tantrum.
Fowlmouth successfully escorts Shirley home, and she thanks him for proving her wrong and tells him that he is "a totally way cool dude." Fowlmouth is now optimistic and responds, "Does this mean you'll go to the dance with me Saturday? I hope, I hope, I hope." Buster is nearby, up in a tree with the three babies, as he believes Shirley will say "yes." She call him "sweet" and caresses the bottom of his beak, causing him to float in the air with love hearts coming out of him, but she informs him that she already promised to go with Plucky. She tells him to call her sometime and goes into her house, as Fowlmouth becomes boiling mad.
Buster tries to console Fowlmouth, mentioning that he can carry on a conversation without swearing once, but Fowlmouth is far too upset, as his face turns red then blue from trying to hold his temper in. Fowlmouth is about to lose his steam, scaring the babies and sending them running away, but instead, he calms down and says, "Rats. Oh Well, maybe next time." He thanks Buster for the help anyways and calmly walks away, not spouting out any swear words and revealing to Buster that he is fully cured of his cursing habit. Buster then lets out an explicit word, as suddenly the habit-breaking machine appears and takes Buster away. The machine performs the same harsh treatment that Fowlmouth received from it, but Buster curses the entire time as well.
Allusions[]
- The title of the first segment, "Never Too Late to Loon", is a play on the saying "never too late to learn."
- In "Never too Late to Loon", as Shirley as relaxing at the beach in Florida, the calypso music that plays in the background is similar to the musical number "Under the Sea" from the 1989 Disney film The Little Mermaid.
- In "Never too Late to Loon", Plucky's Einstein hallucination is a parody of the "Pink Elephants on Parade" scene from the 1941 Disney film Dumbo.
- In "Li'l Sneezer", Sylvester mentions parodies of famous cartoon cats, such as Tom Injury (Tom and Jerry), Garfunkel (Garfield), and Helix (Felix).
- In "Li'l Sneezer", when Furrball dresses Li'l Sneezer as a sandwich, Sneezer mentions he that saw the 1939 movie The Wizard of Oz and was afraid of the Wicked Witch of the West.
- "To Bleep or Not to Bleep"'s title is a play on William Shakespeare's Hamlet soliloquy, "To be or not to be."
- The scene of Shirley casting her spell resembles the "Night on Bald Mountain" sequence from the 1940 Disney film Fantasia.
Trivia[]
- Babs Bunny is completely absent.
- In "Never Too Late To Loon", Acme Acres is in Missouri. In later episodes, such as the "Furrball Follies" segment "Cross-Country Kitty", it is in California.
- Fifi is listed in Kath Soucie's voice credit instead of Sneezer, and although Fifi appears in "Never Too Late to Loon", she doesn't speak, whereas Sneezer speaks all throughout "Li'l Sneezer".
- Gogo's "cuckoo" is provided by Charlie Adler instead of Frank Welker, the only time Welker doesn't perform Gogo's voice. Welker is, however, performing and credited for Furrball in the second short.
- On the Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1, Vol. 1 DVD, the title card for "Li'l Sneezer" is slightly cut off.
- "Greg Burson", the voice of Elmer Fudd, is misspelled "B-U-R-S-O-H" in the end credits; Kath Soucie's last name is also missing an "E" at the end.
- Plucky's "du lieber" is German for "you dear", an exclamation meaning "my goodness".
- Shirley says that Einstein flunked math. This is only a myth. There is no evidence he ever failed any math test. According to the Washington Post, Einstein actually excelled in math. Though, he apparently had such big feet that he had to go sockless.
- Although Tokyo Movie Shinsha was credited with animation services, TMS actually outsourced the animation production on this episode to Mook DLE, albeit uncredited. Mook would later work with Warner Bros. Animation again on the first four Scooby-Doo direct-to-video movies.
Cast[]
|
Voice Actors: |
Character(s): |
| Buster Bunny, Gogo Dodo | |
| Joe Alaskey | Plucky Duck, Sylvester the Cat, Bulldog |
| Gail Matthius | Shirley the Loon |
| Kath Soucie | Fifi La Fume, Li'l Sneezer, Sneezer's Mom, Acme Employment Agent |
| Frank Welker | Furrball, Cook |
| Rob Paulsen | Fowlmouth, Sneezer's Dad |
| Greg Burson | Elmer Fudd |
| Maurice LaMarche | Dizzy Devil |
Quotes[]
- Shirley the Loon: "Ohm, what a loon I am... Ohm, what a loon I am..."
- Sneezer's Dad (after seeing Furrball dressed as a babysitter): "Eh, biggest babysitter I've ever seen."
- Li'l Sneezer: "Gee, I never dressed up as a sand-a-wich before. This is fun, don't you think? Hey, I wonder why they call them sand-a-wiches? There's no sand in them. Maybe a witch invented them. I'm a-scared of witches. I saw The Wizard of Oz and I cried and I cried and I cried all night. Waaah..." (Furrball plugs his mouth with an olive)
- Fowlmouth: "Aw, dad-gummit, I spilled (bleeped explicit) milk all over my (bleeped explicit) feathers. I mean, if I had a nickel for every (bleeped explicit) time I spilled something on my clothes, I'd be a rich (bleeped explicit) guy. I don't believe it. I got (bleeped explicit) lunch all soggy and...(burps) Pardon me."
- Buster: "That's my weak spot; vulnerable poultry."
- Buster: "Golly...Gosh...Buster?! F.M.! You just said three whole sentences without swearing!"
Fowlmouth: "Sure, there's little kids here, you know. What, do you think I'm crude or something?"
Transcript[]
To read this episode's transcript, click here.
Gallery[]
- Main article: Test Stress/Gallery
Availability[]
