Recap / Tiny Toon Adventures S 1 E 22 Citizen Max

The twenty-second episode of Tiny Toon Adventures.

The episode begins at Montana Max's mansion, as Monty throws a tantrum and destroys his expensive possessions. He yells, "ACME!", and Hamton, who is working as a news reporter, overhears.

ACME Looniversity's Eye Witless News program airs, with a report describing Montana Max's expulsion from the Looniversity, following the student body president election, and the origin of his family fortune, ending with Monty's mysterious last word, "ACME!". Hamton and the Frog Announcer both enjoy the end results of the news report, but Shirley is confused as to why Monty said, "ACME!". Even though none of them quite know what ACME means, Shirley tells Hamton that their news story won't be finished until they find out. She tells Hamton to ask Monty's friends and enemies what ACME means, as hopefully, somebody will know. Hamton tells her he will, but asks her if they're done with a finger-shadow routine, as his hands are exhausted.

Hamton goes to the ACME Acres Country Club, where he interviews Buster Bunny, who asks him if he has a carrot, which Hamton doesn't. Buster asks Hamton if he really wants to know what ACME means, and Hamton tells him Yes. Buster thinks for a minute, and despite being surrounded by ACME merchandise, he can't think of a reason. Hamton tells Buster that he and Monty have known each other for a long time, and that maybe ACME is something from Monty's past. Buster tells Hamton that he and Monty were once bestfriends, and in those days, they were very poor.

Buster begins his flashback, wherein he and Monty ride Monty's ACME bicycle through the snow. Monty tells Buster that he bought a whole stick of chewing gum with the money he saved up for weeks, and he will split it with him. Buster is thankful for Monty's friendly hospitality, and tells him never to change. Monty invites Buster into his old house, which is a cardboard box, for supper, as he found an old boot that his Mother can make soup in. Just then, Monty's parents arrive in a limo, telling Monty that they've won the lottery, and are rich now. Monty asks his Mother what will happen to Buster and his old bicycle, and she tells him, "You don't need that trash anymore!". Monty leaves Buster, who asks him if dinner is cancelled. Monty tosses the old boot at Buster, who is relieved that Monty still thought of him.

As Buster continues his flashback, he tells Hamton that he thought Monty would be his best friend forever, but when the school election came, he had changed, and vowed to rid ACME Looniversity of him if elected Student Body President. Monty drops an anvil on Buster, whose feelings are hurt as much as his body. As Buster's flashback ends, Hamton, who is surrounded by ACME merchandise, tells Buster he still doesn't know what ACME means. As Buster puts on a pair of ACME sunglasses, he tells Hamton that ACME must have something to do with the election, and to ask Plucky Duck, who was his campaign manager. Plucky interrupts to tell the viewers that Hamton will after a commercial break.

In the second act, as an ACME Repo truck is parked outside ACME Looniversity, Pete Puma cleans up the decorations from the school election. As various Repo Men load items into their truck, Hamton interviews Plucky at a desk, telling him he was Monty's campaign manager during the election. Plucky tells Hamton that it was a disgusting job, but somebody had to do it. Hamton asks Plucky if he knows what Monty meant when he said, "ACME!", and Plucky tells Hamton that only somebody as evil as Monty would say that. Hamton asks Plucky if that means he knows what ACME means, but Plucky tells him he doesn't have a clue. Plucky then begins his flashback of his first day as Monty's campaign manager.

In Plucky's flashback, Monty pays Plucky to be obedient and loyal to him, as well as like him. As Plucky puts the money Monty pays him in his beak, Monty tells Plucky that he's going to help him win the election against Buster. Both Plucky and Monty look out the window and see Buster making a speech to the students of ACME Looniversity. Monty tells Plucky that everybody likes Buster, and Plucky tells him that all they need to do is make everybody like him. Plucky then tells Monty that to feel presidential, he has to look presidential, and dresses him like Abraham Lincoln. Plucky then plays a bass drum for Monty, but accidentally knocks him out the window. Plucky rushes down the stairs and outside to catch Monty, but accidentally misses. Monty is angry at Plucky for failing to catch him, then looks at the School TV Station. He decides to buy it so that he will have total control over the media. As he broadcasts throughout ACME Looniversity, he pays the students to vote for him.

Unfortunately for Monty, his broacast was a flop, and he challenges Buster to a debate. Monty then removes his glove and slaps Buster with it, and Buster retaliates by removing his glove and slapping Monty with it. Buster's glove packs a punch against Monty, thanks to it having three horseshoes and a horse inside it.

During the debate, Monty tries to create a scandal by sabotating the food in the school cafeteria. Plucky sabotages the tomatoes with sticks of dynamite, calling it "Tomato Surprise". Dizzy eats one, and it explodes in his stomach. He finds it delicious, and calls the other students over to eat it, which they do. Buster then gives Monty a tomato surprise, which explodes in his face, covering him in tomato juice.

No matter what Monty tries, he is still losing to Buster in the polls. He then calls Plucky over and asks him why he's losing. He then suddenly comes up with an idea to get rid of Buster for good.

Monty appears in an episode of 60 Seconds, wherein he tells the viewers that Buster is a cheater. In the footage he shows, Monty is disguised as a news reporter, and asks him what his opinon is on students who cheat on tests. Buster tells him that, "Cheaters should be tarred, feathered, and kicked out of school". Monty then takes Buster's hat from him and pulls out a book titled, "STOLEN TEST ANSWERS". Buster is surprised, but doesn't know he has been framed. As a result, he has been wrongfully expelled, tarred, and feathered by the Looney Tunes faculty. With Monty about to win the school election by foul means, being able to win by default since Buster was removed from the running with his expulsion, Buster vows that he will get back at him somehow.

As Plucky's flashback ends, he and Hamton are still sitting in the chairs that are now being carried away by the Repo Men. Hamton asks Plucky what Monty meant when he said, "ACME!". Before Plucky can answer, he and Hamton are tossed into a dumpster. Plucky then tells Hamton that the only person who can answer that question is Elmyra, Monty's girlfriend.

In the third act, Hamton goes to Elmyra's house to interview Elmyra. Unfortunately, Elmyra is paying more attention to hugging Furrball (who is trying to escape from her grasp) than to Hamton's questions. Hamton tells Elmyra that Monty said, "ACME!" after the election, and asks her why he said it. Elmyra tells Hamton she doesn't know, but ACME sounds like a cute word, a word that's as cute as Buster is. She then tells Hamton that Monty was very mean to Buster during the election.

During Elmyra's flashback, Buster runs for his life, swings on a vine, and travels on a speedboat and a car, until he comes across Babs and begs her for her help. Babs asks Buster if she can help him clear his name, get back into school, or win the election, but Buster tells her he needs her help to hide from Elmyra. Elmyra chases after Buster, wanting to cuddle him in his time of need. Babs takes Buster underground, and Elmyra looks for Buster, but can't find him, and it makes her feel sad.

As Elmyra ends her flashback, she tells Hamton that she felt happy again after she found him and Furrball. Hamton then asks Elmyra what ACME means, and Elmyra tells him she doesn't know. Hamton asks Elmyra that he thought she was Monty's girlfriend. She asks him, "I am?", which makes him scream and lose whatever sanity he has left.

At the ACME Harbor, Hamton goes crazy trying to figure out what ACME means. He passes by Buster and Babs, the latter of whom tells him to calm down, as she and Buster might be able to help him. Hamton asks her if they can, and Babs begins her flashback.

In her flashback, Babs tells Hamton that after she and Buster escaped from Elmyra, they burrowed into an underground parking lot. Buster is relieved to be away from Elmyra, but Babs tells him that his real troubles won't be over until he proves that Monty framed him. Plucky, who is in a trenchcoat, appears and tells Buster and Babs to call him, "Deep Quack". He then tells them that he has video evidence that proves that Monty framed Buster, and feels like a dope for working for Monty.

Plucky leads Buster and Babs to the school TV station, and replays the footage of Monty pulling the book of stolen test answers out of Buster's hat. He then slows down the footage to reveal that Monty broke through the hat and pulled the book out of his own coat pocket. Buster finds out the truth, and decides to hoist Monty by his own petard.

That evening, it seems as if victory is Monty's, as the students of ACME Looniversity all cheer for him as he prepares to make his inaugural acceptance speech. Just then, Buster and Babs, disguised as Suzy Slimeball and J. Pondscum Backstab, respectively, congratulate Monty on getting rid of Buster, and ask him how he did it. Plucky acts as a hidden cameraman and films Monty, who tells Buster and Babs that he framed Buster for the stolen test answers by planting them on him. Since this is shown on live TV, the students of ACME Looniversity are shocked when they hear this, and realize that Monty had gotten Buster wrongfully expelled for his own personal gain. After Buster and Babs leave, Plucky sends Monty out front for his speech. Monty tries to begin his speech, when the students of ACME Looniversity turn against him and toss tomatoes at him, including the tomato surprises Plucky sabotaged earlier. Thus, Buster wins the election by default and is readmitted to the school with a full apology from the faculty for falling for Monty's trick, and Monty is expelled from ACME Looniversity as punishment for his actions, never to be readmitted again.

As Babs' flashback ends, an ACME Garbage truck stops outside Monty's old home, the carboard box. As the garbage men load the garbage near it into their truck, Hamton is still confused as to what Monty meant when he said, "ACME!". Buster tells Hamton that as a rich kid, Monty could buy whatever he wanted, and that maybe ACME was something he couldn't buy, like friendship. As Buster says this, a garbageman loads Monty's old bicycle with the ACME logo on it into his garbage truck. Monty overhears this, and tells Buster, Babs, and Hamton that he never actually said, "ACME!". He actually said, "ACNE!", and shows them an outbreak of pimples on his face. Hamton says, "Now he tells me!" and faints.

This episode provides examples of:

• Anvil on Head: Buster becomes a victim of this when Monty makes a speech vowing to rid ACME Looniversity of him in a flashback.
• Bribing Your Way to Victory: Monty does this as part of his plan to win the school election against Buster.
• The Cameo: Michigan J. Frog appears in silhouette after the news report in the first act.
• Cardboard Box Home: In a flashback, Monty used to live in one before his family won the lottery.
• Clear My Name: When Monty frames Buster for cheating and gets him wrongfully expelled from ACME Looniversity, Plucky helps Buster and Babs clear Buster's name by showing them his video evidence, prompting them into tricking Monty to confess.
• Credits Gag: Model for Babs' Feet - Kathryn Yelsa.
• Disguised in Drag: Buster and Babs disguise themselves as Suzy Slimeball and J. Pondscum Backstab to trick Monty into confessing that he framed Buster for the stolen test answers.
• Eat the Bomb: When Dizzy eats one of Plucky's Tomato Surprises, it explodes in his stomach. Dizzy's endorsement of the foodstuff causes most of the student body to go to the cafeteria to eat Tomato Surprises.
• Eating Shoes: A flashback shows a then-poor Monty and Buster talking about eating a shoe.
• Engineered Public Confession: Buster and Babs disguise themselves as Suzy Slimeball and J. Pondscum Backstab to interview Monty, with Plucky acting as a hidden cameraman to get him to confess that he framed Buster for the stolen test answers.
• Former Friend of Alpha Bitch: In a flashback, Buster and Monty used to be friends when they were both poor.
• Heel–Face Revolving Door: Monty pays Plucky to help him win the school election against Buster. After Buster was wrongfully expelled from ACME Looniversity, Plucky later poses as "Deep Quack" to prove to Buster and Babs that Monty framed the former and helps them expose Monty for the fraud that he is.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: Monty ends up getting expelled from the Looniversity thanks to Plucky's video evidence of him framing Buster for the stolen test answers. Discussed by Buster, Babs, and Plucky.
  Buster: Come on! Let's go hoist Monty by his own petard!
  Babs: What's a petard?
  Plucky: I hope it's not heavy to hoist, I'm hernia-prone.
• Impact Silhouette: Monty leaves one when Plucky accidentally knocks him out the window, and another when he hits the ground.
• Jerkass: Montana Max, following his family's fortune. He kicks his parents out of his mansion for making him eat brussels sprouts, rigs the school election by framing Buster for cheating, and has a toy store called "Toys R Mine", where any kid who bought something there had to deal with the heartbreak of the giant Monty cutout atop the sign stealing it back as they exited.
• Kids Hate Vegetables: Monty hates brussels sprouts, and he kicked his parents out of his mansion for making him eat them.
• Mondegreen Gag: The Twist Ending of the episode relies on this. Hamton hears Monty yelling "ACME!" and goes on an investigation to learn what the word means. When Monty discovers this, he tells Hamton that he was actually yelling "ACNE!" because he discovered an outbreak of pimples on his face.
• Mystery Episode: When Montana Max yells "ACME!", Hamton tries to solve the mystery of what ACME means.
• Not His Sled: In keeping with this episode being a parody of Citizen Kane, a discarded bicycle that Monty used to ride with Buster when they were friends is shown with the "ACME" logo on it, leading viewers to believe that that was what Monty was referring to when he said "ACME!". Monty then appears and tells Buster, Babs, and Hamton that he didn't say "ACME!", he said "Acne!", and shows them an outbreak of pimples on his face.
• Now You Tell Me: Hamton says this at the end when Monty reveals he really said "Acne."
  Montana Max: Hey! Hey! Hey, up here, ya dweebs! I didn't say "Acme"! I said "Acne"! Acne! You know, pimples! I got a bad case of acne!
  Hamton: Now he tells me!
• Pauper Patches: Both Buster and Monty wear these in a flashback.
• Produce Pelting: Following Monty's Engineered Public Confession, the students of ACME Looniversity toss tomatoes at him, which includes his Tomato Surprises, which are sabotaged with dynamite.
• Reveal Shot: Used to spoof the iconic shots of Xanadu from Citizen Kane.
  • The episode begins with the camera zooming back from a close-up of the gate of Monty's estate to reveal a large mansion. It then continues until a sign appears identifying the mansion as the guest house. It then zooms all the way back to reveal the real mansion, a hundred times larger.
  • In the final shot, Monty's mansion is revealed to be Only a Model when Pete Puma walks by sweeping the floor.
  • After the newsreel, the scene where Hamton, Shirley, and Michigan J. Frog discuss the research needed to be done on the report appears to show the characters in silhouette, but after Hamton agrees to interview Max's associates, the camera pans over to reveal that all three characters were actually doing some shadowgraphy.
• Sanity Slippage: Hamton becomes crazier and crazier trying to interview people on what ACME means.
• "Shaggy Dog" Story: Not only does Hampton not find out what ACME means, but it turns out Monty never said it in the first place! He was actually saying "acne".
• Shout-Out:
  • Among the things in Montana Max's mansion are the Rosebud sled from the source material, and Action Comics #1, which gets ripped to shreds by Monty during his tantrum.
  • Eye Witless News is a spoof of Eyewitness News a classic local newscast format in the United States, and 60 Seconds is a spoof of 60 Minutes.
  • Plucky's alter-ego, Deep Quack is a parody of the pseudonym, Deep Throat, the name given to William Mark Felt, Sr. when informing the press of illegal activities inside the Nixon administration. The scene spoofs his depiction in the movie All the President's Men.
• Spoofs "R" Us: This episode features a toy store called Toys "R" Mine, where the giant cutout of Monty atop the store would steal back any toy any child bought from there. Toys "R" Mine would later re-appear in the second wraparound of "Playtime Toons".
• Tantrum Throwing: The episode opens on Monty throwing one, spoofing the Citizen Kane example.
• Tar and Feathers: Buster states in a school paper interview that he believes students who cheat on tests should be tarred, feathered, and kicked out of school. Interviewer Montana Max immediately follows up the question by framing Buster for cheating.
• Trash Landing: Happens to Plucky and Hamton after Plucky's flashback ends, due to the Repo Men tossing the chairs they are still sitting on into a dumpster.
• Weighted Gloves: When Buster slaps Monty with his glove, it packs a punch, thanks to three horseshoes and a horse inside it.
• Whole-Plot Reference: To the 1941 movie, Citizen Kane.