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Western Animation / Tiny Toon Adventures Spring Break Special

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Tiny Toon Spring Break is the first of two prime-time specials based on Tiny Toon Adventures produced in 1994 (the second being Tiny Toons' Night Ghoulery). It was originally broadcast in prime-time on FOX on March 27, 1994.

The Tiny Toons are going on a trip to Fort Lauderdale for spring break, while Elmyra has a mission to capture Buster with Operation: Easter Bunny, recruiting a police commissioner to help her. While the rest of the Tiny Toons are staying a cheap motel, Hamton and Plucky are staying with Hamton's grandparents. Plucky plans to make his Tan-Meister 6000 a commercial success, but quickly turns his sights on a girl duck. This special also features spoofs of music videos and films of 1994.

Not to be confused with the Tiny Toons Looniversity Spring Break special.

This special provides examples of:

  • Affectionate Parody:
    • "I'll Be Chasing You" is a parody of the The Police song, "Every Breath You Take".
    • "Will U B Hare" is a parody of Michael Jackson's "Will You Be There", specifically, its appearance in Free Willy.
  • Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: Much of the Deputy's orders consist of this, such as ordering his men to make tri-state road blocks, calling forensics to check the scenes, having dogs comb the woods, and bringing him a cupcake with little sprinkly candy chewies.
  • Bait-and-Switch: When the Tiny Toons bus arrives at Ft. Lauderdale, it stops at what appears to be a luxury hotel. However, it is only revealed to be a billboard on a truck, and when it drives away, it reveals the run-down Spring Breakers motel behind it, much to the disappointment of most of the Tiny Toons.
  • Big Bad: Elmyra Duff.
  • Brick Joke: After Plucky first meets his dream girl, Hamton reminds him of the Tan-Meister 6000 he was trying to sell until them, but Plucky tells him to do the selling instead. The Tan-Meister 6000 was forgotten about for the rest of special until the Spring Break Last Night Beach Party Blow-Out, where it is revealed that Hamton got rich by selling the Tan-Meister 6000 to the General.
  • Butt-Monkey: Plucky Duck. He unsuccessfully tries to sell the Tan-Meister 6000, and gives up on it after he decides to pursue the girl duck. He doesn't enjoy the time he spends with Hamton, Pappy and Bubbie at Jeriatric Park, and to top it all off, Buster and Babs trick Elmyra into thinking he is the Easter Bunny just to get her off their tails (it also doesn't help that they joke about it instead of showing concern for Plucky's well-being).
  • The Cameo:
    • In the prologue, the deer is from the Animaniacs short, "Bumbie's Mom".
    • Blard Simpleton, a parody of Bart Simpson from "Weekday Afternoon Live" appears trapped in a cage amongst Elmyra's many captive pets.
    • Pinky and the Brain appear as two of Elmyra's captive pets.
    • Yakko, Wakko, and Dot appear, getting chased by Ralph the Guard.
    • The red-headed Dead End Kid from the Bugs Bunny short, "Easter Yeggs" is among the children participating in the White House Easter Egg Hunt, still repeating his infamous line of "I wanna Easter Egg!".
    • Bugs and Daffy stand at the doors, as the kids get back to school.
  • Credits Gag: It's Palm Sunday! - You just missed "60 Minutes".
  • The Cuckoolander Was Right: After Buster and Babs manage to get rid of Elmyra and return to ACME Acres, it is revealed that Buster really is the Easter Bunny, as his locker is filled with numerous baskets of Easter eggs.
  • Disney Villain Death: The General meets his demise falling from a waterfall at the edge of a dam. Elmyra also suffers this when one of the General's henchmen regrets saving her from the same fate, though she survives and catches up to Buster and Babs mere seconds later. The General was also later shown to have survived, having bought the Tan-Meister 6000 from Hamton.
  • The Determinator: Elmyra will stop at nothing to catch Buster.
  • The Dragon: The Deputy serves as this to Elmyra. At first, he refuses to help her, but he quickly changes his mind when she reveals that she has Harrison Ford in a cage at her house.
  • Easter Bunny: Elmyra tries to capture Buster because she believes that he is this and in The Stinger, she's right.
  • Easter Special: Much of this special involves Elmyra pursuing Buster, under the impression that he is the Easter Bunny.
  • Expy: The Deputy is one of Deputy Samuel Gerard from the 1993 film, The Fugitive.
  • Go-Karting with Bowser: Arnold the Pit Bull joins the protagonistic toons on their spring break, and even provides back-up vocals for the "Nothin' Can Be More Fun" music video.
  • Halfway Plot Switch: Plucky's plotline initially revolves around him trying to sell the Tan-Meister 6000, but when he first sees his dream girl, he fixates on pursuing her instead.
  • Interspecies Romance: Near the end of the special, Hamton ends up winning the heart of the girl duck Plucky tried to pursue.
  • Literal Money Metaphor: When the Tiny Toons stay at the Spring Breaker's motel, the manager charges them a hundred bucks per night. Gogo Dodo then brings in 100 male deer and asks the manager where he wants them.
  • Musicalis Interruptus: When a bodyguard rescues Elmyra from falling down a waterfall, Elmyra starts to sing "I Am Gonna Hug You", complete with a Music Video Credits Sequence. The bodyguard throws her down before he could sing more than the title of the song.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed:
    • Red Moppel is an Expy of Ted Koppel.
    • Michael Molten-Lava is an Expy of Michael Bolton.
  • Non-Standard Character Design: Beaver and Hog-Head are drawn in the same style as their basis, so they stick out compared to Rank and Stumpy, who, while still rather out of place by their art style, look a little better.
  • Out-of-Character Moment: There are a few eye-brow raising moments here and there. For example, Elmyra comes off as genuinely villainous in this episode instead of Obliviously Evil (see Took a Level in Jerkass), and Buster and Babs throwing Plucky under the bus just to get away from Elmyra with no concern for what happens to him next really seems like an unusually dirty move for them.
  • Painted Tunnel, Real Train: Buster and Babs paint a tunnel on the Washington monument to escape from Elmyra, leading to a chase through an Absurdly-Spacious Sewer.
  • Rule of Three: There are three sequences presented as music videos: "Nothin' Can Be More Fun", "I'll Be Chasing You", and "Will U B Hare". "I Am Gonna Hug You" would have been a fourth had it not ended prematurely.
  • Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Plucky, Shirley, Hamton and Fifi instantly bail on Babs and Buster when Elmyra butts into their song.
  • Shout-Out:
    • Elmyra is dressed like and salutes like General Patton before going over her plan on capturing Buster Bunny, referencing the 1970 film, Patton.
    • A Xenomorph and Pinky and the Brain can be seen in a cage alongside Elmyra's many other captive pets.
    • The operator of the hotel the Toons stay at dresses and talks like Rodney Dangerfield.
    • When Elmyra and the Deputy arrive at Fort Lauderdale, a helicopter hovers as "March of the Valkeries" plays, and a man says "I love the smell of suntan lotion in the morning", referencing the 1979 film, Apocalypse Now.
    • The name of the retirement park that Pappy and Bubbie pig live in is called "Jeriatric Park".
    • A Chief Brody-esque character in a submarine says, "We're going to need a bigger boat" when he comes face-to-face with a shark, referencing the 1975 Spielberg film, Jaws.
    • As a killer whale is freed, it jumps over a gate and lands on Elmyra, with Babs singing a parody of "Will You Be There" by Michael Jackson, which was recorded for the 1993 movie, Free Willy.
    • Substantial parts of Elmyra's plot reference The Fugitive, including the Deputy who directly spoofs Tommy Lee Jones' Deputy Marshal Garrard, and particularly the famous sewer escape scene. Only this time it's the Deputy (and Elmyra) who take the plunge.
    • Right before Elmyra falls over the dam during the sewer scene she's rescued by a Kevin Costner look-alike she calls her bodyguard. She begins to sing a parody of "I Will Always Love You" before her rescuer dumps her over the side.
    • Plucky's song about his tanning bed is a parody of "We Got Trouble" from The Music Man.
  • Squashed Flat:
    • Happens to Beaver and Hoghead when they get run over by the Tiny Toons bus, and later to Rank and Stumpy near the end of the special.
    • Also happens to Elmyra during the "Will U B Hare" music video, when she gets flattened by a killer whale.
  • Take That!:
    • Beaver and Hoghead are parodies of Beavis and Butt-Head who get run over by the Tiny Toons bus.
    • Rank and Stumpy are parodies of Ren and Stimpy, and like Beaver and Hoghead, they get run over by the Tiny Toons bus.note 
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: Near the end of the special, Hamton makes enough money to rent a limo from selling the Tan-Meister 6000 to a man who uses it as a hot dog roaster, and also wins the heart of the girl duck.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Elmyra. In contrast to her appearances on the TV show, she doesn't seem to be oblivious of the pain she causes animals and seems to get a kick out of tormenting them.
  • Variations on a Theme Song: A special variation of the show's theme song is shown in the special, wherein the Tiny Toons sing about how they plan to spend their spring break, and at the end, how they spent it.
  • Villain Song: At one point, Elmyra sings "I'll Be Chasing You", a parody of the The Police song, "Every Breath You Take".
  • Visual Pun: When Buster and Babs check in at the Spring Breakers' motel, the manager charges them 100 bucks per night. Gogo then brings in 100 male deer and asks the manager where he wants them.
  • Wild Take: Plucky does a number of these when he reacts lustfully to the girl duck, including one where he unzips down to his infant form and says, "She push the button! I no push the button! She push the button!"
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Near the end of the special, Plucky ends up being captured by Elmyra when he tries to pursue the girl duck thanks to Buster and Babs planting fake rabbit ears on him.

Alternative Title(s): Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures Spring Break Special

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