Line #20 WesternAnimation/RawToonage


1	[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Raw_Toonage_2_6309.gif]]
2
3	The year was 1992. UsefulNotes/TheRenaissanceAgeOfAnimation was still relatively young, and despite Creator/{{Disney}} making headway into the television market with WesternAnimation/TheDisneyAfternoon, and a few {{Saturday Morning Cartoon}}s, they still had serious competition from the likes of Creator/WarnerBros, Turner Broadcasting (which was in the process of launching a scrappy little cable channel called Creator/CartoonNetwork), and Creator/{{Nickelodeon}}.
4
5	Enter ''Raw Toonage''.
6
7	Born from Disney's aquisition of the rights to the Belgian comic character Franchise/{{Marsupilami}}, as well as the DevelopmentHell that ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}'' was going through at the time, ''Raw Toonage'' was an AnimatedAnthology experiment that ran during the Creator/{{CBS}} Saturday Morning block in the fall of 1992. The show's format essentially predated ''WesternAnimation/{{Animaniacs}}'' by one year (in fact, future ''WesternAnimation/PinkyAndTheBrain'' writer Tom Minton worked on the "Totally Tasteless Videos" segments), though ''Raw Toonage'' usually added a different FramingDevice to the mix each week.
8
9	However, [[ShortRunner the show only lasted twelve episodes]] on CBS before being cancelled. It ultimately spawned two spinoffs for their most successful and frequent running shorts, though: Disney's ''WesternAnimation/{{Marsupilami}}'', and ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}''.
10
11	Segments included:
12	* '''The host segment:''' The aforementioned framing device, appearing in most episodes (except episodes #7, #9, and #12). Each time, it would feature a different Disney character.
13	* '''He's Bonkers:''' Basically, these are the cartoons that Bonkers D. Bobcat starred in before joining the police force. (Most of these shorts would later be repackaged as compilation episodes of ''Bonkers''.) There was no "He's Bonkers" short in episode #10.
14	* '''Marsupilami:''' Disney's laid-back version of the title creature, who hung out with a gorilla sidekick named Maurice.
15	* '''Totally Tasteless Videos:''' This segment was kind of a toss-up. One week, it could be about a [[ContemporaryCaveman caveman]] who is also a PrivateDetective; the next week, it could be about haunted poultry. There was no "Totally Tasteless Videos" short in episodes #4 and #8.
16
17	----
18	!!''Raw Toonage'' provides examples of:
19	* AdamWesting: Creator/GaryOwens as Badly-Animated Man, a parody of [[WesternAnimation/SpaceGhost cheaply-animated Hanna-Barbera superheroes]].
20	* AnimatedAnthology: As described above, the series had multiple shorts ranging from Bonkers to Marsupilami to one-offs, typically hosted by a Disney character.
21	* AffectionateParody: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FoDhrhGozE "Robin Hoof"]] was essentially ''Raw Toonage'''s tribute to Creator/JayWard.
22	* BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxeVfo2qw5c "Nightmare on Rocky Road"]] features a kid wishing that the world was made of ice cream.
23	* TheCameo: Tons from various Disney characters. For instance, in the episode that Jitters hosted, there were cameos from about half of the Disney Afternoon.
24	* DescriptionCut: From "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0E_QZR5Xl8 Cro-Magnum PI]]":
25	--> [[PrivateEyeMonologue "Just what I needed, another beautiful woman in my life. I did everything I could to get rid of her."]]
26	--> ''[Cuts to the caveman getting her a chair, brushing his teeth and getting his hair done]''
27	* DropTheCow: Robin Hoof's shtick.
28	* FramingDevice: Each week, a different Disney character would host the cartoon and have some sort of adventure. Usually the hosts were {{Ensemble Darkhorse}}s from various other Disney properties (i.e. [[WesternAnimation/DarkwingDuck Gosalyn]], [[WesternAnimation/TaleSpin Don Karnage]], and [[WesternAnimation/TheLittleMermaid1989 Sebastian]] each hosted an episode).
29	* FurryEarDissonance: Bonkers' ears are shaped like golf clubs, despite him being (ostensibly) a bobcat.
30	* InstantWristwatch: Several shorts had them, including the Marsupilami short "Jungle Fever". When Marsupilami acts as a doctor, he checks Maurice's blood pressure by looking at the time on his watch.
31	* OrWasItADream: The end of [[spoiler:"Nightmare on Rocky Road."]]
32	* SickEpisode: The ''WesternAnimation/{{Marsupilami}}'' short "Jungle Fever".
33	-->'''Marsupilami:''' Well, Buddy Boy, I'm no doctor. But something tells me you have got a cold.
34	* StuffBlowingUp: Parodied with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjuvfMSmmBc Blammo!]], which has an EarthShatteringKaboom at the end.
35	* StylisticSuck: Parodied with [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4BOBkbjfvM Badly Animated Man]].
36	* SuddenlySpeaking: Marsupilami in this series has the ability to speak.
37	* TakeThat: Badly Animated Man had two at the end of his segment:
38	-->"As long as [[WesternAnimation/{{Hammerman}} rap stars]] and [[WesternAnimation/TheSmurfs1981 blue elves]] have their own cartoon shows, ''I'll'' be around!"
39	* TalkingAnimal: All animals in the Marsupilami segments can talk, aside from Maurice. Also, Marsupilami can speak, saying more than just "HOUBA!"
40	* TheSpeechless: Maurice, Marsupilami's gorilla friend, is a silent character.
41	* TotallyRadical: The title. This wasn't reflected so much in the show itself, but the promos at the time seemed to play it up.
42	* WolverinePublicity: The opening titles feature Webby from ''WesternAnimation/DuckTales1987'', but she never appears in any of the cartoons or host segments. As stated earlier, the Disney Afternoon was still going strong, and ''[=DuckTales=]'' was its flagship show.

Context WesternAnimation / RawToonage