| Bonkers | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Greg Weisman Duane Capizzi Robert Hathcock Richard Trueblood Len Smith Larry Latham[a] |
| Inspired by | Who Framed Roger Rabbit byJeffrey Price Peter S. Seaman |
| Voices of | |
| Theme music composer | Randy Petersen Kevin Quinn |
| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 61 + 4(special compilations)(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producers |
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| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Production company | Walt Disney Television Animation |
| Original release | |
| Network |
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| Release | September 4, 1993 (1993-09-04) – February 23, 1994 (1994-02-23) |
| Related | |
Bonkers is an American animated television series and aspin-off short series calledHe's Bonkers which mainly aired inRaw Toonage,[1] and was inspired by the filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit (1988). The show originally aired from September 4, 1993 to February 23, 1994 after a preview of the series aired onThe Disney Channel from February 28 to June 6, 1993. The 9 episodes of the Disney Channel preview aired in October 1993 in the original syndication.[2][3] The original syndicated run was available as part of the programming blockThe Disney Afternoon.[4] Reruns of the show continued in syndication until 1996 and were later shown onToon Disney until late 2004.
Bonkers D. Bobcat, a formerly popular cartoon star, had washed out of show business and became a cop. He was made the junior partner of Detective Lucky Piquel in theLos Angeles Police Department, a grim and ill-tempered human who hates toons. Throughout the series, the pair work together to solve crimes in theHollywood, Los Angeles, California region. Bonkers repeatedly tried to win Piquel's praise, but usually just ended up ruining missions with his goofy antics,[5] which would often prove to save the day.
After working with Bonkers for several episodes, Piquel was given anFBI job inWashington, D.C., and was initially happy at finally being able to leave Bonkers, but finally realized that after all the time spent hating working with Bonkers he had grown to love him. He took along the police radio, the light, Toots and Fall-Apart Rabbit.[6] At the end of the first "Lucky" episodes, Bonkers was given a second partner, the attractive cool-headed Officer Miranda Wright. Although also human, she was far more patient and tolerant of his antics than was Piquel.[citation needed] With Miranda, Bonkers was more the brunt of the slapstick.
| Seasons | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 41 | September 4, 1993 (1993-09-04) | February 23, 1994 (1994-02-23) | |
| Compilations | September 30, 1993 (1993-09-30) | November 24, 1993 (1993-11-24) | ||
| 2 | 20 | February 28, 1993 (1993-02-28) | October 29, 1993 (1993-10-29) | |
Bonkers D. Bobcat (voiced byJim Cummings) is an overly energetic and hyperactive cartoonanthropomorphicbobcat who works in the Toon Division of the Hollywood PD[7] and was once a big name cartoon star from theHe’s Bonkers shorts (Raw Toonage) for Wackytoons Studios. He was fired due to his show being bumped out of first place in the ratings. He was introduced to law enforcement when he unknowingly saved cartoon celebrityDonald Duck from a park mugger (mostly due to the help of officer Lucky Piquel) and was given full credit for the mugger's capture. Police chief Leonard Kanifky mistakes Bonkers' fictional escapades for real police work and asks him to work for the Hollywood PD, which he accepts due to being unemployed. Although Bonkers means well, he usually messes up cases for his fellow officers due to his lack of experience.
The series played 65 episodes, as part ofThe Disney Afternoon.[8] They were not created in chronological order: The "Miranda" episodes were actually produced first.[9] This discrepancy becomes evident when observing the look of the main character in both sets of episodes.[6] In the ''He's Bonkers" shorts, Bonkers was orange with one brown spot, golf-club-like ears, and an undone tail. When the Lucky Piquel-era episodes (produced by Robert Taylor) were made, the character had a major overhaul: skinnier ears, two black spots on each his tufts, blackTigger-like stripes on his tail, and a different uniform. In the Miranda Wright-era episodes (produced byDuane Capizzi, Robert Hathcock &Greg Weisman) Bonkers' look is similar to the one inHe's Bonkers. Actually it is considered as a mixture ofHe's Bonkers look and the "Lucky" episodes look. The series occasionally featured special extra compilation episodes of "cartoons" from Bonkers's pre-police actor days, all lifted from theHe's Bonkers/Raw Toonage series. The two-part premiere can be seen to show the reason for the difference in appearance as he mostly appears with his Black Dot Lucky design, but when he goes into makeup, his sweater is put on, and when his head re-appears, his spots have turned brown, then his ears are 'puffed' up. While this works for explaining the two designs in context, "New Partners on the Block" does not show or explain why he then decided to use a somewhat 'make up'-like version for every day.
TheRaw Toonage shorts were an after-thought of production.[10] WhileBonkers was in pre-production, theRaw Toonage team headed by Larry Latham produced 12 "He's Bonkers" shorts. These shorts were, in the context ofBonkers, explained to be some of the shorts Bonkers made at Wackytoons Studios before he was fired. The first short entitledPetal to the Metal was originally shown in theaters in 1992 before the feature movie3 Ninjas,[11] while the rest were shown on the programRaw Toonage. In syndication, the shorts were collected into four full extra episodes with fillers of new material in between.
Meanwhile, Duane Capizzi, making his producing debut, was brought into the fold and teamed with animation veteran Robert Hathcock and charged with making 65 episodes (a full season's worth in syndication). The episodes theoretically would feature Bonkers with Wright as his partner. These episodes came back from overseas animation studios looking less than spectacular, causing considerable concern at Disney.[9] Ultimately, the original team was replaced, and a team headed byRobert Taylor came in.[9] Only 19 of the original-order shows survived to air;[9] they are what is known as the "Miranda Wright episodes" ofBonkers or simply as the "Miranda" episodes. Nine of these episodes were aired on The Disney Channel during the first half of 1993 as a preview for the series,[3] before its syndicated premiere in the fall. The 19 "Miranda Wright" episodes are shown in October 1993 in the broadcast syndication.[9]Greg Weisman (co-creator ofDisney's Gargoyles) worked on the Miranda episodes, and Bonkers's relationship with Miranda inspiredGoliath's relationship withElisa Maza.[11]
Taylor threw out the old premise of the show.[9] He replaced it with the Lucky Piquel scenario, but his episodes were revised and established to occur before the original episodes. 42 episodes of the "Lucky Piquel Era" were made, including one (New Partners on the Block), which attempted to bridge the gap between the two somewhat contradictory storylines.
Jim Cummings revealed in 2025 that he was among the last three finalists for the role of Bonkers, the other two beingMatt Frewer andJim Carrey, the latter of whom was jokingly confident that he won the role. Both Cummings andMaurice LaMarche believe that had he won the role, as well as a part he auditioned for inInspector Gadget, he probably would not have pursued a live action film career.[12]
The series was long incorrectly rumored to have originally been intended as aRoger Rabbit spin-off series which ended up being scrapped due to licensing issues fromAmblin Entertainment, withBonkers being created instead. However, in 2008,Greg Weisman, who was a writer on the series, denied this. While confirming that the title character was inspired by Roger, and the Toontown concept had also been influenced by the film, Weisman insists that Bonkers was always meant to be his own character.[13]
The syndicated version of the series (which omits several of the original episodes that survived first-run) was last seen onToon Disney until late 2004.
The series became available to stream onDisney+, upon its launch on November 12, 2019.[14]
New Partners on the Block was the "Lucky" episode that proceeded the 19 "Miranda" episodes and a transition episode that showed how Bonkers went from having Lucky Piquel as a partner to having Miranda Wright as his newest partner. The episode was much like the pilot episode/movie "Going Bonkers", using theCGI rain and bringing back the characters that were associated with Bonkers, those characters being Fawn Deer, Jitters A. Dog, and Grumbles Grizzly and, unlike the pilot, had more speaking and screen time.
At the end of the episode, Bonkers, along with Miranda and Lucky, capture the main villain, bomber Fireball Frank and rescue FBI agent Tolson in the process, making Bonkers and Miranda a team and giving Lucky a job as anFBI agent inWashington, D.C. Piquel. His family Dyl (wife) and Marilyn (daughter), Fall-Apart Rabbit, Toots and Brodrick the toon radio all subsequently relocated to Washington, D.C., allowing them to be written out of the show.
This episode was removed from rotation in the United States after the 1995Oklahoma City bombing due to its bombing/terrorism plot, and was consequently never rerun on Toon Disney, even before Disney's stricter censorship policies following theSeptember 11 attacks. Another 3 episodes, "Fall Apart Bomb Squad", "Witless for the Prosecution", and "The Stork Exchange", were also never shown on Toon Disney for similar reasons. However, three of those episodes have been rerun in Europe (especially in Italy).[6] In addition, those three episodes are available to stream on Disney+.
Bonkers was released on threeVHS tapes andBetamax tapes in 1994 byWalt Disney Home Video, each containing no more than two episodes. They include the following:
| VHS titles | Episodes | Release date |
|---|---|---|
| Going Bonkers | "Going Bonkers" (Parts 1 and 2) | 1994 |
| Basic Spraining | "Basic Spraining" "Is Toon Fur Really Warm?" | 1994 |
| I Oughta Be in Toons | "I Oughta Be in Toons" "Weather or Not" | 1994 |
The series is available to stream onDisney+ in the U.S. since its November 12, 2019 launch. It is also available in Europe (especially in Italy).
The series inspired three video games. The first, titledBonkers, is aplatform game byCapcom, released for theSuper NES in October 1994.[15][16] In the game, Bonkers must retrieve three items stolen from a museum.
Anaction game bySega, also titledBonkers, was released in 1994 for theSega Mega Drive/Genesis. It consists of fourmini-games in which Bonkers attempts to apprehend criminals from the series.
The third game,Disney's Bonkers: Wax Up!, was published for theGame Gear in 1995, followed three years later by a Brazilian-only release on theMaster System. In the game, Bonkers sets out to rescue Lucky and several toons who have been captured.
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