"Fairy Tales for the 90s" could easily have been great. Am a big fan of animation, something that is most likely very well known around here now, and have always loved fairy tales and children's literature. They have mixed very well many times in animation, with Looney Tunes and Tex Avery faring especially well, the best being brilliant. 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' has been pastiched many times in animation but have always been fond of the story so can't complain.
While by no means a bad episode, "Fairy Tales for the 90s", made up of Babs as Tinkerbunny making a hash out of introducing the segments, "Bunnochio" and "Bear Necessities", doesn't live up fully to its potential. It was very interesting seeing modern spins on familiar stories but the material needed to be a lot fresher than this. This was a case of an episode where the wraparound story fared better than the segments. As for the segment, one is quite fun but the other generally misses the mark in my view, have always felt that way.
The better of the two is "Bunnochio" by quite some way. There is not much original or hilarious in it, but there are a fair share of funny lines and gags, the setting is made good affectionate use of, Buster has such a strong personality that he has more than enough presence to carry the segment and the supporting characters are quite fun if not unforgettable. Babs' 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'-like wraparound story has the most inspired material and Babs' characterisation is classic Babs (a treat as she is to me one of my favourite 'Tiny Toon Adventures' characters), meaning razor sharp wit and a wonderfully looney atmosphere that the segments didn't have quite enough of.
Animation is vibrantly coloured and beautifully rich in detail, not just the backgrounds but also the expressions and reactions of the characters which are wonderfully loony. The music is dynamic and characterful as always and the theme song has always brought a smile to my face. Something that was the case when a child and still is now. The voice acting is very good, Tress MacNeille gives her material so much life and shows how incredibly talented and versatile she is as a voice actress.
"Bear Necessities" however could have been a lot better. The animation, music and voice acting are fine, but 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' is such a familiar and oft-revisited in animation story and very little new or fresh, even when updating it, is done with it here. The material feels stale and on the wackiness meter the segment is quite low down in comparison to the rest of the episode. Elmyra seemed like a good, if somewhat predictable, choice for the Goldilocks character but is neither amusing or endearing in it, actually found a bit annoying here.
While shining in Babs' wraparound story, "Fairy Tales for the 90s" felt on the uninspired side. There is nothing offensive about the material, but it could have been a lot sharper and wittier on the whole and the episode could have had more energy.
Concluding, not bad but nothing exceptional. 6/10
While by no means a bad episode, "Fairy Tales for the 90s", made up of Babs as Tinkerbunny making a hash out of introducing the segments, "Bunnochio" and "Bear Necessities", doesn't live up fully to its potential. It was very interesting seeing modern spins on familiar stories but the material needed to be a lot fresher than this. This was a case of an episode where the wraparound story fared better than the segments. As for the segment, one is quite fun but the other generally misses the mark in my view, have always felt that way.
The better of the two is "Bunnochio" by quite some way. There is not much original or hilarious in it, but there are a fair share of funny lines and gags, the setting is made good affectionate use of, Buster has such a strong personality that he has more than enough presence to carry the segment and the supporting characters are quite fun if not unforgettable. Babs' 'Rocky and Bullwinkle'-like wraparound story has the most inspired material and Babs' characterisation is classic Babs (a treat as she is to me one of my favourite 'Tiny Toon Adventures' characters), meaning razor sharp wit and a wonderfully looney atmosphere that the segments didn't have quite enough of.
Animation is vibrantly coloured and beautifully rich in detail, not just the backgrounds but also the expressions and reactions of the characters which are wonderfully loony. The music is dynamic and characterful as always and the theme song has always brought a smile to my face. Something that was the case when a child and still is now. The voice acting is very good, Tress MacNeille gives her material so much life and shows how incredibly talented and versatile she is as a voice actress.
"Bear Necessities" however could have been a lot better. The animation, music and voice acting are fine, but 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears' is such a familiar and oft-revisited in animation story and very little new or fresh, even when updating it, is done with it here. The material feels stale and on the wackiness meter the segment is quite low down in comparison to the rest of the episode. Elmyra seemed like a good, if somewhat predictable, choice for the Goldilocks character but is neither amusing or endearing in it, actually found a bit annoying here.
While shining in Babs' wraparound story, "Fairy Tales for the 90s" felt on the uninspired side. There is nothing offensive about the material, but it could have been a lot sharper and wittier on the whole and the episode could have had more energy.
Concluding, not bad but nothing exceptional. 6/10
