We're tiny, we're toony
We're all a little loony...

A familiar sound to any avid 1990s cartoon viewer was the theme song to Tiny Toon Adventures. You can now recapture some of those carefree weekday afternoons with the release of Tiny Toon Adventures: Crazy Crew Rescues. Don't worry about the awkward subtitle, this isn't a bargain bin/kiddie "best of" disc. This 2-disc DVD set picks up right where the previous releases left off (way back in 2009) with a total of 17 half-hour episodes. It includes all thirteen episodes from the show's second season and the first four episodes of the third (and final) season. This leaves just sixteen episodes and two primetime TV specials left unreleased (hopefully this release will sell well enough so we'll someday see a fourth volume to wrap up those loose ends).

For a recap of the show itself, take a look back at Matt Hunter's reviews of 2008's Season 1, Volume 1 or 2009's Season 2, Volume 2 DVD sets. Or my own review of the direct-to-video feature How I Spent My Vacation which was reissued to DVD last year.

These later episodes do have more consistent animation quality, but the episodes themselves are pretty hit or miss. Especially weak are the episodes that seem to have been made to appease network executives with kid-friendly morals. Interestingly, one such episode on this set, "Elephant Issues", was removed from later rebroadcasts due to a segment that was intended to be a cautionary tale about the evils of alcohol and drunk driving... but ultimately missed the mark. Another noteworthy, but not particularly good, episode included here is "Take Elmyra, Please" which was actually the pilot for a proposed spin-off for animal-loving Elmyra and her eccentric family.

Despite the duds, there are a few great cartoons to be found here. Here are six highlights from this volume:

Hog-Wild Hamton - Hampton's parents go out of town leaving him in charge of the house. Plucky promptly invites everyone in town over for a party with disastrous results after the noise disrupts the studies of Egghead, Jr.

Acme Cable TV - A series of quick gags as Buster and Babs channel surf. Spoofs include everything from The Cosby Show and Rocky & Bullwinkle to Hollywood Squares and Fruit Loops commercials.

Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian - Buster and Babs get irate after seeing they aren't in this week's episode, so they take their grievances to Steven Spielberg himself (doing the voice of his own caricature) who sticks them with a script written by a trio of thirteen year old girls.

Henny Youngman Day - Comedian Henny Youngman guest stars as a substitute teacher at the Acme Looniversity in this episode's interstitial segments. The highlight of the episode is the short with Plucky reminiscing about being potty trained as an infant in "The Potty Years" ("Water go down the hooooolle.")

Kon Ducki - How many kids would even get the reference to Thor Heyerdahl's Kon Tiki expedition? Plucky stars and directs his own high-seas adventure "movie" which is followed by a faux "making of" segment.

Thirteensomething - Babs leaves the cartoon world of Acme Acres to move to New York to star in a 90210-style primetime teenage soap opera, leaving Buster scrambling to find a replacement for her.

The set has no bonus features, but the fact this set managed to get released at all was a pleasant surprise.

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