Man I'm Pretty: A Study of Johnny Bravo

[Frank_Sinatra_]

[HEADING=3]Man I'm Pretty: A Study of Johnny Bravo[/HEADING]​

If you grew up in the 90's you probably watched the cable channel Cartoon Network, and you'd know that every Friday was Cartoon Cartoon Fridays brining you the very best of what 90's cartoons had to offer. One of those gems that came out of Cartoon Network was Johnny Bravo

Created back in 1997 by Van Partible, Johnny Bravo is in short a show about a beefcake young man who can never seem to get any chicks (although it is noted that he isn't a virgin.) The series itself actually spawned from the thesis project of Mr. Partible, but then formed into an official show after he joined a small crew at Hannah-Barbera along with Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Genndy Tartakovsky (For the beginning of season 1),
Johnny himself is nothing short of a creature built out of pop culture. Johnny's voice is easily recognized as an impression of Elvis Presly, his moves are out of Michael Jackson, and a character design heavily influenced by James Dean. His Elvis voice done by Jeff Bennet was nothing short of brilliant especially do to the "Hoo-Haa!" that no one else could do. Van Partible was especially pleased with the voice as when he was doing interviews because Bennet could make the voice "pop."

A voice, and a character design a cartoon does not make however. The animation style of Johnny Bravo took many nods to classic 60's animation with a smear technique which can be seen to great effect in The Doverboys. After the creation of the character Partible then moved to trying to create a world for Johnny to live in. As befitting a James Dean character like Johnny, he needed a momma who he'd love which adds another parallel between Johnny and Elvis. As a person, we all know someone who is a Johnny Bravo in their own way; a moron with a big heart, and loves his momma.

[image height=300]http://freekidscoloringpages.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/johnny%20bravo%201.gif[/IMG]​

As we all know, Johnny loves the women and always gets burned by them which was good for the character because they were humanizing to Johnny, but the creators felt that Johnny needed a girl he could never have. Enter in Suzy the girl from next door. Suzy added another dynamic to the show as she was this innocent little girl trying to befriend this muscle headed lunk next door to her.

The humor of the show a befitting a cartoon was the real star of the show. Back when Johnny Bravo first aired on Cartoon Network, CN was just getting into the swing of things and wasn't airing on every cable station in the USA therefore the censors were more lenient with what they could get away with (Johnny once tells Suzie to call him back in 15 years when she's co-ed). When the show entered its second season, the humor degraded more into slapstick humor focusing more on Johnny's stupidity which many fans railed against, then submitting and returning to the humor of the first season that was Partible's personal favorite.

We were just doing what made us laugh.

Part of the spirit of Cartoon Network is they want you to go too far; they want you to push for things, and they?ll resist, and part of the good thing that comes out of these cartoons is the result of that battle.

Partible being a fan of classic cartoons was thinking of ways to make episodes and went to Cartoon Network asking if they could do a "Johnny Bravo meets ___" episode, which Cartoon Network agreed to. Thanks to Cartoon Networks agreement there were many guests on the show including Donny Osmond, the cast of Scooby Doo, and even Adam West. The guest stars were always 70's icons, and would voice themselves which became problematic for the Adam West episode. The director Butch Hartman confessed that he was actually afraid to talk to Mr. West, and Johnny?s voice actor Jeff Bennet couldn?t be in the same recording room with West because he was laughing so hard.

... That's why I'd lose it when we were working together. I'd have a line, then he'd say "Johnny, let's go find your momma." And it was just the way he did it ya know, in that Batman kind of reading that I... I just kinda lost it.

More guest stars did appear in season 2, but they were not specifically just 70's icons.

Johnny Bravo no doubt is one of the most iconic cartoons to ever be created, and after the show was cancelled in 2004 a Chevrolet Kellogs NASCAR car was given a special paint job with Johnny on the hood. Many of Johnny's catch-phrases actually didn't even begin to take root into the popular culture until the show aired, and Van Partible shared in an interview that while in India he found out that Johnny Bravo had become an adjective to describe some of the Bollywood people there. Many of the people who worked on the show went on to create successful shows of their own, most notably Seth MacFarlane for Family Guy and Butch Hartman for Fairly OddParents.

When Johnny Bravo first came out, I don't think a lot of people didn't have high hopes for it, and I think it was really cool that prove exactly what kind of character he was. No one really thought it was going to go anywhere. Not only has it gone somewhere, it's actually still around, it's very iconic now, 15, 16 years later.

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Spoiler: More from Frank_Sinatra_

Cartoons of the 90's [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.209746-Cartoons-of-the-90s]
Nostalgia [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.187840-Nostalgia-hit-me-like-a-ton-of-bricks-today]
Science Fiction 9 Deadly Sins/Commandments. [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.170310-Science-Fiction-9-Deadly-Sins-Commandments]

Spoiler: Sources

Johnny Bravo season 1 DVD (background and quotes)
Wikipedia (information checking & impact)

 

[Souplex]

Dear god, the only person more American than Bravo is me! This is a startling revelation.
No mention of Carl? (Was that his nerdy neighbor's name?)

 

[Irridium]

I used to watch this all the time with my dad. Oh man, this show was amazing.

Fun read, and yeah, I remember laughing anytime Adam West said something, for the same reasons Bennet said. I just heard it as Batman saying those things, and it was great.

Ah... good times...

 

[Baldry]

Good review, you reminded me off the awesomeness that is Johnny Bravo and gave him a rather good review, so bravo! (hur hur.)

 

[crudus]

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many big name people up there. Genndy Tartakovsky also created Dexter's Lab (another big name cartoon of the 90s) and Samurai Jack.

 

[AMX58]

Johnny Bravo was a pretty awesome show when I was younger.

Man what happen to all the good shows that cartoon network use to have

 

[microhive]

Not bad, rather quite enjoyable read. It was a damn good show.

Johnny Bravo was a pretty awesome show when I was younger.

Man what happen to all the good shows that cartoon network use to have

New shows, sadly.

 

[zombiejoe]

Loved this show, and you did a pretty good job on this. But is it really a "study"?

more like an overview or a review

 

[Viewtiful Dan]

This was a truely great show.

Now excuse me because I have to DO THE MONKEY!!!

 

[The Code]

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many big name people up there. Genndy Tartakovsky also created Dexter's Lab (another big name cartoon of the 90s) and Samurai Jack.

There was another gem off the 90s, known as Swat Kats. Awesome guitar riffs, plenty of action, and it was all drawn in that classic 90s comic book style.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Its nice to see blasts from the past like this, when Cartoons could be slice of life silliness without being overtly silly.

But Bravo wasnt a Virgin? When was that revealed?

 

[Jark212]

I just watched an episode last night and it was as awesome as I remember watching it as a kid...

No preachy messages, just plain fun...

 

[Scarim Coral]

Ah those were the good old days. Oh here are some other sketches he had appear outside of the show

Spoiler

 

[Uncreation]

OP, i love you for this. Johnny Bravo is one of my favourite cartoons.

captcha: easiest forkel

 

[crudus]

Wow, I didn't realize there were so many big name people up there. Genndy Tartakovsky also created Dexter's Lab (another big name cartoon of the 90s) and Samurai Jack.

There was another gem off the 90s, known as Swat Kats. Awesome guitar riffs, plenty of action, and it was all drawn in that classic 90s comic book style.

Yeah but it wasn't by the same makers as anyone involved with Johnny Bravo(except Mark Hamill but that name isn't very big) so I decided not to mention it.

Its nice to see blasts from the past like this, when Cartoons could be slice of life silliness without being overtly silly.

But Bravo wasnt a Virgin? When was that revealed?

I think I remember it being mentioned once. Something that would go over kids' heads(like finger prints).

 

[Blemontea]

The opening theme to Johny Bravo ran in my head while reading this thing, and what do you know there it is at the bottom. I wouldn't say this was my favorite show as a kid (Ed,Edd&Eddy!) but i loved to watch it still.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Snip

Maybe thats why I missed it. I was only 5 when the show came out.

 

[Hoplon]

I rate this thread; Sassy!