Taz (Looney Tunes)

3 Appearances

The Tasmanian Devil, commonly referred to as Taz,

is an animated cartoon character featured in the Warner
Bros. "Looney Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" series of
cartoons. Though the character appeared in only ve
shorts before Warner Bros. Cartoons closed down in
1964, marketing and television appearances later propelled the character to new popularity in the 1990s.

In fact, this appetite serves as the impetus for McKimsons Devil May Hare (rst released on June 19, 1954). In
the short, Taz stalks Bugs Bunny, but due to his dimwittedness and inability to frame complete sentences, he
serves as little more than a nuisance. Bugs eventually gets
rid of him in the most logical way possible: matching him
up with an equally insatiable female Tasmanian Devil.
The characters speech, a deep, gravelly voice peppered
with growls, screeches, and raspberries, is provided by
Mel Blanc. Only occasionally would Taz actually speak,
usually to utter some incongruous punchline, (e.g. What
for you bury me in the cold, cold ground?") and yet the
character is capable of writing and reading. A running
gag is that when Bugs Bunny hears of the approach of
Taz and looks him up in an encyclopedia and starts
reading o a list of animals that Taz eats; Bugs nds
rabbits not listed until Taz enters and either points
out that rabbits are listed or writes rabbits on the list.

Personality

Taz is generally portrayed as a ferocious albeit dim-witted

omnivore with a notoriously short temper and little patience. His enormous appetite seems to know no bounds,
as he will eat anything in his path. He is best known for his
speech consisting mostly of grunts, growls, and rasps (in
his earlier appearances, he does speak English with primitive grammar) as well as his ability to spin like a vortex
and bite through just about anything.[1] Taz does have one
weakness: he can be calmed by almost any music. While
in this calm state, he can be easily dealt with.[2]

After the lm short debuted at theaters, producer Edward

Selzer, head of the Warner Bros. animation studio, ordered McKimson to shelve the character, feeling that it
was too violent for children, and that parents would dis[4]:157
After a time with no new Taz shorts, stuIn 1991, Taz got his own show, Taz-Mania, which ran for like this.
[3]
dio
head
Jack
L.
Warner asked what had happened to the
four seasons, in which Taz was the protagonist.
character. Warner saved Taz' career when he told Selzer
that he had received boxes and boxes of letters from
people who liked the character and wanted to see more
of him.

McKimson would go on to direct four more Taz cartoons,

beginning with Bedevilled Rabbit (released on April 13,
1957). McKimson would also pair the Devil with Day
Duck in Ducking the Devil (August 17, 1957) before pitting him once again against Bugs in Bill of Hare (June 9,
1962) and Dr. Devil and Mr. Hare (March 28, 1964). His
last two appearances done by the classic Warner Brothers
directors, writers, and voice actors were in Bugs Bunnys
Looney Christmas Tales appearing in The Fright Before
Christmas segment and at the very end eating the sleigh
full of presents.

Creation

Robert McKimson based the character on the real-life

Tasmanian devil, or more specically its carnivorous nature, voracious appetite, and surly disposition. Owen and
Pemberton suggest that the character of the Tasmanian
Devil was inspired by Errol Flynn.[4]:153 The most noticeable resemblance between the Australian marsupial
and McKimsons creation is their ravenous appetites and
crazed behavior. Although the bipedal Tasmanian Devils
appearance does not resemble its marsupial inspiration, it
contains multilayered references to other devils": he has
horn-shaped tufts of fur on his head (similar to the Devil's 4 Later appearances
appearance) and whirls about like a dust devil (similar in
appearance to a tornado) which sounds like several motors whirring in unison. Taz is constantly ravenously hun- Taz appeared in the 1983 movie Day Ducks Fantastic
gry. His eorts to nd more food (animate or inanimate) Island as Yosemite Sam's rst mate.
Taz appeared in "The Looney Tunes Show" episode
are always a central plot device of his cartoons.
1

2
Devil Dog voiced by Jim Cummings. In the show, he
is portrayed walking on four legs like a real Tasmanian
devil and his eyes are bloodshot red (later turned yellow when Bugs uses a taming trick that Speedy Gonzales taught him). Initially, Bugs believed Taz to be a dog
and kept him as a house pet much to his roommate Day
Ducks discomfort. Eventually, Bugs learned the truth
and tried to return him to his home in Tasmania, only
to nd out that Taz would rather live with him, naming
him Poochie. Taz subsequently appears in the following episodes The Foghorn Leghorn Story, Newspaper
Thief, and Bugs and Day Get A Job. Taz later played
a major part in Ridiculous Journey where he, Sylvester
(who Taz tried to eat), and Tweety end up accidentally
sent to Alaska by Yosemite Sam. The three of them
work to get home while encountering other characters and
avoiding tracker Blacque Jacque Shellacque. Eventually,
they make it home when it turned out that Blacque was
hired by Yosemite Sam to retrieve the three on behalf of
Bugs and Granny.

8 NOTES

7 Lawsuits
In 1997, a newspaper report noted that Warner Bros had
trademarked the character and registered the name Tasmanian Devil, and that this trademark was policed, including an eight-year legal battle to allow a Tasmanian
company to call its shing lure the Tasmanian Devil.
Debate followed, and a delegation from the Tasmanian
state government met with Warner Bros.[4]:161164 Ray
Groom, the Tourism Minister, later announced that a
verbal agreement had been reached. An annual fee
would be paid to Warner Bros in return for the Government of Tasmania being able to use the image of
Taz for marketing purposes. This agreement later
lapsed.[4]:167169
In 1997, the Tasmanian government and Warner Bros.
disputed the governments right to use the character as a
tourism promotion, which was oered only if a fee was
paid. The government refused to pay a fee to Warner
Bros.[5]

Taz will appear in Wabbit as Theodore Tasmanian, an acIn 2006, after much lobbying from the Tasmanian govcountant who tries to repress his vicious side.
ernment, Warner Bros decided to assist the ght against
extinction of the Tasmanian Devil due to devil facial tumour disease (DFTD).[5] Tasmanian Environment Minis5 Home video
ter Judy Jackson, prior to the agreement, had heavily criticised Warner Bros., stating that the company had made
All ve of the original Taz cartoons are included in millions of dollars from the character, but did not put up
Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1 as is The any money when other companies had.
Fright Before Christmas".
The deal with Warner Bros allowed the Tasmanian government to manufacture and sell up to 5,000 special edition Taz plush toys, with all prot going towards funding
6 In popular culture
scientic research into DFTD.[6][7] The deal also aimed to
increase public attention towards the threatening disease.
The characters rst video game outing was in a title
from the later days of the Atari 2600, in a 1983 release
entitled Taz. The 1990s saw a return of the char- 8 Notes
acter to video games in Taz-Mania and its semi-sequel
Taz in Escape from Mars. Both titles appeared on the [1] Warner Bros The Lineup Taz retrieved December
Mega Drive/Genesis, Master System & Game Gear sys23, 2012
tems. There were other Taz-Mania games released on
the Nintendo SNES and Game Boy systems. He also [2] Warner Bros. Merrie Melody, Ducking the Devil, 1957.
costarred in the PlayStation/PC game Bugs Bunny & Taz: [3] Trusdell, Brian (May 28, 1995). Focus : Warners Toon
Time Busters, and in 2002s Taz: Wanted on PlayStation
Factory for the '90s. The Los Angeles Times (USA). Re2, GameCube, Xbox and PC. He also appeared in the
trieved 10 May 2011.
video games The Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 2, The Bugs
Bunny Birthday Blowout, Looney Tunes: Acme Arsenal, [4] Owen, David; Pemberton, David (2005). Tasmanian
Devil: A unique and threatened animal. Allen & Unwin.
Looney Tunes: Space Race, Bugs Bunny Crazy Castle 3,
ISBN 978-1-74114-368-3. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
Bugs Bunny in Crazy Castle 4, and Looney Tunes: Back in
Action.
[5] Warner Bros to help save Tassie devils. The Sydney
In the late 1990s to early 2000s, when Chevrolet used
the Looney Tunes as part of their NASCAR campaign,
the Chevrolet Monte Carlo racing teams were referenced
as Team Monte Carlo, with the Tasmanian Devil as the
mascot.
Taz appeared in a 2014 GEICO commercial, where he
drinks a "certain energy drink" and goes on a rampage.

Morning Herald. June 20, 2006.

[6] Taz Lends a Hand to his Devil Mates. Tourism Tasmania. 2006-06-21. Archived from the original on 2006-0819. Retrieved 2006-08-14.
[7] Warner joins the Fight. The Mercury. 2006-06-20.
Archived from the original on October 15, 2007. Retrieved 2006-08-14.

References
Adamson, Joe (1990). 50 Years and Only One Grey
Hare. New York: Henry Holt & Co.
Schneider, Steve (1988). Thats All Folks!: The Art
of Warner Bros. Animation. New York: Henry Holt
& Co.

10

External links

LooneyTunes.com
Unocial site of the Tasmanian devil Taz
Toonopedia: Tasmanian Devil

11

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