| Genre: | Anthology Comedy Slapstick |
| Director: | Ginny McSwain (dialogue director) |
| Voices: | Jeff Bennett Rodger Bumpass Nancy Cartwright Jim Cummings Steve Mackall |
| Theme Music Composer: | Patrick DeRemer |
| Opentheme: | "Raw Toonage Theme Song" |
| Endtheme: | "Raw Toonage Theme Song" (Short Version) |
| Composer: | Stephen James Taylor Mark Watters Eric Schmidt Jerry Grant Walter Murphy Craig Stuart Garfinkle |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 1 |
| Num Episodes: | 12 (39 shorts and segments) |
| Producer: | Larry Latham (He's Bonkers, Totally Tasteless Video and host segments only) Ed Wexler (Marsupilami cartoons only) |
| Runtime: | 23 minutes |
| Network: | CBS |
| Related: | Bonkers Marsupilami |
Raw Toonage is an American animated cartoon program that premiered on CBS on September 19, and ended on December 5, 1992, after 12 episodes or 39 shorts and segments had been broadcast. The program was preceded by a He's Bonkers theatrical short titled Petal to the Metal that aired in August 7, 1992.
Bonkers was spun off from the He's Bonkers short series and Marsupilami was spun off from Marsupilami short series of the program in 1993. The Shnookums & Meat Funny Cartoon Show then was spun off from Marsupilami in 1995.
The idea for the show had an unusual genesis. Walt Disney Television Animation was developing a 65-episode half-hour series for their Disney Afternoon block entitled He's Bonkers D. Bobcat. The premise was similar to Who Framed Roger Rabbit, as the series dealt with the lead character's adventures post-stardom. The actual production of this series was troubled. At some point, someone had the post-modern idea to actually make the cartoons that Bonkers had starred in before becoming a policeman, and Disney's Raw Toonage was born. At the same time, Michael Eisner had purchased the rights to the popular Belgian comic strip Marsupilami created by André Franquin. Totally Tasteless Video was intended as a satire of popular culture. A host segment was added to give the program the familiar feel of the World of Disney show.
Due to the shorter production schedule, Disney's Raw Toonage was on the air before the above-mentioned half-hour program, thus adding some credibility to the back story. The program typically opens with an introduction by a famous character from Disney (such as Goofy with his style from Disney's Goof Troop), who attempts to share some of their expertise with the audience; then the show has a few of the above-mentioned shorts chained in a row, rounding out the half hour.[2]
The premise of the He's Bonkers shorts is that Bonkers is a delivery person or a proto-hero, usually assisted by Jitters A. Dog. Conflict is provided by Bonkers' love for Fawn Deer, who mainly reciprocates his love for her. Bonkers also has a strict boss or an arch enemy, called Grumbles the Grizzly. Jitters, Fawn and Grumbles also appear in the series Bonkers. Each of the He's Bonkers shorts were eventually included in 4 special extra compilation episodes of the half-hour series. He's Bonkers series has 12 shorts overall.
The Marsupilami shorts took the look of the character from the Belgian comic, but the characterization differs significantly; Marsupilami is more anthropomorphized, and speaks the language of the human characters fluently, Marsupilami in the comics can only say variations of "houba" and mimic sounds like a parrot. The secondary characters in Disney's Marsupilami series are completely different from those of the comics; in the Disney cartoons, Marsupilami is most often opposed by Norman, who appears in various different roles. Every one but three ("Wannabe Ruler?", "The Young and the Nestless", and "Hot Spots") of the Marsupilami shorts were not included in the half-hour Marsupilami series. Marsupilami short series has 16 shorts overall.
Totally Tasteless Video did each show in a different style. They were stories edited by Tom Minton, who would later write Pinky and the Brain at Warner Bros. The first Totally Tasteless Video short is a parody of movie coming attraction trailers, followed by a spoof on Doogie Howser, M.D. Other notable shorts involve a badly animated superhero, a prehistoric spoof of Magnum, P.I., an exorchicken fighting chicken ghosts that haunt a family, and a Robin Hood twist in the Jay Ward style of cartoons. Totally Tasteless Video series has 11 shorts overall and it didn't have its spin-off tv series.
Larry Latham produced and directed the He's Bonkers, Totally Tasteless Video, and host segments; Ed Wexler produced and directed Marsupilami. At least one of the Marsupilami cartoons was produced with the idea of a theatrical run in mind.
Reruns of the program were aired on Disney Channel, and Toon Disney. Disney's Raw Toonage was nominated for a Daytime Emmy in the category of outstanding writing in an animated program and Outstanding Music Direction and Composition in 1993. Music was composed by Stephen James Taylor (character themes and underscore), Mark Watters, Eric Schmidt, Jerry Grant, Walter Murphy, and Craig Stuart Garfinkle. As of 2002, this program is no longer shown following a lawsuit filed against Disney for the breach of contract with use of the character Marsupilami in 1997 as the rights were handed back to Marsu Productions few years later.[3]