Johnny Bravo

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo title card
Format Animated television series
Created by Van Partible
Voices of Jeff Bennett
Mae Whitman
Tom Kenny
Larry Drake
Brenda Vaccaro
Donny Osmond
Country of origin United States
No. of seasons 4
No. of episodes 65 (List of episodes)
Production
Running time 30 minutes (7 minutes per short)
Broadcast
Original channel Cartoon Network (and Boomerang)
Teletoon (Canada)
TV2 (NZ)
Original run July 14, 1997 – August 27, 2004
External links
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Johnny Bravo is an American animated series created by Van Partible. It premiered on July 7, 1997 on Cartoon Network, ran for 65 episodes and 5 seasons, and temporarily stopped its run on February 14, 2003.

Johnny Bravo originally appeared in two animated shorts created for Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons and was one of several characters to be given an ongoing series. Many celebrities starred on the show as well. A running gag on the show is the use of the term "Lunchlady Surprise." It is used for movies, songs, and other things.

The show originally aired using the same creative format as the original animated shorts. However, due to poor ratings, the show was completely retooled for the following seasons, changing the animation style and several character's personalities. This edgier, less-campy format helped to boost the show's popularity. The show's final season returned to the original format, which received similarly poor results and proved to be very short-lived. Later he was in a show named JBVO which lasted a half hour, and the viewers could call and ask what show they would want to watch. The show was off the air about a year later

Some of the other directors include: Robert Alvarez, Kent Butterworth, Russell Calarese, John McIntyre, Rumen Petkov, and Kirk Tingblad.

Contents

[edit] Main Characters

  • Johnny Bravo (voiced by Jeff Bennett)—Johnny has the looks of James Dean and sounds like Elvis Presley, except for having a Fonzie-like appearance. He is incredibly narcissistic and dim-witted. One notable exception was the Cartoon Network "1st 13th Annual Fancy Anvil Award Show Spectacular Live In Stereo," during which Johnny served as the host and was very witty and suave. He is also notable for the distinctive sound effects that accompany his often blindingly quick movements (usually done while trying to impress women) the crack of a bullwhip being the most popular, along with his muscles flexing and shown in a bodybuilder fashion. In every appearance he wears his trademark sunglasses, and in the episode "My Fair Dork"[citation needed] it was revealed that his confidence in getting the girls comes from them. The only episodes where he can be seen without his sunglasses on is in "Bravo Dooby Doo" when he briefly wears Velma's glasses by mistake and in :Jonny Makeover" when he wears another pair of sunglasses to help boost his popularity. A running gag of the show is Johnny Bravo's constant and incorrigible inability to successfully attract women.
Though the name "Johnny Bravo" dates back to an episode of The Brady Bunch (as a stage name for Greg Brady), Van Partible stated in an interview for Cartoon Network that he derived the name from his full given name, "Giovanni Bravissimo Partible".[1]
  • Bunny Bravo (voiced by Brenda Vaccaro)—Johnny's mother—a rather atypical person—she seems to have a lively past and sometimes reveals some surprising hidden talent or other. In the show's original format, she was a calm, nurturing woman, although she was made into a louder, more extroverted character once the show was retooled. She's very dedicated to her son, although she's aware of his low intellect and womanizer attitude, so she sometimes does not treat him and his problems seriously. Nothing is ever heard or seen of Johnny's father.
  • Suzy (voiced by Mae Whitman)—a little red-haired girl (5-years-old) from the neighborhood (often called "Little Neighbor girl" by Johnny), very cunning and talkative. In many episodes she is shown to have a major crush on Johnny. Her parents were never shown. She is often connected to big time celebrities by blood or by family relations. It was revealed in an episode about her birthday that Farrah Fawcett is her cousin.
  • Carlos "Carl" Chryniszzswics (voiced by Tom Kenny)—local genius and geek, very intelligent, but somewhat eccentric and timid. He was introduced after the show's retooling following the end of the first season, and seems to be Johnny's only friend, although he often denies that. He sometimes uses Johnny for his experiments' sake, and used to bully him in high school, as Carl was much taller than Johnny at the time. Carl remained in the show after the return to the original style, but was relegated to smaller roles.
  • Pops (voiced by Larry Drake)—greedy owner of a local chili restaurant, could be considered as Johnny's substitute father. Alas, his tips and advice often turn out to be useless and provoke trouble for Johnny and the gang. His chili is made from rather suspicious ingredients and he serves food made from many animals, such as possums, pandas, seals and bald eagles. Like Carl, Pops was introduced in Season Two after the show's drastic retooling and remained even after the return to the original format, although he was relegated to brief cameo roles.
  • Master Hamma(voice unknown)—a martial arts instructor where Johnny works as a janitor and does other things that he needs done. Johnny has also taken, and failed, several of the martial arts classes, although he claims to be the master of all known forms of combat. Like Carl and Pops, Masster Hamma was introduced after the series was dramatically retooled, whereas Johnny have a previous unnamed martial arts teacher in the show's original format.
  • Donny Osmond (voiced by himself)—Often used as a minor, laughingly useless character in some key episodes, Donny is seen as cheery and extremely optimistic to the point of foolishness. This personality is a stark contrast to often very serious Johnny, thus causing tension between himself and Donny. In his first appearance he was Johnny's nanny. Donny only appeared in the show's original format, limiting his appearances to seasons one and four.
  • Jungle Boy (voice unknown)- A little boy with incredible strength who lived in the jungle with talking animals. His appearances on the series were short lived and he can only been seen in the Season 1 episodes.

[edit] Guest Appearances

The series has had numerous guest stars, which include: Don Knotts, Jessica Biel, Alec Baldwin, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Luke Perry, Farrah Fawcett, Vendela Kirsebom, Adam West, Dionne Warwick, Mick Jagger, Richard Simmons, Mr. T, Mark Hamill, Shaquille O'Neal, Seth Green, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong, Chuck D, Jeffrey Tambor, Tia Carrere, and Laraine Newman.

Other, more famous Hanna-Barbera characters have appeared in Johnny Bravo Episodes, including the cast of Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, The Blue Falcon, and Huckleberry Hound

Johnny Bravo also appeared as the host in a Cartoon Network-produced request show, JBVO. the series, however, was short-lived and lasted only a few episodes.

Johnny has also hosted Cartoon Cartoon Fridays a number of times, mostly during the premiere of a new episode of his own show and rarely hosting a new episode of a different cartoon cartoon.

A live-action movie was planned, green-lighted and even did some casting (professional wrestler turned actor The Rock (Dwayne Johnson) was cast as the title character.)[1] It was slated for a November 2006 release, but for unknown reasons was canceled. It's unknown if plans will continue at all with the movie or not.

[edit] JBVO Series

JBVO was a short-lived television series on Cartoon Network. The series aired on Sundays from April 2, 2000 to May 21, 2001. The series was hosted by Johnny Bravo, along with some infrequent guest stars such as Chicken (From Cow and Chicken). Callers would write in to the show via mail or through the Cartoon Network website to call the show and request a cartoon from Cartoon Network's cartoon library, which would then be played, with an exception of half hour-long shows. Notably, one caller of the show requested an episode of Dragon Ball Z, being it was a half hour long, Johnny regretfully had to fast-forward through the entire episode with Johnny providing only expositional commentary. Afterward, Johnny apologized to the caller for the inconvenience.

[edit] Nascar

The #5 Kellogg's Chevrolet was given a special paint scheme with Johnny Bravo on the hood. It was driven by Kyle Busch in the 2005 Sharpie 500 NASCAR race.

[edit] DVD Releases

Johnny Bravo: Season 1, a two-disc set featuring the complete first season which contains all 13 episodes, was released by Madman Entertainment in Australia and New Zealand (Region 4) on October 10th, 2007.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Variety Warner sez 'Bravo' to scribe duo by Cathy Dunkley. Variety, 30 October 2003. (Page retrieved 9 April 2007. Full article is subscription only, but summary confirms the announcement of the film and its star).

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to:
v • d • e
Cartoon Network Original Series
Cartoon Cartoons
Cartoon Network Studios Originals
Upcoming shows