Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network, and the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons. The series centers on the titular character Johnny Bravo, a muscular and boorish man who tries to get women to date him, though he is usually unsuccessful. He ends up in bizarre situations and predicaments, often accompanied by celebrity guest characters such as Adam West or Donny Osmond. Pop culture references and sly adult-oriented jokes comprise much of the show's humor.

Partible pitched the series to Hanna-Barbera's animation showcase What a Cartoon!, basing it on his senior thesis project he produced while attending Loyola Marymount University. A pilot short aired on Cartoon Network in 1995, and was followed by two more shorts; the popularity of the shorts led to the network commissioning a half-hour series, which premiered on July 14, 1997. The series was renewed for a second season in 1999, during which Partible left and the show was retooled under the direction of Kirk Tingblad. In 2003, Partible returned to the series for a fourth season, restoring it to its original format and style. It ended on August 27, 2004, with a total of four seasons and 67 episodes.

Johnny Bravo received generally positive reviews and is regarded as an iconic Cartoon Network series. During its run, the series was nominated for 4 Annie Awards, 1 YoungStar Award, and 2 Golden Reel Awards. The series is notable for helping launch the careers of several cartoonists, including Seth MacFarlane and Butch Hartman. Spin-off media include comic books, DVD and VHS releases, collectible toys, and video games.

The series centers on Johnny Bravo (voiced by Jeff Bennett), a muscular, boorish, and dimwitted womanizer with a pompadour hairstyle and an Elvis-like voice. Episodes typically revolve around him trying to get a woman to go on a date with him, though his advances are usually rejected and result in the woman in question causing him harm in a comedic way. Johnny's companions are Bunny "Momma" Bravo (Brenda Vaccaro), his lively, extroverted mother; Little Suzy (Mae Whitman), a talkative and intelligent little girl from the neighborhood who has a crush on Johnny; Carl Chryniszzswics (Tom Kenny), an eccentric and timid nerd who idolizes Johnny despite being bullied by him; and Pops (Larry Drake), the greedy owner of the local diner who provides advice to Johnny.

Recurring characters in the series include Master Hamma (Brian Tochi), a Japanese martial arts instructor who teaches Johnny; Donny Osmond (himself), a cheery and optimistic teen idol who irritates Johnny; and Jungle Boy (Cody Dorkin), a little boy who resides in the jungle with talking animals and possesses incredible strength.

Much of the series' humor is derived from celebrity guest star appearances and references to popular culture. For example; one episode of the first season is based around homages to The Twilight Zone,[1] and in another episode, one of the Village People can be seen in the background.[2] The series has had numerous guest stars, including Adam West, Shaquille O'Neal, and Donny Osmond. In the first season, creator Van Partible intended for the show's middle segment to be a form of "Johnny Bravo Meets...", a parody of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, which would features appearances from popular 1970s icons, but guest stars were used informally after the second season began.[3][4] Many Hanna-Barbera characters had cameo appearances in the series, including the cast of Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, Jabberjaw, Fred Flintstone, Yogi Bear, The Blue Falcon, Black Widow, and Huckleberry Hound.

Adult humor is found in many episodes of the show. In one episode, when Suzy calls Johnny to ask if he wants to come over, Johnny nonchalantly tells her to "[call] back in 15 years when [she is] a co-ed." In regard to the adult humor, Butch Hartman stated "...being concerned with the content of the episodes wasn't our main focus", and creator Van Partible remembers that "No one was really watching Cartoon Network [...] As far as content, they were pretty lenient on all the kind of things that were going on."[3]

Production[edit]
Development[edit]
While attending Loyola Marymount University, Van Partible produced his senior thesis project Mess O' Blues (1993), an animated short film about an Elvis Presley impersonator.[3] Partible's animation professor showed the film to a friend who worked for Hanna-Barbera, and the studio loved the film. They asked Partible to develop it into a pitch for a seven-minute short, prompting him to sell the project to Hanna-Barbera.[4]

For the new short, Partible revised his main character from Mess O' Blues, renaming him "Johnny Bravo" and making him "this '50s iconic James Dean-looking character that talked like Elvis." Voice actor Jeff Bennett was cast as Johnny, based solely on his young, hyped Elvis impression.[3] Partible, with a small team of animators, animated the short themselves in-house at Hanna-Barbera using digital ink and paint.[2]

The short, titled Johnny Bravo, was aired on Cartoon Network's animation showcase, World Premiere Toons,[3] on March 26, 1995. Two more shorts followed: Jungle Boy in "Mr. Monkeyman" and Johnny Bravo and the Amazon Women.

According to creator Van Partible, the main character was named Johnny Bravo because the name originated from The Brady Bunch episode Adios, Johnny Bravo (1973), where Greg Brady was nicknamed "the next Johnny Bravo". The name was also derived from Partible's middle name, Giovanni Bravo, which Giovanni is also an Italian name for Johnny.[5]

Original seasons[edit]
The popularity of the shorts led to Cartoon Network commissioning a first season of Johnny Bravo, consisting of 13 episodes. The crew of the first season consisted of several writers, animators, and directors from World Premiere Toons, including Seth MacFarlane, Butch Hartman, Steve Marmel, and John McIntyre. Veteran animator Joseph Barbera also served as a creative consultant and mentor for the first season.[6][7] Partible stated in a 1997 interview that the goal of the series was to have "animation reminiscent of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons".[7]

Johnny Bravo premiered on July 14, 1997,[8] and the first season completed production in December of that year.

Retool[edit]
After the first season, Johnny Bravo was put on hiatus, until it was picked up for an unexpected second season in 1999. Van Partible left production and Kirk Tingblad took over as director, leading to a major retooling in the show's visual style, tone, humor, and characters. The show retained this format for the third season.

The series sat in limbo once again until it was renewed for a fourth season in 2003, which aired in 2004. The final season of the series returned to the humor of the original shorts and first season of the series (although the Jungle Boy characters from the first season never returned).