Basic Spraining

Basic Spraining

September 22, 1993 TV Episode Bonkers

Studio
Walt Disney Television Animation
Animation studio
Walt Disney Animation (Australia), Inc
Distributor
Buena Vista Television

Synopsis

Criminal mastermind Mackey Muslim sets up a phony police training academy as a trap for Bonkers and Lucky.

Characters

Bonkers D. Bobcat, Lucky Piquel, Police Chief Kanifky, Dil Piquel, Marilyn Piquel

Credits

Directing

Director
David Block

Producing

Producer
Robert Taylor

Writing

Writer
Kathryn Perdue

Voices

Voice
Jim Cummings (Bonkers, Lucky Piquel), Earl Boen (Police Chief Kanifky), Sherry Lynn (Marilyn Piquel), April Winchell (Dil), Peter Cullen

Music

Music
Mark Watters
Title Theme By
Randy Petersen, Kevin Quinn

Editing

Editor
Sam Horta

Crew

Story Editor
Bruce Talkington
Voice Director
Ginny McSwain
Supervising Animation Director
Karen Peterson
Animation Directors
William Houchins, Bob Shellhorn
Timing Director
Richard Trueblood
Storyboard
David Prince, Rich Chidlaw
Layout Development
J. Michael Spooner
Key Background Stylists
Derek Carter, Tom Foxmarnick, Jim Schlenker, Colette Van Mierlo, Greg Battes, Brooks Campbell
Character Design
Kevin Wurzer, Alex Mann, Shawn Keller, J. Tom Owes, Jr.
Background Development
Gary Eggleston
Color Key Stylist
Britt Teegarden
Prop Design
Tom Foxmarnick
Assistant Producer
Larry Smith
Storyboard Revisions
Stark Howell
Continuity Coordinators
Vonnie Batson, Jim Finch, Kathrin Victor
Track Reading
Skip Craig
Associate Producer Music
Bambi Moe
Animation Supervisor
Shigeru Yamamoto
Director
Saburo Hashimoto
Animation and Animation Direction
Animal House
Backgrounds
Animal House
Post Production Sound Supervisor
Timothy J. Borquez
Supervision Sound Editor
John O. Robinson III
Supervising Music Editor
Brian F. Mars
Sound Editors
Michael Geisler, Thomas Jaeger, Michael A. Gollom, Rick Freeman, Greg LaPlante, Kenneth Young, Timoth Garrity
Music Editors
Alex Wilkinson, William Griggs
Dialogue Editors
Craig Paulsen, Jennifer Mertens
Post Production Manager
Cheryl Murphy
Post Production Supervisor
Jeffrey Arthur
Sound Dubbing Supervisor
Christopher Keith
Talent Coordinator
Jamie Thomason
Production Assistants
Nanci Battelle, Richard Salazar, Johanne Beaudoin, Yolanda Saylor, Connie Gombert, Karen Silva, Anita Lish, Craig Simpson, John Royer, Steve Werner

Companies and other credits

  • Animation Production by: Walt Disney Animation (Japan) Inc
  • Additional Production Facility: Morning-Sun Studio
  • © 1993 Walt Disney Company
  • ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Production notes

Life used to be golden for Bonkers D. Bobcat. Back in his Raw Toonage days, the zany bobcat was a cartoon star, appearing in regular "Here's Bonkers" segments with sidekick Jitters A. Dogg, lovely Fawn Deer, and arch-enemy Grumbles Grizzly. Bonkers was a Toon Town icon, but fame is a fickle beast. By the time Bonkers moved from Raw Toonage supporting segments to his own, self-titled series, the former star was out of work.

The new Bonkers! series took a page from Who Framed Roger Rabbit, teaming Bonkers with "real-life" police officers to solve crimes in Tinseltown. Starting as a down-on-his-luck "former 'toon star," Bonkers turned his life around by inadvertently saving the life of world-renowned cartoon actor Donald Duck. Police Chief Kanifky, looking for some political support from Toon Town, gave Bonkers a spot on the force.

In the first season of Bonkers episodes, the manic spotted feline was teamed with Sergeant Francis Grating and Sergeant Miranda Wright. He was later partnered with Detective Lucky Piquel, a gruff, lantern-jawed straight arrow (Curiously, this second series of episodes was placed chronologically first, meaning Sgt. Piquel had actually been Bonkers' original partner). Since Grating, Wright, and Piquel were all "humans," they weren't able to take the same level of abuse as their wacky partner, but this never stopped Bonkers from repeatedly getting them in sticky situations.

Also like Roger Rabbit, the characters on Bonkers often ran into familiar residents of Toon Town, including Alice in Wonderland's Mad Hatter, the brooms from Fantasia, and even Mickey Mouse himself. Some of these famous toons were being hunted and kidnapped by Bonkers' new nemesis, the Collector.

After splitting from the Raw Toonage package in early 1993, Bonkers first ran on the Disney Channel. That fall, the show moved into syndication as part of The Disney Afternoon block. In all, 65 episodes of the show were produced, running two full seasons of unbridled wackiness.