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NOTE: this textisode was written just before news dropped about a Tiny Toon Adventures reboot coming soon to Cartoon Network

Dustin: as you're reading this the Animaniacs reboot has been released and people either love it or despise it as we're typing this the reboot has yet to be released but the trailer has proven it to be better than what we thought... even though Minerva Mink and many other characters were still cut...

Blake; Yeah. I'm actually pretty intrigued to see where the series goes from here; paying homage to the classic formula with some new spins ;)

Dustin: indeed but we're not talking about Animaniacs today rather a precursor made just before Animaniacs became the more well known Steven Spielberg Animated series and that is Tiny Toon Adventures!

Blake: Made as a new take on Looney Tunes but with a whole new generation, this series introduces characters who are successors to the Looney Tunes themselves. It started with Buster and Babs Bunny (no relation), and later other characters were introduced

Dustin: indeed there are a few we could talk about but today in Woodfox Talks & Rants Character Studies we're only gonna focus on one and for some people she's just as popular as Minerva Mink in a way

Blake: That's right; the successor to Pepe Le Pew known as Fifi La Fume

Dustin: before we get into Fifi let's go back to the hayday of the Looney Tunes with Pepe Le Pew now Pepe was a character created in the point of view of Chuck Jones using people such as Tedd Pierce, Jones himself and the rest from a French actor

Blake: That actor being Charles Boyer to be specific. Pepe's debut cartoon, Odor-able Kitty, was released on January 6th, 1945. He had a few tests runs, but his most successful cartoon was For Scent-imental Reasons, released on November 12, 1949. This cartoon would go on to win him an Oscar

Dustin: indeed this formula of a skunk chasing after a lady cat who he mistakes for a skunk would be rather familar as the years passed so much so it was used a few times for Fifi La Fume in Tiny Toons now unlike Minerva Fifi has been prominent in the show but still has quite a short line of main roles compared to characters like Buster, Babs, Plucky, ETC. so for this we'll be talking about all of Fifi's main cartoon roles if we mention every cameo, supporting and minor role episode here we'd be here all day let's get this started shall we?

Born to be Riled

Dustin: yes this episode does have Fifi in a main role despite this cartoon mostly centering on Babs but hey this is still quite an interesting one as this is the only episode where Fifi is wearing clothes

Blake: Well, one of them, but we'll get to that when we get to that. Anyway, it features Babs doing impressions of various Acme Loo students, but she takes it too far when she imitates Fifi and Shirley the Loon. So Fifi says, in a hurt tone; "Babs, you stink. And coming from a skunk, that's some insult!"

Dustin: so as a form of payback Babs' friends start impersonating her with pink bunny ears, yellow shirts, purple skirts and all even though this is one of Fifi's earlier appearances in a main role she did very nice here wouldn't you say? :)

Blake: Very nice. With vocal delivery by Kath Soucie, she sounds so adorable with her French accent :)

Dustin: yup but now it's time we get to her official starring role and this is the one where she takes after her successor ;)

Aroma Amore

Blake: In it, Furrball is running away from two bully cats. He then gets run over by a road painter painting white paint on the street. As you can expect, Furrball gets a white stripe down his back, making him look like a skunk. Fifi sees Furrball from the back, and gussies herself up (or down) to go after him

Dustin: now this cartoon similar to Meet Minerva is pretty much like a way to introduce to us who Fifi La Fume is and what she does which is in a way acting like a genderbent Pepe and very alluring in the body department :P

Blake: Right. It ends somewhat differently, as Furrball feels compassion for Fifi feeling left alone once Furrball covers the stripe on his back with blue paint. And he gets revenge on the two cats who chased him earlier XD

Dustin: indeed X3 now this would be the Fifi all of us would love but trust me we're just beginning to scratch the surface

Love Stinks

Dustin: since Furrball got a chance to be with Fifi let's try another character in this case it's Calamity Coyote in this one Calamity tries to catch Little Beeper both being like their successors Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner however after another trap fails this ends up getting Calamity covered head to toe in tar this is where Fifi comes into the picture

Blake: So basically, as Calamity tries to catch Beeper, Fifi intervenes with her intrigue of love between him. After a few cans of tar thinner, Calamity's back to normal. Beeper falls into Calamity's mess and Calamity gets his revenge by telling Fifi of Beeper ;)

Dustin: oh yes X3 this is funny the designs are a tad weird but hey not too bad honestly :)

Blake: That's what comes with different animation studios handling different episodes

Dustin: ain't that the truth

Out of Odor

Blake: Now we come to the worst one. I'm sorry, but it is, because it ends unhappily for her. Elmyra mistakes Fifi for a cat, even though Fifi's clearly a skunk. Elmyra stops at nothing to claim Fifi for herself, even going as far as dousing Fifi with tomato juice, which is one of the ways that skunk smell can be covered up

Dustin: yeah i can agree with you on that Elmyra even dresses up like Pepe Le Pew at one point knowing Fifi has a crush on her teacher [seriously that's a thing but still funny] so Fifi decides to stop Elmyra once and for all by shooting her skunk smell Rambo style on her

Blake: But as it turns out, Elmyra is allergic to roses, to the point where during a rose parade, Elmyra's nose gets so stuffed up she can't smell a thing. Boo!

Dustin: yeah i think Fifi deserves better than an ending where she becomes Elmyra's "cat" hell Animaniacs gave Elmyra her comeuppance in that one crossover episode!

Blake: Right. Speaking of which, there's an episode of sorts that is a sequel to this one

Dustin: indeed but we'll get to that soon

The Amazing Three

Dustin: surprisingly enough this is the only episode in the second season where Fifi has a main role and for many it's quite possibly an amazing episode for not just Fifi but Babs and Shirley as well

Blake: Right. In it, Fifi gets an invitation to the senior dance at Perfecto Prep (by her own means ;) ) and Babs and Shirley, wanting to spend time with sophisticated guys, go to rub elbows with the classy gents. So after a little makeover from the Acme little wonder make up kit, they get all dressed up and are looking fabulous :)

Dustin: ooooo yeah Fabulous is right! :D

Trainboy7 Percy: wow... pretty ladies OuO

Blake: Yeah; though they do look more mature for their actual ages. So Babs and Shirley try to get close and cozy with the guys... but it doesn't go as well for them. For Fifi on the other hand, a handsome skunk man chases after her. However, as Babs pulls Fifi to safety, a punch bowl spills on top of Shirley, covering her in a red mess, similar to the Steven King movie, Carrie (only it's punch instead of pig's blood)

Dustin: and like Carrie Shirley uses psychic powers which causes the party to end with a massive flood and the girls decided to stay their old immature ages a little while longer this one was pretty cool and out of all three girls in this episode Fifi's makeup look is the best one here in my opinion and i'm not saying that just because this textisode is all about Fifi

Blake: Right. But they're especially their best when they're themselves :)

Dustin: no doubt about that... i wonder if i can get Jasmine to wear the same outfit as Fifi? ^///^

The Horror of Slumber Party Mountain

Blake: Now this episode is fun to watch around Halloween :) In it, Babs, Shirley, and Fifi are having a getaway at Slumber Party Mountain, and they're terrorized by the guys of a legend of One eyed Jack... until the legend turned out to be true

Dustin: even though i haven't seen this in full as of yet this looks like a fun spooky episode and since Fifi is in this episode there's this bit where she actually takes on One-Eyed Jack and sprays him

Blake: Oh, if you haven't seen it in full yet, I would advise you do so; it's got good spooky twists and turns, and hosts Elmyra, Mistress Who's a Dork (a parody of Elvira, Mistress of the Dark)

Dustin: i'll do so sometime ;)

The Undersea World of Fifi

Dustin: unfortunately this is the last episode where Fifi is in a main role and she's mostly used as a narrator say in the style of Jean-Michel Coustau [you know the guy who was in that one feature on the 2003 DVD of Finding Nemo where Marlin, Dory & Nemo keep upstaging him?] while Elmyra mostly has the gags here

Blake: While this episode is more focused on Elmyra with her looking for the elusive sea monkeys, it's still good to see Fifi in the spotlight :)

Dustin: yeah i would say it's better than Out of Odor wouldn't you say?

Blake: Oh, 100% better

Dustin: indeed now while this is Fifi's last main appearance in the show she does have a main role in one of the movies

How I Spent My Vacation - Fifi La Fume's Story

Blake: Right; it's summer vacation, three months away from Acme Loo :) Fifi is hoping to catch the eye of acclaimed movie star of Skunknophobia, Johnny Pew. He may be hunky, but for some reason, he refuses to autograph Fifi's picture of him. But he does let her do stuff for him... like she's a slave girl X//<

Dustin: this movie is what i call the movie with a lot of subplots but it's still pretty entertaining along with Fifi's main plot which is our main focus here for this textisode the rest of the movie has Buster & Babs on a river adventure, Plucky & Hampton on a road trip to a theme park ala National Lampoon's Vacation, Fowlmouth and Shirley going to see the aforementioned Skunknophobia and Elmyra visiting a Nature Park Fifi's story with the exception of Johnny Pew treating her horribly especially when he gives her autographed photo to another skunk girl who the internet calls her Bimbette is honestly my favorite story in this movie

Blake: It was especially worth it when Fifi stands up for herself and knocks Johnny Pew down a peg or two. she literally kicks him in the butt and propels him to Elmyra, who you may remember mistakes skunks for cats. Sweet sweet revenge >=3

Dustin: oh yes :)

Impact of Fifi La Fume:

Dustin: even though Tiny Toon Adventures ended and the crew moved on to Animaniacs which was twice as successful many fans never forget how great this show was along with the characters especially Fifi so much so fans show quite a lot of love for the skunk either normally or... in different ways

Blake: Yeah... which is pretty odd considering Fifi is only 13 years old xP

Dustin: yeah but all & all Fifi is quite influential in a way i'm pretty sure my friend Toonfan0 has his artstyle loosely based on how Fifi looked with a little bit of mouth work based on Eric W. Schwartz in his earlier drawings and that's not bad :) another memory i remember is a YouTube series i used to voice in Trainboy7's fan Thomas series where he had some... creative ideas for Fifi...

Blake: Yeah, but he focuses more on original content these days :) Still, Fifi is a character that we can all learn to enjoy; even I've been casted to voice as her on occasion. I'm no Kath Soucie, but I do my best :)

Dustin: indeed i think we wrapped things up nicely wouldn't you say-- [ZAP!!!] [Dustin is then seen turned into a skunk] what the?! [sees Blake with the animal changing remote from Dexter's Laboratory] what was that for?! :o

Blake: I thought it would help you get used to the smell :)

Dustin: [looks at his skunk tail confused] but i'm not smelly right now...

Blake: See? It's your skunk senses ;)

Dustin: okay... so why am i a skunk then aside from that smell thing?

Blake: Oh, what the heck; I wanted to see what you looked like as one :) That and...

Fifi: Ooh, la la~ Mon giant skunk hunk!

Dustin: oh i see now :) [gets yanked by her] YAH!

Fifi: (kissing noises)

Dustin: ah! ooo! watch that!

[Blake watches the two snickering]

Blake: Ain't I a stinker ;)

~skullz & Fuwa out