alexmpw
I know that pilots are often unpolished and not quite what the series may be like on average, but could this get any more infuriating? I mean, I don't hate Bubsy by a long stretch, and this pilot does genuinely have some good things going for it. For what I've seen, it looks like it could have been a mixture of Heathcliff and The Twisted Tales of Felix the Cat, both really surreal yet entertaining shows.But this. This. THIS. Gah. Rob Paulsen and the cast give it their all, but the plotting's atrocious, the animation's just plain ugly (look at Bubsy on the thumbnail, just look at him!!) and the humour is just not there (outside of idiotic and unfunny jokes). What really grinds my gears is that they had the opportunity to give the disliked character a personality overhaul that might have made him more marketable, but they chose to make him even more unlikable.If someone were to remake this into a serviceable pilot, I wouldn't complain, provided that they fix these problems and mix some originality into it.
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"Bubsy" is a 25-minute small-screen cartoon from 1993, so this one will have its 25th anniversary next year. The director is Tom (not Tim) Burton and he is also one of the writers who created this pilot episode. There was the possibility that this could be turned into a series of several episodes, maybe even several seasons, but eventually it did not get picked up and Bubsy became a more known character in the world of video games. It is a little bobcat (red lynx) who has to save the world when a powerful helmet that grants any wish you have gets in the hands of an evil lady. Luckily, he has his friends (and nephews) there to help him cope with the situation. Not that he needed them because what could possibly go wrong? I personally must say this was an interesting little movie. Yes the title character is a bit annoying and I guess that's why this film has such a low rating here on IMDb. But the supporting characters are funny, especially the bad guys. The ideas are absurd, but in animation that's often a good and not a bad thing and here I#d say so as well. There were more than just a few quotes that worked out nicely in my opinion and references to Elvis or so make this also a solid watch for grown-ups. The moments with the live action inclusions were a bit random though, but not all bad either. I am not sure if they could have kept this level up for an entire series, especially in terms of the entertainingly awkward spirit, but it should have been worth a try and maybe I'd even have watched it. The very experienced and prolific voice actors did a good job as well for the most part. Overall, I recommend Bubsy and I found it a positive surprise.
Bootterra
This pilot, which aired on Thanksgiving 1993 alongside the Battletoads pilot, is very decent.The Bubsy cartoon pilot starts out with an intro that doesn't use footage found elsewhere in the episode. After the intro, we see Bubsy Bobcat wake up his unwilling sidekick, an armadillo named Arnold, who has a fear of being ran over by a truck (and was having a nightmare about it). Arnold fears Bubsy more than a truck, however. Bubsy's twin niece and nephew, Teresa and Terrence Bobcat, are visiting him for their birthday. They harass Arnold. Bubsy not noticing his friend is scared, turns on the TV to the news, when the anchor is finishing up a story of armadillos being ran over by trucks. This makes Arnold freak out, and he curls into a ball. The twins thinks he wants to play, so they use him as both a basketball and bowling ball. The news goes on to a story about an scientist and his assistant, Virgil Reality and Oblivia, who invented a helmet that can alter reality. Bubsy then says he wants to test the helmet. When asked why, Bubsy gives a speech complete with black and white live action stock footage. However, it seems a female fat cat, named Ally Cassandra, who is the show's main villain, was watching too. She quickly calls for her henchmen, Sid the Vicious Shrew and Bozwell Buzzard, who quickly comes. Ally tells the duo to steal the helmet. Bubsy meanwhile, makes it to Virgil's lab after calling to test the helmet. Oblivia answers the door, and she gets Bubsy's name wrong. Bubsy asks how the helmet works, and Virgil tells him. Bubsy goes on to wish he could fly, which causes him to fall from a great height along with the the rest of the cast. Arnold ends up with the helmet and his fear of trucks takes over. Bubsy grabs the helmet and has everyone (minus Arnold) sent back to the lab. Arnold then crashes through the roof. The twins end up with the helmet and greedily wish for birthday presents. Sid and Bozwell come flying in, only for Sid to get injured instead. Bubsy realizing that the twins must have the helmet, goes outside to look for them. Finding the twins have turned the area into a carnival, Bubsy gives another speech before getting hit and dragged by the coaster car, with Sid and Bozwell already seated in the coaster car. Both Virgil and Oblivia run away. Bozwell and Sid get sick, while Bubsy orders the twins to stop the coaster. The twins follow their uncle's orders, but the Bozwell, Sid, Bubsy, and Arnold fly off. The twins (who made themselves giant with the helmet) step on Bubsy and Arnold. Bubsy scolds the twins, who cry because its their birthday. Bozwell and Sid get the helmet and the twins. Ally now has the helmet, and Bozwell and Sid want to cook the twins. After getting upset, Bubsy cheers up and gets his motivation back. Virgil offers Bubsy a high tech device to track the helmet, but Bubsy opts to look up the villains in the phone book and call them. After out smarting Sid, Bozwell informs Ally of the situation. Ally tells Bozwell and Sid not to answer the door, but Bubsy out smarts Sid again. The helmet gets tossed back and forth, having both dreams and nightmares become reality. Bubsy gets the helmet, but it seems it is about to explode Bubsy, risking his own life as well all the other major characters in the show, he has the villains tied up by using the helmet. Oblivia gets Bubsy's name right. Bubsy gives yet another speech, and puts the helmet back on, but instead of exploding, it electrocutes Bubsy and Arnold ending the episode.The show does rely on puns, running gags, and stock footage a lot. Also Bubsy's catch phrase is used a lot (it is even the name of the episode). 3 times in the pilot Bubsy gives a speech and with 3 different pieces of stock footage (meaning that there were 9 different pieces of stock footage in the one episode). Oblivia doesn't get Bubsy name right until the end of the episode and her name is a joke (literally). Virgil's name is also a pun. There are some other running gags like a truck gag, Bubsy abusing Arnold, and Sid being abused. The plot is silly too. The pilot is also a little dated, even for 1993. The villains weren't in the original game (the only one out at the time).But the reason why I ranked it so high is because it is actually still fun to watch (for me at least). I can see that the show wasn't suppose to take itself real seriously. The show has all star voice talents. Also one could argue that the villains from the game (the Woolies) were meant to show up later in the series. Also, at least 1 of the villain designs and 3 of the heroes were used in Bubsy II (and at least another hero on the box art). I feel like, in terms of cartoons, Bubsy could certainly be rebooted into something much better for a wider audience, and with the new Bubsy (reboot) game coming out later this year, that might be a real possibility.
