Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool is the 48th episode of Tiny Toon Adventures.
Segments
Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool
Babs introduces Buster, who is once again dressed as Mr. Popular. He says that he looks at what it takes to be cool, then asks if there are any questions. Shirley asks him what exactly is cool, and Buster shows her what's not cool on a television. On the screen is Hamton reading poetry and dressed according to his own tastes. Shirley asks if he is cool, and Buster invites her to find out.
At the Acme Looniversity Dance Hall, Babs says that Hamton has trouble keeping up with the latest trends. Hamton tells the other students to do the Hustle with him, but the other students give him a menacing look. Hamton asks if anyone wants to shake their booty with him, and he is kicked out of Acme Loo. Buster and Babs say that Hamton is pathetic and a victim of terminal nerdosity. Buster brings Hamton in to teach him how to be cool with his latest book, Mr. Popular's Guide to Being Cool. He then advertises various other items one could get by joining his fan club. Babs then mentions that people always come up to her and Buster and say, "Buster and Babs, how can I learn to be so cool?" Hamton asks that very question, and Babs tells him, "Go away, you complete social outcast!" Buster snatches Hamton and is about to say Babs' very line to him, until he wonders why he's saying it. Babs then realizes her mistake and tells Hamton that he needs Mr. Popular's course. Buster then tells Hamton his three step plan. Step #1: Throw away that moldy old poetry book, Step #2: Rip that little loop off the back of your shirt, and just as he is about to tell Hamton Step #3, Hamton, having lost his balance, falls down the stairs. Buster then tells Hamton that Step #3 is to watch out for it.
At the Cool Club, Arnold is working as bouncer, who will only let in those who are cool enough. At the back of the line, as Babs adjusts Hamton's necktie, Buster tells the viewers to see what happens to someone who didn't follow his course. At the front of the line, Concord is about to go inside, but Arnold snatches him and tells him that he doesn't look cool and must prove his coolness to get inside. Concord dances foolishly and is tossed out of the club by Arnold. When it is Hamton's turn, he is nervous, but as Buster pushes him along, Babs tells him to just remember the key to coolness; your attitude. Hamton tries to get into the club, but is stopped by Arnold. He walks away dizzily, and Fifi, thinking he has started a cool new dance, joins him. She then tells everyone to join in, and Shirley, Gogo, Dizzy, and Calamity form a conga line behind Hamton.
Buster asks Hamton what his opinion on his course is, but Hamton asks Buster if he can leave now. Buster snatches Hamton, and Babs tells him there is one last step to ultimate coolness. Buster tells Hamton he can't be cool if he listens to the wrong music. Babs goes through Hamton's record collection, much to Hamton's dismay, and Hamton tries to get a record back from Babs. Babs tells Hamton that he won't be needing his records now that he's cool. Hamton tells her he doesn't want to be cool, and Babs lets go of Hamton's record, launching him to the back of a record player and turning it on. He tries to turn it off, but ends up scratching the record. The audience dances to the sound of Hamton's record scratching, and compliments him for his coolness. Everyone leaves, taking Hamton with them. Buster and Babs end up arguing over what went wrong. After the argument, they end up realizing maybe they're not so cool after all. Suddenly, Babs has an idea on how they can get cool again.
Babs and Buster join everyone at the Cool Club, where Hamton has a job there as the disc jockey. Hamton raps.
Slugfest
In the second act, Buster is ready to answer more questions about being cool. He asks if anyone has a problem, and Michelangelo from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles asks him, what if he has a favorite TV show, likes one of the characters from it, and spends all of his money on its merchandise? Would it be cool? Buster replies by telling him that a cool person would find better things to spend their money on than merchandise. Having heard his answer, Michelangelo decides to return all the Mr. Popular merchandise he bought. Buster, shocked at hearing what Michelangelo said, nervously introduces the next cartoon.
Hamton arrives at Plucky's house and asks if he's home. Plucky drags Hamton inside and tells him he's just in time to watch his favorite show, Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs. After Plucky sings and dances to the show's opening credits, Hamton asks him if he watches the show every day. Plucky then tells Hamton that he is president of the IRSS fan club, and shows him all the latest merchandise. His ultimate wish is to be a Samurai Slug himself. The TV then advertises Samurai Slug Costumes made out of rugged paper-mache, available for $29.95 each. Plucky decides that costumes are just what he and Hamton need to be real Samurai Slugs. Unfortunately, neither him nor Hamton has any money. Hamton decides that they could become samurais the way the slugs did on TV. Plucky likes this idea.
Plucky makes costumes for him and Hamton out of potato sacks. Hamton tells Plucky the costumes don't look like the ones on TV, and Plucky tells him it's because he's not wearing the Samurai mask yet. He ties a headband tightly around Hamton, so that his eyes will bug out of it, and then ties one on himself the same way. He then gives Hamton and himself false teeth for the proper sneer. After their costumes are complete, they hear someone yelling. They decide to help that person in trouble, and set off in the Slugmobile, a car shaped like a slug, which goes very slow.
Inside her house, Elmyra Duff is trying to squish some slugs in her kitchen with a broom. Plucky and Hamton arrive and try to help her, but she sees them and thinks they are giant slugs. She hits them with her broom and chases after them. They run away from her and hide behind a fence. However, behind that fence is the Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs stunt show. The announcer, mistaking them for the real actors, starts the show, and Plucky and Hamton dodge the ninja stars thrown at them. Just then, a bunch of ninjas charge at them. Hamton asks Plucky what they should do, and Plucky decides to fight them. They pull out swords made of cardboard tubes, and the ninjas pretend to be beaten by them. Backstage, the actor playing the Iodizer puts on his costume, only to be snatched by the real Iodizer. After Plucky and Hamton have defeated the ninjas, the crowd cheers. Plucky takes a bow, only for Hamton to tap him on the shoulder. Behind them is the Iodizer, who calls the two of them "my arch enemies!" and plans to Iodize them. Plucky tries to explain to him that they are not the real Samurai Slugs, rather, they are a duck and pig in costumes. The Iodizer doesn't believe them, and chases after them.
Plucky and Hamton exit the stunt show, and they are unable to take their costumes off because Plucky forgot to put zippers on them. The Iodizer continues to chase them all the way to the Great Salt Flats of Utah. Just as the Iodizer confronts them, the League of Icky Crawly things decide to save them. They charge at the Iodizer, who squishes them. Plucky and Hamton hide out in the Elk's Lodge nearby, where the Elks have run out of salt lick. An announcer then tells the viewers what a salt lick is. The Elks once again say that they are out of salt lick, and Plucky tells them that The Iodizer is a salt lick. The Elks then start licking the Iodizer's salt shakers, attached to his fingers. They quickly chase after the now-terrified Iodizer out of the lodge. Hamton tells Plucky that he never wants to go through an experience like that again, but he has learned a valuable lesson. Plucky tries to guess what the lesson is by making various slug-themed puns (a slug in the hand is worth two in the bush, leave sleeping slugs lie, a rolling slug that gathers no moss), until an annoyed Hamton pours some salt on him, iodizing him. His moral of the story: "Just say no to slugs!"
Venison, Anyone?
In the third act, Mr. Popular asks if anyone has any more questions about being cool, and Montana Max decides that the coolest thing to him is a stuffed rabbit over the mantel. He pulls out a shotgun and chases after Buster, who tells him that it's not rabbit season, it's deer season. He shows him a picture of Vinnie the Deer, and Monty decides to go after Vinnie instead. Buster then tells the viewers that Vinnie will teach Monty a lesson about why game hunting is uncool.
At the forest, Vinnie the Deer is reading a magazine on a lawn chair, claiming he stands out in a crowd. Monty sets up his mansion and decides to hunt a deer. Having just heard what Monty said, the other deer run away, but Vinnie is not scared, and he decides to teach Monty a lesson. He asks Monty what he's doing with his shotgun, and Monty tells him he's going to hunt a deer. Vinnie tells Monty that deer are clever, but Monty claims he's smarter than deer and has sharper eyes. As Monty continues his hunt, Vinnie tells him there's a deer behind the bushes. Monty jumps into the bush, only to find a bear trap inside. Vinnie then tricks Monty into finding a deer under a boulder held up by a stick. As Monty looks under the boulder, Vinnie removes the stick and the boulder flattens Monty. Vinnie then tells Monty that there is a deer in a tree. Vinnie holds Monty's gun as Monty goes inside the tree, then he hits him and his head pops out of the other side. Monty suddenly realizes that Vinnie is a deer. Vinnie insultingly kisses Monty and runs off with his gun. Monty chases after Vinnie, who hides out in a summer camp, in the Arts and Crafts hall. He tosses the gun into the kiln, and sets it to Too Hot to Handle. Vinnie then tells the viewers never to play with guns. Monty catches up to vine and tells him that his gun is very expensive. Vinnie pulls the gun out of the oven, and it has now melted. Monty is angry, and wants his gun back. Vinnie tosses it into the air, and it lands on top of Monty, flattening him.
Having lost his gun, Monty decides that plan B of catching a deer will be setting a trap. He ties a rope to a tree and nails the other end down, so that when a deer steps in the rope, it will be caught by it. Vinnie sees the trap and pulls out the stake. Monty tells Vinnie to give the stake back, bu he steps into the trap, and is bounced around by the tree, which ends up launching him into space. Vinnie decides to save Monty and brings a pile of mattresses for him to land on. However, when Monty lands on the mattresses, there is an anvil underneath. Monty chases after Vinnie, only to find him under his hat. He continues to chase after Vinnie with a rope, and catches him in the rope. Monty then sees a sign behind Vinnie, and with Vinnie blocking out some of the sign, he thinks it says, DEER CAVE and all the deer are hiding inside. Monty goes inside the cave, only to be chased out by bears. Vinnie then reveals that the sign says, DEER KEEP OUT BEAR CAVE, and says, "I may be a poor, pitiful forest creature, but Mama didn't raise no fools!"
Allusions
- In "Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool", when Mr. Popular hocks merchandise, one of the items he holds is the "Ted Turner Coloring Book", a reference to Ted Turner's colorization of black and white movies and cartoons.
- In "Slugfest", Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs is a parody of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
- In "Slugfest", Dung Beetle Bailey is a parody of the comic strip character Beetle Bailey.
- In "Slugfest", one of the characters who comes to help Plucky and Hamton is Archie Leech. Archie Leech is a parody of classic film star Cary Grant, whose real name was Archie Leach.
- "Venison Anyone?" is a reference to a phrase associated with early Humphrey Bogart roles, "Tennis, anyone?"
- In "Venison Anyone?", Vinnie mentions Bambi from the 1942 Disney film of the same name.
Trivia
- In "Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool", after Hamton leaves the Cool Club dizzily, a duck that resembles an adult version of Plucky appears.
- In "Slugfest", while the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were all named after Renaissance artists, the four Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs, named Picasso, Warhol, Rockwell, and Grandma Moses. They're named after Pablo Picasso, Andy Warhol, Norman Rockwell, and Anna Mary Moses, four recognizable pop artists.
Cast
| Voice Actors: | Characters: |
|---|---|
| Charlie Adler | Buster Bunny |
| Tress MacNeille | Babs Bunny |
| Joe Alaskey | Plucky Duck |
| Don Messick | Hamton J. Pig, TV Executive |
| Cree Summer | Elmyra Duff, Mary Melody |
| Danny Cooksey | Montana Max |
| Gail Matthius | Shirley the Loon |
| Kath Soucie | Fifi La Fume |
| Rob Paulsen | Arnold the Pit Bull, Concord Condor, Grandma Moses |
| Jim Cummings | Iodizer, Elk |
| Roger Rose | Announcer, Michelangelo, Picasso, Rockwell |
| Brian Stokes Mitchell | Vinnie the Deer |
| Candi Milo | Sweetie Bird |
| Jeff Bennett | Warhol |
Quotes
- Babs: "You know, people always come up to us and say, 'Buster and Babs, how can I learn to be so cool?'."
- Hamton: "Buster and Babs, how can I learn to be cool?"
- Babs: "And we always tell them, 'Go away, you complete social outcast!'."
- The Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs theme song:
We're Immature Radioactive Samurai Slugs,
we love to thrash criminals and slice and dice thugs.
We're totally racidal gnarly dudes,
cowabunga homeboys with nothing to lose.
Our archenemies want us iodized,
but they can't beat us 'cause we're merchandised.
Count off! Picasso, Warhol, Rockwell, Grandma Moses!
So kick back, dweebs, it's the end of our rhyme,
the show's gonna start and it's time to slime!
- Plucky: "You got it all wrong, pal! We're not the real Samurai Slugs, we're just pretending!"
- Hamton: "Yeah, I'm really a pig!"
- Iodizer: "Very funny. And I'm not really the Iodizer. My friends call me 'Salty Pete'!"
- Elk: "Oh, darn it! We're out of salt lick!"
- Announcer: "For those of you raised in the city, a salt lick is a large block of salt that animals lick to replenish body minerals and avoid dehydration."
- Elk: "Ahem! Like I said, we're out of salt lick!"
- Vinnie: "Hey, Daniel Boob! What's with the gun?
- Montana Max: "I'm gonna shoot me a deer!
- Vinnie: "You think you'll find any? They're pretty clever."
- Montana Max: Yeah, but I'm smarter, and I've got sharp eyes!"
- Vinnie (to the viewers): You know, the other woodland creatures are too gentle to bother this guy. Good thing for them I'm around!
- Montana Max: "Wait a minute, you're a deer!"
- Vinnie: "You're kinda sweet yourself."
Gallery
Main article: Mr. Popular's Rules of Cool/Gallery
Home Video Releases
