Johnny Bravo

Johnny Bravo
File:Johnny Bravo.jpg Johnny Bravo title card
Created by	Van Partible
Voices of	Jeff Bennett Mae Whitman Tom Kenny Larry Drake Brenda Vaccaro Donny Osmond
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	65 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (7 minutes per short)
Original release
Network	Cartoon Network
Release	July 7, 1997 – 2004

Johnny Bravo is an American animated television series created by Van Partible. It premiered on July 7, 1997 on Cartoon Network, ran for 65 episodes and 4 seasons, and temporarily stopped its run on February 14, 2003.

Johnny Bravo originally appeared in two animated shorts created for Cartoon Network's World Premiere Toons and was one of several characters to be given an ongoing series.

Among some of the other directors include: Robert Alvarez, Kent Butterworth, Russell Calarese, John McIntyre, Rumen Petkov, and Kirk Tingblad.

Seasons

The first season was mostly written and animated by Van Partible with Butch Hartman (creator of The Fairly OddParents) and Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy). However, after the first season, Cartoon Network "retooled" the series, without Partible's involvement, with new writers and new character designs. Partible returned, along with McFarlane and Hartman, for a third retooling, returning the show to its original style. The third retooling was met with a very poor reception however, and lasted for only a few episodes.

Plot

Main article: List of Johnny Bravo episodes

Johnny Bravo, set in the fictional Aron City, tells the story of the boorish skirt-chasing eponymous character constantly searching for a woman willing to date him. Though he can be successful, something almost always goes wrong (Johnny either ends up getting pummeled by the girl of the week, or ends up the victim of one of the show's twists, or is left in strange predicaments).

Johnny is unemployed and lives with his mother Bunny Bravo. In some episodes, however he is seen working as a janitor for his karate instructor Master Hamma.

Johnny's name is mostly a throwback to an episode of the Brady Bunch, wherein Greg Brady wanted to be a rock star using the "hip" alias 'Johnny Bravo' and later, more episodes that consist of Greg become a womanizer and influenced by the trend of psychedelia. These episode was one of the sitcom's most famous because of its laughable attempt to relate to the young audience and most likely influenced the style of the Johnny Bravo cartoon.

Main Characters

File:JohnnyBravo.jpg

The title character, Johnny Bravo.

• Johnny Bravo (character) (voiced by Jeff Bennett) — Johnny has the looks of James Dean and sounds like Elvis Presley, except for having a Fonzie-like appearance. He is incredibly narcissistic and dim-witted. One notable exception was the Cartoon Network "Golden Anvil Awards," during which Johnny served as the host and was very witty and suave. He is also notable for the distinctive sound effects that accompany his often blindingly quick movements (usually done while trying to impress women) the crack of a bullwhip being the most popular, along with his muscles flexing and shown in a bodybuilder fashion. In every appearance he wears his trademark sunglasses, and in the episode "My Fair Dork" it was revealed that his confidence in getting the girls comes from them.
• Bunny Bravo (voiced by Brenda Vaccaro) — Johnny's mother — a rather atypical person — she seems to have a "flower power" past and sometimes reveals some surprising hidden talent or other. She's very dedicated to her son, although she's aware of his low intellect and womanizer attitude, so she sometimes does not treat him and his problems seriously. Nothing is ever heard or seen of Johnny's father.
• Little Suzy (voiced by Mae Whitman) — a little red-haired girl (8-year-old) from the neighborhood (often called "neighbor girl" by Johnny), very cunning and talkative. She seemed to have a crush on Johnny in earlier seasons, and bonded with Mrs Bravo in the later seasons the most, whilst retaining some feelings for Bravo. Her parents were never shown. She is often connected to big time celebrities by blood or by family relations. It was revealed in an episode about her birthday that Farrah Fawcett is her cousin.
• Carl Chryniszzswics (voiced by Tom Kenny) — local genius and geek, very interested in science, but somehow weird and timid. He seems to be Johnny's only friend, although Johnny often denies that. He sometimes uses Johnny as a guinea pig for his experiments' sake. He used to bully Johnny in high school, as he was much taller than Johnny.
• Pops (voiced by Larry Drake) — greedy owner of a local chili restaurant, could be considered as Johnny's substitute father. Alas, his tips and advice often turn out to be useless and provoke trouble for Johnny and the gang. His chili is made from rather suspicious ingredients and he serves food made from many animals, such as possums and pandas.
• Master Hamma — a martial arts instructor where Johnny works as a janitor and does other things that he needs Johnny to do. Johnny also has taken, and failed, several of the martial arts classes.
• Donny Osmond (voiced by himself) — Often used as a minor, laughingly useless character in some key episodes, Donny is seen as cheery and extremely optimistic to the point of foolishness. This personality is a stark contrast to often very serious Johnny, thus causing tension between himself and Donny. In his first appearance he was Johnny's nanny.

Guest Appearances

The series has had numerous guest stars, which include: Don Knotts, Jessica Biel, Alec Baldwin, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Luke Perry, Fred Flintstone, Farrah Fawcett, Vendela Kirsebom, Adam West, Dionne Warwick, Mick Jagger, Richard Simmons, Mr. T, Mark Hamill, Shaquille O'Neal, Seth Green and Donny Osmond.

Other, more famous Hanna-Barbera characters have appeared in Johnny Bravo Episodes, indluding the cast of Scooby-Doo, Speed Buggy, Yogi Bear, and The Blue Falcon.

Johnny Bravo also appeared as the host in a Cartoon Network-produced request show, JBVO. the series, however, was short-lived and lasted only a few episodes.

A live-action movie was planned, green-lighted and even did some casting (professional wrestler turned actor The Rock was cast as the title character.) It was slated for a November 2006 release. But for unknown reasons was canceled. It's unknown if plans will continue at all with the movie or not.

External links

• Official UK Website
• Super Cartoon Network
• Johnny Bravo at the Big Cartoon DataBase
• Johnny Bravo's Pick-Up Lines
• Johnny Bravo Series 1 on DVD