Toby Danger (segment)


 * You may also be looking for the character, Toby Danger.

Toby Danger is a one-off backup for the second episode of Freakazoid!, with a segment called "Doomsday Bet." It aired on September 16, 1995. It is a parody of the 1960s Jonny Quest TV series.

The segment was written and storyboarded by Tom Minton as a loving parody of Jonny Quest, originally meant for Animaniacs, but shelved when it didn't fit. When Scott Jeralds, recently hired as a director for Freakazoid!, spotted the storyboard of Toby Danger in his office, and showed it to producer and Jonny Quest fan Mitch Schauer, who had it reworked for Freakazoid! when the second episode came short.

In casting, three Jonny Quest veterans were brought back in voicing their doppelgangers. Scott Menville was Toby Danger/Jonny Quest, Don Messick was Doctor Vernon Danger/Doctor Benton Quest, and Granville Van Dusen as Dash O'Pepper/Race Bannon. The Dangers' pet cat, Jules, is based on the Quest's dog, Bandit. There is also Doctor Danger's adopted teenage daughter, Sandra Danger, who replaced Doctor Quest's adopted Indian son, Hadji. Sandra may have also been inspired by Jessie Bannon, a later addition to the Quest team. Toby Danger also has its own Doctor Zin, in the form of Doctor Sin.

Toby and Dash also had a non-speaking cameo in the first episode, teasing what was to come in the next.

John P. McCann, still interested, wrote a pilot treatment for a potential ongoing series called "Danger on Ice." But Jean MacCurdy, the president of Warner Bros. Animation, had to turn it down due to profit sharing and other legal matters that would be owed to Steven Spielberg, or more precisely his company, Amblin Television.

The episode was included on the Freakazoid!: Season 1 DVD when Warner Home Video released it on July 29, 2008.

Interestingly, in the Adult Swim series The Venture Bros., Rusty Venture also had red hair like Toby when there was another child adventurer inspired by Jonny Quest.