Johnny Bravo (TV series)


 * This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see Johnny Bravo.

Johnny Bravo is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible. It was produced at Hanna-Barbera Cartoons (seasons 1-3) and Cartoon Network Studios (season 4) for Cartoon Network. It ran from 1997 to 2004, airing 65 episodes that spanned four seasons, as well as four specials (with two of them post-series).

In Aron City, lives a young man called Johnny Bravo, who seems to have the full package on the surface; being muscular, wearing sunglasses, and having a unique yellow pompadour. But underneath his macho physique is a dimwitted, self-absorbed, chauvinistic manchild, whose attempt to get a date leads him into bizarre and almost brutal situations. He lives with his sassy mother, and is often accompanied by an eclectic array of close friends he believes cramp his style and real-life celebrity guest stars.

Development
While attending Loyola Marymount University in 1993, Van Partible produced "Mess O' Blues" as a senior thesis project; an animated short film about an Elvis Presley impersonator. His animation teacher showed the film to a friend working at Hanna-Barbera, where it was loved by the studio. They asked Partible to develop it into a pitch for a seven-minute short, prompting him to sell the project to Hanna-Barbera.

For the new short (titled "Johnny Bravo"), Partible redesigned the Elvis-like character of "Mess O' Blues" and renamed him "Johnny Bravo". He also made the character into what he described as "this '50s iconic, James Dean-looking character that talked like Elvis." Michael Jackson's heavy use of whip snaps and cracks (like in Captain EO) was an inspiration for whenever Johnny strikes a pose.

Segments

 * Johnny Bravo
 * Jungleboy (1997)

Music
Throughout the series, Louis Fagenson's opening theme song was kept, but his ending theme was only used for the first and fourth seasons. He was also the composer for the first and fourth seasons. For the second and third seasons, Fagenson had been replaced with Christopher Neal Nelson, who performed the music and the ending theme. For the first season, Bodie Chandler was the director of music production.

Cast

 * Jeff Bennett as Johnny Bravo
 * Mae Whitman as Little Suzy
 * Brenda Vaccaro as Bunny Bravo
 * Tom Kenny as Carl Chryniszzswics
 * Larry Drake as Pops

Celebrity guests

 * David Lander
 * Brock Peters
 * Mark Hamill
 * Jack Sheldon
 * Gabrielle Carteris
 * Tom Bosley
 * Farrah Fawcett
 * Vendela Thommessen
 * Chuck D
 * Anne Bloom
 * Alison La Placa
 * Adam West
 * Donny Osmond
 * Dionne Warwick
 * Luke Perry
 * Mr. T
 * Allyce Beasley
 * Curtis Armstrong
 * Don Knotts
 * Weird Al Yankovic
 * Gary Owens
 * Shaquille O'Neil
 * Seth Green

Legacy
In the fall of 2002, it was announced that Warner Bros. Pictures had purchased the rights to produce a live-action film and intended to have Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson play the character after he revealed that he was a fan of the series. Neal Moritz and Marty Adelstein would produce through their production banner, Original Film. Series creator Van Partible was also to be an executive producer.

Johnny Bravo is highly popular in India, so popular that in 2008, Van Partible wrote and produced a short called Johnny Goes to Bollywood, which was produced by Snap Toons. It was not recorded in English, although the opening title card and end credits are in English. Partible then wrote an English-language feature-length version in 2011 called Johnny Bravo Goes to Bollywood.

In popular culture

 * In the 2022 Disney+ film Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers, there is a billboard advertising Johnny Bravo Fitness, with Johnny's left arm visible.