Friday, December 17, 2010
Taz the Biker: Tasmanian Devil or Angel?
At the Warner Brothers Studios Store, you could frequently find the Tasmanian Devil wearing a black leather jacket and riding a motorcycle. This persona fits the wild marsupial, even if he didn't ever actually appear this way in any vintage Bugs Bunny cartoon. This made for some pretty entertaining products.
One of the best looking lines of merchandise was a set of Christmas ornaments from 1994. This featured the Looney Tunes gang with a 1950s theme.
These were made of resin, and were quite heavy. They were not very practical. I cannot imagine a real tree's limbs supporting their weight. You could get these from the Warner Brothers Studio Store Catalog or at the Store itself. I remember seeing these at the Store in Louisville, Kentucky. I also remember there was a problem with Tweety Bird's head snapping off the ornament.
Here Taz is doing a great impression of Marlon Brando in the movie "The Wild One."
Biker Taz was featured in a more contemporary ornament, delivering (or maybe stealing?) presents to all the good (or possibly bad?) children.
How about an angel for the top of the Christmas tree? What about a Tasmanian Devil Angel tree topper? Crazy, you say? Well, the Warner Brothers Studio Store made one!
It's quite bad-ass!
The Tasmanian Devil Angel was also available as an ornament.
The Tasmanian Devil Angel could also be incorporated into a Christmas window display, with an animated, light-up figure.
As was often the case, if you visited the Warner Brothers Studio Store the day after Christmas, chances were good that all these items would be 50% off.
By 1999, a Biker Taz ornament went mainstream. The Trevco company released a line of Looney Tunes ornaments that were marketed for Wal-Mart Stores.
This impressive ornament features a bad Taz being good. It's made of a durable PVC material, and I have it on display all year.
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I wonder if anybody tried to put Bugs Bunny and Honey Bunny or Porky and Petunia on a Christmas tree...
ReplyDeleteI reposted your scan in the gallery at "The World of Honey Bunny, Bugs Bunny's girlfriend", of course with information about source.
Thanks, Marek Ivellios! I remember seeing Honey Bunny in the comics and Six Flags parks frequently many years ago. Then she got replaced... Poor Honey!
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