Episode 531: Toonstruck (Patreon)

Quick note from Jeremy: You'll notice a new lead voice this week, though you'll recognize her from several recent episodes: Jess O'Brien, aka VoidBurger. As part of our ongoing effort for Retronauts not to be just a couple of middle-aged straight white guys from the Midwest talking about Nintendo games, we've invited Jess to become a contributing host for the show and step in from time to time when the occasion warrants. This would be the first such occasion. Please give her a warm welcome to the Halls of Retronauts.

In the extremely waning years of FMV game popularity, a little (uh, $8 million...) point-and-click game called Toonstruck hit the shelves and proceeded to make very few waves despite being so TwIsTeD. A star-studded cast of physical and cartoon actors (Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry, Dan Castellaneta) was not enough to save this game, which had about half its content left on the cutting room floor.

What happened? Where did the rest of this game go? Did this thing really try to ride the coattails of Who Framed Roger Rabbit... 8 years too late? Is there room in this world for a Toonstruck 2? Does Christopher Lloyd even remember being in this? Why were ’90s cartoons so horny?

All of these burning questions and more will be answered by Jess O'Brien (former video producer at Giant Bomb, @VoidBurger), Cohen Edenfield (game writer, @skullmandible), and KC Green (comic artist of This is Fine, BACK, God's Hands, and about 1,000 other things you know about! @kcgreenn)!

Edits by Greg Leahy; cover art by Jess O'Brien.

16:46 - Sam Fonteyn: "Spooky Scherzo"

30:11 - The Lion King (1994 Film OST): Be Prepared

39:17 - Jack Beaver: "Workaday World"

48:15 - FernGully: The Last Rainforest (Film OST): Toxic Love

58:13 - Laurie Johnson: "Happy-Go-Lively"

1:12:13 - Who Framed Roger Rabbit (Film OST): Judge Doom | Deadly Games (1995 TV Theme)

1:20:32 - Sidney Crooke: "The March of the Ants"

1:37:37 - Modest Mussorgsky: "Night on Bald Mountain"

Closing - Gerhard Trede: "Sport Show"