Toonces the Driving Cat
|
| In
a typewritten report, Toonces claimed
that his lack of driving skills was due
to a brain injury sustained during his
days as a stunt man on The Dukes of Hazard. |
|
|
|
Toonces, The Cat Who Could Drive A Car
first aired May 20th, 1989 on NBC's Saturday
Night Live. He quickly built up a reputation
for being consistently hilarious, and his
fame grew quickly.
Fans loved Toonces' plucky
determination to master the wheel,
albeit badly. He drove cars,
trucks and tractors, but invariably lost
control of the vehicles, ending up in catastrophic
car crashes.
Even though Toonces repeatedly drove cars
over cliffs (usually with the car owners
inside), his owners Lyle (Dana Carvey) and
Branda Clarke (Victoria Jackson), lovingly
encouraged his efforts, recording the crashes
on home video and sending him to driving
school.
But Toonces just can't help himself... he's
crashed alien spaceships into the Washington
Monument, impersonated a chauffeur, driven
off the Grand Canyon, ridden a mechanical
bull, daydreamed he spoke
in both French and English, and even became
the Tooncinator, an advanced cyborg wearing
leather and shades, impervious to bullets
and car crashes - or so he thought!
He's even crashed into one of his competitor's
short-lived sketches: Flippy, the Flipping
Chihuahua. Unfortunately for Flippy, he
flipped into Toonces' oncoming path and
the car ran him over!
In a past life, Tooces was a horse-drawn
carriage driver whose passengers Isabelle
(Kirstie Alley) and Penelope (Julia Sweeney),
loudly discuss their upcoming weddings with
John Wilkes and Rasputin.
No sooner has Isabelle mentioned that she
hopes nothing terrible will happen to them
before their wedding days, than they swerve
onto Dead Man's Curve - and they're going
too fast!
It's not the regular driver! "It's
Toonces! The Cat Who Could Drive a Horse-Drawn
Carriage! The whole group goes over a beautiful
cliff.
That's Toonces!
|
|
|
|
Toonces has involved numerous Saturday Night
Live staff members and guests in his car crashing
career (1988-93). Included in his casualty list
are some of the world's most well known celebrities
and comedians: Debra Winger, Dana Carvey, John
Goodman, Kevin Nealon, Quincy Jones, Phil Hartman,
George Wendt, Candace Bergen, Linda Hamilton,
Randy Quaid, Mike Myers, Julia Sweeney, Joe
Flaherty, Kirstie Alley, Steve Martin, Andrea
Martin, David Foley, Karen Allen and Ken McDonald
number among Toonces' many crash victims. |
A memorable sketch: Candice Bergen and
her cat Spunky have come over to watch home
videos of Toonces' greatest crashes, including
Toonces as a kitten driving a toy car over a
small rock wall.
Candice suggests that Spunky take them for a
spin, since he recently completed driving school
with an A+. Unfortunately, Toonces chloroforms
Spunky while he's getting ready and hides him
in a closet. Disguised as Spunky, Toonces takes
the wheel with disastrous consequences.
|
Click
on a celebrity critter above to read more |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Toonces, Jingle:
"Toonces, the Driving Cat,
The cat who could drive a car.
He drives around, all over the town, Toonces, the
Driving Cat!"
|
|
SNL
: Best of Toonces & Friends
| Click
the image on the right to purchase one
of the limited quantity VHS tapes of Toonces
and friends. |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
