Journey to the Center of Acme Acres

Journey to the Center of Acme Acres is the 17th episode of Tiny Toon Adventures. It was written by Wayne Kaatz and directed by Arthur Leonardi.

Plot
At the Acme Seismography Institute, Elmer Fudd warns television viewers (with help from three mice led on a treadmill by cheese on a fishing string and a levitating Shirley the Loon) that there is a really large earthquake coming to Acme Acres and to evacuate right away. Plucky, Hamton and Buster believe they are safe inside their homes, which they demonstrate their durability through song (Plucky's home built from grass and reeds, Hamton's home built from nails and wood, and Buster's is a burrow secured with temper steel).

Plucky and Hamton make fun of Shirley predicting a quake when they see her headlined on a newspaper (Shirley then electrocutes them from the paper). Plucky and Hamton then make fun of Buster and Babs while they prepare for the quake, but the bunnies feel they will be safe in Buster's home and the quake will swallow Hamton and Plucky up whole. Later at home, Plucky sits on his bed reading a Toxic Revenger comic (a parody of the Toxic Avenger with Plucky in the lead role) and mocking the quake. He is singing "Who is afraid of the big bad quake" (similar to The Three Little Pigs singing "Who's afraid of the big bad wolf").

Suddenly, the massive quake rips through Plucky' home and sends the duck running for terror to Hamton's home. They believe they are safe there until the earthquake smashes the ground (making a fist from the earth) and the violent trembling destroys Hamton's home. Plucky and Hamton flee to Buster's, but the steel door is closed shut from outside the hole. Plucky bangs away and Buster goes to check it out (while Babs quikcly checkmating Buster in a game of chess). the quake sends Plucky and Hamton tumbling around until they are stretched over a giant tear through the earth, hanging on to each other for dear life. The rip continues to get larger while Babs and Buster hop quickly towards Plucky and Hamton, but it is too late as Plucky and Hamton lose their grips and plummet down to the center of the earth.

Babs and Buster are devastated and Elmer Fudd suddenly shows up and takes them to the Acme Seismographic Institute to explain to them what is going on. Elmer draws the world on his head with a marker and slams a large mallet against it, causing "cracks" throughout that Elmer explains are fault lines. He then rearranges his face explaining how earthquakes occur when these fault lines are moved around which can be caused by internal pressure or violent continental drift. He then explains there is an old wives' tale that the earthquakes are caused by gremlins. He then shows the bunnies a video clip from 1930 that scientists believe through recent discovery that the earth's center is made of gold and guarded by gremlins. If their gold is ever stolen, their angry tantrums cause massive earthquakes. Elmer dismisses the tape as silly speculation and says to the bunnies: "Ridiculous, isn't it?" (as the gremlins suddenly pop up at the end of the video near the gold and one of them responds "Oh, I wouldn't say that", as the tape shuts off.) Buster and Babs decide that whatever it is, they are going to go down there and look for Hamton and Plucky, as Elmer believes it to be madness and they will be crushed to a pulp.

Meanwhile, Plucky and Hamton are still soaring down to the center of the earth. They finally hit the center where they are thrust up and down until they stay levitated in the air at the center. Plucky spots specs of gold on the walls and ground (which are all riddled with large holes), and he immediately goes after it and grabs a small piece. Hamton helps boost Plucky up to a hole to find more gold, but both of them are snatched through the hole by a gremlin. The gremlin ties Plucky and Hamton up and believes they are the ones who stole the gold. Hamton cracks under pressure and tells him that Plucky has it. Plucky shows the gremlin the tiny piece of gold and the gremlin wants to know where the rest of it is as it must of weighed a ton. This sets Plucky off as he rips through the ropes and bounces around the cave walls thinking of that much gold, knocking out the gremlin in the process when a stalactite falls from the ceiling on top of him. Plucky and Hamton take the opportunity to flee while Buster and Babs dig their way down through the earth.

Buster and Babs come across some sort of gigantic two-headed monster worm that chases the bunnies through the ground. They come to a cavern with a large dirt pile full of dinosaur bones which the bunnies quickly climb up. Buster knocks down a skull form the top, landing on the worm along with a landslide the bunnies created and knocking it out. The walls are too solid to tunnel through themselves, so Buster reconstructs the dinosaur bones while singing Dem Bones.

Plucky (in a delusional state) is searching through the ground frantically for gold while Hamton worries about getting caught. The gremlins come rushing around a corner, each holding up a stalactite and heading straight towards Plucky and Hamton. They run from the gremlins and fall down off one of the cliffs. Buster and Babs use the newly rebuilt dinosaur as a chomping contraption (which Buster responds runs on fossil fuel) and ride atop of it as it bites through the walls. The bunnies run into a dead end on a cliff surrounded by lava, as Plucky and Hamton fall down a hole and roll through the tunnels and pathways, crashing into the dinosaur skeleton legs and destroying it.

Now reunited, the four Tiny Toons run away with the gremlins hot on their paths. They run into a wall and are trapped, as a gremlin rolls a large rock down a hill at them. Buster hits a "reset" button on the wall that sends down a bowling pinsetter and picks them up. The rock rolls below them and crashes through the wall, setting them free. The gremlins are angered as they reach the top of the earth again. Plucky is relieved and kisses the ground multiple times, as Babs grabs Plucky and checks his tongue, which is covered with gold along with the end of his beak. There is a large trail of gold specs that lead to Montana Max's mansion. Buster realizes it was Monty who stole the gold, just as another quake begins to rip the ground beneath them

They know they must retrieve the gold nugget to get the quakes to stop, so the bunnies think of the idea to visit Max disguised as the Vanderbunnys (which Buster and Babs play off as extremely rich and snobby rabbits). The "Vanderbunnys", along with Plucky and Hamton (dressed as a maid and butler respectively), go to Monty's home and rings the bell. Monty's butler, Grovely, opens the door for them as they begin to introduce themselves. Monty immediately comes up and wants to know what they want. Buster "Vanderbunny" mentions they need help and Monty scoffs and slams the door in their faces until he hears Buster mention they are willing to offer "oodles and oodles of cash". Monty promptly lets them in and they tell him they are on a scavenger hunt (already collecting the Titanic, the Spinx, and the Trump Towers) and looking for a gigantic nugget of gold to complete their collection (with Buster Vanderbunny telling Monty that money being no object).

Montana Max leads them to a vault full of gold coins (similar to Scrooge McDuck's money bin), which Plucky (still dressed as a female maid) swims through in excitement until Babs pulls him out. Buster Vanderbunny informs him they need a nugget, not coins, so Monty then shows them to a vault full of gold bars stacked extremely high (which again Plucky flips out over and wants to keep some of the bars until Babs knocks him out with her fist). Buster yells into Monty's ear that they are looking for a gold NUGGET, so Monty finally shows them to a much more secured vault which is highly guarded by automated guns. The enormous and bright gold nugget sits in the vault by itself, and Buster tells Monty to charge it to his charge card. Monty looks at the card which is a student I.D. card for Buster Bunny.

The bunnies (on top of the nugget with Plucky and Hamton) call Monty a thief and reveal to him that his theft of the gold nugget is the reason for the quakes. Monty does not care and tells them they won't get out with the nugget. Another quake suddenly shakes up Monty's mansion and causes the gold nugget to roll off its pedestal and crashing out of the vault as Monty's feeble attempts can not stop it. The nugget crushes its way through the mansion and out the front door with Monty chasing after it. The nugget stops near the edge of where the quake ripped through the earth, and the four Tiny Toons jump off of it as the gold-hungry Monty jumps onto it. The nugget falls down the hole along with Monty, who has a tight grasp on it. Two of the gremlins torture Monty near the center of the earth by using him as a pinata and swinging a stalactite at him as a punishment for taking their gold nugget. Buster, Babs, Plucky and Hamton (now back in their regular attire) sing a song in celebration at the end.

Quotes
Hamton: "That's not proper grammar!" Plucky: "At this point, I'd eat crow." Plucky: "I hope so. This is so boring. Getting splattered would be a nice change." (the word "change" echoes) Buster: "I've got a plan! I just wish I knew what it was."
 * Elmer: "And be sure to wead this eawthquake safety pamphwet, so that you are pwepared. Safety tip #1: GET OUT OF ACME ACRES!"
 * Buster & Babs: "We got you, we got you, we got you!"
 * Hamton: "Well, have you developed a taste for carrot consume yet?"
 * Hamton: (as he and Plucky are still falling) "Think we'll hit bottom soon?"
 * Babs: "Buster, tell me you've got a plan."
 * Monty: "Ain't...I mean...Isn't it a beaut?" (about his gold bar collection)

Gag Credit
Gremlins compliments of

Bob Clampett

Allusions

 * This episode's title is a pun on Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne.
 * When Buster, Babs, Plucky and Hamton are preparing for the earthquake, they sing a song that is a parody of the song, "Who's afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?," from the 1932 Walt Disney Silly Symphony adaptation of the classic fairy tale, The Three Little Pigs.
 * The gremlins (first originating in the "Looney Tunes" series, specifically the Bugs Bunny cartoon Falling Hare) are based on the folktale creature, and they are also based on the film of the same name.
 * Buster sings the "Dem Bones" song when reconstructing the dinosaur with Babs, so he can know which parts have been used.
 * Plucky swimming through Monty's gold coin vault references the 1987 Disney Afternoon cartoon series, Duck Tales, which has a title sequence that also depicts a duck swimming in gold coins. (Scrooge McDuck, in this case.)
 * The 1930 newsreader looks similar to Giovanni Jones from Long-Hared Hare.

Trivia

 * This episode features an exclusive opening logo. Buster appears in the logo, but an earthquake causes the rainbow colored rings to fall. After they fall, Buster clings to the Tiny of Tiny Toon Adventures.
 * When Babs is disguised as Buffy Vanderbunny, during a shot when she is looking down at Monty atop the giant gold nugget, she is seen wearing panties with TGIF written on them. A running gag on the show is Babs alternating between wearing panties or nothing underneath her skirt.
 * The dinosaur skeleton from this episode along with Buster and Babs riding it as the Vanderbunnies reappear in Buster and Babs Go Hawaiian. Babs even introduces herself and Buster as "Biff and Bunny Vanderbunny from Journey to the Center of Acme Acres.

Home Video Releases

 * Tiny Toon Adventures: BIG Adventures VHS
 * Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1, Vol. 1 DVD