Tasmanian Devil - Looney Tunes Wiki (2024)

The Tasmanian Devil, also spelled as Tazmanian Devil, or known commonly as Taz, is a recurring character and antagonist of the Looney Tunes animated franchise. He is a ferocious, albeit dimwitted, carnivore known for having a notoriously short-temper, a speech consisting of loud grunts and rasps, and short patience. He is also considered to be one of Bugs Bunny's recurring foes, alongside Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, and Marvin the Martian. His voice was originated by Mel Blanc.

Although he only appeared in five entries during the original run of the Warner Bros. Cartoons theatrical shorts, marketing and later media appearances during the 1990s propelled the character to a newfound popularity, which also extended Taz to roles outside of his antagonistic behavior.

Taz's protégé in Tiny Toon Adventures is Dizzy Devil.

Character description

The Tasmanian Devil has several descriptions of himself in some of his appearances. In Devil May Hare, for instance, he is described by Bugs Bunny as "A strong murderous beast, jaws as powerful as a steel trap - has ravenous appetite - eats tigers, lions, elephants, buffaloes, donkeys, giraffes, octopuses, rhinoceroses, moose, ducks" ( "...and rabbits," as pointed out by Taz himself).

A main defining trait of Taz's personality would be his dimwitted intelligence, which contrasted sharply to his ferocious, animal-like tendancies, coupled with his short-tempered patience. He tends to have a speech consisting of grunts, growls, and raspberries; and when given the opportunity to actually speak, he talks in primitive English ("Me first remember long time ago in Tasmania. I was only three years old, but I was mean little devil.") Additionally, he has the ability to spin like a vortex and can bite through almost anything. Though incredibly devious, Taz is also sweet natures at times, especially when not provoked.

He has a seemingly endless appetite, consuming nearly everything in sight. As such, he has eaten (or has at least attempted to eat) many types of food, live animals or people, and various inanimate objects, some of which tend to backfire him at worst.

Additionally, Taz is a short, brown mammal with a prominently large face; a lighter fur coating in his mouth area; sharp teeth; two tufts of hair resembling devil horns; and dark rings around his eyes. His fur color changes depending on appearances, ranging to a muted tone with grey fur on his mouth (as in his theatrical short appearances and Looney Tunes Cartoons) to a more saturated brown (like in Taz-Mania and other modern depictions).

Appearances

TV series

Movies

Shorts

Comics

Video games

Biography

Debut Series

We're All a Little Looney

Come On and Slam! and Welcome to the Jam!

Taz Gets Modern

Going Down the Rabbit Hole

It's Hard Hat Time!

Taz Sells Out

Foghorn is a guest at Warner Bros.' Burbank lot for its 100th anniversary. While on the set of Friends, Cyborg claims the part of Joey Tribianni, while Foghorn Leghorn claims the part of Rachel Green, which starts a fight with Yosemite Sam, Taz, and Wile E. Coyote who also want the part.^[3]

Development

Gallery

Main article: Tasmanian Devil/Gallery

Toys and merchandise

Behind the scenes

In popular culture

• In the Beast Wars: Transformers episode "Feral Scream (Part 1)," Megatron is hit by a feline creature (later revealed to be Cheetor) and he spins uncontrollably like the Tasmanian Devil, before falling down a cliff in similar fashion to Wile E. Coyote.
• In the Ted Lasso episode "Biscuits," Coach Beard said to Ted how Shannon was spinning around him like the Tasmanian Devil, with Ted adding that it was without the annoying noises that he imitated.
• In Gogglebox series 20, episode 12, two Goggleboxers made a reference to Taz when watching Zac work with real Tasmanian devils in Australia in Down to Earth with Zac Efron.

Family Guy

• "Farmer Guy:" Peter wants the family to wait when seeing an approaching tornado because it might be Taz.
• "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin:" Peter promises to Lois that he will be as gentle as the Tasmanian Devil tucking in his kids, which cuts to a scene of Taz reading his child a bedtime story. Taz kisses his child and starts to wind up his routine tornado exit, only to pause and quietly exit from the room.
• "The Jersey Bore:" Peter sits next to Taz during lunch break and asks if it's Friday yet. Taz calmly corrects him by saying that it's tomorrow, since it is already Friday in Tasmania, to which Peter replies that he would be more fun. Taz is voiced by Mike Henry in this episode.

References

Retrieved from ""