This pilot, which aired on Thanksgiving 1993 alongside the Battletoads pilot, is very decent.
The Bubsy cartoon pilot starts out with an intro that doesn't use footage found elsewhere in the episode. After the intro, we see Bubsy Bobcat wake up his unwilling sidekick, an armadillo named Arnold, who has a fear of being ran over by a truck (and was having a nightmare about it). Arnold fears Bubsy more than a truck, however. Bubsy's twin niece and nephew, Teresa and Terrence Bobcat, are visiting him for their birthday. They harass Arnold. Bubsy not noticing his friend is scared, turns on the TV to the news, when the anchor is finishing up a story of armadillos being ran over by trucks. This makes Arnold freak out, and he curls into a ball. The twins thinks he wants to play, so they use him as both a basketball and bowling ball. The news goes on to a story about an scientist and his assistant, Virgil Reality and Oblivia, who invented a helmet that can alter reality. Bubsy then says he wants to test the helmet. When asked why, Bubsy gives a speech complete with black and white live action stock footage. However, it seems a female fat cat, named Ally Cassandra, who is the show's main villain, was watching too. She quickly calls for her henchmen, Sid the Vicious Shrew and Bozwell Buzzard, who quickly comes. Ally tells the duo to steal the helmet. Bubsy meanwhile, makes it to Virgil's lab after calling to test the helmet. Oblivia answers the door, and she gets Bubsy's name wrong. Bubsy asks how the helmet works, and Virgil tells him. Bubsy goes on to wish he could fly, which causes him to fall from a great height along with the the rest of the cast. Arnold ends up with the helmet and his fear of trucks takes over. Bubsy grabs the helmet and has everyone (minus Arnold) sent back to the lab. Arnold then crashes through the roof. The twins end up with the helmet and greedily wish for birthday presents. Sid and Bozwell come flying in, only for Sid to get injured instead. Bubsy realizing that the twins must have the helmet, goes outside to look for them. Finding the twins have turned the area into a carnival, Bubsy gives another speech before getting hit and dragged by the coaster car, with Sid and Bozwell already seated in the coaster car. Both Virgil and Oblivia run away. Bozwell and Sid get sick, while Bubsy orders the twins to stop the coaster. The twins follow their uncle's orders, but the Bozwell, Sid, Bubsy, and Arnold fly off. The twins (who made themselves giant with the helmet) step on Bubsy and Arnold. Bubsy scolds the twins, who cry because its their birthday. Bozwell and Sid get the helmet and the twins. Ally now has the helmet, and Bozwell and Sid want to cook the twins. After getting upset, Bubsy cheers up and gets his motivation back. Virgil offers Bubsy a high tech device to track the helmet, but Bubsy opts to look up the villains in the phone book and call them. After out smarting Sid, Bozwell informs Ally of the situation. Ally tells Bozwell and Sid not to answer the door, but Bubsy out smarts Sid again. The helmet gets tossed back and forth, having both dreams and nightmares become reality. Bubsy gets the helmet, but it seems it is about to explode Bubsy, risking his own life as well all the other major characters in the show, he has the villains tied up by using the helmet. Oblivia gets Bubsy's name right. Bubsy gives yet another speech, and puts the helmet back on, but instead of exploding, it electrocutes Bubsy and Arnold ending the episode.
The show does rely on puns, running gags, and stock footage a lot. Also Bubsy's catch phrase is used a lot (it is even the name of the episode). 3 times in the pilot Bubsy gives a speech and with 3 different pieces of stock footage (meaning that there were 9 different pieces of stock footage in the one episode). Oblivia doesn't get Bubsy name right until the end of the episode and her name is a joke (literally). Virgil's name is also a pun. There are some other running gags like a truck gag, Bubsy abusing Arnold, and Sid being abused. The plot is silly too. The pilot is also a little dated, even for 1993. The villains weren't in the original game (the only one out at the time).
But the reason why I ranked it so high is because it is actually still fun to watch (for me at least). I can see that the show wasn't suppose to take itself real seriously. The show has all star voice talents. Also one could argue that the villains from the game (the Woolies) were meant to show up later in the series. Also, at least 1 of the villain designs and 3 of the heroes were used in Bubsy II (and at least another hero on the box art). I feel like, in terms of cartoons, Bubsy could certainly be rebooted into something much better for a wider audience, and with the new Bubsy (reboot) game coming out later this year, that might be a real possibility.
The Bubsy cartoon pilot starts out with an intro that doesn't use footage found elsewhere in the episode. After the intro, we see Bubsy Bobcat wake up his unwilling sidekick, an armadillo named Arnold, who has a fear of being ran over by a truck (and was having a nightmare about it). Arnold fears Bubsy more than a truck, however. Bubsy's twin niece and nephew, Teresa and Terrence Bobcat, are visiting him for their birthday. They harass Arnold. Bubsy not noticing his friend is scared, turns on the TV to the news, when the anchor is finishing up a story of armadillos being ran over by trucks. This makes Arnold freak out, and he curls into a ball. The twins thinks he wants to play, so they use him as both a basketball and bowling ball. The news goes on to a story about an scientist and his assistant, Virgil Reality and Oblivia, who invented a helmet that can alter reality. Bubsy then says he wants to test the helmet. When asked why, Bubsy gives a speech complete with black and white live action stock footage. However, it seems a female fat cat, named Ally Cassandra, who is the show's main villain, was watching too. She quickly calls for her henchmen, Sid the Vicious Shrew and Bozwell Buzzard, who quickly comes. Ally tells the duo to steal the helmet. Bubsy meanwhile, makes it to Virgil's lab after calling to test the helmet. Oblivia answers the door, and she gets Bubsy's name wrong. Bubsy asks how the helmet works, and Virgil tells him. Bubsy goes on to wish he could fly, which causes him to fall from a great height along with the the rest of the cast. Arnold ends up with the helmet and his fear of trucks takes over. Bubsy grabs the helmet and has everyone (minus Arnold) sent back to the lab. Arnold then crashes through the roof. The twins end up with the helmet and greedily wish for birthday presents. Sid and Bozwell come flying in, only for Sid to get injured instead. Bubsy realizing that the twins must have the helmet, goes outside to look for them. Finding the twins have turned the area into a carnival, Bubsy gives another speech before getting hit and dragged by the coaster car, with Sid and Bozwell already seated in the coaster car. Both Virgil and Oblivia run away. Bozwell and Sid get sick, while Bubsy orders the twins to stop the coaster. The twins follow their uncle's orders, but the Bozwell, Sid, Bubsy, and Arnold fly off. The twins (who made themselves giant with the helmet) step on Bubsy and Arnold. Bubsy scolds the twins, who cry because its their birthday. Bozwell and Sid get the helmet and the twins. Ally now has the helmet, and Bozwell and Sid want to cook the twins. After getting upset, Bubsy cheers up and gets his motivation back. Virgil offers Bubsy a high tech device to track the helmet, but Bubsy opts to look up the villains in the phone book and call them. After out smarting Sid, Bozwell informs Ally of the situation. Ally tells Bozwell and Sid not to answer the door, but Bubsy out smarts Sid again. The helmet gets tossed back and forth, having both dreams and nightmares become reality. Bubsy gets the helmet, but it seems it is about to explode Bubsy, risking his own life as well all the other major characters in the show, he has the villains tied up by using the helmet. Oblivia gets Bubsy's name right. Bubsy gives yet another speech, and puts the helmet back on, but instead of exploding, it electrocutes Bubsy and Arnold ending the episode.
The show does rely on puns, running gags, and stock footage a lot. Also Bubsy's catch phrase is used a lot (it is even the name of the episode). 3 times in the pilot Bubsy gives a speech and with 3 different pieces of stock footage (meaning that there were 9 different pieces of stock footage in the one episode). Oblivia doesn't get Bubsy name right until the end of the episode and her name is a joke (literally). Virgil's name is also a pun. There are some other running gags like a truck gag, Bubsy abusing Arnold, and Sid being abused. The plot is silly too. The pilot is also a little dated, even for 1993. The villains weren't in the original game (the only one out at the time).
But the reason why I ranked it so high is because it is actually still fun to watch (for me at least). I can see that the show wasn't suppose to take itself real seriously. The show has all star voice talents. Also one could argue that the villains from the game (the Woolies) were meant to show up later in the series. Also, at least 1 of the villain designs and 3 of the heroes were used in Bubsy II (and at least another hero on the box art). I feel like, in terms of cartoons, Bubsy could certainly be rebooted into something much better for a wider audience, and with the new Bubsy (reboot) game coming out later this year, that might be a real possibility.