Tazmanian Devil - Taz Cartoon

Pictures and Information on the Tasmanian Devil Cartoon and Taz Devil

Taz Devil the Tazmanian Devil is a Tasmanian Devil cartoon character created by Robert McKimson and was popular in the Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoon series. The Taz cartoon first appeared in 1954, but was lost for a few years after Warner Bros Animation was shutdown in 1964. Taz Devil returned to Looney Tunes cartoons in the early 1990s, and today is one of the most popular cartoon characters ever, rivaling Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and even Porky Pig!

Taz Devil - the Tazmanian Devil

Taz Cartoon

The Taz cartoon first made an appearance in the cartoon short Devil May Hare in 1954. Taz Devil went on to appear in 5 more short films before being shelved by Warner Bros producer Eddie Selzer for being "too obnoxious". He was brought back by Warner Bros shortly afterwards due to the public's overwhelming positive response to the Tasmanian Devil cartoon series. Taz's Hollywood career was born and he went on to make numerous cartoons with all the industry heavyweights including Bugs Bunny, Roadrunner, Sylvester the Cat and Wile E Coyote.

Looney Tunes Gang

Taz Devil

Taz Devil was loosely based around the real life Tasmanian Devil with similar characteristics such as a ravenous appetite and communication skills consisting mostly of growls and screeches... but that is about where the similarities end. They do not really have a similar appearance, apart, possibly from a disproportionately large head! The real Tasmanian Devil does not spin around in a tornado to travel places and they tend to generally be much more sedate than their Tasmanian devil cartoon counterpart!

Real Tasmanian Devil

Tasmanian Devil Cartoon

After a rocky start Taz Devil has had a long and successful career. After his first short cartoon Devil May Hare, he has gone on to appear in hundreds of cartoons and even had his own Tasmanian Devil cartoon show Taz-Mania that was screened on Fox for 3 series in the early 1990s. He has also had some success in advertising, promoting KFC, subway and even a model of Chevrolet!

Like most of the Looney Tunes characters Taz seems to have gone into retirement for now, but he has recently been enlisted by the Tasmanian government to help raise awareness of the plight of the real Tasmanian Devil and their threatened extinction by Tasmanian Devil Cancer. So hopefully we will see him doing some good work for this cause in the years to come!

Tasmanian Devil Cartoon