Dr. Toon: The Meme of the Crop
"D'OH!" -- Homer Simpson
"Eat my shorts!" --Bart Simpson
"Exit, stage left!" ---Snagglepuss
"Excellent, Smithers!" -- Mr. Burns
"Fortunately, ah keep my feathers numbered for just such an emergency." -- Foghorn Leghorn
"Heavens to Murgatroyd!" --Snagglepuss
"Hey Rocky! Watch me pull a rabbit outta my hat!" -- Bullwinkle Moose
"Hey, hey, HEY!" -- Fat Albert
"Here I come to save the day!" -- Mighty Mouse
"I hate meeces to pieces!" ---Jinks the Cat
"If it wasn't for you meddling kids, I'd have gotten away with it!" -- Many Scooby-Doo baddies
"I'll do the thinkin' 'round here!" -- Quick Draw McGraw
"I'm smarter than the av-er-age bear!" -- Yogi Bear
"I shoulda taken that left turn at Albuquerque!" -- Bugs Bunny
"It's the Wol-eff! The Wol-eff!" -- Lambsy
"I taut a saw a puddy-tat!" -- Tweety Bird
"Jane! Stop this crazy thing!" -- George Jetson.
"Jetson…You're FIRED!" -- Mr. Spacely
"Me Great Cornholio! Me need TP for my bungholio!" -- Beavis
"Now just a cotton-pickin minute!" -- Deputy Dawg
"Nya-ha-ha!" -- Dishonest John
"Of course, you know, dis means war!" -- Bugs Bunny
"Oh my God! They killed Kenny! Bastards!" -- Eric Cartman and others
"Ruh-roh!" -- Scooby Doo
"Same thing we do every day, Pinky…try and take over the world!" -- The Brain
"Savoir Faire ees everywhere!" -- Savoir Faire (Klondike Kat)
"Spoon!" --The Tick
"Stupid dog!" -- Eustice (to Courage the Cowardly Dog)
"Th-uh-th-th-that's all, folks!" -- Porky Pig
"That boy's not right."-- Hank Hill
"There's no need to fear! Underdog is here!" -- Underdog
"This looks like a job…FOR SUPERMAN!" -- Superman (Fleischer)
"To infinity and beyond!" -- Buzz Lightyear
"Trizzle, trazzle, trozzle, trome, time for this one to come home" -- Mr. Lizard the Wizard
"What a beautiful day…FOR SCIENCE!" -- Dexter
"What's the sitch?" -- Kim Possible
"What's up, Doc?" -- Bugs Bunny
"Well, blow me down!" -- Popeye
"YABBA DABBA DOO!" -- Fred Flintstone
"You're deth-spicable!" -- Daffy Duck
"You EE-diot!" -- Ren Hoek
"YOICKS!" -- Shaggy
"You knew the job was dangerous when you took it" -- Super Chicken
"You know what folks? I'm happy." -- Droopy
And there you have it. If I left out any obvious or great catchphrases, well, I didn't meme to. And if this column didn't entertain you…"I didn't do it!"
Next month: A new DVD release demonstrates animated revisionism done right.
Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.
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What a glorious column! Just the sheer repetition of those lines brings a warm glow, just like sipping from a brandy snifter in front of a warm fire.
Also, notice that the few times live-action shows have produced such catchphrases, the characters themselves are fairly cartoony. Jackie Gleason's Ralph Kramden did it with the world-famous depiction of spouse abuse, "To the moon, Alice!" Meanwhile, Tim Allen's character on "Home Improvement" never did very much with "More Power!" He wasn't much of a human cartoon.
As was said by Arte Johnson's only memorable character, Wolfgang: Ver-ry interesting.
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