Platypus Brothers
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Timothy and Daniel Platypus are two anthropomorphic duck-billed platypuses in the early 1990s Warner Brothers cartoon show ‘Taz-mania’, known collectively as the Platypus Brothers, which the two tended to yell out enthusiastically at every given opportunity.
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[edit] Appearance
The brothers resembled typical Warner Brothers style ducks (like Daffy Duck) with the exception of their beaver tails and orange fur. The two are virtually identical twins, and always wore blue overalls and baseball cap-like hats. Timothy (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) could be told apart from Daniel, (voiced by Rob Paulsen) due to the fact he wore his cap backwards and had glasses. Personality wise though, the two were practically the same person.
[edit] Personality
In the show the brothers played the roles of close friends to Taz, the show's star, and most episodes they appeared in revolved around them trying to help Taz achieve a goal (i.e. helping him fetch a giant egg from the top of a mountain, helping him catch a super fast kiwi bird, helping him recover from a cold, etc.).
The main aspect of the pair's temperament was their utter adoration of, or devotion to, each other. The couple were constantly flattering and complimenting each other, using a variety of caring pet names for themselves and clearing thinking the world of their other half. Had the two not been brothers their affection for each other would undoubtedly been a cause for concern on a children’s cartoon show.
The two eventually developed their own catchphrase, yelling out "The Platypus Brothers", whenever the situation called for it, and occasionally when it didn’t. This catchphrase obviously depicting their pride or being a Platypus Brother, and devotion to each other. Throughout each episode they would constantly refer to each other with alliterative terms of endearment. Examples of these include: "my brainy bro", "my birth Bunkie", "my fellow fellow", "my observant ovum-mate", "my silly sibling", etc.
[edit] Habitat
The couple lived together in a large house constructed in a tree, which had its roots and basement situated below water. The house was filled with their various contraptions and bizarre belongings, most of which were somehow destructive in nature. In spite of the seemingly normal, three-story appearance of their home, in the episode "Never Cry Taz", it’s revealed that they have an incredibly long stairway to the third floor, so long in fact that the stairs have become covered in snow and the third floor is completely frozen and occupied by penguins. This level even has a doorway to a hidden, beautiful kingdom, of rich green countryside and an enormous palace occupied by a race of Platypuses led by the elderly Sham Bala Bala Boom, who calls this kingdom Platy-la, as opposed to Shangri-La. However the brothers were reluctantly forced to leave this paradise, to resume their search for a presumed lost Taz, a decision that was made particular hard for them due to the presence of countless beautiful female platypuses who resided there. They were then informed that it is impossible for anyone whom leaves the paradise to return, but later began a new quest to re-find it anyway. The brothers were completely unaware of the presence of the kingdom in their attic and stated they had no idea their little house was so vast.
[edit] Occupation
From the sign outside their home, their official occupation was that of handymen, although from the poor condition of the sign, it’s clear they were not very good at it. As well as being freelance handymen, the two seem to have some form of recurring occupation in the Hotel Tasmania, in which Taz himself works (the two being responsible for introducing the devil to the hotel in the first place). In the hotel the couple work as general repairmen and decorators, although their boss, Bushwhacker Bob, doesn’t think much of their abilities (rightfully so given the amount of explosions they have caused in the place).
[edit] Relationship with Taz
The pair’s particular niche was that they were inventors, albeit not particularly successful ones, and would use their devices to aid Taz in whatever quest he was on in that episode, usually with the result of the item blowing up in Taz’s face or painfully backfiring on him, leading to the brothers to simply move on to the next contraption for Taz to try, generally with the same unpleasant result.
In spite of the constant calamities they inflict upon him, the brothers do seem to be genuinely Taz’s friends and are quite sincere in their attempts to aid, which is probably the reason he continues to visit them. In most cases the two remain unaware or naively unconcerned with Taz’s true nature as a gluttonous predator of defenseless small animals, seeing him as benevolent they are, for instance when they tried to help Taz catch the Kiwi in "Bird, Brained Beast", they assumed Taz merely wanted to keep him as a pet, rather than use him as a quick meal which was his true intent.
A generally unanswered question throughout the show was why Taz never turned his hunger towards the brothers, who by there own accounts would have made tasty prey themselves for the devil. The only time this came up was in the episode "Taz2", when Taz and a small army of his clones tried to devour the brothers after being deprived of popcorn and being tempted by a rather suicidal rendition of how delicious platypus meat was, by the two, in front of the hungry bunch of devils. However Tim and Dan managed to distract Taz with a Wild West show and escaped his jaws, apparently then forgiving and forgetting his transgression by the next episode.
One of the few episodes that reversed the formula of the brothers giving Taz a device intending to help him, which would then backfire on him, was in their final episode “Feed a Cold”. In this show, an ailing Taz, suffering from a major dose of influenza, comes to the brothers who they a variety of bizarre ways to cure him. However, no matter what device they used, it backfired not on Taz but on the brothers themselves, for the first time leaving Taz unscathed.
Another episode that messed with the usual formula for the two was “Unhappy Together”, when Tim ended up bitterly fighting with each other after they both jealously felt the other preferred Taz after a misunderstanding. After rowing and refusing to speak to each the pair cut the house in half to avoid themselves. In the end it took Taz to convince the pair to reconcile and become friends again, ironically leading to the two to decree Taz a troublemaker at the episode's conclusion.
