Tooned

Tooned

The Season 2 title card.
Starring Alexander Armstrong
Jenson Button
Kevin Magnussen
Formerly Sergio Pérez
Formerly Lewis Hamilton
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 20
Production
Running time 3-4 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel Sky Sports F1
Original airing July 8, 2012 – present
The Main title card used for Season 1.

Tooned was an animated cartoon by McLaren starring Jenson Button, Sergio Pérez and comedian Alexander Armstrong. It was aired on Sky Sports F1 before the start of each Formula 1 race. The first season, which starred former McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton aired from the 2012 British Grand Prix onwards. The second season aired from the 2013 British Grand Prix onwards. All episodes can be watched on McLaren's YouTube channel and the Sky Sports F1 website any time after the premiere. The episodes are a little more than 3 minutes long. On 16 May 2014 it was announced on McLaren's YouTube Channel that a season 3 was in progress. It was announced when Jenson Button was shown a picture of his 2014 team mate Kevin Magnussen's character on Tooned and also added that 'the production of Season 3 was going well'.

Development

Tooned was developed from the extensive media research carried out by John Allert, the McLaren Group Brand Director which was analysed by Ron Dennis.[1] The show is written, directed and animated by Chris Waitt and Henry Trotter and visual effects house Framestore.

Characters

Main characters

Season One (2012)
Season Two (2013)
Mobil 1 Series (2013)
Mobil 1 Series 2 - Oil (2014)

Other characters

Series overview

Season Episodes Originally aired DVD release date
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 12 July 8, 2012 November 25, 2012 TBA December 10, 2012 TBA
2 8 June 30, 2013 November 24, 2013 December 9, 2013 TBA TBA

Episodes

Season 1 (2012)

The first season comprises the following 12 episodes.

No. by
series
No. by
season
Title Original air date
11"Wheel Nuts"July 8, 2012
Lewis and Jenson arrive at the McLaren team headquarters to begin the development of the team's 2013 car.
22"Slicks"July 22, 2012
Lewis and Jenson get distracted testing the brand new safety features Professor M has been developing. After a fire extinguisher blows up in Jenson's face and Lewis is ejected from the building into a nearby lake, the team must make them presentable for an upcoming film premiere.
33"Track to the Future"July 29, 2012
Professor M shows off the future of Formula One. When Lewis takes the prototype car out for a test drive, M and Jenson have to find a way to bring him back to the base.
44"Beyond the Limit"September 2, 2012
Bored by another day of testing, Lewis and Jenson discover that their cars can travel at speed in reverse, much to Professor M's annoyance.
55"Lift Story"September 9, 2012
When their lift breaks down (on purpose by M to show drivers the importance of engineering), Professor M tells Lewis and Jenson tales from his time as a racer while they try to fix the lift and get to a race on time.
66"Gone with the Wind"September 23, 2012
Lewis and Jenson are unhappy with their latest assignment — demonstrating McLaren's new wind tunnel for the Mayoress of Woking. When the Mayoress proves to be surprisingly knowledgeable about racing, Lewis and Jenson decide to play a prank on Professor M as payback.
77"The Rising Son"October 7, 2012
In Japan, Professor M shows off his latest creation: RTD-1, an android test driver capable of learning as he develops. M wants Lewis and Jenson to work alongside RTD-1, but Lewis and Jenson teach him how to race.
88"Lecture Circuit"October 14, 2012
While Lewis and Jenson are off doing charity work, Professor M takes McLaren's Young Driver Programme candidate Nyck De Vries for a four-hour lecture on engineering. When Nyck grows bored, he decides to sneak one of McLaren's racing cars out for a test drive.
99"Strictly Bollywood"October 28, 2012
With the team scheduled to provide the post-race entertainment for the Indian Grand Prix, Professor M shows off a Bollywood-inspired dance routine for the team to learn. Only to find out that they were providing the post race entertainment for another race.
1010"Photo Finnish"November 4, 2012
While doing promotional work, Lewis and Jenson convince former McLaren driver Mika Häkkinen to return to racing.
1111"Side Tracked"November 18, 2012
Nyck De Vries returns to the team for another lesson, this time applying his knowledge to the circuit. When Nyck gets bored, he once again causes more mischief.
1212"A Glitch Too Far: Part 1"November 25, 2012

Lewis and Jenson become trapped in the McLaren simulator and Professor M rushes to save them before it's too late. When the dust finally settles, Jenson escapes the simulator, only to find that somebody else has taken Lewis's place.

Final Appearance: Lewis Hamilton as Lewis

Season 2 (2013)

The second season comprised eight episodes, bringing the total number of episodes to twenty. Based on McLaren's 50th Anniversary, Season 2 was written by Chris Waitt, Henry Trotter, Ed Dyson and Tim Bain.[5]

No. by
series
No. by
season
Title Original air date
131"A Night To Remember"June 30, 2013

At the McLaren Technology Centre, McLaren are celebrating their 50th anniversary, with Professor M presenting the event. Then, an elderly Scottish man comes up to tell his story.

Debut: Sergio Pérez as Sergio; Brian Cox as The Mechanic with No Name
142"The Bruce McLaren Story"July 29, 2013
The old man tells the story of how Bruce McLaren started up McLaren, where there was just a shed with only three employees: Bruce, The Old Man and his kiwi, named Russell.
153"The Emerson Fittipaldi Story"August 23, 2013

The old man is trying to tell the story of Emerson Fittipaldi but Professor M cuts him out and he speaks instead. He says that Emerson was nicknamed "The Mouse" but the old man tells him that he was no mouse and they called him something different.

Debut: Emerson Fittipaldi as Himself
164"The James Hunt Story"September 9, 2013

Professor M introduces James Hunt, McLaren's first British world champion, and disapproves of his playboy lifestyle as a bad image for Britain. However, the old man elaborates that James was a national hero and that there was more to his off-track activities than met the eye.

Debut: Tommy Hunt as James Hunt
175"The Alain Prost Story"October 6, 2013

Professor M introduces 4 times world champion Alain Prost as a close friend of his, where they would rebound off each other on a number of occasions. However, the old man mentions a series of races during the 1984 Formula One season that ultimately set the difference between the two Professors.

Debut: Alain Prost as Himself
186"The Ayrton Senna Story"October 28, 2013

The old man proceeds to tell the story of legendary Brazilian driver, Ayrton Senna, but also mentions that when you talk of Senna, you will always talk of his arch-nemesis.

Debut: Bruno Senna as Ayrton Senna
197"The Mika Häkkinen Story"November 3, 2013
Professor M introduces the "Flying Finn" Mika Häkkinen, and comment that he had a big impact on his racing career. The Old Man disagrees, lamenting that there was something special about Mika.
208"The Grand Finale"November 24, 2013

After going through some of McLaren's legendary drivers, Professor M and the Old Man determine of what real success is.

Final Appearance: Sergio Pérez as Sergio

Mobil 1 series

A special series of Tooned was produced in partnership with Mobil 1. It stars Jenson, Checo, Professor M and a new character, Smoke (three-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series drivers' (2002, 2005, 2011) and 2011 owners' champion Tony Stewart). In this series, Professor M is hired in by Mobil 1 to explain the history of oil and lubricants and Jenson, Checo, and Smoke are used as demonstrators. The episodes are available on YouTube, and six episodes have been developed.

Promotion

The Tooned logo was added to the back of the McLaren MP4-27 and McLaren MP4-28's rear wings from the 2012 Hungarian Grand Prix to the 2013 Bahrain Grand Prix. A DVD of series 1 was released on 10 December 2012.

Errors

In episode 3 Track to the Future, in the entrance lobby after Professor M, Lewis and Jenson pass through, there is a recurring joke of a tour guide showing visitors items in the trophy cabinets. In the long-shots, the white-suited American businessman is not present, but suddenly appears in the close-up shot at the end when the tour guide delivers the punch-line.

When Lewis scans Professor M through the futuristic helmet display, his own race statistics are displayed, not those of Professor M.

After sliding around on the oil and coming together setting off the helmet air bags, Jenson is to the right and Lewis to the left. When Professor M approaches them and the camera views them all from the other direction, Jenson is then to Professor M's left and Lewis to his right.

In episode 10 Photo Finnish, Lewis Hamilton's championship winning car in 2008 have Pirelli tyres instead of Bridgestone; however, cars from previous years often carry current sponsors of the team and bear the tyres of the current season taking place.

The blue and red karts exchange colours, briefly in episode 10 Photo Finnish.

In episode 4 of season 2, when James Hunt is in his tuxedo, for a split second when he says Hench Mechanics, it becomes his McLaren suit.

References

  1. "McLaren launches "Tooned" animation series". formula1onlive.com. 7 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  2. "McLaren Group announces launch of dynamic brand-new McLaren Animation media company". McLaren Group. 6 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2012.
  3. "Sergio Perez confirms McLaren departure". BBC Sport. 13 November 2013. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  4. Associated Press (19 August 2013). "Tony Stewart to miss rest of NASCAR's Sprint Cup season". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
  5. "Twitter / McLarenF1: Anyone fancy a bit of #TOONED?!". Twitter. 10 May 2013. Retrieved 2 October 2013.