Don Markstein's Toonopedia: Elmyra Duff (original) (raw)

… a second banana. In Tiny Toon Adventures, which featured modern counterparts to those old characters, Elmyra Duff, the one who corresponded to Elmer, was more of a featured player, but not all that much so. Still, she was the only Tiny Toons character to get a regular gig after that series ran its course. Along with the other Tiny Toons, Elmyra debuted in syndication on September 14, 1990. The viewer had to look at her closely to see the resemblance between the cute, loving, supposedly harmless little girl and Elmer, who was adult, male, heavily armed, and out to commit mayhem on wabbits, ducks and other huntable species, but it was definitely there. Elmyra committed mayhem on animals too — it's just that she did so out of smothering, unbearable love, not malice. Her dimwitted, treacly-sweet, intense, and inevitably destructive affection caused every species with the power of locomotion to flee in terror from her. Her back yard was littered with abandoned kitty toys, dog houses, hamster cages and other detritus of runaway pets. In addition to the animal characters of Tiny Toons (with the sole exception of Hamton Pig, whom she considered a filthy little piggy-wiggy that neeeded a bath, which she was frighteningly eager to apply), Elmyra loved Montana Max, the Yosemite Sam analog. And she was unshakably convinced, despite massive evidence to the contrary, that "Monty-Wonty" (no relation) loved her too. His loud-voiced, unrelenting insults, she knew, were merely his shy way of hiding his esteem. "Shy" was not a word anyone else would have applied to Monty. Her voice was provided by Cree Summer, who is also heard in Captain Planet, Gargoyles, Care Bears and elsewhere. Elmyra's antics continued as long as the Tiny Toons show ran, and she was merchandised in toys, clothing, figurines and suchlike right along with the rest. She was also with them in the feature-length movie, How I Spent My Vacation, the prime-time half-hour It's A Wonderful Tiny Toons Christmas Special, and wherever else the Tiny Toons appeared. When they went dormant except for reruns, she went dormant with them. Elmyra's second shot at fame came in 1998, when she was added to the cast of Pinky & the Brain, a spin-off of Animaniacs. The premise was that Acme Labs, where the would-be world-conquering mice worked during the day, folded, and they underwent the horrifying experience of becoming Elmyra's pets. Pinky, Elmyra & the Brain lasted 19 episodes, the last of which was broadcast April 10, 1999. Elmyra can currently be seen in reruns on Cartoon Network.— DDMBACK to Don Markstein's Toonopedia™ Home PageToday in Toons: Every day's an anniversary! Purchase Warner Bros. Cartoon Merchandise Online