The Lost Dragon Ball Z x Johnny Bravo crossover episode
It is impossible to deny the influence of Cartoon Network on the popularity of anime as dragonball in America, especially with its famous Toonami block. Its cartoon lineup was also incredibly iconic, with Johnny Bravo being so popular that a car was painted with him on the hood and driven by the legendary Kyle Busch for an official NASCAR race.
While both series hold a place in many hearts to this day, few fans know of a rare time when Johnny Bravo himself was involved in an episode of Dragon Ball Z which has only aired once on TV and is currently lost to the ages. Those dedicated to hunting lost media are still trying to find that episode of a long-forgotten series – JBVO.
Cartoon Network Animated Host History
While an animated character like TOM showcasing and speaking on Toonami seems normal today, that wasn’t always the case. The Moxy Show featured 3D Dog which was Cartoon Network’s first original series and their first attempt at a hosted cartoon show. It even led them to bring the first real-time cartoon to life. With the help of motion capture, a skilled technician and the voice of Bobcat Goldthwait, the animated character Moxy was broadcast live during the Great international toon-in. Despite the impressive efforts of its creators, The Moxy Show only ever had twenty-four episodes and is now mostly lost media itself.
Cartoon Network was unwilling to drop the idea despite its initial failure. Johnny Bravo was chosen as the next potential host and received three separate spinoffs in an attempt to do so. JBVO: Your all-request cartoon show was the first attempt. Johnny would take live cartoon requests through phone calls and write-ins. It will possibly be followed by Toon-FM which featured Johnny hosting a show alongside Brak from Space Ghost Coast to Coast which featured repurposed assets from the original show. This led wildly to a spin-off of the spin-off called Viva Las Bravo where viewers could vote on which shows would air during a two-hour segment the night before.
JBVO and Dragon Ball Z
Most of these shows were forgotten and never saw reruns or home releases of any kind. Despite their relative obscurity, one particular episode of JBVO was remembered by many fans. While only short cartoons were usually aired due to the program’s allotted time, many remembered a special episode where Johnny broke this rule by playing an episode of Dragon Ball Z of the Frieza saga due to a request from a viewer named Jennifer. To adapt the show it was sped up to incredible speeds with Johnny cracking jokes and giving commentary almost like an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.
For years, there was no confirmation that the episode even existed until a five-second clip was uploaded to the internet in 2017, which can be seen above. While there is potential evidence that the episode aired more than once, it is still entirely possible that it was only played twice during the show’s run from 2000 to 2001, as no complete broadcast schedule for the series has ever been found. To find the episode in question, someone would have to have fortunately recorded it more than two decades ago. Only one full episode of JBVO was never found and archived, with most of the media surrounding it being nothing more than bumpers. Without the help of many dedicated fans scouring old VHS tapes and a ton of good fortune, it’s unlikely the episode will ever be found.
Even if fans were to ask Cartoon Network to release archived footage from the show, it’s entirely possible that copyright issues and Toei Animation’s notorious dislike of remixed versions of their shows will almost make impossible to distribute to the public. So while most remember the unique crossover as extremely hilarious, its impressive comedy may never be seen in full again.
While most lost media involving dragonball These days mostly stretching to episodes of specific and obscure dubbed versions of the show, a good chunk of Johnny Bravo’s history is still lost. Mess O’ Blues, the animated short that inspired the series, has never been shown publicly outside of the fifteen seconds of footage you can see above. Van Partible said he has the only VHS copy of the short as well as an archived digital copy on his hard drive, but has no plans to release it publicly.
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