Roderick and Rhubella Rat with their rival, Babs Bunny
Roderick "Roddy" Rat and Rhubella Rat are cartoon characters from the Warner Bros. animated television series Tiny Toon Adventures. They seldom appear in the show. They are students from Perfecto Prep, a rival school of Acme Looniversity. In Tiny Toons Looniversity, they are instead depicted as students of Acme Looniversity.
Biography[]
Roddy is voiced by Charles Adler and Rhubella is voiced by Tress MacNeille, who also voice Buster and Babs, respectively. Roderick and Rhubella are not related to each other despite sharing the same last name, attending a high school where Roddy is the all-star player and Rhubella is head cheerleader, and are sometimes shown together as a couple, which are all similarities to Buster and Babs. However, in actuality they are the polar opposites of the admirable and responsible bunnies; portrayed as snooty, rich brats who believe they are above anybody with less money than they have, especially someone from Acme Loo (referring to them as "Acme Loo-sers" and "riff raff"), and ill tempered spoiled perfectionists that cannot handle being on the opposite end of victory, especially when their plans go awry due to their off putting and nasty nature.
They are the antagonists of Buster, Babs and Acme Loo in all of their appearances, whether it be playing against them for Perfecto Prep in sports (usually cheating), or intentionally bullying, tormenting, or shunning them in some way. They lie and cheat their way through life, but they always end up getting outdone and outsmarted by the bunny duo.
In the Life in the 90s episode segment, Butt Out, Babs has a gift certificate for a free dessert at Le Trendy Desertery and uses it inside the restaurant for a double-crunch carrot cake Santa Fe surprise. Babs begins to take her first bite when she is surrounded by dark clouds of smoke which suffocate her. Despite "No Smoking" signs posted all over the restaurant, Roderick and Rhubella are chain smoking in the booth next to Babs. Refusing to stop smoking, Babs goes through extreme measures to get them to quit, which finally pays off as the snobby rat pair leave the restaurant officially quitting the habit.
Roderick and Rhubella Rat sometimes refer to Buster and Babs as "No Money Bunny" and "No Money Bunny Honey." Rhubella Rat calls Babs "Babsy" frequently.
In Tiny Toons Looniversity, Roderick appears in Twin-Con as an Acme Looniversity student instead.
Appearances in Video Games[]
- Roderick Rat appears in most of the Tiny Toon Adventures video games, usually as a minion to Montana Max. Almost all of the video games depict him with purple fur. Exceptions include Buster's Hidden Treasure for the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, the Game Boy games Babs' Big Break, Montana's Movie Madness, and Wacky Sports (which were meant to be monochrome) and the Game Boy Advance game Scary Dreams/Buster's Bad Dream.
- Rhubella appears as an enemy in the City level of the NES game Tiny Toon Adventures.
Trivia[]
- Tiny Toon Adventures often makes swipes at the Walt Disney Company, reflecting the mostly friendly rivalry between it and Warner Bros; Warner Bros. and Disney characters have often appeared together in crossovers such as the 1988 Touchstone Pictures film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, the 1990 TV special, Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, and the 1994 McDonald's Happy Birthday Happy Meal (which features Buster & Babs). Roderick and Rhubella can hence be interpreted as Tiny Toon counterparts to Disney's mascots, Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse.
- Rhubella's name is a take on the name of the disease rubella, which is another name for German measles.
- In the "Life in the 90s" episode segment, "Butt Out", and in the "Wacko World of Sports" episode segments, "Bleacher Bummer" and "Miniature Goof", Roderick is a black-colored rat. In the rest of his appearances and in Tiny Toons Looniversity, he has brown fur.
Gallery[]
