Tooned is an animated series produced by McLaren, starring Jenson Button, Sergio Pérez and Alexander Armstrong. It was aired on Sky Sports F1 before the start of each Formula One race.
It premiered on 8 July 2012, on the weekend of the British Grand Prix. So far, four series have been produced, the final two mainly by Mobil 1. The next episode was uploaded on 22 October 2016, with the first appearance of Fernando Alonso.[1]
Contents
Series 1[edit | edit source]
The first series starred ex-McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton, and ran for 12 episodes, beginning at the British Grand Prix and ending at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Hamilton was written out of the series in the last episode of the season, reflecting his real-life departure to Mercedes. After an accident in the McLaren simulator, Button was unscathed, but Hamilton emerged from the machine as Pérez.
Episodes[edit | edit source]
- 1: Wheel Nuts (8 July 2012)
- 2: Slicks (22 July 2012)
- 3: Track to the Future (29 July 2012)
- 4: Beyond the Limit (2 September 2012)
- 5: Lift Story (9 September 2012)
- 6: Gone with the Wind (23 September 2012)
- 7: The Rising Son (7 October 2012)
- 8: Lecture Circuit (14 October 2012)
- 9: Strictly Bollywood (28 October 2012)
- 10: Photo Finnish (4 November 2012)
- 11: Side Tracked (18 November 2012)
- 12: A Glitch Too Far: Part 1 (25 November 2012)
Series 2: Tooned 50[edit | edit source]
The second season, branded as Tooned 50, focused on the team's 50th Anniversary year, and was much shorter, with only 8 episodes produced. Again, the season began at the British Grand Prix weekend. This was the first season with Sergio Pérez as a main character.
This series also saw the début of the Mechanic with No Name, a little old Scotsman voiced by Brian Cox, telling the stories of McLaren world champions such as Prost, Häkkinen and Senna.
Two "making of" episodes were released, as was an additional episode called "The Art of Tooned".
Episodes[edit | edit source]
- 1: A Night To Remember (2 July 2013)
- 2: The Bruce McLaren Story (28 July 2013)
- 3: The Emerson Fittipaldi Story (25 August 2013)
- 4: The James Hunt Story (8 September 2013)
- 5: The Alain Prost Story (6 October 2013)
- 6: The Ayrton Senna Story (27 October 2013)
- 7: The Mika Häkkinen Story (3 November 2013)
- 8: The Grand Finale (24 November 2013)
Series 3: Tooned 2013[edit | edit source]
The third set of Tooned episodes were released in late 2013. Containing six episodes and starring Professor M, Button, Pérez and NASCAR driver Tony Stewart, the series explained how Mobil 1's oil is vital to an driver. The videos were posted to Mobil 1's YouTube account.
Episodes[edit | edit source]
- 1: What's It Oil About? (27 July 2013)
- 2: The History of Lubrication (6 August 2013)
- 3: Experiments (8 August 2013)
- 4: Oil Around the World (22 September 2013)
- 5: Inside an Engine (30 September 2013)
- 6: Oil's Well That Ends Well (5 October 2013)
Series 4: TOONED 2014 presents "Mobil 1 Oil: An Odyssey"[edit | edit source]
The fourth series began in early 2014, with Kevin Magnussen making his debut after Pérez departed McLaren. Armstrong and Button will reprise their roles. Again in partnership with Mobil 1 Oil, the series contains three episodes; three parts of the Mobil 1 Oil odyssey. The series was uploaded on Mobil 1's YouTube channel.
Five behind the scenes videos were released, two on McLaren's channel; a combined episode was also released.
Episodes[edit | edit source]
TOONED Special Edition: #Hunt40[edit | edit source]
After over two years, a special episode was released on 22 October 2016 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of James Hunt's championship win in 1976. Button reprised his role while Fernando Alonso made his debut, and archive recordings of Tom Hunt, Armstrong and Murray Walker were used during stock footage from "The James Hunt Story". Stoffel Vandoorne made a cameo at the end, telling Button and Alonso through the radio about a secret mission.[1] It was uploaded on McLaren's YouTube channel.
Cast[edit | edit source]
Main[edit | edit source]
- Jenson Button as Jenson (Series 1–4, #Hunt40)
- Lewis Hamilton as Lewis (Series 1)
- Sergio Pérez as Sergio (Series 2–3)
- Alexander Armstrong as Professor M (Series 1–4, #Hunt40 (archive recordings))
- Tony Stewart as Tony (Series 3–4)
- Kevin Magnussen as Kevin (Series 4)
- Fernando Alonso as Fernando (#Hunt40)
Recurring/Minor[edit | edit source]
- Brian Cox as The Mechanic With No Name (Series 2)
- Mika Häkkinen as Mika (Series 1–2)
- Nyck de Vries as Nyck (Series 1)
- Emerson Fittipaldi as Emerson (Series 2)
- Tom Hunt as James (Series 2, #Hunt40 (archive recordings))
- Alain Prost as Alain (Series 2)
- Bruno Senna as Ayrton (Series 2)
- Murray Walker as Murray (Series 2, #Hunt40 (archive recordings))
- Ron Dennis as Ron Dennis (Series 1)
- Stoffel Vandoorne as Agent Vandoorne (#Hunt40)
Trivia[edit | edit source]
- In Series 2 Episode 7, Mika Häkkinen is revealed to be a super driver from the planet Sisu, derived from the Finnish word for 'strength'. It is his second appearance in the series.
- Martin Brundle and David Coulthard appear in the McLaren Hall of Fame despite neither being world champions nor having a speaking role in Tooned. Perhaps it is because they have had long and successful careers in Formula One. Additionally, Jenson Button appears in the Hall of Fame, even though he was actually racing for Brawn when he became world champion in 2009.
- In Series 1 Episode 5, Professor M reveals himself as a former racer, losing out to a German rival (partly based on Sebastian Vettel).
- Concept art for a number of drivers, one of them being Niki Lauda, were made by Framestore, but Lauda himself didn't appear in the series due to his managerial role in Mercedes at the time. He was instead replaced with a character named Lautfinger, a thinly-veiled parody of him.
See also[edit | edit source]
Notes[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "TOONED Special Edition: #Hunt40". mclaren.com (McLaren). 22 October 2016. http://www.mclaren.com/formula1/heritage/driver/james-hunt/tooned-special-edition-hunt40-5322554/. Retrieved 25 October 2016.
