Te - Balikbayan Magazine

ARTWORK & PHOTO
COURTESY OF VAN PARTIBLE
JUST WHO COULD EVER FORGET JOHNNY
Bravo with his trademark look—tted black shirt
and skinny jeans, his blonde hair combed back in a
“pompadour”, that Elvis Presley-like voice, and lastly,
those tiny sunglasses he could never do without. Johnny
Bravo’s woman-chasing, self-loving, narcissistic ways
gave the 90s TV show a fresh (no pun intended) introduction.
Despite the fact that Johnny never seemed to win over a
woman in the entire duration of the series, lovable characters
like Bunny (his momma) and Little Suzy (his kid neighbor)
helped the series earn a place in every kid’s childhood since it
rst aired on July 7, 1997.
Fifteen years later, Johnny Bravo remains an iconic cartoon
character of the wonderful 90s. And now, we wonder, what
makes this American animated television series utterly
unforgettable and relatable to virtually anyone, especially
here in our mother country? e answer is as simple as it can
get: Johnny Bravo is the brainchild of Van Partible, a proud
Filipino-American.
VAN AND JOHNNY ’S BACKGROUND
Born in Manila, Van Partible was raised in California and
grew up copying several artworks found in comic books. It was
not until college when he decided to take up Studio Arts with
Animation Emphasis at the Loyola Marymount University in
Los Angeles. During his senior year in college, he developed
his thesis project titled Mess O’ Blues (1995), a short lm about
three Elvis Presley impersonators.
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