Season 1 title card.
A CGI animated cartoon presented by the McLaren Formula One team, Tooned shows the madcap adventures of Lewis Hamilton (later replaced by Sergio Pérez following Hamilton's departure from the team), Jenson Button, and the rest of the McLaren team, whose research team is headed by Professor M, voiced by comedian Alexander Armstrong.McLaren commissioned Tooned as a way to further promote their team and reach out to younger audiences, who make up a portion of the F1 fanbase. The show is written, directed and animated by Chris Waitt and Henry Trotter and visual effects house Framestore.
Tooned provides examples of:
- A Day in the Spotlight: The McLaren 50 episodes focus on a particular racer from the point of view of an elderly Scotsman who claims to know the true story about them.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy: Mika Häkkinen was claimed to be an alien superhero from the planet Sisu, and it is implied that Kimi Räikkönen was also from the same planet as well.
- In another episode James Hunt took on Niki-, er, Lautfinger, in a James Bond-style spy mission, tuxedos, women and all.
- Emerson Fittipaldi (voiced by Fittipaldi himself) is a werewolf in one episode.
- Bland-Name Product: Besides not wanting anything to do with tobacco companies in the case of historical F1 cars, licensing issues with some of the other sponsors may account for why Goodyear is substituted with "Good Tyre" and so on. The Parmalat
cap on Niki has "Cappy" written on it instead, though this was ultimately left unused when Lauda was unable to appear due to his managerial position with Mercedes. - Borrowed Catchphrase: Professor M's catchphrase "Oh dear, its happened again" has been said by Nyck de Vries in "Side Tracked" (after narrowly missing a blinded M) and Ron in "A Glitch Too Far" (after the titular glitch, caused by Lewis, trapped him and Jenson in the simulator)
- Bowdlerise: The show's producers state that they found James Hunt's off-track life to be a bit difficult to portray in a family-friendly series. "Sex: Breakfast of Champions", which was a badge on Hunt's racing suit in reference to his rather, um, playful lifestyle, was minced to "Eggs: Breakfast of Champions". Not that there aren't any other risqué references in the series though.
- Cassandra Truth: Professor M would typically scoff off the Scotsman's tall tales, only for them to turn out to be true.
- The Faceless: Ron Dennis, who just happens to be voiced by the former CEO of McLaren himself.
- Lawyer-Friendly Cameo: Lautfinger, who is no more than Niki Lauda with
Serial Numbers Filed Off due to his managerial position at the Mercedes-Benz F1 team. - Merchandise-Driven: It's an obvious shill for the team and their merchandise, and even more so with the Mobil 1 special where they present the history of petroleum.
- Never Bareheaded: The unnamed mechanics, namely the elderly Scotsman. Averted in the McLaren 50 finale when the old man took off his hat near the end.
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Niki Lauda, as "Lautfinger".
- Non-Actor Vehicle: With some of the cast, being they're McLaren F1 drivers, and occasionally other McLaren staff and other notables in the F1 scene like Murray Walker voicing themselves. While their acting abilities are more or less passable at best, Hamilton is the most experienced among the drivers in that he did dabble into occasional acting, mostly making cameos and guest roles in various films and video games (not counting the licenced F1 titles of course).
- Product Placement: Well it won't be a series about F1 without the obligatory sponsors McLaren has partnered or been associated with.
- Science Is Useless: Professor M’s focus on the engineering side of auto racing creates only problems and boredom for the driver characters, who do better when they ignore his suggestions and drive intuitively.
- Super-Deformed: Not so much with the characters (though the mechanics are noticeably short and stubby) as with the cars themselves.
