"The Looney Tunes Show" premieres May 3, 2011

[mr3urious]

I did like the joke about Bugs dressing in drag. He's done that plenty of times before during the Golden Age, so it doesn't seem out of character for him to enjoy it.

 

[Erine81981]

To further show how much ennui Warner Bros has shown The Looney Tunes Show, consider this. There's a Looney Tunes Show movie that didn't get any publicity, advertisement, or even acknowledgement.

That's right. A Direct to DVD Looney Tunes Show styled movie that you never heard of. And I found the poorly sound mixed trailer here:

I didn't know about this thing until Sunday, when I saw it at a Barnes and Noble. Now, every Scooby-Doo movie being teased, that's a given. They even advertised the Flintstones WWE "film" non-stop. This flew under the radar.

Now, obviously they recast Lola because Kristin Wiig is a big time movie star now (Fred Armisen is still rocking it as Speedy Gonzales), and her new actress seems to be doing a not that great impersonation and doesn't have the same comedic style that came natural to Kristin, especially given the fact that the character was made specifically for her.

I saw it too at Walmart but never did get it only cause I didn't know what to expect from it thought it was a DVD with certain episodes wrapped into one big hour long or however long it it movie. So now that I have seen the trailer it's ok but nothing I'm going to buy. Still cool to see a Looney Tunes straight to DVD movie.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, to be honest, even a great LT movie doesn't really work as the characters somehow don't translate to a movie quite right. I mean, Tweety's High Flying Adventure was essentially an hour and a half episode of Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries with other Looney Tunes characters awkwardly shoved in. It really says something when the best Looney Tunes movie was a Tiny Toons movie and even then it only worked because they were sort of intersecting vignettes. Zip Chase cartoons can't really keep up 90 minutes without getting repetitive.

I want to check this out, actually, but I really don't think Looney Tunes Show could carry a movie with its tone. Strange they even bothered with one, given the fact they can't decide if it was successful enough. They refuse to give it more than 2 seasons, they refuse to even air the last episode for a full year, yet they rerun the heck out of this show on Boomerang.

And it figures... the one Looney Tunes series that could make a movie didn't get one. Duck Dodgers. I could say there was even potential in a Loonatics movie, but even then that's because they already destroyed the appeal of the characters in that series and replaced it with generic action hero stuff.

That said, I'm still a little skeptical about Wabbit. The fact they've carted it off to Boomerang and still haven't shown a trailer for it makes me a little weary.

 

[Erine81981]

That said, I'm still a little skeptical about Wabbit. The fact they've carted it off to Boomerang and still haven't shown a trailer for it makes me a little weary.

I agree with that and the new Scooby Doo one too. I really don't think it'll hold up as any of the other SD shows.

I'll just have to wait for the Wabbit one only cause I've always enjoyed Looney Tunes. Yes the Loonatics wasn't what a looney tune should be. I agree with that. That wasn't all that great. Didn't even get past the first episode. But hopefully Wabbit will be good.

 

[Drtooth]

Scooby-Doo is a strange case. The series has changed formats multiple times, sometimes completely, sometimes keeping the original formula but changing up how it's presented. By all means it either works or doesn't, and when it doesn't another one comes along soon enough. Meanwhile, they still make like 2 or 3 DTV's a year...plus there's a bevy of new Lego Scooby-Doo projects upcoming. Strange that this is the first new SD show that won't get the big network treatment with CN, but given how they basically just burned off The Tom and Jerry Show over last summer, but rerun it furiously on Boomerang, I get what they're doing with it.

Looney Tunes is by all means much more fragile, at least since Back in Action didn't capture the same imagination as the abominable movie that dares call itself Cat in the Hat. By all means, I think Loonatics was the worst concept for the Looney Tunes characters, but in reality Looney Tunes Babies was the worst actual show. Whatever can be said about Loonatics can be said about it, but my problem with it is that it was so incredibly, painfully generic. Especially since Duck Dodgers was all the edginess Looney Tunes needed and it worked. Family Guy/Simpsons style humor, great nods to sci-fi, even some surprisingly serious action and drama moments. All while being Looney and Toony. Loonatics was generic action heroes fighting generic villains with vaugley Looney Tunes inspired heroes. Though, to its credit, they actually tried in season two by replacing the generic super villains with ones based on their actual Looney Tunes antagonists. And, if you have that much faith in me, there were some shockingly decent episodes with Porky Pig and Sylvester and Tweety that were actually Looney Tunes like!

I felt Looney Tunes Show was a decent series, definitely not deserving of the hate it gets, but not quite what made the 90's shows and Duck Dodgers great. And I'm still baffled by the hate that version of Lola gets, but it's mostly from 90's kids who grew up with Space Jam and didn't realize how cynical and generic her character was. Plus, the show also made Speedy a main character again, something the overly PC white executives were too cowardly to do before. And it also got CN to rerun Looney Tunes shorts for a while, and that brought some interest back into the characters.

Though I still question why they bothered with a movie that was released a good 2 years after the show ended (not counting the Superman episode being held back a year for no reason). Tom and Jerry, Scooby-Doo, and various versions on DC characters get DTV movies on the regular. That's kinda why Johnny Quest was tossed into a T&J movie, to introduce the character because they're actually going through with the movie this time.

 

[mr3urious]

I felt Looney Tunes Show was a decent series, definitely not deserving of the hate it gets, but not quite what made the 90's shows and Duck Dodgers great. And I'm still baffled by the hate that version of Lola gets, but it's mostly from 90's kids who grew up with Space Jam and didn't realize how cynical and generic her character was. Plus, the show also made Speedy a main character again, something the overly PC white executives were too cowardly to do before. And it also got CN to rerun Looney Tunes shorts for a while, and that brought some interest back into the characters.

For me, LTS works because of how they took these beloved characters and gave them real-world roles, whether with Bugs & Daffy as swinging bachelors, Pepe & Foghorn as actors, or Cecil Turtle as a customer service rep.

I agree with that and the new Scooby Doo one too. I really don't think it'll hold up as any of the other SD shows.

I'll just have to wait for the Wabbit one only cause I've always enjoyed Looney Tunes. Yes the Loonatics wasn't what a looney tune should be. I agree with that. That wasn't all that great. Didn't even get past the first episode. But hopefully Wabbit will be good.

They've also got an adaptation of the children's novel series Bunnicula planned. I've never read those books myself, but it intrigues me the most out of these three. I love the Looney Tunes-inspired look of the titular bunny they used here.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zwNuM42csLw/VZFWhssXU5I/AAAAAAAA4TA/Qn2jXETAD-g/s320/Boomerang+Bunnicula+cartoon+series.jpg

 

[Drtooth]

For me, LTS works because of how they took these beloved characters and gave them real-world roles, whether with Bugs & Daffy as swinging bachelors, Pepe & Foghorn as actors, or Cecil Turtle as a customer service rep.

I also love that in a move decades coming, Bugs finally got revenge on Cecil the turtle. I also enjoyed seeing how the characters play out in a sitcom format, but I really wish they pushed it more with the other characters. While I have no problem with the series centering around Bugs and Daffy, sometimes Porky, Lola, and Sam, I really wish there were more episodes about other characters like with "Point, Lazerpoint" focusing on Sylvester and Tweety and that episode where those two and Taz get lost (and utilizing one of the most obscure LT characters to date, Blaque Jaques Shellacque). And for that matter, showing Marvin and Pete's collective employment. All we saw of Pete was him driving a rickshaw in a Gophers song. There was real potential for those characters beyond the losers Daffy hangs with to look better in comparison. But overall, I enjoyed the series. Just wish there was a little more slapstick here and there, but overall a fun experiment of characters.

I do hope Wabbit is very good, though. Dunno about the Taz segments. Seems those can either be very good and in the spirit of Taz-Mania, or just the same joke done over and over again.

 

[Erine81981]

They've also got an adaptation of the children's novel series Bunnicula planned. I've never read those books myself, but it intrigues me the most out of these three. I love the Looney Tunes-inspired look of the titular bunny they used here.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zwNuM42csLw/VZFWhssXU5I/AAAAAAAA4TA/Qn2jXETAD-g/s320/Boomerang+Bunnicula+cartoon+series.jpg

That'll be cool. I never have read them either. There was an ABC Weekend Special that aired back in 82. I have never watched it but I have seen it on YouTube. The same with the look from the special. It looks kinda Bugs-ish.

 

[Drtooth]

Well, they've started cryptically advertising Wabbit on Boomerang. Only one of them actually features Bugs coming out of his rabbit hole, and so far the animation looks decent enough. Too bad that's the most revealing promo they have.

 

[Drtooth]

Oh.. and this image just popped up at WB animation's headquarters.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/article/is-cartoon-network-prepping-a-new-jla-animated-series

It features posters of Bunnicula, Wabbit, Mike Tyson Mysteries, Be Cool, Scooby-Doo, a cryptic JLA poster (doubtful it's for a series, maybe just a series of films like Batman Unlimited?), and some weird thing that I can only make out the word "Airline" of.