"The Looney Tunes Show" premieres May 3, 2011

[beakerfan76]

CGI Roadrunner-Blech
Other stuff-Not so bad. Better than I expected.

 

[ZeppoAndFriends]

We finally get a preview...

uh......yeah
Absolutely NOT loving the CGI Road Runner segment. It looks like a cheap video game. And they're pulling the unofficial voice "Let's get whoever's available" garbage again. Daffy's voice is terrible and inconstant. But the animation on that one is pretty good.

Jeff Bergman used to do such a great Daffy, too. (Yes, that's him doing both Bugs and Daffy again!) Goes to show how much time has passed since (Blooper) Bunny.

And while the CGI Road Runner segment looked bad, I wouldn't say that it looks like a bad video game (in fact graphics like that are just about right for a middle-of-the-road video game), it just looks like bad CG.

 

[SSLFan]

So what happened to this show?

 

[Oscarfan]

It's starting on the 26th.

 

[Drtooth]

You know... I just have this on my mind and I really feel like getting it out.

Now, I'm going to give this show a chance and hope it's just as good as any televised versions of the Looney Tunes could be. After all, this is actually the product I WANTED them to develop in time. A collection of new short LT cartoon segments, similar to Mouseworks/ House of Mouse.

What really bugs me, and I was going say this in another thread, is maybe the reason that the LT are so hard to sell is the fact that purists automatically Poopoo ANY new LT project, and unfairly compare them to the artisan films that we'll never get back no matter how much we try. The people behind them are long since gone, and emulations WILL only be emulations. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't be able to try... besides, Friz Freeling, much as I love his classic LT and Pink Panther work, did go in halfsies with a production company that made HORRIBLE 1970's cartoons with crime fighting ripoffs of sitcoms.

Now, I have to say I LOVED Tom and Jerry Tales. BEST TV interpretation of the characters. Not since this or that... ever. Hanna Barbera's Tom and Jerry show was bland.... Filmation, a great studio in their own right, had NO business making any shorts like Tex Avery (their Mighty Mouse ones were amazing though), and Tom and Jerry Kids... well, it wasn't bad... in fact, the unfortunate best of the three... but Tom and Jerry tales brought the classic sense to the shorts, updating them in a well thought out manner. I think that was the last thing Hanna or Barbera did before they passed one (the last one, I forget which one), writing an episode of the series.

As for Looney Tunes, I tend to be forgiving of their TV outings. Other than Loonatics Unleashed (a terrible idea) and Baby Looney Tunes (a complete knockoff) they have been wonderful. Sure, they don't compare to the old theatricals... but do they even HAVE to? Their newer shorts too.

On that subject, some of the Mouseworks cartoons were actually more interesting and better written than the Disney theatricals. Mickey's best work, arguably was when Wayne Alwine was doing his voice. I don't expect the same for Looney Tunes at all, but I have yet to see a project (other than the two I listed) that doesn't have some of the same spirit. I know a lot of whiny purists have nothing but complaints from everything from Tiny Toons to Duck Dodgers... I embrace these. They're by people who were inspired to get into the business cuz of them. Loonatics and BLT was inspired by WB wanting to make money (which they didn't). Poor writing, bad concepts (to be fair, LTU had some decent concepts in the second season, but it was too little too late.. and the characters were still flat versions of themselves).

 

[frogboy4]

I'm kind of digging this clip from comicon. The drawn forms both appear classic in style with a modern accent. It also seems like they know how to write for these guys. I understand their reasoning for a CG Roadrunner, but I'm not sold. It could be the price paid to have the rest of the series in glorious 2D.

 

[Drtooth]

I'm digging everything BUT the CGI Road Runner and I'm not sold on the musical segment quite yet... but I'm actually LOVING the character designs and the fact this looks LIKE a cartoon instead of cheap 90's web cartoons like EVERYTHING else does. Those kinds of cartoons look so flat.

I just hope this gets the characters BACK to where they need to be so they don't have to rely on a big blockbuster movie project that will inevitably bomb.

 

[Oscarfan]

It's a shame the new RR/C cartoons can't look like the new theatrical ones; the clips I've seen have glorious animation.

 

[theprawncracker]

This show actually does look really promising. I don't know how I feel about the guy they chose for Daffy's voice (he's going to do Bugs too, right?). It just seems like Joe Alasky does a much better job with him.

Slightly off topic (only slightly)... but what are your favorite of the golden age shorts? I've got quite a few (it's hard to only pick a set number to love) but here are just some...

Rabbit of Seville
Duck Amuck
High-Diving Hare
Hare Trigger
Drip Along Daffy
Bully for Bugs
Bugs and Thugs

To me... you just can't beat a classic Bugs Bunny cartoon!

 

[Oscarfan]

I haven't really seen many LT cartoons recently (Sure, I watched them as a kid, but I remember virtually nothing about them), so I can't really choose. The only one I can really stick out is "Duck Amuck"; that's one of my favorite cartoons period.