WB to Castrate Looney Tunes again with new series

Master_Fwiffo · Post by **Master_Fwiffo** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:19 pm

THE HORROR, THE HORROR: Today's Wall Street Journal includes a terrifying story about the "extreme makeover" planned for the classic Warner Bros. characters. Excerpts:

"Hoping to breathe new life into its animated Looney Tunes franchise and prop up the WB television network's slumping Kids' WB line-up, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. is planning to launch a new cartoon series this fall based on 're-imagined' versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil, Lola Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

"Warner Bros. has created angular, slightly menacing-looking versions of the classic Looney Tunes characters for its new series, dubbed 'Loonatics' and set in the year 2772. Names for the new characters haven't been finalized, but they are likely to be derived from the originals: Buzz Bunny, for example. Each new character retains personality quirks of the original. The new Bugs, for example, will be the natural leader of the Loonatics' spaceship; the new Daffy will remain confident that he is the one who should be in charge. ...

"'The new series will have the same classic wit and wisdom, but we have to do it more in line with what kids are talking about today,'says Sander Schwartz, president of Warner Bros. Animation. The plots are action-oriented, filled with chases and fights. Each character possesses a special crime-fighting power.

"Sounds familiar? The format echoes a successful show Warner Bros. launched in 2003 on its WB network and Cartoon Network called 'Teen Titans,'about five teenage superheroes. The series, featuring dark, futuristic characters, based on such DC Comics personalities as Robin the Boy Wonder, quickly became a hit. It ranked No. 26 among kids programs for the fourth quarter last year. ...

"Given Warner's mixed track record over the past two decades with the Looney Tunes franchise, advertisers may be wary. Steven Spielberg sparked things up in the early 1990s with 'Tiny Toons,' a series in which new characters interacted with the originals. But a 2002 effort, 'Baby Looney Tunes,'has been a dud for the Cartoon Network, where it ended the fourth quarter ranked No. 104 among kids programs."

It isn't just advertisers who will be wary.

I always thought the people who said 'so and so raped my childhood' were exaggerating. Boy was I wrong.

I think I'll go curl up and cry now.

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 9:36 pm

Let's see.

*Checks list of childhood memories*

*Scans past Star Wars sequals*

*Sees checkmark.*

*Skips seven or eight items*

Transformers, already done.

*Keeps scanning.*

*Looks past G.I.Joe cartoon with checkmark.*

Blues Brothers, nope, done.

*Scans past MTV*

*Sees checkmark.*

*Sees Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies reruns*

Ah, there it is.

*Checkmarks.*

fort_max · Post by **fort_max** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:20 pm

What the hell is the point? There's nothing currently wrong with Looney Tunes that a new batch of writers couldn't fix.

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:35 pm

I don't get it.
*Will sound like an old man in this post*
Theres nothing wrong with the originals! I could show my old tapes of Bugs Bunny to most children of the appropriate age, and they will still get the same joy out of it as I could have at the same age. Updating it to compare to teen titans is such a horrible comparison. Robin started out a 'super' hero, and the rest of the cast I don't really know, not sure if they are new, or retooled for the show.
Changing a little kids cartoon from furry creatures taunting a dumb hunter with clever tricks, to a team of evil space age animals with crime fighting abilities is much different from changing one characters look and making him the star of his own series where he is doing pretty much the same thing as before!

Kids theses days.... They aren't to blame. Its the companies milking their franchises that hurts them and us.

fort_max · Post by **fort_max** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 10:51 pm

Tired Tracks wrote:Theres nothing wrong with the originals!

Exactly. The failure of things like "Back In Action" has to do with the writers/director, not the characters.

and the rest of the cast I don't really know, not sure if they are new, or retooled for the show.

They're all retooled in some fashion or another, but all of the characters (at least, the ones I've seen) appeared in the comics in some form.

Powermaster Optimus Prime · Post by **Powermaster Optimus Prime** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:01 pm

Are you ******* kidding me

Does anyone honestly oppose the death penalty on this one?

Master_Fwiffo · Post by **Master_Fwiffo** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:28 pm

Tired Tracks wrote:Theres nothing wrong with the originals! I could show my old tapes of Bugs Bunny to most children of the appropriate age, and they will still get the same joy out of it as I could have at the same age.

The 'argument' if you want to call it that, is that the old shows are 'politically incorrect'. (Think about it. Speedy Gonzales with his mexican accent, everybody who has a speaking disorder, Yosimite Sam....)

Its a bloody stupid and totally idiotic argument, but thats their reasoning.

And yes, PMOP, the Death Penalty is perfectly warrented here.

Señior's Covenant · Post by **Señior's Covenant** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:30 pm

Master_Fwiffo wrote: ...Speedy Gonzales with his mexican accent...

He spoke exactly the same in the translated versions as well, and either way my wife got a kick out of it as a child.

Master_Fwiffo · Post by **Master_Fwiffo** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:40 pm

Señior's Covenant wrote:
Master_Fwiffo wrote: ...Speedy Gonzales with his mexican accent...
He spoke exactly the same in the translated versions as well, and either way my wife got a kick out of it as a child.

I've heard (this is just hearsay, so I could be wrong) that most Mexicans love him and view him as a hero always outwitting the American cat, while we silly Americans are the ones who veiw him as offensive.

Redstreak · Post by **Redstreak** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:54 pm

Yep, cuz this is what the franchise needed...good Lord, even Tiny Toons was more true to the spirit of the franchise.

Another mind-[composite word including 'f*ck'] in America. Yay.

angloconvoy · Post by **angloconvoy** » Wed Feb 16, 2005 11:55 pm

Master_Fwiffo wrote:http://michaelbarrier.com/

"Sounds familiar? The format echoes a successful show Warner Bros. launched in 2003 on its WB network and Cartoon Network called 'Teen Titans,'about five teenage superheroes. The series, featuring dark, futuristic characters, based on such DC Comics personalities as Robin the Boy Wonder, quickly became a hit. It ranked No. 26 among kids programs for the fourth quarter last year. ...

Sounds more like bucky o'hare to me....

tits.

Optimus Prime Rib · Post by **Optimus Prime Rib** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 5:02 am

[composite word including 'f*ck'] me running.. this is a bad idea

IronHide · Post by **IronHide** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 6:42 am

What happened to the good ol racist looney toons?

I miss the days.

Post by **spiderfrommars** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:23 am

I don't see the harm in a revamp honestly.

And Tiny Toons weren't that bad surely?

Brendocon · Post by **Brendocon** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:28 am

I somehow don't see this new series suddenly erasing the originals from existence. It's not George Lucas doing it.

You don't approve? Don't watch. Somehow doubt a bunch of twentysomethings are the target audience anyway.

I really don't see the difference between this and, say, Energon...

Post by **Denyer** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 10:42 am

fort_max wrote:There's nothing currently wrong with Looney Tunes that a new batch of writers couldn't fix.

Except being endlessly recycled crap. No desire to watch the originals or a remake, from where I'm sitting... but that really does look awful.

fort_max · Post by **fort_max** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 3:56 pm

Denyer wrote:Except being endlessly recycled crap. No desire to watch the originals or a remake, from where I'm sitting...

See, I think some of the original Looney Tunes were absolutely brilliant (for a number of reasons). Now, characters like Foghorn Leghorn can f*ck right off, but I've always loved 'toons like "Duck Amok", "What's Opera, Doc?", etc.

Aaron Hong · Post by **Aaron Hong** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 4:54 pm

http://news.toonzone.net/image.php?imag ... 65d057add0

Master_Fwiffo · Post by **Master_Fwiffo** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 7:43 pm

Aaron Hong wrote:http://news.toonzone.net/image.php?imag ... 65d057add0

OOh dear lord **** No.

Im going to go puke.

fort_max · Post by **fort_max** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 8:20 pm

Yeah, that looks really horrid.

Redstreak · Post by **Redstreak** » Thu Feb 17, 2005 11:57 pm

Aaron Hong wrote:http://news.toonzone.net/image.php?imag ... 65d057add0

I am going to be sick.

And then I am going to find the first person on the street and behead him.

Then I will repeat the process until I find someone attached to this that I can kill and centralize my aggression better.

Predabot · Post by **Predabot** » Fri Feb 18, 2005 8:52 am

Denyer wrote: Except being endlessly recycled crap. No desire to watch the originals or a remake, from where I'm sitting...

You truly are the denyer.

Aaron Hong wrote:http://news.toonzone.net/image.php?imag ... 65d057add0

..........

Jetfire · Post by **Jetfire** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:32 pm

http://www.csh.rit.edu/~rage/TLGmedia/a ... wbunny.htm

Tired Tracks · Post by **Tired Tracks** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 2:39 pm

Jetfire wrote:http://www.csh.rit.edu/~rage/TLGmedia/a ... wbunny.htm

Finally, someone displays how some of us feel about this...
Should mention that the link is pretty language heavy, plenty of beeps though!

Redstreak · Post by **Redstreak** » Sun Mar 13, 2005 7:31 pm

That was f*cking insane...lol.

Metal Vendetta · Post by **Metal Vendetta** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 8:30 am

That's hilarious. Totally over the top, but there you go.

Post by **Best First** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 11:30 am

Each character possesses a special crime-fighting power.

other than that, don't really care very much.

Its kinda like people complaining that Mickey doesn't look like he did in Steamboat Willy as far as i am concerned.

Post by **snarl** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:16 pm

Did you ever find Bugs Bunny attractive when he put on a dress and played a girl bunny?

Post by **Best First** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:26 pm

only a little.

Post by **snarl** » Mon Mar 14, 2005 3:30 pm

He made me spray sex piss up the wall.

TransFans.co.uk

WB to Castrate Looney Tunes again with new series

Re: WB to Castrate Looney Tunes again with new series