Overall, my excitement is tempered with the usual cynicism plaguing most Westerners born in the Twentieth Century (or later).
There was much skepticism over Tiny Toons about 20 years earlier and it worked out. I even bought the DVDs of the first season (broken up into two volumes). How are they? The quality of the animation is lousier than I remembered, similar to my complaints about The Tick Versus Season One. The references and clothing are dated too, especially the MC Hammer parachute pants. As cartoons they were well written (some of the talent went on to bigger things such as The Simpsons, Pixar and DC’s Animation Division) but the voice work carried them through more often. Tiny Toons was certainly the exception to the rule on how creatively bankrupt an idea can be when the copyright holder reverts to making a baby version of its characters: Flintstone Kids, Muppet Babies, Little Archie, A Pup Named Scooby Doo and the biggest turd in the punch bowl…Little Rosey.
So Bugs Bunny’s comeback is just in time for his upcoming 70th birthday (July 27, 1940) and this will be the explanation I’m willing to give Time Warner…other than their need to get us to forget they let AOL sit in the driver’s seat 10 years ago. Besides, Bugs got mothballed over a decade ago. The only Looney Tunes characters still making the rounds on merchandise are Tweety and Taz, maybe Marvin Martian. I want some new crap with the wascally wabbit on it! Namely t-shirts and/or a watch to replace the one I’m too lazy to send in to Fossil for repair.
This article doesn’t exactly fill me with hope. I find the picture/sample of the upcoming animation rather weak. You’d think Time Warner could find at least a dozen Koreans capable of imitating Chuck Jones’ style. I’m willing to wait and see before I judge any further. It would be awesome to see the producers take a gamble on making a new set of shorts in the same vein as the original Looney Tunes. Alas, those cartoons were shown in theaters back when going to the movies didn’t cost much and it was an all-day thing. It would require a time machine to regain the context. (I need to ask my WWII Vet friend Charles on what a typical lineup was when he was an usher in NYC. I know he was shocked when I mentioned newsreels.) Today, Bugs and his pals are up against much more competition for eyeballs too.
Until I see enough episodes to have a more solid opinion, I am going to be in the Pro camp because Bugs Bunny is my Totem Animal and personal hero. Fingers crossed this CN production doesn’t suck! Then again, a mediocre cartoon incorporating the Looney Tunes stable is an improvement over CN’s live fare and the Canadian leftovers Total Drama and 6teen. No wait, Johnny Test is another stinkburger wasting electrons.