When it was first announced that the WB would be airing a new animated series featuring updated versions of the classic Looney Tunes characters, it caused a small uproar. Many thought the old characters were being discarded forever for a sleeker, hipper design. This was not the case. The characters in Loonatics Unleashed would be completely new, pimped out versions of their ancestors. Now, after all this time, the first episode has hit the airwaves.
I must say that the creators have done their best with what was, from the very start, a really odd concept. On the future "city planet" of Acmetropolis, Ace Bunny, Lex Bunny, Danger Duck, Tech E. Coyote, Slam Tasmanian, and Rev Runner battle against evil forces. In episode one, they take on giant Viking-like robots bent on freezing the entire planet. The slapstick that ruled the old Looney Tunes shorts is replaced by a more energized, anime-style of action, but the characters do maintain some of their ancestors' familiar traits: "Ace," like "Bugs" remains the cool, calm leader, though without Bug's endearing insouciance. "Tech E." has a knack for creating awesome gadgets, though unlike the rocket skates and catapults of his namesake, his contraptions actually work. Slam Tasmanian has super spinning power, Rev Runner, is, of course, super fast, and Danger Duck... well, Daffy just got shot in the face a lot, so the creators gave "Danger" the power of teleportation (he calls it "quacking").
Adamant lovers of the original Looney Tunes (of which I am one) may find the show lacking, but it's clearly not made for those people. It's a kids show, made for kids, and while I can't say it's the greatest cartoon on TV, it seems to serve up what its intended audience wants. The key to enjoying it, I would say, is to try and forget, at least for that half an hour, that Looney Tunes ever existed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
9-19-2005 @ 8:09AM
Bruce Wayne-Johnson said...
I was surprised that it was much more superhero-ish than I was thinking it was going to be - that said and now seeing the show and the form its in, the ORIGINAL designs would have suited this alot better. They were more "evil" looking and because of a letter writing campaign they were softened with the visible pupils and a bit more friendly looking.
I'll have to see a few more but it is a bit of a surprise, while not awesome like Teen Titans is for kids, at least the WB has the guts to try something so totally leftfield that it might just work.
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9-23-2005 @ 12:46PM
emmanuel goldstein said...
whatever. All those remakes have a purpose.
Reach another generation.
All those kids will be touched by these cartoons,
-THEY are the target.-
and they will probably look at the past,
for the source.
it's a blink at chuck jones' masterpiece,
if not a modest reverence.
Back in the days... pennywise made me discover all those classics, brown eyed girl, stand by me etc....
and THAT got my attention.
the ORIGINAL stuff.
every remake and remix are there to complete the loop.
wether you like it or not.
i, personally, acknowledge the effort and dedication to the medium from the tremblay bros.
peace
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9-24-2005 @ 11:33AM
Celleri-kun said...
This show insults the intelligence of third-graders.
Loonatics tries to reach the next generation of kids by assuming they're all drooling, ADD-afflicted monkeys. There is nothing to this show but flashing lights and poor direction. There is no character development except half-fast attempts at witty one-liners, scenes held together only by shiny laser violence, and no real cohesion with the rest of the show's world except through an ambiguous cyber entity with roughly eight seconds of screen time.
It's roughly the same concept as the now-ancient "Captain Planet and the Planeteers", minus the traditional superhero, the environmentalist sentiment, and made X-TREEEME for your kids' mindless consumption.
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