HAS Warner Bros. gone daffy?
That's what fans of the studio's classic cartoon characters might be asking after they get a look at the new, futuristic versions of some of their favorite animated heroes, which Warner unveiled yesterday.
The Looney Tunes characters — six in all — have been "reimagined" (in studio parlance) for a new series called "Loonatics," which is set to air next fall on WPIX/Channel 11 as part of the Saturday morning Kids' WB program lineup.
The show features new versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, the Tasmanian Devil, Road Runner and Lola Bunny (the newest of the characters, who was introduced in the 1996 Michael Jordan movie "Space Jam").
For "Loonatics," the six characters are being projected 700 years into the future, given superpowers, and outfitted in tight-fitting, slenderizing space gear.
Apparently, falling anvils and exploding cigars are no longer enough to keep kids 6 to 11 years old entertained.
"This is a kids show intended for kids today who are growing up in the Internet age, an age of technology, an age of hip, cool animation, and something that we hope will resonate with that age group," explained Sander Schwartz, president of Warner Bros. Animation, in a phone interview from Hollywood.
He said the characters' superpowers have not yet been finalized. And neither have their names, although they are expected to have names close to those of their ancestors (think Buzz Bunny).
And what of all the other classic Looney Tunes characters? What about Sylvester and Tweety, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Speedy Gonzalez and Marvin the Martian?
And what about Porky Pig? Is poor Porky destined to stutter and remain fat and pantless for the rest of history?
Schwartz said Warner settled on six characters because that's as many as a half-hour ensemble show can handle. But he didn't rule out guest appearances by some of the other legends of Looney Tunes, although in futuristic form.
But cartoon purists, raised on the easy-to-understand hilarity of Elmer Fudd blowing Daffy Duck's bill off with a shotgun blast to the face, might rightfully lament the fact that their own kids won't get a chance to grow up exposed to that same kind of classic comedy.
To that complaint, Schwartz notes the old Looney Tunes cartoons will likely run forever on some channel or another, including the Warner-owned Cartoon Network and Boomerang cable channels. "And secondly," he said, "these are cartoons. Lighten up! They're fun and the existence of one doesn't preclude the existence of another."
