The Looney Tunes Show

Last updated

The Looney Tunes Show
The Looney Tunes Show logo.svg
Genre Animated sitcom
Based on Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
by Warner Bros.
Developed by
Voices of
Theme music composer Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin (adaptation by Andy Sturmer)
Opening theme"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
Ending theme"What's Up, Doc?" by Carl W. Stalling (instrumental)
Composer Andy Sturmer
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producerSam Register
Producers
Running time22 minutes
Animation
services
Production company Warner Bros. Animation
Original release
Network Cartoon Network
ReleaseMay 3, 2011 (2011-05-03) 
November 2, 2013 (2013-11-02) [lower-alpha 1]
Related
Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007)
New Looney Tunes (2015–2020)

The Looney Tunes Show is an American animated sitcom produced by Warner Bros. Animation, and aired on Cartoon Network for two seasons from May 3, 2011, to November 2, 2013. The series differed from others featuring characters from the Looney Tunes , by focusing on stories conformed around a sitcom format involving the characters of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, who live a surburban life together within a neighborhood of fellow cartoon neighbors, dealing with various issues in their own way. Both the characters from the Looney Tunes, as well as the Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon shorts, were given a 21st century update, [1] with episodes also including a musical short; the first series also included computer-animated shorts involving new antics between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.

Contents

The series received mixed reviews from critics, who praised the visual style, humor, portrayal of the characters, and voice acting, but criticized its direction, its divergences from its source material, its lack of slapstick, and its changes to the characters' designs and personalities. [2] [3]

Premise

The Looney Tunes Show revolves around the lives of Bugs Bunny, who owns a surburban home after inventing carrot peelers that pay him royalties, and Daffy Duck, who is Bugs' roommate, as they deal with different issues and problems that they encounter, some of the time caused by Daffy's rather bad lifestyle. The pair reside within a neighbourhood inhabited by a number of notable Looney Tunes characters including Yosemite Sam, Granny, Gossamer, and Speedy Gonzales, with both Bugs and Daffy having girlfriends in the form of Lola Bunny and Tina Russo, and a regular friendship with Porky Pig. Other Looney Tunes characters, like Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, and Sylvester and Tweety, have less prominent roles but still partake in stories in their own way.

Unlike other Looney Tunes productions, the series focused less on slapstick and fewer visual gags, in favor of more adult-oriented dialogue and significant sitcom elements including love triangles, employment and rooming. [4] Episodes often contained at least two stories featuring Bugs and Daffy, and sometimes led by others in the show.

Alongside the main plots of the episode, the story would often include a Merrie Melodies – a two-to-four-minute music videos showcasing classic characters singing brand new original songs. For the first season only, the show also included new computer-animated shorts involving Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, and a new spate of antics between them.

Episodes

SeasonEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1 26May 3, 2011 (2011-05-03)February 7, 2012 (2012-02-07)
2 26October 2, 2012 (2012-10-02)November 2, 2013 (2013-11-02)

Characters

Main

Recurring

Others

Production

The Looney Tunes Show was originally envisioned as Looney Tunes Laff Riot, a "true-to-the-classics" show emulating the original run of Looney Tunes shorts announced in July 2009 by Warner Bros. Animation. [6] However, it was scrapped because the executives were not impressed, and it was later retooled into the sitcom-inspired The Looney Tunes Show which premiered on May 3, 2011, on Cartoon Network. [7] The show features new character designs by Ottawa-based artist Jessica Borutski which were first created for Looney Tunes Laff Riot and also later retooled for the final series. [8] [7] The Laff Riot pilot would surface on September 4, 2020. [9]

As is standard for most modern animated sitcoms like The Simpsons and Family Guy , the series does not use a laugh track.

The animation was produced by Yearim and Rough Draft Korea, along with Toon City Animation in the first season. The Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner shorts were produced by Crew972.

Cancelation and spin-off film

On July 29, 2014, it was announced that the series would not be renewed for a third season. [10] A direct-to-video spin-off film named Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run was released on August 4, 2015. [11] [12]

Broadcast

The Looney Tunes Show premiered in the United States on May 3, 2011, through August 31, 2014, on Cartoon Network. In Australia, the series began airing on 9Go! and Cartoon Network Australia.

The Looney Tunes Show premiered in Africa on Boomerang Africa on May 17, 2011, in France on Boomerang France, in the UK on Boomerang UK and on different Boomerang feeds throughout Europe.

The Looney Tunes Show premiered in Canada on Teletoon on September 5, 2011.

Home media

The Looney Tunes Show has received home video releases for Season 1. The season 2 episode "Super Rabbit" was released as part of the Looney Tunes: Parodies Collection on February 4, 2020. [13]

SeasonTitleEpisode
count
Disc(s)Release date
1 3-Pack Fun: The Looney Tunes Show123May 8, 2012 [14]
This three-disc reissue for the first three volumes contained the first twelve episodes from the first season.
There Goes the Neighborhood142August 7, 2012 [15]
This two-disc release contained the final fourteen episodes from the first season.

The first episode was also released on Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run as a special feature.

Reception

Critical response

Critical response to The Looney Tunes Show was mixed. The voice acting, humor, portrayal of the characters, and style received praise, but the show was also criticized for its direction and lack of slapstick, as well as the designs and personality changes of the characters. [2] [16] [3]

In a 2010 interview with CBC News, series animator Jessica Borutski said in response to fan criticism of the series' new character designs, that the original designs were intended for adults and that "[it is] time for a new generation to meet the characters." [3] Borutski said, "a fresh, new design is the only way to keep characters alive." [3] Cartoon historian Chris Robinson noted also that the mark the original characters have on fans is indelible and that fans are not receptive to change. "[Fans] just really become attached to these things," Robinson said. "It's just so strongly rooted in their childhood that they're unable to separate themselves." [3]

Common Sense Media gave the series 4 out of 5 stars and the disclaimer: "Fun remake of classic toon has a more grown-up feel." [17]

Awards and nominations

The Looney Tunes Show was nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards. [18]

YearAwardCategoryNomineeOutcome
2011 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Bob Bergen
  • For the voice of Porky Pig
  • Episode: "Jailbird and Jailbunny"
Nominated
BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting AwardBest Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role Kristen Wiig
Won [19]
BTVA Television Voice Acting AwardBest Female Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role June Foray
Nominated [19]
2012 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Kristen Wiig
  • For the voice of Lola Bunny
  • Episode: "Double Date"
Nominated
2013BTVA Television Voice Acting AwardBest Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series – Comedy/Musical Kristen Wiig
Nominated [20]
Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Bob Bergen
  • For the voice of Porky Pig
  • Episode: "We're in Big Truffle"
Nominated
BTVA Television Voice Acting AwardBest Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role – Comedy/Musical Eric Bauza
Won [20]
BTVA People's Choice Voice Acting AwardBest Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Guest Role – Comedy/Musical Eric Bauza
Won [20]
BTVA Television Voice Acting AwardBest Female Lead Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role – Comedy/Musical June Foray
Won [20]
BTVA Television Voice Acting AwardBest Male Vocal Performance in a Television Series in a Supporting Role – Comedy/Musical Maurice LaMarche
Won [20]

Music

Two albums compiling songs from the show have been released digitally by WaterTower Music:

Notes

  1. The final episode first aired in overseas territories. It did not air in the US until August 31, 2014.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mel Blanc</span> American voice actor and radio personality (1908–1989)

Melvin Jerome Blanc was an American voice actor and radio personality whose career spanned over 60 years. During the Golden Age of Radio, he provided character voices and vocal sound effects for comedy radio programs, including those of Jack Benny, Abbott and Costello, Burns and Allen, The Great Gildersleeve, Judy Canova, and his own short-lived sitcom.

<i>Looney Tunes</i> Warner Bros. animated short film series and media franchise

Looney Tunes is an American animated franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It began as a series of short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daffy Duck</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Daffy Duck is a fictional character created by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett for Leon Schlesinger Productions. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, in which he is usually depicted as a foil for either Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig or Speedy Gonzales. He was one of the first of the new "screwball" characters that emerged in the late 1930s to replace traditional everyman characters who were more popular earlier in the decade, such as Mickey Mouse, Porky Pig, and Popeye.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sylvester the Cat</span> Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Sylvester J. Pussycat Sr. is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Most of his appearances have him often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper. He appeared in 103 cartoons in the golden age of American animation, lagging only behind superstars Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Daffy Duck. Three of his cartoons won Academy Awards, the most for any starring a Looney Tunes character: they are Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales, and Birds Anonymous.

Witch Hazel (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. theatrical cartoon character

Witch Hazel is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and TV shows. Witch Hazel is a fairy tale witch antagonist with green skin, a round figure, bulbous facial features, and a single tooth. The name is a pun on the witch-hazel plant and folk remedies based on it.

Granny (<i>Looney Tunes</i>) Warner Bros. fictional character

Granny is a fictional character created by Friz Freleng, best known from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated short films of the 1950s and 1960s. She is the owner of Tweety Bird and, more often than not, Sylvester and Hector. Her voice was first provided by Bea Benaderet from 1950 through 1955, then by June Foray for almost 60 years then Candi Milo took over in 2017 following Foray’s death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joe Alaskey</span> American actor (1952–2016)

Joseph Francis Alaskey III was an American actor and comedian. He was one of Mel Blanc's successors at the Warner Bros. Animation studio until his death. He alternated with Jeff Bergman, Greg Burson, Jim Cummings, Bob Bergen, Maurice LaMarche, and Billy West in voicing Warner Bros. cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner and Taz, among many others. He also voiced Plucky Duck on Tiny Toon Adventures from 1990 to 1995. Alaskey was the second actor to voice Grandpa Lou Pickles on the Nickelodeon cartoon Rugrats. He voiced Lou again in the Rugrats spin-off series All Grown Up!.

<i>The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries</i> Animated television series

The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation which aired from September 9, 1995 to February 5, 2000 on Kids' WB. The final episode, containing the segments "The Tail End?" and "This Is the End", was never shown on Kids' WB, not premiering until December 18, 2002, when the show aired in reruns on Cartoon Network. 52 episodes were produced.

<i>Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1</i> 2003 American DVD box set

Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 is a DVD box set that was released by Warner Home Video on October 28, 2003. The first release of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD series, it contains 56 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements. The set won the Classic Award at the Parents' Choice Awards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeff Bergman</span> American voice actor (b. 1960)

Jeffrey Bergman is an American voice actor and impressionist who has provided the modern-day voices of various classic cartoon characters, most notably with Looney Tunes and Hanna-Barbera.

<i>The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie</i> 1981 animated feature film directed by Friz Freleng

The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie is a 1981 American animated comedy package film with a compilation of classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences produced and directed by Friz Freleng, hosted by Bugs Bunny. The new footage was produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was the first Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies film with a compilation of classic cartoon comedy shorts produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

<i>The Road Runner Show</i> American TV series or program

The Road Runner Show is an American Saturday morning animated anthology series which compiled theatrical Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner cartoons from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, which were produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons between 1949 and 1964. Several of the shorts, especially the ones produced from 1965 onward, were produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises after Warner Bros. closed their animation studio. DePatie–Freleng Enterprises provided the animation for the show's intro, closing credits as well as the wrap-around bumpers.

<i>Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas</i> 2006 animated film

Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas is a 2006 animated direct-to-DVD Christmas comedy film starring the Looney Tunes characters, directed by Charles Visser, produced by Warner Bros. Animation and animated by Toon City Animation. The film is based on Charles Dickens' classic novella A Christmas Carol (1843). The special was released on DVD on November 14, 2006, and was then broadcast on Cartoon Network in December 2006. The special was rereleased on DVD as part of the Looney Tunes Holiday Triple Feature on September 1, 2020.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kids' WB Fun Zone</span> Themed attraction

Kids' WB Fun Zone is a themed attraction in Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia based on the Looney Tunes cartoons. The attraction was originally named Looney Tunes Village and was renamed in late 2007 when two new rides were added. At the same time, the Australian Kids' WB TV show began filming at the theme park. Two similar themed attractions, Looney Tunes Land and Cartoon Village, opened at Warner Bros. Movie World Germany in Bottrop Kirchhellen, Germany in 1996 and Parque Warner Madrid in Madrid, Spain in 2002, respectively, with the latter remaining to this day.

<i>New Looney Tunes</i> American animated television series

New Looney Tunes is an American animated television series from Warner Bros. Animation based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series debuted on January 26, 2015, on Cartoon Network, and continued with new episodes beginning on March 14, 2015, on Boomerang. Part way through the first season, new episodes would premiere on Boomerang's video on demand service before airing on television.

<i>Looney Tunes Cartoons</i> American animated television series

Looney Tunes Cartoons is an American animated television series developed by Pete Browngardt and produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The series made its worldwide debut at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival on June 10, 2019, and premiered on HBO Max on May 27, 2020.

Bugs Bunny Builders is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Animation, based on the characters from Looney Tunes. The series premiered on July 25, 2022 on Cartoon Network on their Cartoonito preschool block and was released on July 26 on HBO Max. It is the second pre-school program in the Looney Tunes cartoon franchise, following Baby Looney Tunes in 2002.

References

  1. Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 371–372. ISBN   978-1538103739.
  2. 1 2 "Toonzone: the looney-tunes show three critics one reaction". Archived from the original on February 2, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Ottawa animator bashed for Looney Tunes changes". CBC News.
  4. "The Looney Tunes Show: Season 1 Volume 1". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on July 17, 2011.
  5. @MattyDanner (September 5, 2020). "@ManiacalToast @ZakaZ96 That ain't Della, it's Marisol Mallard" (Tweet) via Twitter.
  6. "TAG Blog: At the 'Toon Factory of the Brothers Warner". animationguildblog.blogspot.co.uk. July 7, 2009. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  7. 1 2 "Layoffs and Hirings". November 6, 2009.
  8. "Ottawa animator bashed for Looney Tunes changes". CBC News.
  9. When Was the Last Time Elmer Fired His Gun? | Looney Tunes Critc Quckie (go to 17:42)
  10. "Frantz on Twitter". Twitter. Archived from the original on June 8, 2015. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  11. "Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run Trailer Teases New Animated Movie". Collider. April 30, 2015. Retrieved May 3, 2015.
  12. King, Darryn (May 5, 2015). "Bugs Bunny to Return in Direct-to-Video 'Rabbits Run'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  13. "Looney Tunes DVD News".
  14. "Amazon.com: Looney Tunes Show 3 Pack Fun S1-V1, V2, V3: Jeff Bergman, Bob Bergen, Fred Armisen, Kristin Wiig, Jennifer Esposito, Maurice LaMarche, June Foray, Jim Cummings, Billy West, Roz Ryan, John Kassir, Eric Bauza, Jess Harnell, Rob Paulsen, Rene Auberjonis, Spike Brandt, Tony Cervone, Sam Register: Movies & TV". amazon.com. May 8, 2012. Retrieved March 11, 2015.
  15. "The Looney Tunes Show: There Goes The Neighborhood". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012.
  16. "REVIEW: The Looney Lunes Show". July 23, 2011.
  17. "The Looney Tunes Show". Common Sense Media.
  18. "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance – 2011". Emmys.com.
  19. 1 2 "2011 BTVA Voice Acting Awards". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 "2013 BTVA Voice Acting Awards". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  21. "Songs from the Looney Tunes Show – Season One". Amazon.
  22. "Songs From The Looney Tunes Show – Season Two". WaterTower Music. Archived from the original on August 5, 2013.