The Looney Tunes Show (Parte Deux)

Several months ago, I made a post about the new Looney Tunes show. Today, it remains as one of my most viewed posts on the blog (I'm a little surprised by that.) You canview the original post here.

A few months have passed since it premiered and about 9 or 10 episodes have aired. I'm sure so

me of you guys are wondering if I saw it and if I did, what do I think? Well, I've seen them all and so far....

I think Bugs said it best in one episode: "I like it"

I really do. I know it's no where near the caliber of the original classics, but it's still an enjoyable show compared with everything else on Cartoon Network now. They even brought back the originals to air thanks to this show. So some good did come out of it after all.

I think I can name some good reasons why this show works. Here we go:

#1.) The show's creators.

I've done a little research and figured out that this show has been made by two animators named Spike Brandit and Tony Cervone. These two are animators with a history at Warner Bros, working there since the 1990's according to their IMDB pages. Their credits include directing a few Animaniacs! episodes and creating Tom and Jerry Tales with the help of Joe Barbera. Now they're in charge of everything T & J related. They were also involved in another Looney Tunes show that's been well received by a lot of Tune-heads like me: a little dity called Duck Dodgers.

So yeah... these guys have experience with these characters.

And that's a good thing. At least WB had the decency to give the show to people who know and care about these characters vs giving them to someone like Seth MacFarlane (thank God he doesn't handle the show!) It shows that the company still does care about the Looney Tunes.

#2.) The animation

I know that it's still kinda TV-ish quality, but again, it's still much better than anything else on CN. The show is traditionally animated and colored with computers. I think that's how it's handled, but I'm just guessing here.

Above is a still from one of the latest episodes. Looking at it alone says (to me, at least) that the quality is still pretty high for a TV cartoon, so give it some slack here. The backgrounds are amazing (I really love the paint-splatter technique for the skies in this show. It's just wonderful to look at.) I'm pretty sure this show has a high budget so it allows for better animation.

Speaking of which, I forgot to mention the designs by Ms. Jessica Borutski. I defended her a lot in my last post, so I'll cut to the chase here. They do look nice and have a refreshing new look our friends. I still can't figure out why Bugs is purple, though...

#3) The Looney Tunes are still more or less the same as they were in the Golden Era.

That is to say without a few adjustments, But very little has changed about they're personalities: Bugs is still a wise-cracking smart-ass, Porky is still a very mild mannered nice guy, Yosemite Sam is still brash and loud, and the gophers are, well, themselves.

Few have changed kind of drastically since the classics. One is Daffy.

God, I still love that design...

Anyway, a few people have described him as a buffoon, even calling him the new Peter Griffin (...that hurt just to say that.) Well, I think Daffy here is more or less based off of his character in the Duck Dodgers show. Here, he's still narcissistic, zealous, obnoxious, slobbish, and oblivious to everyone else's needs or desires from him. He's also completely in over his head, believing that he's the center of the universe, even though he isn't and sort of has a very high opinion of himself.

The persona says Jones-ish, yet the look says Clampett. It's a nice fresh take.

But that's nowhere near the one character that needed an upgrade and benefited from it: Lola from Space Jam.

Again, wonderful design. I think she looks better now than ever...

Err, if you've seen Space Jam, then you'll know Lola. In the movie, she was basically a paper cit-out of a female athlete. Harsh but true. She wasn't funny or fun in the movie and I think she hasn't been seen since then. (except for the baby revival show)

Spike and Tony took her in and actually made her a fun character, even if she can be kind of annoying. Here, she's the very ditsy, clingy, obsessive semi-girlfriend of Bugs. I say semi because Bugs doesn't feel the same way about Lola, calling her crazy on a few occasions.

Then again, can you blame him?

#4.) The main stories are still kind of fun

The stories are sort of a hit-and-miss to be honest. But there's more good ones than mediocre, so it's not so bad.

My favorites, so far are:

• The Jailbird and Jailbunny: Daffy gets arrested for littering the Grand Canyon and drags Bugs along for disrupting the court. It's kind of funny after the two break out. Bugs wants to go back because he can make fun of the other prisoners and get away with it, calling it a smart-alec's paradise (makes sense).

No resemblance at all...

• Casa de Calma: Bugs and Daffy go to a spa. Disaster meets Daffy after trying to impress a starlet. This is so far the most like the original classics out of all the ones that aired.

That's an interesting expression. There's lots more from Daffy in this one.

This is just adorable!

• Devil Dog: The Tasmanian devil escapes from the zoo and makes it to Bugs' house. Taz is really intimidating at the beginning. He acts more like the real animal he's based on and even has red eyes! He's never been more scary. Bugs eventually tames him thanks to Speedy's advice (I'll admit, that killed the mood for a while) and the two become friends.

See? Told ya.

This would have been a interesting short...

• The Foghorn Leghorn Story: Daffy is offered a lead in Foghorn's new biopic. There's a great fight scene in the end.

It got better later.

• Eligible Bachelors: Bugs and Daffy get auctioned at a bachelor auction. Lola gets Bugs on a date in Paris and Daffy gets the day with Granny. (She only wanted him to help out with chores. She's 90. Get your mind out of the gutter!) Granny then engages Daffy and the audience in a very gritty WWII story where she saves the artwork at the Louvre. It's actually really cool.

Guess who this is?

So those are my thoughts on The Looney Tunes Show. It's an ok show. It's fun, neat-looking, and worth the thirty minutes.

I know I've listed some good qualities about the show, but it's not perfect. For example, I don't care for the CGI Coyote-Roadrunner shorts, which by the way, why didn't just animate them like the rest of the show? It'd look a lot better to me. And why are they only two minutes? That's about the length of one joke in some of the originals.

But you should check it out. And I'll say it now so it doesn't look like I'm defending the show to death: nothing beats the classics. They brought them back thanks to this show on CN and there's also the DVD's.

Well, th-th-th-th-that's all folks! Hope you enjoyed!

The Old Man of the Mountain & Oogie Boogie's Song

I don't think I've ever talked about a Betty Boop cartoon before, but I guess there's a first time for everything.

This particular one, The Old Man of the Mountain, is one I think I was drawn to because of the music choice. Cab Calloway actually did some songs for the cartoons. I know he also sang for Minnie the Moocher (without a doubt the biggest mindfuck of the animated world).

I have the funny feeling what draws me to the Fliecher's cartoons of this era was simply the animation and the music... that's it! Even though the stories were weak and weird as hell, at least they aren't boring! In fact, I think most of them are really funny simply because of how crazy these cartoons were. (kind of like watching Ren and Stimpy, actually.) Old Man is probably my personal favorite one so far. You can watch it below.

I also wanted to bring up the kind of influence Betty Boop has on animation, even today.

I'm sure someone's gonna read this and think: What does The Nightmare Before Christmas have to do with Betty Boop? Talk about the pot calling the kettle black!

Actually, I want you guys to find this movie (if you have it) and watch it again. Specifically, watch the scene where the main villain Oogie-Boogie enters. That whole song sequence seems to have somewhat been influenced on those Calloway-Beety Boop catoons. From what I've researched, Tim Burton asked the film's composer, Danny Elfman, to listen to Minnie the Moocher as an aid for writting Oogie-Boogie's song. You can really feel the influence in the song. There's even a line from the original cartoon that was homaged in the movie! I'm not saying what it is, though!

The song itself is really damn good. I'd be lying if I didn't say it wasn't one of the best villian songs ever composed! I can tell that Oogie's actor, Ken Page, seemed to really enjoy himself when singing this. He really seems to combine the darkness and sadistic nature of the character with the pure enjoyment of what Oogie plans on doing with Santa. In fact, I think you can learn everything you need to know about Oogie is in this song. (aside from what he's really stuffed with. Again, watch it for yourself!)

Don't believe me? Watch it yourself!

Professor Ludwig von Drake

My God, I love this guy! He always brightens my day with his kooky narrations and wacky inventions. I just think he's one of the most underrated Disney characters out there (Trust me, there's a lot!). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think he was created by Bill Justice (Wikipedia now says both Walt and Milt Kahl created him now) as a host for The Wonderful World of Color. As an added bonus, Paul Frees created that wonderful German accent he speaks in. Today, the equally-talented Corey Burton performs him. Below are some videos of his best stuff, including his Academy Award nominated short, A Symposium on Popular Songs (1962), and two of my favorite shorts of his from House of Mouse.

Orville and Other Big News!

This is Orville. He's one of my latest creations. I have lots, o lots more in the future! I'll have to post them whenever I get the chance.

I have big news! I just met a voice actor living in Houston that's very interested in helping me develop my show as well as voice a few characters! I only hope I can make a short with his help in the future.

A Wild Hare

Bug's first cartoon and Oscar nod. It's a great, funny short with beautiful animation done by Virgil Ross and Rod Scribner. The backgrounds are just as lovely. I wanted to post this one because today is actually Tex Avery's birthday! If he was still around he'd be 103 today. So happy birthday to the funniest cartoonist ever.

As a bonus, enjoy my favorite Tex Avery cartoon as well.

Der Fueher's Face

Where do I begin with this one?

Well, it's my favorite Disney cartoon that won an Oscar. It's funny, daring, politically incorrect, friggin' sweet, and it's Donald!

Of course, it was made in WWII, if you couldn't tell by the title. Ol' Uncle Walt was probably one of the most patriotic Americans back then, and he definitely had a hand with the victory on the home front with all those propaganda films he did. This is one of those films, but it's weapon is comedy, not information. It's almost like watching a Daffy cartoon. Key word: almost.

Another nice thing about it is that it doesn't really cram education down your throat like some of the others he and his artists did.

I think that Disney was really right on the money with Donald. In this period, Jack King was the director that handled Donald the best. Dick Lundy did a good job with Donald as well, but Jack Hannah from the late 40's -50's did better. So did Jack Kinney on the few he did.

Geez, there's a lot of Jacks here.

Life With Feathers

Nominated for the 1946 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, but lost to the Tom and Jerry cartoon, Quiet, Please! It's funny how it's Freling's cartoons are the ones to get nominated for this award.

Also the first appearance of one of my favorites and also Freling's baby, Sylvester.

Knighty Knight Bugs

So far, the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win an Oscar. Nice entry, but I think Hare-Way to the Stars would have been a better choice for this year.

And, as a bonus, here's a video of the cartoon actually winning the award.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6AipTOMpd0&feature=related

Birds Anonymous

It's February! You know what that means? OSCAR MONTH!!

This February, I'm posting cartoons that have been nominated or won an Oscar for Best Animated Short. I posted Rooty Toot Toot earlier today, but this one is one of my all-time favorite cartoon that was recognized by the Academy as well as, what I think, the best Sylvester-Tweety cartoon.

I just love the black humor in this one. What Sylvester goes through in this cartoon is a definite parallel to anyone that has ever tried to give up an addiction, whether it's smoking, alcohol, drugs, sex, or anything else. There' s also a pretty good morale summed up by Tweety at the end. And of course, it's pulled off with the traditional Warner Bros. slapstick.

Ed Seltzer had died before this cartoon won, but Mel Blanc accepted it for him. He later went on to say that this was one of his favorites to voice for, especially Sylvester.

Do I think Birds Anonymous deserved it's Oscar?

Yes. Yes I do.

Creating Animated Cartoons with Character

Another great book worth the purchase! Written by animator Joe Murray, creator of the Emmy-winning shows Rocko's Modern Life and Camp Lazlo, this book is essentially a guide-line for those of us wanting to get into the animation business. It features not only some neat production art from both shows and the short films he's done, but it also has some great pointers on how to make a TV-show with great characters in mind. I have to admit, the man gives great, solid advice.

I personally enjoy Murray's work, probably because I grew up watching Rocko and came to love Lazlo when it premiered. I ain't kiddin' when I say that Rocko was the only cartoon from the 90's to rival the insanity of Ren and Stimpy! Other than that, every character he's made has a distinct design and, most importantly, he has a GREAT concept of character. I love how every story he writes stays in focus with the characters and how they can relate to a modern audience.

If you're interested, you can get the book on Amazon.com for about $15. A good deal!