Wabbit: A NEW Looney Tunes Production

Yes? Are you saying it's THEIR fault??

> Squatter, pear shaped Bugs.

> Stakes lower than in the original shorts.

> Bugs isn't as in control as he used to be- can be beat up and manipulated in a regular basis.

> Surrounded by friends, many of them of the With Friends Like These... variety, instead of being an overall loner.

I know they probably didn't want to deal with Spielberg, but they probably should just have made a new Buster Bunny series instead.

Bugs being less in control sounds good to me, a few of the old shorts did that and were some of the funnier ones for subverting expectations. What bothers me is the idea of low stakes; the biggest problem with TLTS, to me, was how sedate the show usually was and how low-key the humor was. Looney Tunes wasn't off-the-wall-bizarre-laugh-a-second, but it had to hold your attention like all of its contemporaries, and that's what made it memorable.

Well, let's be honest. due to new guidelines, Elmer can't shoot Bugs dead to rights anymore, nor can Bugs do the same to him. We'll just have to wait and see.

Right, but with all the abuse Finn and Jake take and dish out, there's no limit up to actual gun hunting.

Stripping Bugs Bunny of his Karma Houdini shielding sounds like a good idea to me. I used to think Bugs was too Mary Sue to be sympathetic, getting away with far too much. Adding the vulnerable factor strikes me as a wise move. In fact, Bugs received a goodly amount of karma in The Looney Tunes Show, especially from Lola.

Perhaps what Wabbit is going for by adding Squeaks is a Chip And Dale mechanism. Chip is gullible and overconfident at times, and Dale can be either his best ally or The Starscream, or both. It's a mechanism that worked for Creator/Hanna-Barbera's 2 Stupid Dogs and for Total Television's Running Board and Ruffled Feather of The Go Go Gophers as well.

May I point out that Disney has oodles of characters to shill for them, so Mickey Mouse can mostly retire to the toddler set. Warner Brothers hasn't much beyond the Looney Tunes, which are close to a Franchise Zombie. Worse, if the new Bugs Bunny cartoons hue too closely to the "classic" Fifties shorts, they'll be jeered as lifeless rehashing; whereas if Bugs ventures too far, they'll be vilified as blasphemy and Out of Character. Poor Warner Brothers Animation just doesn't have much wiggle room.

@Napoleon De Cheese

Sadly, I don't think Warner Bros is going to make a new show based on the 90's cartoons like Tiny Toons, and Animaniacs, or even bring back the characters from those shows. While it would be awesome to see Buster Bunny, Yakko, Wakko, & Dot, and Slappy Squirrel, it's likely the WB wants to stick with the regular Looney Toons.

edited 21st Aug '15 7:29:32 PM by DokemonStudios

Likely because not enough people remember them. They don't have staying power much like the original Looney Tunes cast. Same for Disney and their Disney Afternoon characters (although that's seeing change soon). ..... how it is the early 90's roll-out of new cartoon characters almost never get revived??

Well, there goes my weird dream show of The CW making a live action adaption of Freakazoid. Would of been one of the best things to happen to that channel (beside The Flash and Jane the Virgin).

Some actual non-context clips of the show within two promos:

Cartoon Network Week-Long Premieres Promo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gX8F-Ull38E

Boomerang: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwrhmvR41kc

Episode Schedule for Cartoon Network

9/21/15 - 5pm - Buddha Bugs/Now and Zen/Inside Bugs, The/Sun Valley Freeze (PREMIERE)

9/22/15 - 5pm - St. Bugs and the Dragon/Leaf It Alone/Bigfoot in Bed, The/World Wide Wabbit(PREMIERE)

9/23/15 - 5pm - For the Love of Acorns/Game is a Foot /Buddha Bugs/Now and Zen (PREMIERE)

9/24/15 - 5pm - Inside Bugs, The/Sun Valley Freeze/Grim Rabbit /Wringer (PREMIERE)

9/25/15 - 5pm - White House Wabbit/Bugsbarian/St. Bugs and the Dragon/Leaf It Alone (PREMIERE)

edited 20th Sep '15 11:18:13 AM by XMenMutant22

Whole week of premieres! Hope this goes better than The Tom And Jerry Show.

The Tom And Jerry Show was pretty good (better than Tom And Jerry Tales at any rate), but iirc Cartoon Network didn't take particularly good care of it.

Here's hoping CN doesn't shunt this show over to Boomerang as soon as they can get away with it too.

Really? What I saw of the show just struck me as Tom and Jerry Tales but in pathetic Flash animation made in someone's garage.

As for Wabbit, what impresses me here is they're willing to open with a Buddhism episode. With Buddha's name in the title, no less. I want to believe there might be some of the old trangressional Looney Tunes spirit here yet.

Tom and Jerry Show's animation was terrible, but it's writing and wit was a lot better - more reminiscent of the older shorts with the character humor even when they did totally new plots (and they did a lot of totally new plots).

Tom and Jerry Tales' animation was better but it was largely composed of recycled jokes and plots, and gimmicky writing. It's like some of those Looney Tunes productions while the franchise was trying to find its feet again (like Invasion Of The Bunny Snatchers, as hard as it tried to convince us that it was a self-parody) that were mainly composed to repeating as many old iconic jokes as they can stuff into the airtime without really doing anything with them.

Regardless of animation, the Tales is by and large the inferior show imo. It still surprises me that Joe Barbera was actually involved in making it.

edited 20th Sep '15 1:18:03 PM by KnownUnknown

"Here's hoping CN doesn't shunt this show over to Boomerang as soon as they can get away with it too."

You do know that it's airing exclusively on Boomerang, right?

It's definitely premiering on Cartoon Network, at any rate.

Wasn't Barbera also involved with those terrible HB Tom and Jerry cartoons from the seventies? The 'Jerry with red bowtie' ones?

Well fuck. It is airing on CN. TODAY!!

Why, of course. Hence why Cartoon Network had its own unique promo.

It also seems that Wabbit is going to have its premieres first on Cartoon Network, and reruns later on Boomerang at 8pm starting on October 5 with Be Cool Scooby Doo (not sure if Be Cool's Boom exclusive or will have a sudden schedule inclusion on CN like Wabbit).

So much for the rebrand Boomerang having exclusive shows (or at least first premieres at the moment (though, that's not necessarily a bad thing for non-Boom owners).

Also: another "Wabbit-Bomb" the week after on CN.

Mon Sep 28 - 5:00pm - 108 - Not Lyin' Lion / Ice Ice Bunny

Tue Sep 29 - 5:00pm - 109 - Wabbit's Wild / All Belts Are Off

Wed Sep 30 - 5:00pm - 110 - Wabbit's Best Friend / Annoying Ex-Boyfriend

Thu Oct 01 - 5:00pm - 111 - Bugs vs. Snail / To Catch a Fairy

Fri Oct 02 - 5:00pm - 112 - Bugs in the Garden / The Scarecrow

edited 21st Sep '15 8:42:35 AM by XMenMutant22

As I have a job, I will not ever be able to see any of these premieres as they air.

And I may have to catch the first episode at 8. Damn appointment.

So, how is it?

Made it back in time. The humor is way more noticeable in here than in TLTS. The only thing I have a gripe about is that this series made Sam look like a more bearded version of Uncle Grandpa. But that's just me.

So far, "Buddha Bugs" was more amusing compared to its companion short "Now and Zen" (probably because of Yosemite Sam's antics to become a Buddhist " 'cause money"). Though the ninjas combinng into a bigger ninja as they attack Bugs and Squeaks was kind of cool.

From first impressions, it feels more like a Warner Bros's version of the 2015 Mickey Mouse shorts, but with Bugs instead. I like the inclusion of Sight Gags (my personal favorite trope in animation) and word play.

I'm surprised they were able to depict Yosemite Sam wielding semi-realistic pistols and firing at Buddhists in a TV-Y7 (no FV) show.

edited 21st Sep '15 2:28:09 PM by XMenMutant22

Yeah, Buddha Bugs > Now and Zen, and The Inside Bugs > Sun Valley.

I think the issue with Now and Zen and Sun Valley is that the former never really leaves its first joke (it only even fires it a couple times, but more spreads the scnes out for five minutes) and in the latter nothing really seems to happen but Bugs getting beat up.

Also, Sun Valley felt like it wasn't the first episode written with Bigfoot.

I loved Buddha Bugs, though. The joke at the end was predictable, but knowing it was coming while Sam didn't is exactly what made is so awesome.

edited 21st Sep '15 2:35:26 PM by KnownUnknown