General Looney Tunes / Assorted WB Animation (that isn't DC) Thread.

Looney Tunes: Back in Action and Coyote vs. Acme have a lot in common with each other.

• Both films use the Roger Rabbit Effect.
• Both films are shot in the scope aspect ratio.
• Both have two main human characters, one male (DJ Drake and Kevin Avery) and one female (Kate Houghton and Paige Avery), interacting with animated characters.
• Both feature brief appearances from other Looney Tunes characters.
• Both portray the Acme Corporation as an antagonistic force.
• Both have scenes depicting Wile E. Coyote chasing the Road Runner in a live-action desert.
• Both have scenes of cars being damaged (DJ's car breaking down and falling apart after he and Daffy exit Yosemite Sam's casino, and Kevin's car being smashed by a boulder as stated in the leaked plot).
• Certain objects handled by the cartoon characters are animated just like they are.
• Both of their directors (Joe Dante and Dave Green) were fans of the original Looney Tunes cartoons.

And as I said in the Coyote vs. Acme thread, this might have made some people at WBD wary of releasing it. Especially since Coyote vs. Acme would be releasing in an environment where it's even harder for movies to succeed and less guaranteed payoff from tv syndication.

Edited by M84 on Mar 22nd 2024 at 2:05:55 AM

Apparently and probably, it is possible for Warner Bros. to undo a write-off. If they even want to reverse one, all they have to do is to pay the IRS the amount of money back and they'll be able to release whatever they initially wrote off again. This tweet from Steven Ray Byrd mentions that, and these other tweets seem to support it.

That will come in handy. All animated programs on Max got little to no promotion. It really plays into the paranoia and fear that they are gonna tax write off more content like Jellystone, Clone High, Tiny Toons and Bugs Bunny Builders off of Max so they can save money.

It was reported in January of 2023 they would stop doing content writing offs. I rather let them sell these shows to other platforms like Amazon or Tubi if they are no longer interested in those shows.

Same goes for Infinity Train and Final Space if they chose to but they didn’t.

Even though this was several weeks ago, this Twitter user by the name of Drawing for Nothing has debunked the claims and rumors of Coyote vs. Acme being deleted. It's all just a big misunderstanding.

So, was Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue the first Looney Tunes project without Mel Blanc involved?

Given the very quick production time (animation was done in six weeks), it was almost certainly the first one to air.

I just realized that Looney Tunes is the only cartoon "series" to air on ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox (did the classic LT shorts ever air on Kids WB? I know the spinoff shows like Tweety and Sylvester mysteries did, but I mean the classic shorts).

They did but under compilations with special names (i.e. The Daffy Duck Show, which I remember being advertised on the VHS of Space Jam)

They aired on Nickelodeon, TNT, TBS, and had a number of syndicated packages that appeared on local stations over the years, too. There's a long span of time between the 50's and the early 2000s where you could accurately say that not a day went by without Bugs Bunny appearing on TV somewhere in the world.

Here in Canada it was still played well into the 2010s (under the Bugs Bunny And Tweety Show moniker)

So, what would happen if everyone working at Warner Bros decided to quit or go on strike in response to David Zaslav's madness? Would Zaslav be outsed, convinced to treat projects better, or refuse to change and lets the company go bankrupt from the strike?

Last month, I've filed reports to the US DOJ and FTC about Warner Bros.' treatment of Coyote vs. Acme. And before you ask, yes, I am aware that conversations about the film are ongoing and that Warner Bros. is still screening it for other buyers despite the earlier reports of them rejecting offers that couldn't match their price.

Interestingly, my reports did not call for David Zaslav to be dismissed from the company, but rather simply forced to undo everything he's ever done there and stop doing them for good.

Edit: Nevermind. I missread that last paragraph.

Edited by Brandon on Apr 1st 2024 at 11:09:55 AM

x2 I'm gonna be honest, I don't think you have any legal standing in this matter; you're not a major shareholder, the creator, an animator, a producer, or in any way affiliated with Warner Bros or Discovery. You have not put any time, effort or money into the movie, you're just sad that its not gonna be released. Most likely your case will be dismissed by any judge you bring it to.

But best of luck to you.

Did they get a response? I didn't glean that from their post.

Well, this tweet gave me the idea to contact the DOJ and FTC. The tweet mentioned that the DOJ did respond to the person who contacted them.

I actually think it might've bore some fruit, because Steve Miron and Steven Newhouse, two of Zaslav's goons, just left WBD after the DOJ interrogated them.

It would be funny if it was David Zaslav instead. Realizes the DOJ is after him, becomes too chicken to face the consequences and quits his job like a complete coward rather than deal with them.

Not everything is about Coyote vs. Acme. This antitrust investigation probably didn't take that into account.

The article even points out the DOJ's reason for investigating them:

Basically, the DOJ saw that the two jackasses were board members of Charter. They figured since cable distributes video and streaming service distributes video, that made Charter and WBD competitors. Meaning these two were on the boards for two competitors. And Section 8 of the Clayton Act says that's a big no-no.

Edited by M84 on Apr 2nd 2024 at 10:52:42 PM

So we'll just have to keep waiting for more news on Coyote vs. Acme, then.

this may sound bad, but in an ironic way, the coyote movie being screwed over by warner seems like it has spread the neverending losing streak of the character to the real world.

I’ve been thinking about the years when each one of the Looney Tunes enters the public domain. A huge pro to this is that artists can finally have the chance to do something with characters that have neglected for years. I’m just thinking that if they are refusing creators/artists to update or use certain characters because they are not popular, not politically correct, or too risky altogether, I think there is a lot of potential once their copyright status is diminished.

Porky Pig will be the first one to enter PD in 2031. But it will be his original iteration. It won’t be until 2033/2034 when people can use his Bob Clampett design.

Daffy Duck in 2033, Bugs Bunny in 2036, Yosemite Sam, Sylvester and Pepé Le Pew in 2041.

The issue is that WB will own these trademarks indefinitely especially the Looney Tunes name. You can create your own works using whatever iteration is depicted from shorts that lose their copyright, but you cannot use trademarks. Artists just need to make sure they need to make it derivative with some modifications, but using the trademark… “No”.

If they act now, they can cash in on creating new iterations for every single character before they lose their status.

Unless artists can work their way around it, lawyers will be shutting them down and place cease-and-desist orders on artists unless they get an official license to make art and use the names of the characters.

the sad thing is that they will most likely just make them horror characters like with anything else that enters the public domain lately, just look at what they did to the silly ol'bear and the steamboat mouse.

The Tiny Toons Spring Break special is online.