Most kids grow up watching cartoons. Looney Tunes, an undeniably classic cartoon and internationally loved series, began during the late 1930‘s and ended in 1969. The baby boom generation grew up watching Looney Tunes shorts in movie theaters. Future generations would see them syndicated through different television shows that strung the shorts into a series, the most famous being The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show. Warner Brothers has under the Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies brands created over a thousand of these (typically 8 minute) shorts that have run in cinemas and television for over 70 years. There is an absolutely massive fan base of all ages. The shorts featuring characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Peppe Le Peu, Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote and countless others combined equal parts slapstick cartoon violence (that Looney Tunes practically invented) and witty cultured humor to create something really special that to this day cracks me up.

Warner Bros. did not just leave their brand be and tried countless times to bring the franchise to a new generation. Tiny Toons was a reaction to the success of Spielberg’s own animation success with Animaniacs in the early 90‘s. Tiny Toons introduced us to tike versions of the classic characters and while it was not awful it definitely was not good either. WB tried again with Loonatix, which transformed the characters into a superhero fighting team and drastically altered the art style. Loonatix was so far from the mark that many fans just pretend it never was. Duck Dodgers was another attempt that actually managed to make good with its goals by focusing on one of Daffy Duck’s classic parody persona. The Looney Tunes Show is the most recent entry and will be airing on cartoon network. The show translates the classic characters (albeit slightly redesigned) to a sit-com setting. Here Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny are roommates sharing a suburban home and their adventures are far less zany and built around the comedy that you might expect.

The Looney Tunes show actually tries to have a thematic story (probably due to each tale running a full 20 minutes). Bugs and Daffy are living in some version of reality where some semblance of gravity actually applies. Bugs won’t be tunneling through countries, this modern day Bugs actually drives a compact car. At first I found this setup really strange and unfamiliar though it did come into its own – after all this is a show for a new generation of kids who are accustom to much more sentimental, less ridiculously violent cartoons. The caricatures of the classic characters (many already show up in this series) are what will probably be most important to the fans. The script also does justice to the Looney Tunes brand. Daffy is still the self-possessed, explosively angry Duck and Bugs is still the wise cracking charmer he has always been. The dialogue (while aimed at a kid audience) actually manages to come across as witty and I found myself chuckling a few times. The show is at its best when drawing upon references (that are aimed at an older crowd) such as Superman the movie (1978), and in this way the show has something to offer everyone.