The Looney Tunes Show

The Looney Tunes Show
Genre Animated sitcom
Based on Looney Tunes
by Warner Bros.
Developed by Spike Brandt
Tony Cervone
Voices of Jeff Bergman
Bob Bergen
Kristen Wiig
Fred Armisen
Maurice LaMarche
Jennifer Esposito
Annie Mumolo
June Foray
Theme music composer Cliff Friend & Dave Franklin (adaptation by Andy Sturmer)
Opening theme "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"
Ending theme "What's Up, Doc?" Instrumental
Composer(s) Andy Sturmer
Country of origin United States
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 2
No. of episodes 52 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s) Sam Register
Producer(s) Spike Brandt (supervising)
Tony Cervone (supervising)
Matt Danner (season 1)
Hugh Davidson (season 2)
Running time 22 minutes
Production company(s) Warner Bros. Animation, Inc.
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Distribution, Inc.
Release
Original network Cartoon Network
Picture format 1080i (HDTV)
Audio format Stereo
Original release May 3, 2011 (2011-05-03) – August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31)
Chronology
Preceded by Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007)
Followed by New Looney Tunes (2015–present)
External links
Website

The Looney Tunes Show is an American animated sitcom that ran from May 3, 2011 through August 31, 2014 on Cartoon Network. The show consists of two seasons, each containing 26 episodes, and features characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoons updated for the 21st century. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation.

On July 29, 2014, the series was cancelled after two seasons.[1] Despite the cancellation, a direct-to-video film named Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run was released on August 4, 2015, though it was released earlier on July 7, 2015, through Walmart and Vudu.[2][3]

Plot

The concept of the show revolves around roommates Bugs and Daffy living in a suburb of Los Angeles with "colorful neighbors" and other characters including Lola Bunny, Tina Russo, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, Elmer Fudd, Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Gossamer, Yosemite Sam, Speedy Gonzales, Marvin the Martian, Pete Puma, and more. The show's plots contain fewer visual gags and are more adult-oriented and dialogue-driven than has been seen in past Looney Tunes shows such as love triangles, employment, and rooming.[4]

Wraparound segments

The show also features two other segments which wrap around the main plot. These consist of:

  • Merrie Melodies – Approximately two to three-minute music videos (with the exception of "Daffy Duck the Wizard", which runs for around four minutes) showcasing classic characters singing brand new original songs. They appear midway through most of the episodes in Season 1 and at the end of most episodes in Season 2 in place of the Road Runner shorts.
  • Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote – A series of CGI shorts depicting Wile E. Coyote's attempts to catch the Road Runner. These segments stopped production after season one.

Episodes

Season Episodes Originally aired
First aired Last aired
1 26 May 3, 2011 (2011-05-03) February 7, 2012
2 26 October 2, 2012 (2012-10-02) August 31, 2014 (2014-08-31)

Characters

The Looney Tunes Show has a variety of characters, classic and new, who appear or make cameos frequently in the show.

Main

  • Bugs Bunny (voiced by Jeff Bergman) – Bugs Bunny lives a life of upper-middle-class suburban leisure, based on income from a popular Carrot Peeler that he invented. He lives in a well-appointed house, drives a compact car, and provides room and board for his friend, Daffy Duck. He spends his time watching sports on TV, hanging out with his friends and neighbors (mostly drawn from the classic Looney Tunes roster), and dating Lola Bunny (the latter under some protest). He generally plays the straight man to Daffy and Lola's various bouts of insanity, although he is not without his own quirks. He has exhibited somewhat compulsive/addictive tendencies, like having a high caffeine intake with coffee, becoming addicted to an energy drink that had dangerous chemicals in it, nearly leveled his own house in an increasingly deranged attempt to put up a shelf, and getting hooked on foods that contain butter. Despite being intelligent, he has shown some level of tomfoolery, such as when he found jail "a smart aleck's paradise" and mistook the Tasmanian Devil for a dog.
  • Daffy Duck (voiced by Jeff Bergman) – Daffy Duck is the roommate of Bugs Bunny. Unlike Bugs and their neighbors, Daffy has no way of earning money and relies on Bugs for food and shelter. He has tried on numerous occasions to get rich quick but ended up failing repeatedly. While Daffy's greed and jealousy of Bugs remains, it appears less antagonistic in the show. In the first episode, Bugs openly admits that Daffy is his best friend, despite his faults. Daffy has worked, and been fired from, numerous jobs due to negligence and/or incompetence. Despite this, however, Daffy has shown to be a very skilled hairdresser and successfully graduated beauty school. Daffy's three possessions that he is proud of are his (broken) blue recliner, his white collar which he always wears (revealed in some episodes to be a fine pearl choker), and his Papier-mâché parade float, constructed on top of a pickup truck, which is his main means of transport.
  • Porky Pig (voiced by Bob Bergen) – Porky Pig is one of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck's friends. Despite being bright and bookish, Porky has an innocent, naïve quality that Daffy frequently uses to his advantage, tricking Porky into parting with large sums of money or accompanying him in bizarre schemes. Porky originally worked a boring office job, but got fired following Bugs' example. He started his own catering company afterwards. In "Dear John", Porky was shown to have served on the city council. He starts a relationship with Petunia in the end of "Here Comes The Pig". In "Best Friends Redux", Daffy meets Porky's young self and ensures that he becomes good friends with Bugs & Rodney in their cabin, finally showing Porky an act of kindness.
  • Speedy Gonzales (voiced by Fred Armisen) – Speedy Gonzales is an extremely fast mouse who lives with Bugs and Daffy as their "mouse in the wall" and runs a pizza parlor called Pizzarriba. He is occasionally shown to act as Daffy's conscience. The episode "Sunday Night Slice" showed that Bugs bought his favorite restaurant Girardi's to prevent it from being closed and hired Speedy to help him. When Bugs decides he doesn't want to own a restaurant anymore, he hands ownership of it to Speedy who renames it "Pizzarriba".
  • Yosemite Sam (voiced by Maurice LaMarche) – Yosemite Sam is one of Bugs and Daffy's neighbors. He is a liar, a thief, and a cheat, amongst other things. Coming from a lower class background, he tends to steal Bugs' possessions, causing Bugs and Daffy to resent him.
  • Lola Bunny (voiced by Kristen Wiig) – Lola is Bugs' scatter-brained, bubbly, obsessive significant other, who has a habit of speaking rapidly, whether anyone else is listening or not. When they first meet, Bugs falls in love with her, but after learning how crazy and ditsy she is, he loses interest and often tries to escape her company. Lola develops a huge obsession with Bugs Bunny that he later finds creepy; Lola is never put off by Bugs' responses to behavior, that include taking photos of him in the shower, spying on him late at night, and often stalking him. Later in the series, however, Bugs eventually falls in love with Lola again which started when they went to Paris in the episode "Eligible Bachelors" and Bugs manages to stop her talking for a while. Her parents are members of a country club and her father likes Bugs so much that he considers him to be "The son he never had."
  • Tina Russo (voiced by Jennifer Esposito in season one, Annie Mumolo in season two) – A new character original to the show, Tina Russo is a female duck who is Daffy's significant other. She works at a copy store called "Copy Place". Tina is another straight character of the show, with a no-nonsense personality. She first starts dating Daffy because "she likes a project"; she tolerates his selfish and arrogant behavior as she has a keen astuteness which allows her to read between the lines when they first meet; she works out that Daffy is actually insecure and jealous, and that his vain attitude is really a front. Daffy is amazed she works this out so quickly and later reveals Tina, through email, that he can't believe someone "so kind, beautiful, generous, and intelligent" would ever want to be with someone like him. After reading this, Tina is touched, and tells Daffy she loves him.

Recurring

Others

Production

The Looney Tunes Show was first announced in July 2009.[5] However, it was delayed several times before finally premiering on May 3, 2011. The characters feature new designs created by Ottawa artist Jessica Borutski over the course of two years.[6]

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

Broadcast

The Looney Tunes Show premiered in the United States on May 3, 2011 through May 14, 2014 on Cartoon Network. In Australia, the first two seasons of the series began airing on 9Go! and Foxtel channel on Cartoon Network.

Home video

The Looney Tunes Show has received home video releases for Season 1. It is unknown when Season 2 will get home video releases

DVD Name Ep # Release Date
3-Pack Fun: The Looney Tunes Show 12 May 8, 2012[7]
There Goes the Neighborhood 14 August 7, 2012[8]

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

Reception

Critical

Reactions to The Looney Tunes Show have been mixed. Though the voice acting has received praise, the series has been criticized for its direction, as well as the designs and personality changes of each character.[9][10][11] The show, however, remained consistently popular, garnering an average of 2 million viewers every episode.[12][13]

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."[11] Borutski said, "a fresh, new design is the only way to keep characters alive."[11] 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."[11]

Awards and nominations

The Looney Tunes Show has been nominated for three Primetime Emmy Awards.[14]

Year Award Category Nominee Outcome
2011 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Bob Bergen
  • For the voice of Porky Pig
  • Episode "Jailbird and Jailbunny"
Nominated
2012 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Kristen Wiig
  • For the voice of Lola Bunny
  • Episode "Double Date"
Nominated
2013 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Voice-Over Performance Bob Bergen
  • For the voice of Porky Pig
  • Episode "We're in Big Truffle"
Nominated

Music

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

  • Songs from The Looney Tunes Show, Season One (2012)[15]
  • Songs from The Looney Tunes Show, Season Two (2013)[16]

References

  1. "Frantz on Twitter". Twitter. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  2. "Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run Trailer Teases New Animated Movie". Collider. Retrieved 3 May 2015.
  3. King, Darryn (May 5, 2015). "Bugs Bunny to Return in Direct-to-Video 'Rabbits Run'". Cartoon Brew. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  4. "The Looney Tunes Show: Season 1 Volume 1". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-17.
  5. "TAG Blog: At the 'Toon Factory of the Brothers Warner". animationguildblog.blogspot.co.uk. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  6. CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/news/arts/artdesign/story/2010/05/26/ottawa-looney-tunes-new-design-bortuski.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  7. "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. Retrieved 11 March 2015.
  8. "The Looney Tunes Show: There Goes The Neighborhood". tvshowsondvd.com. Archived from the original on 2012-03-24.
  9. "Toonzone: the looney-tunes show three critics one reaction". Archived from the original on 2012-02-02.
  10. "REVIEW: The Looney Lunes Show".
  11. 1 2 3 4 "Ottawa animator bashed for Looney Tunes changes". CBC News.
  12. "Tuesday's Cable Ratings: TNT Rides NBA Doubleheader". The Futon Critic.
  13. "Tuesday's Cable Ratings: MLB Playoffs, BET Hip Hop Awards No Match for "Anarchy"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
  14. "Outstanding Voice-Over Performance – 2011". Emmys.com.
  15. "Songs from the Looney Tunes Show - Season One". Amazon.com.
  16. "Songs From The Looney Tunes Show - Season Two". WaterTower Music. Archived from the original on 2013-08-05.
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