Monday, March 10, 2014

Bugs Bunny is Still Dead

Bugs Bunny in the year 2000.  Bob Clampett got it right.

The animation world is a tither over Warner Bros. announcement of it's umpteenth revamp of the Looney Tunes franchise in Wabbit - A Looney Tunes Production.  Fans are either salivating or puking.  Much ado about Bugsy.


Everyone loves the original Looney Tunes shorts, but when Termite Terrace closed in 1963, it was the end of an era.  There have been dozens of new incarnations of Bugs.  We grew up on the TV series in the '60's that  ran for over two decades on Saturday mornings.  Who can't sing the Road Runner theme?   Specials directed by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng in the ''70's and '80's were largely disappointing.  Sad compilation features,  hatcheting classic shorts together using new, poorly matching bridging material and elderly Mel Blanc's tired voice.  Then there's Tiny Tunes, because the '80's sucked that badly.   Chuck Jones did some new theatrical shorts in the late '80's, but even they were homages to the past.

The live action/animated features Space Jam made no fucking sense.   Looney Tunes: Back in Action was better, but still an homage to the past.  I storyboarded on it briefly, and can attest that there was little interest in fresh gags.  They wanted classic schtick, and didn't seem to know what to think of new gags.   It really underscored the fact that we were monkeying around with someone else's creation.

There's a couple more TV incarnations that aren't even worth mentioning.

And now Wabbit  is on the horizon;  work for a lot of people.  If it takes revisiting the past to create jobs, then so be it.  I hope it's a hit.  

-Steve

Read more about Wabbit in Jerry Beck's fabulous blog:
http://blogs.indiewire.com/animationscoop/wabbit-a-looney-tunes-production-toplines-cartoon-network-upfront-presentation


7 comments:

  1. Well, as one of the directors of the 'poorly matched bridging segments' on one of the compilation shows...I can only tell you that we tried to make it as distinct from the older footage as possible, and succeeded despite tiny budgets and tinier interest (that particular show never aired but went straight to video.) We can certainly make good Bugs Bunny cartoons again if we just decide to have fun with him and not use him as a sitcom hero. But of course, he belongs to a corporation, and they decide what to do with him. Bugs is no 'deader' than Mickey Mouse is, since he is an artistic idea, he can go on forever. You have only to want him to.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I think I've heard of that one, "Bugs Bunny's Lunar Tunes". I never did see that one simply because of it's home video allocation (but recall the couple that came before that CBS use to air back then like "Overtures to Disaster"). These ones were actually pretty good I though. I think by that point in time they were learning from their mistakes of the previous decade when we had the older guard put out those specials I had to waste my time before bed on simply because there was something animated on prime time! Those ones stuck out more like a sore thumb than the later ones. Of I feel it also helped that those like Terry Lennon and Greg Ford were there to stir it into that direction it needed to be in during that period. They certainly knew these characters in and out and how to work within the budgets handled.

      Delete
    2. By the way, here's one place out there that has "Lunar Tunes" if anyone's curious to check it out.
      http://pann.nate.com/video/209826949
      http://pann.nate.com/video/209827129
      http://pann.nate.com/video/209827295

      Delete
  2. It is easy to blame the faceless corporation for the failings of character revivals, they make the big decisions. But the artists are willing participants. Their love for the old characters makes them want to recreate what has already been done. The new Mickey shorts have brilliantly stepped away from the classic design, freeing the artists to treat the characters more inventively. It's not Mickey as I know him, but it is its own thing. Animaniacs succeeded similarly to bring a Looney Tunes energy to new characters. As per Bugs, my point is that he belonged to a small group of artists who knew him the way Charles Schulz knew Snoopy or Walt Kelly knew Pogo. Other artists could certainly carry on their work, but it would always be missing that element that came from inside their creator's heart and mind, that only their creators could know. It would just be an imitation. I have seen a very good Charlie Chaplin impersonator at the Universal Studios theme park, but could he ever be the real thing?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I see you guys discussed this very issue some 5 years back in this article...
      http://www.flipanimation.net/flipfissue16.htm

      Delete
  3. Reboots are never as good as the original, because they inherently use second-hand ideas. The old Looney Tunes shorts were great because they had strong creative leads, but when a second generation takes on Looney Tunes, they have to stick with the source material. So any subsequent reboots are the same old gags, but without the creativity that they had first time round. It's like listening to a cover band.
    It's not necessarily the second generation's fault. If they were allowed to come up with completely new IPs there might be more creativity, or a least more interesting stuff.

    ReplyDelete