I have a question to put to all you very talented people.
If Merry Melodies or Looney Tunes were invented today where would they premier?
Cartoon Network?
Nickelodeon?
Affiliates (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX)?
Syndication?
TBS?
iTunes only?
One thing I see missing in all the inventive cartoons out there is the 1/2 hour show comprised of 6-7min shorts; Bugs Bunny, Road Runner, Elmer Fudd, etc. While I'm sure there are animated shorts out there, no one seems to be playing anywhere near the classic Warner Bros. ballpark.
I know Daffy and the rest are still beloved. But is there still a place for them in today's market?
Not an easy question to answer. Most likely you will have to better define the work, like Cartoon Network runs a lot of animated shorts. If you blink you would miss them.
I think Cartoon Network will handle them. Besides can't show them on Nick coz Bugs and the rest of the gang are not only for children. :)
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Hi Gary, and welcome.
The Looney Tunes gang couldn't be created today, because the environment that led to their creation doesn't exist. Theaters no longer run shorts (animated or live-action) before features, studios no longer own theaters so block booking is out of the question, and people creating animation today don't have the latitude to experiment and try new things that lead to a cast of characters that can endure for decades.
Not only did some characters fall by the wayside along the way (Sniffles, Screwy Squirrel, Horace Horsecollar, etc), but many characters' personalities were refined and redefined as the characters matured. The Bugs Bunny in the earliest WB cartoons bears little resemblance to the later incarnation, in either physical appearance or behavior.
As to whether the Looney Tunes have a place today, one only need look at the sales figures for the Gold Collection and Spotlight Collection DVDs. Yes, there's still an audience for relateable characters and well-told stories - there always will be.
Thanks for your feedback guys.
I especially like DSBs reply. I agree that the culture has changed. We bare little resemblance to the society where Bugs and Daffy were born into.
While it is true that shorts no longer run in theaters, except before Pixar films, there are more venues today. I can think of great places for 6 minute animated shorts. Beyond airing the show on Cartoon Network the individual shorts could run on wireless networks. Verizon, AT&T, Sprint are going to need more and more content as smart phones become predominant. Also Apple's iStore for download, On-Demand cable channels, etc.
I also very much agree with your sentiment, "relatable characters and well told stories." Add in some laughs and we'd have a winner all over again.
Wish me luck.
Because I'm throwing my hat in the ring!
I also agree with DSB. The Looney Tunes are too much a product of their time to fully work today as anything else than allusions to what they used to be. Space Jam and Looney Tunes - Back in Action were just playing with hollow character stereotypes. Loonatics Unleashed was, well, a very bad joke.
On the other hand, I think modern shorts like How To Hook Up Your Home Theatre are entirely watchable. The only way in which I can explain this is that the writers didn't veer from the old cartoons' structure very much and only included modern day references cautiously, and that Goofy isn't so much of a specific character that he only works within a specific era. Some might say it's because he's less of a character but I disagree. Skilled people like Chuck Jones can even create characters out of a dot and a line.
I appreciate the agreement, but that's not exactly what I meant. :) I was referring to the environment that allowed their creation, not their viability as contemporary characters.
Actually, I think that the LT characters are fully relevant today and could work as well as they did in their heyday, if there was someone around who knew these characters as well as Jones, Freleng, Clampett, et al. did. Their personalities are universal and resonate with all types of viewers, which is why they endure so well.
Producing a "new" Bugs/Daffy/whoever cartoon that could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the classics would also require that those who hold the pursestrings refrain from inserting themselves into the creative process. That's very difficult for many executives.
Thank you DSB.
When TV Guide did a survey of who was the most beloved animated character 2nd place was Mickey Mouse. Number 1 was Bugs Bunny.
Of course the culture is different now. If Looney Tunes had never existed I couldn't go to an exec now and say I've got a rabbit named Bugs. At best the exec is going to think it's based upon a mobster motiff.
The niche those characters filled is not present anymore. I think a lot of people would like to see its return, from 4 and 5 year olds on up.
Of course the LTs are relevant today and not just lifeless artifacts. The question is, how are they treated today? I'm sure there exist official character bibles as thick as phone books which meticulously chronicle all the gags from bygone days which are deemed most compatible with today's viewers. Then what happens? Bugs Bunny has to play basketball with Michael Jordan, act like a Hollywood snob alongside Brendan Frasier or turn into an icky-looking pseudo anime character.
I think I read somewhere Chuck Jones said Space Jam was entirely pointless because a) the real Bugs wouldn't have needed any help to deal with the overwhelming odds of heavily armed, mutating space aliens, and that b) he wouldn't have needed one and a half hour to deal with them, either. So there's your problem right here - the characters didn't evolve "in character", they were just dressed up to look like something from the 90s and 2000s.
Here's an interesting article by Will Finn on the later Chuck Jones:
http://willfinn.blogspot.com/2008/01/using-it-losing-it-and-getting-it-back.html
I guess he's right in assuming not even legends are always at the top of their game ...
I'd love to see what someone like Eric Goldberg could do with the LTs if turned loose with full creative control. You don't have to dig too deep to find that Goldberg not only loves the characters, but understands what makes them tick.
I completely agree with Finn about Jones' later work. I almost wish he'd refrained from things like "Thomas Timberwolf" - it just doesn't work at all, and apparently no one had the stones to tell him so.