“And a little child shall lead them …”
Isaiah 11:6
Let me see if I’ve got this straight: 11-year-old Thomas Adams of Tulsa, Oklahoma saw something on the tube about “Loonatics,” this new program that’s due to debut on the KidsWB in September. And he decided — strictly based on brief glimpses of early concept art for the show, not after viewing a completed episode or even seeing any finished animation — that “Loonatics” was going to be far too dark & futuristic.
So young Mr. Adams launched a website — www.saveourlooneytunes.com — on February 28th. And — at that site — Thomas asked people to sign a petition that condemned a program that no one (except the people who were still working on “Loonatics”) had actually seen yet.
And — surprisingly — people did just what this 11-year-old asked them to do. They signed his on-line petition. And when the number of signatures at saveourlooneytunes.com climbed up toward 25,000, the mainstream media started picking up on this story.
First “Countdown with Keith Olbermann” came calling. Followed closely by CBS’s “The Early Show,” “Inside Edition” and CNN. Then traffic at Adams’ website skyrocketed. Nearly 100,000 people signed Thomas’ online petition.
And then — last last month — Warner Brothers suddenly announced that it would bow to this boy’s will. That the studio would retool “Loonatics.” That it was ordering the artists who were still working on this show to soften the design of the characters & rework their mythology. There’s even been talk that Warners executives ordered the “Loonatics” production team to change the names of several characters on the program as well as come up with a new title for the show itself.
All because an 11-year-old boy set up a website.
Is this not one of the scariest story you’ve heard in your life?
Look, I’m not going to address the whole it-was-wrong-of-Warner-Brothers-to-try-and-reinvent-the-Looney-Tune-characters aspect of this story. Why? Because I never got to see a finished episode of the original version of “Loonatics.” And — unlike young Mr. Adams and the nearly 100,000 people who signed his on-line petition — I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of condemning something that I haven’t actually seen.
I mean, is it really fair to judge what an entire animated television series will be like based on a couple of character model sheets? Or by a brief presentation reel (Which — FYI — mostly featured recycled backgrounds from KidsWD’s “The Batman” series. NOTHING from the finished version of “Loonatics”)?
Look, I can understand if Looney Tunes fans are feeling somewhat distrustful of Warner Brothers’ management. After all, this is the same studio that foisted “Space Jam” and “Baby Looney Tunes” on us. So this is clearly a company that doesn’t have a clue about what to do with this beloved stable of characters.
But here’s the thing: The characters in “Loonatics” weren’t supposed to be Bugs, Daffy, Pork et al. They were supposed to be the Looney Tunes’ descendants. Which were supposed to appear in a TV series that was supposedly set some 700 years in the future, which would then be done in an anime style.
Now correct me if I’m wrong … But doesn’t anime look distinctly different than those wonderful old theatrical shorts that Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Fritz Freleng and Bob McKimson churned out back in the 1930s, 19402 & 1950s? So how were people supposed to confuse the original Looney Tunes with “Loonatics”?
Here’s the quick answer, folks: They weren’t going to get confused. Once “Loonatics” actually got on the air, viewers were quickly going to realize that this new KidsWB show was entirely different than those great old cartoons that Warner Brothers used to produce. (Of course, give that this program wasn’t going to be made up of 50 & 60-year-old seven-minute-long shorts, but — rather — brand new 22-minute-long episodes loaded with never-before-seen animation … Well, that probably would have been their first clue … Anyway … )
And — had that happened — we all would have been able to judge “Loonatics” on its own merits. Decide for ourselves whether this program was worth watching or not.
But now that’s not going to happen. Because an 11-year-old with a website frightened some executives at Warners. Which is why (even as we speak) the “Loonatics” production team is frantically retooling that TV show. Trying to change this program into something that won’t upset Looney Tunes fans.
“And what might that be?,” you ask. Well, given that Warner Brothers executives don’t think all that highly of Looney Tunes fans to begin with (Want proof? How about this snippet of dialogue from “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” when Jenna Elfman says that Daffy Duck’s fan base is made up entirely of “… angry fat guys who live in their parents’ basement.” Okay. I know. That’s supposed to be a joke. But just the fact that studio execs allowed that gag to make it into the finished version of that 2003 theatrical release speaks volumes about what Warners actually thinks of the people who love the Looney Tunes ) … One wonders what they’re now trying to change this still-in-production TV program into.
Look. Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing personal against Thomas Adams. Though — that said — I am glad that he was only 5-years-old when “Batman Beyond” debuted back in 1999. Given how “weird” and “futuristic” that KidsWB show initially looked, I’m betting that — sight unseen — he would have also tried to shut that program down before it got on the air.
Which would have robbed us all of a wonderful viewing experience. All because of some misguided effort to keep Warner Brothers’ characters pure.
Again, I don’t mean to hammer on young Mr. Adams. I’m sure that his heart is in the right place. But I just think that — before you condemn something — you should actually see what you’re condemning. NOT the concept art. NOT the presentation reel. But the actual show.
Then — if the really-for-real show sucks … Then — by all means — set up a website. Get an on-line petition going. Do whatever you have to to get that program changed and/or pulled off the air.
But to have this 11-year-old — as well as nearly 100,000 other people — condemn “Loonatics” without actually having seen the show first … That just seems to me to be … Well, loony.
Your thoughts?