When asked what their favorite Looney Tunes characters are, chances are most kids won’t know any. Concerned that children may be missing out, Warner Brothers has launched various initiatives in an attempt to inject new life into the franchise.
This latest effort for HBOMax attempts to return Elmer Fudd and Road Runner back to their roots; but is it successful?
Bugs Bunny
When thinking of Wcofun, chances are you instantly think of Bugs Bunny – one of the most beloved cartoon characters ever created and widely recognized today. He has entertained audiences for over eighty years!
He first made his debut in the 1940 short “A Wild Hare”, and has since appeared in numerous shorts, films and media including comic books and T-shirts. Daffy Duck’s longtime love interest Penelope Pussycat has often expressed her affection for him while Lola Bunny also holds onto him tightly as an intimate partner.
Early cartoons by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng often exhibited surrealist elements that could easily pass for abstract expressionist paintings. This surrealism, coupled with Bugs’ frequent use of Groucho Marx lines like, “Of course this means war”, helped establish an audience that allowed him to unleash havoc around the globe.
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck, with his brazen, self-absorbed behavior and extreme selfishness is an ideal foil to Bugs Bunny in animation history. While we all exhibit some level of selfishness at some point or another, Daffy takes it one step further – becoming one of the most memorable and dangerous characters ever created in cartoon history.
Bob Clampett adopted Daffy Duck as one of his signature characters after animator Tex Avery first created him in 1937, with Mel Blanc as voice actor until his death in 1989. Early versions of Daffy depict him as an eccentric screwball who jumps around continuously and exclaims, “Hoo-hoo!” Mel Blanc was responsible for this performance up until 1989.
Robert McKimson introduced a more subdued Daffy during the ’40s. He made him less elastic while instilling some of his wisdom into him; for instance in Best Friends where Daffy attempts to win one million dollars by drinking gasoline and swallowing nitroglycerin, gunpowder and uranium-238 solutions mixed into greenish liquid. By jumping up and down to “shake well”, however, Daffy ends up deflating.
Porky Pig
Porky Pig is an over-weight and shy overweight individual often pulled into Daffy Duck’s schemes by his voice actor Bob Bergen, often being overshadowed by Daffy Duck himself. His most distinct feature is a severe stutter which he covers up by substituting words; for example “What’s happening” becomes “What’s guh-uh-guh…”
Tubby Millar created Porky as part of his vaudeville team with Beans the Cat; today Beans can still be seen sleeping fitfully on park benches and lamenting William Morris agency.
Mel Blanc is one of the greatest voice actors of all time and their combination was simply amazing. Even though this cartoon follows a fairly standard plot, its comedy was masterfully executed through beautifully timed sight gags and some amusing dialogue. Furthermore, this was also the first appearance of Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck together in any Looney Tunes cartoon and its final line became an instant classic: “Th-th-th-that’s all folks!” It eventually became standard practice for many cartoons after that point.
Gossamer
Gossamer is an iconic Star Wars character who first appears terrifying, yet soon proves himself gentle and misunderstood. Like Wookiee before him, Gossamer provides a perfect example for monster characters to demonstrate the importance of empathy and understanding.
Gossamer has made numerous appearances beyond Looney Tunes on television and video game consoles; including Bah Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, Collector: Alert! and Looney Tunes Acme Arsenal video games as well as appearing as himself as a security guard in a deleted scene clip found on Space Jam A New Legacy’s DVD release.
Kwesi Boakye voiced Gossamer in The Looney Tunes Show as an anxious young boy prone to fearing his surroundings. His relationship with Bugs Bunny highlights the significance of acknowledging human complexity while challenging stereotypes, accepting differences and encouraging tolerance and acceptance of others. “Gossamer” refers to spider web material used by spiders and translucent fabric used for wedding veils – it even derives its name from Latin meaning “to weave with threads of silk,” yet another meaning may refers simply to delicate garments worn over thin legs!