I want to cry. I want to scream. I want to kill.

[Archae]

I mean, "Buzz Bunny?" :mad:

THE HORROR, THE HORROR: Today's Wall Street Journal includes a terrifying story about the "extreme makeover" planned for the classic Warner Bros. characters. Excerpts:

"Hoping to breathe new life into its animated Looney Tunes franchise and prop up the WB television network's slumping Kids' WB line-up, Time Warner Inc.'s Warner Bros. is planning to launch a new cartoon series this fall based on 're-imagined' versions of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tasmanian Devil, Lola Bunny, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.

"Warner Bros. has created angular, slightly menacing-looking versions of the classic Looney Tunes characters for its new series, dubbed 'Loonatics' and set in the year 2772. Names for the new characters haven't been finalized, but they are likely to be derived from the originals: Buzz Bunny, for example. Each new character retains personality quirks of the original. The new Bugs, for example, will be the natural leader of the Loonatics' spaceship; the new Daffy will remain confident that he is the one who should be in charge. ...

"'The new series will have the same classic wit and wisdom, but we have to do it more in line with what kids are talking about today,'says Sander Schwartz, president of Warner Bros. Animation. The plots are action-oriented, filled with chases and fights. Each character possesses a special crime-fighting power.

"Sounds familiar? The format echoes a successful show Warner Bros. launched in 2003 on its WB network and Cartoon Network called 'Teen Titans,'about five teenage superheroes. The series, featuring dark, futuristic characters, based on such DC Comics personalities as Robin the Boy Wonder, quickly became a hit. It ranked No. 26 among kids programs for the fourth quarter last year. ...

"Given Warner's mixed track record over the past two decades with the Looney Tunes franchise, advertisers may be wary. Steven Spielberg sparked things up in the early 1990s with 'Tiny Toons,' a series in which new characters interacted with the originals. But a 2002 effort, 'Baby Looney Tunes,'has been a dud for the Cartoon Network, where it ended the fourth quarter ranked No. 104 among kids programs."

It isn't just advertisers who will be wary.



http://www.michaelbarrier.com/

[BlackVelvetElvis]

1. The cash cow needs to give more milk ($$$$). nt

[non sociopath skin]

2. This sounds a recipe for failure, if I ever heard one!

Why can't these people create new stuff instead of messing around with other people's creations?

The Skin

[Jamastiene]

6. I hope it

does turn out to be a recipe for failure. I'm still waking up cringing from trying new Coke years ago. I hate it when they do this kind of crap.

[Ellipsis]

3. Hello my honey, hello my baby, hello my ragtime doll.

The classics will still be there. Probably more because of this.

Up late in Wisconsin, or working late? Where ya from Chum?

[Archae]

4. Just up late, was sleeping a headache off.

I live in Sheboygan.

[Ellipsis]

5. Nice town. Spring Green here just going to bed.

Good luck with your headache, take care.

[Name removed]

8. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BikeWriter]

7. No, no, no! They're effin' with our cartoons? Aarrgghh!

[TX-RAT]

9. De-thpic-able

[Archae]

10. Another promo picture

Snarl...