A Preview of “Looney Tunes Cartoons”

Yo Ho! WeRCatz here!

After HBO Max released new trailers and two new shorts, “Pest Coaster” and “Wet Cement” I can’t wait for the potential resurrection of the classical style of animation that Warner Brother is known for. However, there could be clouds sailing on an otherwise sunny day.

After watching “Pest Coaster,” I was left with a good amount of joy since the animation was pretty smooth and not choppy like most cartoons of today. The story is there as Bugs Bunny tries to have fun on a rollercoaster while Yosemite Sam’s attempts to stop Bugs fails. Some of the classical elements are there: the set up for some gags, a mockery of relevant events (the “No Liberals” portion of Sam’s list of no-nos), and parts of dark humor.

In “Wet Cement,” Porky Pig cements a piece of sidewalk while the classically loony Daffy Duck sabotages Porky’s work. Here, facial expressions dominate the scene with Daffy’s classic “Whoo-hoo!” in some parts. Again, there is a mockery of pop culture as Daffy stands with a cement-figure of his creator Tex Avery (parody of the bronze Walt and Mickey statue) while Porky fumes.

There are some flaws here that fans of the original shorts can pinpoint. The animation is great, but certain techniques (e.g. dry brush) are digital and not made in the old ways. But I am not a connoisseur of animation techniques so I will take the new approach with a grain of salt.

As for the music, the duty of composers to these cartoons is given to Carl Johnson and Joshua Moshier. He is memorably responsible for his compositions and work on Animaniacs. His timing is right, but his work makes Looney Tunes Cartoons sound like an extension of Animaniacs. They will undertake the music that the great Carl Stalling left behind.

Speaking of Carl Stalling, he used the Warner Brothers music catalog to match up scenarios with certain pieces of popular music. I would like to hear more of this approach in these new shorts even if the music catalog has today’s music getting the “Stalling” treatment.

We can only find out if Looney Tunes Cartoons bring back the classic, crazy and witty charm that Warner Brothers made famous in the ’30s and ’40s. Looney Tunes Cartoons will release on HBO Max on May 27. Hopefully, we will have something of this classic comeback between Porky Pig and Charlie Dog!