Looney Tunes Cartoons: The First Episode

Yo Ho! WeRCats here!

On May 23, HBO Max put out on YouTube the first episode of the new Looney Tunes Cartoons. This new series is attempting to bring back the classic, zany and witty animation that made Warner Brother dominate the animation industry in between the ’30s and the ’50s. We don’t know if this episode is the final format/product of what we’ll be seeing beginning May 27th, but here’s an opinion of this episode and what we would hope to expect.

The opening episode, “Boo! Appetweet,” is a take on the classic Porky Pig and Sylvester cartoons “Scaredy Cat” and “Claws for Alarm.” Granny “ran out” of eggs and left Tweety Bird with Sylvester; he eats a cupcake in Tweety’s shape while Tweety slips into flour. Throughout the short, Sylvester thinks Tweety is a ghost and runs away.

The bridge of the episode, “Plunger,” is about Elmer Fudd going after Bugs Bunny with a plunger. The second short that concludes this first episode is “Bubble Dum,” where Daffy Duck fights for his freedom against a piece of street gum on a sidewalk.

The animation resembles the classic original shorts but to a certain degree; there are some signs of digital animation in certain parts of the episode. As for emotions, some of the facial forms are a bit artificial; the only expression close to the originals is where Sylvester eats the Tweety cupcake with an evil laugh (here’s a classic example of the evil laugh.)
The opening of “Boo! Appetweet” resembles the classic format of the original shorts with the title and credits. However, “Bubble Dum” does not.

The music has a twinge of the classic Carl Stalling but more of the style of Animaniacs. Music Director Joshua Moshier did a decent job: the timing between actions and musical cues were on cue. However, the scene where Sylvester walks on his bed to rest had the tip-toe violin picks when it shouldn’t.

Overall, the first episode of Looney Tunes Cartoons is ok so far. The music so far is standard while the animation work is adequate. Some of the gags did make me laugh while others didn’t, but that’s ok. We’ll have to see the end results when Looney Tunes Cartoons comes out on May 27th on HBO Max.