"Loonatics Unleashed" (2005) TV series 2005-????

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Writers:

Chris Brown (writer)
Rick Copp (story)

Seasons:

1 | 2

Release Date:

17 September 2005 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The futuristic descendants of the Looney Tunes characters become superheroes when the aftershock of an alien meteor grants them each with strange new powers.

Plot Keywords:

Meteor | Futuristic | Superhero

Awards:

3 nominations

Cast

Charlie Schlatter	...	Ace Bunny / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2007)
Jason Marsden	...	Danger Duck / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2007)
Jessica Di Cicco	...	Lexi Bunny (26 episodes, 2005-2007)
Rob Paulsen	...	Rev Runner / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2007)
Kevin Michael Richardson	...	Slam Tasmanian / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2007)
Candi Milo	...	Zadavia / ... (26 episodes, 2005-2007)

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-Y7 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Warner Bros. Animation

Trivia:

The original name for Bugs Bunny's superhero character was going to be Buzz Bunny, but then Buzz Bunny was already trademarked by Dutch freelance designer and then the name was changed to Ace Bunny.

Quotes:

Zadavia: Numerous icebergs have been appearing on the shores of Acemtropolis. I don't need to tell you what that means.
Danger Duck: I knew it. We're gonna lose cable again.
Zadavia: OK, maybe I *do* need to tell *you*.

WB falls flat on face

Loony Tunes have ventured (at least) twice into the future. The first time was with the brilliantly funny "Duck Dodgers". The latter time was with this … um … effort. "Loonatics Unleashed" isn't without merit, and might be considered a good product were it not that it isn't up to Warner Brothers quality. WB cartoons are noted for their cheeky humor, appealing at least as much to adults as to children. These pedestrian superhero episodes, on the other hand, cannot fail to convince adults to pass them up.

The premise of the series is that 6 ordinary individuals (2 bunnies, a Tasmanian devil, a duck, a roadrunner, and a coyote) live on the "city-planet" of Acmetropolis and acquire super powers when a meteor strikes the planet in 2772. What's confusing is that the titles section features these individuals with a count-up to 2772 from the 21st Century. Cute, but frelling stupid.

In each episode, the super sextet – amid mildly amusing but essentially banal banter – fight various super villains. For the most part, these are types that appear in every mediocre superhero adventure series and even some of the better ones. Like many mediocre superhero series, this one takes its villains far too seriously for the context. And of course these guys are the only characters that laugh – the usual evil laugh, of course. Why is it that villains in predictable superhero adventures always – ALWAYS – laugh evilly at every opportunity? Animated material of this sort seems to leave laughter exclusively in the province of villains and (occasionally) their henchpeople and/or henchthings.

In point of fact, the makers of this series missed their best bets right from the get-go. The superpowers of the characters are sometimes based on their previous normal abilities, but sometimes not. The problem here is that we don't see enough WB looniness. Lexi and Ace have fairly ordinary biologically generated energy weapons and have virtually no personality traits one could describe as "Bugs-like". What we have here is basically the silly and drekish "Teen Titans", including its overly "modern" animation "look", but with animals. Feh.

The other misstep by the program's creators is (or are) the villains. As noted before, these are not terribly imaginative and do the evil-laugh bit excessively. Amazingly, the writers totally missed the obvious technique of making villains from stock WB characters as well as the protagonists. Adding to the fun could have been, say, Jupiter Sam – as well as The Fudd, still hunting wabbits – as well as Tech E. Coyote converted into a really neurotic villain – and so on. Ah, the sadness of missed opportunities….

Sadly, this whole production has gone into too much overtime (that is, a 2nd season). Nevertheless, we can rejoice that there's something new out there for the 14-going-on-9 crowd. The rest of us can hope for a 3rd season of Duck Dodgers.