In related news, the National Association for Mental Illness has complained to Warner Bros. Television about the title “Loonatics,” because they think it may be offensive to the mentally challenged. This I find ridiculous. Although it is true that the title is a play on the word “lunatic,” part of the base word is “looney,” another offensive term for someone with a mental problem that has been the base word of a 70-year-old animation franchise that is the inspiration for this series and which NAMI has never complained about. What about Animaniacs or Histeria? Puns relating to mental insanity are a cartoon tradition to point out just how offbeat these characters are.
As for the petition, my feeling are mixed. When a major studio decides to scrap their plans for a new animation franchise due to the effors of an eleven-year-old boy, one wonders exactly how far up their ass their creative heads are. (Obviously, they were pretty far up there to begin with, but still…) I quote here from CartoonBrew.com’s Amid Amidi:
The last time a major animation studio listened to a single person’s opinion, Itchy and Scratchy ended up sitting in rocking chairs drinking lemonade. (Or was that just a TV show? I forget.)
On the other hand, I like the fact that Adams stood up for what he believed in and got a change made. But the whole thing is still weird to me.
Forget Buzz or Ace or whatever the hell his name is and his crew- the real Loonatics are the guys at Warner Bros. Animation. (Sorry, NAMI.)
Are you suggesting that a company which makes entertainment should ignore the feedback of members of their target demographic? The idiocy was in coming up with Loonatics in the first place, not in scuttling them when a kid pointed out that it was idiotic.
As you claimed in this thread, until you saw the cartoon and then you said
Given that the promo toon showed an ink bottle pouring over the classic characters and them transforming into their “Xtremez” versions, is obvious that WB wanted you to think that Buzz was a hipper version of Bugs. It’s what’s known as “brand extension” in the advertising industry. Instead of creating something new and trying to market it under it’s own merits, you slap a variation of an existing brand name on it. Which is why Coke pushes Diet Coke so heavily, while allowing Tab to languish on the shelves gathering dust.
If they weren’t replacements for classic characters, I’d love to see the show. The designs are really intriguing to me, even if the rabbit does look way too much like Frank from Donny Darko for comfort.
Sorry to bring this puppy back, but…I don’t know if it was due to NAMI’s complaints, but the show will no longer be called Loonatics. They are now looking for a new title.
I tell you, this project was doomed from the start.
Speaking as someone who’s batshit crazy, I always found the Looney Tunes to be a great source of comfort in periods of mental anguish, and I can assure you that my mental health status would deteriorate greatly if they were to change the name of the original Looney Tunes to something else.