Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 7:07 AM
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The Looney Tunes Show, Season 2
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Since it's been reported that Cartoon Network has ordered a 2nd season of The Looney Tunes Show, I thought that I'd list some of my hopes for the shows' 2nd season.
1. More cartoon wackiness and visual gags *crosses fingers*
2. Bugs is less smug and perfect, is less of a straight man and is more rascally.
3. Daffy is portrayed as less of a selfish jerk but is no less of a lunatic.
4. More CGI shorts and also some featuring other LT characters besides the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.
5. Elmer Fudd plays a major role in at least 1 episode.
Those are mine. What are yours? (Also, I'd appreciate it if no one says something like "I hope it gets canceled". No hate rants, please. It's fine if you may not like the show, but let's try to keep the criticisms constructive and no trolling, m'kay?)
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
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Directing Animator / Contributor
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 9:30 AM
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-Use Jessica Borutski's original re-designs. They were cool, IMHO.
-Break the standard of each main plot running for 22 minutes. Some shows could consist of 2 11-minute shorts or occasionally 3 7-minute shorts. Many of the main plots of season 1 seemed padded out.
-Bring in some writers with some experience writing for the Looney Tunes, like Greg Ford and Terry Lennon. Heck, Jessica Borutski could write an episode or 2.
-Bring in Petunia Pig, if for no other reason so the "Porky needs a girlfriend" shtick can end.
-Initiate falling anvils, dynamite, explosions and 'squash-and-stretch' physics. the verbal humor is fine, but come on, these are the Looney Tunes we're talking about here.
-Accentuate Daffy's craziness and de-emphasize his jerk persona. I see Daffy as more of a nut than a horrible person. Space Jam did a decent job of mixing the lunatic Daffy with egomaniac Daffy; I'd render him more that way. I'd personally make Yosemite Sam the jerk of the neighborhood instead of Daffy; they're always implying what a bad neighbor Sam is, let's see some more of that on the show.
-Allow Witch Lezah and Gossamer to act like the witch and the monster they are. Let's see more sorcery from Lezah and some immense strength and collateral damage from Gossamer. You've got things like a monster and a witch living next door, use them.
-Let Bugs be Bugs. Please. Make our favorite little gray rabbit rascally again. Have him crack wise, have him cause trouble, have him make clever asides to the audience, give him back his craving for carrots (not coffee or energy drinks or anything else), give Bugs more to do than mediate and correct Daffy.
-More Taz. I don't mind Tazzie being a pet here, but he's too restrained. He's a dangerous, slobbering, savage eating machine, Let Taz off his chain more often. I'd like to see Taz wreak some havoc like he did in the Merrie Melody "Tasmanian Meltdown" but within the main stories.
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An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool.
(This post was edited by Starburst on Dec 7, 2011, 9:35 AM)
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Supervising Animator
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 1:13 PM
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Since it's been reported that Cartoon Network has ordered a 2nd season of The Looney Tunes Show, I thought that I'd list some of my hopes for the shows' 2nd season.
1. More cartoon wackiness and visual gags *crosses fingers*
2. Bugs is less smug and perfect, is less of a straight man and is more rascally.
3. Daffy is portrayed as less of a selfish jerk but is no less of a lunatic.
4. More CGI shorts and also some featuring other LT characters besides the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.
5. Elmer Fudd plays a major role in at least 1 episode.
Those are mine. What are yours? (Also, I'd appreciate it if no one says something like "I hope it gets canceled". No hate rants, please. It's fine if you may not like the show, but let's try to keep the criticisms constructive and no trolling, m'kay?)
I'm someone who WON'T yell "Cancel The Show". As in the words of Bugs Bunny...
I LIKE IT!
But I would like to see an episode where The Three Bears would visit...or at least have it a "Merrie Melodies" song.
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Thank God for kids who love obscure things-Lee Hazelwood (1929-2007)
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Directing Animator
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 2:10 PM
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1. More cartoon wackiness and visual gags *crosses fingers*
2. Bugs is less smug and perfect, is less of a straight man and is more rascally.
3. Daffy is portrayed as less of a selfish jerk but is no less of a lunatic.
4. More CGI shorts and also some featuring other LT characters besides the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote.
I agree with these and I would like to add more background music that complements the actions.
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 4:36 PM
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I've only seen about 2 episodes truthfully.
From what I have seen.
More cartoon antics--more explosions, dynomite, and anvils. Otherwise, it's too much like a sitcom--not that anything is wrong with sitcoms--it's just that these episodes seem more like you could easily switch out Bugs and Daffy for any other sitcom characters.
Give characters like Pepe Le Pew and Speedy Gonzales voice actors who actually sound like them--not SNL actors.
Make Speedy less obnoxious. The Pizza Parlor song and the episode where he keeps calling Porky "Pinky" and then completely shoving him out of his commercial were painfully unfunny.
Make Daffy less stupid. I had no problem with him being stupid in Duck Dodgers because it actually worked, but here it doesn't. It's painfully unfunny because Daffy was never stupid to begin with. He just pales in intelligence when brought next to Bugs. Stupidity can be funny, but merely having Daffy shout random things like "Oprah" as the answer to who was the first President isn't funny.
Speaking of Bugs, he's kind of grumpy--lighten up!
It also needs more background music, I miss having a classical score being used around them.
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 7, 2011, 5:02 PM
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- cartoonfan4ever and Glowwrom: Good points about the background music. I actually meant to list that in my initial post, but it slipped my mind. I've no doubt been spoiled by the theatrical shorts, but it just seems weird having the Looney Tunes characters talking to each other with no music playing the background.
Make Daffy less stupid. I had no problem with him being stupid in Duck Dodgers because it actually worked, but here it doesn't. It's painfully unfunny because Daffy was never stupid to begin with. He just pales in intelligence when brought next to Bugs. Stupidity can be funny, but merely having Daffy shout random things like "Oprah" as the answer to who was the first President isn't funny.
I also agree with this. Daffy typically comes in 2nd when he matches wits with Bugs, but that doesn't mean that Daffy has no wits of his own. The Bugs/Daffy dynamic has never been "Bugs is smart, Daffy is stupid". That's Bugs/Elmer. Both characters are smart, it's just that Bugs is smarter and Daffy's ego and lunacy often clouds his capacity for logic.
And for the record, while Speedy is indeed voiced by an SNL regular (Fred Armisen), Pepe is voiced by Rene Abergenois, who's probably best known by Star Trek fans as Odo on Deep Space Nine.
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
(This post was edited by SpaceDemon on Dec 7, 2011, 5:06 PM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 7, 2011, 5:19 PM
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As for Rene Abergenois as Pepe, I preferred him as Louie, the crazy chef of Disney's "The Little Mermaid" (remember his performance of "Le Poissons?")
I think maybe instead of having those Groundlings writers write the episodes, they should bring in Victor Cook, Mitch Watson and some of the other writers of "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated;" they sometimes seem to do a better job handling classic cartoon characters (as demonstrated in that crossover episode with the Funky Phantom, Jabberjaw, etc.)
I think they should also use more of the classic Looney Tunes sound effects by Treg Brown. Like "Scooby-Doo: Mystery Incorporated" often being scarce on the old Hanna-Barbera sound effects, the Looney Tunes Show seems to often avoid those old SFX. Unusually, the first batch of CGI Road Runner segments would use the H-B "zooming jet" sound for the Road Runner, along with other H-B -esque sound effects, but some of our recent ones use the correct WB SFX (most notably the original Road Runner "zooming jet" sound from the 1940s!) Then again, we did get the famous "Wilhelm Scream" in the "Eligible Bachelors" episode (during Granny's flashback to WWII), and even "Castle Thunder" in the "Peel of Fortune" episode (heard during the thunderstorm near the end, when Bugs says "I'll be right back!")
Also, I do think the animation should be better. In fact, if anyone else recalls, one of my final works with WBA before being laid off in 2004 was a surprise cameo appearance in the "What's New, Scooby-Doo" episode "New Mexico, Old Monster!"
It actually has the classic Looney Tunes look and feel to the sequence; the animation is very good and the characters are on-model, they even use most of the classic sound effects (except when my feet are scrambling before crashing, they use that H-B "wild scrambling" noise they use at least once in every episode), and the music also seems a bit Carl Stalling-like, but done on synthesizers.
I can't be wishy-washy any longer; I think THIS is how "The Looney Tunes Show" should've been animated! The characters retain their completely classic look, yet still fit in a contemporary project. This segment was animated by Lotto Animation, and it looks pretty good. Lotto also did some animation for the "Duck Dodgers" series. I would actually like to see Lotto Animation be involved with "The Looney Tunes Show;" I have the feeling they could do some pretty good work with the Looney Tunes gang (even better than DongWoo Animation! *coughLoonaticscough*)
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"Being a genius certainly has its advantages."
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Apprentice
Posted:
Dec 7, 2011, 6:18 PM
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-Bring in Petunia Pig, if for no other reason so the "Porky needs a girlfriend" shtick can end.
Technically, wasn't the "Porky needs a girlfriend" shtick resolved at the end of "French Fries?" 
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What you see depends on what you're looking for.
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
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Dec 7, 2011, 7:04 PM
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[replyAnd for the record, while Speedy is indeed voiced by an SNL regular (Fred Armisen), Pepe is voiced by Rene Abergenois, who's probably best known by Star Trek fans as Odo on Deep Space Nine.After I wrote that, I had a feeling that whoever voiced Pepe wasn't a SNL regular. Nonetheless, I heard Abergenois' version of Pepe when watching "Skunk Funk" (To be honest, these days I just watch the Merry Melodies, so far I haven't found one that can top "Grilled Cheese") It really didn't sound at all like Pepe--and I will admit that I wasn't too pleased when I first discovered that Roz Ryan was voicing Witch Lezah--although I guess she technically isn't Witch Hazel after all. (I love Witch Hazel, that's why I was so unhappy at first--the voice just didn't fit.)
Now that Wile brought up that that guy voiced that awesome chef in "The Little Mermaid" I'm actually sort of cringing--nothing against the voice actor, I just want to hear Pepe sound like Pepe--not a wacky French chef.
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 7, 2011, 7:16 PM
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-Bring in Petunia Pig, if for no other reason so the "Porky needs a girlfriend" shtick can end. Technically, wasn't the "Porky needs a girlfriend" shtick resolved at the end of "French Fries?"
The Porkenator also got a lady friend at the end of "Beauty School", but each time, Porky's single again by the next episode. The writers don't seem to be clinging to continuity in that regard. (Either that, or Porky must be doing to prevent a second date!)
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An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool.
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
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Dec 7, 2011, 7:19 PM
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I will admit--the "Giant Robot Love" song where Daffy tells Porky what love is like--but then goes on a giant tangent was really funny--perhaps it is as good as "Grilled Cheese"
I'll admit, I would like a Porky song--that would be pretty nice.
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
(This post was edited by Glowworm on Dec 7, 2011, 7:25 PM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 7, 2011, 7:47 PM
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As Starburst reported in the Cartoon Network, Nick Boomerang and The Hub Forum, Swinton Scott, whose credits include The Simpsons, Futurama and Family Guy, will be directing some episodes for season 2 of The Looney Tunes Show. That's good news, I suppose, although I personally hope that season 2 will be more cartoon-like and less sitcom-like. I'd like to see more episodes done in the manner of "Casa DeCalma" (which was actually a left over episode from WB's Laff Riot, the Looney Tunes sketch comedy series that was scrapped and remade into TLTS). Granted, while "Casa DeCalma" indeed had some funny moments, it didn't break any new ground; it was basically Daffy getting dumped on by the writers for 22 minutes. But the animation for that episode was superb. Much livelier than anything that we've seen on TLTS up to this point. Furthermore, "Casa DeCalma" had background music playing throughout the entire episode! Musical stings and all.
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
(This post was edited by SpaceDemon on Dec 7, 2011, 7:52 PM)
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Supervising Animator / Moderator
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Dec 7, 2011, 9:12 PM
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How about less toilet humor? I've heard that some characters such as Daffy and Lola admit that they have some bladder problems--I never really felt that toilet humor went with Looney Tunes--unless it was discrete--and that's not discrete. Although I will admit "Blooper Bunny" had an amusing bathroom sequence--although I've heard that it was because someone forced Ford to add the toilet effect.
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"Homer,we just brought Flanders back from the dead. Did you use the notebook to make a flock of penguins peck him to death?"
Marge-"Murder He Wrote"-a Simpsons Comic story.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 8, 2011, 6:53 AM
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How about less toilet humor? I've heard that some characters such as Daffy and Lola admit that they have some bladder problems--I never really felt that toilet humor went with Looney Tunes--unless it was discrete--and that's not discrete. Although I will admit "Blooper Bunny" had an amusing bathroom sequence--although I've heard that it was because someone forced Ford to add the toilet effect.
Lola mentioned having to go to the bathroom a couple of times, and Daffy once inadvertently hinted that he doesn't use toilet paper. That's not on the level of, say, South Park, but yeah, I'm all for less toilet humor, as I've never been a fan of "pee-pee, ca-ca" humor to begin with (which is 1 of the main things that made me a non-fan of Nickelodeon's Rugrats). I tend to agree with one of my comedic heroes, Groucho Marx, who said "If you have to be dirty to be funny, then you're not that funny." The Looney Tunes characters are funny enough on their own without having to resort to bathroom humor, and such humor isn't needed in order to connect with a contemporary audience.
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
(This post was edited by SpaceDemon on Dec 8, 2011, 7:35 AM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Dec 8, 2011, 9:04 AM
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I tend to agree with one of my comedic heroes, Groucho Marx, who said "If you have to be dirty to be funny, then you're not that funny."
Agreed! DreamWorks seems to think that toilet humor should be everywhere in most of their movies. I know someone who saw "Shrek Forever After" in the theater, and after it ended he rushed right over to the mens' room to puke!
Even some of Pixar's weaker movies like "Cars 2" and "Finding Nemo" throw in some cheap burp/fart jokes that you'd expect from a ScreamWorks picture.
The only gross-out gag I found to be funny on Rugrats was in "Chuckie Loses His Glasses," near the end when they got away with having Angelica realistically puke on Drew in a graphic manner!
But in short, toilet jokes and the Looney Tunes do NOT mix. Even "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" had to throw in a burp joke for old Bugs.
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"Being a genius certainly has its advantages."
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Directing Animator
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Dec 8, 2011, 1:02 PM
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Yeah, toilet humor is not necessary. There are a few subtle exceptions but still, it shouldn't be thrown in just for the sake of it.
I also agree that Daffy shouldn't be so stupid and selfish. I think they went overboard with the selfish thing in the episode with Daffy lying to Porky, so he could get the money to buy a boat.
I'd like to see Daffy a little selfish with lots of crazy.
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Key Animator / Contributor
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Dec 8, 2011, 8:50 PM
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Although the occasional bodily-function gag pops up in these newest cartoons, the producers aren't going haywire with them. I can shrug off a cheap gag if it's only once or twice in thirty minutes.
Daffy as too greedy and too much of a jerk? Possibly. However these traits are too deeply ingrained into his character, ever since 1940's You Ought To Be In Pictures. Daffy showed that he's conniving and subversive, and perfectly capable of throwing his fellow toons under the bus for his own ends. This version of Daffy Duck fills a necessary niche in the casting spectrum.
From my perspective, the episode Casa De Calma was one of the poorest in the first season. Although Daffy did push Bugs Bunny into the swimming pool, the bunny's reprisals were too over-the-top for my tastes. If Bugs had left it at the glare-in-the-eyes maneuver, I could have continued to respect the bunny. But overkill is overkill, and it pushes the humor from Poking the Poodle gags into Kicking the Dog territory. Superman has kryptonite for a reason: without it, his crime-fighting exploits are too slam-dunk certainties, and Superman becomes too good for this Earth, a despicable protagonist in spite of himself. The same principle applies to Bugs Bunny.
Lastly, I'm still not enamoured with Bizarro Lola Bunny, but I can see that she has several clever gag mechanisms at her disposal. If this version had debuted during Space Jam, she might not have been the fan base breaker that she became in actuality. I'm still seeing a lot of misogyny in her character, but the overall reaction to Bizarro Lola is positive, so ... I'm talking into my hat here.
Ultimately, this second season is still pulling about two million viewers each Tuesday. Consistent audience draw is music to Warner Brothers' ears, and our nitpicky kvetching doesn't mean a thing. Whatever The Looney Tunes Show is doing, it's playing in Peoria. That decides all issues right there.
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Apprentice
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Jan 19, 2012, 12:43 PM
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I think they either need to hire new voice actors for, or use less of, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety, Speedy, Wicth Hazel (Or Lezah), and Gossomer. I also think should less Lola, I just don't find her likeable, or funny. I think they should only do Merrie Melodie segments when they have a good song and not try to fit them into every eposiode (It's hard to forgive I Like/ You Like, or the Pizzarra song). Contray to my compliants I don't think it's as awful as some do, and I don't mind the jokes being very "talky". In fact I like the verbal humor just as much (if not more) as the slapstick when watching the classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. Of course I want more background music hopefully done by the people who did it for Animainacs.
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No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful - They Might Be Giants
(This post was edited by mjr506 on Jan 19, 2012, 12:57 PM)
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Intern
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Jan 19, 2012, 4:16 PM
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Personally I think Joe Alaskey would've been better than Jeff Bergman as Daffy Duck. But that's minor. I agree with mjr506 that there are other voices that could've been much better than what they are in TLTS.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Jan 19, 2012, 7:51 PM
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I think they should only do Merrie Melodie segments when they have a good song and not try to fit them into every eposiode (It's hard to forgive I Like/ You Like, or the Pizzarra song).
That's a point, but in fact, Warner Brothers hasn't put a Merrie Melody segment in every episode. Of the 23 episodes of The Looney Tunes Show that have aired so far, only 16 of them have contained Merrie Melodies. Nonetheless, your point is a valid one.
I think they either need to hire new voice actors for, or use less of, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety, Speedy, Wicth Hazel (Or Lezah), and Gossomer. I also think should less Lola, I just don't find her likeable, or funny
Eh, the voice actors don't bother me personally. I do wonder why Jeff Bergman is voicing Bugs when Billy West is on hand to voice Elmer, but Bergman's Bugs voice doesn't bother me. TLTS's writers desperately need to take the stick out of Bugs and make more of a rascal on the show, but his voice doesn't bother me at all. Witch Lezah and Gossamer haven't been in enough episodes for me to be annoyed by them. The shows' producers could have hired a June Foray sound alike if Ms. Foray herself is unable to do the Witch Hazel voice now , but it's unknown if Witch Lezah is even supposed to be the same character (I read once that Witch Lezah is actually supposed to be the sister or another relative of Hazel and that Witch Hazel herself would make a guest appearance in an upcoming episode voiced by June Foray, but that was on the show's fan made Wiki, so this news is most likely fake).
As for Lola, it's interesting; in the relatively short time that TLTS has been on the air, Lola is a character for whom there's no middle ground by the viewers. Fans either love this version or they hate her. Myself, I can deal with this quirky crazy version of Lola. At least the character is actually loony and not just a Mary Sue who exists solely to give furries something to dream about. My only complaint about Lola is a minor one: why does Lola now have black pupils instead of the blue eyes that she had previously?
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
(This post was edited by SpaceDemon on Jan 19, 2012, 7:57 PM)
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Jan 20, 2012, 4:52 PM
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Regarding Witch Lezah, I think Roz Ryan would make a good Mammy Two-Shoes voice actress.
Additionally, I don't think John Kassir does a great Pete Puma voice, IMHO. They WERE going to get Stan Freberg to reprise the role, but he asked for too much money, so Terabyte Terrace kicked him out.
This isn't the first time John Kassir screwed up a character voice *coughBusterBunnycough*
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"Being a genius certainly has its advantages."
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Apprentice
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Jan 20, 2012, 6:26 PM
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Additionally, I don't think John Kassir does a great Pete Puma voice, IMHO. They WERE going to get Stan Freberg to reprise the role, but he asked for too much money, so Terabyte Terrace kicked him out.
This isn't the first time John Kassir screwed up a character voice *coughBusterBunnycough*
I love Kassir's Pete voice. It's certainly worthy of being a successor to Freberg.
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What you see depends on what you're looking for.
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Jan 20, 2012, 6:54 PM
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Regarding Witch Lezah, I think Roz Ryan would make a good Mammy Two-Shoes voice actress.
Yeah, Ms. Ryan could probably pull that off, but she'll probably never get the opportunity, seeing as how MTS is in the group of characters such as the Go-Go Gophers and Disney's Song of the South toons as that cabal of cartoon characters who will likely never see the day again due to being considered grievously politically incorrect by today's standards.
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An unemployed court jester is nobody's fool.
(This post was edited by Starburst on Jan 20, 2012, 6:54 PM)
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Apprentice
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Jan 20, 2012, 7:29 PM
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As for Lola, it's interesting; in the relatively short time that TLTS has been on the air, Lola is a character for whom there's no middle ground by the viewers. Fans either love this version or they hate her. Myself, I can deal with this quirky crazy version of Lola. At least the character is actually loony and not just a Mary Sue who exists solely to give furries something to dream about. My only complaint about Lola is a minor one: why does Lola now have black pupils instead of the blue eyes that she had previously?Yeah even though I don't like this version. The Space Jam version is way worse.
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No one in the world ever gets what they want and that is beautiful Everybody dies frustrated and sad and that is beautiful - They Might Be Giants
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Directing Animator / Contributor
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Jan 21, 2012, 10:08 AM
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Well, after the holiday hiatus, there will be a new episode of The Looney Tunes Show this week (Jan.24). Not the beginning of season 2, I'd like to point out, but the 1st of the remaining 3 episodes of season 1.
The TLTS premieres will now be airing on Tuesday nights at 8:30PM (EST), after the series premiere of Level Up, so if you're planning to ignore LU, don't forget about TLTS in the process. We don't want the show to take a dip in the ratings. 
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Visit mine and my twin brother's blog. It goes down smooth.
www.astralcity.blogspot.com
(This post was edited by SpaceDemon on Jan 21, 2012, 10:12 AM)
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