Loonatics Unleashed
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 It would have been for the best for Warner Bros. to cancel this disaster before it premiered…
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Loonatics Unleashed is an American animated action-adventure science fiction series created by Christian and Yvon Tremblay (who previously created SWAT Kats: The Radical Squadron and the infamous Canadian animated series Mega Babies). Based on the Looney Tunes, it aired on Kids' WB from September 17, 2005 to May 5, 2007.
Plot
In the year 2772, the distant future, a group of teenagers-descended from the classic Looney Tunes characters form a superhero team to fight against evil.
Why Unleashing It is Indeed a Bad Idea
- The idea of having a superhero show with a serious and action-packed tone and using the cyberpunk setting based on a franchise known for its zany comedic humor was a very bad idea from the start and got much backlash because of that.
- Also, the futuristic cyberpunk setting is other than popularized on the trend, around the time the show aired (the late 1990s to mid or late 2000s).
- Understandably, while the first seasons of Beast Wars: Transformers and Teen Titans had a more comedic tone but throughout the series, since the second season of both shows had a darker tone and they did balance it with funny moments, but Loonatics Unleashed on the other hand just felt completely non-existent from the zany-wacky comedic tone of the Looney Tunes franchise which upset the fans of the original franchise.
- Shallow and boring plot that tries to take itself way too seriously.
- Misleading title: Judging by the name "Loonatics", you would think the team would be sociopaths instead of heroes, but they actually behave like generic superheroes.
- The intros are just forgettable.
- The intro for Season 1 introduces the main characters with no explanation and the female narrator sounds like she’s tired and/or depressed (despite being voiced by Candi Milo, the voice actress of Zadavia and a few other characters in this show). They just only showcased the characters
- The intro for Season 2 is just weird and the male narrator sounds like he’s drunk or on crack
- While the animation is decent, it's very unfaithful especially the art style.
- Notably, the character designs aren't good as they bear little resemblance to their original classic-era counterparts. Note that these were actually improved versions of the character designs. The original ones, most infamously Ace Bunny's prototype, "Buzz Bunny," looked terrifying and ended up being changed after backlash from fans.
- The Acme weapons that the heroes use are no longer TNT, guns, traps, cannons, etc., and are now just basically generic superhero gadgets.
- Well, it is a common thing for the superheroes genre and at least they did try something new, but this still ruined the original formula of the original Road Runner shorts
- Forgettable and lackluster soundtrack, especially the cringeworthy theme songs from both seasons, as stated in WUIIIABI #4.
- The characters' personalities are warped versions of the originals.
- Tech E. (Wile E.) Coyote and Rev (Road) Runner are friends even though in the original Looney Tunes, they fight a lot, except on some episodes. Also, they speak while their ancestors never talked (the Road Runner would only go "BEEP-BEEP!" and Wile E. Coyote would hold pick-it signs).
- The idea/concept of the Looney Tunes characters being superheroes has already been done before with the TV series Duck Dodgers, which came out two years before this show. Also, Duck Dodgers had some good humor and funny moments and stays true to the original Looney Tunes cartoons, but this show had none of these.
- Cringe-worthy and laughable dialogue.
- Laughably named locations, like a city that has the name of "Acmetropolis".
- It doesn't even stay true to the source material at all to the point where it is far from being an actual Looney Tunes show with a name only, as it's a generic action-packed superhero show.
- Season 2 is no means better since it shifted from being serious to being completely comedic, similar in vein to Teen Titans Go! but to a much lesser extent.
- Some forgettable, unlikable and mean-spirited characters, mostly from the villains.
- Zadavia, while a decent character, is pretty much forgettable. There's no explanation of how her and the titular Loonatics met each other and even formed the superhero team in the first place. Not only that, she also treated Danger Duck very bad for no reason at all
- Some of the Acmetroplis citizens treat the Loonatics really bad for no reason at all, especially before they get their superpowers
- For some reason, Pierre Le Pew (Pepe Le Pew's descendant counterpart) and Mr. Leghorn (Foghorn Leghorn's descendant counterpart) are both humans instead of their original counterpart species which doesn't make sense at all
- Pinkster Pig (Porky Pig's descendant) and Queen Grannicus (Granny's descendant) are villains and basically "twisted villain" cliche characters which not only makes their episodes and the show look bad but also ruins their original character counterpart
- Royal Tweetums (Tweety's descendant) is the worst supporting character He's pretty much a spoiled brat who constantly nagged on Danger Duck, who had to look up on him as his servant and treated him trash throughout the episode. He also caused Danger Duck hurting himself by chasing him when Tweetums escaped from the ship. Not only that but he also tries to hurt and snitch on Sylth Vester (Sylvester's descendant), especially in the series finale. This makes you think that Tweetums looks more like a villain than Sylth Vester himself
- Ralph Runner (Rev's father) is pretty much the unlikable father type character in the show who has a very similar personality to Buck Cluck from Chicken Little. He constantly only cares about Rev Runner being his only son that he can help him do his business and ignores his other son, Rip Runner (Rev's younger brother) until the end of the episode (The Family Business)
- Misty Breeze is beyond the absolute worst and most unlikable character in the whole show as she is selfish and shows absolutely no respect to Weather Vane, making her a Karma Houdini
Unleashing Qualities
- Some of the voice acting is good, especially Joe Alaskey.
- Despite being unfaithful, the animation is pretty amazing. Especially the improvement in season 2.
- There are a handful of good decent episodes such as:
- The Comet Cometh (Episode 6)
- The Menace of Mastermind (Episode 11)
- Acmegeddon Part 1 & 2 (Episodes 12 and 13)
- The Family Business (Episode 18)
- It Came From Outer Space (Episode 21)
- There are some comedy and funny moments here and there but not that much.
- The show occasionally showcases the classic humor and jokes from the Looney Tunes franchise. Examples include Ace saying Bugs' catchphrase "What's up, Doc?", and Tech falling off a cliff and his invention explodes (which also happened to his ancestor Wile E. Coyote in the classic Looney Tunes) shorts.
- It kinda did have the potential to be a great superhero spin-off despite its poor execution and not being so much of a great idea.
- While the concept is very bad as said above, it does sound interesting despite being executed poorly.
- The writing of the episodes did improve in season 2 and introduced most of the original Looney Tunes cast as their descendants, despite how bad some of them are.
- Tech (mostly) and Rev (voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson, Rob Paulsen respectively) are the only likable characters in the team.
- Weather Vane, Rip Runner and Melvin the Martian (Marvin's descendants) can be likable too.
- Season 2's theme song can be a bit catchy, mostly the instrumental despite how cringeworthy it sounds.
- Some of the main characters did have character development in season 2 such as Rev (the only character that has a revealed family) and Duck.
- The show may be categorized as a "so bad, it's good" kinda way.
- Heck, the show has received quite a cult following despite the backlash it received back when it premiered which means there are some people that might like this show nowadays.
- Thankfully, the characters become likeable in Season 2.
Trivia
- The show was referenced in Teen Titans Go!, New Looney Tunes, and Animaniacs (2020), most likely for Warner Bros. Animation to keep jabbing at it due to the failure it had experienced.
- This was the only Looney Tunes series that did not air on Cartoon Network (outside of Saudi Arabia) and Boomerang for reruns.
- This was one of the last few series to be executive produced by Sander Schwartz along with Legion of Super Heroes, Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue! and Tom and Jerry Tales before he resigned in 2007.
Reception
When the show was first announced, the redesigns received backlash from fans, so much that petitions were made to stop the show.
President of Warner Bros. Animation Sam Register himself wasn't fond of the redesigns either, as he referred to them as "a reminder of what not to do".
Upon airing on release, Loonatics Unleashed was not well received by critics, Looney Tunes fans alike and even Warner Bros. themselves and is widely considered to be the worst Looney Tunes spin-off show ever made. However, it did gain a cult following among some audiences, with some even claiming season 1 was best and season 2 was a downgrade.
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