LOONATICS UNLEASHED
(WB/CW, September 17, 2005-May 5, 2007)
Warner Bros. Animation
MAIN CAST:
Kevin Michael
Richardson – Slam
Tasmanian, Tech E.
Coyote, Queen
Grannicus (disguised voice), Trick Daley
Rob Paulsen – Rev Runner, Mr. Leghorn (2nd
time), Gorlop, Man at Zoo,
Pizza Chef, Construction Worker
With the failure of
2003’s Looney Tunes: Back in Action,
Warner Bros. felt it was time to
look into revitalizing the franchise, try something new. Enter Adam Trevor
Grant and Joseph Louis Grant who introduced Loonatics
Unleashed.
 |
| Zadavia with the Royal Tweetums. |
The
show was set in the 28th Century, where the descendants of the
original Looney Tunes lived on the
city-planet of Acmetropolis.
In the year 2772, a meteor struck Acmetropolis and gave a number of the
population superpowers. To protect Acmetropolis, a mysterious and powerful
alien woman named Zadavia (originally named Maxima, voiced by Candi Milo)
assembled six of the affected residents to form a superteam: The Loonatics.
 |
| The Loonatics: Lexi, Rev, Tech E., Ace, Danger and Slam. |
The team was
comprised of team leader Ace Bunny (originally named Buzz until it was
discovered that name had been copyrighted by Dutch designer Metin Seven, voiced by Charlie
Schlatter), a former stunt rabbit who gained laser vision and was trained in
martial arts and swordsmanship; Lexi Bunny (Jessica DiCicco), a student and aspiring
cheerleader who gained super hearing, a psychic energy bolt and the ability to
manipulate plants, and brought her incredible agility to the team; Danger Duck
(originally named Duck, voiced by Jason Marsden), a former pool boy that could
generate spheres of energy called “eggs” that produce random effects or allow
him to control water, as well as a Quantum Quack that let him teleport; Slam
Tasmanian (originally named Spaz, voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson), a former
professional wrestler who gained super strength and a tornado form that allowed
him to fire tornado blasts with or without an electric jolt; Tech E. Coyote (originally
named Slick, also voiced by Richardson), a student at Acme Tech University with
super genius that gained magnetic manipulation and could regenerate his body from
a molecular level; and Rev Runner (originally named Roadster, voiced by Rob
Paulsen), a former delivery boy with a brilliant mind that gained super speed.
Each member of the team wore a full body black uniform distinguishable by the
different colored accents, and utilized various new gadgets whipped up by Tech
E. in their battles.
 |
| Syth Vester. |
Other Looney Tunes descendants featured were
Mr. Leghorn (Bill Farmer
& Paulsen), a big name in the world of professional sports; The Royal Tweetums (Joe Alaskey), ruler of the
planet Blanc (named for Mel Blanc); Ophiuchus Sam (Maurice LaMarche), a short-tempered
thief who often forgot his name and what he was saying as he was saying it; Pierre Le Pew (also LaMarche),
runner of illegal fights and wearer of stinky cologne; Gorlop (Paulsen), a professional
wrestler; Queen Grannicus (Milo & Richardson), the evil caretaker of
Tweetums who wanted his throne for herself; Sylth Vester (a parody of Darth Vader and the Sith, voiced by Alaskey), a
mercenary who wore cyborg body armor to cover injuries from his various
encounter with Tweetums; Sagittarius Stomper (Billy West), a thief who utilized
robotic arms and legs made by his mother (Milo); Electro J. Fudd (also West),
a hunter with a wide variety of weapons; Melvin the Martian
(Alaskey), general of the Martian army; Sergeant Sirius (named
for the dog star), Melvin’s dog; Pinkster Pig (Bob Bergen), an orphan and former friend
of Danger who seemed to be on the side of law and order but used it as a cover
for his criminal enterprises; and Stoney (Alaskey) and Bugsy (James Arnold Taylor), employees
of Pinkster who went on a crime wave of stealing weapons and the mineral Curium
that could steal super powers.
 |
| General Deuce teaming-up with Optimatus. |
Original characters
included Gunnar the
Conqueror (Tom Kenny), leader
of robotic Vikings that sought to freeze the planet; Professor Zane (Jeff Bennett), a mad scientist
who wanted to conquer the world with his monstrous Fuz-Zs (Steven Blum); Black Velvet (Vivica A. Fox), a woman whose
eyes were damaged by the meteor and was forced to remain in darkness; Weathervane (Kaley Cuoco), a wannabe weathergirl
who gained weather manipulation powers; Dr. Dare (Simon Templeman), a mad
scientist who learned to control earthquakes; Ringmaster (Tim Curry), the evil leader of
a circus who combined different creatures together to make his attractions; Otto the Odd (Dee Bradley Baker), the Ringmaster’s
boss who hid behind the guise of being a mere clown; Massive (Michael Clarke Duncan), a large
criminal with gravity manipulation powers; Drake Sypher (Phil LaMarr), who could absorb the powers
from others with a touch; Time
Skip (David Faustino),
who was able to manipulate time; Mallory
“Mastermind” Casey (Florence
Henderson), Tech E.’s former classmate who attempted to steal the
brainpower of the university staff; Optimatus (Charlie Adler), Zadavia’s evil
brother who possessed similar abilities; General Deuce (Khary Payton), former general
of Zadavia’s home planet of Freleng
(named for Friz Freleng) who
sought to conquer the galaxy; Adolpho
(Mark Hamill), a mutated
dolphin who sought revenge on the surface for polluting the oceans; Queen Athena (Serena Williams), leader of the
Apocazons (based on the mythological Amazons)
who wanted to eliminate the men of Acmetropolis; and Rupes Oberon (Marsden), a
musician who tricked Tech E. into building a cosmic guitar to steal Zadavia’s
powers and allow him to control the universe.
Lunatics Unleashed debuted on September 17, 2005 on the Kids’ WB! programming block
on The WB; which became The CW during the show’s second
season. It was designed to be an action-comedy that blended the classic Looney Tunes’ comedy stylings with
modern action animated series. The characters were designed by Christian Tremblay and Yvon
Tremblay and initially had a more menacing look to them. A teaser promo for
the series, originally called simply The
Loonatics, aired on The WB before the show’s debut. It used limited
animation, comic book-like panels, and the character’s original names to try
and build up hype for the show. It had an intentionally anime-inspired approach
to appeal to the children who grew up on the genre and to fit into the Kids’ WB!
schedule.
 |
| The original character designs. |
Unfortunately for Warner
Bros. Animation, the promo had the opposite effect. Audiences complained
about the new character models while critics accused the studio of pandering to
a demographic while disrespecting the source material. An internet petition
against them was even started by 11-year-old fan, Thomas Adams. Despite president
Sander Schwartz’s assurances
that the classic characters were just “sharing DNA” with these new ones and it
was merely an extension of the franchise, the designs were redone and softened
with Walter Gatus serving as the lead
character designer.
 |
| Danger with Electro J. Fudd. |
The series was written by Chris Brown, Brian Swenlin, Mark Hoffmeier, Vinny Montello, Christopher Painter, Jack Monaco, Len Uhley, Steven Kriozere, Wendell Morris, Steve Cuden, Stephen Sustarsic, Gordon Bressack, Charles M. Howell IV, Alexx Van Dyne, Mark Zaslove and Kevin Hopps with music by Thomas Chase Jones. Bootsy Collins composed the series’
theme, as well as voiced a character in the show. It was animated by DongWoo Animation Co., Ltd., MOI
Animation, and DR Movie.
The first season premiered to mixed reviews,
prompting the studio to make some changes for the second season. The stories
were much lighter and more comedic with a new intro to match. Zadavia was also more physically present,
rather than communicating through a hologram as he had during the first season.
The series ended after the planned 26 episodes had aired. It would be the last Looney Tunes television show until 2011’s
The Looney Tunes Show. During
the show’s run, two Flash games were run on the Kids’ WB! website: Acmetropolis Obstacle
Course, where players had to guide Lexi around various obstacles, and Slam’s
Snowboarding Slolom [sic], where players guided Slam down a hill while
performing tricks in the air for extra points. Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s released 4 toys
in their Cool Kids Combo meals based on the show in early 2006. In 2007, Warner
Home Video released the complete series to DVD across
two sets.
EPISODE GUIDE:
Season 1:
“Loonatics on Ice” (9/17/05) – The Loonatics have to save the planet
from a sudden and permanent cold snap.
“Attack of the Fuzz Balls” (9/24/05) – The latest pet craze turns sour
when Fur-Zs become giant monsters upon eating chocolate.
“The Cloak of Black Velvet” (10/1/05) – After having her eyesight
damaged by the meteor strike, Black Velvet seeks to plunge the entire world in
darkness.
“Weathering Heights” (10/8/05) – A weather girl gets struck by
lightning and gains the ability to control the weather.
“Going Underground” (10/29/05) – The Loonatics have to stop Dr. Dare
from using earthquakes to submerge the entire planet’s surface.
“The Comet Cometh” (11/5/05) – As the Loonatics celebrate the
anniversary of their powers, a larger meteor is found to be headed towards
Acmetropolis.
“The World is My Circus” (11/12/05) – A traveling circus abducts
humans and splices them together with animal DNA to perform in the show.
“Stop the World, I Want to Get Off” (11/19/05) – Gravity-manipulating
Massive plots to steal the basherball championship trophy.
“Sypher” (11/26/05) – Sypher decides he wants the glory of being a
superhero and uses his own abilities to steal those of the Loonatics.
“Time After Time” (2/11/06) – Trying to stop a time-manipulating thief
causes the Loonatics to enter a time loop.
“The Menace of Mastermind” (2/18/06) – A former classmate of Tech’s
breaks out of prison and plans to get revenge on him for putting her there.
“Acmegeddon Part I” (5/6/06) – Optimatus breaks the Loonatics’ foes
out of prison to unite them against the heroes.
“Acmegeddon Part II” (5/13/06) – Zadavia explains her connection to
Optimatus as he betrays his allies and seeks to suck the planet into a wormhole.
Season 2:
“Secrets of the Guardian Strike Sword” (9/23/06) – The mysterious
Deuce saves Ace’s life as he attempted to stop Ophichus Sam from robbing an
inter-dimensional train.
“A Creep in the Deep” (9/30/06) – A telepathic dolphin brainwashes sea
creatures into attacking manmade objects in the sea.
“I Am Slamacus” (10/7/06) – Pierre convinces Slam to enter a fighting
tournament, however he fails to mention the final match is a death match.
“The Heir Up There” (11/4/06) – The Loonatics have to get the Royal
Tweetums to his home planet while evading the evil Sylth Vester.
“The Family Business” (11/11/06) – Rev’s family come to visit, and
Rip’s jealousy towards his brother allows him to be possessed by a Bio-Tech
Brain Parasite.
“Cape Duck” (11/18/06) – Tech’s device malfunctions and allows Duck to
defeat the Sagittarius Stomper and cause him to become a sensation with the
public.
“The Hunter” (2/3/07) – The Loonatics try to deal with Massive while
Electro J. Fudd hunts Ace.
“It Came From Outer Space” (2/10/07) – Rev and Lexi mistake Tech’s
weapon system for a video game, accidentally shooting Melvin the Martian and
bringing his wrath on the city.
“Apocalypso” (2/17/07) – The Loonatics land on a planet of powerful
warrior women and their queen invites Lexi to join them.
“In the Pinkster” (2/24/07) – After Duck’s old friend helps them
against some gangster, things begin going bad for the team.
“The Music Villain” (3/3/07) – A band uses rock music to terrorize the
city and capture Zadavia.
“Planet Blanc: The Fall of Blanc (Part I)” (4/28/07) – Optimatus,
Deuce and Rupes Oberon conquer planet Blanc and plan to use the wormhole
generator to take over the universe.
“Planet Blanc: The Fall of Blanc (Part II” (5/5/07) – The Loonatics search
for Tweetums with Sylth Vester’s help while Decue betrays Optimatus to join the
heroes.
No comments:
Post a Comment