‘Looney Tunes’ Replaces Elmer Fudd & Yosemite Sam’s Guns In New Cartoons
Video screenshot via Warner Bros. TV
Warner Bros. has rebooted Looney Tunes for HBO Max with fresh new episodes that bear the look and feel of the well-loved toons.
Long-time fans, however, might feel that some of that “bang” isn’t there.
That’s because executives of the new Looney Tunes Cartoons have made the decision to drop guns in there altogether. “We’re not doing guns,” Peter Browngardt, executive producer and showrunner of the series, told the New York Times.
A short released last summer, Dynamite Dance, shows Elmer Fudd with a scythe instead of firearms as he chases Bugs Bunny down.
This isn’t to say that Looney Tunes will lose its vicious appeal. Surprise anvil and bank safe drops, as well as dynamite, are still A-okay.
“We can do cartoony violence—TNT, the Acme stuff,” Browngardt continued. “All that was kind of grandfathered in.” He added that while society fixates on a wave of “anti-bullying… everybody needs to get along,” Looney Tunes is “pretty much the antithesis of that.”
As its title suggests, the Dynamite Dance short contains sticks of dynamite; Bugs Bunny even inserts one into Elmer Fudd’s mouth. He also tries various creative ways to blow up the hunter.
According to CBS News, Yosemite Sam will also lose his double pistols.
Producers haven’t explicitly stated their reasons for removing guns, however.
Unsurprisingly, the decision has sparked a bag of mixed reactions. While some think Looney Tunes is lacking something without guns, others defend that reprising the weapons could contradict gun control laws and promote the careless use of firearms.
“Elmer Fudd without his gun is like Yosemite Sam without his mustache,” one Twitter user commented, sharing a disturbing illustration by artist Ed Harrington that imagines the hot-tempered character shaving off his facial hair.
In contrast, Dr Jacqueline Antonovich, historian and associate professor at Muhlenberg College, responded, “I can’t believe this needs to be said, but Yosemite Sam and Elmer Fudd were never responsible gun owners, anyway.”
The production crew is working remotely, according to the New York Times, and has completed 1,000 minutes of animation in quarantine, amounting to 200 episodes.
Sam and Elmer Fudd are nothing without their trademark weapons. This is bullshit. pic.twitter.com/fx75NvUhp9
— Monoklown3Q2 (@Circushellspawn) June 6, 2020
Elmer fudd without his gun, is like yosemite sam without his moustache pic.twitter.com/IfaFEmDYm2
— Alien McQueen (@Alien_McQueen) June 7, 2020
Image via Ed Harrington, featured with permission for a previous article
[via Boing Boing, video and cover image via Warner Bros. TV]
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