It seems that hunting naughty rabbits has become a lot harder these days.
Warner Brothers is taking Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam’s weapons away in a new Looney Toons animation series set for HBO Max.
The new change is being introduced in response to the recent protests taking place all over the United States, according to the Telegraph.
Traditionally the cartoons have mostly circled around Elmer’s never-ending thirst for exterminating Bugs Bunny, who’s classic catchphrase is, “What’s up, Doc?”
🤔TNT and dynamite blowing up in face and leaving man scorched doesn’t promote terrorism and bombings but gun held by hunter hunting a rabbit is gun violence. A synth reminds me of machete. Why not leave out all weapons. Makes no sense. https://t.co/24fszQrK9K
— MsAnn323 (@RealAnn323) June 8, 2020
Elmer, whose catchphrase is, “Shhh. Be vewy, vewy quiet. I’m hunting wabbits,” gets outplayed by the cheeky rabbit all the time, even though Elmer has always had his weapon beside him.
“We’re not doing guns,” executive producer Peter Browngardt told the New York Times. “But we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All of that was kind of grandfathered in.”
Nevertheless, Elmer will still have a tool with which to hunt for his nemesis, and it comes in the form of a scythe.
Is this supposed to feel more tame? A gun is dignified. Being cut up is horrific. pic.twitter.com/EpmUBiNwuZ
— Robin (@boogiepopprobin) June 8, 2020
The 200 new episodes, which will include other well-known characters and will feature fresh new ideas such as Sylvester the Cat being haunted by the ghost of Tweety Bird, and Porky Pig sucking the poison out of Daffy Duck’s leg, and there is even an episode that features Satan himself.
“Some of them have maybe gone a little too far, so they might come out in a different format,” Browngardt told the publication.
“We’re going through this wave of anti-bullying, everybody needs to be friends, everybody needs to get along,” he said. “Looney Toons is pretty much the antithesis of that. It’s two characters in conflict, sometimes getting pretty violent.”
What are your thoughts on Warner Brothers’ decision to alter the Looney Tunes in such a way? Let us know by joining the conversation in the comments and please share this article if you’ve found it informative.
