Loonatics Unleashed
| Loonatics Unleashed | |
|---|---|
| File:Loonatic.jpg Characters from left to right are: Lexi Bunny, Rev Runner, Tech E. Coyote, Ace Bunny, Danger Duck, and Slam Tasmanian. | |
| Starring | Charlie Schlatter Jessica Di Cicco Jason Marsden Rob Paulsen Kevin Michael Richardson Candi Milo |
| Narrated by | Candi Milo |
| Country of origin | USA |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Sander Schwartz |
| Producer | Ron Myric |
| Running time | 30 minutes (approx. per episode) |
| Original release | |
| Network | The WB Television Network |
| Release | September 17, 2005 – Present |
Loonatics Unleashed is an American animated television series produced by Warner Bros. Entertainment that debuted on September 17, 2005 on The WB Television network's Kids' WB! programing block. The series is loosely based on the Looney Tunes cartoon characters, with the series described by Warner Bros. as an "action-comedy." Loonatics Unleashed is meant to be a mixture of the Looney Tunes shorts' irreverent style of humor and a modern action animated series, with the characters designed in an anime-inspired style.
The show currently airs on both the CW Network in the United States and on TeleToon in Canada.
Story
Template:Spoilers The first five episodes of Loonatics Unleashed take place in 2772, the year that a meteor struck the city-planet of Acmetropolis, knocking it completely off of its original axis. However, instead of destroying the planet, the impact of the meteor and its consequential shockwave gives off supernatural cosmic energies that give some inhabitants superpowers while incapacitating others in its wake. A mysterious and powerful woman called Zadavia calls upon six of the affected residents that live in Acmetropolis to form a team of superheroes. This newly formed team is given the name "the Loonatics," and Zadavia becomes their supervisor, dispatching them for the purpose of combating any and all threats to Acmetropolis and its citizens.
In the two-part season finale "Acmegeddon," Zadavia revealed that both she and Optimatus came from another world named Freleng (a homage on Warner Brothers director Friz Freleng), where they were leaders of the planet along with a "High Council." However, her brother was not a peaceful leader, and when he developed a form of interdimensional travel using "wormhole technology," he proposed that he and his people use this technology to find "strange new worlds" and conquer them all. Zadavia objected to his plan, fearing that it would cause a perpetual war and bring shame to their homeworld and destruction to their people. The council sided with her, but her brother wouldn't let that stand. Unrelenting and angry, Optimatus, fearing that she would lead a rebellion against him, soon saw his sister as his main enemy and made eliminating her his top priority. This led his sister to flee their world in a space cruiser, with him running after her on foot. As she flew away, the blast from her ship's thrushers burned one side of his face. As an end result, he now wears a metal cover over that part of his face. Even as time went on after his sister fled, he still harbored a deep hatred for her (and possibly still considered her a threat). He did not seem to care so much about what had happened to his face, but rather, simply wanted to get rid of her.
Zadavia landed on Acmetropolis and remained there, believing she would be safe. However, Optimatus proved her wrong when he sent a meteor towards the planet. She was the one to stop this first meteor from completely destroying Acmetropolis, but could not prevent it from throwing the planet off its axis and releasing supernatural forces, thusly making Optimatus (and, to a lesser extent, her) responsible for the creation of both the supervillains and the Loonatics. Template:Endspoilers
Characters
Loonatics team
- Ace Bunny: The leader of the team and an accomplished martial artist. Ace possesses infrared laser-lock vision and can fire laser blasts from his eyes. Based on the Bugs Bunny. Voiced by Charlie Schlatter.
- Lexi Bunny: She is second-in-command of the Loonatics. She possesses expert eavesdropping skills, hyper-sensitive hearing, tremendous aerial agility and the ability to shoot "brain blasts" from the top of her head. Based on Lola Bunny. Voiced by Jessica Di Cicco
- Danger Duck: An egotistic who would like to lead the team, he seems to lack the skill to do so and is usually willing to let Ace lead. Duck possesses teleportation powers—called a "quantum quack" in the opening credits and simply called "Quacking" by Duck himself—and the ability to toss powerful energy spheres (often referred to as "Eggs"). Based on the Daffy Duck, but lacking the lisp. Voiced by Jason Marsden.
- Rev Runner: He can run at incredible speed and can fly. Based on Road Runner. Voiced by Rob Paulsen.
- Slam Tasmanian: He is the strong man of the group. A former professional wrestler with tornado-based powers. Based on the Tasmanian Devil. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
- Tech E. Coyote: The inventor of the team's gadgets. Based on the classic Wile E. Coyote, except that Tech's inventions tend to work. Voiced by Kevin Michael Richardson.
Episodes
First season
| Season 1 |
|---|
| 01 "Loonatics on Ice" |
| 02 "Attack of the Fuzz Balls" |
| 03 "Cloak of Black Velvet" |
| 04 "Weathering Heights" |
| 05 "Going Underground" |
| 06 "The Comet Cometh" |
| 07 "The World is My Circus" |
| 08 "Stop the World, I Want to Get Off" |
| 09 "Sypher" |
| 10 "Time After Time" |
| 11 "The Menace of Mastermind" |
| 12 "Acmegeddon - Part I" |
| 13 "Acmegeddon - Part II" |
Second season
| Season 2 |
|---|
| 1 "Secrets of the Guardian Strike Sword" |
| 2 "A Creep in the Deep" |
| 3 "I am Slamacus" |
| 4 "The Air Up There" |
Equipment
Weapons and gear used by the Loonatics and usually made by Tech E. Coyote. They are referred to as "the toys" by Ace, despite Tech's insistence that they are "hand-crafted precision alloy instruments."
- Retrofire Master Blaster (First Used: Loonatics on Ice) The Retrofire Master Blasters were used to melt the giant iceberg that appeared in Acmetropolis. They were specially equipped with a 'Thaw' mode to melt it, but it seemed to have no effect whatsoever.
- Zoomatrixes (First Used: Loonatics on Ice) The Zoomatrixes are a series of motorcycles developed by Tech for urban transport. They are capable of changing into an alternate mode which give the vehicles flight capabilities. They are also able to join together to form a flying platform capable of launching missles.
- Exo-Vac 2400X (First Used: Attack of the Fuzz Balls) The Exo-Vac 2400X was constructed by Tech to suck up all the Fuz-Zs in Acmetropolis when the Loonatics learn that the Fuz-Zs transform into monsters whenever they eat chocolate. When Lexi and Danger are caught by Professor Zane, the rest of the Loonatics drop off the Fuz-Zs at HQ and initiate the "Turbo Vac-Jet Mode" of the vehicle to speed to Zane's lair to rescue their captured comrades. Tech has also called the Exo-Vac the "Ultimate Urban Vacuum."
- Ninjizer 500 (First Used: Cloak of Black Velvet) When the Loonatics head into the Zeppelin to recsue Tech, who is now brainwashed by Black Velvet, Ace brings along the Ninjizer 500, which is powerful enough to cut through steel walls with its "Beam Mode." It also shoots nunchakus and shurikens, which somehow reflects the martial-arts expertise of Ace Bunny.
- Grapple Gun (First Used: Weathering Heights) All we know about the Grapple Gun is that it was used by Ace and Tech to pull themselves and their comrades out of Weathervane's tornados.
- Space Stream 8000 (First Used: The Comet Cometh) The Space Stream was built by Tech to get to Optimatus' second meteor. On the way to the big chunk of rock, a wave of cosmic energy strikes the ship and sends it tumbling back down to Acmetropolis. Rev quickly downloads a copy of the piloting software from HQ and gets the ship moving again. The ship has a built-in Laser Amplifier that increases Ace's laser vision power to well over a billion times. However, when it was used, it only peeled off a layer of atmospheric dust. Duck has often called the Space Stream a "flying dinner plate."
- Gluco-Gel 9000 (First Used: The World is My Circus) The Gluco-Gel 9000 was designed by Tech to encase targets in a cube of gel. He first used it when he was being transformed into a Galactic Oddity by shooting the DNA Scrambler, thus destroying it. He next used it after the battle with an Oddity version of the Ringmaster by encasing the Ringmaster and Otto in gel cubes.
- DNA De-Scrambler (First Used: The World is My Circus) The DNA De-Scrambler counteracts the effect of Otto's DNA Scrambler, returning anything that was affected by the latter to normal form. Normally it would take at least two weeks before one could be made but Tech said he could make one in five minutes. Tech first used it on the transformed children, then himself and the other Loonatics, and finally Zadavia. In the battle with the Ringmaster Oddity, it was destroyed when one of its tentacles smashed it.
- Gravity Stabilizer Gyro (First Used: Stop the World I Want to Get Off) Built to nullify the effects of Massive's powers, the Gravity Stabilizer Gyro restores anything that it is pointed at to normal gravity. Tech was able to make a handcuff version to prevent Massive from using his powers.
- Exosuits (First Used: Sypher Redesigned: Acmegeddon - Part II) When all the Loonatic's powers have been stolen by Sypher, Tech constructs six unique exosuits that are designed to replicate and deflect their individual powers. Ace's Exosuit has Laser Goggles. Lexi's Exosuit has a Supersonic Scream to mess up Sypher's ultra-sensitive hearing. Tech's suit has Electomagnetic Palms. Rev's suit has Speed Accelerator Technology. And Slam's suit has Circular Jets, so he can once again spin into a Tasmanian Tornado. Danger's Exosuit has "jellybeans" that randomly change constantly (when one hit Sypher's face, it turned into tar). Danger was rather put off by this, and Tech explained that he had come up with all of it in five minutes. All the Exosuits are colored blue. Later, the Exosuit design is recolored red to serve as the space suits that the Loonatics get from Zadovia.
- Guardian Strike Sword: First appearing in "Loonatics on Ice", this is Ace Bunny's collapsible weapon of choice. It was given to him by Zadavia when he first joined the Loonatics. Its name was revealed in the section season, along with the fact that it has hidden powers of its own.
Pre-debut issues
Loonatics Unleashed generated some criticism among various animation fans for its assumed reinterpretation of the classic Looney Tunes characters. Some original Looney Tunes fans found the concept, style and tone of Loonatics distasteful. Specifically, detracters believed the idea to be a cheap "extreme" marketing ploy to appeal to a demographic at the expense of the classic Warner Bros. characters. Others felt that Loonatics Unleashed is simply part of the Looney Tunes characters' continuing evolution in contemporary pop culture.
Another issue was "Buzz Bunny", the original name of Ace Bunny. Dutch freelance designer and illustrator Metin Seven had copyrighted a character of the same name. [1] The name was also used for an erotic vibrator.[2]
After complaints about the original preproduction character models' appearances, including an Internet petition of protest that was started by 11-year-old Thomas Adams, the producers of the series revised and softened the characters' appearances to make them appear less menacing.[3]
Soon, two flash animations were made in response to the series by TLG Media, which parodied Bugs' descendant(s). The first starred "Buzzed Bunny", a hyperactive, foul mouthed, self described "extreme" replacement for Bugs Bunny, who was based on "Buzz Bunny" and his the original "evil" character design. Buzzed spoke frankly about what was at the time considered a controversial idea by fans and insisted the children like it. The second featured "Aced Bunny", a much calmer and soft-spoken parody of Ace Bunny. Both characters approached two young boys at school about the idea of Loonatics, as the flash animator understood it. Aced, however, tried to romanticize the idea of Loonatics, although it was still portrayed negatively. Meanwhile, Aced also made attempts to persuade the children into "getting in [his] van".[4]
However, it should be noted all of these responses came before the program had actually aired.
References
External links
