Does the New ‘Looney Tunes’ Live Up to the Classics on HBO Max?

When HBO Max launched yesterday, they didn’t just give animation fans access to the vault of Warner Animation’s classic Looney Tunes shorts; they rebooted Looney Tunes for the first time in ages. Looney Tunes Cartoons is a new series of animated shorts starring the likes of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Tweety and Sylvester. Each vignette is a few minutes long and features clever animation tricks, ridiculous puns, and of course, anvils and dynamite. The HBO Max original is meant to honor the classic work of animation giants Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc while also appealing to a distinctly modern audience. But does it work? Does Looney Tunes Cartoons live up to the Warner Animation legacy?

Before the launch of HBO Max, Warner Media sent out a few advance episodes of the new Looney Tunes Cartoons to the press. These included the first three episodes, which introduce Daffy Duck and Porky Pig as Indiana Jones-style adventurers in a nightmare situation, a arm-wrestling match between an upsettingly buff Yosemite Sam and a yellow-gloved Bugs Bunny, and a pretty traditional showdown between Tweety Bird and Sylvester.

After watching these three episodes of Looney Tunes Cartoons — and admittedly not having seen the original shorts in over a decade — I wrote that these “Looney Tunes shorts revel in violence, vulgarity, and crude humor. However, the sight gags feel slightly less clever and at times grosser, to boot? Nevertheless, the shorts essentially live up to the spirit of the original Looney Tunes.”

Well, I kind of want to take that back now; sort of.

While it’s true the new Looney Tunes Cartoons are full of base humor and huge bursts of violence, I’m not sure they live up to the spirit of the originals as much as they feel like a pale imitation of art. That’s because one of the joys of HBO Max is their collection of original Looney Tunes content. Stretching back to the 1930s, with shorts that only hint at the creation of Porky Pig and Bugs Bunny, to some of the shorts made in the ’00s, this collection of Looney Tunes contains classics like “Duck Amuck” and gives fans a better sense of how Looney Tunes was born. It wasn’t like Bugs Bunny sprung to life like Athena from Zeus’s skull. His iconic look, voice, and antics were the product of years of experimentation. So in an ironic way, the liberties Looney Tunes Cartoons take when it comes to style, tone, and the addition of smartphones, is just part of this Looney Tunes legacy.

However what becomes really clear about these early Looney Tunes cartoons is that they were the products of real genius working together in the early days of Warner Animation. These hand-drawn shorts are full of soul and sizzling with creativity. “Duck Amuck” alone feels like it’s lightyears ahead of what’s going on in Looney Tunes Cartoons. “Elmer’s Candid Camera” comes across as a sweet dress rehearsal for Bugs Bunny’s big debut and you can find no end of delight in the classic Roadrunner and Wiley Coyote shorts.

If anything, the question shouldn’t be does Looney Tunes Cartoons live up to the classics, but why even bother with the reboot when the original is so damn good? By all means, enjoy Looney Tunes Cartoons as the latest addition to the Looney Tunes saga, but the real fun is in exploring the vaults. HBO Max’s library of vintage Looney Tunes shorts stands on its own as a real prize for animation fans.

Where to stream Looney Tunes Cartoons

Watch Classic Looney Tunes on HBO Max