Reviving Looney Tunes is no small feat, but Looney Tunes Cartoons! makes it look almost effortless. Rather than trying to reinvent characters who were already perfected decades ago, Warner Bros. finally chose the smartest path: trust the classics, respect the timing, and let the chaos speak for itself.
The result is a terrific revival that understands exactly what made these cartoons endure in the first place.
Premiering on HBO Max in May 2020 under executive producer Peter Browngardt, the series goes back to the core of the franchise with real confidence. It embraces fast-paced comedy, sharp visual gags, cartoon violence, and escalating absurdity without getting bogged down in modern franchise baggage.
There’s no need for overexplaining, no attempt to build a larger mythology, and no urge to turn Bugs Bunny into something he was never meant to be. It simply delivers the goods.
That simplicity is one of the show’s great strengths.
The shorts move quickly, punch hard, and know exactly when to stop. The best of them feel like they’ve been lifted straight from the golden age of theatrical animation, right down to the rhythm of the jokes and the gleeful willingness to push every situation to the brink.
The animation team deserves a lot of credit for keeping the series visually alive. Different artists bring distinct styles to individual shorts, which gives the show a welcome range without ever breaking its identity. One short may channel Tex Avery’s manic speed, another Bob Clampett’s wild elasticity, and another the crisp inventiveness of Arthur Davis. That variety keeps the series fresh and gives each episode its own comic personality.
Visually, the show is a treat. The character designs lean toward the early 1940s versions of the cast, which remain some of the most expressive ever drawn. Bugs has the smooth confidence of his Wabbit Twouble era, while Daffy channels the gloriously over-the-top energy of Draftee Daffy. The backgrounds are equally rich, with art director Aaron Spurgeon reportedly drawing inspiration from 1940s design and architecture to help ground the series in the look of the period.
The format is another asset. Most episodes run about twelve minutes and typically include two shorts plus a brief interstitial, which keeps the pacing tight and the jokes flowing. It mirrors the structure of the original theatrical cartoons beautifully, and that familiarity helps the series feel instantly right.
The voice work is just as strong.
That was always going to be a crucial element after Mel Blanc, whose performances across Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Elmer, and the rest remain among the greatest achievements in voice acting. Rather than try to make one performer carry that entire legacy, the series smartly spreads the load across a talented ensemble.
Eric Bauza does a lot of the heavy lifting, voicing Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, and Marvin the Martian. His work goes beyond imitation; he understands the rhythm, attitude, and comic timing that make these characters work. His Bugs has all the cool confidence fans want, while his Daffy is gloriously erratic, swinging from smugness to panic to total meltdown in a blink.
Bob Bergen continues to shine as Porky Pig, bringing warmth and vulnerability to the role. Porky often ends up as the show’s most sympathetic casualty, and Bergen gives him enough heart to make every pratfall land.
Jeff Bergman handles Sylvester, Elmer Fudd, and Foghorn Leghorn with real ease. His Elmer remains oddly lovable, and his Foghorn has the bombastic swagger that makes the character such a blast to watch.
Fred Tatasciore brings enormous energy to Yosemite Sam and Taz. Even without Sam’s traditional pistols, he makes the character crackle with comic fury. Every annoyance becomes a full-scale eruption, and that’s exactly how Yosemite Sam should behave.
Candi Milo is just as strong as Granny, Witch Hazel, Miss Prissy, and other supporting characters. She honors June
Foray’s legacy while still making the roles feel fully her own, which gives the performances a wonderful balance of familiarity and freshness.
The cast works because nobody is trying to replace Mel Blanc. They’re carrying the torch in a way that feels respectful, confident, and alive.
The series also deserves credit for navigating some tricky creative choices, including the removal of firearms from characters like Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam. For longtime fans, that could have been a major hurdle, but the show handles it with intelligence. The violence remains bold and cartoonish, and the humor still lands because the emphasis is on timing, escalation, and personality rather than on props.
What really makes Looney Tunes Cartoons! shine is how beautifully it understands the franchise’s core DNA. It knows that these characters don’t need to be updated into something they’re not. They just need the right setup, the right pace, and the freedom to spiral into glorious nonsense.
Two names conspicuously absent from this series are Speedy Gonzales and Pepé Le Pew, and the reasons differ considerably between them. Pepé simply never appeared. He has faced criticism for portraying the pursuit and harassment of unwilling female characters as comedy, with his behavior interpreted as stalking. Speedy Gonzales is a more complicated case. He was briefly banned from Cartoon Network in 1999, but reinstated after many Latin American viewers have always seen him not as a demeaning stereotype but as a swift, triumphant hero. He was effectively sidelined from this series too, which feels more like creative uncertainty than principled exclusion. Their absence ultimately leaves an unsatisfying gap. The series was confident enough to revive nearly everything else.
That’s why the best shorts here stand out so vividly. Curse of the Monkeybird, Big League Beast, Boo! Appetweet, and Pest Coaster are the immediate highlights, each built around a clean premise that moves fast and escalates with perfect cartoon logic. Daffy in Wackyland is a particularly inspired showcase, leaning into surreal, rubbery lunacy with just the right amount of confidence. Siberian Sam is a gem because it lets Yosemite Sam’s temper do all the heavy lifting, while Buzzard School and Firehouse Frenzy capture the show’s looseness and visual invention without losing the classic rhythm.
Extras include the forgettable Looney Tunes Presents: Sports Made Simple (12 episodes, 1-3 minutes each), which is welcome only for archival purposes.
At its best, Looney Tunes Cartoons! is exactly what a revival should be: energetic, faithful, funny, and clearly made by people who love the material. It doesn’t try to outsmart the originals. It celebrates them, and in doing so, becomes something worth celebrating itself.
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