Say It Ain't So: Warner Bros. To Produce Live Action / CGI Hybrid Bugs Bunny Film

WB has seemed like it has a pretty good handle on how to revive the classic stable of Looney Tunes characters. There are three short 3D Road Runner shorts running in front of films this summer and fall, which actually look funny, and a new TV series. The stuff doesn't look amazing, but it also doesn't look tragic. Given that these characters will inevitably be revived no matter what we hope for, 'not tragic' is a start.

But now WB is planning a live-action / CGI hybrid Bugs Bunny film. Which doesn't have to be a travesty. But I can't help but see images of WB's Yogi Bear dancing in my eyes when I think about this project. Or maybe those are just tears.

This is just getting going: WB hired Elf and The Spiderwick Chronicles writer David Berenbaum to pen Bugs Bunny, but Deadline says there isn't even a producer on the film at this point. So: very early stages.

Staying positive, I'll go back to the idea that this doesn't have to be a travesty. Looney Tunes: Back in Action tanked, but it has several good points. So from a creative perspective, there's an example of where to start. I'd rather that as a jumping off point than Space Jam, which I can't really get behind. And hopefully this will be shepherded by people with the same spirit as the other Looney Tunes revivalists at WB, who reportedly have art from the shamefully terrible The Loonatics Unleashed "framed and hanging in Warner's animation offices as a reminder of what not to do."

Beyond that, there isn't enough information to go on. Since this is probably going to happen one way or the other I'll just hope for the best, and work on the assumption that the new theatrical shorts are road signs to what we might expect.

(And with respect to fears of this looking like Yogi Bear, that's probably an unfounded fear, since YB wasn't produced at WB. This should be made by entirely different people.)