'We're not doing guns': Elmer Fudd loses his rifle in HBO's 'Looney Tunes' cartoon reboot

Brian in Mesa

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'We're not doing guns': Elmer Fudd loses his rifle in HBO's 'Looney Tunes' cartoon reboot

https://www.usatoday.com/story/ente...lmer-fudd-rifle-less-hbo-gun-free/3173387001/


Elmer Fudd has many means for cartoony violence and mayhem in HBO Max's "Looney Tunes Cartoons," the reboot of the classic Warner Bros. cartoons.

But the infamous rabbit hunter will not be blasting his cartoon rifle.

Like all characters on the throwback animated series that started last week on HBO Max, Fudd will be gun-free. The new episodes harken back to the Looney Tunes, which had their peak in the 1940s and 1950s heyday, in every other way – filled with cartoonish dynamite explosions and intricate ACME-brand booby traps.

"We’re not doing guns," Peter Browngardt, the series executive producer and showrunner, told the New York Times. "But we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All that was kind of grandfathered in."
 

AzStevenCal

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Pretty sure the best Elmer Fudd episode ever didn’t have a gun in it.

Certainly it's subjective but I would disagree there. I am curious which one you're saying is the best ever? My guess, you're talking about What's Opera Doc but personally I wouldn't have that in my top 5 Elmer cartoons.

As for no guns, I'm not really bothered by it but I'm not thrilled by it either. If they made that decision because they felt they've gone as far as they can with the rifle, then fine. If they're making an anti-gun statement I'm against it (barely). But just because I think it's a useless gesture that will accomplish nothing other than drive away some of their potential viewers.

I'm against private ownership of ANY firearms but until that happens, taking this kind of stand seems futile if not counter-productive. Besides, I kind of like the fact that the winner in these cartoons is almost always the one not carrying a firearm.
 

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Certainly it's subjective but I would disagree there. I am curious which one you're saying is the best ever? My guess, you're talking about What's Opera Doc but personally I wouldn't have that in my top 5 Elmer cartoons.

As for no guns, I'm not really bothered by it but I'm not thrilled by it either. If they made that decision because they felt they've gone as far as they can with the rifle, then fine. If they're making an anti-gun statement I'm against it (barely). But just because I think it's a useless gesture that will accomplish nothing other than drive away some of their potential viewers.

I'm against private ownership of ANY firearms but until that happens, taking this kind of stand seems futile if not counter-productive. Besides, I kind of like the fact that the winner in these cartoons is almost always the one not carrying a firearm.

Yes, you’re correct and bully to not being top 5.

Also, this is HBO kids programming, they aren’t losing viewers from any decision they make on it.
 

puckhead

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The people that are offended by this aren't the target audience and the target audience won't know Elmer used to occasionally carry a rifle and shoot himself in the face.

Outrage meter: Low
 

BigRedRage

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Certainly it's subjective but I would disagree there. I am curious which one you're saying is the best ever? My guess, you're talking about What's Opera Doc but personally I wouldn't have that in my top 5 Elmer cartoons.

As for no guns, I'm not really bothered by it but I'm not thrilled by it either. If they made that decision because they felt they've gone as far as they can with the rifle, then fine. If they're making an anti-gun statement I'm against it (barely). But just because I think it's a useless gesture that will accomplish nothing other than drive away some of their potential viewers.

I'm against private ownership of ANY firearms but until that happens,
taking this kind of stand seems futile if not counter-productive. Besides, I kind of like the fact that the winner in these cartoons is almost always the one not carrying a firearm.


he is a hunter

that lives in the woods

right? no guns?
 

AzStevenCal

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Yes, you’re correct and bully to not being top 5.

Also, this is HBO kids programming, they aren’t losing viewers from any decision they make on it.

I didn't realize it was kids programming. I thought it was after the same market that's always watched Looney Tunes in addition to kids but yeah, if it's truly aimed at kids it won't cost them viewers.
 

AzStevenCal

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"I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire. I own a mansion and a yacht."

In the woods? And I swear I've seen episodes in which Elmer works in an office...

I'm not really an Elmer Fudd cartoon fan but as a life long Bugs Bunny fan I've seen episodes where Elmer lived in the forest and episodes where he worked in an office and episodes where he worked in a lab and episodes where he worked in a movie theater and episodes where he lived in a big city penthouse and so on. But for me, by far, his best role is as the buffoon who hunts Bugs Bunny and fails.

In that role, he's almost always toting a double barreled shotgun that seldom needs to be reloaded. I just don't think taking it out of his hands will have any effect on the gun culture that has far too much impact on our society.
 

Cheesewater

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I'm not really an Elmer Fudd cartoon fan but as a life long Bugs Bunny fan I've seen episodes where Elmer lived in the forest and episodes where he worked in an office and episodes where he worked in a lab and episodes where he worked in a movie theater and episodes where he lived in a big city penthouse and so on. But for me, by far, his best role is as the buffoon who hunts Bugs Bunny and fails.

In that role, he's almost always toting a double barreled shotgun that seldom needs to be reloaded. I just don't think taking it out of his hands will have any effect on the gun culture that has far too much impact on our society.

Oh I absolutely agree. If you don't want to do a cartoon with guns, don't do Elmer Fudd. I just never thought as a kid that that's all he was: A gun-totin' woodsman. Even as a child I thought of him just out on a hunting expedition, not that it was his way of life. In fact, that he was out of his element in the woods with the gun was what I attributed a lot of his failure to in those episodes.
 

jf-08

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I'm not really an Elmer Fudd cartoon fan but as a life long Bugs Bunny fan I've seen episodes where Elmer lived in the forest and episodes where he worked in an office and episodes where he worked in a lab and episodes where he worked in a movie theater and episodes where he lived in a big city penthouse and so on. But for me, by far, his best role is as the buffoon who hunts Bugs Bunny and fails.

In that role, he's almost always toting a double barreled shotgun that seldom needs to be reloaded. I just don't think taking it out of his hands will have any effect on the gun culture that has far too much impact on our society.
Oh I absolutely agree. If you don't want to do a cartoon with guns, don't do Elmer Fudd. I just never thought as a kid that that's all he was: A gun-totin' woodsman. Even as a child I thought of him just out on a hunting expedition, not that it was his way of life. In fact, that he was out of his element in the woods with the gun was what I attributed a lot of his failure to in those episodes.
+1
 

Raindog

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As a long time Looney Tunes fan (with a collection of hundreds of cartoons), I am pretty indifferent to this. It's not like they are going back and censoring the classic cartoons.

But I'm sure the alt-right nuts will be apoplectic, and soon to be organizing some kind of pointless and moronic boycott... of just about the only entertainment that doesn't exceed their level of intellectual comprehension.
 

AzStevenCal

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As a long time Looney Tunes fan (with a collection of hundreds of cartoons), I am pretty indifferent to this. It's not like they are going back and censoring the classic cartoons.

But I'm sure the alt-right nuts will be apoplectic, and soon to be organizing some kind of pointless and moronic boycott... of just about the only entertainment that doesn't exceed their level of intellectual comprehension.

As an adult you're not supposed to admit that you have the entire Looney Tunes Platinum Edition collections or all the Hanna Barbera sets up through the early 70's (including all the Tom and Jerry cartoons up through and including the Chuck Jones era) or the Disney Chronological Donald Duck sets 1 through 4, plus the complete classic Chip and Dale episodes along with the complete Droopy collection plus the original Woody Woodpecker Show. So I won't admit it.
 

Raindog

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As an adult you're not supposed to admit that you have the entire Looney Tunes Platinum Edition collections or all the Hanna Barbera sets up through the early 70's (including all the Tom and Jerry cartoons up through and including the Chuck Jones era) or the Disney Chronological Donald Duck sets 1 through 4, plus the complete classic Chip and Dale episodes along with the complete Droopy collection plus the original Woody Woodpecker Show. So I won't admit it.

I don't know anybody like that... either.
 

Finito

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Meh

I mean how long has it been since the Bullets changed there name to the Wizards. It’s nothing new.
 
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