Updated on December 10, 2021
The Wall Street Journal, Variety, and Comic Book Resources have announced that the (previously announced) new Scooby-Doo and Looney Tunes series will be heading to Boomerang, not Cartoon Network. “Be Cool, Scooby-Doo” and “Wabbit” will debut on the secondary cartoon channel, as part of Time Warner’s general revamp of the Boomerang network. There’s also a series in development that’s based on the children’s book “Bunnicula,” about a vampire pet bunny that drains carrots.
Time Warner’s been working recently to revamp Boomerang. Besides retiring its former bumpers, they also plan to air new material (450 half-hours’ worth) on Boomerang. It’s all meant to make Boomerang more appealing to cable companies and advertisers. As it currently stands, Boomerang still isn’t carried on a fully national level—Comcast here in Seattle doesn’t carry Boomerang, though I received it back in Milwaukee (on Time Warner Cable).
“Be Cool” is the opposite of the previous series, the darker/dramatic “Mystery, Incorporated.” Scooby and the gang look much more cartoonish, similar to the simplified designs in “A Pup Named Scooby-Doo” and “Shaggy and Scooby-Doo Get A Clue.” Here, however, they all look like “Family Guy” characters for some reason. (I’ll assume there won’t be interminable flashbacks and/or off-color jokes every two minutes.) Velma seems slimmer, while Daphne is now wearing modern-style sneakers instead of dress shoes. Everyone otherwise seems to have kept their flower power-era fashions (Fred still has an ascot), though of course it’s all still set in the present; there’s what looks like a smartphone lying in front of Velma. Ultimately, we’ll have to see how things look once animated, though for once, Scooby really does look like he needs all the piles of food he normally scarfs down.
As for “Wabbit,” the art on Bugs and his squirrel pal (who isn’t Slappy) looks a bit wiry a la “The Looney Tunes Show,” but also evidence it’s a more traditional take. Bugs is sitting in his usual rabbit hole, not a suburban house like in “The Looney Tunes Show.” Again, we’ll have to see what the actual show (or promotions) will look like.
