Save Our Looney Tunes

KFOR reported A Tulsa boy, Thomas Adams, is taking his dislike of plans by Warner Brothers for a new cartoon series called "Loonatics" to the Internet and has found thousands of people who agree with him.

The cartoon is to start this fall with "descendants" of Looney Tunes characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck with names like "Buzz Bunny." The new characters are to fight evil in the year 2772.

But 11-year-old Thomas Adams of Tulsa thinks they look evil and he wants Warner Brothers to make "Loonatics" separate and apart from the classic characters.

With the help of a family friend he created the Save Our Looney Tunes Web site and began a petition drive protesting the new cartoon. So far he has nearly 34,000 signatures from all 50 states and from foreign countries including Japan and Australia. Those signing range from two to 91-years-old.

He hopes to get 100,000 signatures by this summer and present it to Warner Brothers.

A Warner Brothers official says the company is delighted the public cares so much for the classic characters and that they will not be replaced, but the new series is just "joining the family."

NewsOK reported The Tulsa boy's online petition has received more than 33,200 signatures from people in all 50 states and several foreign countries, including Argentina, Romania and Japan. The petition has also gained support from U.S. soldiers serving in Iraq.

When Thomas and friend Ashten Hubbard, both fifth-graders at Holland Hall School, saw pictures of the Loonatics on news shows, they decided something had to be done. They started circulating a petition at school, but Thomas worried it wasn't reaching enough people to make a difference.

Thomas' parents, John and Rachel Adams, suggested he put his petition on the Internet. When she realized Thomas really wanted to pursue the idea, Rachel Adams contacted family friend Rod Copeland, who has a Web design business.

"I wanted to make sure it would be secure for kids. ... We definitely didn't think it would ever get to be such a big deal," she said.

Thomas spent two evenings with Copeland, writing the text and helping design the Web site. About a week after he heard about the Loonatics, his Save Our Looney Tunes site was online.

The boy and his parents signed the petition and sent e-mails about the site to friends and family. The first day, the site got 300 responses, his mother said.

"When you see how fast the Internet really works, I was amazed that after just a couple of days, we got a response from Australia of all places," she said. "It's been interesting watching the ebb and flow."

As word has spread, the petition has averaged 500-2,000 signatures a day, John Adams said. A 2-year-old was the youngest to sign; a 91-year-old grandmother, the oldest.