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Warner is finally coming to the rescue of the Tasmanian devil, the carnivorous marsupial that inspired the wildly successful Looney Tunes character of Taz.
Over the past seven years, the devil, which lives only in Tasmania, has been decimated by a mysterious cancer known as devil facial tumour disease. From a population base of 150,000 in 2000, numbers have plummeted to 15,000. If the population falls below 10,000, the devil risks following the Tasmanian tiger into extinction.
The problem until now has been that Warner was, extraordinarily, the legal owner of this pug-sized creature. The studio trademarked the name 'Tasmanian devil' and took aggressive measures to ensure no one else was able to use it.
It was reportedly Errol Flynn, Tasmania's most famous export, who seeded the idea
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| In a 1995 survey, a startling 95% of Americans recognised Warner Bros’ character of Taz |
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of Taz to his boss Jack Warner, when Warner's studio was looking for an exciting playmate for Bugs Bunny.
Although Taz made his screen debut in 1954, it wasn't until he was revamped for television in the 1990s, with the help of Steven Spielberg, that he garnered a global audience of billions. In the United States he was recognised in a 1995 survey by a startling 95 per cent of Americans, adults in particular liking his 'aggressive behaviour'. Long story short, he made the studio a mint.
Until recently, Warner risked looking like their profitable cartoon - a whirling, slobbering tyrant that chomps all in its path.
But on July 4, after years of lobbying from the Tasmanian government, the studio is to assist in a campaign to save the devil.
As part of a Looney Tunes to the Rescue promotion, Warner Home Video will release 20 Looney Tunes DVDs, including 11 new titles, with $1 from each sale going to the Tasmanian Devil Appeal.
Hope remains that the devil's legal owners won't leave us with just the cartoon. 
FIRST POSTED JUNE 18, 2007
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