- Taz has been a Looney Toons character for over 70 years
- Warner Bros owns the trademark rights to the name
- Tasmania’s new AFL team launched on Monday evening
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The president of the new AFL club has revealed he was told Warner Bros – which owns the rights to the Tasmanian Devil name – was unaware the term referred to a real animal.
The island state was announced as the location of the new AFL franchise in May 2023 and officially launched the Tasmania Devils logo and jersey on Monday night.
This came after fears of a prolonged legal battle with Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc regarding the use of the name Tasmania Devil.
One of Warner Bros’ most popular intellectual properties is the long-running Looney Toons cartoon series featuring Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig and a host of other animals with human features.
One such character is the Tasmanian Devil, commonly known as Taz, a voracious creature that bears little resemblance to the real animal and devours everything in its path, creating a tornado with its spinning limbs.
The look of Warner Bros’ Tasmanian Devil has changed over the years and Tasmania Football Club boss Grant O’Brien says executives forgot he was based on a real animal.
Tasmania Devils AFL club’s new logo features carnivorous marsupial
Taz first appeared in 1954 and Looney Tunes trademarked the iconic character in 1984. In 2000, they obtained five more trademark rights for Taz images.
Devils president Grant O’Brien said it became clear during negotiations that company executives did not realize the character was based on Apple Isle’s famous carnivorous marsupial.
“I think for a while there was no understanding that there actually was an animal called the Tasmanian devil. Once that was understood, things got a little easier,” O’Brien said.
“But anything to do with copyrights, trademarks, that sort of thing… is tricky.
“But we had a lot of cooperation from Warner Bros, and it’s a name we wanted to fight for, because it’s ours, it’s the kind of animal character we want our club represents.
“It was worth fighting for.”
The Tasmanian Devils revealed their logo, colors and jersey at a special launch on Monday.
Players were able to wear the Guernsey Foundation for the first time ahead of the club’s admission to the AFL in 2028.
The Warner Bros. version of the Tasmanian Devil was invented by animation director Robert McKimson, who lacked animals on which to base his characters.
“The animators at Warner Brothers discovered that they had used the last animal known to man as fodder for the characters,” his son Bob McKimson Junior told the Tampa Bay Times.
“My father, who loved crosswords at the time, came across the name ‘Tasmanian Devil’ while working on a puzzle.
“At first no one knew what it looked like, so Dad had to look it up in the dictionary and develop the look from there.”
McKimson said his father’s original drawing was closer to the actual animal than the version well known around the world today.
“They kind of bastardized the image of the Tasmanian devil, as my father originally drew it,” he said.
“I really don’t like the way the show’s hosts changed his look.”