Thomas' Eye Spin Influenced by Old Cartoons?

I looked in the comments section on a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2JiZny-BrU and saw a comment that said this: "I like Thomas and the other characters were eyes rolling. It was influenced by old cartoons like Looney Tunes." I was wondering what the source for this was and If any of you had herd of the eye spinning being influenced by Looney Tunes etc? Thanks.