Looney Tunes is an American animated franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. It began as a series of short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.
Merrie Melodies is an American animated comedy short film series distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is the companion series to Looney Tunes, and featured many of the same characters as the former series. It originally ran from August 2, 1931, to September 20, 1969, during the golden age of American animation, though it had been revived in 1979, with new shorts sporadically released until June 13, 1997. Originally, Merrie Melodies placed emphasis on one-shot color films in comparison to the black and white Looney Tunes films. After Bugs Bunny became the breakout character of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes transitioned to color production in the early 1940s, the two series gradually lost their distinctions and shorts were assigned to each series randomly.
Rhapsody Rabbit is a 1946 American animated comedy short film in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Friz Freleng and featuring Bugs Bunny. The movie was originally released to theaters by Warner Bros. Pictures on November 9, 1946. This short is a follow-up of sorts to Freleng's 1941 Academy Award-nominated Rhapsody in Rivets, which featured the "Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2" by Franz Liszt. The "instrument" used to perform the "Hungarian Rhapsody" in Rhapsody in Rivets is a skyscraper under construction, while this short features Bugs playing the piece at a piano while being pestered by a mouse.
Rabbit of Seville is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released on December 16, 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The nonstop slapstick humor in the short is paced musically around the overture to Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's 1816 opera buffa The Barber of Seville. In 1994, Rabbit of Seville ranked number 12 in a list of "The 50 Greatest Cartoons" released in North America during the 20th century, a ranking compiled from votes cast by 1,000 artists, producers, directors, voice actors, and other professionals in the field of animation.
Tortoise Beats Hare is a Merrie Melodies short film directed by Tex Avery and released on March 15, 1941. The short, loosely based on Aesop's fable The Tortoise and the Hare, stars Bugs Bunny and, in his first appearance, Cecil Turtle.
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears is a 1944 Merrie Melodies cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce. The short was released on February 26, 1944, and features Bugs Bunny. This short marks the first appearance of Jones' dysfunctional version of The Three Bears, and is a parody of the old fairy tale, Goldilocks and The Three Bears.
Transylvania 6-5000 (1963) is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on November 30, 1963, and stars Bugs Bunny.
Slick Hare is a 1947 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Friz Freleng. The film was released on November 1, 1947, and features Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. It parodies the Mocambo nightclub in Los Angeles—in the cartoon referred to as "The Mocrumbo". Mel Blanc voices Bugs, Arthur Q. Bryan voices Elmer Fudd and impressionist Dave Barry portrays Humphrey Bogart. The title is a pun on "hair", from an era when hair slicked down by oil was a popular fashion style for men.
Haredevil Hare is a 1948 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. It stars Bugs Bunny and it is the debut for Marvin the Martian — although he is unnamed in this film—along with his Martian dog, K-9. Marvin's nasal voice for this first film is different from the later one he is most known for. This is also the last pre-August 1948 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon whose copyright was sold to Associated Artists Productions.
Acrobatty Bunny is a 1946 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short directed by Robert McKimson. The short was released on June 29, 1946, and stars Bugs Bunny and Nero the Lion. This was the first cartoon McKimson directed that starred Bugs Bunny.
Hare Ribbin' is a 1944 animated short film in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Robert Clampett and featuring Bugs Bunny. The plot features Bugs' conflict with a red-haired hound dog, whom the rabbit sets out to evade and make a fool of using one-liners, reverse psychology, disguises and other tricks. It was released in theaters by Warner Bros. on June 24, 1944. The title is a pun on "hair ribbon".
14 Carrot Rabbit is a 1952 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated cartoon short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on March 15, 1952, and features Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The title is a play on "14 karat", as in a purity level for gold.
Beanstalk Bunny is a 1955 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on February 12, 1955, and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The cartoon's story is derived from the fairy tale "Jack and the Beanstalk".
Dumb Patrol is a 1964 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon short directed by Gerry Chiniquy. It was released on January 18, 1964, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. Director Gerry Chiniquy was a longtime animator in Friz Freleng's unit. The cartoon is set during World War I opening 'somewhere in France' in 1917, and it also commemorates the 50th anniversary of the war.
Lighter Than Hare is a 1960 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies animated short written and directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 17, 1960, and stars Bugs Bunny. The title is a play on the phrase lighter than air. It was one of three Bugs cartoons that Freleng both wrote and directed, the others being From Hare to Heir (1960) and Devil's Feud Cake (1963).
Person to Bunny is a 1960 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on April 1, 1960, and stars Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. It is the last cartoon to feature Arthur Q. Bryan as the voice of Elmer, and was released shortly after Bryan's death.
Baton Bunny is a 1959 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow. The short was released on 10 January 1959, and stars Bugs Bunny.
Shishkabugs is a 1962 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short directed by Friz Freleng. The short was released on December 8, 1962, and stars Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam. The title of the short is a play on shish kebab, a culinary dish.
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 is a DVD box set from Warner Home Video that was released on October 25, 2005. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical short subject cartoons, nine documentaries, 32 commentary tracks from animators and historians, 11 "vintage treasures from the vault", and 11 music-only or music-and-sound-effects audio tracks.
