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.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons, first appearing in 1949 in the theatrical cartoon short Fast and Furry-ous. In each episode, the cunning, devious and constantly hungry coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, but is always risibly unsuccessful in doing so. Instead of his animal instincts, the coyote uses absurdly complex contraptions to try to catch his prey, which comically backfire, with the coyote often getting injured in slapstick fashion. Many of the items for these contrivances are mail-ordered from a variety of companies implied to be part of the Acme Corporation.
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Studios division of Warner Bros., a flagship of Warner Bros. Discovery. As the successor to Warner Bros. Cartoons, which was active from 1933 to 1969, the studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others. Warner Bros. re-established its animation division in 1980 to produce Looney Tunes–related works, and Turner Broadcasting System merged with WBD predecessor Time Warner in 1996. In March 2001, Hanna-Barbera was absorbed into the studio.
Fast and Furry-ous is a 1949 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on September 17, 1949, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, in their debut.
Beep Prepared is a 1961 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies American theatrical cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and designer Maurice Noble. The short was released on November 11, 1961, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The title is a play on the Boy Scouts of America motto "Be Prepared".
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie is a 1979 American animated comedy package film directed by Chuck Jones, consisting of a compilation of classic Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies shorts and newly animated bridging sequences hosted by Bugs Bunny. The bridging sequences, which had been produced in 1978, show Bugs at his home, which is cantilevered over a carrot-juice waterfall. The film was released to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Bugs Bunny.
Chariots of Fur is a seven-minute Looney Tunes short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who introduced the pair in 1949. As in other shorts of the Road Runner series, Wile E. tries to catch his potential prey through various devices. This film's soundtrack uses music from the Bedřich Smetana opera The Bartered Bride. It was released in North American theaters preceding the film, Richie Rich. It was the first time a new short of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner had been released theatrically since 1966. This was the final Coyote/Road Runner short to be directed by Jones before his death on February 22, 2002. The title is a parody of Chariots of Fire.
The Wild Chase is a Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short directed by Friz Freleng and Hawley Pratt. The short was released on February 27, 1965, and stars Speedy Gonzales, Sylvester and Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. This cartoon was the only Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoon to be directed by Freleng or Pratt, who specialized in Speedy and Sylvester cartoons. It is also noted as a crossover between the Sylvester/Speedy and Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons.
Lickety-Splat is a 1961 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short directed by Chuck Jones and Abe Levitow. The short was released on June 3, 1961, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Beep, Beep is a 1952 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on May 24, 1952, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. The cartoon is named after the sound the Road Runner makes, which is also known as "Meep, meep".
Guided Muscle is a 1955 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 10, 1955, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
Hook, Line and Stinker is a 1958 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The title is a pun on the idiom Hook, Line and Sinker. The short was released on October 11, 1958 with The Old Man and the Sea, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. When shown on Boomerang USA, this short plays in PAL audio.
Quick Brown Fox and Rapid Rabbit were a pair of Warner Bros. cartoon characters, created by Robert McKimson, who appeared in only one cartoon, Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too! Future cartoons featuring the characters were planned, but were cancelled following the shutdown of Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation on October 10, 1969.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole is a 2010 3D computer-animated fantasy adventure film directed by Zack Snyder. Based on the Guardians of Ga'Hoole book series by Kathryn Lasky, the film was written by John Orloff and Emil Stern and features the voices of Helen Mirren, Geoffrey Rush, Jim Sturgess, Hugo Weaving, Emily Barclay, Abbie Cornish, Ryan Kwanten, Anthony LaPaglia, Miriam Margolyes, Sam Neill, Richard Roxburgh, and David Wenham. An international co-production between the United States and Australia, the film was produced by Village Roadshow Pictures and Animal Logic, following their success with the 2006 film Happy Feet. In the film, Soren (Sturgess), a barn owl, is kidnapped and taken to St. Aegolius Academy for Orphaned Owls led by Metal Beak and Nyra (Mirren), where owlets are brainwashed into becoming soldiers. He befriends a fellow owl named Gylfie (Barclay), and they later escape the facility to find the Island of Ga'Hoole with new-found friends and together fight against the evil army.
Looney Tunes Super Stars is a series of nine Looney Tunes DVDs consisting of two Bugs Bunny DVDs and other characters who got their own collections. It started on August 10, 2010 and ran until April 23, 2013. The series consists of:
Sugar and Spies is a 1966 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon. The short was released on November 5, 1966, and stars Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It is the second of two Road Runner shorts directed by Robert McKimson and the only one to feature music by Walter Greene. It is also the final appearances of Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote during the Golden age of American animation.
Coyote Falls is a 2010 3D computer-animated Looney Tunes short film featuring the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and written by Tom Sheppard, it is the first Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner short to be made into CGI as well as the first theatrically released 3-D animated short since 1953's Lumber Jack-Rabbit. Coyote Falls was first shown in theaters before Warner Bros.' feature-length film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore. In 2014, Warner Bros. Animation published this short on YouTube.
Rabid Rider is a 2010 animated Looney Tunes short film featuring the characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Directed by Matthew O'Callaghan and written by Tom Sheppard, the film was first shown in theaters before Warner Bros.' feature-length film Yogi Bear. In 2014, Warner Bros. Animation published this short on YouTube. The film also came before the 2018 theatrical re-release of Batman: Mask of the Phantasm.
Matthew O'Callaghan is an American film director, animator, writer, and storyboard artist whose credits include directing the 2006 film Curious George and co-creating the television series Life with Louie.
Chuck Jones: Extremes & Inbetweens – A Life in Animation is a 2000 American television documentary film directed by Margaret Selby. The film chronicles the career of legendary Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies director, Chuck Jones. The film features interviews with Jones himself, as well as animators Matt Groening, Eric Goldberg, and John Lasseter, critics Roger Ebert and Leonard Maltin, film directors Steven Spielberg, Ron Howard, and Joe Dante, and comedians Whoopi Goldberg, Lorne Michaels, Robin Williams, and June Foray, as well as others. The film was originally broadcast as part of the Great Performances series on November 22, 2000, on PBS, and later released to VHS and DVD by Warner Home Video on October 22, 2002.
