Looney Tunes is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside the related 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.
Aardman Animations Limited, stylized as AARDMAN since 2022, is a British animation studio based in Bristol. It is known for films and television series made using stop motion and clay animation techniques, particularly those featuring its plasticine characters from Wallace & Gromit, Chicken Run, Shaun the Sheep, and Morph. After some experimental computer-animated short films during the late 1990s, beginning with Owzat (1997), Aardman entered the computer animation market with Flushed Away (2006). As of February 2020, it had earned $1.1 billion worldwide, with an average $135.6 million per film. Between 2000 and 2006, Aardman partnered with DreamWorks Animation.
Mickey Mouse Works is an American animated television series produced by Walt Disney Television Animation featuring Mickey Mouse and his friends in a series of animated shorts. The first Disney television animated series to be produced in widescreen high definition, it is formatted as a variety show, with skits starring Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck, Goofy, Pluto and Ludwig Von Drake while Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Morty and Ferdie Fieldmouse, Huey, Dewey and Louie, Chip 'n' Dale, Scrooge McDuck, Pete, Humphrey the Bear, J. Audubon Woodlore, Dinah the Dachshund, Butch the Bulldog, Mortimer Mouse, José Carioca, and Clara Cluck appear as supporting or minor characters. Musical themes for each character were composed by Stephen James Taylor with a live 12-piece band and extensive use of the fretless guitar to which the music of the series was nominated for an Annie Award in both 1999 and 2001. Most of the shorts from the series were later used in House of Mouse.
Creature Comforts is a British adult stop-motion comedy mockumentary franchise originating in a 1989 British humorous animated short film of the same name. The film matched animated zoo animals with a soundtrack of people talking about their homes, making it appear as if the animals were being interviewed about their living conditions. It was created by Nick Park and Aardman Animations. The film later became the basis of a series of television advertisements for the electricity boards in the United Kingdom. In 2003, a television series in the same style was released. An American version of the series was also made. A sequel series, Things We Love, first aired on BBC One in 2024.
Nelvana Limited is a Canadian animation studio and entertainment production company owned by Corus Entertainment since 2000. Founded in July 1971 by Michael Hirsh, Patrick Loubert, and Clive A. Smith, it was named after Nelvana of the Northern Lights, the first Canadian national superhero, who was created by Adrian Dingle. The company's production logo is a polar bear looking at Polaris, the North Star.
DePatie–Freleng Enterprises was an American animation studio founded by former Warner Bros. Cartoons employees in May 1963, before being acquired and renamed by Marvel to Marvel Productions in 1981. Based in Burbank, California, DFE produced animation for film and television.
Franklin is an animated preschool educational children's television series, based on the Franklin the Turtle books by Brenda Clark and Paulette Bourgeois, and co-produced by Nelvana Limited. It was followed up by a CGI adaptation, Franklin and Friends.
A short film is a film with a low running time. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of not more than 40 minutes including all credits". Other film organizations may use different definitions, however; the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television, for example, currently defines a short film as 45 minutes or less in the case of documentaries, and 59 minutes or less in the case of scripted narrative films.
The History of Canadian animation involves a considerable element of the realities of a country neighbouring the United States and both competitiveness and co-operation across the border.
Tom and Jerry is an American animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series centers on the enmity between the titular characters of a cat named Tom and a mouse named Jerry. Many shorts also feature several recurring characters.
Warner Bros. Animation Inc. is an American animation studio which is part of the Warner Bros. Television Group, a division of Warner Bros. Entertainment, which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery and serves as the animation division and label of Warner Bros.
The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police is an animated television series, based on the Sam & Max comic series by Steve Purcell. The series follows vigilante private investigators Sam, an anthropomorphic dog, and Max, a lagomorph or "hyperkinetic rabbity-thing", as they investigate strange and bizarre cases and confront the criminals responsible.
Clive A. Smith is a British expatriate director and animator who, along with Michael Hirsh and Patrick Loubert, founded Canadian animation studio Nelvana in 1971.
Michael Hirsh (born April 7, 1948) is a Belgian-born Canadian producer, TV executive, entrepreneur, and author. He has been attributed to building from the ground up the Canadian animation industry and, more specifically, award-winning children's programming since the 1980s. He co-founded Nelvana, a Canadian based animation and entertainment studio in 1971 with partners Patrick Loubert and Clive A. Smith producing numerous cartoons that established Nelvana as a leader in the industry including Little Bear, Franklin, Babar, Max & Ruby, The Magic School Bus, Care Bears, The Adventures of Tintin, Inspector Gadget, Droids and Ewoks, among many, many others. After Corus Entertainment's acquisition of Nelvana, Hirsh became the CEO of Cookie Jar Entertainment, which created numerous highly popular children's shows, among them Arthur, Johnny Test, and Strawberry Shortcake. When Cookie Jar was acquired by DHX Media Hirsh became the Executive Chairman of the company, the largest supplier of kids programming to online streaming services as well as a leader in production and licensing and merchandising for children. Three years after the acquisition by DHX Media, Hirsh left the company to serve as CEO and chairman of WOW! Unlimited Media from 2015 to December 2023.
The Pink Panther Show is a showcase of animated shorts produced by David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng between 1969 and 1978, starring the animated Pink Panther character from the opening credits of the live-action films. The series was produced by Mirisch Films and DePatie–Freleng Enterprises, and was broadcast Saturday mornings on two American television networks: from September 6, 1969, to September 2, 1978, on NBC; and from September 9, 1978, to September 1, 1979, on ABC.
Christmas Two Step is a 1975 live-action/animated Canadian television special co-produced by Nelvana Limited, and broadcast on the CBC. A follow-up to the studio's earlier Small Star Cinema series, it tells the story of a girl who wants to be a lead dancer at a Christmas pageant. The production of the special brought in a handful of animators into the Nelvana crew.
The Infinite Quest is an animated serial based on the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It was made by BBC Television, but does not share the same producers as the live-action series. It was aired in twelve weekly parts starting 2 April 2007 as a segment of the children's spin-off show Totally Doctor Who. The final instalment was shown at the end of the "Omnibus" episode, thus increasing the total to thirteen parts, making the compiled series the equivalent length of a standard episode of Doctor Who. The compiled story was broadcast on 30 June 2007, coinciding with the finale of Series 3.
Intergalactic Thanksgiving, sometimes known as Please Don't Eat The Planet, is a 1979 Canadian Thanksgiving animated television special that premiered on CBC and in the United States in syndication on November 22, 1979. Intergalactic Thanksgiving was the fourth television special produced by Nelvana in their 1977 to 1980 series of specials, A Cosmic Christmas, The Devil and Daniel Mouse and Romie-0 and Julie-8, all premiering in 1977, 1978 and 1979.
"Mr Pencil Draws The Line" early Nelvana (16mm 1975), YouTube