Looney
Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many
movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies
series, and is both WB's first animated theatrical series and the
second longest continuous animated series in any medium. The regular
Warner Bros. animation cast also became known as the "Looney
Tunes" (often misspelled, intentionally or not, as "Looney
Toons"). The two series were given two separate names because
originally, Warner Bros. wanted them to be two separate cartoons
series (in the same manner that Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies were
separate from the Mickey Mouse series).
In
the beginning years, both Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies drew
their storylines from Warner's vast music library. However,
eventually the two series distinguished themselves by Looney Tunes
becoming the umbrella for the studio's various recurring characters,
while Merrie Melodies continued with the use of one-shot characters.
Also, from 1934 to 1943 Merrie Melodies were produced in color and
Looney Tunes in black and white; after 1943, however, both series
were produced in color; the only real difference between the two
series was in the variation between the opening theme music and
titles. Both series by this time also made use of the various Warner
Bros. cartoon stars. By 1943, the theme music for Looney Tunes was
"The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave
Franklin; the theme music for Merrie Melodies was an adaptation of
"Merrily We Roll Along" by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher
and Eddie Cantor. The reason for the Looney Tunes changeover to color
was Warner Bros' decision to re-release only the color Merrie
Melodies for their Blue Ribbon Classics series of cartoons, noted by
the special "Blue Ribbon" title card.
Bosko
was Looney Tunes' first major star, debuting in the short Sinkin' in
the Bathtub in 1930. After several years and a move to rival studio
MGM in an entirely different incarnation, Buddy took his place as the
studio's main star. 1935 saw the debut of the first truly major
Looney Tunes star, Porky Pig, after which followed the debuts of
other memorable Looney Tunes stars such as Daffy Duck (in 1937) and
the most famous of the Looney Tunes cast, Bugs Bunny (in 1940). Bugs
appeared originally in the color Merrie
Melodies and formally joined the Looney Tunes crew when it switched
to color. Bugs' only appearance in a black and white Looney Tune was
a gag appearance at the end of the Frank Tashlin 1943 cartoon Porky
Pig's Feat. While the early thirties cartoons never directly catered
to a younger audience, the cartoons consisted mostly of musical
singing/dancing and generally contained a sense of innocence (mostly
as a result of imitating the Disney style). By the late thirties, the
series had become edgier, and was more obviously targeted to the
adult moviegoers of the time.
The
Looney Tunes series' popularity was strengthened even more when the
shorts began airing on network and syndicated television in the
mid-to-late 1950s under various titles and formats. However, since
the syndicated shorts' target audience was children and because of
concerns over children's television in the 1970s, the Looney Tunes
shorts began to be edited to remove scenes featuring innuendos,
ethnic stereotypes and extreme violence.
The original Looney Tunes
theatrical series ran from 1930 to 1969 (the last short being Injun
Trouble, starring Cool Cat). During part of the 1960s the shorts were
produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises after Warner Bros shut down
their animation studios. The shorts from this era can be identified
by the fact that they open with a different title sequence featuring
stylized limited animation and graphics on a black background and a
re-arranged version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down,"
performed by William Lava. Theatrical animated shorts then went
dormant until 1987 when new shorts were made to introduce Looney
Tunes to a new generation of audiences. New shorts have been produced
and released sporadically for theaters since then, usually as
promotional tie-ins with various family movies produced by Warner
Bros. This lasted until 2004.
Untitled
In 1988, a number of Looney
Tunes characters appeared in numerous cameo roles in Who Framed Roger
Rabbit; the more notable cameos featured Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck,
Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, and Tweetie. This is notable because this is
the only time in which any Looney Tunes characters have shared any
screen time with their rivals at Disney - particularly in the scenes
where Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse are skydiving, and when Daffy Duck
and Donald Duck are performing their now-famous "Duelling
Pianos" sequence.
In 1996, Space Jam, a
feature film mixing animation and live-action, was released starring
Bugs Bunny and basketball player Michael Jordan. The movie was
somewhat successful despite its odd plot, and it introduced a new
character named Lola Bunny. In 2003, another feature film was
released in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original
shorts, the live-action/animated Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
The Looney Tunes characters
have had more success in the area of television, with appearances in
several originally produced series, including 1991's Taz-Mania
(starring The Tasmanian Devil), 1995's The Sylvester and Tweety
Mysteries (starring Sylvester the cat, Tweety Bird and Granny),
2002's Baby Looney Tunes (which had a similar premise to Muppet
Babies), and 2003's Duck Dodgers (starring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig).
The Looney Tunes characters also made frequent cameos in the 1990
series Tiny Toon Adventures, where they played teachers and mentors
to a younger generation of cartoon characters. Loonatics Unleashed, a
futuristic version of the characters, is currently airing on Kids'
WB! It has a large fanbase, but many fans of the classic Looney Tunes
do not like this series at all.
Looney
Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many
movie theatres from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies
series, and is both WB's first animated theatrical series and the
second longest continuous animated series in any medium. The regular
Warner Bros. animation cast also became known as the "Looney
Tunes" (often misspelled, intentionally or not, as "Looney
Toons"). The two series were given two separate names because
originally, Warner Bros. wanted them to be two separate cartoons
series (in the same manner that Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies were
separate from the Mickey Mouse series).
Bosko
was Looney Tunes' first major star, debuting in the short Sinkin' in
the Bathtub in 1930. After several years and a move to rival studio
MGM in an entirely different incarnation, Buddy took his place as the
studio's main star. 1935 saw the debut of the first truly major
Looney Tunes star, Porky Pig, after which followed the debuts of
other memorable Looney Tunes stars such as Daffy Duck (in 1937) and
the most famous of the Looney Tunes cast, Bugs Bunny (in 1940). Bugs
appeared originally in the color 
Merrie
Melodies and formally joined the Looney Tunes crew when it switched
to color. Bugs' only appearance in a black and white Looney Tune was
a gag appearance at the end of the Frank Tashlin 1943 cartoon Porky
Pig's Feat. While the early thirties cartoons never directly catered
to a younger audience, the cartoons consisted mostly of musical
singing/dancing and generally contained a sense of innocence (mostly
as a result of imitating the Disney style). By the late thirties, the
series had become edgier, and was more obviously targeted to the
adult moviegoers of the time.
The
Looney Tunes series' popularity was strengthened even more when the
shorts began airing on network and syndicated television in the
mid-to-late 1950s under various titles and formats. However, since
the syndicated shorts' target audience was children and because of
concerns over children's television in the 1970s, the Looney Tunes
shorts began to be edited to remove scenes featuring innuendos,
ethnic stereotypes and extreme violence.
