Recap / Looney Tunes in the '40s

Looney Tunes filmography
1929-1939 | 1940-1949 | 1950-1959 | 1960-1969 | 1970-present

The 1940s was the pivotal decade for the entire Looney Tunes franchise, where the series' most important films and characters would come about.

Picking things up from the late 1930s, the artwork in the studio's cartoons was steadily and strongly improving, as was the content of the films. Tex Avery was still creating street smart, anti-Disney cartoons, such as his recurring travelogue parodies and fairy tale burlesques. Friz Freleng, fresh back from an unhappy tenure on MGM's "The Captain and the Kids" cartoons, was back to making standard gag cartoons, with previous director Ben Hardaway demoted back to animator, which prompted the latter to pack up and leave for work at the Walter Lantz cartoon studio. Bob Clampett was making surprisingly innovative and very playful cartoons in the B&W unit, and even his unit was showing considerable improvements in upgrading their animation, despite still being handicapped by low budgets and restricted to making Porky Pig and Daffy Duck cartoons. Chuck Jones, meanwhile, was still struggling to find his voice at the studio while using Disney films as his reference point as opposed to the anti-Disney approach of his colleagues, making cartoons such as Sniffles the Mouse, which were impressively crafted and lavish, but cloying and sluggishly paced misfires. His career was also on the line because of this—Leon Schlesinger, who was not pleased with Jones' cutesy cartoons, nor the fact that they required considerable more effort and money than the typical short cartoon, was constantly threatening to demote Jones back to animator if he didn't follow the approach of Avery and Clampett, and in one case came very close to firing him for making Tom Thumb in Trouble, only relenting because the other directors defended Chuck as having what it took to be a good director, but claiming that he just needed time to find his own point of view. But amongst this, the studio would make a discovery that would not only put them on the map, but change animation forever.

Amongst Chuck Jones' early cartoons was "Elmer's Candid Camera", a take on a manic rabbit character that was previously used in two of Ben Hardaway's cartoons^note "Porky's Hare Hunt" (1938) and "Hare-Um Scare-Um" (1939) and one of Jones' earlier shorts^note "Prest-o Change-o", 1939). Besides introducing the hopelessly dopey Elmer, it also refined the Hardaway rabbit into a more underplayed star, as opposed to a copycat of Daffy Duck as Ben Hardaway had previously portrayed it. Afterwards, Tex Avery decided to do a take on a similar premise that Jones had done, called "A Wild Hare"—the premise of the two cartoons was similar, but Tex replaced Elmer's camera with a gun, and instead of portraying the rabbit as an obnoxious heckler, decided to depict him as a smart alecky wiseacre who plays off the foolishness of his hunter, even mocking his opponent in the face of danger—the total antithesis of a character like Mickey Mouse, and also a distinction from the studio's milquetoast mascot Porky Pig. The character, unnamed in the cartoon proper, but eventually named Bugs Bunny, was finally born, and once "A Wild Hare" turned out to be astoundingly popular in theaters, the studio immediately made him their headlining star, and nothing would ever be the same.

1941 had another important change the studio, starting tragic but turning out to have a silver lining. Tex Avery, the mentor of directors Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones and many other staffers, abruptly quit the studio in disgust to start his own animation unit at MGM, due to a large squabble with producer Leon Schlesinger over the creation of the "Speaking of Animals" series. To fill in the gap, Leon promoted Bob Clampett from the B&W unit to the head of Avery's big budget unit, finishing up some leftover Avery cartoons, while also getting a chance to make regular color cartoons starring major players like Bugs Bunny, in addition to making other oneshot cartoons (Bob's lead animator and brief co-director, Norm Mccabe, would inherit Bob's old unit).

Free of the previous handicaps he dealt with and equipped with the studio's best budgets and top animators, Bob was able to push his cartoons to boundaries far beyond what he was able to do before—Bob took what he learned and tinkered with in his B&W films—his sense of comical exaggeration, strong character distortion and dynamic staging, and magnified it to levels unlike anything else seen in the history of animation. In films like Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and A Corny Concerto, every creative ingredient he could use was taken advantage of, especially in regards to the actual animation; the characters constantly changed their appearance depending on their emotional state, the animators were actually encouraged to deviate from the model sheets to put their own styles into the characters. Not to mention his fast pacing, razor sharp timing, playful wit, and penchant for breaking established series formulas (shorts like ''Tortoise Wins by a Hare" and "Falling Hare" remarkably turn the Bugs Bunny formula right on its head, with the normally cool and collected Bugs put at the mercy of foes as wily as he is, and even the latter pulls the rug out on the audience by revealing it is all a gag), were perfectly in vogue with a nation going through World War II, making Bob the headlining director of the studio from the early to mid 40's.

Meanwhile, Chuck Jones' years of struggling would finally pay off in 1942—finally realizing that emulating Disney was a dead end for him, Jones began focusing on making cartoons with more snappy humor and timing. This was in vogue with his colleagues' work, starting with shorts like "The Draft Horse", but he officially found his own voice with The Dover Boys, a witty parody of a series of books called The Rover Boys. Besides its humorous subject matter, Jones also made major artistic innovations in the cartoon, eschewing Disney-style lushness for blazing fast, exaggerated smears and heavily stylized designs. Even the backgrounds were a modern, stark contrast from the lush, storybook-like watercolors of previous cartoons. While Jones also came dangerously close to losing his job over such a brazen experiment, Dover Boys would prove to be his first shining moment and a popular cartoon, notably laying the groundwork for the stylized work of the up and coming UPA cartoon studio. Even director Norm Mccabe got on the boat with making stylized, modern-looking backgrounds in his b&w cartoons, before he was drafted into the Army's First Motion Picture Unit in WWII. Frank Tashlin, previously an animator and director at the studio in the 30s, would inherit Mccabe's unit, just in time for their cartoons to permanently upgrade to color in 1943. The whole studio would eventually contribute to making the Private Snafu cartoons for the military alongside their main shorts.

In 1944, Leon Schlesinger sold his cartoon studio to Warner Bros. and retired, leaving a new boss, Eddie Selzer, in charge. Bob Clampett, having hit his directorial peak by the tail end of World War II, abruptly quit the studio in 1945, with veteran animator Art Davis taking over his unit. Meanwhile, the studio's top animator, Bob McKimson, would acquire his own unit in 1945, directing a wartime "Seaman Hook" short, but with his first public theatrical short screened in 1946. Frank Tashlin, who had continued to make witty, fast paced cartoons, complete with his own art deco-influenced design sense, was hindered by his desire to move on to live action movies, which gave him a "one foot in, one foot out" situation at the studio, which kept him from truly creatively jelling with the other directors, prompting him to leave the studio one last time in late 1946. Chuck Jones would eventually become the leading director of the studio, introducing many new characters and making his cartoons more stylized than ever by the late 1940's. Most notably, he tinkered with the personalities of Bugs and Daffy in the start of his landmark "Duck Season, Rabbit Season" trilogy, making Bugs a passive-aggressive trickster character, while turning Daffy from a manic screwball to a loudmouthed, egotistical blowhard with the cards stacked against him. He also started his famous Road Runner cartoons, initially starting as a parody of the "Cat Chases Mouse" cartoon formula, but turning it into a straight gag series centered around Wile E Coyote's fanatic attempts to capture the elusive bird. Friz Freleng, meanwhile, would start making his series of Tweety and Sylvester cartoons, the former having been a character in three Bob Clampett shorts.

By the mid to late 40's, the studio had officially crystallized its house style and brand of humor. Their cartoons became the most popular cartoons during the World War II era, and made waves in the industry—nearly every other studio, including Disney, were attempting to copy their brand of fast-paced slapstick and sardonic humor, to varying degrees of success and failure.

The 1940s cartoons (barring some that have been banned due to outdated ethnic stereotypes and long-forgotten references to World War II) have aired on television, but most will remember that American network television usually aired the shorts made after 1948, though the now defunct WB network and some unnamed local affiliates did air some pre-1948 shorts. Over on cable TV, the post-1948 shorts did air on Nickelodeon (though not as much as the colorized versions of 1930s Porky Pig cartoons, the cartoons made between 1948 and 1963 that had little to no screentime due to not being popular enough, and the much-loathed post-1964 shorts), but the pre-1948 shorts (again, barring the ones that have been banned for outdated racial and ethnic stereotypes and long-forgotten WWII references) were mostly seen on the Ted Turner-owned networks TBS, TNT, Cartoon Network, Boomerang, and even Turner Classic Movies (on its anthology show, Cartoon Alley). As for home media releases, there is a healthy mix of popular and obscure shorts that have made their way to official and unofficial releases, though most will recognize the shorts released between 1948 and 1949 as being the popular picks.

A total of 307 shorts were released during this time.

P.S. To nitpickers who are wondering where the Private Snafu shorts are, those are listed in their own filmography on the Snafu page.

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Milestone Shorts

• Elmer's Candid Camera: First official appearance of Elmer Fudd.
• Confederate Honey: One of many Looney Tunes shorts that isn't a Censored Eleven cartoon, but still has no chance of airing uncensored on American television due to the Civil War theme and outdated African slave stereotypes. The Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc set (and some online video sites that do allow old cartoons to air without fear or frequency of copyright strikes) is about the only way you can see the short uncut, as the DVD version of the movie Virginia City (as part of the Errol Flynn Westerns Collection) is the same censored version that aired on The WB, Cartoon Network, and Boomerang.
• You Ought to Be in Pictures: An "autobiopic" cartoon by Friz Freleng and his brief tenure at MGM, with Porky posing as him.
• A Wild Hare: First official appearance of Bugs Bunny as well as the one that established Elmer's personality and became the source for a lot of Bugs vs. Elmer cartoons.
• The Timid Toreador
• Elmer's Pet Rabbit: The first cartoon where Bugs is named onscreen.
• Tortoise Beats Hare: The first installment of the "Bugs v. Cecil Turtle" trilogy.
• Goofy Groceries
• Hollywood Steps Out: A Tex Avery short featuring celebrity caricatures and jokes about Hollywood night life at the time.
• Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt: One of the 12 banned Bugs Bunny cartoons because it featured Bugs vs. an American Indian (however, Cartoon Network did air this in the early 2000s on Thanksgiving Day during an installment of The Acme Hour)
• The Heckling Hare: Tex Avery's last full cartoon at Warner Bros.
• All This and Rabbit Stew: A two-for-one banned cartoon. Not only is it banned because it's a Censored Eleven short (as the hunter in this cartoon is a slow-witted black man), but it's also part of the list of 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons that were pulled from the 2001 June Bugs marathon that was supposed to show every Bugs Bunny cartoon ever made.
• Rhapsody in Rivets
• Wabbit Twouble: Bob Clampett's first color cartoon and his first with Bugs.
• Porky's Pooch: Notable for having a sort of stereopticon illusion. the backgrounds are actually taken from photographs taken by Bob Clampett himself.
• Conrad The Sailor
• Crazy Cruise
• Horton Hatches the Egg: Animated adaptation of Dr. Seuss' story done in Bob Clampett's wacky and suggestive style.
• The Draft Horse
• Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid
• The Ducktators: Norm McCabe's barnyard allegory about WWII and, according to the episode of ToonHeads about McCabe's cartoons, the only one of his shorts he actually liked.
• Eatin' on the Cuff
• The Dover Boys: Chuck Jones' first cartoon not following the steps of Disney.
• The Hep Cat: The first Looney Tune in color.
• A Tale of Two Kitties: First appearance of Tweety.
• Case of the Missing Hare
• Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs
• Tortoise Wins by a Hare: Second of the "Bugs-Cecil" trilogy.
• Tokio Jokio
• The Aristo-Cat: First appearance of Hubie and Bertie.
• Tin Pan Alley Cats
• Porky Pig's Feat
• A Corny Concerto
• Falling Hare
• Little Red Riding Rabbit
• Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears: First appearance of Chuck Jones' "Three Bears".
• Angel Puss: Chuck Jones' only entry in the Censored Eleven
• Goldilocks and the Jivin' Bears: Final entry in the Censored Eleven and first cartoon to have the notoriously humorless Eddie Selzer as Warner Bros. shorts producer (following the departure of Leon Schlesinger)
• Odor-able Kitty: First appearance of Pepe Le Pew.
• "Nasty Quacks"
• Hare Trigger: First appearance of Yosemite Sam.
• "Book Revue": A Bob Clampett "Things come to life in a store after closing time" short said to be so outrageous that it's a Genre-Killer (although those type of cartoons were already declared on life support when cartoons started to have more concrete plots)
• "Baseball Bugs"
• "Baby Bottleneck"
• "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery"
• "Walky Talky Hawky": First appearance of Foghorn Leghorn.
• "The Big Snooze": Bob Clampett's last cartoon at Warners (though "Bacall to Arms" was half-completed by Clampett before he left).
• "Rhapsody Rabbit"
• The Goofy Gophers
• "A Hare Grows in Manhattan
• "Tweetie Pie": First Sylvester/Tweety pairing and first WB cartoon to win an Oscar.
• Rabbit Transit: Last of the "Bugs-Cecil" trilogy.
• Little Orphan Airedale: First appearance of Charlie Dog.
• Gorilla My Dreams
• Back Alley Oproar: A remake of "Notes to You" featuring Elmer Fudd and Sylvester the Cat
• Dough Ray Me-ow: A rather dark Arthur Davis cartoon about a parrot named Louis trying to kill a dumb cat named Heathcliff (no relation to the orange one that is seen as a knock-off of Garfield^note right down to having a 1980s Saturday morning cartoon) so the parrot can get the cat's inheritance.
• The Stupor Salesman: One in a subgenre of cartoons that sees Daffy Duck as a relentless salesman who won't leave his customers alone (one can interpret this as a synthesis between the wacky Daffy and the later characterization of Daffy who's greedy and relentless)
• Scaredy Cat: First Sylvester/Porky pairing as part of a trio of shorts where Porky and Sylvester stay in haunted places and Sylvester freaks out over the strange goings-on^note "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" doesn't count, as, while it does include Porky and Sylvester, Sylvester actually speaks and it's a Daffy Duck cartoon.
• "Fast And Furryous": First appearance of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner.
• "For Scent-imental Reasons": Only Pepe Le Pew cartoon to win an Oscar (though 1952's "Little Beau Pepe" was in the running to win another one)^note and, ironically, Eddie Selzer — who didn't hold the Pepe cartoons in high regard — accepted the award. First appearance of Penelope Pussycat^note though she isn't named in this short and wouldn't get her official name until 1995, and as such went by several different names in the following shorts. First one to actually get the formula of "female cat gets painted and Pepe mistakes her for a female skunk" down pat. First of three Pepe cartoons where Pepe ends up getting chased in the end.

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1940:

• Porky's Last Stand (LT) (Clampett): Porky Pig, Daffy Duck. Public domain.
• The Early Worm Gets the Bird (MM) (Avery) Public domain. Not shown very often due to black stereotyping
• Africa Squeaks (LT) (Clampett): Porky. Isn't a Censored Eleven cartoon, but no one is likely to see it (uncut or at all) due to the African savage stereotypes (at least on television and streaming. The Porky Pig 101 DVD set actually has it uncut, uncensored, and in black and white). Nickelodeon once aired a redrawn colorized version with no scenes of the African savages, which made for a very short and very incomprehensible cartoon.

• Mighty Hunters (MM) (Jones): Based on Good Housekeeping "Canyon Kiddies" stories.
• Ali Baba Bound (LT) (Clampett): Porky. Public domain.
• Busy Bakers (MM) (Hardaway, Dalton): Last cartoon directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton.
• Elmer's Candid Camera (MM) (Jones): Debut of Elmer Fudd. Fourth appearance of the Proto-Bugs. Considered by fans to be their least favorite Chuck Jones cartoon (next to maybe the Censored 11 short, Angel Puss) and one of many reasons why Chuck Jones despised his pre-1948 work.
• Pilgrim Porky (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Cross-Country Detours (MM) (Avery)
• Confederate Honey (MM) (Freleng): Elmer. Freleng's return short for Warner Bros. after his ill-fated MGM stint. Not a Censored 11 cartoon, but does have a lot of stereotypical black caricatures and Civil War themes (as if the title didn't make it obvious) in it, making any chance of seeing this short uncut on TV (or at all on TV) slim to none. It is uncut on the Golden Age of Looney Tunes laserdisc set (and on online video sites), but, when it was shown as a bonus feature on the Virginia City DVD, it was the censored TV version and you're not likely to see it on HBO Max.
• Slap-Happy Pappy (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• The Bear's Tale (MM) (Avery)
• The Hardship of Miles Standish (MM) (Freleng): Elmer.
• Porky's Poor Fish (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Sniffles Takes a Trip (MM) (Jones): Sniffles the Mouse.
• You Ought to Be in Pictures (LT) (Freleng): Porky, Daffy. Combines animation and live action and is said to be an autobiography about Friz Freleng's ill-fated stint at MGM. #34 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• A Gander at Mother Goose (MM) (Avery)
• The Chewin' Bruin (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Tom Thumb in Trouble (MM) (Jones)
• Circus Today (MM) (Avery)
• Porky's Baseball Broadcast (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Little Blabbermouse (MM) (Freleng): Little Blabbermouse.
• The Egg Collector (MM)(Jones): Sniffles.
• A Wild Hare (MM) (Avery): Official debut of Bugs Bunny and the basis for the Bugs vs. Elmer cartoons. In the original version, Elmer guessed Carole Lombard's name in Bugs' game of "Guess Who"? Following Carole Lombard's death in a plane crash (which happened two years after the cartoon premiered), the Blue Ribbon Merrie Melodie rerelease replaced "Carole Lombard" with "Barbara Stanwyck."
• Ghost Wanted (MM) (Jones)
• Patient Porky (LT) (Clampett): Porky, Daffy. A remake to "The Daffy Doc".
• Ceiling Hero (MM) (Avery)
• Malibu Beach Party (MM) (Freleng)
• Calling Dr. Porky (LT) (Freleng): Porky.
• Stage Fright (MM) (Jones)
• Prehistoric Porky (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Holiday Highlights (MM) (Avery)
• Good Night, Elmer (MM) (Jones): Elmer. A No-Dialogue Episode barring the end where Elmer's crying is provided by Mel Blanc. One in a handful of cartoons that doesn't have Elmer square off against Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck.
• The Sour Puss (LT) (Clampett): Porky.
• Wacky Wildlife (MM) (Avery)
• Bedtime For Sniffles (MM) (Jones): Sniffles.
• Porky's Hired Hand (LT) (Freleng): Porky. Public domain.
• Of Fox and Hounds (MM) (Avery)
• The Timid Toreador (LT) (Clampett, Norm McCabe^note McCabe worked on this cartoon and "Porky's Snooze Reel" because Bob Clampett was too sick to work on them): Porky. Public domain.

• Shop, Look, and Listen (MM) (Freleng): Little Blabbermouse.

1941:

• Elmer's Pet Rabbit (MM) (Jones): Bugs, Elmer. First short where Bugs Bunny is referred to by name. A title card after the credits shows a picture of the wascawwy wabbit with the text "Featuring Bugs Bunny". In a case of Early-Installment Weirdness, Bugs has yellow gloves, no buck teeth, and a completely different voice akin to Jimmy Stewart.
• Porky's Snooze Reel (LT) (Clampett, McCabe): Porky. The last of two Clampett cartoons where Norm McCabe was credited as co-director due to Clampett being too sick to work.
• The Fighting 69 1/2th (MM) (Freleng)
• Sniffles Bells the Cat (MM) (Jones): Sniffles.
• The Haunted Mouse (LT) (Avery)
• The Crackpot Quail (MM) (Avery): This short was essentially an experiment used to capitalize on the success of Bugs Bunny, by introducing an unnamed quail who has all the same characteristics as Bugs, including his tendency to call people "doc".
• The Cat's Tale (MM) (Freleng)
• Joe Glow the Firefly (LT) (Jones)
• Tortoise Beats Hare (MM) (Avery): Bugs. First appearance of Cecil Turtle. First of the "Bugs Bunny and Cecil Turtle" trilogy. Also the first instance of Bugs "losing" in a cartoon.
• Porky's Bear Facts (LT) (Freleng): Porky. Public domain.
• Goofy Groceries (MM) (Clampett): Clampett's first Merrie Melodies short.
• Toy Trouble (MM) (Jones): Sniffles.
• Porky's Preview (LT) (Avery): Porky. Avery's only short that uses the streamlined Porky Pig design rather than the morbidly obese Porky that Avery used in the 1930s. Public domain.
• The Trial of Mr. Wolf (MM) Freleng
• Porky's Ant (LT) (Jones): Porky. Public domain.
• Farm Frolics (MM) (Clampett)
• Hollywood Steps Out (MM) (Avery) Public domain.
• A Coy Decoy (LT) (Clampett): Porky, Daffy. Public domain.
• Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt (MM) (Freleng): Bugs. Friz's first Bugs Bunny short. AOL Time Warner pulled this short from airing on the 2001 Bugs Bunny marathon due to Indian stereotyping (though Cartoon Network did air this short on Thanksgiving Day on an installment of The Acme Hour)
• Porkys Prize Pony (LT) (Jones): Porky. Public domain.
• The Wacky Worm (MM) (Freleng)
• Meet John Doughboy (Clampett): Porky.
• The Heckling Hare (MM): Bugs. Last Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Tex Avery. The original ending in which Bugs and Willoughby the dog fell down another cliffside was deleted before release (why this was done is still unknown: one story says it was to censor a risque punchline; another story says that Leon Schlesinger objected to Tex Avery wanting Bugs to be Killed Off for Real).
• Inki And The Lion (MM) (Jones): Inki.
• Aviation Vacation (MM) (Avery): Even though Tex Avery was in the process of creating this cartoon before he got fired, it was Bob Clampett who finished it. Clampett was not credited.
• We, the Animals, Squeak (LT) (Clampett): Porky. Public domain.
• Sport Chumpions (MM) (Freleng) Public Domain.
• The Henpecked Duck (LT) (Clampett): Daffy, Porky. Public domain.
• Snow Time For Comedy (MM) (Jones): Curious Puppies.
• All This and Rabbit Stew (MM) (Avery): Bugs. One of the Censored Eleven and Bugs' Banned 12 (a collection of 12 Bugs Bunny cartoons scheduled to air on "June Bugs" in 2001, but were pulled due to the ethnic stereotypes that served as Bugs's enemies), and is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to be a Censored Eleven cartoon. Public domain.
• Notes To You (LT) (Freleng): Porky. Remade by Freleng as "Back Alley Oproar". Public domain.
• The Brave Little Bat (MM) (Jones): Sniffles.
• The Bug Parade (MM) (Avery): Finished by Clampett.
• Robinson Crusoe Jr (McCabe): Porky. Public domain. Norm McCabe's first solo directed cartoon, and, like most of his works, isn't shown on television due to outdated ethnic stereotypes.
• Rookie Revue (MM) (Freleng) Public domain.
• Saddle Silly (MM) (Jones)
• The Cagey Canary (MM) (Avery, uncredited): Finished by Clampett.
• Porky's Midnight Matinee (LT) (Jones): Porky. Public domain.
• Rhapsody in Rivets (MM) (Freleng)
• Wabbit Twouble (MM) (Clampett): Bugs. Bob Clampett's first Bugs Bunny short and his first short in color. Most infamously known for creating "Big Chungus".

• Porky's Pooch (LT) (Clampett): Charlie Dog (an early version that doesn't look like the Chuck Jones version). Public domain. Knowm for using an unusual form of the Roger Rabbit Effect: all the backgrounds were actual photographs Clampett himself took.

1942

• Hop, Skip, and a Chump (MM) (Freleng)
• Porky's Pastry Pirates (LT) (Freleng): Porky. Public domain.
• The Bird Came C.O.D (MM) (Jones): Conrad the Cat.
• Aloha Hooey (MM): (Avery, uncredited): Finished by Clampett.
• Who's Who in the Zoo (LT) (McCabe) Public domain.
• Porky's Cafe (MM) Jones: Porky, Conrad. Public domain.
• Conrad the Sailor (MM) (Jones): Conrad, Daffy. Jones notably experimented with Match Cuts in this short.
• Crazy Cruise (MM) (Avery, uncredited): Finished by Clampett. Bugs makes a cameo appearance in the end.
• The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (MM) (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer. Public domain.
• Saps in Chaps (LT) Freleng. Public domain.
• Horton Hatches the Egg (MM) (Clampett): Adaptation of the classic Dr. Seuss story, with Clampett's humor mixed in.
• Dog Tired (MM) (Jones)
• Daffy's Southern Exposure (LT) (McCabe) Public domain. First solo Daffy Looney Tune.
• The Wacky Wabbit (MM) (Clampett): Bugs, Elmer. Public domain.
• The Draft Horse (MM) (Jones): Features an Early-Bird Cameo of Private Snafu (he was the soldier who scrubbed down the horse).
• Nutty News (LT) (Clampett) Public domain.
• Lights Fantastic (MM) (Freleng)
• Hobby Horse Laffs (LT) (McCabe) Public domain.
• Hold the Lion, Please (MM) Jones: Bugs.
• Gopher Goofy (LT) (McCabe) Public domain.
• Double Chaser (MM) (Freleng): Features a proto-Sylvester.
• Wacky Blackouts (LT) (Clampett) Public domain.
• Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid (MM) (Clampett): Bugs, Beaky Buzzard.
• Foney Fables (MM) (Freleng) Public Domain.
• The Ducktators (LT) (McCabe): Norm McCabe's barnyard allegory about WWII and, according to the episode of ToonHeads about McCabe's cartoons, the only one of his shorts he actually liked. Public domain.

• The Squawkin' Hawk (MM) (Jones): Features a proto-Henery Hawk.
• Eatin' on the Cuff (LT) (Clampett): Last mainstream B&W cartoon Clampett worked on. Featured live-action mixed with animation, though not to the extent that You Ought to Be in Pictures did. Public domain.
• Fresh Hare (MM) (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer. Has a Big-Lipped Alligator Moment ending featuring Bugs, Elmer, and four Canadian Mounties as blackfaced minstrels singing "Camptown Races," which is almost always edited out of modern TV (and some gray-market home video) airings. Public domain.
• The Impatient Patient (LT) (McCabe): Daffy. Public domain.
• Fox Pop (MM) (Jones) Public domain.
• The Dover Boys (MM) (Jones): Chuck Jones experimented with stylized smudge animation with this short (it wouldn't be popular until UPA came out in the 1950s), which almost cost Jones his job at Warner Bros. Public domain. #49 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• The Hep Cat (LT) (Clampett): First Looney Tunes short to be produced in color. LT would become a color series from here on out. Curiously, this short was later reissued as a Merrie Melodies short. Oneshot cartoon.
• The Sheepish Wolf (MM) (Freleng) Public Domain.
• The Daffy Duckeroo (LT) (McCabe) Public domain.
• The Hare-Brained Hypnotist (MM) (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer.
• A Tale of Two Kitties (MM) (Clampett): Tweety. Public domain.
• My Favorite Duck (LT) (Jones): Daffy, Porky.
• Ding Dog Daddy (MM) (Freleng) A one-shot cartoon about a dopey dog who falls in love with a metal statue of a female dog and must save her from being recycled for scrap as part of the war effort. Public domain.
• Case of the Missing Hare (MM) (Jones): Bugs. Public domain.
• Any Bonds Today? (AKA Bugs Bunny Bond Rally) (Clampett): Bugs, Elmer. Oneshot Wartime Cartoon, neither a Looney Tune nor Merrie Melodie, made as a propaganda snippet. Starring Bugs, Elmer (when he was fat), and Porky. Has aired on an episode of Cartoon Network's anthology show Toon Heads during a special episode about lost and rare Warner Bros. shorts, only the scene of Bugs in blackface as Al Jolson was cut. Public domain.

1943

• Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (Clampett): A Censored Eleven cartoon. #21 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (McCabe) Public domain.
• Pigs in a Polka (Freleng) Public domain.
• Tortoise Wins by a Hare (Clampett): Bugs.
• Fifth Column Mouse (Freleng) Public domain.
• To Duck or Not to Duck (Jones): Daffy, Elmer. Public domain. Oldest color Looney Tune to have it's original title sequence and credits preserved. Debut of Elmer Fudd in a Looney Tunes short, first pairing of Daffy and Elmer.
• Flop Goes the Weasel (Jones) Public domain.
• Hop and Go (McCabe) A one-shot cartoon about a kangaroo (voiced by Pinto Clovig) in a jumping match with two Scottish rabbits. Did air on Nickelodeon with the end scene (showing that the kangaroo's jump caused Tokyo to be destroyed) cut. Public domain. The last Warner Bros cartoon to use Pinto Colvig.
• Super-Rabbit (Jones): Bugs.
• The Unbearable Bear (Jones)
• The Wise-Quacking Duck (Clampett): Daffy.
• Greetings Bait (Freleng)
• Tokio Jokio (McCabe): Last cartoon Norm made for the studio. Norm McCabe was credited as "Corporal Norm McCabe" in this cartoon. Public Domain.
• Jack-Wabbit and the Beanstalk (Freleng): Bugs.
• The Aristo-Cat (Jones)
• Yankee Doodle Daffy (Freleng): Daffy, Porky. Public Domain.
• Wackiki Wabbit (Jones): Bugs. Public Domain.
• Tin Pan Alley Cats (Clampett): One of the Censored Eleven. Contains a lot of gags and scenes recycled from Porky in Wackyland.
• Porky Pig's Feat (Tashlin): Porky, Daffy. Frank Tashlin returns to directing for the studio. The only time Bugs Bunny has ever been in a black-and-white cartoon and contains a Hilarious in Hindsight moment when Daffy (who would later be Bugs's enemy) fawns over Bugs Bunny and calls him "my hero." Public Domain.
• Scrap Happy Daffy (Tashlin): Daffy. Public Domain.
• Hiss And Make Up (Freleng)
• A Corny Concerto (Clampett): Bugs, Porky, Elmer. Public Domain. #47 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.

• Fin N' Catty (Jones)
• Falling Hare (Clampett): Bugs. Public domain.
• Inki and the Mynah Bird (Jones): Inki. Public domain.

• Daffy the Commando (Freleng): Daffy. Public domain.
• An Itch in Time (Clampett): Elmer. Public domain.
• Puss N Booty (Tashlin): Last black and white Tashlin cartoon. Last black and white Looney Tune. Public domain.

1944

• Little Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng): Bugs. #39 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• What's Cookin, Doc? (Clampett): Bugs. Uses clips from "Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt".
• Meatless Flyday (Freleng)
• Tom Turk and Daffy (Jones): Daffy, Porky.
• Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears (Jones): Bugs, The Three Bears.

• I Got Plenty of Mutton (Tashlin): A one-shot cartoon featuring a lot of hallmarks that would be common in Chuck Jones' later series: the starving wolf reduced to eating food scraps would feature heavily in the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoons; a wolf contending with another animal acting as a shepherd to a flock of sheep would be seen in the Ralph Wolf and Sam the Sheepdog cartoons; and, most tellingly of all, the wolf dressing in drag and the ram suddenly sounding like Charles Boyer and lusting after the wolf would be the entire basis to the Pepe Le Pew cartoons (coincidentally, "Odor-Able Kitty", would come a year after this cartoon premiered).
• The Weakly Reporter (Jones)

• Tick Tock Tuckered (Clampett): A Shot-for-Shot Remake (with color, and Daffy in place of Gabby Goat) of "Porky's Badtime Story".

• Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (Freleng): A blatantly anti-Japanese Wartime Cartoon^note though Norm McCabe's "Tokio Jokio" is worse in that regard that will never see the light of day outside of Internet video sites (unless WB releases the World War II cartoons that they didn't put in the sixth and final Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD set^note though it did air in clips on Cartoon Network during the ToonHeads episode about World War II cartoons). It was released on the first volume of MGM/UA's Golden Age of Looney Tunes Laserdisc series^note which comprised of every Looney Tunes short under Turner Entertainment's control at the time, with the exception of the Censored Eleven until Japanese-American advocacy groups objected to its inclusion on a VHS version of that same volume.
• Swooner Crooner (Tashlin): Porky. Was nominated for the 1945 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons), which it lost to the Tom and Jerry cartoon "'Mouse Trouble"
• Russian Rhapsody (Clampett). An insane one-shot Wartime Cartoon where Adolf Hitler himself decides to bomb Moscow after hearing that other Nazis have tried and failed...and learns why when a bunch of gremlins from The Kremlin (who all are caricatured after Termite Terrace's staff members) disassemble his plane.

• Duck Soup to Nuts (Freleng): Porky, Daffy.
• Angel Puss (Jones): One of the Censored Eleven and, for most cat lovers and those averse to dark humor and outdated racial stereotypes, the worst cartoon Chuck Jones ever made.
• Slightly Daffy (Freleng): Daffy, Porky. Color re-make of "Scalp Trouble" with a few different gags. Unlike "Porky in Wackyland" and "Dough For the Do-Do", the character designs are kept roughly the same between the two shorts.
• Hare Ribbin' (Clampett): Bugs. Notable for having two different endings (both of which are considered too violent for American TV): 1. The theatrical version, which has the dog shooting himself in the head. 2. The "Director's Cut", which has Bugs himself shoot the dog.
• Brother Brat (Tashlin): Porky.
• Hare Force (Freleng): Bugs.
• From Hand to Mouse (Jones)
• Birdy and the Beast (Clampett): Tweety.

• Buckaroo Bugs (Clampett): Bugs. Last cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger. Official debut of Bugs Bunny in a Looney Tunes short ^note  Prior to this, all Bugs shorts were counted and released as Merrie Melodies Is infamous for showing Bugs Bunny as a villain against a dopey sheriff who sounds like Red Skelton.
• Goldilocks And The Jivin Bears (Freleng): One of the Censored Eleven. First cartoon produced by Eddie Selzer
• Plane Daffy (Tashlin): Daffy. Features a Femme Fatale Spy character named Hatta Mari (whose blond hair and topheavy hourglass figure would later be a reality in the form of Jayne Mansfield, whom Tashlin would direct in the live-action movies, The Girl Can't Help It and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?)
• Lost and Foundling (Jones): Sniffles.
• Booby Hatched (Tashlin)

• The Old Grey Hare (Clampett): Bugs, Elmer.

• The Stupid Cupid (Tashlin): Daffy, Elmer.
• Stage Door Cartoon (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer.

1945

• Odor-Able Kitty (Jones): First Pepé Le Pew cartoon.
• Herr Meets Hare (Freleng): Bugs. First time Bugs uses the line "I knew I shoulda taken a left turn at Albuquerque!" whenever he gets lost. Includes an early version of the Wagnerian opera sequence that would later be seen in What's Opera, Doc? Also, despite being a Wartime Cartoon that was initially banned from TV for showing references to Nazis and Adolf Hitler, it has aired on Cartoon Network's Toon Heads special about World War II cartoons.
• Draftee Daffy (Clampett): Daffy.
• The Unruly Hare (Tashlin): Bugs, Elmer.
• Trap-Happy Porky: Porky.
• Life with Feathers (Freleng): Sylvester. His first appearance; he wouldn't get paired up with Tweety until 1947.
• Behind the Meatball (Tashlin)
• Hare Trigger (Freleng): Bugs, Yosemite Sam. First appearance of Yosemite Sam.
• Ain't That Ducky: Daffy.
• A Gruesome Twosome (Clampett): Tweety.
• Wagon Heels (Clampett): Porky. A Shot-for-Shot Remake (color remake, to be percise) of "Injun Trouble"
• Hare Conditioned (Jones): Bugs.
• Fresh Airedale (Jones)
• The Bashful Buzzard (Clampett): Beaky Buzzard. Similar to "Bugs Bunny Gets The Boid" (only the cartoon focuses on Beaky the Buzzard and his family). Second appearance of Beaky Buzzard. Final cartoon to feature the voice of Kent Rogers, released 1 year after his death.
• Peck Up Your Troubles (Freleng): Sylvester.
• Hare Tonic (Jones): Bugs, Elmer.
• Nasty Quacks (Tashlin, uncredited): Daffy, Proto-Melissa.

1946

• Book Revue (Clampett): Daffy. Is said to be the cartoon that killed the "Midnight in the bookstore" genre of cartoons (even though those were becoming passe when cartoons started featuring star characters and concrete plots). #45 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• "Baseball Bugs" (Freleng): Bugs.
• Holiday For Shoestrings (Freleng)
• Quentin Quail (Jones)
• Baby Bottleneck (Clampett): Porky, Daffy.
• Hare Remover (Tashlin, uncredited): Bugs, Elmer. Tashlin's last cartoon for Warner Bros.
• Daffy Doodles (McKimson): Daffy, Porky.
• Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson)
• Hush My Mouse (Jones)
• Hair-Raising Hare (Jones): Bugs.
• Kitty Kornered (Clampett): Porky, Sylvester (though the version of Sylvester shown isn't the Freleng version with a red nose).
• Hollywood Daffy (Freleng, uncredited): Daffy.
• Acrobatty Bunny (McKimson): Bugs.
• The Eager Beaver (Jones)
• The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Clampett): Daffy. #16 of The 50 Greatest Cartoons.
• Bacall to Arms (Clampett, uncredited. Completed by Arthur Davis). Features recycled footage from Freleng's "She Was an Acrobat's Daughter".
• Of Thee I Sting (Freleng)
• "Walky Talky Hawky" (McKimson): Foghorn Leghorn, Henery Hawk, Barnyard Dawg. Is mostly a Henery Hawk cartoon, but Foghorn Leghorn became the star.
• Racketeer Rabbit (Freleng): Bugs.
• Fair and Worm-er (Jones)
• "The Big Snooze" (Clampett, uncredited): Bugs, Elmer. Clampett's last Warner Bros. cartoon.
• The Mouse-Merized Cat (McKimson)
• Mouse Menace (Arthur Davis): Porky.
• "Rhapsody Rabbit" (Freleng): Bugs.
• Roughly Squeaking (Jones): Hubie, Bertie.

1947

• One Meat Brawl (Davis): Porky.
• The Goofy Gophers (Davis): Goofy Gophers.
• The Gay Anties (Freleng)

• Scent-imental Over You (Jones): Pepé Le Pew.

• A Hare Grows in Manhattan (Freleng): Bugs.
• Birth of a Notion (McKimson): Daffy.
• Tweetie Pie (Freleng): Sylvester, Tweety.
• Rabbit Transit (Freleng): Bugs.
• Hobo Bobo (McKimson)
• Along Came Daffy (Freleng): Daffy, Sam.
• Inki at the Circus (Jones): Inki.
• Easter Yeggs (McKimson): Bugs, Elmer.
• Crowing Pains (McKimson): Foghorn, Henery Hawk, Barnyard Dawg, Sylvester.
• A Pest in the House (Jones): Daffy, Elmer.
• The Foxy Duckling (Davis)
• House-Hunting Mice (Jones): Hubie, Bertie.
• Little Orphan Airedale (Jones): Charlie Dog, Porky.
• Doggone Cats (Davis): Sylvester, Wellington the Dog
• Slick Hare (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer.
• Mexican Joyride (Davis): Daffy.
• Catch as Cats Can (Davis): Sylvester.
• A Horsefly Fleas (McKimson): Does not air often because of the prominent stereotyping of Native Americans

1948

• Gorilla My Dreams (McKimson): Bugs.
• Two Gophers From Texas (Davis): Goofy Gophers.
• A Feather in His Hare (Jones): Bugs. Rarely airs on Cartoon Network because of the Indian stereotype (though it did air on TNT and TBS in the early 1990s)
• What Makes Daffy Duck (Davis): Daffy, Elmer. The only time Arthur Davis had Daffy paired with Elmer Fudd.
• What's Brewin', Bruin (Jones): The Three Bears.
• Daffy Duck Slept Here (McKimson): Porky, Daffy.
• A Hick, a Slick, and a Chick (Davis)
• Back Alley Op Roar (Freleng): Elmer, Sylvester.
• I Taw a Putty Tat (Freleng): Sylvester, Tweety.
• Rabbit Punch (Jones): Bugs.
• Hop, Look and Listen (McKimson): Sylvester, Hippety Hopper.
• Nothing But the Tooth (Davis): Porky.
• Buccaneer Bunny (Freleng): Bugs, Sam.
• Bone Sweet Bone (Davis)
• Bugs Bunny Rides Again (Freleng): Bugs, Sam.
• The Rattled Rooster (Davis)
• The Up-Standing Sitter (McKimson): Daffy.
• The Shell-Shocked Egg (McKimson)
• Haredevil Hare (Jones): Bugs, Marvin the Martian.
• You Were Never Duckier (Jones): Daffy, Henery Hawk.
• Dough Ray Me-ow (Davis)
• Hot Cross Bunny (McKimson): Bugs.
• The Pest That Came to Dinner (Davis): Porky.
• Hare Splitter (Freleng): Bugs.
• Odor of the Day (Davis): Is one of a handful of Golden Age Pepé Le Pew cartoons not directed by Chuck Jones (joining "Dog Pounded" and "Really Scent"). Is also known as the only cartoon in which Pepe doesn't chase after another animal that's been painted up like a skunk and the only cartoon in which Pepe doesn't speak (except for a "Gesundheit" at the end).
• The Foghorn Leghorn (McKimson): Foghorn, Henery Hawk, Barnyard Dawg.
• A-Lad-in His Lamp (McKimson): Bugs.
• Daffy Dilly (Jones): Daffy.
• Kit For Cat (Freleng): Sylvester, Elmer.
• The Stupor Salesman (Davis): Daffy.
• Riff Raffy Daffy (Davis): Daffy, Porky. The only Porky and Daffy pairing Arthur Davis directed.
• My Bunny Lies Over The Sea (Jones): Bugs.
• Scaredy Cat (Jones): Porky, Sylvester. Part one of the "Porky and Sylvester horror vacation" trilogy.

1949

• Wise Quackers (Freleng): Daffy, Elmer. Hasn't been seen on TV since the 1990s due to the black slavery references. It did air on The Merrie Melodies Show with the scene of Daffy acting like an old black slave to prove to Elmer that he'll be loyal to him edited (ABC also aired this cartoon in the mid-1980s with the Uncle Tom scene cut, and also a scene where Elmer's neighbor hits him over the head with a hammer), but after that, it disappeared from the airwaves on American TV. Despite this, it is on the Looney Tunes Superstars DVD release ("Daffy Duck: Frustrated Fowl").
• Hare Do (Freleng): Bugs, Elmer.
• Holiday for Drumsticks (Davis): Daffy.
• The Awful Orphan (Jones): Charlie Dog, Porky.
• Porky Chops (Davis): Porky.
• Mississippi Hare (Jones): Bugs. Is a part of Cartoon Network's Banned Bugs Bunny 12 due to the American South stereotypes (which include the beginning with the black cotton pickers, Colonel Shuffle in blackface from an exploding cigar, and a part where Bugs is next to a sign for Uncle Tom's Cabinet). It has aired on American television (on the WB, it was edited severely to avoid the racial stereotyping, while ABC just edited the blackface cigar gag and some comic violence), but not very often. Is now on the Looney Tunes Golden Collection (fourth volume) uncut and uncensored.
• Paying the Piper (McKimson): Porky.
• Daffy Duck Hunt (McKimson): Daffy, Porky, Barnyard Dawg.
• Rebel Rabbit (McKimson): Bugs. Much like "Buckaroo Bugs", this cartoon has Bugs Bunny as a Villain Protagonist.
• Mouse Wreckers (Jones): Hubie, Bertie.
• High Diving Hare (Freleng): Bugs, Sam.
• The Bee-Deviled Bruin (Jones): The Three Bears.
• Curtain Razor (Freleng): Porky.
• Bowery Bugs (Davis): Bugs. Only Bugs Bunny cartoon directed by Arthur Davis.
• Mouse Mazurka (Freleng): Sylvester.
• Long-Haired Hare (Jones): Bugs.
• Hen House Henery (McKimson): Foghorn, Henery Hawk, Barnyard Dawg.
• Knights Must Fall (Freleng): Bugs.
• Bad Ol' Putty Tat (Freleng): Sylvester, Tweety.
• The Grey-Hounded Hare (McKimson): Bugs.
• Often an Orphan (Jones): Charlie Dog, Porky.
• The Windblown Hare (McKimson): Bugs.
• Dough For the Do-Do (Freleng): Porky. Color re-make of "Porky in Wackyland" with a new soundtrack, a few different gags, and updated character designs.
• Fast And Furryous (Jones): Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner.
• Each Dawn I Crow (Freleng): Elmer.
• Frigid Hare (Jones): Bugs. One of the Banned Bugs Bunny 12 due to the Eskimo (Inuit) antagonist, despite that it later aired on Cartoon Network following Chuck Jones' death in 2002 (and previously aired on FOX's The Merrie Melodies Show in the 1990s) with two lines cut: Bugs calling the Inuit hunter an "Eskimo piehead" and Bugs happily declaring that, since the polar days are six months long, he doesn't have to worry about going back to work until July of 1953 (the latter line is edited due to Warner Bros. policy to try and keep the shorts from being dated, even though most shorts aren't edited to conform to that rule. When the original Bugs Bunny Show aired this short in 1965, the "July of 1953" line was changed to "July of 1968").
• Swallow the Leader (McKimson)
• Bye, Bye, Bluebeard (Davis): Porky. Final cartoon directed by Arthur Davis until 1962, as his unit was shut down by Warner Bros. in order to minimize costs. Davis would work for Friz Freleng for the time being.
• For Scent-imental Reasons (Jones): Pepé Le Pew. Is the first Pepe cartoon to have Pepe paired with a female cat, have the cartoon take place in France, and is the first of three Pepe cartoons to have the female cat chase Pepe in the end. Is also the only Pepe cartoon to win an Oscar (which Eddie Selzer — WB's studio head at the time who thought the Pepe cartoons wouldn't appeal to anyone — accepted following its win).
• Hippety Hopper (McKimson): Sylvester, Hippety Hopper.
• Which is Witch (Freleng): Bugs. This short is not often seen on television due to the African savage stereotyping. It did air (albeit with edits) on CBS in the 1980s, Nickelodeon in the 1990s, and on Cartoon Network's Japanese channel (actual decade unknown).
• Bear Feat (Jones): The Three Bears.
• Rabbit Hood (Jones): Bugs.
• A Ham in a Role (McKimson): Goofy Gophers.

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