History WesternAnimation / LooneyTunes

The first set, ''Looney Tunes'', was introduced with 1930's ''"WesternAnimation/SinkinInTheBathtub"'' featuring [[UncleTomFoolery minstrel-like]] mascot WesternAnimation/BoskoTheTalkInkKid, and over its first decade relied more heavily on recurring characters and thus lower budgets. ''Merrie Melodies'', introduced in 1931's ''"WesternAnimation/LadyPlayYourMandolin"'' featuring the ([[CaptainErsatz suspiciously Mickey Mouse-esque]]) character "Foxy", were initially intended as the [[AnimatedMusicVideo music videos of their day]], basically animated commercials for the Warners-owned sheet-music library.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''"[[CharacterCatchphrase Eh... What's up, Doc?]]"'']]

For a complete filmography of the original cartoons, visit [[UsefulNotes/LooneyTunesAndMerrieMelodiesFilmography this page]]. For the 2011 animated sitcom that premiered on Cartoon Network, go [[WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow here]]. For an index of related ''Looney Tunes'' media outside of the main shorts (including films, TV shows, and video games), go [[Franchise/LooneyTunes here]].

...along with dozens of lesser known and one-shot characters. Quite nearly all of these were voiced by Blanc, the ManOfAThousandVoices; in fact, that was used as a gag in at least one short. Other WB voice actors – who, unlike Blanc, weren't credited onscreen – included Creator/StanFreberg, Creator/JuneForay, Creator/DawsButler, Creator/HalSmith, Bea Benaderet, Pinto Colvig, Billy Bletcher, Sara Berner, Arthur Q. Bryan (the voice of Elmer Fudd), and Robert C. Bruce (who narrated most of the "travelogue" and "newsreel" shorts).

* '''WesternAnimation/PepeLePew''' -- "Odor-Able Kitty", 1945, Jones. A FunnyForeigner and HandsomeLech, completely oblivious to his body odor problem... and thus to why all the pretty 'young ladiee skonks' keep running from him in disgust. Of course, the fact that they're nearly all actually ''cats'', unaware that they've had white stripes painted on their backs, doesn't help either. Can at times be a DepravedBisexual: Pepé has gone after a male cat who was painted up as a skunk in his first cartoon, a white-striped Sylvester at the end of 1954's "Dog Pounded", and accidentally made out with a man on a Tunnel of Love ride in 1951's "Scent-imental Romeo". Based in part on characters made famous by actor Creator/CharlesBoyer.

* '''Marvin The Martian''' -- "WesternAmination/HaredevilHare", 1948, Jones. An IneffectualSympatheticVillain who wants to see an EarthShatteringKaboom, and is the TropeNamer thereof. Invariably foiled by Bugs. Like the Tasmanian Devil, he only appeared in a handful of shorts from the original shorts, but became popular enough to be featured in nearly every adaptation thereafter. His universe was expanded in the 2000s animated show ''WesternAnimation/DuckDodgers''. A CGI film starring Creator/MikeMyers as Marvin was planned in 2008 and was eventually shelved.

Helping the anarchistic mood along were a succession of humourless bosses that more or less invited open rebellion. Founder Schlesinger won unwitting immortality as the inspiration for Daffy Duck's trademark lisp: "You're dethpicable!". However, as much as a cheapskate Schlesinger was (the dilapidated studio that he provided was called "Termite Terrace" for a reason) he completely stayed out of creative affairs as long as the films made money. By contrast, the Warner Bros. themselves really didn't know or care what was going on in their animation unit, apparently studio head, Jack L. Warner thought they produced WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoons, leaving hands-on oversight to bean counter Eddie Selzer, whom the animators considered an interfering bore. Recounting the genesis of the iconic ''WesternAnimation/BullyForBugs'', Jones recalled the day Selzer appeared at his door as he and writer Mike Maltese were hashing out story ideas, and whined: "I don't want any pictures about bullfights! Bullfights aren't funny!" Then Eddie marched off, leaving his dumbfounded staff staring at each other. "Well," Maltese said, "Eddie's never been right yet..."

[[ArtifactTitle As the series' names indicate]], these cartoons were originally meant to be imitations of [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney's]] ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''. That basing cartoons around popular public-domain songs – or, even better, ones the studio already owned – was a fast and relatively cheap way of producing them didn't hurt any, either. Creator/HarmanAndIsing animated the shorts until 1933, when a dispute with Schlesinger over budgets led them to depart for Creator/VanBeurenStudios.

* '''[[WesternAnimation/SylvesterTheCatAndTweetyBird Tweety Bird]]''' -- "A Tale of Two Kitties", 1942, Clampett. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" In Creator/BobClampett's hands, Tweety was a pink, sadistic trickster who used his wits to dispose of cats who are always trying to eat him. Under Creator/FrizFreleng, Tweety became yellow (the Hays Office balked because the pink made him look naked), found a recurring adversary in Sylvester, and often depended on an umbrella-wielding Granny or an angry bulldog to get rid of the "bad old puddy tat". Time has seen modern generations often mistake Tweety for a female (this doesn't happen in Spanish-speaking countries, as its local name, "Piolín", is unequivocally male).

When ''Looney Tunes'' switched to color in 1942, and ''Merrie Melodies'' ditched the music around the same time in favor of its own rising star – WesternAnimation/BugsBunny – the differences between the two series were limited to their respective theme songs until 1964 (when both series wound up using the same theme music as a result of using a modernized, and slightly bizarre, opening/closing sequence).

The first set, ''Looney Tunes'', was introduced with 1930's ''"WesternAnimation/SinkinInTheBathtub"'' featuring [[UncleTomFoolery minstrel-like]] mascot WesternAnimation/BoskoTheTalkInkKid, and for its first decade relied more heavily on recurring characters and thus lower budgets. ''Merrie Melodies'', introduced in 1931's ''"WesternAnimation/LadyPlayYourMandolin"'' featuring the ([[CaptainErsatz suspiciously Mickey Mouse-esque]]) character "Foxy", were initially intended as the [[AnimatedMusicVideo music videos of their day]], basically animated commercials for the Warners-owned sheet-music library.

...along with dozens of lesser known and one-shot characters. Quite nearly all of these were voiced by Blanc, the ManOfAThousandVoices; in fact, that was used as a gag in at least one short. Other WB voice actors -- who, unlike Blanc, weren't credited onscreen -- included Creator/StanFreberg, Creator/JuneForay, Creator/DawsButler, Creator/HalSmith, Bea Benaderet, Pinto Colvig, Billy Bletcher, Sara Berner, Arthur Q. Bryan (the voice of Elmer Fudd), and Robert C. Bruce (who narrated most of the "travelogue" and "newsreel" shorts).

The cartoons featuring this pantheon originated many of the classic AnimationTropes, co-opting or perfecting most of the rest. Being primarily character-driven comedy, with the various stars working and reworking their shticks solo or in combination, their comedic style is firmly rooted in vaudeville, early Broadway, and silent-film slapstick -- an ancestry they cheerfully acknowledged: as in Robert [=McKimson=]'s 1950 short "What's Up Doc?", an AnimatedActors look at Bugs's rise to stardom by way of Elmer Fudd's vaudeville act.

[[ArtifactTitle As the series' names indicate]], these cartoons were originally meant to be imitations of [[WesternAnimation/ClassicDisneyShorts Disney's]] ''WesternAnimation/SillySymphonies''. That basing cartoons around popular public-domain songs -- or, even better, ones the studio already owned -- was a fast and relatively cheap way of producing them didn't hurt any, either. Creator/HarmanAndIsing animated the shorts until 1933, when a dispute with Schlesinger over budgets led them to depart for Creator/VanBeurenStudios.

When ''Looney Tunes'' switched to color in 1942, and ''Merrie Melodies'' ditched the music around the same time in favor of its own rising star -- WesternAnimation/BugsBunny -- the differences between the two series were limited to their respective theme songs until 1964 (when both series wound up using the same theme music as a result of using a modernized, and slightly bizarre, opening/closing sequence).

Over the course of their tenures at "Termite Terrace", as the WB animation studio was informally known, legendary directors Creator/ChuckJones, Creator/TexAvery, Creator/BobClampett, Creator/FrizFreleng, Creator/FrankTashlin, Creator/ArtDavis, and Creator/RobertMcKimson -- assisted by talented animators such as Ken Harris, Ben Washam, Abe Levitow, Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Manny Gould, Emery Hawkins, Charles [=McKimson=], Rod Scribner, and Creator/BillMelendez; brilliant writers like Warren Foster, Michael Maltese, and Tedd Pierce; ace musical arrangers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn; sound effects whiz Treg Brown; and, last but not least, the incomparable vocal range of one Creator/MelBlanc -- created and refined a large and diverse cast of characters, the most famous of which include (in chronological order of introduction):

When ''Looney Tunes'' switched to color in 1942, and the ''Merrie Melodies'' line ditched the music around the same time in favor of its own rising star -- one WesternAnimation/BugsBunny -- differences between the two were limited to their distinctive theme songs, until 1964 (when both series wound up using the same theme music as a result of using a modernized, and slightly bizarre, opening/closing sequence).

Over the course of their tenures at "Termite Terrace", as the WB animation studio was informally known, legendary directors Creator/ChuckJones, Creator/TexAvery, Creator/BobClampett, Creator/FrizFreleng, Creator/FrankTashlin, Creator/ArtDavis, and Creator/RobertMcKimson -- assisted by talented animators such as Ken Harris, Ben Washam, Abe Levitow, Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Manny Gould, Emery Hawkins, Creator/BillMelendez, Charles [=McKimson=], and Rod Scribner; brilliant writers like Warren Foster, Michael Maltese, and Tedd Pierce; ace musical arrangers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn; sound effects whiz Treg Brown; and, of course, the incomparable vocal range of one Creator/MelBlanc -- created and refined a large and diverse cast of characters, the most famous of which include (in chronological order of introduction):

Over the course of their tenures at "Termite Terrace", as the WB animation studio was informally known, legendary directors Creator/ChuckJones, Creator/TexAvery, Creator/BobClampett, Creator/FrizFreleng, Creator/FrankTashlin, Creator/ArtDavis, and Creator/RobertMcKimson -- assisted by talented animators such as Ken Harris, Ben Washam, Abe Levitow, Gerry Chiniquy, Virgil Ross, Manny Gould, Emery Hawkins, Bill Melendez, Charles [=McKimson=], and Rod Scribner; brilliant writers like Warren Foster, Michael Maltese, and Tedd Pierce; ace musical arrangers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn; sound effects whiz Treg Brown; and, of course, the incomparable vocal range of one Creator/MelBlanc -- created and refined a large and diverse cast of characters, the most famous of which include (in chronological order of introduction):

''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' are two series of theatrical cartoon shorts, first released between [[UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation 1930]] and [[UsefulNotes/TheDarkAgeOfAnimation 1969]]. [[Creator/WarnerBros Warner Bros. Pictures]] distributed the shorts for independent producer Leon Schlesinger before purchasing the studio in 1944 and moving it in-house in 1955.