The 50 Greatest Cartoons

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The 50 Greatest Cartoons^note  cartoon short films – neither full-length features nor television episodes are included is a list compiled in 1994 by animation historian Jerry Beck of Cartoon Brew, along with many others in the animation field. The criteria were that each cartoon be under 30 minutes long and cel animated (with Gertie the Dinosaur being the sole exception, since it predates cels). Tellingly, 43 of the shorts are from The Golden Age of Animation^note  with two shorts from The Silent Age of Animation, two shorts from The Dark Age of Animation, and three shorts from The Renaissance Age of Animation; 17 of those are from the Warner Bros. studio (a full fifth of the list having been directed by Chuck Jones).

Compare to The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes, which shares many of the Warner Bros. cartoons featured on this list.

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The Main List:

1. "What's Opera, Doc?" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1957
2. "Duck Amuck" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1953
3. "The Band Concert" – Wilfred Jackson, Disney, 1935
4. "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1953
5. "One Froggy Evening" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1955
6. "Gertie the Dinosaur" – Winsor McCay, 1914
7. "Red Hot Riding Hood" – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1943
8. "Porky in Wackyland" – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1938
9. "Gerald McBoing-Boing" – Robert Cannon, UPA (Columbia Pictures), 1951
10. "King Size Canary" – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1947
11. "The Three Little Pigs" – Burt Gillett, Disney, 1933
12. "Rabbit of Seville" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1950
13. "Steamboat Willie" – Ub Iwerks, Disney, 1928
14. "The Old Mill" – Wilfred Jackson and Graham Heid, Disney, 1937
15. "Bad Luck Blackie" – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1949
16. "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946
17. "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" – Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1936
18. "The Skeleton Dance" – Ub Iwerks, Disney, 1929
19. "Snow White" (The Betty Boop version) – Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1933
20. "Minnie the Moocher" – Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1932
21. "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs" – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1943
22. "Der Fuehrer's Face" – Jack Kinney, Disney, 1943
23. "Little Rural Riding Hood" – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1949
24. "The Tell-Tale Heart" – Ted Parmelee, Columbia Cartoons, 1953
25. "The Big Snit" – Richard Condie, National Film Board of Canada, 1985
26. "Brave Little Tailor" – Burt Gillett, Disney, 1938
27. "Clock Cleaners" – Ben Sharpsteen, Disney, 1937
28. "Northwest Hounded Police" – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1946
29. "Adventures In Music: Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom" – Charles Nicholls and Ward Kimball, Disney, 1953
30. "Rabbit Seasoning" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1952
31. "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1950
32. "The Cat Came Back" – Cordell Barker, Richard Condie (National Film Board of Canada), 1988
33. "The Mad Scientist" aka "Superman" – Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1941
34. "You Ought to Be in Pictures" – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., 1940
35. "Ali Baba Bunny" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1957
36. "Feed the Kitty" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1952
37. "Bimbo's Initiation" – Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1931
38. "Bambi Meets Godzilla" – Marv Newland, 1969
39. "Little Red Riding Rabbit" – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., 1944
40. "Peace on Earth" – Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1939
41. "Rooty Toot Toot" – John Hubley, Columbia Cartoons, 1953
42. "The Cat Concerto" – William Hanna and Joe Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1946
43. "Woody Woodpecker: The Barber of Seville" – James "Shamus" Culhane, Walter Lantz, 1944
44. "The Man Who Planted Trees" (L'homme qui plantait des arbres) – Frédéric Back, 1987
45. "Book Revue" – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946
46. "Quasi at the Quackadero" – Sally Cruikshank, 1975
47. "A Corny Concerto" – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1943
48. "The Unicorn in the Garden" – William T. Hurtz, Columbia Cartoons, 1953
49. "The Dover Boys at Pimento University or the Rivals of Roquefort Hall" – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1942
50. "Felix in Hollywood" – Otto Messmer, Pat Sullivan Studio, 1923

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The Runners-Up

Besides the main list, the book also included a list of 57 runner up cartoons that almost made it to the list, but ultimately didn't get enough votes. Unsurprisingly, 45 of these shorts are also from The Golden Age of Animation. For convenience, they are posted below:

• Allegretto – Oskar Fischinger, 1936
• Balloon Land – Ub Iwerks, Celebrity Pictures, 1935
• Baseball Bugs – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1946
• The Big Snooze – Bob Clampett, Creator/Warner Bros, 1946
• Blitz Wolf – Tex Avery, MGM, 1942
• The Box – Fred Wolf, Murakami-Wolf Films, 1967
• Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1942
• Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1944
• Crac – Frédéric Back, 1981
• The Cracked Nut – Walter Lantz, Universal, 1941
• The Crunch Bird – Ted Petok, Maxwell-Petok-Petrovich Productions, 1971
• Education for Death – Clyde Geronimi, Walt Disney Pictures, 1943
• Ersatz – Dusan Vukotic, Zagreb Film, 1961 (only European cartoon on list)
• Fast And Furry Ous – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1949
• Ferdinand the Bull – Dick Rickard, Walt Disney Pictures 1938
• Flebus – Ernest Pintoff, Terrytoons, 1957
• Flowers and Trees – Burt Gillett, Walt Disney Pictures, 1932
• Frank Film – Frank Mouris, 1973
• The Furies – Sara Petty, 1978 (As of The New '10s, the only toon on this list that isn't available media-wise)
• Gorilla My Dreams – Robert McKimson, Warner Bros., 1948
• Hair-Raising Hare – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1946
• I Love to Singa – Tex Avery, Warner Bros., 1936
• Kitty Kornered – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946
• Koko's Earth Control – Max Fleischer, 1928
• Little Nemo – Winsor McCay, 1911
• Lonesome Ghosts – Burt Gillett, Walt Disney Pictures, 1937
• Lupo the Butcher – Danny Antonucci, 1987
• The Mechanical Monsters – Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1941
• Mickeys Service Station – Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1935
• Mickeys Trailer – Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1938
• Moonbird – John and Faith Hubley, Hubley Studios, 1959
• Mother Goose Goes Hollywood – Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney Pictures, 1938
• Mouse Cleaning – Bill Hanna And Joe Barbera, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1948
• Moving Day – Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1936
• Music Land – Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney Pictures, 1935
• The Old Grey Hare – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1944
• The Old Man of the Mountain – Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1933
• Plane Crazy – Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney, Walt Disney Pictures, 1928
• The Pointer – Gerry "Clyde" Geronimi, Walt Disney Pictures, 1939
• Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves – Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1937
• Poor Cinderella – Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1934
• Rabbit Hood – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1949
• Rhapsody in Rivets – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., 1941
• Rhapsody Rabbit – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., 1946
• Scaredy Cat – Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1948
• Screwball Squirrel – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1944
• Señor Droopy – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1949
• The Street – Caroline Leaf, National Film Board of Canada, 1976
• The Sunshine Makers – Ted Eshbaugh, Van Beuren Studios, 1935
• Swing Shift Cinderella – Tex Avery, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1945
• A Tale of Two Kitties – Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1942
• Thru The Mirror – David Hand, Disney, 1936
• Tweetie Pie – Friz Freleng, Warner Bros., 1947
• When Magoo Flew – Pete Burness, Columbia Cartoons, 1955
• Who Killed Cock Robin – David Hand, Disney, 1935
• A Wild Hare – Tex Avery, Warner Bros., 1940
• Your Face – Bill Plympton, 1987

Tropes In The Book Itself:

• Loads and Loads of Characters: The cover spread (both front and back) has a whopping 67 different cartoon characters (all of them from the cartoons within) spread across it.

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