Cartoon fans there are so few cartoons that manage to transcend not only generations but ages and well one of those productions is the subject of this cartoon history and that is Looney Tunes.
The history of the Looney Tunes as also the history of Merrie Melodies the idea for Merrie Melodies comes from Looney Tunes producer Leon Schlesinger who had already made a Looney Tunes cartoon that was based on music and since that cartoon became hit Leon thought he would try to sell the series to Warner Bros. with his hook being the music featured would be from other Warner Bros. movies thus the cartoons would serve as advertisements Warner Bros. recordings and sheet music and the studio agreed and the new series was dubbed Merrie Melodies.
What people will be asking them selfs right now is "what separated a Looney Tunes short from a Merrie Melodies short?" well all of the Merrie Melodies were produced in color from day one since the studio saw those shorts as more profitable while the Looney Tunes shorts were until 1942 produced in Black and White.
The first Looney Tunes star isn't Bugs , Daffy , Elmer or Porky it was a now defunct character called Bosko who was created by then Looney Tunes producers Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising with Leon Schlesinger acting as a producer but there relationship with Leon didn't last long as all three men had a falling out over the budget which ended with Harman and Ising leaving Warner Bros. and taking there only star with them but Leon soon found his next star.
His next star was a character called Buddy a character who was described by Bob Clampett as "Bosko In White Face" and just going of the picture above i can see why he would say that and the character had a troubled beginning with Warner Bros.who refused to accept his first two cartoons and even brought in Friz Freleng to re-edit and condense the cartoons into one short the character remained in the Looney Tunes gang until 1935 and has only made one modern appearance which was on an episode of Animaniacs.
Now you would think that the next star would be Porky well you'd be half right as the next star did infact star in a few cartoons with Porky his name was Beans The Cat but like the other two stars his fame didn't last long infact he only lasted one year until the new Looney Tunes star arrived and this time it's someone we all know.
Porky Pig and Beans The Cat actually debuted in the same cartoon I Haven't Got A Hat but as Beans popularity began to go away it turned out more people were liking Porky so Leon and i assume many directors helped make Porky the star of the Looney Tunes and out of all the other characters mentioned his popularity is still strong to this very day.
It's safe to say that Looney Tunes wouldn't be as popular as it is today with out great directors and one of the first truly great directors was Tex Avery and the first Looney Tunes short he made was a cartoon called Gold Diggers of '49 which was released in 1935 and had Porky Pig in a supporting role to Beans but this is one of many cartoons that helped make Porky Pig a star.
Jumping to the year 1937 which saw the release of Porky's Duck Hunt and as well as having our favorite stuttering Pig the cartoon is historic in another vain because it also featured the debut of Daffy Duck and it's also the first time that Mel Blanc voiced Porky with his original voice actor Joe Dougherty was fired for not being able to control his stutter.
The Daffy seen in this cartoon is far removed from the Daffy we know and love in this short his way more Looney and over the top and in terms of design he's also a lot smaller gut for awhile this would be the version of Daffy that would grace cinema screens.
In 1940 we saw the debut of two more Looney Tunes members Elmer Fudd and that rebbit we all know and love Bugs Bunny with Elmer debuting in the Chuck Jones cartoon Elmer's Candid Camera
and Bugs debuting in the Tex Avery cartoon A Wild Hare both of which featured Elmer but what's interesting is that Bugs isn't called Bugs in A Wild Hare he wouldn't get his name until his next cartoon Elmer's Pet Rabbit which was directed by Chuck Jones.
Bugs wasn't at first part of the Looney Tunes series he was originally part of Merrie Melodies and it wasn't until 1944's Buckaroo Bugs that he officially joined the Looney crew and since then he's become the most popular cartoon character of all time.
During the 40's we had the debut of many of the Looney Tunes cast including Tweety , Sylvester , Yosemite Sam , Pepé Le Pew , Foghorn Leghorn , Marvin the Martian , Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner , Granny , Speedy Gonzales , Witch Hazel with the Tasmanian Devil debuting in 1954 and all of these characters were part of what now is called the golden age which was in the 60's and was when the characters were at there best.
Looking to give the characters more exposure out side of the cinema new producers David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng brought the characters to the small screen with The Bugs Bunny Show a show which would broadcast all of the shorts with some edits made and the show was so popular that it lasted for nearly forty years meaning that this show has lasted longer then The Simpsons.
The characters havn't just been featured in animated shorts or movies tho with there being eleven Looney Tunes movies and that's not Including Bugs Bunny Superstar or Who Framed Roger Rabbit even tho the first five movies were compilation films featuring the Looney Tunes shorts and they all had new animation done for them the first one being i think the best movie that being The Bugs Bunny / Road Runner Movie.
The Bugs Bunny Show tho isn't the only time that the characters have appeared on the small screen tho with the characters also starring in The Porky Pig Show , The Road Runner Show , Taz-mania , The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries , Baby Looney Tunes , Duck Dodgers , Loonatics Unleashed , The Looney Tunes Show , Wabbit and the cartoon special Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue and they even helped inspire the next generation of Looney Tunes with Tiny Toon Adventures and The Plucky Duck Show.
The Looney Tunes is a brand that's been around since the late 20's and it's still going strong regardless of what you think of the recent TV series you'll always get interested when you hear there's a new Looney Tunes show or movie is in production.