Warner Brother Lyrics Cartoon Tweety Livingston Signed Sketch Taut Saw Puddy-Tat
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WARNER BROTHER LYRICS CARTOON TWEETY LIVINGSTON SIGNED SKETCH TAUT SAW PUDDY-TAT. I TAUT I TAW A PUDDY-TAT WORKD AND MUSIC BY ALAN LIVINGSTON , BILLY MAY AND WARREN FOSTER SIGNED BY ALAN FOSTER WITH A SKETCH "I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" is a novelty song composed and written by Alan Livingston, Billy May and Warren Foster. It was sung by Mel Blanc, who provided the voice of the bird, Tweety and of his nemesis Sylvester. The lyrics depict the basic formula of the Tweety-Sylvester cartoons released by Warner Bros. throughout the late 1940s into the early 1960s: Tweety wanting to live a contented life, only to be harassed by Sylvester (who is looking to eat the canary), and Tweety's mistress shooing the cat away. Toward the end of the song, the two perform a duet, with Tweety coaxing Sylvester into singing with him after promising that his (Tweety's) mistress won't chase him (Sylvester) away. "I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" reached No. 9 on the Billboard pop chart during a seven-week chart run in February and March 1951, and sold more than two million records. The song was covered by Helen Kane between 1950–51 with Jimmy Carroll & His Orchestra. Tony Blair had the sheet music for this song upon his piano during the war against Iraq. In 2011, Warner Bros. created a 3D CGI Looney Tunes short of the same name starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny (June Foray in her final theatrical voice acting role before her death in 2017), incorporating Blanc's vocals with brand new animation and music. The short premiered in theaters with Happy Feet Two. In 2008, the British comedian Jeremy Hardy sang the song's lyrics to the tune of "I Vow to Thee, My Country", during a live recording of the BBC Radio 4 panel game, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue.
"I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" is a novelty song composed and written by Alan Livingston, Billy May and Warren Foster.[1] It was sung by Mel Blanc, who provided the voice of the bird, Tweety and of his nemesis Sylvester.[2] The lyrics depict the basic formula of the Tweety-Sylvester cartoons released by Warner Bros. throughout the late 1940s into the early 1960s: Tweety wanting to live a contented life, only to be harassed by Sylvester (who is looking to eat the canary), and Tweety's mistress shooing the cat away. Toward the end of the song, the two perform a duet, with Tweety coaxing Sylvester into singing with him after promising that his (Tweety's) mistress won't chase him (Sylvester) away. "I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" reached No. 9 on the Billboard pop chart during a seven-week chart run in February and March 1951, and sold more than two million records.[3] The song was covered by Helen Kane between 1950–51 with Jimmy Carroll & His Orchestra. Tony Blair had the sheet music for this song upon his piano during the war against Iraq.[4] In 2011, Warner Bros. created a 3D CGI Looney Tunes short of the same name starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny (June Foray in her final theatrical voice acting role before her death in 2017), incorporating Blanc's vocals with brand new animation and music. The short premiered in theaters with Happy Feet Two.[5] In 2008, the British comedian Jeremy Hardy sang the song's lyrics to the tune of "I Vow to Thee, My Country", during a live recording of the BBC Radio 4 panel game, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Alan Wendell Livingston (born Alan Wendell Levison; October 15, 1917 – March 13, 2009) was an American businessman best known for his tenures at Capitol Records, first as a writer/producer best known for creating Bozo the Clown for a series of record-album and illustrative read-along children's book sets. As Vice-President in charge of Programming at NBC, in 1959 he oversaw the development and launch of the network's most successful television series, Bonanza. Contents 1 Early years 2 Capitol Records 3 California Productions and NBC 4 Return to Capitol 5 Later ventures 6 Death 7 References 8 External links Early years Livingston was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McDonald, Pennsylvania on October 15, 1917. He was the youngest of three children, whose mother encouraged reading books and playing musical instruments. He had an older sister, Vera, and an older brother, Jay Livingston (1915–2001), who wrote or co-wrote many popular songs for films and television, including "Buttons and Bows", "Mona Lisa", "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)", as well as the popular Christmas song "Silver Bells". Alan Livingston began his career in the entertainment business leading his own college orchestra as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce with a B.S. in Economics, he moved to New York where he worked in advertising for three years. At the start of World War II, he enlisted in the army as a private and served as a second lieutenant in the infantry. After his discharge, he borrowed some money, hitched a ride on an Army plane and headed for Los Angeles, California where he obtained his first position with Capitol Records, Inc. in Hollywood as a writer/producer.[1] Capitol Records Livingston's initial assignment was to create a children's record library for the four-year-old company, for which he created the "Bozo the Clown" character. He wrote and produced a popular series of storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book sets beginning with the October 1946 release of "Bozo at the Circus." His record-reader concept, which enabled children to read and follow a story in pictures while listening to it, was the first of its kind. The Bozo image was a composite design of Livingston's, derived from a variety of clown pictures and given to an artist to turn into comic-book-like illustrations. Livingston then hired Pinto Colvig to portray Bozo on the recordings. Colvig, a former circus clown, was also the original voice of Walt Disney's Pluto, Goofy, Grumpy, Sleepy and many other characters. Billy May produced the music. The series turned out to be a smash hit for Capitol, selling over eight million albums in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Successful record sales led to a variety of Bozo-related merchandise and the first television series, "Bozo's Circus," starring Pinto Colvig on KTTV-Channel 11 (CBS) in Los Angeles in 1949. The character also became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." Livingston wrote and produced many other children's recordings including products for Walt Disney; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker; Bugs Bunny and all of the Warner Bros. characters. In the case of the latter, he wrote the 1951 pop hit "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat" for Mel Blanc's Tweety Pie. There were also several record-readers featuring the popular cowboy character, Hopalong Cassidy. One of these was "Hopalong Cassidy and The Singing Bandit" in 1950, which was the first children's record set to make the Top Ten charts. Within a few years, Livingston moved on to the adult music arena and became Vice President in charge of all creative operations of the company. He signed Frank Sinatra when Sinatra was at a low point in his career. Livingston wanted Sinatra to work with arranger Nelson Riddle, however Sinatra was reluctant to do so out of his loyalty to Axel Stordahl with whom he had worked for most of his career. The first Sinatra/Stordahl recordings for Capitol failed to produce the magic Livingston and producer Voyle Gilmore were looking for, and Sinatra agreed to try a session with Billy May on April 30, 1953, but instead Livingston booked Riddle, telling Sinatra that May had to unexpectedly leave town for a live performance. The impact was immediate, producing the classic "I've Got the World on a String". However, it was "Young at Heart" that became the defining moment in Sinatra's comeback, peaking at #2 during its 22-week run on the charts in the spring of 1954. Livingston was credited as the creative force responsible for Capitol Records' growth from net sales of $6 million per year to sales in excess of $100 million per year. He was also officially credited as the inspiration for the distinctive Capitol Records Tower, completed in April 1956, noted for being the first circular office building in the world.[2] Livingston is also responsible for what have come to be known as the "Butcher Covers." When The Beatles released their 1966 album Yesterday and Today it was initially released with a surreal Robert Whitaker cover photograph depicting the group draped in slabs of meat and dismembered doll parts. Protests from record dealers forced Capitol to immediately recall the album and re-issue it with a new cover. The original covers, in any condition, have become highly sought after collectors items. Shortly after the controversy erupted, Livingston took home a box containing both mono and stereo copies of the original "Butcher cover" albums, sealed and in pristine condition. They remained in storage at the Livingston home, untouched, for the next twenty years until Livingston's son Christopher revealed their existence when he brought several of the albums to sell at a Beatlefest convention in 1987. These Butcher covers are considered the best examples of these albums and currently command a premium price upwards of $20,000.[3] California Productions and NBC After 10 years with Capitol, Livingston and the company sold the "Bozo the Clown" licensing rights (excluding the recordings) to Larry Harmon, one of several people hired to portray the character at promotional appearances; Livingston left the company to accept a position as President of California National Productions, Inc., the wholly owned film production subsidiary of the National Broadcasting Company. Shortly thereafter, Livingston was also named Vice President of NBC, in charge of Television Network Programming, dealing principally with all films made for the network. In this capacity, he hired David Dortort to write and produce the pilot for the series Bonanza for which Livingston's older brother, songwriter Jay Livingston, wrote the memorable theme. During this time, Alan also served on the Boards of Bob Hope Enterprises, Inc. and Joseph Mankiewicz's motion picture production company, Figaro, Inc. Return to Capitol Five years later, Capitol Records induced Livingston to return as president and, eventually, chairman of the board. He was also named to the Board of Electric and Musical Industries (EMI), a British corporation that was the largest stockholder in Capitol. Subsequently, he merged Capitol Records into Audio Devices, Inc., a magnetic tape manufacturer listed on the American Stock Exchange, and changed the name of the surviving company to Capitol Industries, Inc., of which Livingston was named president. It was during this period that he turned Capitol Records into a more rock-oriented company with such artists as The Beach Boys, Steve Miller, The Band, and others. His most noteworthy accomplishment at that time was agreeing to release the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for Capitol in 1963, after having rejected all their previous singles as unsuitable for the U.S. market despite Capitol being owned by The Beatles' U.K. record company, EMI.[4] Later ventures Livingston later sold his stock in Capitol Industries to form his own company, Mediarts, Inc., for the production of motion pictures, records and music publishing. He eventually sold his interest in that company to United Artists as a result, particularly, of its success in the record business including Don McLean, who reached the #1 position in the country with his "American Pie" single and album in 1972. Two feature motion pictures were completed during the company's operation: Downhill Racer (1969) starring Robert Redford and Gene Hackman, and Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) starring David Hemmings; both released by Paramount Pictures. In August 1976, Livingston joined Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation as Senior Vice President and President, Entertainment Group. He left in 1980 to accept the presidency of Atalanta Investment Company, Inc., and resigned in 1987 to produce a one-hour television adaptation of Sparky's Magic Piano, and to form Pacific Rim Productions, Inc. for animation services. Livingston also wrote a novel titled Ronnie Finkelhof, Superstar about a shy Harvard pre-law student who becomes an overnight success as a rock musician. It was published by Ballantine Books in the spring of 1988. On August 1, 1998, Livingston received his first honor for his creation of "Bozo the Clown" as the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee, Wisconsin presented him their Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award. His first two marriages, one to actress Betty Hutton, ended in divorce.[5] Livingston's third and final marriage was to actress Nancy Olson, whose film credits include Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). They resided in Beverly Hills, California. Their son, Christopher Livingston, is a movie producer, director, writer and songwriter. He also had a daughter, jewelry designer Laura Livingston Gibson, from a previous marriage.[6] Death Livingston died after a series of mini-strokes at his home in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, former actress Nancy Olson (formerly Mrs. Alan Jay Lerner), a son, Christopher Livingston; a daughter from a previous marriage, Laura Gibson; and two step daughters, Liza and Jennifer Lerner.[6] Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons.[2] The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid."[3] He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age, made between 1942 and 1962.[4] Contents 1 Personality and identity 2 Creation by Bob Clampett 3 Freleng takes over 4 Later appearances 5 Merchandise 6 Modern art 7 Comic books 8 Tweety's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography 8.1 Directed by Bob Clampett 8.2 Directed by Friz Freleng 8.2.1 Co-directed by Hawley Pratt 8.3 Directed by Gerry Chiniquy 8.4 Directed by Chuck Jones 8.5 Post-Golden Age of American animation 9 Voice actors 10 References 11 External links Personality and identity Despite the perceptions that people may hold, owing to the long eyelashes and high-pitched voice (which Mel Blanc provided), Tweety is male[5][6][7] although his ambiguity was played with. For example, in the cartoon "Snow Business",[8] when Granny entered a room containing Tweety and Sylvester she said: "Here I am, boys!", whereas a 1952 cartoon was entitled Ain't She Tweet [emphasis added]. Also, his species is ambiguous; although originally and often portrayed as a young canary, he is also frequently called a rare and valuable "tweety bird" as a plot device, and once called "the only living specimen". Nevertheless, the title song of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries directly states that he is a canary. His shape more closely suggests that of a baby bird, which is what he was during his early appearances (although the "baby bird" aspect has been used in a few later cartoons as a plot device). The yellow feathers were added, but otherwise he retained the baby-bird shape. In his early appearances in Bob Clampett cartoons, Tweety is a very aggressive character who tries anything to foil Sylvester, even kicking the cat when he is down. One of his most notable malicious moments is in the cartoon Birdy and the Beast, where a cat chases Tweety by flying until he remembers that cats cannot fly, causing him to fall. Tweety says sympathetically, "Awww, the poor kitty cat! He faw down and go (in a loud, tough, masculine voice) BOOM!!" and then grins mischievously. A similar use of that voice is in A Tale Of Two Kitties when Tweety, wearing an air raid warden's helmet, suddenly yells, "Turn out those lights!" Tweety's aggressive nature was toned down when Friz Freleng began directing the series, with the character turning into a more cutesy bird, usually going about his business, and doing little to thwart Sylvester's ill-conceived plots, allowing them to simply collapse on their own; he became even less aggressive when Granny was introduced, but occasionally Tweety still showed a malicious side. Creation by Bob Clampett Tweety's debut in A Tale of Two Kitties Bob Clampett created the character that would become Tweety in the 1942 short A Tale of Two Kitties, pitting him against two hungry cats named Babbit and Catstello (based on the famous comedians Abbott and Costello).[9] On the original model sheet, Tweety was named Orson, which was also the name of a bird character from an earlier Clampett cartoon Wacky Blackout.[10] Tweety was created not as a domestic canary, but as a generic (and wild) baby bird in an outdoor nest: naked (pink), jowly, and also far more aggressive and saucy, as opposed to the later, better-known version of him as a less hot-tempered (but still somewhat ornery) yellow canary. In the documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar, animator Clampett stated, in an sotto voce "aside" to the audience, that Tweety had been based "on my own naked baby picture". Clampett did two more shorts with the "naked genius", as a Jimmy Durante-ish cat once called him in A Gruesome Twosome. The second Tweety short, Birdy and the Beast, finally bestowed the baby bird with his new name, and gave him his blue eyes. Many of Mel Blanc's characters are known for speech impediments. One of Tweety's most noticeable is that /s/, /k/, and /g/ are changed to /t/, /d/, or (final s) /θ/; for example, "pussy cat" comes out as "putty tat", later rendered "puddy tat", and "sweetie pie" comes out as "tweetie pie" (a phonological pattern referred to as 'fronting'), hence his name. He also has trouble with liquid consonants: as with Elmer Fudd, /l/ and /r/ come out as /w/. In Canary Row and Putty Tat Trouble, he begins the cartoon by singing a song about himself, "I'm a tweet wittow biwd in a giwded cage; Tweety'th my name but I don't know my age, I don't have to wuwy and dat is dat; I'm tafe in hewe fwom dat ol' putty tat." (Translation: "I'm a sweet little bird in a gilded cage...") Aside from this speech challenge, Tweety's voice is that of Bugs Bunny's, one speed up (if The Old Grey Hare, which depicts Bugs as an infant, is any indication of that); the only difference is that Bugs does not have trouble pronouncing /s/, /k/ and /g/ as mentioned above. Freleng takes over Clampett began work on a short that would pit Tweety against a then-unnamed, lisping black and white cat created by Friz Freleng in 1945. However, Clampett left the studio before going into full production on the short (which had a storyboard produced, where it was titled "Fat Rat and the Stupid Cat"[11]), however Freleng would use Tweety in his own separate project. Freleng toned Tweety down and gave him a cuter appearance, including large blue eyes and yellow feathers. Clampett mentions in Bugs Bunny: Superstar that the feathers were added to satisfy censors who objected to the naked bird. The first short to team Tweety and the cat, later named Sylvester, was 1947's Tweetie Pie, which won Warner Bros its first Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).[12] Sylvester and Tweety proved to be one of the most notable pairings in animation history. Most of their cartoons followed a standard formula: Sylvester wanting to catch and eat Tweety, but some major obstacle stands in his way – usually Granny or her bulldog Hector (or occasionally, numerous bulldogs, or another cat who also wants to catch and eat Tweety). Tweety saying his signature lines "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" and "I did! I did taw a puddy tat!" (Originally "I did! I taw a puddy tat!", but the extra "did" got inserted somehow). Eventually, someone must have commented on the grammar of "...did taw..."; in later cartoons, Tweety says "I did! I did tee a puddy tat!". Sylvester spending the entire film using progressively more elaborate schemes or devices to catch Tweety, similar to Wile E. Coyote in his ongoing efforts to catch the Road Runner, Tom's attempts to catch Jerry, and the Aardvark's attempts to catch the Ant. Of course, each of his tricks fail, either due to their flaws or, more often than not, because of intervention by either Hector the Bulldog or an indignant Granny (voiced by Bea Benaderet and later June Foray), or after Tweety steers the enemy toward them or another device (such as off the ledge of a tall building or an oncoming train). In a few of the cartoons, Sylvester does manage to briefly eat Tweety up with a gulp. However, either Granny or another character makes him spit Tweety out right away. Sylvester was also briefly eaten by Hector the Bulldog, and forced by Granny to spit him out. This occurred during the Christmas special episode, and as a punishment, both Sylvester and Hector were tied up with their mouths gagged shut. In 1951, Mel Blanc (with Billy May's orchestra) had a hit single with "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat", a song performed in character by Tweety and featuring Sylvester. In the lyrics Sylvester sings "I'd like to eat that Sweetie Pie when he leaves his cage", implying that Tweety's name is actually Sweetie Pie, altered in its pronunciation by Tweety's speech impediment. Sylvester, who has his own speech issues involving the sounds /s/ and /p/, slobbers the "S" in "Sweetie Pie", just as he would the /s/ sounds in his own name. Later the same name was applied to the young, pink female canary in the Tiny Toon Adventures animated TV series of the early 1990s. From 1945 until the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed, Freleng had almost exclusive use of Tweety at the Warner cartoon studio (much like Yosemite Sam), with the exception of a brief cameo in No Barking in 1954, directed by Chuck Jones (that year, Freleng used Pepé Le Pew, a Jones character, for the only time in his career and the only time in a Tweety short, Dog Pounded). Later appearances Tweety had a cameo role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, making Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) fall from a flag pole by playing "This Little Piggy" with Valiant's fingers and releasing his grip. The scene is essentially a re-creation of a gag from A Tale of Two Kitties, with Valiant replacing Catstello as Tweety's victim. During the 1990s, Tweety also starred in the animated TV series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries,[12] in which Granny ran a detective agency with the assistance of Tweety, Sylvester and Hector. Tweety has the starring role. The storyline carries into the 2000 direct-to-video feature-length animated film Tweety's High-Flying Adventure. Tweety's prototype, Orson, also made an appearance in the series. Tweety also appears in Tiny Toon Adventures as the mentor of Sweetie Pie, and one of the faculty at Acme Looniversity. In the 1995 cartoon short Carrotblanca, a parody/homage to Casablanca, Tweety appeared as "Usmarte", a parody of the character Ugarte played by Peter Lorre in the original film. In several sequences, Tweety was speaking and laughing in character like Peter Lorre. He also does the Looney Tunes ending instead of Porky Pig or Bugs Bunny. This is also notable for being a rare instance where Tweety plays a villain character. In 1996, Tweety appeared in the feature film, Space Jam, with legendary basketball player Michael Jordan. In 2001, a younger version of Tweety appeared on Baby Looney Tunes, thus coming full circle from his earliest appearances. In 2010 Tweety was featured, with his Looney Tunes co-stars, in Cartoon Network's series The Looney Tunes Show.[13] He is voiced by Jeff Bergman. He appeared in the episode "Ridiculous Journey", where he and Sylvester work together to avoid getting eaten by Taz. He had been revealed to have fought in World War II alongside a young Granny. Sylvester also asked him how old he was, to which Tweety replied, "I'll never tell." Sylvester then asked if Tweety would at least tell him if he (Tweety) was a boy or a girl. Tweety whispered into his ear and Sylvester had a surprised expression and said "Huh, I was wrong." Tweety has recently appeared as a major character in New Looney Tunes and Looney Tunes Cartoons, where his designs are mostly based on his Freleng heyday with a few Bob Clampett elements to make him more suited for 1942–1944, and his personality reverts him to being more violent and abusive in nature while being toned down to retain his cute facade. On February 17, 2021, it was announced Tweety will star in Tweety Mysteries which is similar to The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.[14] The series will be a live-action/animated hybrid aimed towards girls and will air on Cartoon Network.[15][16] He will also appear in the preschool series Bugs Bunny Builders which will air as part of Cartoonito on Cartoon Network and HBO Max.[17][18] Merchandise Tweety and Sylvester have been used to endorse products such as Miracle Whip dressing and MCI Communications long distance.[12] In 1998, the United States Post Office honored Tweety and Sylvester with a 32-cent postage stamp.[19] Tweety also appears in products produced by Warner Brothers Studios. Modern art British artist Banksy's 2008 New York art installation The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill features "Tweety", an animatronic sculpture of an aged and molting version of the character.[20] Comic books Western Publications produced a comic book about Tweety and Sylvester entitled Tweety and Sylvester, first in Dell Comics Four Color series #406, 489, and 524, then in their own title from Dell Comics (#4–37, 1954–62), then later from Gold Key Comics (#1–102, 1963–72). Tweety's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography Directed by Bob Clampett A Tale of Two Kitties (1942) Birdy and the Beast (1944) A Gruesome Twosome (1945) Baby Bottleneck (1946) - cameo appearance Directed by Friz Freleng Tweetie Pie (1947) I Taw a Putty Tat (1948) Bad Ol' Putty Tat (1949) Home Tweet Home (1950) All a Bir-r-r-d (1950) Canary Row (1950) Putty Tat Trouble (1951) Room and Bird (1951) Tweety's S.O.S. (1951) Tweet Tweet Tweety (1951) Gift Wrapped (1952) Ain't She Tweet (1952) A Bird in a Guilty Cage (1952) Snow Business (1953) Fowl Weather (1953) Tom Tom Tomcat (1953) A Street Cat Named Sylvester (1953) Catty Cornered (1953) Dog Pounded (1954) Muzzle Tough (1954) Satan's Waitin' (1954) Sandy Claws (1955) Tweety's Circus (1955) Red Riding Hoodwinked (1955) Heir-Conditioned (1955) – cameo appearance Tweet and Sour (1956) Tree Cornered Tweety (1956) Tugboat Granny (1956) Tweet Zoo (1957) Tweety and the Beanstalk (1957) Birds Anonymous (1957) Greedy for Tweety (1957) A Pizza Tweety Pie (1958) A Bird in a Bonnet (1958) Trick or Tweet (1959) Tweet and Lovely (1959) Tweet Dreams (1959) Hyde and Go Tweet (1960) Trip For Tat (1960) The Rebel Without Claws (1961) Co-directed by Hawley Pratt The Last Hungry Cat (1961) The Jet Cage (1962) Directed by Gerry Chiniquy Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964)-MM Directed by Chuck Jones No Barking (1954) – cameo appearance-MM Post-Golden Age of American animation Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979), voiced by Mel Blanc Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), voiced by Mel Blanc Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), voiced by Jeff Bergman and Bob Bergen Carrotblanca (1995), voiced by Bob Bergen The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (1995), voiced by Joe Alaskey Superior Duck (1996), voiced by Eric Goldberg (cameo appearance) Space Jam (1996), voiced by Bob Bergen Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000), voiced by Joe Alaskey Baby Looney Tunes (2001), voiced by Samuel Vincent Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), voiced by Eric Goldberg Museum Scream (2004), voiced by Billy West Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006), voiced by Bob Bergen The Looney Tunes Show (2011), voiced by Jeff Bergman I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (2011), voiced by Mel Blanc (Archive Audio) New Looney Tunes (2015), voiced by Bob Bergen Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020), voiced by Eric Bauza Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), voiced by Bob Bergen Bugs Bunny Builders (2021) Tweety Mysteries (2021) Voice actors Legendary voice artist Mel Blanc originated the character's voice.[21] After the Golden Age of American Animation came to an end, Blanc continued to voice the character in TV specials, commercials, music recordings, and films, such as 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was one of Blanc's final projects as Tweety. Before and after Blanc's death in 1989, several voice actors have provided the voice in his stead. These voice actors are: Danny Kaye (1951 I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat cover)[22] Gilbert Mack (Golden Records records, Bugs Bunny Songfest)[23][24] Richard Andrews (Bugs Bunny Exercise and Adventure Album)[25] Jeff Bergman (The Earth Day Special, Happy Birthday, Bugs!: 50 Looney Years, Tiny Toon Adventures, Tyson Foods commercial,[26] Boomerang bumper,[27][28] The Looney Tunes Show, Looney Tunes Dash, Ani-Mayhem)[29] Bob Bergen (Tiny Toon Adventures, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball, Looney Tunes River Ride, Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!, Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers, Have Yourself a Looney Tunes Christmas,[30] Carrotblanca, Space Jam, Looney Tunes: Back in Action – The Video Game, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor, Robot Chicken,[31] New Looney Tunes, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, Space Jam: A New Legacy,[32] various commercials and video games)[29] Keith Scott (Looney Tunes Musical Revue,[33][34] Westfield commercial,[35] HBF Insurance commercial,[36] Spectacular Light and Sound Show Illuminanza,[37][38] KFC commercials,[39] Looney Tunes: We Got the Beat!,[40] Looney Tunes: What's Up Rock?!,[41] Looney Tunes on Ice, Looney Tunes LIVE! Classroom Capers,[42] Christmas Moments with Looney Tunes, The Looney Tunes Radio Show,[43][44] Looney Rock, Looney Tunes Christmas Carols[45][46][47])[29][48][49][50] Greg Burson (Animaniacs, Warner Bros. Kids Club, Quest for Camelot promotion)[29][51][52] Joe Alaskey (The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Quest for Camelot Sing-A-Longs, Looney Tunes Sing-A-Longs, Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, A Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas, Looney Tunes: Reality Check, Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction, Looney Tunes ClickN READ Phonics,[53] various commercials and video games)[29] Frank Welker (chirping sounds in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries and Tweety's High-Flying Adventure) Eric Goldberg (Superior Duck, Looney Tunes: Back in Action)[29] Samuel Vincent (Baby Looney Tunes, Baby Looney Tunes: Egg-straordinary Adventure)[29] Tom Kenny (Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction (as Vampire Tweety))[29] Billy West (Museum Scream)[29] Kevin Shinick (Mad)[54] Patrick Warburton (Family Guy)[55] Dee Bradley Baker (New Looney Tunes (monster form))[56] Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem (monster form), Looney Tunes Cartoons, Bugs Bunny in The Golden Carrot)[57][58][59][60][29] Looney Tunes is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. from 1930 to 1969, along with an accompanying series, Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation.[2][3] The two series introduced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales and many other cartoon characters. Looney Tunes (and Merrie Melodies) were initially produced by Leon Schlesinger and animators Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising from 1930 to 1933.[4] Schlesinger assumed full production from 1933 until selling his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944.[4] The Looney Tunes name was inspired by Walt Disney's musical cartoon series, Silly Symphonies.[4] The shorts initially showcased musical compositions whose rights were held by Warner's music publishing interests through the adventures of cartoon characters such as Bosko and, after losing him, Buddy.[4] However, the animation studio gained a higher profile after it brought in directors Tex Avery and Chuck Jones and voice actor Mel Blanc in the mid-1930s.[4] Porky Pig and Daffy Duck became the main stars of Looney Tunes at this time, while Merrie Melodies featured one-shot cartoons and minor recurring characters.[4] After Bugs Bunny became the breakout recurring star of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes moved from black and white to color production in the early 1940s (Merrie Melodies having already been in color since 1934[4]), the two series gradually lost their distinctions, and shorts were assigned to each series randomly.[4] From 1942 to 1964, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were the most popular animated shorts in movie theaters.[5] Looney Tunes has since become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides, as well as serving as Warner Bros.' flagship franchise. Many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in numerous other television shows, films, and advertisements. The most famous Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny, is regarded as a cultural icon and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[6] Many Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies films are ranked among the greatest animated cartoons of all time (e.g. the "hunting trilogy" (Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!), Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc?), and five (Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales, Birds Anonymous, Knighty Knight Bugs, and For Scent-imental Reasons) have won Academy Awards.[7] Contents 1 History 1.1 1930–1933: Harman and Ising era 1.2 1933–1936: Leon Schlesinger Productions 1.3 1936–1944: More star characters and switch to color 1.4 1944–1964: Golden Age 1.5 1964–1969: DePatie–Freleng and Seven Arts era 1.6 1970–1999: Syndication and return to television and film 1.7 2000–present 1.8 Home media 2 Licensing and ownership 3 Filmography 4 Characters 5 Racial stereotypes 6 Accolades 6.1 Inducted into the National Film Registry 6.2 Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) 6.3 Academy Award nominations 7 Related media 7.1 Television series 7.2 Compilation films 7.3 Feature films 7.4 Direct-to-video 7.5 Comic books 7.5.1 Dell Publishing 7.5.2 Gold Key Comics/Whitman 7.5.3 DC Comics 7.6 Video games 8 See also 9 References 10 External links History In the beginning, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were built around songs from Warner's vast music library, starting with Sinkin' in the Bathtub, a pun on the song Singin' in the Bathtub in 1930. [8] Between 1934 and 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced in color and Looney Tunes in black and white.[4] After 1943 both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles.[4] Both series made use of the various Warner Bros. cartoon characters. By 1937, the theme music for Looney Tunes was "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, and the theme music for Merrie Melodies was an adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along" by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor. 1930–1933: Harman and Ising era In 1929, to compete against Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short cartoons, Warner Bros. became interested in developing a series of animated shorts to promote their music. They had recently acquired Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US$28 million (equivalent to $434 million in 2021) and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music and phonograph records. Warner made a deal with Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them. Schlesinger hired Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman to produce the first series of cartoons. Schlesinger was impressed by Harman's and Ising's 1929 pilot cartoon, Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid. The first Looney Tunes short was Sinkin' in the Bathtub starring Bosko, which was released in 1930.[2] Porky Pig in the intro to one of the Looney Tunes shorts in the late 1930s and early 1940s 1933–1936: Leon Schlesinger Productions When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons they had created. A new character called Buddy became the only star of the Looney Tunes series for a couple of years. New directors including Tex Avery, Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett were brought in or promoted to work with animators in the Schlesinger studio, with Avery's unit housed in a bungalow the animators dubbed "Termite Terrace." In 1935 they debuted the first major Looney Tunes star, Porky Pig, along with Beans the Cat in the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat directed by Friz Freleng. Beans was the star of the next Porky/Beans cartoon Gold Diggers of '49, but it was Porky who emerged as the star instead of Beans. The ensemble characters of I Haven't Got a Hat, such as Oliver Owl, and twin dogs Ham and Ex, were also given a sampling of shorts, but Beans and Porky proved much more popular. Beans was later phased out when his popularity declined, leaving Porky as the only star of the Schlesinger studio. 1936–1944: More star characters and switch to color The debuts of other memorable Looney Tunes stars followed: Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), Elmer Fudd in the Merrie Melodies short Elmer's Candid Camera (1940), Bugs Bunny in the Merrie Melodies short A Wild Hare (1940),[9] and Tweety in the Merrie Melodies short A Tale of Two Kitties (1942). Bugs initially starred in the color Merrie Melodies shorts following the success of 1940's A Wild Hare, and formally joined the Looney Tunes series with the release of Buckaroo Bugs in 1944. Schlesinger began to phase in the production of color Looney Tunes with the 1942 cartoon The Hep Cat. The final black-and-white Looney Tunes short was Puss n' Booty in 1943 directed by Frank Tashlin. The inspiration for the changeover was Warner's decision to re-release only the color cartoons in the Blue Ribbon Classics series of Merrie Melodies. Bugs made a cameo appearance in 1942 in the Avery/Clampett cartoon Crazy Cruise and also at the end of the Frank Tashlin 1943 cartoon Porky Pig's Feat, which marked Bugs' only official appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tunes short. Schlesinger sold his interest in the cartoon studio in 1944 to Warner Bros. and went into retirement; he died five years later. 1944–1964: Golden Age More popular Looney Tunes characters were created (most of which first appeared in Merrie Melodies cartoons) such as Pepé Le Pew (debuted in 1945's Odor-able Kitty), Sylvester (debuted in 1945's Life with Feathers), Yosemite Sam (debuted in 1945's Hare Trigger), Foghorn Leghorn (debuted in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky), Marvin the Martian (debuted in 1948's Haredevil Hare), Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (debuted in 1949's Fast and Furry-ous), Granny (debuted in 1950's Canary Row), Speedy Gonzales (debuted in 1953's Cat Tails for Two), and the Tasmanian Devil (debuted in 1954's Devil May Hare). 1964–1969: DePatie–Freleng and Seven Arts era During the mid-late 1960s, the shorts were produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (and Format Productions) (1964–1967) and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969) after Warner Bros. shut down their animation studio. The shorts from this era can be identified by their different title sequence, featuring stylized limited animation and graphics on a black background and a new arrangement, by William Lava, of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down". The change in the introductory title cards was possibly to reflect the switch in the animation style of the shorts themselves. In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts commissioned an animation studio in South Korea to redraw 79 black-and-white Looney Tunes produced from 1935 to 1943 in color to be syndicated to TV stations.[10] The original Looney Tunes theatrical series ran from 1930 to 1969 (the last short being Bugged by a Bee, by Robert McKimson).[2] 1970–1999: Syndication and return to television and film The Looney Tunes series' popularity was strengthened even more when the shorts began airing on network and syndicated television in the 1950s, under various titles and formats. However, the Looney Tunes shorts were edited, removing scenes of violence (particularly suicidal gags and scenes of characters doing dangerous stunts that impressionable viewers could easily imitate), racial and ethnic caricatures (including stereotypical portrayals of African-Americans, Mexicans, Jews, Native Americans, Asians, and Germans as Nazis), and questionable vices (such as smoking cigarettes, ingesting pills, and drinking alcohol). Production of theatrical animated shorts was 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. While many of them have been released in limited releases theatrically for Academy Award consideration, only a few have gained theatrical releases with movies. In the 1970s through the early 1990s, several feature-film compilations and television specials were produced, mostly centering on Bugs Bunny and/or Daffy Duck, with a mixture of new and old footage. In 1976, the Looney Tunes characters made their way into the amusement business when they became the mascots for the two Marriott's Great America theme parks (Gurnee and Santa Clara). After the Gurnee park was sold to Six Flags, they also claimed the rights to use the characters at the other Six Flags parks, which they continue to do presently. In 1988, several Looney Tunes characters appeared in cameo roles in Disney's film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The more significant cameos featured Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Yosemite Sam. It is the only time in which Looney Tunes characters have shared screen time with their rivals at Disney (producers of the film)—particularly in the scenes where Bugs and Mickey Mouse are skydiving, and when Daffy and Donald Duck are performing their "Dueling Pianos" sequence. Nickelodeon aired all the unaired cartoons in a show called Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon between 1988 and 1999. In January 1999, it was reported that the cartoons shown on Nickelodeon would move to Cartoon Network in the fall of that year.[11] To date, Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon is the longest-airing animated series on the network that was not a Nicktoon. In 1996, Space Jam, a live-action animated film, was released to theaters starring Bugs Bunny and basketball player Michael Jordan. Despite a mixed critical reception,[12] the film was a major box-office success, grossing nearly $100 million in the U.S. alone, almost becoming the first non-Disney animated film to achieve that feat.[13] For a two-year period, it was the highest grossing non-Disney animated film ever.[14] The film also introduced the character Lola Bunny, who subsequently became another recurring member of the Looney Tunes cast, usually as a love interest for Bugs. In 1997, Bugs Bunny was featured on a U.S. 32 cent postage stamp; the first of five Looney Tunes themed stamps to be issued.[15] The Looney Tunes also achieved success in the area of television during this era, with appearances in several originally produced series, including Taz-Mania (1991, starring Taz) and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995, starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny). The gang also made frequent cameos in the 1990 spinoff series Tiny Toon Adventures, from executive producer Steven Spielberg, where they played teachers and mentors to a younger generation of cartoon characters (Plucky Duck, Hamton J. Pig, Babs and Buster Bunny, etc.), plus occasional cameos in the later Warner shows Animaniacs (also from Spielberg) and Histeria!. 2000–present In March 2000, it was revealed that the entire Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library would be exclusive to Cartoon Network starting fall of that year.[16] Looney Tunes shorts were still airing on ABC as part of The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show at the time, and the decision led to the show's cancellation. This decision would remain in effect for over 20 years, until MeTV began airing the classic Warner Bros. cartoons (along with MGM and Paramount's library) in January 2021. In 2003, another feature film was released, this time in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original shorts: the live-action/animated Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Although the film wasn't financially successful,[17] it was met with mixed-to-positive reviews from film critics and has been argued by animation historians and fans as the finest original feature-length appearance of the cartoon characters.[14][18][19][20] In 2006, Warner Home Video released a new and Christmas-themed Looney Tunes direct-to-video film called Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Other Looney Tunes TV series made during this time were Baby Looney Tunes (2001–2006), Duck Dodgers (2003-2005) and Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007). On October 22, 2007, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons became available for the first time in High-definition via Microsoft's Xbox Live service, including some in Spanish.[21] From February 29 – May 18, 2008, many Looney Tunes artifacts, including original animation cels and concept drawings, were on display at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, just off the campus of Youngstown State University, near where the Warners lived early in life.[22] At the 2009 Cartoon Network upfront, The Looney Tunes Show was announced.[23] After several delays, the series premiered on May 3, 2011. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the series centers on Bugs and Daffy as they leave the woods and move to the suburbs with "colorful neighbors" including Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Yosemite Sam, etc. The series introduced the character Tina Russo, a duck who becomes Daffy's girlfriend. The show also features 2-minute music videos titled respectfully "Merrie Melodies" (as a tribute to the Looney Tunes sister shorts) which features the characters singing original songs, as well as CGI animated shorts starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (which were removed after the first season). The series was cancelled after its second season.[24] Also, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner returned to the big screen in a series of 3-D shorts that preceded select Warner Bros. films. There were six in the works that began with the first short, Coyote Falls, that preceded the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which was released on July 30, 2010. On September 24, 2010, Fur of Flying preceded the film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, and on December 17, 2010, Rabid Rider preceded the film, Yogi Bear. On June 8, 2011, Warner Bros. Animation announced that there will be more Looney Tunes 3-D theatrical shorts; the first titled Daffy's Rhapsody with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, the next being I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny. Daffy's Rhapsody was to precede the film Happy Feet Two,[25] until the studio decided to premiere I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat instead. Daffy's Rhapsody instead premiered in 2012, preceding Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.[26] All five shorts were directed by Matthew O'Callaghan. In 2012, several announcements were made about a Looney Tunes reboot film titled Acme, in development.[27] Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jenny Slate was said to be on board as writer for the new film. Jeffrey Clifford, Harry Potter producer David Heyman, and Dark Shadows writers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith were slated to produce the film.[28] On August 27, 2014, writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to script the film, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa were in talks to direct the film, while actor Steve Carell was rumored to be starring in a lead role.[29] Despite this, the film has yet to enter production. At the 2014 Cartoon Network upfront, another series titled Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production (later New Looney Tunes) was announced.[30] Starring Bugs Bunny, the series premiered on both Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang in Fall 2015.[31] The series has had an unusually slow rollout, with the series having moved to the Boomerang streaming service in 2017, and was eventually cancelled on January 30, 2020. On June 11, 2018, another series, titled Looney Tunes Cartoons, was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on May 27, 2020, on the streaming service HBO Max. Its first season features "1,000 minutes of new one-to-six minute cartoons featuring the brand's marquee characters", voiced by their current voice actors in "simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories" that are rendered by multiple artists employing "a visual style that will resonate with fans", most noticeably having a style reminiscent of the styles of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.[32] According to co-executive producer Peter Browngardt, "We're not doing guns, but we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All that was kind of grandfathered in."[33] Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation also serves as co-executive producers for the series.[32] However guns were implanted in Season 2. On February 11, 2021, it was announced two new series are in the works: Bugs Bunny Builders and Tweety Mysteries. Bugs Bunny Builders will air on Cartoon Network as part of Cartoonito and HBO Max; Tweety Mysteries will also air on Cartoon Network.[34][35] Bugs Bunny Builders will be aimed towards preschoolers; while Tweety Mysteries is a live-action/animated hybrid. A sequel to Space Jam titled Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring basketball mega superstar LeBron James, was released on theaters and HBO Max on July 16th, 2021 after a Los Angeles special screening on July 12th, 2021. It is a film with a story of LeBron James' second son, Bryce, gets kidnapped by an evil AI or algorithm online, into the Warner Bros. serververse. LeBron then assembles the Looney Tunes to play against the algorithm and get his son back. Home media In the 1980s, the shorts received VHS releases, with the pre-August 1948 shorts released by MGM/UA Home Video and the post-July 1948 shorts released by Warner Home Video. In 2003, Warner Home Video began releasing select shorts on DVD, aimed at collectors, in four-disc sets known as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. This continued until 2008, when the final volume of the Golden Collection was released. Then in 2010 until 2013, the company released the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVDs. There have been numerous complaints regarding the Super Stars releases however, particularly the first two, having the post-1953 shorts in a 16:9 widescreen format. The last DVD in the Super Stars series was Sylvester and Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem, released on April 23, 2013. 2010 and 2011 saw the releases of The Essential Bugs Bunny and The Essential Daffy Duck DVDs. In 2011, the shorts were released on Blu-ray Disc for the first time with the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection series. On September 19, 2017, Warner Home Video's Warner Archive Collection released the five-disc Porky Pig 101 DVD-set.[36] Licensing and ownership In 1933, Harman and Ising left, taking the rights to the Bosko characters with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons and the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies brand names, leaving their former producer Leon Schlesinger to start his own animation studio to continue the Looney Tunes series. With their retained Bosko rights, Harman and Ising began making cartoons at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934 until they were fired in 1937 due to a lack of success. MGM proceeded to form their own studio to create its own cartoons. Time Warner eventually acquired the Bosko characters from Harman and Ising's estates. Meanwhile, the Schlesinger studio continued to make popular cartoons until 1944 when Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. Since then, Warner Bros. has owned all rights to all post-1933 characters created by Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons. The rights to individual cartoons however are in other hands. In 1955, Warner Bros. sold the television distribution rights to 191 of its cartoons (which included the black-and-white Looney Tunes and the black-and-white Merrie Melodies made after Harman and Ising left) to Guild Films.[37] The copyrights to those cartoons were assigned to Sunset Productions, an entity owned by Warner Bros.[38][39] The cartoons were distributed by Guild Films until it went bankrupt and was bought by Seven Arts. Seven Arts bought WB in 1967, and WB regained the TV distribution rights to the black and white cartoons. In 1956, Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) acquired television distribution rights to most of Warner Bros' pre-1950[40][41] library, including all Merrie Melodies (except for those sold to Guild and Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) and color Looney Tunes shorts that were released prior to August 1948, while Warner still owned the copyright all of the cartoons. Unlike the previous TV package, this package had the Warner titles kept intact and an "Associated Artists Productions presents" title inserted at the head of each reel (as a result, each Merrie Melodies cartoon had the song "Merrily We Roll Along" playing twice).[42] Two years later, United Artists bought a.a.p. (which has also bought Paramount's Popeye films) who merged the company into its television division, United Artists Television. In 1981, UA was sold to MGM, and five years later, Ted Turner acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library, as well the rights to the a.a.p. library. In 1996, Turner's company, Turner Broadcasting System (whose Turner Entertainment division oversaw the film library), was purchased by Time Warner (now AT&T's WarnerMedia) who also owned Warner Bros. Today, Warner Home Video holds the video rights to the entire Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies animated output by virtue of Warner Bros.' ownership of Turner Entertainment. Starting in 1960, the cartoons were repackaged into several different TV programs that remained popular for several decades before being purchased by Turner Broadcasting System.[43] Turner's Cartoon Network reran the cartoons from their launch in 1992 until 2004, and again from 2009 until 2017. The Looney Tunes Show (not to be confused with the 2010s animated series of the same name), an early 2000s anthology produced by Warner Bros. Animation for the network, was broadcast from 2001[44] to 2004. The show featured shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical series. As of 2013, classic cartoons continue to air on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang. Differing curated collections of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are available for streaming on both the Boomerang streaming service and HBO Max.[45] Five dozen Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts from before December 1943 have lapsed into the public domain and are thus freely distributed through various unofficial releases. Filmography Main article: Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography Characters Main article: List of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters Racial stereotypes Due to content considered racist, stereotyped or insensitive, in 1968 Warner Bros. removed the "Censored Eleven" episodes of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from broadcast or distribution. Depictions included those of African Americans, Native Americans, East Asians (especially during WWII, as in Tokio Jokio and Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips), Germans, Italians, White Southerners, and Mexicans.[46] Eleven cartoons were withdrawn from distribution in 1968 that prominently featured stereotypical black characters (and a few passing jokes about Japanese people, as in Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and Jungle Jitters). In 1999, Cartoon Network ceased broadcast of all Speedy Gonzales segments, due to concerns about stereotyping of Mexicans.[47] Many Hispanics protested that they were not offended, and expressed fondness for the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons. These shorts were made available for Cartoon Network broadcast again in 2002.[48] Many Warner Bros. cartoons contain fleeting or sometimes extended gags that make reference to racial or ethnic stereotypes, or use ethnic humor. The release of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 includes a disclaimer at the beginning of each DVD in the volume given by Whoopi Goldberg. She explains that the cartoons are products of their time and contain racial and ethnic stereotypes that "were wrong then and they are wrong today", but the cartoons are presented on the DVD uncut and uncensored because "editing them would be the same as denying that the stereotypes existed." A written disclaimer similar to the words spoken by Goldberg in Volume 3 is shown at the beginning of each DVD in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Volume 5, and Volume 6 sets, as well as the Daffy Duck and Foghorn Leghorn Looney Tunes Super Stars sets and the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection. Accolades Inducted into the National Film Registry Porky in Wackyland (1938), selected in 2000[49] Duck Amuck (1953), selected in 1999 One Froggy Evening (1955), selected in 2003 What's Opera, Doc? (1957), selected in 1992 Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) Tweetie Pie (1947)[50] (MM) For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)[51] (LT) Speedy Gonzales (1955)[52] (MM) Birds Anonymous (1957)[53] (MM) Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)[54] (LT) Academy Award nominations Swooner Crooner (1944) Walky Talky Hawky (1946) Mouse Wreckers (1949) From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (1954) Sandy Claws (1955) Tabasco Road (1957) Mexicali Shmoes (1959) Mouse and Garden (1960) High Note (1960) The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (1961) Now Hear This (1963) Related media Television series Series marked with * are compilations of earlier shorts. The Bugs Bunny Show* (1960–2000) The Porky Pig Show* (1964–1967) The Road Runner Show* (1966–1973) The Merrie Melodies Show* (1972) Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends* (1990–1994) Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1992) Taz-Mania (1991–1995) The Plucky Duck Show (1992) The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995–2000) Bugs 'n' Daffy* (1995–1998) Baby Looney Tunes (2001–2006) Duck Dodgers (2003–2005) Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007) The Looney Tunes Show (2011–2013) New Looney Tunes (2015–2020) Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–present) Tooned Out (2021) Tiny Toons Looniversity (TBA) Bugs Bunny Builders (TBA) Tweety Mysteries (TBA) Compilation films Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975) The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979) The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981) Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982) Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island (1983) Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988) The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame (1991) Feature films Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (cameos only) Space Jam (1996) Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) Coyote vs. Acme (2023) Direct-to-video Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992) Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure (2003) Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006) Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015) Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam (2021) (archival footage only) Comic books Dell Publishing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #1–165 (Dell Publishing, 1941–1955) Bugs Bunny #1–85 (Dell Publishing, 1942–1962) Porky Pig #1–81 (Dell Publishing, 1942–1962) Tweety and Sylvester #1–37 (Dell Publishing, 1952–1962) Daffy Duck #1–30 (Dell Publishing, 1953–1962) Looney Tunes #166–246 (Dell Publishing, 1955–1962) Beep Beep The Road Runner #1–14 (Dell Publishing, 1958–1962) Gold Key Comics/Whitman Bugs Bunny #86–245 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1962–1984) Daffy Duck #31–145 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1962–1984) Tweety and Sylvester #1–120 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1963–1984) Porky Pig #1–109 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1965–1984) Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny #1–80 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1970–1983) Beep Beep The Road Runner #1–105 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1971–1984) Looney Tunes #1–47 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1975–1984) DC Comics Bugs Bunny #1–3 (DC Comics, 1990); #1–3 (DC Comics, 1993) Looney Tunes #1–present (DC Comics, 1994–present) Plus various one-shots, specials and appearances in anthology comics like March of Comics, Top Comics and Dell Giant from various Western Publishing imprints. The numbering of the Dell issues generally includes 3-4 appearances in Dell's Four Color comics. Video games For a more comprehensive list, see List of Looney Tunes video games. See also icon Television portal flag United States portal icon Cartoon portal Merrie Melodies, another series of animated cartoons also produced by Warner Bros. between 1931 and 1969 Silly Symphony, a series of animated shorts produced by Walt Disney Productions between 1929 and 1939 Happy Harmonies, a series of animated shorts distributed by MGM between 1934 and 1938 Warner Bros. Cartoons List of Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues References
"I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" is a novelty song composed and written by Alan Livingston, Billy May and Warren Foster.[1] It was sung by Mel Blanc, who provided the voice of the bird, Tweety and of his nemesis Sylvester.[2] The lyrics depict the basic formula of the Tweety-Sylvester cartoons released by Warner Bros. throughout the late 1940s into the early 1960s: Tweety wanting to live a contented life, only to be harassed by Sylvester (who is looking to eat the canary), and Tweety's mistress shooing the cat away. Toward the end of the song, the two perform a duet, with Tweety coaxing Sylvester into singing with him after promising that his (Tweety's) mistress won't chase him (Sylvester) away. "I Taut I Taw A Puddy-Tat" reached No. 9 on the Billboard pop chart during a seven-week chart run in February and March 1951, and sold more than two million records.[3] The song was covered by Helen Kane between 1950–51 with Jimmy Carroll & His Orchestra. Tony Blair had the sheet music for this song upon his piano during the war against Iraq.[4] In 2011, Warner Bros. created a 3D CGI Looney Tunes short of the same name starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny (June Foray in her final theatrical voice acting role before her death in 2017), incorporating Blanc's vocals with brand new animation and music. The short premiered in theaters with Happy Feet Two.[5] In 2008, the British comedian Jeremy Hardy sang the song's lyrics to the tune of "I Vow to Thee, My Country", during a live recording of the BBC Radio 4 panel game, I'm Sorry I Haven't a Clue. Alan Wendell Livingston (born Alan Wendell Levison; October 15, 1917 – March 13, 2009) was an American businessman best known for his tenures at Capitol Records, first as a writer/producer best known for creating Bozo the Clown for a series of record-album and illustrative read-along children's book sets. As Vice-President in charge of Programming at NBC, in 1959 he oversaw the development and launch of the network's most successful television series, Bonanza. Contents 1 Early years 2 Capitol Records 3 California Productions and NBC 4 Return to Capitol 5 Later ventures 6 Death 7 References 8 External links Early years Livingston was born in the Pittsburgh suburb of McDonald, Pennsylvania on October 15, 1917. He was the youngest of three children, whose mother encouraged reading books and playing musical instruments. He had an older sister, Vera, and an older brother, Jay Livingston (1915–2001), who wrote or co-wrote many popular songs for films and television, including "Buttons and Bows", "Mona Lisa", "Whatever Will Be, Will Be (Que Sera, Sera)", as well as the popular Christmas song "Silver Bells". Alan Livingston began his career in the entertainment business leading his own college orchestra as a student at the University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from the Wharton School of Finance and Commerce with a B.S. in Economics, he moved to New York where he worked in advertising for three years. At the start of World War II, he enlisted in the army as a private and served as a second lieutenant in the infantry. After his discharge, he borrowed some money, hitched a ride on an Army plane and headed for Los Angeles, California where he obtained his first position with Capitol Records, Inc. in Hollywood as a writer/producer.[1] Capitol Records Livingston's initial assignment was to create a children's record library for the four-year-old company, for which he created the "Bozo the Clown" character. He wrote and produced a popular series of storytelling record-album and illustrative read-along book sets beginning with the October 1946 release of "Bozo at the Circus." His record-reader concept, which enabled children to read and follow a story in pictures while listening to it, was the first of its kind. The Bozo image was a composite design of Livingston's, derived from a variety of clown pictures and given to an artist to turn into comic-book-like illustrations. Livingston then hired Pinto Colvig to portray Bozo on the recordings. Colvig, a former circus clown, was also the original voice of Walt Disney's Pluto, Goofy, Grumpy, Sleepy and many other characters. Billy May produced the music. The series turned out to be a smash hit for Capitol, selling over eight million albums in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Successful record sales led to a variety of Bozo-related merchandise and the first television series, "Bozo's Circus," starring Pinto Colvig on KTTV-Channel 11 (CBS) in Los Angeles in 1949. The character also became a mascot for the record company and was later nicknamed "Bozo the Capitol Clown." Livingston wrote and produced many other children's recordings including products for Walt Disney; Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker; Bugs Bunny and all of the Warner Bros. characters. In the case of the latter, he wrote the 1951 pop hit "I Tawt I Taw A Puddy Tat" for Mel Blanc's Tweety Pie. There were also several record-readers featuring the popular cowboy character, Hopalong Cassidy. One of these was "Hopalong Cassidy and The Singing Bandit" in 1950, which was the first children's record set to make the Top Ten charts. Within a few years, Livingston moved on to the adult music arena and became Vice President in charge of all creative operations of the company. He signed Frank Sinatra when Sinatra was at a low point in his career. Livingston wanted Sinatra to work with arranger Nelson Riddle, however Sinatra was reluctant to do so out of his loyalty to Axel Stordahl with whom he had worked for most of his career. The first Sinatra/Stordahl recordings for Capitol failed to produce the magic Livingston and producer Voyle Gilmore were looking for, and Sinatra agreed to try a session with Billy May on April 30, 1953, but instead Livingston booked Riddle, telling Sinatra that May had to unexpectedly leave town for a live performance. The impact was immediate, producing the classic "I've Got the World on a String". However, it was "Young at Heart" that became the defining moment in Sinatra's comeback, peaking at #2 during its 22-week run on the charts in the spring of 1954. Livingston was credited as the creative force responsible for Capitol Records' growth from net sales of $6 million per year to sales in excess of $100 million per year. He was also officially credited as the inspiration for the distinctive Capitol Records Tower, completed in April 1956, noted for being the first circular office building in the world.[2] Livingston is also responsible for what have come to be known as the "Butcher Covers." When The Beatles released their 1966 album Yesterday and Today it was initially released with a surreal Robert Whitaker cover photograph depicting the group draped in slabs of meat and dismembered doll parts. Protests from record dealers forced Capitol to immediately recall the album and re-issue it with a new cover. The original covers, in any condition, have become highly sought after collectors items. Shortly after the controversy erupted, Livingston took home a box containing both mono and stereo copies of the original "Butcher cover" albums, sealed and in pristine condition. They remained in storage at the Livingston home, untouched, for the next twenty years until Livingston's son Christopher revealed their existence when he brought several of the albums to sell at a Beatlefest convention in 1987. These Butcher covers are considered the best examples of these albums and currently command a premium price upwards of $20,000.[3] California Productions and NBC After 10 years with Capitol, Livingston and the company sold the "Bozo the Clown" licensing rights (excluding the recordings) to Larry Harmon, one of several people hired to portray the character at promotional appearances; Livingston left the company to accept a position as President of California National Productions, Inc., the wholly owned film production subsidiary of the National Broadcasting Company. Shortly thereafter, Livingston was also named Vice President of NBC, in charge of Television Network Programming, dealing principally with all films made for the network. In this capacity, he hired David Dortort to write and produce the pilot for the series Bonanza for which Livingston's older brother, songwriter Jay Livingston, wrote the memorable theme. During this time, Alan also served on the Boards of Bob Hope Enterprises, Inc. and Joseph Mankiewicz's motion picture production company, Figaro, Inc. Return to Capitol Five years later, Capitol Records induced Livingston to return as president and, eventually, chairman of the board. He was also named to the Board of Electric and Musical Industries (EMI), a British corporation that was the largest stockholder in Capitol. Subsequently, he merged Capitol Records into Audio Devices, Inc., a magnetic tape manufacturer listed on the American Stock Exchange, and changed the name of the surviving company to Capitol Industries, Inc., of which Livingston was named president. It was during this period that he turned Capitol Records into a more rock-oriented company with such artists as The Beach Boys, Steve Miller, The Band, and others. His most noteworthy accomplishment at that time was agreeing to release the Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" for Capitol in 1963, after having rejected all their previous singles as unsuitable for the U.S. market despite Capitol being owned by The Beatles' U.K. record company, EMI.[4] Later ventures Livingston later sold his stock in Capitol Industries to form his own company, Mediarts, Inc., for the production of motion pictures, records and music publishing. He eventually sold his interest in that company to United Artists as a result, particularly, of its success in the record business including Don McLean, who reached the #1 position in the country with his "American Pie" single and album in 1972. Two feature motion pictures were completed during the company's operation: Downhill Racer (1969) starring Robert Redford and Gene Hackman, and Unman, Wittering and Zigo (1971) starring David Hemmings; both released by Paramount Pictures. In August 1976, Livingston joined Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation as Senior Vice President and President, Entertainment Group. He left in 1980 to accept the presidency of Atalanta Investment Company, Inc., and resigned in 1987 to produce a one-hour television adaptation of Sparky's Magic Piano, and to form Pacific Rim Productions, Inc. for animation services. Livingston also wrote a novel titled Ronnie Finkelhof, Superstar about a shy Harvard pre-law student who becomes an overnight success as a rock musician. It was published by Ballantine Books in the spring of 1988. On August 1, 1998, Livingston received his first honor for his creation of "Bozo the Clown" as the International Clown Hall of Fame in Milwaukee, Wisconsin presented him their Lifetime of Laughter Achievement Award. His first two marriages, one to actress Betty Hutton, ended in divorce.[5] Livingston's third and final marriage was to actress Nancy Olson, whose film credits include Sunset Boulevard (1950) and The Absent-Minded Professor (1961). They resided in Beverly Hills, California. Their son, Christopher Livingston, is a movie producer, director, writer and songwriter. He also had a daughter, jewelry designer Laura Livingston Gibson, from a previous marriage.[6] Death Livingston died after a series of mini-strokes at his home in Beverly Hills, California at the age of 91. He was survived by his wife, former actress Nancy Olson (formerly Mrs. Alan Jay Lerner), a son, Christopher Livingston; a daughter from a previous marriage, Laura Gibson; and two step daughters, Liza and Jennifer Lerner.[6] Tweety is a yellow canary in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated cartoons.[2] The name "Tweety" is a play on words, as it originally meant "sweetie", along with "tweet" being an English onomatopoeia for the sounds of birds. His characteristics are based on Red Skelton's famous "Junior the Mean Widdle Kid."[3] He appeared in 46 cartoons during the golden age, made between 1942 and 1962.[4] Contents 1 Personality and identity 2 Creation by Bob Clampett 3 Freleng takes over 4 Later appearances 5 Merchandise 6 Modern art 7 Comic books 8 Tweety's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography 8.1 Directed by Bob Clampett 8.2 Directed by Friz Freleng 8.2.1 Co-directed by Hawley Pratt 8.3 Directed by Gerry Chiniquy 8.4 Directed by Chuck Jones 8.5 Post-Golden Age of American animation 9 Voice actors 10 References 11 External links Personality and identity Despite the perceptions that people may hold, owing to the long eyelashes and high-pitched voice (which Mel Blanc provided), Tweety is male[5][6][7] although his ambiguity was played with. For example, in the cartoon "Snow Business",[8] when Granny entered a room containing Tweety and Sylvester she said: "Here I am, boys!", whereas a 1952 cartoon was entitled Ain't She Tweet [emphasis added]. Also, his species is ambiguous; although originally and often portrayed as a young canary, he is also frequently called a rare and valuable "tweety bird" as a plot device, and once called "the only living specimen". Nevertheless, the title song of The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries directly states that he is a canary. His shape more closely suggests that of a baby bird, which is what he was during his early appearances (although the "baby bird" aspect has been used in a few later cartoons as a plot device). The yellow feathers were added, but otherwise he retained the baby-bird shape. In his early appearances in Bob Clampett cartoons, Tweety is a very aggressive character who tries anything to foil Sylvester, even kicking the cat when he is down. One of his most notable malicious moments is in the cartoon Birdy and the Beast, where a cat chases Tweety by flying until he remembers that cats cannot fly, causing him to fall. Tweety says sympathetically, "Awww, the poor kitty cat! He faw down and go (in a loud, tough, masculine voice) BOOM!!" and then grins mischievously. A similar use of that voice is in A Tale Of Two Kitties when Tweety, wearing an air raid warden's helmet, suddenly yells, "Turn out those lights!" Tweety's aggressive nature was toned down when Friz Freleng began directing the series, with the character turning into a more cutesy bird, usually going about his business, and doing little to thwart Sylvester's ill-conceived plots, allowing them to simply collapse on their own; he became even less aggressive when Granny was introduced, but occasionally Tweety still showed a malicious side. Creation by Bob Clampett Tweety's debut in A Tale of Two Kitties Bob Clampett created the character that would become Tweety in the 1942 short A Tale of Two Kitties, pitting him against two hungry cats named Babbit and Catstello (based on the famous comedians Abbott and Costello).[9] On the original model sheet, Tweety was named Orson, which was also the name of a bird character from an earlier Clampett cartoon Wacky Blackout.[10] Tweety was created not as a domestic canary, but as a generic (and wild) baby bird in an outdoor nest: naked (pink), jowly, and also far more aggressive and saucy, as opposed to the later, better-known version of him as a less hot-tempered (but still somewhat ornery) yellow canary. In the documentary Bugs Bunny: Superstar, animator Clampett stated, in an sotto voce "aside" to the audience, that Tweety had been based "on my own naked baby picture". Clampett did two more shorts with the "naked genius", as a Jimmy Durante-ish cat once called him in A Gruesome Twosome. The second Tweety short, Birdy and the Beast, finally bestowed the baby bird with his new name, and gave him his blue eyes. Many of Mel Blanc's characters are known for speech impediments. One of Tweety's most noticeable is that /s/, /k/, and /g/ are changed to /t/, /d/, or (final s) /θ/; for example, "pussy cat" comes out as "putty tat", later rendered "puddy tat", and "sweetie pie" comes out as "tweetie pie" (a phonological pattern referred to as 'fronting'), hence his name. He also has trouble with liquid consonants: as with Elmer Fudd, /l/ and /r/ come out as /w/. In Canary Row and Putty Tat Trouble, he begins the cartoon by singing a song about himself, "I'm a tweet wittow biwd in a giwded cage; Tweety'th my name but I don't know my age, I don't have to wuwy and dat is dat; I'm tafe in hewe fwom dat ol' putty tat." (Translation: "I'm a sweet little bird in a gilded cage...") Aside from this speech challenge, Tweety's voice is that of Bugs Bunny's, one speed up (if The Old Grey Hare, which depicts Bugs as an infant, is any indication of that); the only difference is that Bugs does not have trouble pronouncing /s/, /k/ and /g/ as mentioned above. Freleng takes over Clampett began work on a short that would pit Tweety against a then-unnamed, lisping black and white cat created by Friz Freleng in 1945. However, Clampett left the studio before going into full production on the short (which had a storyboard produced, where it was titled "Fat Rat and the Stupid Cat"[11]), however Freleng would use Tweety in his own separate project. Freleng toned Tweety down and gave him a cuter appearance, including large blue eyes and yellow feathers. Clampett mentions in Bugs Bunny: Superstar that the feathers were added to satisfy censors who objected to the naked bird. The first short to team Tweety and the cat, later named Sylvester, was 1947's Tweetie Pie, which won Warner Bros its first Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Cartoons).[12] Sylvester and Tweety proved to be one of the most notable pairings in animation history. Most of their cartoons followed a standard formula: Sylvester wanting to catch and eat Tweety, but some major obstacle stands in his way – usually Granny or her bulldog Hector (or occasionally, numerous bulldogs, or another cat who also wants to catch and eat Tweety). Tweety saying his signature lines "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" and "I did! I did taw a puddy tat!" (Originally "I did! I taw a puddy tat!", but the extra "did" got inserted somehow). Eventually, someone must have commented on the grammar of "...did taw..."; in later cartoons, Tweety says "I did! I did tee a puddy tat!". Sylvester spending the entire film using progressively more elaborate schemes or devices to catch Tweety, similar to Wile E. Coyote in his ongoing efforts to catch the Road Runner, Tom's attempts to catch Jerry, and the Aardvark's attempts to catch the Ant. Of course, each of his tricks fail, either due to their flaws or, more often than not, because of intervention by either Hector the Bulldog or an indignant Granny (voiced by Bea Benaderet and later June Foray), or after Tweety steers the enemy toward them or another device (such as off the ledge of a tall building or an oncoming train). In a few of the cartoons, Sylvester does manage to briefly eat Tweety up with a gulp. However, either Granny or another character makes him spit Tweety out right away. Sylvester was also briefly eaten by Hector the Bulldog, and forced by Granny to spit him out. This occurred during the Christmas special episode, and as a punishment, both Sylvester and Hector were tied up with their mouths gagged shut. In 1951, Mel Blanc (with Billy May's orchestra) had a hit single with "I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat", a song performed in character by Tweety and featuring Sylvester. In the lyrics Sylvester sings "I'd like to eat that Sweetie Pie when he leaves his cage", implying that Tweety's name is actually Sweetie Pie, altered in its pronunciation by Tweety's speech impediment. Sylvester, who has his own speech issues involving the sounds /s/ and /p/, slobbers the "S" in "Sweetie Pie", just as he would the /s/ sounds in his own name. Later the same name was applied to the young, pink female canary in the Tiny Toon Adventures animated TV series of the early 1990s. From 1945 until the original Warner Bros. Cartoons studio closed, Freleng had almost exclusive use of Tweety at the Warner cartoon studio (much like Yosemite Sam), with the exception of a brief cameo in No Barking in 1954, directed by Chuck Jones (that year, Freleng used Pepé Le Pew, a Jones character, for the only time in his career and the only time in a Tweety short, Dog Pounded). Later appearances Tweety had a cameo role in Who Framed Roger Rabbit, making Eddie Valiant (Bob Hoskins) fall from a flag pole by playing "This Little Piggy" with Valiant's fingers and releasing his grip. The scene is essentially a re-creation of a gag from A Tale of Two Kitties, with Valiant replacing Catstello as Tweety's victim. During the 1990s, Tweety also starred in the animated TV series The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries,[12] in which Granny ran a detective agency with the assistance of Tweety, Sylvester and Hector. Tweety has the starring role. The storyline carries into the 2000 direct-to-video feature-length animated film Tweety's High-Flying Adventure. Tweety's prototype, Orson, also made an appearance in the series. Tweety also appears in Tiny Toon Adventures as the mentor of Sweetie Pie, and one of the faculty at Acme Looniversity. In the 1995 cartoon short Carrotblanca, a parody/homage to Casablanca, Tweety appeared as "Usmarte", a parody of the character Ugarte played by Peter Lorre in the original film. In several sequences, Tweety was speaking and laughing in character like Peter Lorre. He also does the Looney Tunes ending instead of Porky Pig or Bugs Bunny. This is also notable for being a rare instance where Tweety plays a villain character. In 1996, Tweety appeared in the feature film, Space Jam, with legendary basketball player Michael Jordan. In 2001, a younger version of Tweety appeared on Baby Looney Tunes, thus coming full circle from his earliest appearances. In 2010 Tweety was featured, with his Looney Tunes co-stars, in Cartoon Network's series The Looney Tunes Show.[13] He is voiced by Jeff Bergman. He appeared in the episode "Ridiculous Journey", where he and Sylvester work together to avoid getting eaten by Taz. He had been revealed to have fought in World War II alongside a young Granny. Sylvester also asked him how old he was, to which Tweety replied, "I'll never tell." Sylvester then asked if Tweety would at least tell him if he (Tweety) was a boy or a girl. Tweety whispered into his ear and Sylvester had a surprised expression and said "Huh, I was wrong." Tweety has recently appeared as a major character in New Looney Tunes and Looney Tunes Cartoons, where his designs are mostly based on his Freleng heyday with a few Bob Clampett elements to make him more suited for 1942–1944, and his personality reverts him to being more violent and abusive in nature while being toned down to retain his cute facade. On February 17, 2021, it was announced Tweety will star in Tweety Mysteries which is similar to The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.[14] The series will be a live-action/animated hybrid aimed towards girls and will air on Cartoon Network.[15][16] He will also appear in the preschool series Bugs Bunny Builders which will air as part of Cartoonito on Cartoon Network and HBO Max.[17][18] Merchandise Tweety and Sylvester have been used to endorse products such as Miracle Whip dressing and MCI Communications long distance.[12] In 1998, the United States Post Office honored Tweety and Sylvester with a 32-cent postage stamp.[19] Tweety also appears in products produced by Warner Brothers Studios. Modern art British artist Banksy's 2008 New York art installation The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill features "Tweety", an animatronic sculpture of an aged and molting version of the character.[20] Comic books Western Publications produced a comic book about Tweety and Sylvester entitled Tweety and Sylvester, first in Dell Comics Four Color series #406, 489, and 524, then in their own title from Dell Comics (#4–37, 1954–62), then later from Gold Key Comics (#1–102, 1963–72). Tweety's Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography Directed by Bob Clampett A Tale of Two Kitties (1942) Birdy and the Beast (1944) A Gruesome Twosome (1945) Baby Bottleneck (1946) - cameo appearance Directed by Friz Freleng Tweetie Pie (1947) I Taw a Putty Tat (1948) Bad Ol' Putty Tat (1949) Home Tweet Home (1950) All a Bir-r-r-d (1950) Canary Row (1950) Putty Tat Trouble (1951) Room and Bird (1951) Tweety's S.O.S. (1951) Tweet Tweet Tweety (1951) Gift Wrapped (1952) Ain't She Tweet (1952) A Bird in a Guilty Cage (1952) Snow Business (1953) Fowl Weather (1953) Tom Tom Tomcat (1953) A Street Cat Named Sylvester (1953) Catty Cornered (1953) Dog Pounded (1954) Muzzle Tough (1954) Satan's Waitin' (1954) Sandy Claws (1955) Tweety's Circus (1955) Red Riding Hoodwinked (1955) Heir-Conditioned (1955) – cameo appearance Tweet and Sour (1956) Tree Cornered Tweety (1956) Tugboat Granny (1956) Tweet Zoo (1957) Tweety and the Beanstalk (1957) Birds Anonymous (1957) Greedy for Tweety (1957) A Pizza Tweety Pie (1958) A Bird in a Bonnet (1958) Trick or Tweet (1959) Tweet and Lovely (1959) Tweet Dreams (1959) Hyde and Go Tweet (1960) Trip For Tat (1960) The Rebel Without Claws (1961) Co-directed by Hawley Pratt The Last Hungry Cat (1961) The Jet Cage (1962) Directed by Gerry Chiniquy Hawaiian Aye Aye (1964)-MM Directed by Chuck Jones No Barking (1954) – cameo appearance-MM Post-Golden Age of American animation Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979), voiced by Mel Blanc Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988), voiced by Mel Blanc Tiny Toon Adventures (1990), voiced by Jeff Bergman and Bob Bergen Carrotblanca (1995), voiced by Bob Bergen The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries (1995), voiced by Joe Alaskey Superior Duck (1996), voiced by Eric Goldberg (cameo appearance) Space Jam (1996), voiced by Bob Bergen Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000), voiced by Joe Alaskey Baby Looney Tunes (2001), voiced by Samuel Vincent Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), voiced by Eric Goldberg Museum Scream (2004), voiced by Billy West Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006), voiced by Bob Bergen The Looney Tunes Show (2011), voiced by Jeff Bergman I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat (2011), voiced by Mel Blanc (Archive Audio) New Looney Tunes (2015), voiced by Bob Bergen Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020), voiced by Eric Bauza Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021), voiced by Bob Bergen Bugs Bunny Builders (2021) Tweety Mysteries (2021) Voice actors Legendary voice artist Mel Blanc originated the character's voice.[21] After the Golden Age of American Animation came to an end, Blanc continued to voice the character in TV specials, commercials, music recordings, and films, such as 1988's Who Framed Roger Rabbit, which was one of Blanc's final projects as Tweety. Before and after Blanc's death in 1989, several voice actors have provided the voice in his stead. These voice actors are: Danny Kaye (1951 I Taut I Taw a Puddy Tat cover)[22] Gilbert Mack (Golden Records records, Bugs Bunny Songfest)[23][24] Richard Andrews (Bugs Bunny Exercise and Adventure Album)[25] Jeff Bergman (The Earth Day Special, Happy Birthday, Bugs!: 50 Looney Years, Tiny Toon Adventures, Tyson Foods commercial,[26] Boomerang bumper,[27][28] The Looney Tunes Show, Looney Tunes Dash, Ani-Mayhem)[29] Bob Bergen (Tiny Toon Adventures, Bugs Bunny's Birthday Ball, Looney Tunes River Ride, Yosemite Sam and the Gold River Adventure!, Sylvester and Tweety in Cagey Capers, Have Yourself a Looney Tunes Christmas,[30] Carrotblanca, Space Jam, Looney Tunes: Back in Action – The Video Game, Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, Looney Tunes: Cartoon Conductor, Robot Chicken,[31] New Looney Tunes, Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem, Space Jam: A New Legacy,[32] various commercials and video games)[29] Keith Scott (Looney Tunes Musical Revue,[33][34] Westfield commercial,[35] HBF Insurance commercial,[36] Spectacular Light and Sound Show Illuminanza,[37][38] KFC commercials,[39] Looney Tunes: We Got the Beat!,[40] Looney Tunes: What's Up Rock?!,[41] Looney Tunes on Ice, Looney Tunes LIVE! Classroom Capers,[42] Christmas Moments with Looney Tunes, The Looney Tunes Radio Show,[43][44] Looney Rock, Looney Tunes Christmas Carols[45][46][47])[29][48][49][50] Greg Burson (Animaniacs, Warner Bros. Kids Club, Quest for Camelot promotion)[29][51][52] Joe Alaskey (The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries, Quest for Camelot Sing-A-Longs, Looney Tunes Sing-A-Longs, Tweety's High-Flying Adventure, A Looney Tunes Kwazy Christmas, Looney Tunes: Reality Check, Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction, Looney Tunes ClickN READ Phonics,[53] various commercials and video games)[29] Frank Welker (chirping sounds in The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries and Tweety's High-Flying Adventure) Eric Goldberg (Superior Duck, Looney Tunes: Back in Action)[29] Samuel Vincent (Baby Looney Tunes, Baby Looney Tunes: Egg-straordinary Adventure)[29] Tom Kenny (Looney Tunes: Stranger Than Fiction (as Vampire Tweety))[29] Billy West (Museum Scream)[29] Kevin Shinick (Mad)[54] Patrick Warburton (Family Guy)[55] Dee Bradley Baker (New Looney Tunes (monster form))[56] Eric Bauza (Looney Tunes: World of Mayhem (monster form), Looney Tunes Cartoons, Bugs Bunny in The Golden Carrot)[57][58][59][60][29] Looney Tunes is an American animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. from 1930 to 1969, along with an accompanying series, Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation.[2][3] The two series introduced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, Yosemite Sam, the Tasmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales and many other cartoon characters. Looney Tunes (and Merrie Melodies) were initially produced by Leon Schlesinger and animators Hugh Harman and Rudolph Ising from 1930 to 1933.[4] Schlesinger assumed full production from 1933 until selling his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944.[4] The Looney Tunes name was inspired by Walt Disney's musical cartoon series, Silly Symphonies.[4] The shorts initially showcased musical compositions whose rights were held by Warner's music publishing interests through the adventures of cartoon characters such as Bosko and, after losing him, Buddy.[4] However, the animation studio gained a higher profile after it brought in directors Tex Avery and Chuck Jones and voice actor Mel Blanc in the mid-1930s.[4] Porky Pig and Daffy Duck became the main stars of Looney Tunes at this time, while Merrie Melodies featured one-shot cartoons and minor recurring characters.[4] After Bugs Bunny became the breakout recurring star of Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes moved from black and white to color production in the early 1940s (Merrie Melodies having already been in color since 1934[4]), the two series gradually lost their distinctions, and shorts were assigned to each series randomly.[4] From 1942 to 1964, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were the most popular animated shorts in movie theaters.[5] Looney Tunes has since become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides, as well as serving as Warner Bros.' flagship franchise. Many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in numerous other television shows, films, and advertisements. The most famous Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny, is regarded as a cultural icon and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[6] Many Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies films are ranked among the greatest animated cartoons of all time (e.g. the "hunting trilogy" (Rabbit Fire, Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!), Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc?), and five (Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales, Birds Anonymous, Knighty Knight Bugs, and For Scent-imental Reasons) have won Academy Awards.[7] Contents 1 History 1.1 1930–1933: Harman and Ising era 1.2 1933–1936: Leon Schlesinger Productions 1.3 1936–1944: More star characters and switch to color 1.4 1944–1964: Golden Age 1.5 1964–1969: DePatie–Freleng and Seven Arts era 1.6 1970–1999: Syndication and return to television and film 1.7 2000–present 1.8 Home media 2 Licensing and ownership 3 Filmography 4 Characters 5 Racial stereotypes 6 Accolades 6.1 Inducted into the National Film Registry 6.2 Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) 6.3 Academy Award nominations 7 Related media 7.1 Television series 7.2 Compilation films 7.3 Feature films 7.4 Direct-to-video 7.5 Comic books 7.5.1 Dell Publishing 7.5.2 Gold Key Comics/Whitman 7.5.3 DC Comics 7.6 Video games 8 See also 9 References 10 External links History In the beginning, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were built around songs from Warner's vast music library, starting with Sinkin' in the Bathtub, a pun on the song Singin' in the Bathtub in 1930. [8] Between 1934 and 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced in color and Looney Tunes in black and white.[4] After 1943 both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles.[4] Both series made use of the various Warner Bros. cartoon characters. By 1937, the theme music for Looney Tunes was "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, and the theme music for Merrie Melodies was an adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along" by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor. 1930–1933: Harman and Ising era In 1929, to compete against Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short cartoons, Warner Bros. became interested in developing a series of animated shorts to promote their music. They had recently acquired Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US$28 million (equivalent to $434 million in 2021) and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music and phonograph records. Warner made a deal with Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them. Schlesinger hired Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman to produce the first series of cartoons. Schlesinger was impressed by Harman's and Ising's 1929 pilot cartoon, Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid. The first Looney Tunes short was Sinkin' in the Bathtub starring Bosko, which was released in 1930.[2] Porky Pig in the intro to one of the Looney Tunes shorts in the late 1930s and early 1940s 1933–1936: Leon Schlesinger Productions When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons they had created. A new character called Buddy became the only star of the Looney Tunes series for a couple of years. New directors including Tex Avery, Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett were brought in or promoted to work with animators in the Schlesinger studio, with Avery's unit housed in a bungalow the animators dubbed "Termite Terrace." In 1935 they debuted the first major Looney Tunes star, Porky Pig, along with Beans the Cat in the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat directed by Friz Freleng. Beans was the star of the next Porky/Beans cartoon Gold Diggers of '49, but it was Porky who emerged as the star instead of Beans. The ensemble characters of I Haven't Got a Hat, such as Oliver Owl, and twin dogs Ham and Ex, were also given a sampling of shorts, but Beans and Porky proved much more popular. Beans was later phased out when his popularity declined, leaving Porky as the only star of the Schlesinger studio. 1936–1944: More star characters and switch to color The debuts of other memorable Looney Tunes stars followed: Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), Elmer Fudd in the Merrie Melodies short Elmer's Candid Camera (1940), Bugs Bunny in the Merrie Melodies short A Wild Hare (1940),[9] and Tweety in the Merrie Melodies short A Tale of Two Kitties (1942). Bugs initially starred in the color Merrie Melodies shorts following the success of 1940's A Wild Hare, and formally joined the Looney Tunes series with the release of Buckaroo Bugs in 1944. Schlesinger began to phase in the production of color Looney Tunes with the 1942 cartoon The Hep Cat. The final black-and-white Looney Tunes short was Puss n' Booty in 1943 directed by Frank Tashlin. The inspiration for the changeover was Warner's decision to re-release only the color cartoons in the Blue Ribbon Classics series of Merrie Melodies. Bugs made a cameo appearance in 1942 in the Avery/Clampett cartoon Crazy Cruise and also at the end of the Frank Tashlin 1943 cartoon Porky Pig's Feat, which marked Bugs' only official appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tunes short. Schlesinger sold his interest in the cartoon studio in 1944 to Warner Bros. and went into retirement; he died five years later. 1944–1964: Golden Age More popular Looney Tunes characters were created (most of which first appeared in Merrie Melodies cartoons) such as Pepé Le Pew (debuted in 1945's Odor-able Kitty), Sylvester (debuted in 1945's Life with Feathers), Yosemite Sam (debuted in 1945's Hare Trigger), Foghorn Leghorn (debuted in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky), Marvin the Martian (debuted in 1948's Haredevil Hare), Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (debuted in 1949's Fast and Furry-ous), Granny (debuted in 1950's Canary Row), Speedy Gonzales (debuted in 1953's Cat Tails for Two), and the Tasmanian Devil (debuted in 1954's Devil May Hare). 1964–1969: DePatie–Freleng and Seven Arts era During the mid-late 1960s, the shorts were produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (and Format Productions) (1964–1967) and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969) after Warner Bros. shut down their animation studio. The shorts from this era can be identified by their different title sequence, featuring stylized limited animation and graphics on a black background and a new arrangement, by William Lava, of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down". The change in the introductory title cards was possibly to reflect the switch in the animation style of the shorts themselves. In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts commissioned an animation studio in South Korea to redraw 79 black-and-white Looney Tunes produced from 1935 to 1943 in color to be syndicated to TV stations.[10] The original Looney Tunes theatrical series ran from 1930 to 1969 (the last short being Bugged by a Bee, by Robert McKimson).[2] 1970–1999: Syndication and return to television and film The Looney Tunes series' popularity was strengthened even more when the shorts began airing on network and syndicated television in the 1950s, under various titles and formats. However, the Looney Tunes shorts were edited, removing scenes of violence (particularly suicidal gags and scenes of characters doing dangerous stunts that impressionable viewers could easily imitate), racial and ethnic caricatures (including stereotypical portrayals of African-Americans, Mexicans, Jews, Native Americans, Asians, and Germans as Nazis), and questionable vices (such as smoking cigarettes, ingesting pills, and drinking alcohol). Production of theatrical animated shorts was 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. While many of them have been released in limited releases theatrically for Academy Award consideration, only a few have gained theatrical releases with movies. In the 1970s through the early 1990s, several feature-film compilations and television specials were produced, mostly centering on Bugs Bunny and/or Daffy Duck, with a mixture of new and old footage. In 1976, the Looney Tunes characters made their way into the amusement business when they became the mascots for the two Marriott's Great America theme parks (Gurnee and Santa Clara). After the Gurnee park was sold to Six Flags, they also claimed the rights to use the characters at the other Six Flags parks, which they continue to do presently. In 1988, several Looney Tunes characters appeared in cameo roles in Disney's film, Who Framed Roger Rabbit. The more significant cameos featured Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Yosemite Sam. It is the only time in which Looney Tunes characters have shared screen time with their rivals at Disney (producers of the film)—particularly in the scenes where Bugs and Mickey Mouse are skydiving, and when Daffy and Donald Duck are performing their "Dueling Pianos" sequence. Nickelodeon aired all the unaired cartoons in a show called Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon between 1988 and 1999. In January 1999, it was reported that the cartoons shown on Nickelodeon would move to Cartoon Network in the fall of that year.[11] To date, Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon is the longest-airing animated series on the network that was not a Nicktoon. In 1996, Space Jam, a live-action animated film, was released to theaters starring Bugs Bunny and basketball player Michael Jordan. Despite a mixed critical reception,[12] the film was a major box-office success, grossing nearly $100 million in the U.S. alone, almost becoming the first non-Disney animated film to achieve that feat.[13] For a two-year period, it was the highest grossing non-Disney animated film ever.[14] The film also introduced the character Lola Bunny, who subsequently became another recurring member of the Looney Tunes cast, usually as a love interest for Bugs. In 1997, Bugs Bunny was featured on a U.S. 32 cent postage stamp; the first of five Looney Tunes themed stamps to be issued.[15] The Looney Tunes also achieved success in the area of television during this era, with appearances in several originally produced series, including Taz-Mania (1991, starring Taz) and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995, starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny). The gang also made frequent cameos in the 1990 spinoff series Tiny Toon Adventures, from executive producer Steven Spielberg, where they played teachers and mentors to a younger generation of cartoon characters (Plucky Duck, Hamton J. Pig, Babs and Buster Bunny, etc.), plus occasional cameos in the later Warner shows Animaniacs (also from Spielberg) and Histeria!. 2000–present In March 2000, it was revealed that the entire Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library would be exclusive to Cartoon Network starting fall of that year.[16] Looney Tunes shorts were still airing on ABC as part of The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show at the time, and the decision led to the show's cancellation. This decision would remain in effect for over 20 years, until MeTV began airing the classic Warner Bros. cartoons (along with MGM and Paramount's library) in January 2021. In 2003, another feature film was released, this time in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original shorts: the live-action/animated Looney Tunes: Back in Action. Although the film wasn't financially successful,[17] it was met with mixed-to-positive reviews from film critics and has been argued by animation historians and fans as the finest original feature-length appearance of the cartoon characters.[14][18][19][20] In 2006, Warner Home Video released a new and Christmas-themed Looney Tunes direct-to-video film called Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, a parody of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Other Looney Tunes TV series made during this time were Baby Looney Tunes (2001–2006), Duck Dodgers (2003-2005) and Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007). On October 22, 2007, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons became available for the first time in High-definition via Microsoft's Xbox Live service, including some in Spanish.[21] From February 29 – May 18, 2008, many Looney Tunes artifacts, including original animation cels and concept drawings, were on display at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, just off the campus of Youngstown State University, near where the Warners lived early in life.[22] At the 2009 Cartoon Network upfront, The Looney Tunes Show was announced.[23] After several delays, the series premiered on May 3, 2011. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation, the series centers on Bugs and Daffy as they leave the woods and move to the suburbs with "colorful neighbors" including Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Yosemite Sam, etc. The series introduced the character Tina Russo, a duck who becomes Daffy's girlfriend. The show also features 2-minute music videos titled respectfully "Merrie Melodies" (as a tribute to the Looney Tunes sister shorts) which features the characters singing original songs, as well as CGI animated shorts starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (which were removed after the first season). The series was cancelled after its second season.[24] Also, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner returned to the big screen in a series of 3-D shorts that preceded select Warner Bros. films. There were six in the works that began with the first short, Coyote Falls, that preceded the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which was released on July 30, 2010. On September 24, 2010, Fur of Flying preceded the film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole, and on December 17, 2010, Rabid Rider preceded the film, Yogi Bear. On June 8, 2011, Warner Bros. Animation announced that there will be more Looney Tunes 3-D theatrical shorts; the first titled Daffy's Rhapsody with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, the next being I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny. Daffy's Rhapsody was to precede the film Happy Feet Two,[25] until the studio decided to premiere I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat instead. Daffy's Rhapsody instead premiered in 2012, preceding Journey 2: The Mysterious Island.[26] All five shorts were directed by Matthew O'Callaghan. In 2012, several announcements were made about a Looney Tunes reboot film titled Acme, in development.[27] Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jenny Slate was said to be on board as writer for the new film. Jeffrey Clifford, Harry Potter producer David Heyman, and Dark Shadows writers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith were slated to produce the film.[28] On August 27, 2014, writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to script the film, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa were in talks to direct the film, while actor Steve Carell was rumored to be starring in a lead role.[29] Despite this, the film has yet to enter production. At the 2014 Cartoon Network upfront, another series titled Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production (later New Looney Tunes) was announced.[30] Starring Bugs Bunny, the series premiered on both Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang in Fall 2015.[31] The series has had an unusually slow rollout, with the series having moved to the Boomerang streaming service in 2017, and was eventually cancelled on January 30, 2020. On June 11, 2018, another series, titled Looney Tunes Cartoons, was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on May 27, 2020, on the streaming service HBO Max. Its first season features "1,000 minutes of new one-to-six minute cartoons featuring the brand's marquee characters", voiced by their current voice actors in "simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories" that are rendered by multiple artists employing "a visual style that will resonate with fans", most noticeably having a style reminiscent of the styles of Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson.[32] According to co-executive producer Peter Browngardt, "We're not doing guns, but we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All that was kind of grandfathered in."[33] Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation also serves as co-executive producers for the series.[32] However guns were implanted in Season 2. On February 11, 2021, it was announced two new series are in the works: Bugs Bunny Builders and Tweety Mysteries. Bugs Bunny Builders will air on Cartoon Network as part of Cartoonito and HBO Max; Tweety Mysteries will also air on Cartoon Network.[34][35] Bugs Bunny Builders will be aimed towards preschoolers; while Tweety Mysteries is a live-action/animated hybrid. A sequel to Space Jam titled Space Jam: A New Legacy, starring basketball mega superstar LeBron James, was released on theaters and HBO Max on July 16th, 2021 after a Los Angeles special screening on July 12th, 2021. It is a film with a story of LeBron James' second son, Bryce, gets kidnapped by an evil AI or algorithm online, into the Warner Bros. serververse. LeBron then assembles the Looney Tunes to play against the algorithm and get his son back. Home media In the 1980s, the shorts received VHS releases, with the pre-August 1948 shorts released by MGM/UA Home Video and the post-July 1948 shorts released by Warner Home Video. In 2003, Warner Home Video began releasing select shorts on DVD, aimed at collectors, in four-disc sets known as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection. This continued until 2008, when the final volume of the Golden Collection was released. Then in 2010 until 2013, the company released the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVDs. There have been numerous complaints regarding the Super Stars releases however, particularly the first two, having the post-1953 shorts in a 16:9 widescreen format. The last DVD in the Super Stars series was Sylvester and Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem, released on April 23, 2013. 2010 and 2011 saw the releases of The Essential Bugs Bunny and The Essential Daffy Duck DVDs. In 2011, the shorts were released on Blu-ray Disc for the first time with the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection series. On September 19, 2017, Warner Home Video's Warner Archive Collection released the five-disc Porky Pig 101 DVD-set.[36] Licensing and ownership In 1933, Harman and Ising left, taking the rights to the Bosko characters with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons and the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies brand names, leaving their former producer Leon Schlesinger to start his own animation studio to continue the Looney Tunes series. With their retained Bosko rights, Harman and Ising began making cartoons at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934 until they were fired in 1937 due to a lack of success. MGM proceeded to form their own studio to create its own cartoons. Time Warner eventually acquired the Bosko characters from Harman and Ising's estates. Meanwhile, the Schlesinger studio continued to make popular cartoons until 1944 when Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. Since then, Warner Bros. has owned all rights to all post-1933 characters created by Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons. The rights to individual cartoons however are in other hands. In 1955, Warner Bros. sold the television distribution rights to 191 of its cartoons (which included the black-and-white Looney Tunes and the black-and-white Merrie Melodies made after Harman and Ising left) to Guild Films.[37] The copyrights to those cartoons were assigned to Sunset Productions, an entity owned by Warner Bros.[38][39] The cartoons were distributed by Guild Films until it went bankrupt and was bought by Seven Arts. Seven Arts bought WB in 1967, and WB regained the TV distribution rights to the black and white cartoons. In 1956, Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) acquired television distribution rights to most of Warner Bros' pre-1950[40][41] library, including all Merrie Melodies (except for those sold to Guild and Lady, Play Your Mandolin!) and color Looney Tunes shorts that were released prior to August 1948, while Warner still owned the copyright all of the cartoons. Unlike the previous TV package, this package had the Warner titles kept intact and an "Associated Artists Productions presents" title inserted at the head of each reel (as a result, each Merrie Melodies cartoon had the song "Merrily We Roll Along" playing twice).[42] Two years later, United Artists bought a.a.p. (which has also bought Paramount's Popeye films) who merged the company into its television division, United Artists Television. In 1981, UA was sold to MGM, and five years later, Ted Turner acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library, as well the rights to the a.a.p. library. In 1996, Turner's company, Turner Broadcasting System (whose Turner Entertainment division oversaw the film library), was purchased by Time Warner (now AT&T's WarnerMedia) who also owned Warner Bros. Today, Warner Home Video holds the video rights to the entire Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies animated output by virtue of Warner Bros.' ownership of Turner Entertainment. Starting in 1960, the cartoons were repackaged into several different TV programs that remained popular for several decades before being purchased by Turner Broadcasting System.[43] Turner's Cartoon Network reran the cartoons from their launch in 1992 until 2004, and again from 2009 until 2017. The Looney Tunes Show (not to be confused with the 2010s animated series of the same name), an early 2000s anthology produced by Warner Bros. Animation for the network, was broadcast from 2001[44] to 2004. The show featured shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical series. As of 2013, classic cartoons continue to air on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang. Differing curated collections of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are available for streaming on both the Boomerang streaming service and HBO Max.[45] Five dozen Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts from before December 1943 have lapsed into the public domain and are thus freely distributed through various unofficial releases. Filmography Main article: Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography Characters Main article: List of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters Racial stereotypes Due to content considered racist, stereotyped or insensitive, in 1968 Warner Bros. removed the "Censored Eleven" episodes of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from broadcast or distribution. Depictions included those of African Americans, Native Americans, East Asians (especially during WWII, as in Tokio Jokio and Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips), Germans, Italians, White Southerners, and Mexicans.[46] Eleven cartoons were withdrawn from distribution in 1968 that prominently featured stereotypical black characters (and a few passing jokes about Japanese people, as in Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and Jungle Jitters). In 1999, Cartoon Network ceased broadcast of all Speedy Gonzales segments, due to concerns about stereotyping of Mexicans.[47] Many Hispanics protested that they were not offended, and expressed fondness for the Speedy Gonzalez cartoons. These shorts were made available for Cartoon Network broadcast again in 2002.[48] Many Warner Bros. cartoons contain fleeting or sometimes extended gags that make reference to racial or ethnic stereotypes, or use ethnic humor. The release of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 includes a disclaimer at the beginning of each DVD in the volume given by Whoopi Goldberg. She explains that the cartoons are products of their time and contain racial and ethnic stereotypes that "were wrong then and they are wrong today", but the cartoons are presented on the DVD uncut and uncensored because "editing them would be the same as denying that the stereotypes existed." A written disclaimer similar to the words spoken by Goldberg in Volume 3 is shown at the beginning of each DVD in the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4, Volume 5, and Volume 6 sets, as well as the Daffy Duck and Foghorn Leghorn Looney Tunes Super Stars sets and the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection. Accolades Inducted into the National Film Registry Porky in Wackyland (1938), selected in 2000[49] Duck Amuck (1953), selected in 1999 One Froggy Evening (1955), selected in 2003 What's Opera, Doc? (1957), selected in 1992 Academy Awards for Best Short Subject (Cartoon) Tweetie Pie (1947)[50] (MM) For Scent-imental Reasons (1949)[51] (LT) Speedy Gonzales (1955)[52] (MM) Birds Anonymous (1957)[53] (MM) Knighty Knight Bugs (1958)[54] (LT) Academy Award nominations Swooner Crooner (1944) Walky Talky Hawky (1946) Mouse Wreckers (1949) From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (1954) Sandy Claws (1955) Tabasco Road (1957) Mexicali Shmoes (1959) Mouse and Garden (1960) High Note (1960) The Pied Piper of Guadalupe (1961) Now Hear This (1963) Related media Television series Series marked with * are compilations of earlier shorts. The Bugs Bunny Show* (1960–2000) The Porky Pig Show* (1964–1967) The Road Runner Show* (1966–1973) The Merrie Melodies Show* (1972) Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends* (1990–1994) Tiny Toon Adventures (1990–1992) Taz-Mania (1991–1995) The Plucky Duck Show (1992) The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995–2000) Bugs 'n' Daffy* (1995–1998) Baby Looney Tunes (2001–2006) Duck Dodgers (2003–2005) Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007) The Looney Tunes Show (2011–2013) New Looney Tunes (2015–2020) Looney Tunes Cartoons (2020–present) Tooned Out (2021) Tiny Toons Looniversity (TBA) Bugs Bunny Builders (TBA) Tweety Mysteries (TBA) Compilation films Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975) The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979) The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981) Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982) Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island (1983) Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988) The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame (1991) Feature films Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988) (cameos only) Space Jam (1996) Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003) Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021) Coyote vs. Acme (2023) Direct-to-video Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992) Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000) Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure (2003) Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006) Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run (2015) Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam (2021) (archival footage only) Comic books Dell Publishing Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies Comics #1–165 (Dell Publishing, 1941–1955) Bugs Bunny #1–85 (Dell Publishing, 1942–1962) Porky Pig #1–81 (Dell Publishing, 1942–1962) Tweety and Sylvester #1–37 (Dell Publishing, 1952–1962) Daffy Duck #1–30 (Dell Publishing, 1953–1962) Looney Tunes #166–246 (Dell Publishing, 1955–1962) Beep Beep The Road Runner #1–14 (Dell Publishing, 1958–1962) Gold Key Comics/Whitman Bugs Bunny #86–245 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1962–1984) Daffy Duck #31–145 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1962–1984) Tweety and Sylvester #1–120 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1963–1984) Porky Pig #1–109 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1965–1984) Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny #1–80 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1970–1983) Beep Beep The Road Runner #1–105 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1971–1984) Looney Tunes #1–47 (Gold Key Comics/Whitman, 1975–1984) DC Comics Bugs Bunny #1–3 (DC Comics, 1990); #1–3 (DC Comics, 1993) Looney Tunes #1–present (DC Comics, 1994–present) Plus various one-shots, specials and appearances in anthology comics like March of Comics, Top Comics and Dell Giant from various Western Publishing imprints. The numbering of the Dell issues generally includes 3-4 appearances in Dell's Four Color comics. Video games For a more comprehensive list, see List of Looney Tunes video games. See also icon Television portal flag United States portal icon Cartoon portal Merrie Melodies, another series of animated cartoons also produced by Warner Bros. between 1931 and 1969 Silly Symphony, a series of animated shorts produced by Walt Disney Productions between 1929 and 1939 Happy Harmonies, a series of animated shorts distributed by MGM between 1934 and 1938 Warner Bros. Cartoons List of Warner Bros. cartoons with Blue Ribbon reissues References
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