Help select the 100 greatest Looney Tunes
Animation historian Jerry Beck says:
I've just posted about my new book project on CARTOON BREW.The concept is similar to my long out-of-print book, The 50 Greatest Cartoons (1994), only this time its all Warner Bros. Cartoons and we will highlight the top one hundred. In 1994, for my previous book, we didn't have the Internet to do the poll (nor did I have a blog). It should be exciting to see what the consensus of the online world is.
I'll cull the final one hundred out of what titles we receive by January 9th - and I'll credit all online contributors with an acknowledgment in the book.
the latest
latest episodes
"What's Opera Doc". Best. Cartoon. Ever.
The one where Daffy upstages Bugs by loading himself with explosives and swallowing a lit match in order to explode in a huge fireball. It ends with his upward floating ghost leering and gloating. Did I imagine this? Where can I see it again?
1 vote here for The Abominable Snow Rabbit
Ditto to #1's pick. I'd add "One Froggy Evening", "Rabbit of Seville", "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century", and that first Marvin the Martian one.
Practically anything that Chuck Jones did!
Wabbit Season!
Talk about a surfeit of riches...
"Rabbit Seasoning"
Igpajo, tok the words right out of my keyboard..
Duck Dodgers, One Froggy Evening, What's Opera Doc, Rabbit of Seville, Duck Amuck.. many, many more.
Definitely "One Froggy Evening". Also "Falling Hare", although it's technically a Merrie Melodie.
Hair-Raising Hare is a pretty good one (among *many* of course!)
Watch:
Duck Dodgers
One Froggy Evening
Rabbit of Seville
What's Opera Doc
Duck Amuck
MAD AS A MARS HARE **
It's hard to argue against "What's Opera Doc", but if you've never seen "Chow Hound", available on Looney Tunes Vol. 6, it's an absolute must. The ending is incredibly dark!
I am humbled to be in the presence of connoisseurs.
The one where Foghorn Leghorn teases that dog. I guess he did that in most of them.
HareDevil Hare
@13
Is that the one where the dog finally remembers the gravy?
Chow Hound
@16
Yeh, the end is like the Mr Creosote scene, from Monty Python's Meaning of Life..
..only, less explodey.
Argh, the one with Bugs and Rocky the gangster.... which was that? You know, "He might, Rabbit, he might."
My childhood introduction to Irish stereotypes!
...The Top Ten, in order:
1) "What's Opera, Doc?"
2) "Duck Dodgers in the 24th and a Half Century!"
3) "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarves!"
4) "Paging Miss Glory"
5) "Horton Hatches The Egg!"
6) "One Froggy Evening"
7) "The Hypochondri-Cat"
8) "Wabbit Seasoning"
9) "Chow Hound"
10) "Porky in Wackyland"
...Honorable mention to the Jack Benny as a Mouse one, "I Love Ta Singa", and "Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips!", the latter I'd love to see Jerry have the balls to list anywhere in his top 100!
I vote for Rabbit of Seville.
I also nominate Arkizzle, the official Link King.
Seconding "What's Opera Doc" and "Duck Amuck", definitely. I've always been quite partial to "The Scarlet Pumpernickel", too, even though it mostly features characters I don't care for.
Church,
Racketeer Rabbit?
The humour has a way of changing over time. I remember someone complaining to a television station for showing a Bugs Bunny cartoon that ends with Bugs looking into the camera and saying, "Yeah, I know, but deep down aren't they all witches?". Some of the other eps haven't held up that well either in terms of political correctness.
COOK! COOK!! WHERE'S MY LUNCH? WHERE'S MY HASSENPFEFFER?!
Oh, and any Foghorn Leghorn where he paddles the dog's ass with a board. Gotta love that.
Seriously, just too many good ones to choose from. "Daddy! You're home from Peru! We thought you'd been run ovah by an elevator!"
SCHULTZ! OFFICE!!
Church,
Or Bugs & Thugs?
off topic - While I've always loved Loony Tunes, I liked MGM's Tom and Jerry cartoons better. The old ones, not the ones made decades later.
I don't see mention of two of my favorites. One was when the gremlin and Bugs were on the plane together, the other was the WWII Bugs at war, although I don't think he ever said Hitlers name, there was no doubt.
I don't see mention of two of my favorites. One was when the gremlin and Bugs were on the plane together, the other was the WWII Bugs at war, although I don't think he ever said Hitlers name, there was no doubt.
Thanks Tom,
I'm afraid the official BB Link King award has to go to either Takuan or ZuZu, but I'll accept it for this thread :)
Church, it's definitely Bugs & Thugs (which looks like a nearly-straight remake of Racketeer Rabbit).
My Irish bones are both cringing and giggling :)
FoamHeart:
Falling Hare
Arkizzle
I second you for king of links. My ribs hurt from laughing so hard. winwinwinwinwinwinwin
Another Bugs-at-War one:
Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips, since removed from circulation for its racial stereotypes..
Don't forget the Three Little Bops!
"…The Big Bad Wolf, he learned the rule: you gotta get hot to play real cool!"
Any Bonds Today? Bug's appeal for buying wartime bonds.
KaosMonkey
I'm cracking up myself, this is great fun :)
The titles are somewhat fuzzy..
Robin Hood Daffy?
"Actually its a buck-and-a-quarter, quarter-staff."
?? The one where bugs is in the French Foriegn Legion and Yosimite Sam is an Arab?
"Whoa camel.. whoaaa.. When I says whoa.. *WHAM* I means, WHOA!"
The one with Bugs and the Abominable snow man..
"I will hug him and squeeze him and name him George"
The one(s) where Bugs stands in for the Road Runner and foils Wyle E Coyote.. Super Genius..
Bugs and Count Dracula?
Foghorn Leghorn and the egg-headed little kid rooster..
ahh.. I could go on and on..
Tokio Jokio
Looney Tunes WW2 propaganda, that does feature a quick shot of Hitler amongst other pretty bad stuff.
OK, no more war stuff.
Are we limited to Warner Bros. cartoon shorts? My personal favorite animated film is "Fantastic Planet".
Chuck Jones is a master no doubt but there are plenty of others also. Especially early stuff, Betty Boop, Woody Woodpecker and many many more.
Or... Don Hertzfeldt - Rejected.
My spoon is too big.
BobDotCom:
Walky Talky Hawky
The Foghorn Leghorn
A Fractured Leghorn
Bugs and Count Dracula - that one was great - can't find it on YouTube - anyone remember the title of that one? I'm downloading these for my Zune.
Noen,
just Warner Brothers, there is a list.
people have mentioned some that MUST be on the list -- but i'm surprised nobody has mentioned "FEED THE KITTY", one of the best chuck jones non-bugs-bunny shorts ever: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eN2g0MyHABY
Tom,
Transylvania 6-5000
I love Don Hertzfeldt's animations. My wife thinks they're stupid. Then again she thinks Monty Python is stupid - I tell her their comic genius is over her head - that always tics her off lol.
Hyde and Hare
Hyde and Go Tweet
Compare.
I Love To Singa (1936)
Porky In Wackyland (1939)
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
Ken D
"Enough is too much!"
Duck Amuck for sure. A very interesting, and almost trippy, daffy duck skit. Both useful for breaking down the medium of animation and just the creative play this episode is still one of my favorites.
Oh, there's a list - thx
which one has the mad scientist...where the bottle of ether breaks and he's chasing Bugs and slowly saying "Come...back...here....Rab.......bit...."?
Franko, Feed the Kitty is brilliant, thanks!
High Diving Hare! "I come to see Fearless Freep and ah'ma gonna see Fearless Freep!"
Tom, let me reassure the saddened spirit that gave me the Link-King for a Thread award that all the links I posted were pure GoogleFu. I didn't look at the list once, I promise :)
Ken:
I Love To Singa (1936)
Porky In Wackyland (1939)
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
Riledupone
High Diving Hare
Seriously, these comments are almost completely overlooking the most beautiful cartoons Warner Brothers ever made: Road Runner cartoons.
They were universally funny — not dependent on language or cultural references — and used the most beautiful landscapes in cartoons (outside of Disney), the American southwest. These were borrowed (as homage?) from George Herrmann's Krazy Kat and forced the animators to produce exquisite pans.
They also led to the best use of sound in cartoons period. Some of the great ones were Ready, Set, Zoom!, Guided Muscle, and Going! Going! Gosh!.
But I think the single best Warner Brothers cartoon of all time is one they produced as a feature but treated like a product of Termite Terrace, Iron Giant.
MellowKnees
Water Water Every Hare
Whyer, if you build it - they will come..
Ready, Set, Zoom!, Guided Muscle, and Going! Going! Gosh!.
Arkizzle #55 - that's because you have a talent - a rare gift that most people don't possess. You need to stop denying your talent and embrace it. Otherwise, it may stagnate and never reach its full potential. Sure, Takuan is the undisputed king of recalling obscure info and obscure links, but nobody can post links in the machine gun-like manner as you have. Remember, above all things, to thine own self be true.
Arkizzle, you're my hero. "Bugs and Thugs" it is.
#53 posted by mellowknees Author Profile Page, December 18, 2008 6:24 PM
which one has the mad scientist...where the bottle of ether breaks and he's chasing Bugs and slowly saying "Come...back...here....Rab.......bit...."?
Water Water Every Hare - "such an interesting hairdo for such an interesting monster!"
Baseball Bugs
Aw jeez, thanks Tom. You really know how to brighten a fella's day.
Yeah, talent. That's what I'll tell the ladies.
Long Haired Hare
Super rare Warner Brothers one-off:
Norman Normal
Drabulous. Sounds like Dustin Hoffman's Graduate on the voice (it isn't).
fancy shootin' there Zizzle! Are you equally encyclopedic on all vintage animation or is this stuff a favorite? What I'd like to see is a competition on speed identifying those clips on Futurama's opening sequence. You know, the brief flash of a few frames on the billboard, different every episode.
I've got to ask - weren't the Animaniacs _also_ Warner Brothers Cartoons? Surely there are a couple which deserve mention... I don't know the titles but the one with the song "You Never Know What The Monkeys Won't Do" springs to mind...
And one of my personal Animaniacs favorites is whatever Pinky & The Brain cartoon contains the following exchange:
"Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Pinky?"
"Oi tink so Brain, but where're we gonna get a duck and a hose this time o' night?"
"..speed identifying those clips on Futurama's opening sequence."
Now that is tough :)
I just happen to have a lot of exposure to Chuck Jones et al from the learnin'. And my GoogleFu is strong.
Whoa, camel! WHOA! Awwww, come on, whoooaaaa...
When I say whoa, I mean... WHOA.
Just John, you're thinking of Little Boy Boo, also one of my favorites. "Yeah, I know figures don't lie. But still. One side boy. I better not look, I just might be in there."
I am wondering if it would be possible to include a DVD with the upcoming book of top cartoons. I'm concerned that these treasures may not always be available on youtube and it would be nice to rent or buy a DVD that contained copies of these classic cartoons. Would the legal hurdles to something like that be insurmountable?
I was very sad to learn that a link to youtube I posted earlier has since been taken down and many of Takuan's links bear the black screen, "We're sorry this video is no longer available" tag. What's up with that?? Trust me, I love youtube tennis just as much as you do, but does posting links here mean they will soon disappear from youtube forever?
I think it would be great, if the music and animation historians out there could find a way to bring the annotated and compiled classic television in an inexpensive (doesn't have to be free) format to the humble masses. Book/DVD combos would be cool.
Aw common, BB, no love for the Dover Boys?
really? I don't follow up after an initial check that it posted at least once. Do say something if a link seems dead, I can look for an alternate.
JustJohn:
Robin Hood Daffy?
The one where bugs is in the French Foriegn Legion and Yosimite Sam is an Arab?
"Whoa camel.. whoaaa.. When I says whoa.. *WHAM* I means, WHOA!"
Sahara Hare
The one with Bugs and the Abominable snow man..
"I will hug him and squeeze him and name him George"
The Abominal Snow Hare
The one(s) where Bugs stands in for the Road Runner and foils Wyle E Coyote.. Super Genius..
Operation: Rabbit
Bugs and Count Dracula?
Transylvania 6-5000
Foghorn Leghorn and the egg-headed little kid rooster..
Egghead Jr. (but I can't find a link.. sorry, my Fu has failed me..)
If it helps; see all this as ephemeral. All is of the moment and that moment is lost, what matter? Another is already happening. Since we are infinite, so is the web. A take-down? Damage to route around.
leprechaun's gold
Arkizzle, see #73
Definately Transylvania 6-5000
Ring if you need anything, Cyanide or something like that?
Do do do do do Hocus Pocus!
...There's a slight shame this is limited to just the 100% WB shorts. Many of the Private Snafu agitprop shorts done for the Aaaarmy in WWII classify as classics. Especially Snafuperman and the one about Malaria with the mosquito bomber raids!
"Duck Amok" tops my list but "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" is a good top ten choice. Shame it has to have such a stigma attached to it, as its really some of Clampett's best work.
Foetus, you're totally right, I read the 'cast' as the episode title..
Well caught.. :)
Takuan, that's another moment right?
To name a few...
Drip along Daffy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_yDpmvwSrs
Water Water Every Hare (takes ether with Boris Karloff!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92pC4o5r5fg
Early to bet (that music!!!!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNg5wJXxbq0
But does anybody remember one that was a parody of the "our modern world" style of news reel that was about caveman technology?
Hah! I'm watching Foghorn Leghorn on YouTube and Cook It, Kill It, Eat It! (christmas turkey edition) on the tv..
Uncomfortable jux.
http://www.tk421.net/gallery/sounds/seen.wav
Tak
The bastards stuck a bandwidth-theft banner on your link!
How very dare they.
It's a nice fit though :)
Rabbit Seasoning.
I appreciate the artistry of "What's Opera, Doc" and "The Rabbit of Seville" was directly responsible for me discovering opera.
But you simply cannot top such great lines as:
"Ah ha! Pronoun trouble. It isn't 'he doesn't have to shoot you now', it's 'he doesn't have to shoot me now'. But I say he does have to shoot me now! So shoot me now!"
and
'Oh no. Not again. This time, wait til you get home'
Rocket-bye Baby!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sIbx6hrF7o
We have Foghorn Leghorn and Henery Hawk hanging on our Xmas tree.
Feed the Kitty. Pared down the medium to its most essential elements using characters never before seen but never since forgotten to create a classic.
I'm lovin this. It's been awhile since I've had a rabid discussion concerning which of these were the best, 'cause they all rock. Incorporating lovely music, inventive sound effects, straightforward physics combined with outlandish physics, and some of the most clever wordplay has gone away from saturday morning. These links, Arkizzle, are wonderful. Oh, and my personal favorite is Robin Hood Daffy.
"Yoiks! And Away!"
"To trip, and trip and trippa-whoa-trip-trippa..."
"Haha, very funny. Hoho, it is to laff."
"Ho! Haha! Guard, turn, perry, dodge,SPIN, Thrust!"
you keep a Solstice Tree?
#91 no probs JC
My 4 yr old son demands a tree, which he decorated in Nov.
Transylvania 6-500. Abracapocus!
It's a dead heat:
One Froggy Evening
Duck Amuck
Robin Hood / Little John / Sheriff of Nottingham
"Arise, Sir Loin of Beef"
"Arise, Sir Osis of Liver"
"Don't you worry, never fear, Robin Hood will soon be here"
Priceless!
WAY too many Chuck Jones cartoons here. Not nearly enough Clampett or Freeling (or Tashlin).
another vote for Bugs the Matador
Hey Oldboy, I second "Three little bops"! Ya gotta get hot to play real cool!
All of the above, but certainly 'Much Ado About Nutting'....which is the story of the squirrel that finds himself in a nut store. Classic!!! http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x878o_much-ado-about-nutting-1953
Sorry to burst everyone's bubble, but it's been done before by the Cartoon Network. Granted that it was a critical assessment of Looney Tunes, rather than this populist assessment, but it has been done. Best wishes, Earl
The Wearing of the Grin
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5hXlc_qBpA
Surreal piggy leprechaun goodness
@105 Earlrshay
Jeez dude, lighten up. We're all just talking bout cartoons and stuff.
Two of the best I can come up with that are Bugs Bunny ones are "Waikiki Rabbit" and also "Gorilla my Dreams". But there are a few cartoons with Claude the cat and that annoying barking puppy that just make me laugh until I'm close to going on myself! There are so many Chuck "Amok" Jones cartoons to pick just one, but I can give you a few thoughs on some:
"Scaredy Cat", The one with Porky Pig and Sylvester as his cat. The part when Sylvester has seen who's haunting the house and comes to Porky and he's all white - CLASSIC!
"Rabbit's Kin", with Bugs and his cousin outwiting Pete Puma. My favorite lines from the cartoon:
Pete, "I don't like tea, it gives me a headache."
Bugs. "Then what do you like?"
Pete, ""COFFEE!"
There are many more (a few Foghorn Leghorns and a few Pepe Le Pews) but if you are a fan of Chuck Jones, you are a friend of mine!
"In 1994, for my previous book, we didn't have the Internet to do the poll"
Really? Were you confined to a desert island somewhere?
I participated in a poll for the creation of the usenet group rec.motorcycles.harley in 1992.
Don't brag about being ignorant of the internet in the 90s...
"Bugs Bonnets" is one of my favorites
All the ones I love have already been listed, but my parents' favorite is one where Bugs is running around on some Southern estate taunting some sleepy basset hound and whenever something bad happens, his master screams, "OH BELVADERE! COME HEAH, BOY!" and smacks him.
Water Water Every Hair - Bugs Bunny with the evil mad scientist, the orange hairy monster, and the slo-mo ether chase, of course!
can't remember the actual name, but it doesn't look like anyone mentioned the "Open Sesame" Bugs Bunny one. probably my favorite.
Duck Amuck!!!!
Hillbilly Hare.
Best squaredance ever.
"Oh, We're the boys of Dover,
we hope you like our show!
We know you're rootin' for us,
but now we have to go!"
What’s Opera, Doc?
Devil May Hare
I recall, some years back, when Cartoon Network did its "Top 100 Cartoons of all time" (which, of course, was THEIR Top 100 cartoons they had the rights to) -- and I was pleased that "Duck Amuck" came out as #1.
"THE GREAT PIGGY BANK ROBBERY"
...Snake Eyes! Batman! Eraserhead! "I'm gonna rrrrrrrrrub you out! rrrrrrrr, rrrrrrrrrrrrrub you out, see?!"
horton hatches the egg is a really clever one
Okay, I gotta represent for my man Daffy.
Alas that I cannot get to YouTube from my work account, and that I don't have my Looney Tunes Collections at hand. I'm reasonably adept at Google-Fu, so we'll see what we get here.
"Daffy Duck in Hollywood", 1938. Daffy terrorizes a fat German director and sabotages his film, substituting the director's sappy romance with his own madcap stock-footage mashup.
"Daffy the Commando" 1943. Great anti-Nazi propaganda. Daffy even gets to whack ol' Adolf with a mallet. This cartoon apparently inspired Werner Klemperer's take on Col. Klink.
"Draftee Daffy" 1945. Daffy tries to evade an apparently indestructable draft-board official, who even follows him into Hell.
"Daffy Doodles" 1946. Daffy as a mustache-painting graffiti artist, and Porky as the dedicated cop who tries to stop him. Best moments: Daffy paints a mustache in midair, which Porky runs smack into mid-chase. Then there's the acquittal by a mustachioed judge and jury.
"Ali Baba Bunny" 1957. Another one with Bugs giving Daffy the short end of the stick. The duo are headed for Pismo Beach but end up in Arabia. They run afoul of Mad Hassan ("Hassan Chop!"), who looks suspiciously like Mugsy in a turban, and a genie. Daffy ends up shrunken to about two inches high, clutching a single pearl and babbling about how he's financially secure and a happy miser. "Consequences, schmonsequences, as long as I'm rich!"
Anybody else?
"He does not have to shoot you now"
This cartoon's from MGM, but it was by Tex Avery so it should count: 'Red Hot Riding Hood'.
But if we have to stick to strictly Warner Bros., I vote for Bob Clampett's 'Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs'.
Two words:
"Hassaaaaahn CHOP!"
1) Rabbit of Seville
2) Duck Amuck
3) Baseball Bugs
porky pig on mars you got the last dodo and the rubber band band minus the racist elements
bugs- "interesting monsters have interesting hair"
daffy-gets bit by the gambling bug
"Hair-Raising Hare" Easily one of the best Looney Tunes of all time.
"Wild Wild World"
Loved this when I was a kid.
From Wikipedia: A Warner Bros. cartoon released in the Merrie Melodies series in 1960 and directed by Robert McKimson. It's a parody of the television series Wide Wide World hosted by Dave Garroway. In this cartoon, "Cave Darroway" presents a recently discovered film taken during the Cro-Magnon era. The stone age gags in the "film" predate and possibly inspired The Flintstones which made its debut in 1960.
Bunny Hugged
Rabbitson Crusoe
Homeless Hare:
http://video.aol.com/video/tv-homeless-hare/1789261
Classic homeowner holdout.
What's Opera, Doc? or Duck Dodgers in 24 1/2 Century!
Best of Bugs; best of Daffy; best of Marvin.
Say n'more...
What about the one where Bugs is the conductor and he tortures the opera singer by making him sing for hellishly long periods? Can't think of a title for that one but it's one of my faves.
Water, Water Every Hare
Broom-Stick Bunny
Bully for Bugs
Knighty Knight Bugs
Transylvania 6-5000
Bunny Hugged
Rhapsody Rabbit
Rabbit of Seville
Hillbilly Hare
Devil May Hare
my all time favorite is with Bugs Bunny and Pete Puma "how many lumps do you want" and of course
Rabbit Seasoning ranks up there as well
No one likes "French Rarebit"? C'mon! "Louisiana Back-bay Bayou Bunny Bordelaise, a la Antoine"!
"Already, I am ze-*hiccup* pickled!"
ok, i have no idea if this is warner bros. cartoon or not, but i have this childhood memory of a cartoon that didn't feature any of the usual characters. it was a about a housewife running all her errands around town while her husband is off at work. each errand goes somehow awry and when she gets home she's exhausted. her husband walks in and asks why dinner isn't ready (or something) and she says she has a present for him, and then hits him with a rolling pin that says "HIS" on it. then she says "little man, i've had a busy day" while he's laying there unconscious. the end.
anyone know what this cartoon is??? its driving me wild.
Bug's Bonnets http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=--n-lbgyAO0
There are just so many, but if forced to choose, I vote for "What's Opera, Doc?"
However, I have some soft spots (not just on my head) for a few others.
I most admire the gremlin because he's the only character to ever defeat Bugs.
I love Daffy as Robin Hood. Porky is especially endearing in that one.
Swingshift Red Riding Hood is one of my personal role models.
And let's not forget Sniffles the mouse, because he's just too cute, especially when he meets the bat.
Best walk-on appearance is the weasel in the Foghorn Leghorn cartoon.
I firmly believe that there's an appropriate Warner Brothers quote for any occasion.
I just remembered two more I really like:
"Rocket-Bye Baby" featuring Mot the baby Martian.
And Ralph Phillips, the little boy who keeps daydreaming in class and eventually imagines himself as General MacArthur.
Zoinks...and away!
Rabbit of Seville
Best one ever. I know all the words by heart. Used to and still do watch it with my father.
Alexandria Crooks