| Looney Tunes | |
|---|---|
 Franchise logo since 2024 | |
| Created by | Leon Schlesinger Hugh Harman Rudolf Ising |
| Original work | Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930) |
| Owner | Warner Bros. Entertainment |
| Years | 1930–present |
| Print publications | |
| Comics | Comic books |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | List of feature films |
| Short film(s) | List of short films |
| Animated series | List of TV animated series |
| Television special(s) | List of TV specials |
| Games | |
| Video game(s) | List of video games |
Looney Tunes is an Americanmedia franchise produced and distributed byWarner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off seriesMerrie Melodies, during thegolden age of American animation.[1][2] Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released theatrically as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a largecast of characters, includingBugs Bunny,Daffy Duck,Elmer Fudd andPorky Pig. The termLooney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.
Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies were initially produced byLeon Schlesinger and animatorsHugh Harman andRudolf Ising from 1930 to 1933.[3] Schlesinger assumed full production from 1933 until he sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, after which it was renamedWarner Bros. Cartoons.[3] TheLooney Tunes title was inspired by that ofWalt Disney'sSilly Symphonies.[3] The shorts initially showcased musical compositions owned by Warner's music publishing interests through the adventures of such characters asBosko andBuddy.[3] However, the shorts gained a higher profile upon the debuts of directorsTex Avery,Friz Freleng,Chuck Jones,Bob Clampett, andRobert McKimson, andvoice actorMel Blanc later in the decade.[3] Porky Pig and Daffy Duck became the featuredLooney Tunes characters, whileMerrie Melodies featured one-shot cartoons and minor recurring characters.[3]
After Bugs Bunny became popular in theMerrie Melodies shorts of the early 1940s,Looney Tunes moved fromblack-and-white to color production between 1942 and 1943 (Merrie Melodies having already been in color since 1934).[3] The two series gradually lost their distinctions, and shorts were assigned to each series arbitrarily.[3] From 1942 to 1964,Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies were the most popular animated shorts in movie theaters.[4]
Looney Tunes has become one of thehighest-grossing media franchises of all time, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides. Many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in television shows, films, and other media. Bugs Bunny, in particular, is regarded as acultural icon as well as the mascot ofWarner Bros. Pictures, and has a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame.[5] ManyLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies films are ranked among the greatest animated cartoons of all time, and five of them have wonAcademy Awards.[6] In 2013,TV Guide countedLooney Tunes as the third greatest television cartoon series of all time, behindThe Simpsons andThe Flintstones, the latter of which also featured the voice talents of Mel Blanc andBea Benaderet.[7]
| Looney Tunes | |
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 FinalLooney Tunes opening title used in the 1967–1969 season[8] | |
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| Starring | |
| Music by | |
| Animation by | |
| Layouts by | |
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Release date | April 19, 1930—June 10, 2014 |
Running time | 6–10 minutes (one reel) |
Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies were so named as a reference to Disney'sSilly Symphonies and were initially developed to showcase tracks from Warner Bros.' extensive music library; the title of the firstLooney Tunes short,Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930), is a pun onSingin' in the Bathtub.[9] Between 1934 and 1943,Merrie Melodies were produced in color andLooney Tunes in black-and-white.[3] After 1943, both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles.[3] Both series made use of the various Warner Bros. characters. By 1937, the theme music forLooney Tunes was "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" byCliff Friend andDave Franklin, and the theme music forMerrie Melodies was an adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along" byCharles Tobias, Murray Mencher andEddie Cantor.
In 1929, to compete againstWalt Disney'sMickey Mouse short cartoons, Warner Bros. became interested in developing a series of animated shorts to promote their music. They had recently acquiredBrunswick Records along with four music publishers for US$28 million (equivalent to $527 million in 2024) and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music and phonograph records. Warner made a deal withLeon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them. Schlesinger hiredRudolf Ising andHugh Harman to produce a series of cartoons, impressed by their 1929 pilot film,Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid. The firstLooney Tunes short wasSinkin' in the Bathtub starringBosko, which was released in 1930.[1]
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 they had created. A new character calledBuddy became the only star of theLooney Tunes series for a couple of years, but quickly became unpopular.
New directors includingTex Avery,Friz Freleng andBob Clampett were brought in or promoted to work with animators in the Schlesinger studio, with Avery's unit housed in a bungalow which the animators dubbed "Termite Terrace." In 1935,Porky Pig, the first majorLooney Tunes star, made his debut in theMerrie Melodies cartoonI Haven't Got a Hat, directed by Friz Freleng, featuring an ensemble of characters headed byBeans the Cat. However, after Avery'sLooney Tune debutGold Diggers of '49 it was Porky who emerged as the star instead of Beans. The ensemble characters ofI Haven't Got a Hat, such as Oliver Owl and the twin dogs Ham and Ex, were quickly dropped. Beans would be phased out as well by mid-1936, leaving Porky as the only star of the Schlesinger studio.
The debuts of other memorableLooney Tunes stars soon followed:Daffy Duck inPorky's Duck Hunt (1937),Elmer Fudd in theMerrie Melodies shortElmer's Candid Camera (1940),Bugs Bunny in theMerrie Melodies shortA Wild Hare (1940),[10] andTweety in theMerrie Melodies shortA Tale of Two Kitties (1942).
Bugs initially starred in the colorMerrie Melodies shorts following the success of 1940'sA Wild Hare, and formally joined theLooney Tunes series with the release ofBuckaroo Bugs in 1944.
Schlesinger began to phase in the production of colorLooney Tunes with the 1942 cartoonThe Hep Cat. The final black-and-whiteLooney Tunes short wasPuss n' Booty in 1943, directed byFrank Tashlin. The inspiration for the changeover was Warner's decision to re-release only the color cartoons in theBlue Ribbon Classics series ofMerrie Melodies. A brief cameo at the end of Tashlin's 1943 cartoonPorky Pig's Feat would be Bugs' only official appearance in a black-and-whiteLooney Tunes short.
Schlesinger sold the cartoon studio in 1944 to Warner Bros. and went into retirement; he died five years later.
More popularLooney Tunes characters were created (most of which first appeared inMerrie Melodies cartoons), such asPepé Le Pew (debuted in 1945'sOdor-able Kitty),Sylvester (debuted in 1945'sLife with Feathers),Yosemite Sam (debuted in 1945'sHare Trigger),Foghorn Leghorn (debuted in 1946'sWalky Talky Hawky),Marvin the Martian (debuted in 1948'sHaredevil Hare),Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (debuted in 1949'sFast and Furry-ous),Granny (debuted in 1950'sCanary Row),Speedy Gonzales (debuted in 1953'sCat Tails for Two),the Tasmanian Devil (debuted in 1954'sDevil May Hare), andRalph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog (debuted in 1953'sDon't Give Up the Sheep).
It was during this era that the series won fiveAcademy Awards:
During the mid-late 1960s, the shorts were produced byDePatie–Freleng Enterprises (andFormat Productions) (1964–1967) andWarner 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 stylizedlimited animation and graphics on a black background and a new arrangement, byWilliam Lava, of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" which had first been used in the 1963 experimental short "Now Hear This" directed by Chuck Jones.
In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts commissioned an animation studio inSouth Korea to redraw 79 black-and-white Looney Tunes produced from 1935 to 1943 in color which were syndicated to TV stations from the late 1960s to the early 1990s.[11]
The originalLooney Tunes theatrical series ran from 1930'sSinkin' in the Bathtub to 1969'sInjun Trouble byRobert McKimson.
ACool Cat cartoon called "Stage Cat" was planned, about Cool Cat being in a stage production, but it was cancelled when Warner Bros.-Seven Arts shut down.[1]
TheLooney Tunes series' popularity was further strengthened when it began airing on network andsyndicated television in the 1950s under various titles and formats. TheLooney Tunes shorts were broadcast with edits to remove scenes of violence (particularly suicidal gags and scenes of characters performing dangerous stunts that impressionable viewers could easily imitate), stereotypes, and alcohol consumption.
Production of theatrical animated shorts was dormant from 1969 until 1979, when new shorts were made to introduce theLooney Tunes to a new generation of audiences.New shorts have been produced and released sporadically for theaters since then, though usually as promotional tie-ins with various family movies produced by Warner Bros. While many 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 andtelevision specials were produced, mostly centering on Bugs Bunny and/or Daffy Duck, with a mixture of new and old footage. These releases includeThe 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), andDaffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988).
In 1976, theLooney Tunes characters made their way into the amusement park business when they became the mascots for Marriott's two Great America theme parks in Gurnee, Illinois, and Santa Clara, California. After theGurnee park was sold toSix Flags in 1984, they also claimed the rights to use the characters at the other Six Flags parks, which continues to the present. (Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner would own the Six Flags chain in whole or part for most of the 1990s.)
Between 1985 and 1992,AMC Theatres showed selected late 1950s/early 1960s-era Warner Bros. cartoons before several films, most of them comedies and family-oriented movies.
In 1988, severalLooney Tunes characters appeared in cameo roles in theDisney filmWho Framed Roger Rabbit. The more significant cameos featured Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Yosemite Sam. It is the only time in whichLooney Tunes characters have shared screen time with their rivals at Disney (producers of the film)—particularly in the scenes where Bugs andMickey Mouse areskydiving, and when Daffy andDonald Duck are performing their "Dueling Pianos" sequence.
On July 10, 1989, after a battle with heart problems,Mel Blanc died at theCedars-Sinai Medical Center ofcardiovascular disease. A picture depicting theLooney Tunes characters entitled "Speechless" was released shortly after his death.
Viacom-ownedNickelodeon airedLooney Tunes cartoons in a show calledLooney Tunes on Nickelodeon between 1988 and 1999. Initially, the Nickelodeon package included cartoons that were typically omitted from the higher-profile Saturday morning network and syndicated weekday packages, including black-and-white Bosko cartoons that had not aired in many years and cartoons from the late DePatie–Freling and Seven Arts eras. In January 1999, it was reported that the cartoons shown on Nickelodeon would move toCartoon Network in the fall of that year.[12] To date,Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon is the longest-airinganimated series on the network that was not aNicktoon.
In 1991, the Looney Tunes characters made their appearance atWarner Bros. Movie World on theGold Coast inAustralia. It marked the launch of "Looney Tunes Land," the park's inaugural themed area.
In 1996,Space Jam, alive-action animated film, was released to theaters starring Bugs Bunny and basketball playerMichael Jordan. Despite a mixed critical reception,[13] 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.[14] For a two-year period, it was the highest grossing non-Disney animated film ever.[15] The film also introduced the characterLola Bunny, who subsequently became another recurring member of theLooney 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 fiveLooney Tunes themed stamps to be issued.[16]
TheLooney Tunes also achieved success in the area of television during this era, with appearances in several originally produced series, includingTaz-Mania (1991, starring Taz) andThe Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995, starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny). The gang also made frequent cameos in the 1990 spinoff seriesTiny Toon Adventures, from executive producerSteven 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 Bros. shows such asAnimaniacs (also from Spielberg) andHisteria!.Traditional cel animation was used to animate the characters forLooney Tunes' cartoons until 1999 when it was replaced withdigital ink and paint animation.
In 1979,Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol premiered. AfterThe Chocolate Chase, there would not be another short released for seven years. In 1990, it was made so there would be about one short per year until 1998. In 2003, there would be seven shorts produced to promoteLooney Tunes: Back in Action. The first of these to be released wasWhizzard of Ow, which appeared on a DVD release ofBack in Action that was sold exclusively atWal-Mart stores. Only about half of the shorts were shown in theaters; the rest would not be made available until 2004, when all seven shorts were included on the general home video release of the film. In 2010, five computer-animated shorts would be released and directed byMatthew O'Callaghan, who would also direct another short,Flash in the Pain, in 2014.
In March 2000, it was revealed that the entireLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies library would be exclusive to Cartoon Network, starting with the fall of that year.[17]Looney Tunes shorts were still airing on Disney'sABC as part ofThe 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 untilMeTV 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/animatedLooney Tunes: Back in Action. Although the film was not financially successful,[18] 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.[15][19][20][21] In 2006,Warner Home Video released a new and Christmas-themedLooney Tunes direct-to-video film calledBah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas, a parody ofCharles Dickens'A Christmas Carol. OtherLooney Tunes TV series made during this time wereBaby Looney Tunes (2001–2006),Duck Dodgers (2003–2005) andLoonatics Unleashed (2005–2007).
On October 22, 2007,Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies cartoons became available for the first time inHigh-definition viaMicrosoft'sXbox Live service, including some in Spanish.[22] From February 29 – May 18, 2008, manyLooney Tunes artifacts, including original animation cels and concept drawings, were on display at theButler Institute of American Art inYoungstown, Ohio, just off the campus ofYoungstown State University, near where the Warners lived early in life.[23]
At the 2009 Cartoon Networkupfront,The Looney Tunes Show was announced.[24] After several delays, the series premiered on May 3, 2011. Produced byWarner 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 characterTina Russo, a duck who becomes Daffy's girlfriend. The show also features 2-minute music videos titled respectfully "Merrie Melodies" (as a tribute to theLooney 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.[25]
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 filmCats & 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 would be moreLooney Tunes 3-D theatrical shorts; the first titledDaffy's Rhapsody with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, the next beingI Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny.Daffy's Rhapsody was to precede the filmHappy Feet Two,[26] until the studio decided to premiereI Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat instead.Daffy's Rhapsody instead premiered in 2012, precedingJourney 2: The Mysterious Island.[27] All five shorts were directed by Matthew O'Callaghan.
In 2012, several announcements were made about aLooney Tunes reboot film titledAcme, in development.[28] FormerSaturday Night Live cast memberJenny Slate was said to be on board as writer for the new film. Jeffrey Clifford,Harry Potter producerDavid Heyman, andDark Shadows writers David Katzenberg andSeth Grahame-Smith were slated to produce the film.[29] On August 27, 2014, writersAshley Miller andZack Stentz were hired to script the film, directorsGlenn Ficarra and John Requa were in talks to direct the film, while actorSteve Carell was rumored to be starring in a lead role.[30] By October 2014, the project was no longer in the works.[31]
At the 2014 Cartoon Networkupfront, another series titledWabbit: A Looney Tunes Production (laterNew Looney Tunes) was announced.[32] Starring Bugs Bunny, the series premiered on both Cartoon Network and its sister channelBoomerang in late 2015.[33] The series had an unusually slow rollout, with the series being moved to the Boomerang streaming service in 2017, and was eventually cancelled on January 30, 2020.[citation needed]
On June 11, 2018, another series, titledLooney Tunes Cartoons, was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on May 27, 2020, on the streaming serviceHBO Max. The series 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 ofTex Avery,Bob Clampett,Chuck Jones,Friz Freleng andRobert McKimson.[34] According to co-executive producerPeter Browngardt, "We're not doing guns, but we can do cartoony violence — TNT, theAcme stuff. All that was kind of grandfathered in."[35]Sam Register, president of Warner Bros. Animation also served as a co-executive producer for the series.[34] The final season was released on July 27, 2023, and a bonus episode was released on June 13, 2024.
On February 11, 2021, it was announced two new series were in the works:Bugs Bunny Builders andTweety Mysteries.Bugs Bunny Builders began airing on Cartoon Network as part ofCartoonito and HBO Max on July 25, 2022;Tweety Mysteries would also air onCartoon Network.[36][37]Bugs Bunny Builders is aimed towards preschoolers; whileTweety Mysteries would have been a live-action/animated hybrid.[citation needed] However, the latter was scrapped for unknown reasons.
A sequel toSpace Jam titledSpace Jam: A New Legacy, starring basketball playerLeBron James, was released in theaters and HBO Max on July 16, 2021, after aLos Angeles special screening on July 12, 2021. It is a film with a story of LeBron James' second son, Dom (Cedric Joe), who gets kidnapped by an evilAI named Al. G Rhythm (Don Cheadle), into the Warner Bros. server-verse. LeBron then assembles the Tune Squad to play against the algorithm and get his son back. It received generally negative reviews and underperformed at the box office.
A reboot ofTiny Toon Adventures titledTiny Toons Looniversity premiered on September 8, 2023, onMax and then aired the following day on Cartoon Network. The Looney Tunes characters reprise their roles as the professors at Acme Looniversity in this series.
In September 2021, it was reported that a film based on theLooney Tunes Cartoons, titledThe Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and starringDaffy Duck andPorky Pig, was announced for release on HBO Max and Cartoon Network.[38] However, it was reported in August 2022 that the film would instead be shopped around to other streaming services.[39] In October 2023, it was announced the film would instead be released in theaters, becoming the first animated non-compilation feature film in the franchise to do so.[40][41] In early August 2024, it was announced thatKetchup Entertainment acquired the North American theatrical distribution rights to the film.[42] The film was released in theaters in the United States on March 14, 2025.
On December 31, 2022, 256 classicLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies shorts were removed from HBO Max, includingWhat's Opera, Doc? andDuck Amuck,[43] though many were later re-added in March 2024 when the shorts on the service were rotated.[44]
In August 2024, it was reported that Warner Bros. was planning to relaunch theLooney Tunes theatrical film series in 2028.[45] In October 2024, it was reported that Warner Bros. was working on a "super secretLooney Tunes project" with directors Todd Wilderman and Hamish Grieve.[46]
On March 16, 2025, two days afterThe Day the Earth Blew Up expanded to a wide release, all of the classicLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies shorts were removed from the Max streaming service.[47] Three days later, it was reported that Warner Bros. was in talks with Ketchup, who had distributedThe Day the Earth Blew Up in the United States, to sell the distribution rights to the shelved movieCoyote vs. Acme.[48] On March 31, the negotiations proved successful.[49] The film is currently scheduled to be released in theaters in the United States on August 28, 2026.[50]
AtCinemaCon 2025,Warner Bros. Pictures Animation confirmed development on a newLooney Tunes animated feature film.[51]
On August 15, 2025, the classicLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies shorts began streaming on the ad-supported free streaming serviceTubi.[52]
In the 1980s, the shorts receivedVHS releases, with the pre-August 1948 shorts released byMGM/UA Home Video and the post-July 1948 shorts released byWarner Home Video. In 2003, Warner Home Video began releasing select shorts onDVD, aimed at collectors, in four-disc sets known as theLooney Tunes Golden Collection starting withVolume 1. This continued until 2008, whenthe final volume of the Golden Collection was released. Then, from 2010 until 2013, the company released theLooney Tunes Super Stars DVDs. There have been numerous complaints regarding theSuper Stars releases, however (particularly the first two), having the post-1953 shorts in a 16:9 widescreen format. The last DVD in theSuper Stars series wasSylvester and Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem, released on April 23, 2013. 2010 and 2011 saw the releases ofThe Essential Bugs Bunny andThe Essential Daffy Duck DVDs. In 2011, the shorts were released onBlu-ray Disc for the first time with theLooney Tunes Platinum Collection series. On September 19, 2017,Warner Home Video'sWarner Archive Collection released the five-discPorky Pig 101 DVD set.[53]
In 2023, it was announced that a new line of single-disc Blu-ray sets called theLooney Tunes Collector's Choice would release beginning on May 30. The following shorts known to be on this set are all newly remastered from the original negatives. It is a successor to theLooney Tunes Platinum Collection DVD/Blu-ray sets. Four Blu-ray sets were released until November 26, 2024. A two-disc successor toCollector's Choice, titledLooney Tunes Collector's Vault, began releasing on June 17, 2025.
In 1933,Harman and Ising left, taking the rights toBosko with them. However, Warner Bros. retained the rights to the cartoons and theLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies brand names, leaving their former producer Leon Schlesinger to start his own animation studio to continue theLooney Tunes series. With their retained Bosko rights, Harman and Ising began makingcartoons atMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934 until they were fired in 1937 due to a lack of success. MGM proceeded to formtheir 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, even after the rights to individual cartoons were placed in other hands.
In 1955, Warner Bros. sold the television distribution rights to 191 of its cartoons (which included the black-and-whiteLooney Tunes and the black-and-whiteMerrie Melodies made after Harman and Ising left) to Guild Films.[54] The copyrights to those cartoons were assigned toSunset Productions, an entity owned by Warner Bros.[55][56] The cartoons were distributed by Guild Films until it went bankrupt and was bought bySeven Arts Productions. 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[57][58] library, including allMerrie Melodies (except for those sold to Guild andLady, Play Your Mandolin!) and colorLooney Tunes shorts that were released prior to August 1948, while Warner still owned the copyright to 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 post-1936Merrie Melodies cartoon and pre-1956Blue Ribbon cartoon had the song "Merrily We Roll Along" playing twice).[59] Two years later,United Artists bought a.a.p. (which had also bought Paramount'sPopeye films) who merged the company into its television division,United Artists Television. In 1981, UA was sold toMGM. In 1982,Warner Communications was in talks to buy back rights to the pre-1950 Warner Bros. Pictures library (which consists of the live-action and animation short titles made before 1948) from MGM/UA for $100 million in cash.[60][61] The deal was called off on July 28 of that year; the negotiations fell apart because of dozens of unresolved points, probably relating to the oldest Warner Bros. films.[62][63] When in 1986,Ted Turner acquired all of MGM's legacy content up to that point, he also acquired the rights to the a.a.p. library. Turner's company,Turner Broadcasting System (whoseTurner Entertainment Co. division oversaw the film library), was purchased by Warner Bros.' corporate parent, Time Warner (nowWarner Bros. Discovery), in 1996.[64] When MGM/UA terminated its distribution deal with Time Warner in 1999, it surrendered its home video rights to the a.a.p. library to Warner Home Video, restoring full rights to the pre-August 1948 cartoons to Warner Bros.[65][66]
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.[67] Turner'sCartoon Network reran the cartoons from its launch in 1992 until 2004, again from 2009 until 2017, and making a temporary return in April 2023 to celebrate WB's 100th anniversary.The Looney Tunes Show (not to be confused with the 2010s animated series ofthe same name), an early 2000s anthology produced by Warner Bros. Animation for the network, was broadcast from 2001[68] to 2004. The show featured shorts from the originalLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies theatrical series. As of 2025, classic cartoons continue to air on CN's sister channelsBoomerang andDiscovery Family and are licensed toWeigel Broadcasting-ownedMeTV. Starting in 2024, the classic cartoons began airing on MeTV's sister channelMeTV Toons.
Five dozenLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies shorts from before 1944 have fallen into theAmerican public domain and are thus freely distributed through various unofficial releases. All shorts from 1930 and 1931 and most shorts from 1932 are believed to be in the public domain due to non-renewal. The earliest short with a known copyright renewal isRide Him, Bosko! from 1932.
The major characters of the originalLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies series areBugs Bunny, a clever and insouciant rabbit who is portrayed as atrickster;Daffy Duck, a black duck who was originally portrayed as ascrewball, but later became greedy and egocentric;Porky Pig, a stuttering pig who often appears as thestraight man to Daffy, and is the oldest of the franchise's recurring characters;Sylvester the Cat, his preyTweety (a small canary), and their elderly ownerGranny;Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, who routinely engage in high-speed chases in their home in theSouthwest American desert;Elmer Fudd, an unintelligent hunter who is Bugs' oldest nemesis;Yosemite Sam, a hot-tempered cowboy who is another of Bugs' archenemies;Foghorn Leghorn, a rooster who is known for his often excessive ranting;Marvin the Martian, an alien commander from the planetMars, who aims to conquer the Earth; theTasmanian Devil (often nicknamed "Taz" in later media), a vicious, brutal marsupial with an insatiable appetite;Pepé Le Pew, a French skunk who is always looking for love and romance; andSpeedy Gonzales, the self-proclaimed "fastest mouse in all of Mexico". One additional major character was introduced in post-Golden AgeLooney Tunes media (starting withSpace Jam):Lola Bunny, a female rabbit who is usually portrayed as Bugs' girlfriend.
Due to content considered offensive,stereotyped or insensitive, in 1968United Artists, then the owners of the pre-August 1948 color cartoon library, removed the "Censored Eleven" episodes ofLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies cartoons from broadcast or distribution. Depictions included those ofAfrican Americans (as inCoal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs andJungle Jitters),Native Americans,Japanese people (especially during WWII, as inTokio Jokio andBugs Bunny Nips the Nips),Germans,Italians,White Southerners, andMexicans.[69]
In 1999,Cartoon Network ceased broadcast of all of Speedy Gonzales' cartoons, due to concerns about stereotyping of Mexicans.[70] ManyLatinos protested that they were not offended, and expressed fondness for Speedy; the character's shorts were made available for broadcast on CN again in 2002.[71]
Many Warner Bros. cartoons contain fleeting or sometimes extended gags that make reference to racial or ethnic stereotypes, or useethnic humor. The release of theLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 3 includes a disclaimer at the beginning of each DVD in the volume given byWhoopi 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."[72] A similarly phrased written disclaimer is shown at the beginning of each DVD in theLooney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 4,Volume 5, andVolume 6 sets, as well as the Daffy Duck andFoghorn LeghornLooney Tunes Super Stars sets, theLooney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 2 andVolume 3 sets, thePorky Pig 101 set, and theWarner Bros. Home Entertainment Academy Awards Animation Collection.
Series marked with * are compilations of earlier shorts.
Looney Tunes comic books were published beginning in 1941 byDell Comics under license. These comics were, like many published by Dell, were produced in partnership withWestern Publishing. After Dell and Western ended their partnership in 1962, Western continued the series under theirGold Key Comics and Whitman imprints through 1984. Beginning in 1990,DC Comics, which is owned by Warner Bros., has publishedLooney Tunes comics.
Video games based onLooney Tunes characters began in 1979 with theRoad Runner pinball machine. More titles would continue to be released as video game hardware evolved throughout the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s. Prominent characters who have received multiple video games include Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Tasmanian Devil, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Speedy Gonzales, and Sylvester and Tweety.
Fall 1999 will also see Cartoon Network adding 214 classic Warner Bros. shorts previously licensed by Nickelodeon to its existing library for a total of 680 Warner Bros. titles.
Cartoon Network has also landed the exclusive television rights to Warner Bros. classic Looney Tunes titles starting fall 2000. This is the first time the entire library of nearly 900 classic animated shorts has been featured exclusively on one TV network.
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