Looney Tunes (Western Animation) - TV Tropes. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were two series of theatrical cartoon shorts running from 1. Warner Bros. initially distributed the cartoons for independent producer Leon Schlesinger before buying the studio and moving it in- house in 1. Originally, as the names indicate, these cartoons were meant to rip off the sweet, sentimental musical shorts then in vogue: for instance, Disney's Silly Symphonies.
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That basing cartoons around popular public- domain songs — or, even better, ones the studio already owned — was a fast and relatively cheap way of producing them didn't hurt any, either. The first set, Looney Tunes, was introduced with 1. Sinkin' in the Bathtub" featuring minstrel- like mascot Bosko, The Talk- Ink Kid, and for its first decade relied more heavily on recurring characters and thus lower budgets.
Merrie Melodies, introduced in 1. Lady, Play Your Mandolin!" featuring the (suspiciously Mickey Mouse- esque) character "Foxy", were initially intended as the music videos of their day, basically animated commercials for the Warners- owned sheet- music library. When Looney Tunes switched to color in 1. Merrie Melodies line ditched the music around the same time in favor of its own rising star — one Bugs Bunny — differences between the two were limited to their distinctive theme songs, until 1. Over the course of their tenures at 'Termite Terrace', as the WB animation studio was informally known, the legendary directors Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Frank Tashlin, Art Davis, and Robert Mc.
An index page listing Forgotten Trope content. These are the tropes that are one step beyond Dead Horse Tropes and Discredited Tropes; not only are they not …. Slur Represents Reason & Origins; 10% Off: Jews: Refers to circumcision and consumerism (never pay retail). The term is most widely used in the UK where circumcision. 70s Nostalgia page devoted to toys of the Seventies. Comic Strip light desk tracing toy? This is similar to the toys by Lakeside, Emenee, and Cox, but this one I. Zippy the Monkey or Chimp. 16' tall. Originally had red & white hat. Shirt with 'ZIP' printed on front. Red Corduroy pants with suspenders. Black plush body with. In The Simpsons: Lisa the Greek (1992), Lisa, angry at Homer for tricking her into helping him gamble on football, makes a bet that if she loves him the winner of the. Tex Avery: After co-creating some of the most notable cartoon characters of all time at Warners in the late 30s and early 40s (for Leon Schlesinger.
Kimson — assisted by talented animators such as Ken Harris, Emery Hawkins, Abe Levitow, Bill Melendez, Virgil Ross, and Rod Scribner; brilliant writers like Warren Foster, Michael Maltese, and Tedd Pierce; ace musical arrangers Carl Stalling and Milt Franklyn; and sound effects whiz Treg Brown — created and refined a large and diverse cast of characters, the most famous of which include (listed in chronological order of introduction): Looney Tunes Main Cast Porky Pig — "I Haven't Got a Hat", 1. Freleng. The Everyman and Straight Man to the rest of the cast, known for his ridiculously thick stutter.
Also a Deadpan Snarker, usually when paired with Chuck Jones' pompous Daffy or a Butt Monkey when paired with the crazy, hyperactive screwball Daffy. Either way, he does not like being paired up with Daffy. Daffy Duck — "Porky's Duck Hunt": 1. Avery. Was originally a screwball/Cloud Cuckoo Lander, later Flanderized into a jerkasswith an enormous ego.
In this incarnation, he's used either to parody action- adventure heroes, or paired up and serving as a foil for Bugs in an Odd Couple scenario. Later also joined Sylvester on the hunt for Speedy Gonzales. First named in the short "Daffy Duck and Egghead". Granny — "Little Red Walking Hood" 1. Avery. A kind, elderly woman most remembered as Tweety's owner, and who packed a hidden amount of badass- ery when inflicting pain on Sylvester when he tried to catch Tweety.
Elmer Fudd — "Elmer's Candid Camera", 1. Jones. One of only three humans in the regular cast, the others being Yosemite Sam and Tweety's owner Granny.
The Butt Monkey, often Too Dumb to Live. An avid hunter, thus Jones' favourite adversary for both Bugs & Daffy, reaching a peak in the iconic Rabbit Season trilogy. Less popular with the other directors — particularly Freleng — who found him too wimpy. To compensate, the other directors often made Elmer crafty in their pictures; see "Quack Shot" by Robert Mc.
Kimson, where he's one step ahead of Daffy the entire cartoon, and "Hare Brush" by Friz Freleng, where it's debatable that he faked being insane in order to both avoid the IRS and get revenge on Bugs Bunny. Surprisingly, Elmer didn't appear as frequently as most people think, only encountering Bugs in over 3. Bugs' 1. 68 short lineup. Note that there is some controversy over when exactly Elmer debuted, depending on whether or not you count Egghead, who was called "Elmer" in some of his later cartoons.
Bugs Bunny — "A Wild Hare", 1. Avery. A famous Karmic Trickster and cultural icon. For decades, always considered the "main character" and "star" of the core cast. As with Elmer, there is some controversy over whether Bugs debuted earlier, with the prime suspects being four cartoons by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway and Jones, including "Elmer's Candid Camera". However, the rabbit in those cartoons is basically Daffy with rabbit ears, and "A Wild Hare" is the first cartoon featuring a rabbit that is recognizably Bugs. In the third and fourth of the pre- "Wild Hare" cartoons, the formative rabbit was in fact advertised as Bugs Bunny by the studio; take that for what you will. As for where the name came from, take your pick: the initial model sheet for the character, by Charles Thornson, was supposedly labeled "Bugs' bunny," ie.
Ben 'Bugs' Hardaway. Mel Blanc would later claim he came up with the name at the same time as the voice — 'bugs' being Brooklyn slang for 'crazy'. Still another version has the name drawn from a hat by Leon Schlesinger's secretary. Tex Avery, meanwhile, just wanted to call him "Jack E. Rabbit".)Tweety Bird — "A Tale of Two Kitties", 1. Clampett. "I tawt I taw a puddy tat!" In Bob Clampett's hands, Tweety was a pink, sadistic trickster who used his wits to get rid of cats.
Under Friz Freleng, Tweety became yellow (the Hays Office balked because the pink made him look naked), found a recurring adversary in Sylvester, and often depended on an umbrella- wielding Granny or an angry bulldog to get rid of the "bad old puddy tat". Time has seen modern generations often mistake Tweety for a female (this doesn't happen in Spanish- speaking countries, as its local name, "Piolín", is unequivocally male). Pepe Le Pew — "Odor- Able Kitty", 1. Jones. A Funny Foreigner and Handsome Lech, completely oblivious to his body odor problem.. Of course, the fact that they're nearly all actually cats, unaware that they've had white stripes painted on their backs, doesn't help either. Can at times be a Depraved Bisexual: Pepé has gone after a male cat who was painted up as a skunk in his first cartoon, a white- striped Sylvester at the end of 1. Dog Pounded", and accidentally made out with a man on a Tunnel of Love ride in 1.
Scent- imental Romeo." Based in part on characters made famous by actor Charles Boyer. Sylvester the Cat — "Life With Feathers", 1. Freleng. A cat with a speech impediment who usually tries to eat Tweety or Speedy Gonzales, with little success, making him a mild version of the Villain Protagonist. One of the most versatile of the ensemble, prone to neuroses and usually the star of the comic melodramas. In Robert Mc. Kimson's hands, slobby Sylvester has a hyper- articulate son named Sylvester, Jr., whom Dad tries to impress by chasing what turns out to be a baby kangaroo; when he retreats gibbering at the "giant mouse!" Junior is mortified.
Also known for a trio of spooky cartoons in which he is Porky Pig's pet, where, despite being The Voiceless for these shorts, Sylvester attempts to convey to his master that their lives are in danger (twice from murderous mice, once from a curious alien); unfortunately, Porky is Captain Oblivious for most of this, believing Sylvester to be cowardly and paranoid, and only in the first short of the trio does he realize the truth. Yosemite Sam — "Hare Trigger", 1. Freleng. A brash little outlaw with handlebar mustachios and a severe temper problem, introduced as 'a more worthy adversary' for Bugs than the meek Elmer.
Said to be a caricature of his short, brash, redheaded creator. Introduced as a Wild West bandit, he eventually became the stock blowhard villain character: Civil War general, Viking, pirate, Black Knight (no Python references please), politician, Arab sheik, etc. Oddly enough, he wears his bandit mask no matter what role he plays. Said to have been inspired by Chuck Jones' great- uncle, a short, redheaded retired Texas Ranger. Foghorn Leghorn — "Walky Talky Hawky", 1. Mc. Kimson. A loud, obnoxious rooster with a Southern accent, based on Kenny Delmar's 'Senator Claghorn' radio character. Considers himself the life of the party; demonstrates by tricking little Henery Hawk out of capturing him, abusing the barnyard dog by whomping his ass with a wooden board and painting his tongue green, or babysitting a genius chick named Egghead, Jr.
Marvin The Martian — "Haredevil Hare", 1. Jones. An Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain who wants to see an Earth- Shattering Kaboom, and is the Trope Namer thereof. Invariably foiled by Bugs. Like the Tasmanian Devil, he only appeared in a handful of shorts from the original shorts, but became popular enough to be featured in nearly every adaptation thereafter. His universe was expanded in the 2. Duck Dodgers. A CGI film starring Mike Myers as Marvin was planned in 2. Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner — "Fast and Furry- ous", 1.
Jones. A speedy bird and the coyote who uses a variety of backfiring Acme Company traps and mail- order gadgets to try to catch him — 'try' being the operative word. The coyote was named in his first face- off against Bugs (Operation: Rabbit), where he became "Wile E. Coyote, Super Genius". The Road Runner remains mute (aside from his iconic "beep beep!") to this day.
Incidentally, Time Warner Cable for a long time used them as the mascot for their "Road Runner" internet service; no longer the case since the company was spun off as independent from Time Warner in 2. Speedy Gonzales — "Cat- Tails for Two", 1. Mc. Kimson. Another Funny Foreigner and good- natured Trickster who moves at Super Speed to help his poor Mexican mouse friends get cheese from "el gringo pussygato" (usually Sylvester). Has a lethargic cousin named (inevitably) "Slowpoke Rodriguez" who uses a gun to incapacitate cats instead. For obvious reasons, the Speedy shorts — particularly the late 1. Daffy as his antagonist — tend not to be received well by animation fans and historians. Ironically, despite being blacklisted for a while in the U.