Looney Tunes



Looney Tunes is the collective title for a series of theatrical shorts, originally produced by Leon Schlesinger for Warner Bros. Schlesinger sold his assets to Warner Bros. in 1944, and the studio thus became sole owner of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and other characters The blanket term is often used to encompany the related series, Merrie Melodies, which shared the same artistic team and pool of characters, and more recently, many productions involving the characters.

In 1969, Chuck Jones, one of the Looney Tunes directors, wrote the following letter about Sesame Street to a television critic at the Los Angeles Times:

"The major and most important phenomenon is that no commercial show will ever be quite the same...I have a feeling that Joan Ganz Cooney (Executive Director, Children's Television Workshop) and David Connell (Vice President and Executive Producer) have opened a Pandora's box that will scare the hell out of everybody in TV because the TV-watching child will devour Sesame Street to the last crumb. And if that is true, some network is going to realize that intelligence is just conceivably commercial, which is just so revolutionary, it just might be un-American."

Muppet Mentions

 * Looney Tunes #47, the December 1998 issue of the comic book series published by DC Comics, included an 8-page story called "Puppet Regime." The plot involved Daffy Duck's jealousy over the fact that he's not been cast in the new children's film Cuddly Buddies: The Movie. The film stars spoof versions of various children's TV icons, most notably Barney the dinosaur, but also Bananas in Pajamas and, in a two page section, Sesame Street. The street, renamed ABC Sunflower Street, is populated by a collection of "Schmuppets," including a purple Big Bird analogue, an orange Kermit the Frog spoof (whose eye pupils change into different punctuation marks, according to mood), a purple Oscar the Grouch, and a cheerful green monster combining aspects of Elmo and Grover. The scheming Daffy, posing as a health inspector, sucks up the whole bunch into a vacuum cleaner, prompting "Kermit" to shout, "It's not easy being cle-e-a-an!" The collective puppets get their revenge in the tale's final panel.


 * The premise of Warner Bros' animated series featuring infantilized versions of the Looney Tunes characters is very similar to Muppet Babies, with the characters in a nursery under the watchful eye of Granny. One noticeable difference between the two shows is that Granny is seen in full-bodied form, compared to Nanny, who was mostly seen from the waist down.


 * In the Baby Looney Tunes episode "I Strain", when the TV breaks down, the babies use a cardboard box to make their own TV and shows. One of the shows, "Caraway Street," is a parody of Sesame Street. Bugs dresses as a character named "Shlomo" (a parody of Elmo), Tweety is a character named "Yellow Bird" (a parody of Big Bird), and Taz is a character named "The Grump" (a parody of Oscar the Grouch) who lives in a crate. The show is sponsored by the letter "scribble" and the number "kagillion" ("All the real ones were used up by the other shows.")


 * In The Looney Tunes Show episode "It's a Handbag," appearing in Daffy's book of criminals are caricatured versions of Ernie and Bert.

Appearances

 * Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck appeared in Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue, with members of the Muppet Babies and other characters.
 * Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, and Tweety all made a cameo appearance in The Earth Day Special, which also featured a cameo by the Muppets.
 * Bugs appeared in an anti-litter music video which aired on Sesame Street.

Connections

 * Jack Benny voiced a mouse version of himself and appeared as himself in live-action footage in the short The Mouse That Jack Built.
 * Bob Bergen is the official voice of Porky Pig and others.
 * Mel Blanc was the voice of many of the characters in the Looney Tunes stable, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, Foghorn Leghorn, and countless others.
 * David Bowie appeared in the special Bugs Bunny's Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary Special.
 * Dan Castellaneta played a basketball fan in Space Jam.
 * Chevy Chase appeared in the special Bugs Bunny's Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary Special.
 * Bill Cosby appeared in the special Happy Birthday Bugs: Fifty Looney Years.
 * Dave Coulier played a gremlin in the Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries episode "The Scare Up There"
 * Joan Cusack played Mother in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
 * Danny DeVito provided the voice of Swackhammer in the movie Space Jam.
 * Sholly Fisch has written several Looney Tunes comic books for DC Comics.
 * Stan Freberg provided voices in the original shorts, as either Hubie or Bertie (alternating with Blanc), Tosh of the Goofy Gophers, Junyer Bear, Pete Puma in Rabbit's Kin, the Gambling Bug in Early to Bet, the narrator and all voices in Three Little Bops, and others, and reprised several of the roles on Tiny Toon Adventures, Duck Dodgers, Looney Tunes: Back in Action, and assorted specials and videos.
 * Joan Gerber voiced Granny in the short Corn on the Cop.
 * Whoopi Goldberg appeared in the special Happy Birthday Bugs: Fifty Looney Years, and made introductions on the Looney Tunes: Golden Collection Volume 3 DVD set.
 * John Goodman appeared in the special Happy Birthday Bugs: Fifty Looney Years.
 * Albert Hague played a psychiatrist in Space Jam.
 * Jeremy Irons appeared in the special Bugs Bunny's Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary Special.
 * Jack Lescoulie voiced Caspar Caveman in Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (1939) and "Jack Bunny" (a Jack Benny caricature) in Malibu Beach Party (1940)
 * Abe Levitow was an animator in Chuck Jones' unit, working on countless original theatrical shorts and several subsequent compilation features and specials.
 * Matthew Lillard played himself in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
 * Bruce Lanoil puppeteered Daffy Duck in green-screen shots and voiced Pepe LePew in the film Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
 * Heather Locklear played Dusty Tails in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
 * Rick Lyon puppeteered Baby Bugs Bunny in green-screen shots for the unreleased Baby Looney Tunes Video Series.
 * Danny Mann voiced the Robo Dog and the spy car in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
 * Steve Martin appeared in Bugs Bunny's Looney Tunes All-Star 50th Anniversary Special and as Mr. Chairman in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
 * Laraine Newman voiced various characters on Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries.
 * Rob Paulsen voiced Axel, Digeri Dingo, Francis X. Bushlad, and Marvin Martian on Taz-Mania, a casino cat, a crewman, and the sphinx in Tweety's High-Flying Adventure and various characters on Tiny Toon Adventures, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, and Duck Dodgers.
 * Robert Picardo played the Acme Vice President of Rhetorical Questions in Looney Tunes: Back in Action
 * Little Richard appeared in the special Happy Birthday Bugs: Fifty Looney Years.
 * Will Ryan voiced Papa Bear in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.
 * Hal Smith voiced Elmer Fudd in Dog Gone People and What's My Lion?.
 * Frank Welker voiced Hector the bulldog, Muggsy, and others on The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Charles the Dog in Space Jam, K-9 on Duck Dodgers, K-9 and Road Runner in The Looney Tunes Show, and Scooby-Doo in Looney Tunes: Back in Action.