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As Walt Disney's animated cartoons became more and more popular, the
other studies took note. Warner Brothers wanted something right away,
so they hired producer Leon Schlesinger. It was Schlesinger who had the
insight to hire two Disney animators, Hugh Harmon and Rudolf Ising, who
had worked with Disney since the early 1920s. Out of work and on their
own, the two were looking to start a new cartoon studio and so created a
pilot film, "Bosko the Talk-Ink Kid," one of the first cartoons to
include synchronized speech. Schlesinger convinced Warner Bros. to
produce a series of cartoons starring Bosko, called "Looney Tunes."
April 1930 saw the first Looney Tunes cartoon, "Sinkin' In the Bathtub",
a milestone in animation history, with Bosko and Honey. Bosko would
continue to star along with his girlfriend Honey and dog Bruno. (The
group was not unlike Mickey, Minnie, and Pluto). As with Mickey Mouse,
Bosko would appear in a variety of professions from aviator to
lumberjack. The Looney Tunes were produced at one a month for a year,
when a second series of cartoons called "Merrie Melodies" was created.
By this time, Harmon and Ising had in turn hired Isadore "Friz" Freleng.
In 1933, after creating 39 Looney Tunes and 27 Merrie Melodies, Harman
and Ising left for MGM because of a budget dispute. They took Bosko and
Honey with them where they started the "Happy Harmonies" series. Back at
Warner Bros, Freleng, the senior animator, despite his youth (he was 28
in 1933) continued producing Looney Tunes, its new characters including
Foxy and Roxy, blatant imitations of Mickey and Minnie. The next
attempt at a regular character was "Beans," who debuted in "I Haven't
Got A Hat" (1935). He was quickly upstaged by Porky the Pig, who brought
in the wacky and intense Daffy Duck who first appeared in "Porky's Duck
Hunt" (1937). Porky also introduced us to "Happy Rabbit," in "Porky's
Hare Hunt" (1939). He was later rechristened "Bugs Bunny" after his
creator, Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, who later left for Universal's animation
studio in the early 1940s. Other characters have included, Cookie,
Egghead, Gabby Goat, Goopy Geer (dog), Ham and Ex, Little Kitty, Oliver
Owl, Piggy and Fluffy (pigs), Petunia Pig, Sniffles, Towser, and Wilbur.
The first Bugs Bunny did not look or speak like the Bugs Bunny we know
and his wild abnormal behavior was much more subdued. The six major
Looney Tune animation directors were: Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett
(1913-1984), Fred "Tex" Avery (1908-1980), Arthur Davis (1905-2000),
Robert McKimson (1910-1977), and Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones
(1912-2002).
In the beginning, Warner Bros wanted two separate cartoon series, in the
same way that Walt Disney distinguished between the Silly Symphonies and
the Mickey Mouse series. Merrie Melodies were designed to showcase
songs from the Warner Bros vast music library. The title of the cartoon
was also the title of the song, the best being "Smile, Darn Ya, Smile!"
(1932), directed by Freleng. It was one cartoon that was able to
successfully incorporate music and story, while others were unable to
match action to music. From 1934 to 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced
in color and Looney Tunes in black and white. Ultimately as successes
were reproduced and styles merged, the only difference became the
opening titles and themes. Looney Tunes theme music was "Merrie Go
Round Broke Down," by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, and Merrie
Melodies was an adaptation to "Merrily We Roll Along," by Charles
Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor.
The popular and well-defined Porky, Daffy, and Bugs caused Looney Tunes
to deviate from the original musical concept. While many cartoons
involved singing, dancing, and childlike themes, a result of the Disney
influence, (the exception being Fleischer studios, Betty Boop), late
1930s cartoons developed an edge that was funnier and targeted toward
adults. They would ultimately become scathing attacks on Hitler and
Tojo during the war. Looney Tunes were more popular when they developed
the more mature and funnier edge that drew them away from Disney's
child-appeal productions. After the war Looney Tunes aired on
syndicated television in the late 1950s finding time spots on Saturday
mornings when the kids got up, and weekday afternoons, when the kids
were home from school for lunch. Because they targeted children, there
was a drive to remove adult material, including extreme violence and
innuendo.
The original Looney Tunes for the cinema ran from 1930 until 1969. The
last short was "Bugged By a Bee". The cartooning was full and fluid and
remained a favorite of children growing into adults. Later theatrical
shorts were stiff and unimpressive, and although they still maintained
the signature Mel Blanc voices, they lacked the fluidity of the early
years. There have been attempts at technological gimmicks, such as
mixing animation and live action, "Space Jam" (1996), with Bugs Bunny
and Michael Jordan, but have lacked the lasting power. 2002 saw the
introduction of the Baby Looney Tunes, but it was equally uninspired. An
attempt in 2003 to revive the spirit of the original shorts appeared
with a feature film, "Looney Tunes: Back In Action," but the film was a
commercial failure.
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