Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (1954-mid 1962)

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Looney Tunes

It may not as powerful as the "Golden Age" (1942-1953 era), but it still deserved an golden carrot, doc.
Genre: Comedy

Slapstick Musical

Running Time: 6-8 minutes
Country: United States
Release Date: January 4, 1954 -

October 20, 1962

Distributed by: Warner Bros. Cartoons
Starring: Mel Blanc

Daws Butler June Foray

Episodes: 210 shorts

(106 Looney Tunes shorts) (104 Merrie Melodies shorts)

Previous show: late 1941-1953 era
Next show: late 1962-1964 era

Looney Tunes and (its spin-off Merrie Melodies) is an American animated short film theatrical series by Warner Brothers that ran from 1930 until 1969.

While most of the Looney Tunes shorts from the classic era have been well received, the shorts of 1954-mid 1962 era, while not entirely powerful as late 1941-1953 era, received mostly positive reviews.

This article will be talking about the shorts from "Dog Pounded" up to "Mother Was A Rooster" with the sole exception of the infamous "The Jet Cage".

To see the release dates of those shorts, go to "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography" from the Looney Tunes Wiki on Fandom.

Shorts

1954

  • "Dog Pounded" (Freleng; with Tweety, Sylvester, Hector The Bulldog, and Pepé Le Pew)
  • "Captain Hareblower" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam)
  • "I Gopher You" (Freleng; with The Goofy Gophers)
  • "Feline Frame-Up" (Jones; with Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot, Claude Cat)
  • "Wild Wife" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "No Barking" (Jones; with Claude Cat and Frisky Puppy with both cameo appearances of Marc Anthony and Tweety)
  • "Bugs and Thugs" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny, Rocky and his parther, Mugsy; also his first appearance)
  • "The Cats Bah" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat)
  • "Design for Leaving" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd)
  • "Bell Hoppy" (McKimson; with Sylvester and Hippety Hopper)
  • "No Parking Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Dr. Jerkyl's Hide" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Spike and Chester; final appearance of Spike and Chester in the Golden Age of American Animation)
  • "Claws for Alarm" (Jones; with Porky Pig and Sylvester)
  • "Little Boy Boo" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn, Miss Prissy and Egghead Jr.; also his first appearance)
  • "Devil May Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny, Tasmanian Devil and Tasmanian She-Devil; also their first appearances)
  • "Muzzle Tough" (Freleng; with Tweety, Sylvester, Granny, and Hector the Bulldog)
  • "The Oily American" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "Bewitched Bunny" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny, Witch Hazel; also her first appearance)
  • "Satan's Waitin'" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety and Mugsy)
  • "Stop! Look! And Hasten!" (Jones; with Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote)
  • "Yankee Doodle Bugs" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Gone Batty" (McKimson; with Boho the Elephant)
  • "Goo Goo Goliath" (Freleng; with The Drurk Stonk)
  • "By Word of Mouse" (Freleng; with Sylvester)
  • "From A to Z-Z-Z-Z" (Jones; with Ralph Phillips; also his first appearance)
  • "Quack Shot" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd)
  • "My Little Duckaroo" (Jones; with Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Nasty Canasta)
  • "Sheep Ahoy" (Jones; with Ralph Sheepdog and Sam Wolf)
  • "Baby Buggy Bunny" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny)

1955

  • "Pizzicato Pussycat" (Freleng; one-off)
  • "Feather Dusted" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn, Miss Prissy and Egghead Jr.; final cartoon to use the original "bullet" sequence for the ending titles)
  • "Pests for Guests" (Freleng; with Elmer Fudd and The Goofy Gophers)
  • "Beanstalk Bunny" (Freleng; with Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)
  • "All Fowled Up" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn, Barnyard Dawg, and Henery Hawk)
  • "Stork Naked" (Freleng; with Daffy Duck and The Drunk Stork)
  • "Lighthouse Mouse" (McKimson; with Sylvester and Hippety Hopper)
  • "Sahara Hare" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam; first Looney Tunes short to use Milt Franklyn's version of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down")
  • "Sandy Claws" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety and Granny)
  • "The Hole Idea" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "Ready.. Set.. Zoom!" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Hare Brush" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)
  • "Past Perfumance" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat)
  • "Tweety's Circus" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Tweety)
  • "Rabbit Rampage" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny, with cameo appearance of Elmer Fudd)
  • "Lumber Jerks" (Freleng; with The Goofy Gophers; last Looney Tunes cartoon to bear the "1946-55" ending theme)
  • "This Is a Life?" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Granny and Yosemite Sam; a clip-short)
  • "Double or Mutton" (Jones; with Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog)
  • "Jumpin' Jupiter" (Jones; with Sylvester and Porky Pig; final pairing of Sylvester & Porky)
  • "A Kiddies Kitty" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Hector the Bulldog)
  • "Hyde and Hare" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Dime to Retire" (McKimson; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck)
  • "Speedy Gonzales" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Speedy; also his first appearance of his redesign)
  • "Knight-Mare Hare" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Two Scent's Worth" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat)
  • "Red Riding Hoodwinked" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Little Red Riding Hood and Big Bad Wolf; final appearance of Little Red Riding Hood in the Golden Age of American Animation)
  • "Roman Legion-Hare" (Freleng; with Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny)
  • "Heir-Conditioned" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Elmer Fudd)
  • "Guided Muscle" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Pappy's Puppy" (Freleng; with Sylvester, The Drunk Stork, and Hector the Bulldog)
  • "One Froggy Evening" (Jones; with Michigan J. Frog)

1956

  • "Bugs' Bonnets" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)
  • "Too Hop to Handle" (McKimson; with Sylvester, Sylvester Jr., Hippety Hopper and Hector the Bulldog)
  • "Weasel Stop" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn and The Weasel)
  • "The High and the Flighty" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck, Foghorn Leghorn a d Barnyard Dawg)
  • "Broom-Stick Bunny" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Witch Hazel)
  • "Rocket Squad" (Jones; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck)
  • "Tweet and Sour" (Freleng; with Granny, Tweety, Sylvester and Sam Cat)
  • "Heaven Scent" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat)
  • "Mixed Master" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "Rabbitson Crusoe" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam)
  • "Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Tree Cornered Tweety" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Tweety)
  • "The Unexpected Pest" (McKimson; with Sylvester and John & Marsha)
  • "Napoleon Bunny-Part" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Mugsy)
  • "Tugboat Granny" (Freleng; with Granny, Sylvester and Tweety)
  • "Stupor Duck" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck)
  • "Barbary-Coast Bunny" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Nasty Canasta)
  • "Rocket-bye Baby" (Jones; one-off)
  • "Half-Fare Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Raw! Raw! Rooster!" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn; final cartoon to have green color rings (1955-1956))
  • "The Slap-Hoppy Mouse" (McKimson; with Sylvester, Sylvester Jr. and Hippety Hopper; first short to feature the 1956-1957 orange Color Rings with green background at the beginning, even though it still uses the 1955-1956 green rings with red background at the end)
  • "A Star Is Bored" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam)
  • "Deduce, You Say" (Jones; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck)
  • "Yankee Dood It" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Elmer Fudd)
  • "Wideo Wabbit" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)
  • "There They Go-Go-Go!" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Two Crows from Tacos" (Freleng; with Jose and Manuel; also their first appearances; first short to change the "Color by Technicolor" byline on the opening titles to simply "Technicolor")
  • "The Honey-Mousers" (McKimson; with Sam Cat, Ralph and Alice Crumden and Ned Morton; also their first appearances of Ralph, Alice and Ned; first of the McKimson's version of The Honeymooners trilogy)
  • "To Hare Is Human" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny)

1957

  • "Three Little Bops" (Freleng; with Three Little Pigs and The Big Bad Wolf; scored by Shorty Rogers; final appearance of Three Little Pigs in the Golden Age In American Animation)
  • "Tweet Zoo" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Tweety)
  • "Scrambled Aches" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Ali Baba Bunny" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck)
  • "Go Fly a Kit" (Jones; one-off)
  • "Bedevilled Rabbit" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny, Tasmanian Devil and Tasmanian She-Devil)
  • "Boyhood Daze" (Jones; with Ralph Phillips)
  • "Cheese It, the Cat!" (McKimson; with Sam Cat, Ralph and Alice Crumden and Ned Morton; second of the McKimson's version of The Honeymooners trilogy)
  • "Fox-Terror" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg)
  • "Tweety and the Beanstalk" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety and Hector)
  • "Piker's Peak" (Freleng; with Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny)
  • "Steal Wool" (Jones; with Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog)
  • "Boston Quackie" (McKimson; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck)
  • "What's Opera, Doc?" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; final appearance of Elmer Fudd in Chuck Jones shorts)
  • "Tabasco Road" (Freleng; with Speedy and Sylvester)
  • "Birds Anonymous"
  • "Ducking the Devil" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck and Tasmanian Devil)
  • "Bugsy and Mugsy" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny, Rocky and Mugsy)
  • "Zoom and Bored" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Greedy for Tweety" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety, Hector and Granny; final short used Red-Yellow Rings)
  • "Touché and Go" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat)
  • "Show Biz Bugs" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck)
  • "Mouse-Taken Identity" (McKimson; with Sylvester, Sylvester Jr and Hippety Hopper)
  • "Gonzales' Tamales" (Freleng; with Speedy and Sylvester)
  • "Rabbit Romeo" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd)

1958

  • "Don't Axe Me" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and his wife, Mrs. Elmer Fudd, and Barnyard Dawg; final appearance of famous "screwball" characterization of Daffy Duck in Golden Age in American Animation)
  • "Tortilla Flaps" (McKimson; with Speedy and Señor Vulturo; also his first appearance)
  • "Hare-Less Wolf" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "A Pizza Tweety-Pie" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny)
  • "Robin Hood Daffy" (Jones; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck)
  • "Hare-Way to the Stars" (Jones; with Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian)
  • "Whoa, Be-Gone!" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "A Waggily Tale" (Freleng; one-off)
  • "Feather Bluster" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg)
  • "Now, Hare This" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and The Big Bad Wolf)
  • "To Itch His Own" (Jones; with Mighty Angelo; final short that was scored by Carl W. Stalling)
  • "Dog Tales" (McKimson; with Charlie Dog)
  • "Knighty Knight Bugs" (Freleng; with Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam; final short that was scored by Milt Franklyn due to musicians' strike)
  • "Weasel While You Work" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn, Barnyard Dawg and The Weasel; first short that was scored by John Seely)
  • "A Bird in a Bonnet" (Freleng; with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny; scored by John Seely)
  • "Hook, Line and Stinker" (Jones; with Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote; scored by John Seely)
  • "Pre-Hysterical Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd; scored by John Seely)
  • "Gopher Broke" (McKimson; with The Goofy Gophers and Barnyard Dawg; scored by John Seely)
  • "Hip Hip- Hurry!" (Jones; Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote; final short that was scored by John Seely)
  • "Cat Feud" (Jones; with Claude Cat and Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot; final appearance of Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot in Golden Age in American Animation)

1959

  • "Baton Bunny" (Jones/Lavitow; January 10; with Bugs Bunny)
  • "Mouse-Placed Kitten" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "China Jones" (McKimson; with Daffy Duck and Porky Pig)
  • "Hare-abian Nights" (Harris; with Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, and Gossamer; final appearance of Gossamer in the Golden Age In American Animation)
  • "Trick or Tweet"
  • "The Mouse That Jack Built" (McKimson; with live-action appearance of Jack Benny)
  • "Apes of Wrath"
  • "Hot-Rod and Reel!" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "A Mutt in a Rut"
  • "Backwoods Bunny"
  • "Really Scent"
  • "Mexicali Shmoes"
  • "Tweet and Lovely"
  • "Wild and Woolly Hare"
  • "Cat's Paw"
  • "Here Today, Gone Tamale" (Freleng; with Sylvester and Speedy)
  • "Bonanza Bunny"
  • "A Broken Leghorn" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn and Miss Prissy)
  • "Wild About Hurry" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "A Witch's Tangled Hare"
  • "Unnatural History" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "Tweet Dreams"
  • "People Are Bunny"

1960

  • "Fastest with the Mostest"
  • "West of the Pesos"
  • "Horse Hare"
  • "Wild Wild World" (McKimson; one-off)
  • "Goldimouse and the Three Cats"
  • "Person to Bunny"
  • "Who Scent You?"
  • "Hyde and Go Tweet"
  • "Rabbit's Feat" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny)
  • "Crockett-Doodle-Do"
  • "Mouse and Garden"
  • "Ready, Woolen and Able" (Jones; with Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog)
  • "Mice Follies" (McKimson; with Ralph Crumden, Alice Crumden and Ned Morton; final appearances of Ralph, Alice and Ned of the Golden Age In American Animation; final of the McKimson's version of The Honeymooners trilogy)
  • "From Hare to Heir"
  • "The Dixie Fryer"
  • "Hopalong Casualty" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Trip for Tat"
  • "Dog Gone People" (McKimson; with Elmer Fudd)
  • "High Note" (Jones; one-off)
  • "Lighter Than Hare"

1961

  • "Cannery Woe"
  • "Zip 'n Snort" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "Hoppy Daze"
  • "The Mouse on 57th Street"
  • "Strangled Eggs"
  • "Birds of a Father"
  • "D' Fightin' Ones"
  • "The Abominable Snow Rabbit"
  • "Lickety-Splat" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "A Scent of the Matterhorn"
  • "The Rebel Without Claws"
  • "Compressed Hare" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny)
  • "The Pied Piper of Guadalupe"
  • "Prince Violent"
  • "Daffy's Inn Trouble" (McKimson; with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck; final pairing in this era)
  • "What's My Lion?"
  • "Beep Prepared" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "The Last Hungry Cat"
  • "Nelly's Folly" (Jones; one-off)

1962

  • "Wet Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and Blacque Jacque Shellacque; final appearance of Blacque Jacque Shellacque in the Golden Age of American Animation)
  • "A Sheep in the Deep" (Jones/Noble; with Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog)
  • "Fish and Slips" (McKimson; with Sylvester and Sylvester Jr.)
  • "Quackodie Tears" (Davis; with Daffy Duck; final Daffy Duck short of this era; final short that was directed by Art Davis)
  • "Crows' Feat" (Freleng/Pratt; with Jose and Manuel and Elmer Fudd; final appearance of Elmer Fudd in the Golden Age of American Animation)
  • "Mexican Boarders" (Freleng/Pratt; with Speedy, Slowpoke and Sylvester)
  • "Bill of Hare" (McKimson; with Bugs Bunny and Tasmanian Devil)
  • "Zoom at the Top" (Jones; with Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner)
  • "The Slick Chick" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn; first and only Foghorn Leghorn solo short)
  • "Louvre Come Back To Me!" (Jones; with Pepé Le Pew, Penelope Pussycat and Claude Cat; final appearances of all three in the Golden Age of American Animation; last Looney Tunes short in this era)
  • "Honey Money" (Freleng; with Yosemite Sam)
  • "Mother Was A Rooster" (McKimson; with Foghorn Leghorn and Barnyard Dawg; final Merrie Melodies short in this era; final short that was scored by Milt Franklyn before he was replaced by William "Bill" Lava)

Why This Era Is Looney

  1. The stories in the cartoons directed by Chuck Jones improved greatly in this era.
  2. This era is most notable for introducing June Foray as the new voice of Witch Hazel, Granny and other female characters (replacing Bea Benadaret).
  3. Speedy Gonzales was redesigned to his more familiar look in this era. Also, Taz returns in this era two years later (thanks to Jack Warner convincing Eddie Selzer to bring the character back in response to fanmail).
  4. Mel Blanc and Bea Benadaret (who was replaced after 1954) still did a good job providing the voices, as usual.
  5. It gave us what is often considered the greatest cartoon ever (in this era), "What's Opera, Doc?".
  6. New characters were introduced such as Witch Hazel, Speedy Gonzales and the Tazmanian Devil (Taz).
  7. Milt Franklyn was a good successor to Carl Stalling as the music composer. Unfortunately, he died during production of "The Jet Cage" and William Lava took his place.
    • Heck, even his 1955 compositions of the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies opening and closing theme music was top-notch as well!
  8. Many of the characters still remain in this era, such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, Elmer Fudd, Granny, Yosemite Sam, etc.
  9. Story writers, such as Warren Foster and Michael Maltese, continued to write for Looney Tunes until their departure for Hanna-Barbera in 1960 to work on The Flintstones.
  10. Some memorable gems, such as:
    • "Broom-Stick Bunny"
    • "Devil May Hare"
    • "Speedy Gonzales"
    • "Birds Anonymous"
    • "The Abominable Snow Rabbit"
    • "A Witch's Tangled Hare"
    • "The Mouse That Jack Built"
    • "Goldimouse and the Three Cats"
    • "High Note"
    • "Nelly's Folly"
    • "Three Little Bops"
    • "One Froggy Evening"
  11. In the beginning of the era, the backgrounds are still minimalist and abstract (at least in shorts directed by Jones).

Bad Qualities

  1. With the exception of Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng, the animation in the McKimson shorts suffered a downgrade in quality (due to departure of animators Rod Scribner and Manny Gould).
  2. Towards the end of the era, the studio resorted to stock music tracks (much like what Hanna-Barbera would do in their start of early television animation.)
  3. There's still some bad shorts, such as:
  4. Out of all color rings cartoons in this era, The 1959-mid-1962 crimson Color Rings cartoons (while not terrible), is considered the weakest.
  5. The shorts sadly got downhill in late 1962 since William Lava joined in after Milt Franklyn tragically passed away from a heart attack while composing the score for "The Jet Cage".
  6. Some shorts, while not as offensive as the previous era, still have some mildly racist stereotypes such as Chinese people (with China Jones as the worst offender)

Trivia

  • In 1955, The TV distribution rights to all of the black-and-white Looney Tunes shorts and all of the black-and-white Merrie Melodies not produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising are sold to Guild Films. The copyrights to the cartoons in the package are assigned to Sunset Productions, a division of Warner Bros.
  • Starting from "Bonanza Bunny" up to the studio's closure, all cartoons feature infamous crimson Color Rings, with the exceptions of "Now Hear This", "Bartholomew Versus the Wheel", and "Señorella and the Glass Huarache".
  • All cartoons from 1958 had blue Color Rings with the WB zooming shield.
  • Friz Freleng's co-founder of the DFE, David H. DePatie starts his long-time executive producer career in 1961.

Episodes With Their Own Pages

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