60 Fun Facts About Looney Tunes

The title Looney Tunes was inspired by which Disney cartoon series?

The shorts began as a way to plug songs from Warner's music publishing arm; the first, Sinkin' in the Bathtub, puns on 'Singin' in the Bathtub'.

In what year did the original run of Looney Tunes theatrical shorts begin?

They ran until 1969 alongside the Merrie Melodies spin-off, first produced by Leon Schlesinger with animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising.

Which character was the first recurring star of Looney Tunes, appearing in 39 shorts?

He was created by Harman and Ising, who took him with them to MGM when they left Warner.

Which 1940 Tex Avery short is considered the first official Bugs Bunny cartoon?

It was the first time Mel Blanc used Bugs's standard voice and the first 'What's up, Doc?'; a prototype had appeared in Porky's Hare Hunt in 1938.

Which New York borough's accent does Bugs Bunny speak with?

His fast-talking delivery was partly inspired by Oscar Shapely in the 1934 film It Happened One Night.

Where did Tex Avery pick up the phrase 'What's up, Doc?' that he gave to Bugs?

He was born in Taylor, Texas, and later created Droopy and Screwy Squirrel at MGM.

Which 1958 short is the only Bugs Bunny cartoon to win the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film?

The 1958 Friz Freleng short pits Bugs against Yosemite Sam as the Black Knight and was also the last Warner cartoon to win the Oscar.

In which 1937 short did Daffy first appear?

Tex Avery, a lifelong duck hunter, based it on his own trips to White Rock Lake in Dallas.

What name did the animators originally want to give Daffy, before the producer objected?

It was after baseball's Dizzy Dean; Leon Schlesinger complained it sounded 'as if he's going to faint'.

According to the oft-repeated story, whose lisp was the model for Daffy's voice?

The origin is disputed; the slobbery lisp is barely there in the earliest cartoons.

Which character is the oldest continuing Looney Tunes star, introduced in the 100th short in 1935?

He had only a minor role in I Haven't Got a Hat, but the stuttering pig caught on immediately.

Which stuttered line does Porky Pig deliver at the end of many cartoons?

Bosko, Buddy and Beans had used the same slogan, without the stutter, before him.

What is the name of the 1937 song used as the Looney Tunes theme?

Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin wrote it; 'Merrily We Roll Along' became the Merrie Melodies theme instead.

Which director created Tweety in the 1942 short A Tale of Two Kitties?

The two cats hunting him, Babbit and Catstello, were based on Abbott and Costello; the early Tweety was surprisingly aggressive.

What is Sylvester the Cat's trademark exclamation?

It is said to be a minced oath for 'Suffering Savior'; three of his cartoons won Oscars, more than any other Looney Tunes star.

How many Academy Awards did cartoons starring Sylvester win, the most for any Looney Tunes character?

They were Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales and Birds Anonymous.

Which voice actress played Granny for almost 60 years after taking over from Bea Benaderet?

Granny's full name is Emma Webster; she owns Tweety and, usually, Sylvester.

In which 1949 short did Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner first appear?

Chuck Jones and writer Michael Maltese created them in 1948; early model sheets called the coyote 'Don Coyote'.

From which fictional company does Wile E. Coyote mail-order his contraptions?

One of Chuck Jones's rules was that no outside force could harm the coyote, only his own ineptitude or the failure of Acme products.

The Road Runner's 'beep, beep' was inspired by whose imitation of a car horn?

The desert backgrounds of the first three shorts were designed by Robert Gribbroek and were quite realistic.

Foghorn Leghorn was directly inspired by which radio character?

Kenny Delmar played the blustery Southern politician on Fred Allen's show; 'Leghorn' is an Italian chicken breed.

Which director created Foghorn Leghorn and the Tasmanian Devil?

Foghorn debuted in the 1946 Henery Hawk short Walky Talky Hawky.

Marvin the Martian's helmet and skirt are modelled on the armour of which Roman god?

He first appeared in the 1948 Bugs Bunny short Haredevil Hare and went unnamed until 1979.

How many shorts did the Tasmanian Devil appear in during the original theatrical era?

He debuted in Devil May Hare in 1954; his later fame came from merchandising and Taz-Mania.

What is the name of the black cat with a painted white stripe whom Pepé Le Pew pursues?

She usually gets her stripe by accident, such as squeezing under a wet-painted fence.

Which Pepé Le Pew short won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short?

In the 1949 short the roles reverse: a blue-painted Pepé is chased by a smitten Penelope.

Which director is Yosemite Sam said to have been modelled on?

He introduced Sam in Hare Trigger in 1945; his crew and daughter both say the short-fused redhead was based on him.

Elmer Fudd evolved from which earlier Tex Avery character?

Egghead debuted in 1937 with a bulbous nose and a Joe Penner voice; Elmer's 'wabbit' speech is a disorder called rhotacism.

Which 1955 Oscar-winning cartoon introduced the redesigned 'fastest mouse in all Mexico'?

He had first appeared in name only in Cat-Tails for Two in 1953; Cartoon Network shelved the character in 1999 over stereotype concerns.

Which Warner director made the most cartoons at the studio, 266 in all, and won five Oscars?

He later co-founded DePatie-Freleng, which produced The Pink Panther Show.

For which 1966 short did Chuck Jones finally win an Oscar in his own name?

Earlier statuettes for his cartoons went to the producer; Robin Williams presented him with an honorary Oscar in 1996.

Which Dr. Seuss TV special did Chuck Jones direct in 1966?

He followed it with Horton Hears a Who! in 1970 and directed the first Looney Tunes compilation feature in 1979.

After leaving Warner in 1946, the director who designed Tweety and Porky created which puppet show?

He directed 84 Warner cartoons including Porky in Wackyland and designed Porky, Daffy and Tweety.

Who founded the studio that produced Looney Tunes from 1933 until Warner bought it in 1944?

He had run Pacific Title & Art Studio making title cards for silent films, and was a distant relative of the Warners.

What nickname was Mel Blanc known by?

He voiced Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Sylvester and Yosemite Sam, and later Barney Rubble for Hanna-Barbera.

Which two Looney Tunes characters did Mel Blanc take over from Joe Dougherty and Arthur Q. Bryan?

He occasionally voiced Elmer even during Bryan's lifetime.

A persistent legend says Mel Blanc was allergic to what?

He denied it; the story grew from Bugs crunching carrots while saying his catchphrase.

How did Merrie Melodies originally differ from its black-and-white sister series?

Once Bugs broke out and Looney Tunes went colour in the 1940s, shorts were assigned to either series at random.

Which composer's operas does What's Opera, Doc? (1957) parody?

Elmer as Siegfried chases Bugs through the Ring cycle; it was the first cartoon added to the National Film Registry, in 1992.

In Duck Amuck (1953), who torments Daffy by redrawing his world?

The culprit revealed at the end is Bugs Bunny; the short entered the National Film Registry in 1999.

Which Rossini overture scores the 1950 short in which Bugs gives Elmer a shave?

Bugs and Elmer's chase is paced to the overture inside an amphitheatre where the opera is about to be staged.

Which two shorts complete Chuck Jones's hunting trilogy begun by 1951's Rabbit Fire?

Rabbit Fire also introduced the first three-way feud between Bugs, Daffy and Elmer and leaned on dialogue gags rather than slapstick.

Which singing amphibian stars in One Froggy Evening (1955) and later became the mascot of The WB network?

He performs 'Hello! Ma Baby' only for whoever holds his box; nightclub singer Bill Roberts supplied the voice.

What is the name of the big orange hairy monster in tennis shoes introduced in Hair-Raising Hare (1946)?

He was unnamed in that Chuck Jones short and voiced by Mel Blanc.

Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog treat their rivalry as what?

They punch in and out and take lunch breaks; Ralph is essentially Wile E. Coyote with a red nose.

Which basketball star teams up with the Looney Tunes in Space Jam (1996)?

He is pulled into their world while golfing with Bill Murray and Larry Bird; the film grossed over $230 million.

In Space Jam, what are the aliens called after they steal the talent of NBA players?

They took the skills of Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Shawn Bradley, Larry Johnson and Muggsy Bogues.

Which character made her debut in Space Jam?

An earlier 'Honey Bunny' had existed in comics since 1953 but was judged to look too young to be Bugs's love interest.

Which NBA star headlines Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)?

Don Cheadle plays the villainous algorithm Al-G Rhythm and Zendaya voices Lola.

Which actor stars alongside Bugs and Daffy in Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)?

Joe Dante directed the spy spoof, in which the Acme chairman plots to turn everyone into monkeys with the Blue Monkey diamond.

In which 1990s series did new characters attend Acme Looniversity to become Looney Tunes?

Steven Spielberg executive-produced it; Buster and Babs Bunny were pointedly 'no relation'.

In Animaniacs, where were the Warner siblings Yakko, Wakko and Dot locked away?

The show also launched Pinky and the Brain; it was revived on Hulu from 2020 to 2023.

What was the title of the very first Looney Tunes short, released in 1930 and starring Bosko?

Schlesinger hired Harman and Ising after being impressed by their 1929 pilot Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid.

Which widely derided character was the sole Looney Tunes star after Harman and Ising left in 1933?

Buddy was accompanied by his flapper girlfriend Cookie and his dog Towser.

Which 1969 Robert McKimson short closed out the original Looney Tunes theatrical run?

A planned Cool Cat cartoon called Stage Cat was cancelled when Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation shut down.

In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts had 79 black-and-white shorts redrawn in colour by a studio in which country?

The colourised versions were syndicated to TV stations into the early 1990s.

Which Viacom-owned cable channel ran a Looney Tunes package from 1988 until the shorts moved to Cartoon Network in 1999?

Its package included black-and-white Bosko cartoons rarely seen elsewhere.

In 1997, Bugs Bunny appeared on a US postage stamp of what denomination?

It was the first of five Looney Tunes-themed stamps.

Which 2015 series starring Bugs Bunny was announced under the title Wabbit before being renamed?

It moved to the Boomerang streaming service in 2017 and was cancelled in January 2020.

Which company acquired the North American theatrical rights to The Day the Earth Blew Up in 2024?

The Daffy and Porky film went wide in US theatres on March 14, 2025.