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the BEST looney tunes cartoons (in my humble opinion)
after spending weeks - possibly months - curating the list of the top looney tunes cartoons, i have decided to share it with the world. i organized them based on character, and chose the cartoons that i think specifically follow this basic criteria:
1. they portray the characters in a way that is comedic and true to past writing and established character traits
2. they are entertaining, funny, and have well-executed gags
3. they give the authentic looney tunes feeling and are good representations of looney tunes as a whole
if you are introducing a friend to looney tunes, or want to get into it yourself, i suggest you start with these cartoons. they are my personal favorites and i think they capture what makes looney tunes great. before i get into the list, some things worth noting:
- i did not include the characters elmer fudd, yosemite sam, tweety, marvin the martian, the tasmanian devil, or any smaller characters. this was because all of these characters are usually paired with more major or more entertaining characters that i made lists of instead. i don't think these characters are enough on their own to make a separate list about, and i don't think that learning about these characters is a necessity when starting looney tunes.
- if a cartoon features multiple characters, i put it under the character i thought that it represented best. for example, in porky and daffy cartoons where daffy is silly and funny, i put them under daffy. but in porky and daffy cartoons where daffy is messing with porky, and porky's forced to become sinister, i put those under porky.
finally: the list.
(also a shift from my strict no-caps policy)
Bugs Bunny
A Wild Hare (1940) - first appearance
Hot Cross Bunny (1948)
Buccaneer Bunny (1948)
Rabbit Fire (1951)
Bugs and Thugs (1954)
Daffy Duck
Porky's Duck Hunt (1937) - first appearance
Porky and Daffy (1938)
The Wise Quacking Duck (1943)
Duck Soup to Nuts (1944)
Daffy Doodles (1946)
Porky Pig
I Haven't Got a Hat (1935) - first appearance
The Pest That Came to Dinner (1948)
Often an Orphan (1949)
The Ducksters (1950)
Fool Coverage (1952)
Sylvester
Life With Feathers (1945) - first appearance
Who's Kitten Who (1952)
A Bird in a Guilty Cage (1952)
Gift Wrapped (1952)
The Last Hungry Cat (1961)
Wile E. Coyote/Roadrunner
Fast and Furry-ous (1949) - first appearance
Beep, Beep (1952)
Stop! Look! And Hasten! (1954)
Whoa, Be-Gone! (1958)
Wild About Hurry (1959)
Foghorn Leghorn
Walky Talky Hawky (1946) - first appearance
The Foghorn Leghorn (1948)
A Fractured Leghorn (1950)
Little Boy Boo (1954)
A Broken Leghorn (1959)
Honorable Mentions*
The Henpecked Duck (1941)
The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946)
Operation: Rabbit (1952)
Mouse Divided (1953)
Devil May Hare (1954)
Birds Anonymous (1957)
Robin Hood Daffy (1958)
Best One-Offs
Porky in Wackyland (1938)**
Cross-Counry Detours (1940)
The Haunted Mouse (1941)
Russian Rhapsody (1944)
Dough Ray Me-ow (1948)
Feed The Kitty (1952)***
One Froggy Evening (1955)
*these are cartoons that i almost picked for top cartoons, but didn't quite make the cut. but these are definitely worth being mentioned because they are almost if not equally as great.
**i know this isn't a one-off because it has porky in it, but i don't consider this a great cartoon for porky because he's really bland in it. i love this cartoon because of the ridiculous characters and backgrounds.
***this also isn't a one-off because there are multiple shorts featuring marc anthony and pussyfoot, but they're very small characters so i consider it part of that category.