Classic Cartoon Countdown #3: Looney Tunes

In the grand scheme of cartoons, the looney tunes crew really deserves their own special category. So many classic characters and classic cartoons with a huge portion of success coming on television as opposed to the feature film route that Disney has gone. Sure, the Looney tunes have had their theatrical moments (Space Jam, Looney Tunes: Back in Action), but they pale in comparison (in my mind at least) to the classic cartoon plots that kept us rolling every Saturday morning. The fairly large cast of Looney Tunes, some of whom never meet each other include:

Bugs Bunny - the star of the cast, who has run into most of the characters in the course of all the toons, he's always the smartest (and a real smart-aleck), and wins in the end, although sometimes things look bleak for our hero.

Daffy Duck - Bugs' rival, especially in the sense of the whole duck season-rabbit season debate. Daffy always seems to get his bill blown around to the back of his face. I love it when that happens.


Elmer Fudd - Fun with speech impediments. Awesome. "Be Vewwy, Vewwy, Qwiet. I'm hunting wabbits."


Sylvester and Tweety Pie - I'll be honest, not my favorites, but still crucial members of the team.


Yosemite Sam - for some reason we always called him 'Semite Sam when I was growing up. Usually faces off with Bugs Bunny and gets really mad, shoots his guns, etc. Somehow became a popular mudflap icon.


The Tasmanian Devil - tears things up, usually interacts with Bugs Bunny. Somehow became a popular T-shirt icon along with Bugs and some of the others in the early 90s. Not sure how that happened. Of course, I'm not sure how wearing clothes backwards became popular back then either. I mean, I know it was because Kris Kross was doing it, but I don't know how that made it popular.


Speedy Gonzalez - Andale! Andale! Arriba!


Pepe le Pew - Always chasing that cat with the stripe down her back. Does he even do anything else? I love how she's always running at top speed, and he just hops along and always catches up.


Porky Pig - More fun with speech impediments. Does this guy have a job besides stuttering through the whole Th-th-th-that's all Folks?


Marvin the Martian - Always getting ready to destroy Earth with a death ray or chasing Bugs Bunny around, and talking in his funny voice.


Foghorn Leghorn - I-I-I-I say boy, let me tell you...


Wile E. Coyote and the Roadrunner - I've saved my favorites for last. I love to watch the Coyote with all his schemes and how they all go awry in the most impossible ways imaginable. I think my favorite Looney Tune of all time is the one where he's got some kind of boulder catapult set up to launch a boulder at the roadrunner, but somehow the boulder or the catapult itself end up on him every time, in ways that completely defy physics. He must get smashed like 15 different ways.

Some of my other favorite Looney Tunes, aside from the aforementioned Roadrunner, and the whole Duck Season-Rabbit Season bit, include the singing frog who only sings when no one else is around ("Hello my honey, hello my baby, hello my ragtime gal"), the Barber of Seville, the other opera looking one where Elmer is dressed like a Viking and sings "North wind blow, South wind blow, thunder, hurricane, typhoon,....smog!", the one where Bugs is visiting some castle and some guy gets "The Nose in the Book penalty", when Bugs takes on the bull as a matador,and I'm sure there's others that I'm forgetting right now. If not for Looney Tunes I would never have heard the phrase "one lump or two", and even know I'd be more likely to associate it with getting hit in the head with a large mallet. I remember hearing how violent the looney tunes were, but c'mon how many people have access to dynamite.

But seriously, Looney Tunes put out some great stuff. Better than the Tiny Toons, and anything else they've come up with lately. Just give me the classic shorts.


Th-th-that's All Folks!

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Here's the updated countdown:
#10: Underdog
#9: Thundercats
#8: G.I. Joe
#7: Superfriends
#6: Scooby's All Star Laff-a-lympics
#5: Voltron
#4: X-men
#3: Looney Tunes