Anthony’s Animation Talk

Happy 75th Anniversary to "Rabbit Fire" (1951)! 75️⃣🔥 This was the historic first time Bugs, Daffy, and Elmer shared the screen, launching the iconic "Hunting Trilogy."

With budgets tightening, legendary director Friz Freleng had to get creative. He leaned into a "less is more" approach—relying heavily on off-screen action, Treg Brown's masterful sound effects, and static "aftermath" poses to imply violence cheaply but effectively.

In 1956,  "Stupor Duck" was released which was a direct, hilarious roast of the live-action Superman TV series. But the ultimate crossover? "The Honey-Mousers." Their parody of The Honeymooners was so incredibly accurate that the legendary Jackie Gleason  gave it his official stamp of approval!

Why does Porky Pig keep kissing his chickens?! 🐖💋🐔 We spotted this bizarre habit in "An Egg Scramble" (1950) and we need answers! Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel with @thetooneytenor.bsky.social ! 📺👇

Prissy the hen makes her big debut in "An Egg Scramble" (1950)! 🐔🎬 Fun fact: Her voice here was a tag-team effort between Mel Blanc and the legendary Bea Benaderet! 🎙️ Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 @thetooneytenor.bsky.social

On September 29, 1977, legendary animator Bob McKimson got a completely clean bill of health from his doctor. Feeling great, he went to lunch with his bosses. At the table, Bob was jokingly bragging about his health, telling the fellow animation veterans that he was going to outlive them both.

A brutal car crash in 1932 should have ended Bob McKimson’s career. Instead, the severe concussion rewired his brain, leaving the already brilliant master draftsman with a photographic memory and turning him into an absolute machine.

Was "Claws for Alarm" (1954) originally planned as a 3D cartoon? 🕶️ Look closely at the deep layouts and staging—Chuck Jones was likely preparing for the 1953 3D craze! Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇

Is this the scariest Looney Tunes cartoon ever? 👻 Watch Sylvester try to save an oblivious Porky Pig from a haunted hotel in Chuck Jones' "Claws for Alarm" (1954)! Catch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇

There will never be another Mel Blanc! 🎙️ Listen to how he gives every single background character in "Early to Bet" (1951) a completely unique voice! Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #MelBlanc

Never make a bet if you can't pay the penalty! 🎰🥊 Watch this classic Robert McKimson gag from "Early to Bet" (1951). Catch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #ClassicCartoons

Did you know Mel Blanc didn't voice EVERY Looney Tune? 🎙️😲 Famous actor Victor Moore once voiced his own caricature for free, AND the Genie in A-Lad-In His Lamp was actually voiced by Jim Backus (Mr. Magoo / Thurston Howell III)!  #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #MelBlanc

A long-lost Daffy Duck scene has been restored! 🦆🎬 In 1955, Jack Warner ordered Daffy's "Warner Bros." trailer cut from TV broadcasts just because he hated television! The new Looney Tunes Collector's Vault Vol 2 puts it back. #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #PhysicalMedia

Did you know Warner Bros. adapted the Pied Piper story at least 4 or 5 times? 🐭🎺 From Porky Pig to Jack Benny, Termite Terrace loved this fable! Check out the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #CartoonTrivia

"There's no mouse too big for a pussycat!" 🐈‍⬛💥 Watch Sylvester's ego get instantly checked by Hippety Hopper in the 1956 classic "Too Hop To Handle". Catch the full historical breakdown of this Bob McKimson short on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #Sylvester #AnimationHistory

Bugs Bunny Week continues! Did you know the rabbit in "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" isn't exactly the Bugs we know? While Tex Avery perfected the character, Chuck Jones was simultaneously directing a different, Jimmy Stewart-sounding version! Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! #LooneyTunes

Bugs Bunny Week continues! 🥕🐰 "Elmer's Pet Rabbit" (1941) marks the first time his name appears on screen AND the first time he says, "Of course you realize, this means war!" Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #BugsBunny #AnimationHistory

It's Bugs Bunny Week! 🥕🐰 Guest Matt Hunter breaks down how Mel Blanc created the iconic voice for Bugs in A Wild Hare (1940), blending Brooklyn and Bronx accents to create a "tough little stinker". Watch the full history deep-dive on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #BugsBunny

Happy Bugs Bunny Week! 🥕🐰 Let's go back to 1940 and watch the exact moment Bugs Bunny delivered his iconic "What's up, Doc?" for the very first time in Tex Avery's "A Wild Hare"! Watch the full historical breakdown on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #BugsBunny #AnimationHistory

Warner Bros. almost made a "Roadrunner Cavalcade" spin-off! Before shutting down, the studio pitched over 30 bizarre new characters, including "Butch Cat-Sity" and a Yosemite Sam ripoff!  #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #CartoonTrivia

Did you know about the "Larriva 11"? 🦅 These 11 outsourced Road Runner cartoons from 1965-1966 are widely considered some of the worst ever made! Watch my latest video breaking down the Dark Age of Looney Tunes! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #RoadRunner

Why did Yosemite Sam yell "Open the door, Richard!"? 🚪 Unpacking the hidden 1940s Vaudeville and Dusty Fletcher reference within the 1949 classic High Diving Hare. Check out the full breakdown on my channel! 🎬👇 #BugsBunny #AnimationHistory #Vaudeville

In a Friz Freleng cartoon, gravity only works when it's funny! 💥 Let's look at one of the greatest "cartoon physics" gags of all time from the 1949 classic, High Diving Hare. Watch the full review on my channel! 📺 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #BugsBunny

My friend Jonathan from the This Means Podcast shares an amazing story about meeting Chuck Jones's grandson! What is your favorite Looney Tunes short? 🐰 Watch the full breakdown of "Water, Water Every Hare" (1952) on my channel! 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #ChuckJones

Did you know Gossamer was originally called Rudolph? 👹 Uncovering the 1980s merchandising rebrand of this Looney Tunes monster and the Boris Karloff inspiration behind the Mad Scientist! Catch the full history deep-dive on my channel. 📺👇 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #BugsBunny

The brilliant suspense of Chuck Jones' "Water, Water Every Hare" (1952)! 🐰🧪 Featuring Boris Karloff inspirations and the uncredited voice of John T. Smith. Check out the full Looney Tunes Review Project breakdown on my channel! 📺 #LooneyTunes #AnimationHistory #ChuckJones

Full review of the new Tom and Jerry Anthology set is now on YouTube in case you haven't seen it yet — link in bio/first comment.  Let me know which short you saw first when you got this set or which one you plan to see first! #TomAndJerry #AnimationHistory #Restoration #PhysicalMedia

Here is the only time director Art Davis paired Porky and Daffy together! He had directed shorts with each seperately and he brings the same energy here! It’s just such a shame that the original negatives are considered lost. From Riff Raffy Daffy (1948) What are your thoughts on this one?

After this all other entries would feature the two starting and ending their work shifts. Let me know if you’ve seen this one!

Did you know that it took three shorts before the formula for the Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog shorts came together? This is the second one where were are first introduced that the wolf (unnamed still!) is ALSO doing shift work.

Another wonderful new restoration done for the Million Dollar Cat (1944) for the complete Tom and Jerry Blu-Ray set! This one is another childhood favourite of mine and this scene features one of my favourite times when Tom actually talks! Let me know if you’ve seen this one (or bought the set yet)

Wholly Smoke (1938) is the last Porky Pig short directed by Frank Tashlin durng his first directorial stint for Warners. It’s unusual as it’s an anti-smoking short released during a time where smoking was very widespread (and even considered to be ‘healthy’). Let me know if you’ve seen this one!

This is one of the most well known Bugs and Sam shorts and part of that would be due to it being reused in three separate projects after the original release! And this bit shown below is also reused from Ain’t She Tweet released in 1952. From Roman Legion-Hare (1955)

Friz Freleng was truly the master of animation timing and part of that came from his usage of musical bar sheets to time the action to the music. And if this music sounds familiar yes Freleng uses it again in Rhapsody Rabbit (1946)! From Rhapsody in Rivets (1941)

The Yankee Doodle Mouse (1943) has a brand new restoration on the new complete Tom and Jerry Blu Ray set which features all 114 shorts in the original run! This one had won the 1943 Academy Award for best animated short!

Even before the US’s entry into WWII there were plenty of army themed shorts done by the various studios including this one that parodies life at an army base! From Rookie Revue (1941) directed by Friz Freleng

Another wonderful new restoration done for the new complete Tom and Jerry Blu Ray set! Featuring all 114 classic shorts complete and uncut! The clip here is from Sufferin’ Cats (1943)

Here is the 7th Tom and Jerry short and it’s now fully restored for the new Tom and Jerry Blu-Ray release! It’s one of my childhood favourites and I’m so glad to see it restored finally. From The Bowling Alley Cat (1942)

So glad to finally see this wonderful Tom and Jerry short restored! And finally having all 114 original Tom and Jerry shorts in one set complete and uncut (as it should be). Let me know if you are planning on buying the set! Clip is from The Zoot Cat (1944)

Here is a scene from a short was wasn’t composed by Carl Stalling but by Eugene Poddany who was covering for Stalling when he was recovering from an injury. He does a decent job here! From Room and Bird (1951)

While this isn’t the first Hubie and Bertie short it’s the first one featuring their final design (taken from the mice featured in Trap Happy Porky from 1945) and it’s the first featuring Stan Freberg who would go on to do many voices at the studio for about a decade or so!

This bit of animation is from Russian Rhapsody (1944) and it is a tour de force for animator Bob McKimson (who would begin directing a few short years later). Mel Blanc’s delivery kills me every time I hear it here as well. Directed by Bob Clampett.

It’s a clip with a gag reused from A Fractured Leghorn (1950) and while that was directed by Bob McKimson they both share the same writer - Warren Foster! From Sandy Claws (1955)

One of my favourite ‘minor’ characters that Mel Blanc ever voiced! I just love the glee that comes out of his voice here! From Satan’s Waitin’ (1954) by Friz Freleng

‘Baby Face’ is a song used countless times in Looney Tunes and has also been covered by many musicians over the many decades since the song’s debut in 1926. Here we hear it sung by Pepe Le Pew impersonating Maurice Chevalier! From Scent-Imental Romeo (1951)

One of the finest WWII shorts ever made and one of Frank Tashlin’s best shorts as well! Would have loved to have been a fly on the wall seeing Mel Blanc’s recording session for this. Plus the ending cue when we see ‘you know who’ is perfect. From Scrap Happy Daffy (1943)

Scrambles Aches (1957) and similar shorts like this were made real fast which allowed Chuck Jones to put more time into certain other shorts auch as Whatma Opera Doc (1957) which was released around this time! And despite being made quickly they are still some of the best shorts ever made.

While this is a ‘cheater’ short (reusing scenes and bits from older shorts) at least it’s entertaining enough especially in this bit which is one of the few newly animated bits for this! From Trip for Tat (1960)

Here is the final released Looney Tunes short from the original studio before the shorts were outsourced from Depatie-Freleng Studios! It’s an interesting take on the Cinderella story that’s for sure 😂 From Senorella and the Glass Huarache (1964) #looneytunes #frizfreleng #warnerbros

Director Jack King made some weird Porky Pig shorts and this is one of them! Though I like this scene - due to how strange it is! Let me know if you’ve seen this one! From Shanghaied Shipmates (1936)

How movie theatres used to be! You’d get multiple short subjects, newsreels, features and even a sing-a-long at times! This short parodies the entire theatre experience at the time. From She was an Acrobat’s Daughter (1937) directed by Friz Freleng