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89-397: Looney Tunes is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside the related series Merrie Melodies , during the golden age of American animation . Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced

178-415: A Looney Tunes reboot film titled Acme , in development. Former Saturday Night Live cast member Jenny Slate was said to be on board as writer for the new film. Jeffrey Clifford, Harry Potter producer David Heyman , and Dark Shadows writers David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith were slated to produce the film. On August 27, 2014, writers Ashley Miller and Zack Stentz were hired to script

267-543: A Real Sweetheart", "Bashful Baby", "I Want to Sing About You", "It's Great to Be In Love", "Let's Have a Party", "Don't Let Temptation Turn You Around", "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven", "When My Dream Boat Comes Home" (as recorded by John Serry Sr. on Squeeze Play in 1956), "You've Got Me In the Palm of Your Hand", "Out Where the Blue Begins" and " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down ". "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down"

356-535: A black duck who was originally portrayed as a screwball , but later became greedy and egocentric; Porky Pig , a stuttering pig who often appears as the straight man to Daffy, and is the oldest of the franchise's recurring characters; Sylvester the Cat , his prey Tweety (a small canary), and their elderly owner Granny ; Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner , who routinely engage in high-speed chases in their home in

445-525: A few have gained theatrical releases with movies. In the 1970s through the early 1990s, several feature-film compilations and television specials were produced, mostly centering on Bugs Bunny and/or Daffy Duck, with a mixture of new and old footage. These releases include The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979), The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981), Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982), Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island (1983), and Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988). In 1976,

534-485: A franchise can even be created, which ultimately leads to the creation of brand worlds. Since the creation of Disneyland in 1955, bringing fictional media franchises to life through the theme parks slowly became increasingly popular as the way to perfectly blend tourism and real-life involvement with media itself. Similar to transmedia, the concept of bringing fictional media into a non-fictional space where fans can immerse themselves in real-life versions of elements from

623-438: A large cast of characters , including Bugs Bunny , Daffy Duck , and Porky Pig . The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were initially produced by Leon Schlesinger and animators Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising from 1930 to 1933. Schlesinger assumed full production from 1933 until he sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, after which it

712-424: A modeling agency, several television shows ( Playboy's Penthouse , in 1959), and even its own television channel . Twenty-five years later, Playboy released private clubs and restaurants, movie theaters, a radio show , direct to video films, music and book publishing (including original works in addition to its anthologies of cartoons, photographs, recipes, advice, articles or fiction that had originally appeared in

801-549: A new arrangement, by William Lava , of " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down " which had first been used in the 1963 experimental short " Now Hear This " directed by Chuck Jones. In 1967, Warner Bros.-Seven Arts commissioned an animation studio in South Korea to redraw 79 black-and-white Looney Tunes produced from 1935 to 1943 in color which were syndicated to TV stations from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. The original Looney Tunes theatrical series ran from 1930's Sinkin' in

890-419: A series of animated shorts to promote their music. They had recently acquired Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US$ 28 million (equivalent to $ 511 million in 2024) and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music and phonograph records. Warner made a deal with Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them. Schlesinger hired Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman to produce

979-466: A show called Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon between 1988 and 1999. Initially, the Nickelodeon package included cartoons that were typically omitted from the higher-profile Saturday morning network and syndicated weekday packages, including black-and-white Bosko cartoons that had not aired in many years and cartoons from the late DePattie–Freling and Seven Arts eras. In January 1999, it was reported that

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1068-511: A style reminiscent of the styles of Tex Avery , Bob Clampett , Chuck Jones , Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson . According to co-executive producer Peter Browngardt , "We're not doing guns, but we can do cartoony violence — TNT, the Acme stuff. All that was kind of grandfathered in." Sam Register , president of Warner Bros. Animation also served as a co-executive producer for the series. The series ended on July 27, 2023. On February 11, 2021, it

1157-485: A tribute to the Looney Tunes sister shorts) which features the characters singing original songs, as well as CGI animated shorts starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (which were removed after the first season). The series was cancelled after its second season. Also, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner returned to the big screen in a series of 3-D shorts that preceded select Warner Bros. films. There were six in

1246-498: A vicious, brutal marsupial with an insatiable appetite; Pepé Le Pew , a French skunk who is always looking for love and romance; and Speedy Gonzales , the self-proclaimed "fastest mouse in all of Mexico". One additional major character was introduced in post-Golden Age Looney Tunes media (starting with Space Jam ): Lola Bunny , a female rabbit who is usually portrayed as Bugs' girlfriend. Due to content considered offensive, stereotyped or insensitive, in 1968 Warner Bros. removed

1335-483: Is regarded as a cultural icon and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Many Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies films are ranked among the greatest animated cartoons of all time, and five of them have won Academy Awards . In 2013, TV Guide counted Looney Tunes as the third greatest television cartoon series of all time, behind The Simpsons and The Flintstones , the latter of which also featured

1424-484: Is the Japanese term for a transmedia franchise. The term media mix gained its circulation in late 1980s and is first used to describe adaptations of Sakyo Komatsu 's Japan Sinks , but the origins of the strategy can be traced back to the 1960s with the proliferation of anime , with its interconnection of media and commodity goods. Some of the earlier popular Japanese franchises such as Vampire Hunter D in

1513-482: The Boomerang streaming service and HBO Max . Five dozen Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts from before December 1943 have lapsed into the public domain and are thus freely distributed through various unofficial releases. The major characters of the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series are Bugs Bunny , a clever and insouciant rabbit or hare who is portrayed as a trickster ; Daffy Duck ,

1602-527: The Looney Tunes characters made their way into the amusement park business when they became the mascots for Marriott's two Great America theme parks in Gurnee, Illinois, and Santa Clara, California. After the Gurnee park was sold to Six Flags in 1984, they also claimed the rights to use the characters at the other Six Flags parks, which continues to the present. (Warner Bros. parent company Time Warner would own

1691-646: The Southwest American desert; Elmer Fudd , an unintelligent hunter who is Bugs' oldest nemesis; Yosemite Sam , a hot-tempered cowboy who is another of Bugs' archenemies; Foghorn Leghorn , a rooster who is known for his often excessive ranting; Marvin the Martian , an alien commander from the planet Mars , who aims to conquer the Earth; the Tasmanian Devil (often nicknamed "Taz" in later media),

1780-491: The fantasy and science fiction genres. Similarly, fantasy, science fiction films and television shows are frequently adapted into animated television series , video games, or both. A media franchise does not have to include the same characters or theme, as the brand identity can be the franchise, like Square Enix 's Final Fantasy or the National Lampoon series , and can suffer from critical failures even if

1869-691: The " Censored Eleven " episodes of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from broadcast or distribution. Depictions included those of African Americans (as in Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs and Jungle Jitters ), Native Americans , Japanese people (especially during WWII, as in Tokio Jokio and Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips ), Germans , Italians , White Southerners , and Mexicans . Media franchise A media franchise often consists of cross-marketing across more than one medium. For

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1958-423: The 1980s and Pokémon in the late 1990s, acted as benchmarks in the country's transmedia dominance. The latter in particular began as a video game available on Nintendo 's Game Boy , and crossed through the media of television, film, news, and other non-media related realms, such trading cards, merchandise, and more. A number of Japanese media franchises have gained considerable global popularity, and are among

2047-410: The 1990 spinoff series Tiny Toon Adventures , from executive producer Steven Spielberg , where they played teachers and mentors to a younger generation of cartoon characters ( Plucky Duck , Hamton J. Pig , Babs and Buster Bunny , etc.), plus occasional cameos in the later Warner Bros. shows such as Animaniacs (also from Spielberg) and Histeria! . Traditional cel animation was used to animate

2136-516: The 2009 Cartoon Network upfront , The Looney Tunes Show was announced. After several delays, the series premiered on May 3, 2011. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation , the series centers on Bugs and Daffy as they leave the woods and move to the suburbs with "colorful neighbors" including Sylvester, Tweety, Granny, Yosemite Sam, etc. The series introduced the character Tina Russo , a duck who becomes Daffy's girlfriend. The show also features 2-minute music videos titled respectfully "Merrie Melodies" (as

2225-743: The Bathtub to 1969's Injun Trouble by Robert McKimson . A Cool Cat cartoon called "Stage Cat" was planned, about Cool Cat being in a stage production, but it was cancelled when Warner Bros.-Seven Arts shut down. The Looney Tunes series' popularity was further strengthened when it began airing on network and syndicated television in the 1950s under various titles and formats. The Looney Tunes shorts were broadcast with edits to remove scenes of violence (particularly suicidal gags and scenes of characters performing dangerous stunts that impressionable viewers could easily imitate), stereotypes, and alcohol consumption. Production of theatrical animated shorts

2314-537: The Bosko characters from Harman and Ising's estates. Meanwhile, the Schlesinger studio continued to make popular cartoons until 1944 when Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. Since then, Warner Bros. has owned all rights to all post-1933 characters created by Leon Schlesinger Productions and Warner Bros. Cartoons, even after the rights to individual cartoons were placed in other hands. In 1955, Warner Bros. sold

2403-491: The Cat in the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat , directed by Friz Freleng. Beans was the star of the next Porky/Beans cartoon, Gold Diggers of '49 , but it was Porky who emerged as the star instead of Beans. The ensemble characters of I Haven't Got a Hat , such as Oliver Owl and the twin dogs Ham and Ex, were also given a sampling of shorts. Beans and Porky proved much more popular in comparison. Beans

2492-531: The Martian (debuted in 1948's Haredevil Hare ), Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner (debuted in 1949's Fast and Furry-ous ), Granny (debuted in 1950's Canary Row ), Speedy Gonzales (debuted in 1953's Cat Tails for Two ), the Tasmanian Devil (debuted in 1954's Devil May Hare ), and Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog (debuted in 1953's Don't Give Up the Sheep ). It was during this era that

2581-533: The North American theatrical distribution rights to the film. On December 31, 2022, 256 shorts were removed from HBO Max, including What's Opera, Doc? and Duck Amuck , though many were later re-added in March 2024 when the shorts on the service were rotated. In August 2024, it was announced that Warner Bros. was planning to relaunch the Looney Tunes theatrical film series in 2028. In October 2024, it

2670-487: The Pain , in 2014. In March 2000, it was revealed that the entire Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies library would be exclusive to Cartoon Network, starting with the fall of that year. Looney Tunes shorts were still airing on Disney's ABC as part of The Bugs Bunny and Tweety Show at the time and the decision led to the show's cancellation. This decision would remain in effect for over 20 years until MeTV began airing

2759-519: The Six Flags chain in whole or part form most of the 1990s.) In 1988, several Looney Tunes characters appeared in cameo roles in the Disney film Who Framed Roger Rabbit . The more significant cameos featured Bugs, Daffy, Porky, Tweety, and Yosemite Sam. It is the only time in which Looney Tunes characters have shared screen time with their rivals at Disney (producers of the film)—particularly in

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2848-462: The TV distribution rights to the black and white cartoons. In 1956, Associated Artists Productions (a.a.p.) acquired television distribution rights to most of Warner Bros.' pre-1950 library, including all Merrie Melodies (except for those sold to Guild and Lady, Play Your Mandolin! ) and color Looney Tunes shorts that were released prior to August 1948, while Warner still owned the copyright to all of

2937-459: The a.a.p. library to WB. Since then, Warner Home Video (now Warner Bros. Home Entertainment ) has held the video rights to the entire Looney Tunes / Merrie Melodies animated output by virtue of Warner Bros.' ownership of Turner Entertainment. Starting in 1960, the cartoons were repackaged into several different TV programs that remained popular for several decades before being purchased by Turner Broadcasting System. Turner's Cartoon Network reran

3026-608: The box office. A reboot of Tiny Toon Adventures titled Tiny Toons Looniversity premiered on September 8, 2023, on Max and then aired the following day on Cartoon Network. The Looney Tunes characters reprise their roles as the professors at Acme Looniversity in this series. In September 2021, it was reported that a film based on the Looney Tunes Cartoons , titled The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie and starring Daffy Duck and Porky Pig ,

3115-451: The cartoon studio in 1944 to Warner Bros. and went into retirement; he died five years later. More popular Looney Tunes characters were created (most of which first appeared in Merrie Melodies cartoons), such as Pepé Le Pew (debuted in 1945's Odor-able Kitty ), Sylvester (debuted in 1945's Life with Feathers ), Yosemite Sam (debuted in 1945's Hare Trigger ), Foghorn Leghorn (debuted in 1946's Walky Talky Hawky ), Marvin

3204-713: The cartoons from its launch in 1992 until 2004, again from 2009 until 2017, and making a temporary return in April 2023 to celebrate WB's 100th anniversary. The Looney Tunes Show (not to be confused with the 2010s animated series of the same name ), an early 2000s anthology produced by Warner Bros. Animation for the network, was broadcast from 2001 to 2004. The show featured shorts from the original Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical series. As of 2021, classic cartoons continue to air on CN's sister channel, Boomerang and MeTV . Differing curated collections of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies are available for streaming on both

3293-399: The cartoons shown on Nickelodeon would move to Cartoon Network in the fall of that year. To date, Looney Tunes on Nickelodeon is the longest-airing animated series on the network that was not a Nicktoon . In 1996, Space Jam , a live-action animated film , was released to theaters starring Bugs Bunny and basketball player Michael Jordan . Despite a mixed critical reception, the film

3382-529: The cartoons. Unlike the previous TV package, this package had the Warner titles kept intact and an "Associated Artists Productions presents" title inserted at the head of each reel (as a result, each Merrie Melodies cartoon had the song " Merrily We Roll Along " playing twice). Two years later, United Artists bought a.a.p. (which had also bought Paramount's Popeye films) who merged the company into its television division, United Artists Television . In 1981, UA

3471-612: The changeover was Warner's decision to re-release only the color cartoons in the Blue Ribbon Classics series of Merrie Melodies . Bugs made a cameo appearance in 1942 in the Avery/Clampett cartoon Crazy Cruise and also at the end of the Frank Tashlin 1943 cartoon Porky Pig's Feat , which marked Bugs' only official appearance in a black-and-white Looney Tunes short. Schlesinger sold his interest in

3560-514: The characters for Looney Tunes' cartoons until 1999 when it was replaced with digital ink and paint animation . In 1979, Bugs Bunny's Christmas Carol premiered. After The Chocolate Chase , there would not be another short released for seven years. In 1990, it was made so there would be about one short per year until 1998. In 2003, there would be seven shorts produced to promote Looney Tunes: Back in Action . The first of these to be released

3649-487: The classic Warner Bros. cartoons (along with MGM and Paramount's library) in January 2021. In 2003, another feature film was released, this time in an attempt to recapture the spirit of the original shorts: the live-action/animated Looney Tunes: Back in Action . Although the film was not financially successful, it was met with mixed-to-positive reviews from film critics and has been argued by animation historians and fans as

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3738-409: The color Merrie Melodies shorts following the success of 1940's A Wild Hare , and formally joined the Looney Tunes series with the release of Buckaroo Bugs in 1944. Schlesinger began to phase in the production of color Looney Tunes with the 1942 cartoon The Hep Cat . The final black-and-white Looney Tunes short was Puss n' Booty in 1943, directed by Frank Tashlin . The inspiration for

3827-654: The day-in-the-life episodes of the many different Real Housewives series. Documentaries and docuseries are other highlights of the non-fiction branch of media franchises, such as the popular Planet Earth series, which serves as both a film and television transmedia franchise. Cliff Friend Cliff Friend (October 1, 1893 – June 27, 1974) was an accomplished American songwriter and pianist . A member of Tin Pan Alley , Friend co-wrote several hits including " Lovesick Blues ", "My Blackbirds Are Bluebirds Now" and " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down ", also known as

3916-540: The decade. Porky Pig and Daffy Duck became the featured Looney Tunes characters, while Merrie Melodies featured one-shot cartoons and minor recurring characters. After Bugs Bunny became popular in the Merrie Melodies shorts of the early 1940s, Looney Tunes moved from black and white to color production, Merrie Melodies having already been in color since 1934. The two series gradually lost their distinctions, and shorts were assigned to each series arbitrarily. From 1942 to 1964, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were

4005-725: The fictional worlds they love, adds to the overall narrative the franchise creates through its other media. Marvel's Avenger's Campus park is one of the many franchise-based theme parks created in recent times, following the creation of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure and Star Wars' Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland and Disney World . Media franchises tend to cross over from their original media to other forms. Literary franchises are often transported to film, such as Nancy Drew , Miss Marple , and other popular detectives , as well as popular comic book superheroes . Television and film franchises are often expanded upon in novels , particularly those in

4094-470: The film The Matrix Reloaded and the video game Enter the Matrix were produced at the same time, using the same actors on the same sets, and released on the same day. Transmedia franchises occasionally release content through certain media that is not canon to the main or greater story that the franchise is built around, meaning that the elements of said content do not truly exist in the main timeline of

4183-508: The film, directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa were in talks to direct the film, while actor Steve Carell was rumored to be starring in a lead role. Despite this, the film never entered production. At the 2014 Cartoon Network upfront , another series titled Wabbit: A Looney Tunes Production (later New Looney Tunes ) was announced. Starring Bugs Bunny, the series premiered on both Cartoon Network and its sister channel Boomerang in late 2015. The series had an unusually slow rollout, with

4272-663: The final volume of the Golden Collection was released. Then, from 2010 until 2013, the company released the Looney Tunes Super Stars DVDs. There have been numerous complaints regarding the Super Stars releases, however (particularly the first two), having the post-1953 shorts in a 16:9 widescreen format. The last DVD in the Super Stars series was Sylvester and Hippety Hopper: Marsupial Mayhem , released on April 23, 2013. 2010 and 2011 saw

4361-467: The financial logic of cost-recovery for expensive productions by identifying that a single medium launch is a lost opportunity, the timeliness of the production and release is more important than its integrity, the releases should raise brand awareness and the cross-ability of the work is critical for its success. American Idol was a transmedia franchise from its beginnings, with the first season winner Kelly Clarkson signing with RCA Records and having

4450-531: The finest original feature-length appearance of the cartoon characters. In 2006, Warner Home Video released a new and Christmas-themed Looney Tunes direct-to-video film called Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas , a parody of Charles Dickens ' A Christmas Carol . Other Looney Tunes TV series made during this time were Baby Looney Tunes (2001–2006), Duck Dodgers (2003–2005) and Loonatics Unleashed (2005–2007). On October 22, 2007, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons became available for

4539-435: The first series of cartoons. Schlesinger was impressed by Harman's and Ising's 1929 pilot cartoon, Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid . The first Looney Tunes short was Sinkin' in the Bathtub starring Bosko , which was released in 1930. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters they had created. A new character called Buddy became

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4628-703: The first time in High-definition via Microsoft 's Xbox Live service, including some in Spanish. From February 29 – May 18, 2008, many Looney Tunes artifacts, including original animation cels and concept drawings, were on display at the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio , just off the campus of Youngstown State University , near where the Warners lived early in life. At

4717-496: The first titled Daffy's Rhapsody with Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd, the next being I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat with Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny. Daffy's Rhapsody was to precede the film Happy Feet Two , until the studio decided to premiere I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat instead. Daffy's Rhapsody instead premiered in 2012, preceding Journey 2: The Mysterious Island . All five shorts were directed by Matthew O'Callaghan . In 2012, several announcements were made about

4806-607: The focus on the content of the commodity to "overlapping the commodity image with the character image". The book Anime's Media Mix: Franchising Toys and Characters in Japan, by Marc Steinberg, details the evolution of the media mix in Japan. Long-running franchises were common in the early studio era, when Hollywood studios had actors and directors under long-term contract. In such cases, even lead actors are often replaced as they age, lose interest, or their characters are killed. Spin-offs and adaptations of popular pieces of media within

4895-433: The franchise's characters and settings. As one author explains, "For the studios, a home-run is a film from which a multimedia 'franchise' can be generated; the colossally expensive creation of cross-media conglomerates predicated on synergistic rewards provides an obvious imperative to develop such products." The trend later developed wherein franchises would be launched in multiple forms of media simultaneously; for instance,

4984-415: The franchise. Canon content often times breaks continuity, leading fans to speculate or seek to confirm which media are canon and which are not, which can get confusing if the franchise does not provide an answer themselves since entire media can be non-canon to the greater story, with a popular example occurring. On the other hand, specific episodes, volumes or parts of a series can be canon while others in

5073-473: The magazine), footwear, clothing of every kind, jewelry, housewares (lamps, clocks, bedding, glassware), guitars and gambling, playing cards, pinball machines and pet accessories, billiard balls, bedroom appurtenances, enhancements, plus countless other items of merchandise. Non-fiction media franchises also exist in the television and film media, with reality TV being one of the most well-known examples; ranging from competition shows like The Amazing Race to

5162-400: The media fictional material is unrelated. Non-fiction literary franchises include the ...For Dummies and The Complete Idiot's Guide to... reference books . An enduring and comprehensive example of a media franchise is Playboy Enterprises , which began expanding well beyond its successful magazine, Playboy , within a few years after its first publication, into such enterprises as

5251-400: The most popular animated shorts in movie theaters. Looney Tunes has become one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides. Many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in television shows, films, and other media. Bugs Bunny, in particular,

5340-549: The musicals he was acting in, including The Passing Show and Bombo . Friend's first hit was in 1923, called "You Tell Her - I Stutter" and co-written with Billy Rose, it was recorded by The Happiness Boys . Over the next 15 years Friend also co-wrote " Lovesick Blues ", "June Night", " Then I'll Be Happy ", "(Oh) If I Only Had You", "A Night in June (Beneath the Moon)", "My Blackbirds are Bluebirds Now", "It Goes Like This", "You're

5429-406: The only star of the Looney Tunes series for a couple of years. New directors including Tex Avery , Friz Freleng and Bob Clampett were brought in or promoted to work with animators in the Schlesinger studio, with Avery's unit housed in a bungalow which the animators dubbed " Termite Terrace ." In 1935, the first major Looney Tunes star debuted, Porky Pig . He first appeared along with Beans

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5518-433: The overarching story and narrative of the franchise itself. A connection between the characters, settings, and other elements of the media franchise do still exist within the different media, regardless of the fact that they are being presented in sometimes completely different ways, such as the shared, interweaving storylines and elements of Spider-Man films, television shows, comics and video games. Espen Aarseth describes

5607-490: The owners, the goal of increasing profit through diversity can extend the commercial profitability of the franchise and create strong feelings of identity and ownership in its consumers. Those large groups of dedicated consumers create the franchise's fandom , which is the community of fans that indulge in many of its media and are committed to interacting with and keeping up with other consumers. Large franchise-based fandoms have grown to be even more popular in recent years with

5696-484: The popular Twilight book series that was adapted into the five films of The Twilight Saga . Other neologisms exist to describe various franchise types including metaseries , which can be used to describe works such as Isaac Asimov 's Foundation series . Multimedia franchises usually develop through a character or fictional world becoming popular in one medium, and then expanding to others through licensing agreements , with respect to intellectual property in

5785-415: The release of A Moment Like This becoming a #1 hit on Billboard Hot 100. The success resulted in a nationwide concert tour, an American Idol book that made the bestseller list and the film From Justin to Kelly . A transmedia franchise however is often referred to by the simpler term "media franchise". The term media franchise is often used to describe the popular adaptation of a work into films, like

5874-587: The releases of The Essential Bugs Bunny and The Essential Daffy Duck DVDs. In 2011, the shorts were released on Blu-ray Disc for the first time with the Looney Tunes Platinum Collection series. On September 19, 2017, Warner Home Video 's Warner Archive Collection released the five-disc Porky Pig 101 DVD-set. In 1933, Harman and Ising left, taking the rights to the Bosko characters with them. However, Warner Bros. retained

5963-467: The rights to the cartoons and the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies brand names, leaving their former producer Leon Schlesinger to start his own animation studio to continue the Looney Tunes series. With their retained Bosko rights, Harman and Ising began making cartoons at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1934 until they were fired in 1937 due to a lack of success. MGM proceeded to form their own studio to create its own cartoons. Time Warner eventually acquired

6052-409: The rise of social media platforms, as many fans seek to interact with one another for discussion, debate and even to create their own fan-made pieces of media revolving around the franchise, on websites like tumblr , Reddit and Fandom . In the case of successful transmedia franchises, each different medium should expand the target demographic and fandom, build the interest of the consumers and add to

6141-525: The same medium are not, such as the fact that only some of the Battlestar Galactica comics are canon, with a large amount of them breaking the continuity of the main story. In Japanese culture and entertainment, media mix ( wasei-eigo : メディアミックス , mediamikkusu ) is a strategy to disperse content across multiple representations: different broadcast media , gaming technologies, cell phones, toys, amusement parks , and other methods. It

6230-529: The scenes where Bugs and Mickey Mouse are skydiving , and when Daffy and Donald Duck are performing their "Dueling Pianos" sequence. On July 10, 1989, after a battle with heart problems, Mel Blanc died at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center of cardiovascular disease . A picture depicting the Looney Tunes characters entitled "Speechless" was released shortly after his death. Viacom-owned Nickelodeon aired Looney Tunes cartoons in

6319-670: The series being moved to the Boomerang streaming service in 2017, and was eventually cancelled on January 30, 2020. On June 11, 2018, another series, titled Looney Tunes Cartoons , was announced by Warner Bros. Animation. It premiered on May 27, 2020, on the streaming service HBO Max . The series features "1,000 minutes of new one-to-six minute cartoons featuring the brand's marquee characters", voiced by their current voice actors in "simple, gag-driven and visually vibrant stories" that are rendered by multiple artists employing "a visual style that will resonate with fans", most noticeably having

6408-414: The series won five Academy Awards : During the mid-late 1960s, the shorts were produced by DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (and Format Productions ) (1964–1967) and Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969) after Warner Bros. shut down their animation studio. The shorts from this era can be identified by their different title sequence, featuring stylized limited animation and graphics on a black background and

6497-448: The television distribution rights to 191 of its cartoons (which included the black-and-white Looney Tunes and the black-and-white Merrie Melodies made after Harman and Ising left) to Guild Films. The copyrights to those cartoons were assigned to Sunset Productions , an entity owned by Warner Bros. The cartoons were distributed by Guild Films until it went bankrupt and was bought by Seven Arts. Seven Arts bought WB in 1967, and WB regained

6586-1066: The theme song to the Looney Tunes cartoon series. Friend was born in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1893. His father was first violinist with the Woods Theater Orchestra. Friend studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music with the aim of becoming a concert pianist, until a three-year bout of tuberculosis. Friend met Harry Richman while working on vaudeville shows, and the two moved to Los Angeles, California where they befriended Buddy De Sylva and Al Jolson . Jolson encouraged Friend and Richman to move to New York City , where they became part of Tin Pan Alley . Friend collaborated with leading songwriters Dave Franklin , Abel Baer , Lew Brown , Irving Caesar , Sidney Clare , Billy Rose and Charles Tobias , and Jolson assisted Friend by placing songs in

6675-424: The various Warner Bros. characters. By 1937, the theme music for Looney Tunes was " The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down " by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin , and the theme music for Merrie Melodies was an adaptation of " Merrily We Roll Along " by Charles Tobias , Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor . In 1929, to compete against Walt Disney 's Mickey Mouse short cartoons , Warner Bros. became interested in developing

6764-632: The voice talents of Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet . Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were so named as a reference to Disney's Silly Symphonies and were initially developed to showcase tracks from Warner Bros.' extensive music library; the title of the first Looney Tunes short, Sinkin' in the Bathtub (1930), is a pun on Singin' in the Bathtub . Between 1934 and 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced in color and Looney Tunes in black and white. After 1943, both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles. Both series made use of

6853-540: The works that began with the first short, Coyote Falls , that preceded the film Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore , which was released on July 30, 2010. On September 24, 2010, Fur of Flying preceded the film, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole , and on December 17, 2010, Rabid Rider preceded the film, Yogi Bear . On June 8, 2011, Warner Bros. Animation announced that there will be more Looney Tunes 3-D theatrical shorts;

6942-477: The world's highest-grossing media franchises . For example, Pokémon 's penetration into the American market of the franchise along with others of Japanese origin, such as Yu-Gi-Oh! , gave rise to the recognition of what is variously called transmedia storytelling , crossmedia, transmediation , media synergy, etc. Researchers argue that the 1963 Tetsuwan Atomu marked a shift in Japanese marketing from

7031-457: Was The Whizzard of Ow , which appeared on a DVD release of Back in Action that was sold exclusively at Wal-Mart stores. Only about half of the shorts were shown in theaters; the rest would not be made available until 2004, when all seven shorts were included on the general home video release of the film. In 2010, five computer-animated shorts would be released and directed by Matthew O'Callaghan , who would also direct another short, Flash in

7120-428: Was a major box-office success, grossing nearly $ 100 million in the U.S. alone, almost becoming the first non-Disney animated film to achieve that feat. For a two-year period, it was the highest grossing non-Disney animated film ever. The film also introduced the character Lola Bunny , who subsequently became another recurring member of the Looney Tunes cast, usually as a love interest for Bugs. In 1997, Bugs Bunny

7209-470: Was announced for release on HBO Max and Cartoon Network. However, it was reported in August 2022 that the film would instead be shopped around to other streaming services. In October 2023, it was announced the film would instead be released in theaters, becoming the first animated non-compilation feature film in the franchise to do so. In early August 2024, it was announced that Ketchup Entertainment acquired

7298-532: Was announced two new series were in the works: Bugs Bunny Builders and Tweety Mysteries . Bugs Bunny Builders began airing on Cartoon Network as part of Cartoonito and HBO Max on July 25, 2022; Tweety Mysteries would also air on Cartoon Network . Bugs Bunny Builders is aimed towards preschoolers; while Tweety Mysteries is a live-action/animated hybrid. However, the latter was scrapped for unknown reasons. A sequel to Space Jam titled Space Jam: A New Legacy , starring basketball player LeBron James ,

7387-399: Was dormant from 1969 until 1979, when new shorts were made to introduce the Looney Tunes to a new generation of audiences. New shorts have been produced and released sporadically for theaters since then, though usually as promotional tie-ins with various family movies produced by Warner Bros. While many have been released in limited releases theatrically for Academy Award consideration, only

7476-424: Was featured on a U.S. 32 cent postage stamp, the first of five Looney Tunes themed stamps to be issued. The Looney Tunes also achieved success in the area of television during this era, with appearances in several originally produced series, including Taz-Mania (1991, starring Taz) and The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries (1995, starring Sylvester, Tweety, and Granny). The gang also made frequent cameos in

7565-519: Was later phased out when his popularity declined, leaving Porky as the only star of the Schlesinger studio. The debuts of other memorable Looney Tunes stars followed: Daffy Duck in Porky's Duck Hunt (1937), Elmer Fudd in the Merrie Melodies short Elmer's Candid Camera (1940), Bugs Bunny in the Merrie Melodies short A Wild Hare (1940), and Tweety in the Merrie Melodies short A Tale of Two Kitties (1942). Bugs initially starred in

7654-548: Was released in theaters and HBO Max on July 16, 2021, after a Los Angeles special screening on July 12, 2021. It is a film with a story of LeBron James' second son, Dom, who gets kidnapped by an evil AI named Al. G Rhythm ( Don Cheadle ), into the Warner Bros. server-verse. LeBron then assembles the Tune Squad to play against the algorithm and get his son back. It received generally negative reviews and underperformed at

7743-481: Was renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons . The Looney Tunes title was inspired by that of Walt Disney 's Silly Symphonies . The shorts initially showcased musical compositions owned by Warner's music publishing interests through the adventures of such characters as Bosko and Buddy . However, the shorts gained a higher profile upon the debuts of directors Tex Avery , Friz Freleng , Chuck Jones , Bob Clampett , and Robert McKimson , and voice actor Mel Blanc later in

7832-560: Was reported that Warner Bros. was working on a "super secret Looney Tunes project". In the 1980s, the shorts received VHS releases, with the pre-August 1948 shorts released by MGM/UA Home Video and the post-July 1948 shorts released by Warner Home Video . In 2003, Warner Home Video began releasing select shorts on DVD , aimed at collectors, in four-disc sets known as the Looney Tunes Golden Collection starting with Volume 1 . This continued until 2008, when

7921-478: Was sold to MGM, and five years later, Ted Turner acquired the pre-May 1986 MGM library, as well the rights to the a.a.p. library. In 1996, Turner's company, Turner Broadcasting System (whose Turner Entertainment division oversaw the film library), was purchased by Time Warner (now Warner Bros. Discovery ), which was also Warner Bros.' corporate parent. Then when MGM/UA terminated its distribution deal with Time Warner in 1999, it surrendered its home video rights to

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