Looney Tunes interesting facts When you have seen just about every Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon there is

Looney Tunes interesting facts ARCHIVE
When you have seen just about every Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon there is, (like me) or have read nearly every book about Looney Tunes there is (like me) you tend to learn things that the average, run-of-the-mill cartoon watcher doesn't know, but could benefit from. This page will cover some frequently asked questions, as well as some interesting facts and whatever else I can think of. I'm trying to give this site some sort of continuity, something that can be updated fairly often, and a page like this is just what I think it needs. Read on, maybe some of my trivial facts can help you.

First off, one of the most frequently-asked LT questions of ALL TIME......
"What is the name of that big, orange monster that chases Bugs Bunny and wears sneakers?"
Well, this character's official name is "Gossamer". He has starred in 3 films, "Hair-Raising Hare", "Water, Water, Every Hare", and "Duck Dodgers and the return of the 241/2th Century". Chuck Jones created him and directed him in all 3 films. Interestingly, the name didn't come until the third film, which was actually part of a 1980's TV special. His only other title has been "Rudolph", in the second film, "Water, Water Every Hare".

Clipped Hare
By 1941, Warner Bros'. cartoon department, technically Leon Schlesinger productions, had found its niche in animation, funny cartoons, and a lot of the credit for that can be given to Fred "Tex" Avery. However, one incident in 1941 would cause Tex to leave the WB studio forever and move on to MGM, where he exploded into one of the zaniest cartoonists of all time with the likes of his "Droopy" and "Wolf" cartoons. Avery had been a blessing to Leon Schlesinger, WB cartoons' producer, because he had created Bugs Bunny. However, there was one early Bugs cartoon Leon didn't like, because the ending had Bugs falling from a cliff with no resolution. "The Heckling Hare", Avery's 3rd Bugs cartoon, pitted the Rabbit against a dopey hunting dog not unlike "Meathead" from Avery's "Screwy Squirrel" series for MGM years later. Due to Schlesinger's decision to cut the original ending to this cartoon (which is now lost) the headstrong Avery literally walked out on Schlesinger and moved to MGM. Now, the cartoon is seen on TV with the ending in which Bugs and the dog "brake" in midair before they are about to crash after falling off a cliff, and we hear Bugs say "Nyah, fooled ya didn't we?!" The original lost ending had Bugs fall of another cliff before the iris out.

Porky P-P-P-Pig's early voice
Mel Blanc always voiced Porky Pig, right? WRONG! In fact, Porky's original voice was Joe Dougherty, a real stutterer. A bit-part actor for WB in the 1930's, he was the voice of Porky from his 1935 debut until 1937. Dougherty was okay, but they had trouble getting the right voice because he had trouble controlling his stutter. Apparently, the studio hired Blanc because of his ability to voice a stutter controllably and humerously at the same time. For an added fact of interest, Blanc's first voice job at Warner's was in a Porky cartoon, but not as Porky. it was 1937's "Picador Porky", as 2 drunken bullfighters. This cartoon was also Dougherty's last Porky performance.

Looney Tunes comic books
Believe it or not, Looney Tunes have been as much a part of print media as they have motion pictures. In fact, their comics have proved popular for many years, even since the dawn of the cartoons themselves. Perhaps the earliest introduction to print for WB cartoons was a short-lived "Bosko" comic strip in the 1930's, but the best-known appearances of Looney Tunes in print began in 1940. Beginning with "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies #1", Leon Schlesinger licensed his Warner cartoon properties to Western Publishing, where the Looney Tunes comic books remained under the Dell Publishing logo for nearly two decades. These books often had interesting, unusual and totally different approaches to the characters, for example, Chuck Jones' short-lived character Sniffles the mouse was paired with a little girl named Mary Jane, in a magic/fantasy series that continued for years. When Mary Jane spoke magic words, she shrunk to the size of a mouse. Also, after the 1949 creation of the Road Runner, such Warner artists as Pete Alvarado and Mike Maltese teamed up with comic writer Chase Craig to redesign the series for comics, giving the Road Runner a name, "Beepbeep", and 3 kids. All spoke in rhyme, and Wile E. Coyote spoke too, sans rhyme scheme. several spinoff series appeared by the 1950's, including a long-running 'Bugs Bunny" and "Tweety and Sylvester" series and a "Porky Pig" as well. by the 1960's, Western moved the LT comics under the "Goldkey" name, where they remained until the early 1980's. Beginning in 1994, DC comics resuscitated Looney Tunes comics, making them truer to the cartoons themselves and drawing them from the formative, marketable designs we all know today. The first year or so was a little hit-or-miss, but the comics continued to improve, and are still in production and improving to this very day.

I never forget a voice......
One question I run into a lot is what the name of the narrator on the Tex Avery spot-gag cartoons is. You know, the voiceover guy on all the travelogue takeoffs like "Cross Country Detours", "Detouring America", and "Land of the Midnight Fun". Well, his name is Robert C. Bruce. Oddly enough, little information is available on him. The Internet Movie Database provides a filmography HERE, as well as his birthdate, but that's all. He narrated roughly two dozen Looney Tune and Merrie Melodie cartoons and made brief introductions to several others. I asked Jerry Beck, the author of the excellent book "Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies", and owner of www.cartoonresearch.com, about Mr. Bruce. Robert C. Bruce directed and produced many short films, mostly educational stuff. "I don't have a list of his other productions," Jerry told me."He was a filmmaker who did
documentaries and educational films. He has an audio auto-biography out
there. Leonard Maltin had it and loaned it to me a few years ago. I listened
to it, he barely mentioned his Looney Tunes work, but he did mention it. I
don't have the tape, so I can't tell you where to get it - but maybe it's
available on the web...?" Nevertheless, you can hear the voice of Robert C. Bruce in many Warner Brothers cartoon films. He also narrated the rarely seen live-action special short "Orange Blossoms for Violet", a romantic comedy short using the voices of Mel Blanc and Bea Benaderet and stock footage of monkeys.

Daffy Duck on old merchandise and comics

Did you know that Daffy Duck, who now appears as a hybrid of his two personalities: crazy and greedy, used to appear differently on marketing goods? Until the mid 1980's, Daffy Duck's appearance in comic books and on merchandise was usually the pre-1950's, "crazy" version of Daffy, even though Daffy had evolved into a far different character by then. It was not until the 1980's that Daffy was finally updated for merchandising.

Frank Tashlin and Bing Crosby
In 1944, Frank Tashlin's Warner Bros. cartoon, "Swooner Crooner", was nominated for an Academy Award. It was the only nomination recieved for a Tashlin cartoon. Years later, Tashlin moved on to being a successful director of live action comedies. Bing Crosby, on the set of a film Tashlin was directing him in at the time, heard of Tashlin's work at WB cartoons and made a comment that he did not like the caricature of him present in that very film. Tashlin remarked that he was the guy who drew that very caricature!

-source: "Toonheads: episode: Tish Tash, Director Frank Tashlin." Cartoon Network.