Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons (Paperback)

by Jerry Beck (Author), Will Friedwald (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Seldom have so many of us Johnsons owed so much to so few Boswells; Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald have produced the best-indeed the only-dependable and honest history of the Warner Bros. cartoons."-Chuck Jones

Product Description
Following an introductory historical survey of the studio, almost 50 years of classic film animation beloved the world over, more than 900 cartoons are chronologically cited, according to release date, with identification of main characters, writers, producers, and lead animators. 225 black and white photos.

Product Details

• Paperback: 396 pages
• Publisher: Holt Paperbacks; 1st edition (June 15, 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805008942
• ISBN-13: 978-0805008944
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #583,525 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's too bad more people don't know about this book., December 18, 1999

By	grundle2600 "grundle2600" (Pittsburgh, PA) - See all my reviews

This book contains plot summaries and credits for every classic Warner Bros cartoon ever made. Do you understand what that means? Do you understand the magnitude of that statement?

Warner Bros made approximately 1,000 animated shorts between 1930 and 1970. I watched many of them numerous times while growing up. There are lots of others that I have never seen. But at least with this book, I now know what is out there.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Book Lists 'Em All!, September 4, 2000

By	W. Langan "take403" (the end of the world to your town!) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I liked what most of the reviewers had to say about this book. For anybody who is a fan of the animated Warner Bros. cartoons, this book is a must for you. It's hard to keep up with the titles of certain cartoons (I mean how many people know the singing frog cartoon as "One Froggy Evening" or the cartoon featuring "Tea For Two" with the tapdance duet with Bugs and Daffy as "Show Biz Bugs"?).

This guide deals with them all (one reviewer says this is 1,000)- from the beginning with the black and white Bosco cartoons (1930)to the early days of Porky Pig (no, Mel Blanc was not the original voice; he didn't supply Porky's voice until about 1938), to the evolution of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd (Mel Blanc was not the original voice of this character either; Arthur Q Bryan was), Daffy Duck, Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, the 1st color Looney Tune (circa 1942), to the introduction of Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, the Roadrunner and Coyote, Sylvester, jr, the Tasmanian Devil (who became very famous despite the fact that he was only in about 4 cartoons during this period of 4 decades), to the closing of the Warner Bros studio in 1969 (whose final days brought us many forgettable catoon characters like Cool Cat and Merlin the Magical Mouse).

It mentions who directed each cartoon (Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and others) who composed the music (often Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn), and includes a synopsis of each and every cartoon.

A lot of hard work went into putting this together, obviously. If you loved these cartoons as a kid and still do, this book is for you! Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Truly a Fantastic Resource!, October 12, 2000

By	Todd Hawley (San Francisco CA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

If you like me grew up watching those great old Warner brothers cartoons and still love them, this book is for you. Listing virtually every cartoon the Warner brothers studio put out from the 1930s through the late 1980s was quite a task. And I'm sure Beck & Friedwald must have thought it would never end ("sayyyy, there's something awfully screwwy goin on around here!" to quote Elmer Fudd).

Yeah by year each cartoon that was ever made is listed, complete with the people who produced it, date of original release, list of characters, and the plot and story of the cartoon. There's even a list at the back of the book of all the network TV cartoon specials.

If you've ever read anything about the cartoonists that did these cartoons, you know they were probably a bit loony themselves. But Thank God, they had such a creative outlet for their looneyness!

The book is 11 years old, and I would love to see an updated version. Even so, if you're a Warner brothers cartoon fan like me and want a book that is an excellent resource for all these great old cartoons, this book is a must!