Reader Friday: Looney Tunes

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I thought this would be a fun discussion, since we writers are a bit . . . shall we say, quirky?

Drawings have been around since our great-great-greats a thousand generations ago. It was the preferred method of messaging, probably even predated language. Now we have cell phones, texting, emails, satellite communications, even watches–and who could forget Get Smart and his shoe phone?

But back in the day, if Mom and Pop cave dweller needed to communicate, maybe it looked something like this:

Translation: Honey, I’ve invited the Johnsons over for dinner Saturday night . . . is that okay? (Image courtesy of Pixabay.)

Hmm . . . I see conflict and chaos in the short story above. Maybe a body buried out back of the cave?

***

From the dictionary:  First recorded in 1665-75; from Italian cartone “pasteboard, stout paper, a drawing on such paper,” equivalent to cart(a) “paper” . . .

And this from Wikipedia: The concept originated in the Middle Ages, and first described a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting, fresco, tapestry, or stained glass window. In the 19th century, beginning in Punch magazine in 1843, cartoon came to refer – ironically at first – to humorous artworks in magazines and newspapers. Then it also was used for political cartoons and comic strips. When the medium developed, in the early 20th century, it began to refer to animated films that resembled print cartoons.[2]  

***

Modern cartoons are illustrated short, short stories. Inside of five to ten minutes, the story has tension, conflict, cliffhangers, MC in danger, rescue, and resolution–all of the story structure that we use in our stories and novels.

Don’t I know you from someplace? (Image courtesy of Pixabay.)

And they made us laugh. I still hear my dad’s guffaw at Wile E. trying yet again to catch that dang Roadrunner with the shadow of the A.C.M.E. crate hanging over his head.

All we ever needed to know about life was learned on Saturday mornings, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of the TV with a bowl of Cheerios in the lap.

That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it.

My favorite, of course, was Roadrunner. Just watching my Dad laugh was a treat.

My new fave, watched a few years back with my Texas grandkids, is Zootopia.

Flash, the Sloth (Image courtesy of Pixabay)

I hadn’t laughed so hard in ages, and the youngest little guy had to watch it at least twice a day during the week I stayed with them.

~~~

Okay, TKZers, over to you. What was (or is) your favorite cartoon?

(And, as usual for me on Fridays, I’ll be in and out, but will respond to comments.)

 

~~~

 

Will there be a tomorrow for Annie Lee?

Follow her as she navigates what she is convinced is her last day on earth. As she takes her kids to school, visits her neighbor, plays in the park with her youngest.

Trying not to believe that her tomorrows are over.

 

 

 

This entry was posted in Reader Friday, Writing and tagged , by Deb Gorman. Bookmark the permalink.

About Deb Gorman

Deb Gorman is an author, blogger, and speaker who escaped from a 9-5 job in the medical field to pursue what she really loves—words, words, and more words. A lifelong resident of the Pacific Northwest, she writes fiction and non-fiction in between long walks through orchard country with her husband, Alan, and playing with their German Shepherd, Hoka. You can catch up with Deb on her website, debggorman.com, and email her at debster145@gmail.com

48 thoughts on “Reader Friday: Looney Tunes”

  1. Great first post, Deb!

    I have to go with the classics. Looney Tunes for me as well. Daffy Duck is my all-time favorite, everything from megalomaniacal Daffy to gullible Daffy to Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 century!

    • Thanks, Dale!

      Writing this was a nostalgic leap backward for me, because Saturday morning cartoons was a weekly family gathering when I was a kiddo. My parents usually sat at the dining room table gulping coffee as they watched, sometimes snorting said coffee. 🙂 I think Daffy must’ve been in the top 5 faves for us.

      Have a great day!

  2. Warner Bros. in the golden age was the best. So many classics, e.g., Duck Amuck, What’s Opera, Doc?

    But my vote for the best cartoon ever is One Froggy Evening.

    • Okay, JSB, I’m sad to say I’ve never heard of these.

      So, being the tech savvy gal that I am (LLPOF!), I found one on YouTube. If any of you want to indulge in One Froggy Evening, here is a link, and it’s a hoot (or a croak, I guess):

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80UjzxfNugs

      Actually, as I watched, the frog and and theater guy with the big crooked nose stirred a memory, so maybe we did watch it waaayy back then.

      Thanks for sharing!

  3. My favorite cartoon was Scooby Doo (dogs always rule, even in cartoons) 8-). Also loved Road Runner and the quirky Captain Caveman. There was a whole Saturday morning lineup of cartoons, but I can’t remember them all.

    On a nostalgia note, as a kid, I had a ‘security blanket’ per se–a top sheet that had the Road Runner and Wile Coyote all over it. I’d drag it around with me and if I misplaced it, I’d go around the house asking “Where’s my Beep Beep Sheet?” 😎

    • Y’all are sending me scrambling to look some of these up. I’d never heard of Captain Caveman, either. From the pics I found, looks entertaining for sure.

      Brenda, your Beep Beep Sheet story had me snorting my coffee! Your parents must’ve laughed secretly behind their hands at that.

      Have a great day!

  4. Spectacular Spider-Man, Peanuts, Bugs Bunny, Speed Racer

    Some of the best stories I have ever read, came from Marvel Comics of the 80’s. The drama, romance, adventure, angst was unparalleled. Most of the movies come from this fertile period.

    • Thanks, Warren. I didn’t get too much into comics when I was young. That was my bro’s department, and he could’ve opened a store and sold some of his and still had some left over. He had stacks of them all over his room.

      I agree about Bugs, though, one of our favorites.

      Have a spectacular Friday!

  5. I miss the days of “real” animation. Although we watched and enjoyed the Flintstones, they were barely animated. The Looney Tunes et al we watched on Saturday mornings were done so much better. So was their background music.

    • Agreed, Terry, although I’d forgotten about the Flintstones. Maybe that says something about the second-classness of it. Just being reminded of it brought back the “Willmmmmaaa!” scenes, though.

      They do bring a smile to my face. Thanks for sharing!

    • Very true. The Flintstones, like all Hammy-Barbaric cartoons, were crude in every way. I found them unwatchable. “Yabba-dabba-dooo!”
      Yuck.

  6. My brother and I watched Looney Tunes and Underdog every Saturday morning, among others. My favorite was Underdog. As for an animated movie, my favorite is the 1991 Beauty and the Beast. And for comic strips, I love Calvin and Hobbes, and The Far Side.

  7. Great first post, Deb!

    Favorite cartoons/comic strips – Family Circle, Dennis the Menace, Blondie, and Bugs Bunny.

    Have a great day filled with laughter!

    • Thanks, Steve! The Family Circle was another favorite, especially for my parents. Now that I’m of a certain age, I can totally understand why they loved it. They parented four kids . . . need I say more?

      And Dennis. When my younger bro was 5-ish, he became that character in so many ways. But in a fun way. Always up to something.

      Have a great day yourself!

  8. For TV cartoons it was Johnny Quest. I was shocked to discover how few episodes there really were.

    Overall, Fantasia. Both the original and Fantasia 2000.

  9. In high school, one of my classmates doodled on his homework. His drawings were in the school newspaper and yearbook. He drew a flip book animation for the yearbook. He went to art school then couch surfed in LA.

    Two weeks ago, he celebrated 31 years with Walt Disney Animation, now more than half of his life. For Lion King he was an intern. Moana 2 will be out at Thanksgiving. He is head of visual effects. Keep loving those cartoons.

    • Wow! It’s amazing how doodling became such a great career.

      Writers doodle words. And look at some of y’all . . . it turned into the best career ever.

      Thanks for sharing that, Alan! 🙂

    • There was a girl in my elementary school who was always drawing beautiful horses. She was a bit of an “ousider” and people made fun of her.

      She went on to a career at Disney, then Don Bluth, who did GREAT animated features, e.g. An American Tale, The Secret of NIMH.

  10. Thanks for a fun journey back to childhood, Deb.

    Lady and the Tramp was the first movie I ever saw and I loved it. Hard to imagine next year is its 70th anniversary. Arrgh.

    Comic strips: I followed reporter Brenda Starr. It stretched mysteries out for months, doling out three or four frames on weekdays, a longer version on Sundays that ended with a cliffhanger to drag me through another week. Always excited when her mystery man appeared with his black eyepatch on his never-ending quest for the black orchid something-or-other.

    • It stretched mysteries out for months, doling out three or four frames on weekdays, a longer version on Sundays that ended with a cliffhanger to drag me through another week.

      Planted the seeds of story-writing, right Debbie?

      (Huh! The Lady and The Tramp is the same age as someone in this room!) 🙂

  11. Great first post, Deb.

    I love all the Looney Tunes characters. My favorites were Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck and the Roadrunner. Lots of head-clearing laughter on Saturday mornings and in movie theaters before the feature started.

    • Thanks, Kay!

      You reminded me of Saturdays at the movies. Can we just go back, please?

      We had two movie theaters in our small town when I was young. They were in the two coolest buildings in town. Skyscrapers in that day, with offices in the floors above the theaters. Old-fashioned architecture, lots of brick and windows. My older brother and I would ride our bikes downtown with a quarter apiece to get in + some popcorn money.

      And now, there’s streaming. Just. Not. The. Same.

      Have a great day, Kay!

  12. ROCKY AND BULLWINKLE and BEANY AND CECIL. Both played with genres and language that sparked my interest in weirdness and puns. “Fractured Fairy Tales.” “Peabody’s Impossible Adventures.” The incredible Stan Freberg as a writer.

    • Bullwinkle . . . another staple of our house on 24th Avenue, Marilyn.

      Who would’ve thought a moose could be so funny?

      Thanks for adding to the fun this morning!

      🙂

    • Stan Freberg and Dawes Butler were the geniuses behind Beany & Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent hand puppets. Golden.

      Re Rocky & Bullwinkle: I still have my Swamp Rat Patrol membership kit!

  13. Going back a bit, there was Crusader Rabbit, another cartoon excellent for its time. My sister and I loved it.
    Our MD dad used to have Saturday office hours. On his way home, he’d buy both the LA Examiner and the LA Times so we had many pages of cartoons to read. I’d lie on the rug and read everything, even Brenda Starr. There was something magic in those pages.
    Someone should mention Classic Comics Illustrated’s synopsized versions of classic literature. I recall Robin Hood, Poe’s Fall of the House of Usher, The Pit & the Pendulum, etc., Moby Dick, The Three Musketeers, the Count of Monte Cristo.
    Fantasia was a wonderful production, complete with MIckey as “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” “Dance of the Hours” (Hippos & Alligators), and the kid-scaring, ultra-spooky “Night on Bald Mountain.”

    • I, too, read the Times and Examiner. And loved Classics Illustrated. Some years ago I purchased the entire collection, and am happinly going through them again.

      A Disney animator was our neighbor, and worked on “Night on Bald Mountain.”

      • Mint copies of Classic Comics Illustrated issues can run into four figures. Each. A complete set, even in average condition, is quite an investment. I wonder if there are reprints available . . .

        I can’t recall reading the underlying classics behind the issues I read, but I’m grateful for being exposed to the works.

      • This has been so fun this morning! There’s so much here I’ve never heard of that I need to look for, like Classics Illustrated.

        Learn, learn . . .

  14. Do you remember the old Pinocchio cartoons from the 1960s, Deb? If I recall, they were done from modeled clay. I’ll never forget the characters and musical score.

    • I do remember, Garry! And I remember trying to make my own out of clay or silly putty…😂😂

      Those were indeed, as they say, the days.

      Have a good weekend, my friend!

  15. Sorry I’m late, Deb. Great inaugural post! I loved Wile E. Coyote. And now, I’m adding Zootopia to the to-watch list with the kiddos. Glad you’re part of the team!

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