The 50 Greatest Cartoons

The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. It generated a significant amount of notice and discussion at the time, and is still commonly cited. The list itself aimed to be authoritative by taking votes from 1000 people working in the animation industry.

Each cartoon on this list had to be under thirty minutes long and cel animated (with Gertie the Dinosaur being an exception noted in the book). The results leaned heavily toward the output of Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, and the work of director Chuck Jones (four of the top five, below). All the works cited were filmed before 1960, with the exceptions of the 1985 short The Big Snit (at #25), the 1988 short The Cat Came Back (at #32), the 1969 short Bambi Meets Godzilla (at #38), the 1987 short The Man Who Planted Trees (at #44),and the 1975 short Quasi at the Quackadero (at #46).

Top 50 Greatest Cartoons

Order Title Studio Year Director
1 What's Opera, Doc? Warner Bros. 1957 Chuck Jones
2 Duck Amuck Warner Bros. 1953 Chuck Jones
3 The Band Concert Disney 1935 Wilfred Jackson
4 Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century Warner Bros. 1953 Chuck Jones
5 One Froggy Evening Warner Bros. 1956 Chuck Jones
6 Gertie the Dinosaur Winsor McCay 1914 Winsor McCay
7 Red Hot Riding Hood MGM 1943 Tex Avery
8 Porky in Wackyland Warner Bros. 1938 Bob Clampett
9 Gerald McBoing-Boing UPA 1951 Robert Cannon
10 King Size Canary MGM 1947 Tex Avery
11 Three Little Pigs Disney 1933 Burt Gillett
12 Rabbit of Seville Warner Bros. 1950 Chuck Jones
13 Steamboat Willie Disney 1928 Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks
14 The Old Mill Disney 1937 Wilfred Jackson
15 Bad Luck Blackie MGM 1949 Tex Avery
16 The Great Piggy Bank Robbery Warner Bros. 1946 Bob Clampett
17 Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor Fleischer 1936 Dave Fleischer
18 The Skeleton Dance Disney/Columbia 1929 Walt Disney
19 Snow White Fleischer 1933 Dave Fleischer
20 Minnie the Moocher Fleischer 1932 Dave Fleischer
21 Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs Warner Bros. 1943 Bob Clampett
22 Der Fuehrer's Face Disney 1941 Jack Kinney
23 Little Rural Riding Hood MGM 1949 Tex Avery
24 The Tell-Tale Heart UPA 1953 Ted Parmelee
25 The Big Snit NFB 1983 Richard Condie
26 Brave Little Tailor Disney 1938 Bill Roberts
27 Clock Cleaners Disney 1937 Ben Sharpsteen
28 Northwest Hounded Police MGM 1946 Tex Avery
29 Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom Disney 1953 Ward Kimball and Charles A. Nichols
30 Rabbit Seasoning Warner Bros. 1952 Chuck Jones
31 The Scarlet Pumpernickel Warner Bros. 1950 Chuck Jones
32 The Cat Came Back NFB 1988 Cordell Barker
33 Superman Fleischer 1941 Dave Fleischer
34 You Ought to Be in Pictures Warner Bros. 1940 I. Freleng
35 Ali Baba Bunny Warner Bros. 1957 Chuck Jones
36 Feed the Kitty Warner Bros. 1952 Chuck Jones
37 Bimbo's Initiation Fleischer 1931 Dave Fleischer
38 Bambi Meets Godzilla Independent 1969 Marv Newland
39 Little Red Riding Rabbit Warner Bros. 1944 Friz Freleng
40 Peace on Earth MGM 1939 Hugh Harman
41 Rooty Toot Toot UPA 1952 John Hubley
42 The Cat Concerto MGM 1946 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera
43 The Barber of Seville Lantz 1944 James Culhane
44 The Man Who Planted Trees Frédéric Back 1987 Frédéric Back
45 Book Revue Warner Bros. 1946 Bob Clampett
46 Quasi at the Quackadero Independent 1975 Sally Cruikshank
47 A Corny Concerto Warner Bros. 1943 Bob Clampett
48 The Unicorn in the Garden UPA 1953 William T. Hurtz
49 The Dover Boys Warner Bros. 1942 Chuck Jones
50 Felix in Hollywood Pat Sullivan 1923 Otto Messmer

See also

References