The 50 Greatest Cartoons
The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck. It consists of articles about 50 highly regarded animated short films made in North America and other notable cartoons, which are ranked according to a poll of 1,000 people working in the animation industry.
Each cartoon is under 30 minutes long and cel animated (with the exception of Gertie the Dinosaur). Seventeen of the selected films were produced for Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, ten of which were directed by Chuck Jones. All of the selected cartoons were created and released prior to 1960, except for the 1985 short The Big Snit (#25), the 1988 short The Cat Came Back (#32), the 1969 short Bambi Meets Godzilla (#38), the 1987 short The Man Who Planted Trees (#44), and the 1975 short Quasi at the Quackadero (#46).
Tally
Warner Bros:17
Disney:9
MGM:7
Fleischer:5
UPA:4
Independent:3
NFB:2
Walter Lantz:1
Winsor McCay:1
Pat Sullivan:1
Top 50 Best Cartoons
Other Great Cartoons
In addition to the main list, the book also recommends other cartoons that were nominated for the main list. They are placed in alphabetical order.
Title | Studio | Year | Director |
---|---|---|---|
Allegretto | Independent | 1936 | Oskar Fischinger |
Balloon Land | Celebrity Pictures | 1935 | Ub Iwerks |
Baseball Bugs | Warner Bros. | 1946 | Friz Freleng |
The Big Snooze | Warner Bros. | 1946 | Bob Clampett |
Blitz Wolf | MGM | 1942 | Tex Avery |
The Box | Independent | 1967 | Fred Wolf |
Bugs Bunny and the Three Bears | Warner Bros. | 1944 | Chuck Jones |
Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid | Warner Bros. | 1942 | Bob Clampett |
Crac | Independent | 1981 | Frédéric Back |
The Crunch Bird | Independent | 1971 | Ted Petok |
Education for Death | Disney | 1943 | Clyde Geronimi |
Ersatz | Zagreb Film | 1961 | Dušan Vukotić |
Fast and Furry-ous | Warner Bros. | 1949 | Chuck Jones |
Ferdinand the Bull | Disney | 1938 | Dick Richard |
Flebus | Terrytoons | 1957 | Ernest Pintoff and Gene Deitch |
Flowers and Trees | Disney | 1932 | Burt Gillet |
Frank Film | Independent | 1973 | Frank Mouris |
Furies | Independent | 1978 | Sara Petty |
Gorilla My Dreams | Warner Bros. | 1948 | Robert McKimson |
Hair-Raising Hare | Warner Bros. | 1946 | Chuck Jones |
I Love to Singa | Warner Bros. | 1936 | Tex Avery |
Kitty Kornered | Warner Bros. | 1946 | Bob Clampett |
Ko-Ko's Earth Control | Fleischer | 1928 | Dave Fleischer |
Little Nemo | Winsor McCay | 1911 | Winsor McCay |
Lonesome Ghosts | Disney | 1937 | Burt Gillet |
Lupo the Butcher | Rocketship Ltd, | 1987 | Danny Antonucci |
The Mechanical Monsters | Fleischer | 1941 | Dave Fleischer |
Mickey's Service Station | Disney | 1935 | Ben Sharpensteen |
Mickey's Trailer | Disney | 1938 | Ben Sharpensteen |
Moonbird | Independent | 1959 | John Hubley and Faith Hubley |
Mother Goose Goes Hollywood | Disney | 1938 | Wilfred Jackson |
Mouse Cleaning | MGM | 1948 | William Hanna and Joeseph Barbera |
Moving Day | Disney | 1936 | Ben Sharpensteen |
Music Land | Disney | 1935 | Wilfred Jackson |
The Old Grey Hare | Warner Bros. | 1944 | Bob Clampett |
Old Man of the Mountain | Fleischer | 1933 | Dave Fleischer |
Plane Crazy | Disney | 1928 | Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks |
The Pointer | Disney | 1939 | Clyde Geronimi |
Poor Cinderella | Fleischer | 1934 | Dave Fleischer |
Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves | Fleischer | 1937 | Dave Fleischer |
Rabbit Hood | Warner Bros. | 1949 | Chuck Jones |
Rhapsody in Rivets | Warner Bros. | 1941 | Friz Freleng |
Rhapsody Rabbit | Warner Bros. | 1946 | Friz Freleng |
Scaredy Cat | Warner Bros. | 1948 | Chuck Jones |
Screwball Squirrel | MGM | 1944 | Tex Avery |
Señor Droopy | MGM | 1949 | Tex Avery |
The Street | NFB | 1976 | Caroline Leaf |
The Sunshine Makers | Van Beuren | 1935 | Ted Eshbaugh |
Swing Shift Cinderella | MGM | 1945 | Tex Avery |
A Tale of Two Kitties | Warner Bros. | 1942 | Bob Clampett |
Thru the Mirror | Disney | 1936 | David Hand |
Tweetie Pie | Warner Bros. | 1947 | Friz Freleng |
When Magoo Flew | UPA | 1955 | Peter Burness |
Who Killed Cock Robin? | Disney | 1935 | David Hand |
A Wild Hare | Warner Bros. | 1940 | Tex Avery |
Woody Woodpecker | Lantz | 1941 | Walter Lantz |
Your Face | Independent | 1987 | Bill Plympton |
See also
References
- Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-878685-49-X.
- TV Tropes