MERRIE MELODIES
Merrie Melodies is an American animated cartoon series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. (and others) from 1931 to 1969, during the golden age of American animation. As with its sister series, Looney Tunes, it featured some of the most famous cartoon characters ever created, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Elmer Fudd. Three of the Merrie Melodies films (Tweetie Pie, Speedy Gonzales and Birds Anonymous) won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film; and another three (Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening and What’s Opera, Doc?) have been inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. In 2013, TV Guide ranked the Warner Bros. Cartoons (ranked as Looney Tunes) the third Greatest Cartoon of All Time (out of 60). (More from Wikipedia)
I figured that the Who would not be the only rock band to make it to Broadway; after all, even the Warner Bros. cartoons gang landed there in a show that I also saw when I was living in New York, Bugs Bunny on Broadway, with a limited run in October 1990. Turns out, under the name Bugs Bunny at the Symphony (including a 2010 sequel, Bugs Bunny at the Symphony II), the concert musical has been touring regularly ever since. In the performance that I saw, classic cartoons were projected on a large screen, sometimes accompanied by a full symphony orchestra. The first time I heard the Merrie Melodies theme song performed live at the opening of that show, I just about lost it.
(June 2017)
