The Merrie History of Looney Tunes

In the first episode of this eight-part documentary mini-series on Warner Brothers animation, we'll be explore the humble beginnings of the Looney Tunes series and it's first star, Bosko.

We explore the beginnings of Leon Schlesinger Productions and how a ragtag group of underpaid artists created the first truly memorable cartoon stars of Warner Bros.

We discover how Termite Terrace took a simple screwball rabbit character and turned him into a pop cultural icon. All this and more on this episode of The Merrie History of Looney Tunes.

Leon Schlesinger has finally sold his studio and the new management now expects results from the four directors and units they inherited. Luckily for them, Termite Terrace is ready to meet those expectations with some of their best shorts and their best new cartoon stars.

We now enter the 1950s and take a look at how that decade was completely dominated by Chuck Jones and his hot streak of acclaimed and influential shorts. We'll also be talking about how the other directors fared in this period and how a short-lived fad ended up changing Termite Terrace forever.

Television rules a nation as Termite Terrace tries to play nice with the emerging medium. But try as they might to keep their heads above water, the studio will soon be pulled under thanks to a combination of ill-timed departures, broken contracts and Chuck Jones becoming too artsy for his own good.

All things must come to an end. But in the case of Looney Tunes and the studio that made them, it was not a dignified one.