Saturday Morning Cartoons

This clip was voted #4 on the list of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time, as judged by a large cross-section of professional animators.

From 1952, here's Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

"You wouldn't hit a bat with glasses on, would you?"

-- Count Blood Count, Transylvania 6-5000 (1963)

Saturday Morning Cartoons

An absolute classic in every sense of the word.

From 1957, it's the Chuck Jones masterpiece -- What's Opera, Doc?

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Perfect for the Halloween Hangover, from 1956 it's Chuck Jones's Broomstick Bunny.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

If Muslims rioted in the streets over a couple of drawings in a Danish newspaper, a cartoon portraying Arabs as big dumb lummoxes and Napoleonic twerps who ride squeaky camels should really piss somebody off.

Not only is this clip a classic, and one of the most quotable cartoons in the Warner Brothers collection, it's worth watching for nothing more than Daffy's face at the 1:54 mark.

From 1957, here's Chuck Jones's Ali Baba Bunny.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Here's a little something that's appropriate right about now.

Apparently, Yosemite Sam and Bugs Bunny once ran for small-town mayor; maybe we should put them on the Republican ticket.

From 1950, here's Ballot Box Bunny. (And pay close attention to the truly surreal and twisted ending -- the one rarely seen since the clip's original release. It makes you wish McCain and Palin would end their campaign this way, especially since, as you know, Palin does live near Russia and is therefore skilled in the ways of their games.)

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Poor Claude.

From 1950, here's the Maltese & Jones tale of neuroses, jealousy and fleas -- Terrier Stricken.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

The basic concept for this series of cartoons was just genius; it proved that Michael Maltese and Chuck Jones were pretty much the brightest guys working in the medium.

From 1953, it's Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog in Don't Give Up the Sheep.

Ssaturday Morning Cartoons

You really can milk the concept of one poor guy being sadistically inundated with insanity for comedy gold.

As you watch this cartoon, pay close attention to all the different facial expressions Pa Bear cycles through toward the end; that's pretty much what I look like while I'm reading about stuff like Obama and McCain spending an evening talking faith with Rick Warren, or Oprah extolling the dangers of "Empathy Deficit Disorder."

From 1951, here's the Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese near-masterpiece of lunacy, A Bear for Punishment.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

Operation Rabbit (1952)


If you miss seeing Warner Brothers cartoons on network television, this seven minutes probably perfectly sums up why. From 1952, here's the Chuck Jones classic that pits Bugs Bunny against the "supergenius" of Wile E. Coyote: Operation Rabbit.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

One Word: Leopold!

From 1949, one of my all-time favorites -- Chuck Jones's Long-Haired Hair.

Saturday Morning Cartoons

I want to start a weekend trend around these parts, and it's borne from the fact that the truly great cartoons -- the ones I remember from my youth all the way into my late teens -- have vanished from Saturday mornings. The timeless classics, which miraculously really are as fresh and funny today as they were when they were created half a century ago, have been replaced by the worst kind of soulless, Disney-concocted dreck, just brimming with over-stylized pre-packaged hip.

This cannot stand.

Put simply, a kid raised on Bugs Bunny and Tom and Jerry will turn out smarter, sharper and generally cooler than a slavish little rugrat weaned on nonsense like Hannah Montana, Zack and Cody and Yu-Gi-Oh!

Tell me your kids will still be quoting That's So Raven two decades from now, or that Emperor's New School will have a shelf-life beyond a couple of years (when the cultural touchstones it so cleverly tries to tap into have evaporated, leaving its humor completely anachronistic).

So, here at Malcontent Central, we're bringing back the immortal classics on Saturday mornings. Why? Because they rule -- that's why.

To kick it all off, I figured it makes sense to go with the cartoon that I referenced a couple of days ago while writing about, of all things, Rachael Ray.

From 1950, here's Chuck Jones's brilliant Rabbit Fire.