Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography (1929–1939)
This is a list of all theatrical animated shorts released by Warner Bros. Pictures under the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies banners between the years of 1930 and 1939, plus the pilot film from 1929 which was used to sell the Looney Tunes series to Leon Schlesinger and Warner Bros.
A total of 271 shorts were released during the period of the 1930s, between 9 years.
Series overview
1929 (Pilot)
1930
All cartoons are Looney Tunes starring Bosko and are all directed and produced by Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, along with Leon Schlesinger as associate producer. All cartoons are also scored by Frank Marsales, who would score all cartoons through 1932. All cartoons from this year entered the public domain in 1958 since their copyrights were not renewed, and their maximum term has otherwise expired as of 2026.Directing credits would not be shown for the cartoons until Buddy's Day Out in 1933.
1931
This year marks the debut of the Merrie Melodies series. All Merrie Melodies cartoons are directed by Rudolf Ising, all Looney Tunes until The Tree's Knees are directed by Hugh Harman and Ising and all Looney Tunes cartoons as of Bosko Shipwrecked! are directed by Harman. The directors still remain uncredited however. The cartoons mainly star Bosko, Foxy and Piggy.All cartoons from this year entered the public domain in 1959 since their copyrights were not renewed.
1932
All Looney Tunes cartoons are directed by Hugh Harman, while all Merrie Melodies cartoons are directed by Rudolf Ising, again still uncredited.All cartoons from this year
entered the public domain in 1960 since their copyrights were not renewed, with four exceptions: Ride Him, Bosko!, Bosko the Drawback, Bosko's Dizzy Date, and Bosko's Woodland Daze. These four cartoons had their copyrights renewed in 1961 and will not be in the public domain until January 1, 2028.
1933
All cartoons from this year had their copyrights renewed and will enter the public domain on January 1, 2029. As of Buddy's Day Out, the directors are now credited, under the text "Supervision".Frank Marsales continued to do scores until Bosko's Picture Show. After this, scoring duties were taken over by Norman Spencer and Bernard B. Brown.
1934
This year marks the beginning of production of color WB cartoons, though only for the Merrie Melodies series. The Looney Tunes series remains in black-and-white until 1942. For this year, most Merrie Melodies cartoons would still be in black-and-white up until Rhythm in the Bow.All cartoons from this year had their copyrights renewed and will enter the public domain on January 1, 2030.
1935
All Merrie Melodies cartoons are in 2-strip Technicolor until the end of the year, when the series adopts 3-strip Technicolor as its new color process, starting with Flowers for Madame.With the sole exception of Hollywood Capers, all cartoons from this year had their copyrights renewed and will enter the public domain on January 1, 2031.
1936
This year, the Merrie Melodies series adopts the iconic bullseye rings in its opening and closing titles alongside a script "That's all Folks!" text starting with I Wanna Play House and later the "Merrily We Roll Along" theme song starting with Boulevardier from the Bronx. The Looney Tunes series also adopts the zooming WB shield starting with The Phantom Ship.With the exceptions of Boom Boom and Westward Whoa, all cartoons from this year had their copyrights renewed and will enter the public domain on January 1, 2032.
1937
Starting this year, Carl W. Stalling would be the composer on almost every cartoon until To Itch His Own in 1958. The Looney Tunes series also adopts "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" theme song starting with Rover's Rival. Story credits were also implemented for this year, with The Lyin' Mouse being the first cartoon to feature a story credit, however they aren't fully implemented until 1941.Except where noted, all cartoons from this year had their copyrights renewed and will enter the public domain on January 1, 2033.