Facebook – Top 50 FAVORITE Animated Programs of All Time: 1

Here it is, at long last. The finale. The last entry on the list. Its been another wild ride getting to the #1 spot. Will you be surprised? Let down? Pleased? Only time will tell. Well, time and your comments. So, without further ado:

1: Looney Tunes (1930-current, technically/Syndicated Theatrical Shorts)

When I initially started compiling a total number of programs for this list, The Simpsons was placed in the #1 slot before I even came up with other shows. It seemed obvious, really. But as time went on and more and more shows got added to the list, even before I’d put them in even a tentative order, one thing remained true: each and every show reminded me, in some capacity, of a Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck short. And as I wrote entries and found photos and read comments on every single one of the past 49 notes, I was reminded of this show.

Now, to call it a “show” is obviously a misnomer; Loony Tunes is made up and comprised of various other series’ of shorts, such as Merrie Melodies (a jab at the then-running Disney series, Silly Symphonies). The half-hour block of programming many of us saw as kids was really just a conglomeration of theatrical shorts that debuted before films at the movies that eventually ran as – and in turn spawned – syndicated debuts of new shorts as the years went on. It eventually spawned a few different shows; The Bugs Bunny Show, The Bugs Bunny/Roadrunner Hour, etc. But the shorts circulated, created new content, and introduced new alter egos for the vast cast of characters in wildly different situations.

And maybe that’s why, at the end of the day, I feel obligated to both love this stuff and give it the number one slot: it covers so much ground. Every joke, every gag, every possible device for comedy was tackled in this show. So many programs featured on this list owe their very existence to this one program/series of shorts. It parodies it all, its characters have characters, and the lack of continuity only adds to the fact that anything can happen at any time. The sight gags, the quick wit of its signature characters, and – hell – even the music is enough to make it the most damn influential cartoon of all time. And, to add to this, everyone has seen at least one short and has a favorite, if they think about it.

The violence of the show, the blatant racism and laughs at the expense of touchy subjects (suicide, anyone? WWII, anyone?), the lack of lessons to teach kids… it all makes the show what it is: comedy for the sake of comedy. In recent rereleases of the content on DVD they’ve had Whoopie Goldberg do an intro apologizing, to a degree, for the re-instated racist commentary and drug-related jokes (although the old rumor about Speedy no longer being present is false, apparently, having been slipped back into syndication in 2002!), stating that to ignore it is just as bad as allowing it in the first place. I feel this is an awful way to look at it, personally, seeing the comedy as a product of its time, back when parents didn’t freak out at the first sign of, well, anything. Bugs Bunny in blackface might not be the most politically correct thing to ever grace this planet, but damn if it wasn’t and isn’t still funny.

So, you can rant and rave, badmouth and insult me for this decision. But search your heart and you’ll know that this is easily the best animated program of all time, even if its just a collection of shorts. The characters will last forever, the jokes will always remain funny (even if they won’t always remain necessarily relevant), and the show’s ridiculously fitting theme are here to stay. With shitty movies and spin-off programs (weren’t they all just super heroes not that long ago…?) keeping the characters fresh, and with new kids constantly having these guys and these shorts thrown at them, we’ll be seeing Bugs, Daffy, Porky, and the gang forever. And that’s a good thing.

Favorite Episode:
“Duck Amuck” is often times referred to as the single best episode of any cartoon in history. And rather than tell you why, I’ll just let you experience it yourself:

Favorite Character:
Porky Pig WITH Daffy Duck. The “with” is important, because anytime you have goofy-as-sin Daffy paired with straight-man Porky? You get victory. Every time.

There it is. Am I wrong? No, I’m not. But feel free to tell me why you think I am, below.

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Added September 29, 2016
I stand by this decision. Other shows on this list might have rearranged over the years, but no show is better, all-around, than this. And, yes, I re-watched “Duck Amuck” again and it is still the single greatest animated entertainment in history. Beyond a doubt.