<P> Since its success during the short - film cartoon era, Looney Tunes has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television series, feature films, comic books, music albums, video games, and amusement park rides, as well as serving as Warner Bros .' flagship franchise . Many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in various other television shows, movies, and advertisements . The most famous Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny, is regarded as a cultural icon and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame . Several Looney Tunes films are considered among the greatest animated cartoons of all time, and two (Knighty Knight Bugs and For Scent - imental Reasons) have won Academy Awards . </P> <P> In the beginning, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies drew their storylines from Warner's vast music library . Between 1934 and 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced in color and Looney Tunes in black and white . After 1943, both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles . Both series made use of the various Warner Bros. cartoon characters . By 1937, the theme music for Looney Tunes was "The Merry - Go - Round Broke Down" by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, and the theme music for Merrie Melodies was an adaptation of "Merrily We Roll Along" by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor . </P> <P> In 1929, to compete against Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse short cartoons, Warner Bros. became interested in developing a series of animated shorts to promote their music . They had recently acquired Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US $28 million (equivalent to $410 million in 2018) and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music and phonograph records . Warner made a deal with Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them . Schlesinger hired Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman to produce the first series of cartoons . Schlesinger was impressed by Harman's and Ising's 1929 pilot cartoon, Bosko, The Talk - Ink Kid . The first Looney Tunes short was Sinkin' in the Bathtub starring Bosko, which was released in 1930 . </P> <P> When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons they had created . A new character called Buddy became the only star of the Looney Tunes series for a couple of years . </P>

When did the first looney tunes come out