“What’s up, doc?” If those three words instantly conjure up images of wisecracking rabbits, explosive slapstick, and cartoon chaos, then you already know the magic of Looney Tunes. For nearly a century, Warner Bros.’ iconic animated shorts have entertained generations with their wit, artistry, and unforgettable characters—from the ever-clever Bugs Bunny to the explosive antics of Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. But with hundreds of classics to choose from, which ones truly stand out? Whether you’re a lifelong fan or just hopping into the world of Looney Tunes, this list rounds up the all-time greatest shorts that capture the humor, heart, and zany brilliance that made the series legendary. So grab your Acme gadgets, cue the orchestra, and prepare for a wild ride through the very best of Looney Tunes.
These are the 50 Greatest Looney Tunes Shorts of All Time.
50. From A to Z-Z-Z-Z (1953)
A to Z-Z-Z-Z follows a young boy named Ralph Phillips, a daydreamer with an overactive imagination. During a seemingly mundane day at school, where he drifts off into various elaborate fantasies to escape the dullness of his lessons. As his teacher lectures about spelling and arithmetic, Ralph imagines himself in various heroic roles: a daring pilot, a deep-sea diver, a jungle explorer, and even a baseball star. Each fantasy is vividly brought to life with the signature fluid animation and comedic timing associated with Chuck Jones’ work. The short cleverly juxtaposes Ralph’s vibrant inner world with the stark reality of his classroom, highlighting the universal childhood tendency to daydream. The vast majority of the Looney Tunes shorts involve your favorite anthropomorphic animals creating chaos but this one proved they could tell any story.
49. Much Ado About Nutting (1953)
One of the few Warner Bros. cartoons made without dialogue, Much Ado About Nutting relies entirely on the strength of its animation and musical accompaniment. And since it’s animated by Chuck Jones, you know dialogue isn’t needed for laughs. The short follows the misadventures of a determined squirrel who stumbles upon a store filled with nuts. After grabbing a coconut (believing it to be a prize catch) he spends the majority of the cartoon’s runtime comically struggling to crack it open. His increasingly elaborate and desperate attempts to break the impenetrable coconut lead to a series of gag-driven set pieces. If you’re a fan of the Scrat gags in Ice Age, you’ll most likely love this short.
48. Pigs in a Polka (1943)
Predating the more famous What’s Opera, Doc? by fourteen years, Pigs in a Polka is the studio’s first attempt at synchronization of animation with music and the result was an Oscar nom. The short humorously retells the classic story of The Three Little Pigs, but with a twist: it’s set entirely to Brahms’ Hungarian Dances. In this version, the three pigs are each building houses: one of straw, one of sticks, and the third of bricks. Meanwhile, the Big Bad Wolf lurks, attempting to blow down their houses. However, what makes this short unique is that every action, gag, and movement is synchronized meticulously to the lively rhythms of Brahms’ music, creating a seamless blend of animation and classical score. It’s a precursor to later works like Rhapsody Rabbit or even MGM’s Tom and Jerry shorts that employed similar techniques. Fantasia did it first but Pigs in a Polka should still get credit for proving it can be done at a fraction of the time and with less animators.
47. Tree for Two (1952)
Looney Tunes produced so many iconic characters, that their lesser talked about characters are better than 90% of any children’s TV show character produced in the last decade. Spike and Chester are nobody’s favorite Looney Tunes characters. If you were on a gameshow and the final question for ten million dollars was “what are the names of this dog duo in the popular cartoon Looney Tunes?”, you would go home a loser. No one ever mentions them, nor do they ever get brought up in conversation but everyone that’s seen at least one of their shorts immediately remembers them once you describe them. Spike is gruff and tries to act tough, while Chester idolizes Spike, bouncing around excitedly and encouraging him to assert dominance. See? You remember them and now you remember that you love this short. That’s how great Looney Tunes was at characterization, even the ones you’ve forgotten about never truly left your mind. That’s the staying power of their magic.
46. Satan’s Waitin’ (1954)
If Disney buys Looney Tunes (which I pray won’t happen), Satan’s Waitin’ is definitely one of the shorts that wouldn’t make it to Disney+. It references death, hell, and reincarnation, topics too controversial for the House of Mouse. After Sylvester dies and goes to Hell after falling off a building while chasing Tweety, he meets a demonic bulldog (bearing a resemblance to Spike/Butch), who represents the Devil. The bulldog informs Sylvester that cats have nine lives, and each failed attempt to get Tweety costs him one of those lives. We’re then treated to a collection of deaths, more hilarious than the last. This is one of their darkest shorts, which automatically makes it one of the most memorable.
45. Buccaneer Bunny (1948)
Sometimes all a short needs to be successful, is a number of great gags and Buccaneer Bunny is nothing but. It opens with Sam burying treasure on a remote island. Bugs Bunny, whose burrow is inconveniently located where Sam is hiding his loot, ends up on Sam’s pirate ship after the confrontation escalates. The rest of the cartoon follows their chaotic, joke-a-second showdown aboard the ship, with Bugs outsmarting and humiliating the blustery pirate at every turn. Since the entire short takes place aboard a pirate ship, there are numerous gags involving cannons, gunpowder trails, and of course, walking the plank. Buccaneer Bunny doesn’t reinvent the wheel but you’ll be too busy laughing to care.
44. Haredevil Hare (1948)
Notable for introducing one of the studio’s most enduring characters, Marvin the Martian (though he’s unnamed in the short), Haredevil Hare is a landmark Warner Bros. cartoon that’s as significant as it is hilarious. The cartoon begins with Bugs Bunny being (somewhat forcibly) recruited to be the first rabbit sent to the Moon aboard a rocket ship. Upon landing, Bugs encounters a strange, soft-spoken alien (Marvin the Martian) who plans to destroy Earth using an “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator” because it obstructs his view of Venus. Bugs has had many memorable foes (Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Same, Witch Hazel, Etc.) and while they’re all great, Marvin the Martian has always been my favorite. While he would eventually become a Duck Dodgers antagonist, this short proved he could work well with anyone.
43. Three Little Bops (1957)
This unique retelling of The Three Little Pigs swaps fairy-tale whimsy for a jazz-infused setting, making it one of the most memorable musical shorts of its era. Unlike the traditional Three Little Pigs story, the pigs in this aren’t cowardly piglets hiding from a hungry, persistent wolf but are instead hip swingin’ musicians that are avoiding him because he desperately wants to join their band but there’s just one problem: he’s a terrible musician. Each time he tries to play, his lack of rhythm and talent earns him rejection, leading him to retaliate by blowing down the clubs (a nod to his original role in the classic fable). Unlike traditional Looney Tunes shorts, Three Little Bops is almost entirely driven by music and narration that’s delivered in rhythmic beat, mirroring the improvisational nature of jazz. Looney Tunes very rarely strayed from their iconic stable of characters but when they did, it almost always resulted in something fresh and interesting.
42. Wabbit Twouble (1941)
Most of the Looney Tunes gang have kept their same design for nearly a hundred years but some have undergone drastic changes, the most famous of which is Elmer Fudd. He went from a goofy looking cowboy, to a slender gent in an ill fitting green suit who had a bulbous nose to a fat Lou Costello rip-off to finally becoming the big headed hunter we all know and love today. Wabbit Twouble is the first cartoon where Elmer Fudd appears in his third redesign which was modeled after Warner Bros. executive Leon Schlesinger. It’s not a bad look but nowhere near as iconic as his final design. The cartoon opens with Elmer Fudd, now speaking in an exaggerated baby-talk style, arriving at a peaceful campsite, eager to relax and enjoy nature. However, his vacation is soon disrupted by Bugs Bunny, who delights in making his life miserable. What follows next is text book Bugs and Elmer shenanigans that may seem quaint now but this is where their iconic rivalry started to coalesce.
41. The Old Grey Hare (1944)
The Old Grey Hare is unique for its time-traveling premise, showing both the earliest and latest encounters between Bugs and Elmer in a hilarious twist on their classic rivalry. Frustrated by years of failure, Elmer Fudd pleads to the heavens for a way to finally defeat Bugs Bunny. In response, a divine voice grants him a glimpse into the far future—specifically, the year 2000. What follows is a hilarious sequence showing an aged Bugs and Elmer, now old and wrinkled, still engaged in their never-ending chase. Throughout the cartoon, we see flashbacks to their supposed first encounter as babies, where even as an infant, Bugs proves to be the smarter of the two. The film constantly jumps between past, present, and future, reinforcing the idea that their rivalry is timeless.
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What is your favorite Looney Tunes short? Do you think it will crack the Top 10?
