Warner Bros. Cartoons’ Top 10 Looniest Tunes

When HBO Max pulled nearly four decades of classic Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from its streaming library last March, fans of vintage Warner Bros. cartoons might have echoed Bugs Bunny’s signature catchphrase: “Eh, what’s up, doc?” (The more combative likely added, “Of course you know this means war.”)

But that’s not all, folks. More than 700 of the fastest, funniest cartoons ever made are now streaming for free on Tubi.

Warner Bros. shorts are celebrated for their exquisitely timed animation, endlessly quotable dialogue, and the iconic voice work of the “Man of a Thousand Voices,” Mel Blanc. But one of the more unsung ingredients in these beloved classics is the music, which amplifies their subversive, silly spirit.

The legendary animators who toiled in the studio’s ramshackle “Termite Terrace” to create these cartoons often drew inspiration from popular songs of the day, tunes featured in Warner Bros. films, and even classical music. Here are ten of their best tunes.

10. Smile, Darn Ya, Smile

Uploaded to YouTube by CCCartoons

It’s no “When You Wish Upon a Star,” but the earwormy title ditty by Charles O’Flynn, Jack Meskill, and Max Rich could very well serve as the signature song of the Warner Bros. cartoon-verse. Notably, it’s also the tune used in in Who Framed Roger Rabbit when a bevy of animated characters welcomes private eye Eddie Valiant to Toontown.

9. A Great Big Bunch of You

Uploaded to YouTube by 8thManDVD.com™ Cartoon Channel

The title song of this playful 1932 cartoon directed by Rudolf Ising was written by Mort Dixon and Harry Warren and recorded by the likes of Guy Lombardo and Cliff “Jiminy Cricket” Edwards. But this rendition by a piano-playing junkyard mannequin is the keeper.

 8. I Love to Singa

Uploaded to YouTube by tallron

If you love The Jazz Singer and owls, then you ain’t seen nothin’ yet. In this 1936 Tex Avery gem, Owl Jolson disgraces his classical music-loving papa by wanting to be a jazz crooner. Fun fact: The title song, written by Harold Arlen (who also co-wrote “Over the Rainbow”) and E.Y. Harburg,  was featured on the very first episode of South Park.

7. Katnip Kollege

Uploaded to YouTube by Good Ol’ Car-Tunes

Poor Johnny can’t make time, musically or romantically, but when he gets into the swing of things, he wins the lovely Kitty with M. K. Jerome and Jack Scholl’s irresistible “As Easy as Rolling Off a Log,” originally featured in the Warner Bros. feature Over the Goal. This delightful 1938 cartoon directed by Cal Howard and Cal Denton made such an impression on a young James Taylor that he included the song on his album, American Standard. )

 6. Daffy Duck and Egghead

Uploaded to YouTube by Shane Carnahan

Written by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin, “The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down” is best known as the iconic theme song for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoon series. But in this wacky 1938 Tex Avery cartoon, Daffy Duck supplies his own lyrics.

5. I Haven’t Got a Hat

Uploaded to YouTube by Ling Bing Productions

Adorable pups Ham and Ex singing the catchy title tune during a school recital is everything I love about Warner Bros. cartoons. This 1935 cartoon directed by Friz Freleng also features the star-making screen debut of Porky Pig, but Ham and Ex steal the show.

4. Page Miss Glory

Uploaded to Dailymotion by Jillem

In an early example of cross-promotion, this 1936 Tex Avery gem — his first animated short in color — features the title song written by Harry Warren and Al Dubin, originally composed for the studio’s feature film of the same name. The cartoon starts off strong, but truly shines around the 1:50 mark, when a “moderne art” fantasy sequence transforms a shabby Hicksville hotel into a cosmopolitan art deco playground. There, well-to-do suitors eagerly await the arrival of celebrated guest Miss Glory. The animated rendition of the title song in this cartoon is a sheer delight.

3. The Rabbit of Seville

Uploaded to Vimeo by Stephen Rae

 In the Seinfeld episode “The Opera,” Elaine snidely remarks how sad it is that all of Jerry’s knowledge of high culture comes from Bugs Bunny cartoons, like this 1950 Chuck Jones classic. Admit it: This was likely your first exposure to Rossini’s The Barber of Seville and you prefer Bugs’s version: “Welcome to my shop / Let me cut your mop / Let me shave your crop! / Daintily, daintily!”

2. One Froggy Evening

Uploaded to Vimeo by sogooth

“Hello! Ma Baby” was a Tin Pan Alley hit back at the turn of the 20^th century, but it lives on forever in the definitive version spiritedly performed by top-hatted Michigan J. Frog in what is perhaps Warner Bros. greatest cartoon, a fable of man’s eternal greed. Mel Brooks paid homage in Spaceballs when a stomach-bursting alien makes a grand high-kicking stage exit to this jaunty standard.

1. What’s Opera, Doc?

Uploaded to YouTube by ElmerFuddVEVO

This 1957 Chuck Jones masterpiece takes its cue from Wagner’s epic Ring cycle. Be honest: When you hear the thundering Ride of the Valkyries, do you think of Wagner, or even the helicopter scene from Apocalypse Now, or do you think Elmer Fudd singing “Kill the wabbit.”  Thought so.

Do you have any favorites we missed? Let us know in the comments.