Rating: 
Summary: Most Complete Work ever done on Looney Tunes
Review: This is the most researched book that Jerry Beck has ever done on the Golden Age of Warner Brothers Animation (1930-1963) and the book is full of details and notes and storyboard drawings and the final look of the cartoons as they were finished. This is the kind of hard work that made the cartoons what they are (and are only now being released on DVD).It's also kind of sad that the current generation of animators at Warner Brothers do not seem to know how to make a good one of these cartoons anymore. Or for that matter, Warner's continued inability to do good movies anymore either.
Rating: 
Summary: Could have been better
Review: A mediocre treatment of a terrific subject. The capsule summaries have to be short, (or they wouldn't be capsules) but too often they fall flat, barely catching the essence of the film. Calling this book an "Illustrated Guide" is stretching the truth almost to the point of breaking. The illustrations are sparse, and aren't even from the cartoons themselves, but from advertisements for the films.It really pains me to be critical of the work, but there is enormous room for improvement. Raving over it might well discourage another author (or even the originals) from producing a better work.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Looney Tunes/Merrie Melodies Resource!
Review: For any student of Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies (or any fan for that matter) this book is a "must have." Many people call it the "Bible" of LT/MM cartoons. The book is divided into specific segments = a brief introduction/history of the cartoons = the cartoons listed by year of theatrical release = a section of miscelaneous releases by the Warner Bros. studio = last, a cross reference section that indexes the shorts alphabetically by title, and by featured "character" In the "meat" of the book, each short has a good synopsis of the story, a list of characters, and artistical support information (director, animators, background design/artist, musical supervision, etc.) I'm on my second copy of this fine book. Go and buy this thing before it goes out of print!
Rating:
Summary: For the cartoon conisseurs!
Review: Here is an illustated guide to the Warner Bros. cartoons commonly known as LOONEY TUNES AND MERRIE MELODIES. Every cartoon was either a Looney Tune or Merrie Melodie. These include both the short subjects and feature films. One of WB's biggest cartoon stars,Bugs Bunny appeared in tens of cartoons in a 25 year period,1940 to 1964. Bugs' first official appearance was in 1940's A WILD HARE. A few earlier cartoons such as PRESTO CHANGE-O,HARE-UM SCARE-UM and ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA(featuring Elmer Fudd) featured a similar-looking prototype. WB's other big stars include Daffy Duck who debuted in or around 1938. The star's name appeared in some titles of his cartoons such as DAFFY DUCK & EGGHEAD,DAFFY DUCK IN HOLLYWOOD and DAFFY DUCK AND THE DINOSAUR. Same thing with Bugs Bunny(BUGS BUNNY AND THE THREE BEARS,BASEBALL BUGS,BUGS BUNNY RIDES AGAIN and BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID). Also Elmer Fudd(ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA,ELMER'S PET RABBIT and GOODNIGHT ELMER). Other big stars are Sylvester,a mean-spirited cat always wanting to kill sweet little canary Tweety. Later stars include Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote,Speedy Gonzales and Foghorn Leghorn(Foghorn first appeared in the 40's). There's also Porky Pig who first appeared in the 1935 Merrie Melodie I HAVEN'T GOT A HAT. Porky starred in many black and white Looney Tunes since that cartoon. This book lists synopses for every cartoon produced by WB. It also gives release dates and production credits with directors. I like the awesome concept of the variously colored rings bordering the beginning and end title cards. Over the years,they changed colors. The sizes changed also as did the studio logo(the original light blue changed to red). Some cartoons made between 1937 and 1940 featured multi-colored rings. WB still produces short subject cartoons occasionally but does more feature films today. This book went to press before the 1996 release of SPACE JAM,a semi-animated film starring basketball great Michael Jordan and featuring WB's cartoon stars. I dedicate the book to the memories of longtime director Chuck Jones,actor-director tex Avery(Jones and Avery later went to MGM),Mel Blanc(voice of Bugs Bunny) and actress Bea Benaderet who later appeared on TV's The Beverly Hillbillies and starred on Petticoat Junction.
Rating:
Summary: Finally! Now I know I've seen all the cartoons of one series
Review: I have had a quest to see(and act out)all of the cartoons of Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester. But some episodes appeared on cable networks more than others, and others I saw, but missed the episode name. So I purchased this book to find out which cartoons I've actually seen. It describes the episodes with details such as the ACME products in each episode, the methods the villain uses, and other interesting facts. Buy it if you wish to see all the Warner Bros. cartoons of all or one of the characters!
Rating:
Summary: This Book Lists 'Em All!
Review: I liked what most of the reviewers had to say about this book. For anybody who is a fan of the animated Warner Bros. cartoons, this book is a must for you. It's hard to keep up with the titles of certain cartoons (I mean how many people know the singing frog cartoon as "One Froggy Evening" or the cartoon featuring "Tea For Two" with the tapdance duet with Bugs and Daffy as "Show Biz Bugs"?). This guide deals with them all (one reviewer says this is 1,000)- from the beginning with the black and white Bosco cartoons (1930)to the early days of Porky Pig (no, Mel Blanc was not the original voice; he didn't supply Porky's voice until about 1938), to the evolution of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd (Mel Blanc was not the original voice of this character either; Arthur Q Bryan was), Daffy Duck, Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, the 1st color Looney Tune (circa 1942), to the introduction of Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, the Roadrunner and Coyote, Sylvester, jr, the Tasmanian Devil (who became very famous despite the fact that he was only in about 4 cartoons during this period of 4 decades), to the closing of the Warner Bros studio in 1969 (whose final days brought us many forgettable catoon characters like Cool Cat and Merlin the Magical Mouse). It mentions who directed each cartoon (Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and others) who composed the music (often Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn), and includes a synopsis of each and every cartoon. A lot of hard work went into putting this together, obviously. If you loved these cartoons as a kid and still do, this book is for you! Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
Rating:
Summary: This Book Lists 'Em All!
Review: I liked what most of the reviewers had to say about this book. For anybody who is a fan of the animated Warner Bros. cartoons, this book is a must for you. It's hard to keep up with the titles of certain cartoons (I mean how many people know the singing frog cartoon as "One Froggy Evening" or the cartoon featuring "Tea For Two" with the tapdance duet with Bugs and Daffy as "Show Biz Bugs"?). This guide deals with them all (one reviewer says this is 1,000)- from the beginning with the black and white Bosco cartoons (1930)to the early days of Porky Pig (no, Mel Blanc was not the original voice; he didn't supply Porky's voice until about 1938), to the evolution of Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd (Mel Blanc was not the original voice of this character either; Arthur Q Bryan was), Daffy Duck, Tweety, Speedy Gonzales, the 1st color Looney Tune (circa 1942), to the introduction of Yosemite Sam, Sylvester, the Roadrunner and Coyote, Sylvester, jr, the Tasmanian Devil (who became very famous despite the fact that he was only in about 4 cartoons during this period of 4 decades), to the closing of the Warner Bros studio in 1969 (whose final days brought us many forgettable catoon characters like Cool Cat and Merlin the Magical Mouse). It mentions who directed each cartoon (Friz Freleng, Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, and others) who composed the music (often Carl Stalling or Milt Franklyn), and includes a synopsis of each and every cartoon. A lot of hard work went into putting this together, obviously. If you loved these cartoons as a kid and still do, this book is for you! Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
Rating:
Summary: Don't read the review, just buy the book!
Review: If you are at all interested in the Looney Tune & Merrie Melodie series from Warner Bros. you should buy this book. I'm serious, do it now! Stop reading this review and go the shopping basket I can wait... There, don't you feel better knowing this book is about to become yours? This is the "bible" of Warner Cartoons. Each one has been watched and thought about in what must have been a gruelling marathon of cartoon watching (I am SOOO jealous), resulting in a good review (and list of credits) for each and every cartoon made by the studio including some of the offshoots like Pvt Snafu and the cartoons released in the 1980s. If you are a collector of any sort this is really the ESSENTIAL book for you.
Rating:
Summary: Truly a Fantastic Resource!
Review: If you like me grew up watching those great old Warner brothers cartoons and still love them, this book is for you. Listing virtually every cartoon the Warner brothers studio put out from the 1930s through the late 1980s was quite a task. And I'm sure Beck & Friedwald must have thought it would never end ("sayyyy, there's something awfully screwwy goin on around here!" to quote Elmer Fudd). Yeah by year each cartoon that was ever made is listed, complete with the people who produced it, date of original release, list of characters, and the plot and story of the cartoon. There's even a list at the back of the book of all the network TV cartoon specials. If you've ever read anything about the cartoonists that did these cartoons, you know they were probably a bit loony themselves. But Thank God, they had such a creative outlet for their looneyness! The book is 11 years old, and I would love to see an updated version. Even so, if you're a Warner brothers cartoon fan like me and want a book that is an excellent resource for all these great old cartoons, this book is a must!
Rating: 
Summary: Complete Illustrated?
Review: Illustrations are small, few and black and white
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