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Duck Amuck

Daffy faces the ultimate animation showdown in Duck Amuck

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953) - Claim this planet

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century establishes one of Daffy's most notable identities in a literal war of the worlds

LumberJackRabbitLobbyCard

Lumber Jack-Rabbit, the first WB short released in 3D

1953 is another year in the Golden Age of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies. The Warner Bros. studio experiments with the new 3D technology by releasing a test-run cartoon featuring the new innovation, "Lumber Jack-Rabbit". However, with a heavy backlog of releases and an ongoing budget crisis during the 3D craze, the studio would briefly shutdown for half of the year. Thirty-one cartoons are released this year.

Events[]

  • Robert McKimson's unit at Warner Bros. Cartoons is disbanded early in April.[1]
  • The Warner Bros. animation studio is shut down on June 19, and would remain shut down until January 4, 1954. Everybody is laid off, save for ten unnamed staffers. The reasons given for the shutdown are a heavy backlog of releases until late 1954 and uncertainty about whether to make the cartoons in 2D or 3D.[2]
  • Chuck Jones goes to work at the Walt Disney studio on the film Sleeping Beauty.[3]
  • Michael Maltese heads to Walter Lantz Productions and is credited as writer on several Woody Woodpecker cartoons.[2]
  • "Punch Trunk" is the final cartoon to use the older-styled, larger rings in its opening credits, however, the closing credits would continue to use them through 1955.

Theatrical Shorts[]

  1. Looney Tunes "Don't Give Up the Sheep" (Jones/January 3) Blue Ribbon
  2. Looney Tunes "Snow Business" (Freleng/January 17) Blue Ribbon
  3. Merrie Melodies "A Mouse Divided" (Freleng/January 31)
  4. Looney Tunes "Forward March Hare" (Jones/February 14) Blue Ribbon
  5. Looney Tunes "Kiss Me Cat" (Jones/February 21)
  6. Merrie Melodies "Duck Amuck" (Jones/February 28)
  7. Merrie Melodies "Upswept Hare" (McKimson/March 14) Blue Ribbon
  8. Looney Tunes "A Peck o' Trouble" (McKimson/March 28) Blue Ribbon
  9. Merrie Melodies "Fowl Weather" (Freleng/April 4) Blue Ribbon
  10. Merrie Melodies "Muscle Tussle" (McKimson/April 18) Blue Ribbon
  11. Looney Tunes "Southern Fried Rabbit" (Freleng/May 2) Blue Ribbon
  12. Looney Tunes "Ant Pasted" (Freleng/May 9)
  13. Merrie Melodies "Much Ado About Nutting" (Jones/May 23)
  14. Looney Tunes "There Auto Be a Law" (McKimson/June 6)
  15. Merrie Melodies "Hare Trimmed" (Freleng/June 20)
  16. Merrie Melodies "Tom Tom Tomcat" (Freleng/June 27) Blue Ribbon
  17. Looney Tunes "Wild over You" (Jones/July 11)
  18. Merrie Melodies "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century" (Jones/July 25)
  19. Looney Tunes "Bully for Bugs" (Jones/August 8)
  20. Looney Tunes "Plop Goes the Weasel!" (McKimson/August 22)
  21. Merrie Melodies "Cat-Tails for Two" (McKimson/August 29) Blue Ribbon
  22. Looney Tunes "A Street Cat Named Sylvester" (Freleng/September 5)
  23. Merrie Melodies "Zipping Along" (Jones/September 19) Blue Ribbon
  24. Looney Tunes "Lumber Jack-Rabbit" (Jones/September 25)
  25. Merrie Melodies "Duck! Rabbit, Duck!" (Jones/October 3)
  26. Looney Tunes "Easy Peckin's" (McKimson/October 17) Blue Ribbon
  27. Merrie Melodies "Catty Cornered" (Freleng/October 31)
  28. Looney Tunes "Of Rice and Hen" (McKimson/November 14) Blue Ribbon
  29. Merrie Melodies "Cats A-weigh!" (McKimson/November 28)
  30. Looney Tunes "Robot Rabbit" (Freleng/December 12)
  31. Looney Tunes "Punch Trunk" (Jones/December 19)

Blue Ribbon Reissues[]

1952-53 Season[]

  1. Looney Tunes "Tale of Two Mice" (January 10)
  2. Looney Tunes "The Bashful Buzzard" (February 7)
  3. Merrie Melodies "The Country Mouse" (March 14)
  4. "Little Dutch Plate" ()
  5. Looney Tunes "Ain't That Ducky" (May 2)
  6. Merrie Melodies "Mighty Hunters" (June 13)
  7. Merrie Melodies "The Fighting 69½th" (2nd reissue, July 11)
  8. Merrie Melodies "Sniffles Takes a Trip" (August 1)
  9. Merrie Melodies "Wacky Wild Life" (August 29)

1953-54 Season[]

  1. Merrie Melodies "Old Glory" (2nd reissue, September 12)
  2. Merrie Melodies "Walky Talky Hawky" (October 17)
  3. Looney Tunes "Birth of a Notion" (November 7)
  4. Merrie Melodies "The Eager Beaver" (November 28)
  5. Looney Tunes "Scent-imental over You" (December 26)

Character Debuts[]

People[]

Births[]

Deaths[]

Warner Club News Stories and Art[]


<< 1952 Timeline 1954 >>


References[]