The 50 Greatest Cartoons

The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, consisting of articles about, and rankings of fifty highly-regarded animated short films made in North America, as well as many other notable cartoons. It generated a significant amount of notice and discussion at the time, and is still commonly cited. The list itself aimed to be authoritative by taking votes from 1000 people working in the animation industry.

Each cartoon on this list had to be under thirty minutes long and cel animated (with Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) being an exception noted in the book). The results leaned heavily toward the output of Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, and the work of director Chuck Jones (four of the top five, below).

50 Greatest Cartoons

1. What's Opera, Doc? (Warner Bros./1957)
2. Duck Amuck (Warner Bros./1953)
3. The Band Concert (Disney/1935)
4. Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century (Warner Bros./1953)
5. One Froggy Evening (Warner Bros./1956)
6. Gertie the Dinosaur (Winsor McCay/1914)
7. Red Hot Riding Hood (MGM/1943)
8. Porky in Wackyland (Warner Bros./1938)
9. Gerald McBoing Boing (UPA]/1951)
10. King-Size Canary (MGM/1947)
11. Three Little Pigs (Disney/1933)
12. Rabbit of Seville (Warner Bros./1950)
13. Steamboat Willie (Disney/1928)
14. The Old Mill (Disney/1937)
15. Bad Luck Blackie (MGM/1949)
16. The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Warner Bros./1946)
17. Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor (Fleischer/1936)
18. The Skeleton Dance (Disney/1929)
19. Snow White (1933 cartoon) (Fleischer/1933)
20. Minnie the Moocher (Fleischer/1932)
21. Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (Warner Bros./1943)
22. Der Fuehrer's Face (Disney/1943)
23. Little Rural Riding Hood (MGM/1949)
24. The Tell-Tale Heart (UPA/1953)
25. The Big Snit (National Film Board of Canada/1985)
26. Brave Little Tailor (Disney/1938)
27. Clock Cleaners (Disney/1937)
28. Northwest Hounded Police (MGM/1946)
29. Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom (Disney/1953)
30. Rabbit Seasoning (Warner Bros./1952)
31. The Scarlet Pumpernickel (Warner Bros./1950)
32. The Cat Came Back (National Film Board Of Canada/1988)
33. Superman (Fleischer/1941)
34. You Ought To Be in Pictures (Warner Bros./1940)
35. Ali Baba Bunny (Warner Bros./1957)
36. Feed the Kitty (Warner Bros./1952)
37. Bimbo's Initiation (Fleischer/1931)
38. Bambi Meets Godzilla (International Rocketship/1969)
39. Little Red Riding Rabbit (Warner Bros./1941)
40. Peace on Earth (MGM/1939)
41. Rooty Toot Toot (UPA/1952)
42. The Cat Concerto (MGM/1947)
43. The Barber of Seville (Lantz/1944)
44. The Man Who Planted Trees (National Film Board Of Canada/1987)
45. Book Revue (Warner Bros./1946)
46. Quasi at the Quackadero (Cruikshank/1975)
47. Corny Concerto (Warner Bros./1943)
48. Unicorn in the Garden (UPA/1953)
49. The Dover Boys (Warner Bros./1942)
50. Felix in Hollywood (Sullivan/1923)

See also

• 100 Greatest Cartoons
• Academy Award for Animated Short Film

References

• Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing.

External links

• The 50 Greatest Cartoons

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