This year, Chuck Jones introduces yet another new pair of characters. There are also several all-time classics in the mix! On a more negative note, the WB cartoon studio was temporarily shut down this year, but thankfully that didn't affect the release schedule due to the existing backlog of cartoons.

Don't Give Up the Sheep
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A hungry wolf tries to steal a bunch of sheep, but a sheepdog watches over the herd and foils all his attempts, for which he uses a bush disguise, pan pipes and a wildcat among other things. The first appearance of Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog, though not yet with their familiar names (the sheepdog is the one called Ralph here with no name mentioned for the wolf). Very much in the spirit of the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoons, including the wolf having a very similar design to the coyote. The gags are similarly clever, several of them take unexpected turns (especially an extended gag involving a tree) even if we know the wolf will fail. This is also an interesting take on the chase cartoon: while the wolf is more of a typical cartoon predator, for the sheepdog the whole thing is his job (complete with gags related to clock punching). So we can say it's a combination of the familiar cartoon antics with something all new, and a great one at that.
10

Snow Business
Directed by I. Freleng
A blizzard keeps Granny from getting food for Tweety and Sylvester, and to the cat's disappointment, they have no food in the house except for bird seed. Craving cat food, Sylvester comes up with schemes to eat Tweety who's unaware of what's going on, while a starving mouse tries to eat Sylvester! Another good one. Sylvester's portrayal is one of the most likable yet – while he does try to eat Tweety, it seems he's only doing it due to a lack of other suitable food and is the victim of another hungry animal himself. Tweety is adorable, his naivety only adding to that, and the mouse also gets some good scenes.
9

A Mouse Divided
Directed by I. Freleng
Sylvester's wife is sad that they've never had a baby. Meanwhile, the stork is drunk and unable to fly, leaving a baby at the cats' doorstep. The big problem is that the baby is a mouse – while the new mother immediately falls in love with him, the father tries to eat him. Things soon take a different turn, though... An enjoyable and at times very cute cartoon. While Sylvester was shown as having a son in a couple of earlier shorts, this one shows more sides to what he's like as a father. And there's the amusing drunken stork – while one already appeared in "Baby Bottleneck", the newly designed Freleng version would appear as a plot device in several of his cartoons.
9.5

Forward March Hare
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A letter from the army, sent to Bertram Bonny, falls into Bugs' rabbit hole. Misreading the recipient as "B. Bunny", he believes he's been drafted. He joins the army, baffling various people and especially causing a hapless sergeant a lot of grief. This is a cartoon I've always loved – Bugs' antics in the army are hilarious, as are the others' reactions to seeing a rabbit in the army, while you can't help but feel for the poor sergeant at the same time! The military theme is something the crew always handled really well, even in peacetime!
10

Kiss Me Cat
Directed by Charles M. Jones
The owners of Pussyfoot and Marc Anthony find a mouse in the kitchen. If Pussyfoot doesn't start catching mice, they'll have to get a new cat. Marc Anthony doesn't want to lose his little friend, so he tries to teach him to catch mice, with little success. The adorable cat and dog duo had a brilliant debut the year before in "Feed the Kitty", and while this second one isn't as well known as its predecessor, it doesn't pale much in comparison when it comes to quality. Various cute moments with the (now officially named) cat and dog, entertaining gags... Marc Anthony has some great expressions here, and it's fun to watch what he comes up with to protect his friend (and the mouse gets some good moments too). A sweet short that's definitely worth watching if you liked the first one!
10

Duck Amuck
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Daffy is a musketeer, but he soon notices the scenery is missing. This starts a series of events where the animator constantly makes modifications to the scenery and sometimes Daffy himself, to the duck's great frustration. The Looney Tunes characters have often broken the fourth wall and occasionally even acknowledged that they are cartoon characters, but this short takes it to a whole new level, as the entirety of the short features an animator's interactions with Daffy and the rest of the cartoon. This makes for one of the most unpredictable cartoons in the series, and Daffy is a perfect character for it with his hilarious reactions and great lines. All in all, one of the most memorable WB cartoons. And indeed, it's one of the four WB cartoons that have been chosen for preservation in the National Film Registry. Further showing its popularity, it's also the highest-rated WB cartoon on the IMDb!
10

Upswept Hare
Directed by Robert McKimson
Elmer Fudd finds a beautiful desert flower for his tropical garden, and since the flower needs its native soil to grow, he digs up plenty of it too. Unfortunately for Elmer, Bugs is brought to his penthouse along with the soil and proves to be a nuisance to him, with his neighbor downstairs also getting caught up in the mess. This is another funny effort where both of the main characters get some good moments. Despite the plot being rather similar to some earlier ones like "The Wabbit Who Came to Supper", there are enough new gags to keep it entertaining.
9

A Peck o' Trouble
Directed by Robert McKimson
Dodsworth sees a woodpecker in a tree and wants to have the bird for breakfast. But he's lazy, so he comes up with a different plan: he gets a little kitten to catch the woodpecker for him under the pretense of learning. The bird proves too clever for the cats to outwit. Dodsworth and the kitten were appealing characters on their debut the previous year, and this second and last cartoon is another enjoyable one in the same vein. Despite his lack of dialogue, I think the adorable kitten (changed from white to yellow here) steals the show again. The ending is particularly funny and cute!
9

Fowl Weather
Directed by I. Freleng
Granny tells Hector the bulldog to watch Tweety while she's away, or else she'll shoot him! As soon as she leaves, Sylvester goes after the bird, leading to a chase around the farm, also involving a group of chickens. Freleng continues the recent trend of having most Sylvester and Tweety cartoons take place in different settings, this time on a farm. And this proves to be a great decision, as there are plenty of great farm-themed gags, with a tough rooster particularly shining in his role. The regular cast is great too – Sylvester's failed plans are fun to watch as always, Tweety gets to break the fourth wall in addition to the usual adorableness, and Hector (the first of many times that name was used for the bulldog) has more personality than usual, too.
10

Muscle Tussle
Directed by Robert McKimson
Daffy is on the beach with his girlfriend when a muscular white duck shows up. She leaves Daffy for the strong guy, thinking he's a coward for not wanting to fight him. A salesman cons Daffy into buying a mixture that will supposedly make him strong, leading him to show off to the couple. A slightly less remarkable cartoon compared to what we've had lately, but it's a nice one to watch in any case. No idea what Daffy saw in that girl, though!
8.5

Southern Fried Rabbit
Directed by I. Freleng
Bugs reads about there being a record carrot crop in Alabama, so he decides to head south. The only problem is that he meets Confederate soldier Sam, still preventing Northerners from crossing the Mason-Dixon line almost ninety years after the end of the Civil War. Bugs uses various disguises to outwit him. Some scenes in the cartoon have made it quite a rarely aired one, particularly Bugs' slave/Lincoln routine (which Daffy had done before in 1949's "Wise Quackers"). Controversy notwithstanding, I think this is a very strong Bugs cartoon with the bunny in his prime trickster mode, with Mel Blanc giving him a really appealing vocal performance. Sam is an entertaining foil for him with his reactions to Bugs' antics. Not the best "Northerner goes to the South" WB cartoon (that honor goes to "Dog Gone South"), but very close to it in any case!
10

Ant Pasted
Directed by I. Freleng
Elmer is having a picnic on the 4th of July and shooting firecrackers. After he throws a few at ants for fun, they declare war on him. This reminds me of some earlier Freleng shorts like "The Fighting 69½th" (which also had ants at war) and "Of Thee I Sting" (another one with insects attacking a human). It's an entertaining effort with some amusing explosion gags. Also nice to see Elmer appear without his usual co-stars once in a while, even if there is just as much focus on the ants as on him!
8.5

Much Ado About Nutting
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A squirrel goes to a nut stand, and each type of nut he sees is bigger than the last one. He takes a coconut with him, but he can't crack it open no matter what he tries. For a cartoon based on such a simple idea, this is a fun one: the consequences of his failed attempts to crack the nut are amusing, and the squirrel himself is very cute! The pantomime approach is something Jones was a master at (like in the Road Runner cartoons), and it works very well here, letting the great visuals do their job.
9.5

There Auto Be a Law
Directed by Robert McKimson
Various spot gags about cars, showing us how they've developed over time, as well as ones about traffic today. A running gag involves a man who has got lost in an overpass and tries to get back on the highway, asking a hamburger stand owner for help. This feels like a combination of cartoons from two different periods: the designs are very much the 50s style (resembling the cartoons produced by UPA), but the idea of the short calls back to when Tex Avery was at WB and made a lot of these spot gag cartoons. This is very much in the same spirit with a lot of corny jokes about a specific theme. I think this is a nice return for that type of cartoon, something different for the time, even if it doesn't quite have the wildness of the typical WB cartoon of the early 50s.
8

Hare Trimmed
Directed by I. Freleng
Sam hears about a rich widow who has inherited a million dollars. He plans to marry her and use the money for nefarious means, so Bugs does his best to prevent it from happening. A rare occasion when Granny (whose first name is revealed to be Emma) was used outside the Sylvester and Tweety shorts. She does well in the unusual role of the rich lady, but Bugs and Sam are the stars of the film with their strong portrayals, including some great dialogue. The impressive run of entertaining Bugs and Sam cartoons continues!
9.5

Tom Tom Tomcat
Directed by I. Freleng
Tweety and Granny are traveling on their wagon when Sylvester, here an Indian cat, spots them. The whole tribe proceeds to attack the duo, but their attempts constantly get foiled as Granny defends their fort. Another rather controversial and consequently rare cartoon – Native American stereotypes outlasted others in these cartoons. Apart from that, there are a few other differences from the typical Sylvester and Tweety cartoon: Granny has one of her most significant roles yet, getting pretty much equal screen time with Tweety, and there is a large group of cats they have to deal with rather than just Sylvester. Solid but not spectacular.
8

Wild over You
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A wildcat escapes from a Paris zoo. She paints herself to look like a skunk to evade a policeman, but things take a bad turn when Pepé Le Pew falls for her. Even getting scratched by the wildcat doesn't deter the skunk. This mostly uses the familiar formula for the Pepé cartoons, except there's yet another new skunk lookalike being chased by him. It's an entertaining one, thanks to a great portrayal of Pepé, with many amusing lines. These shorts are definitely better than I remembered!
9

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century
Directed by Charles M. Jones
The world supply of the illudium phosdex shaving cream atom is low, so incompetent hero Duck Dodgers goes to Planet X, the only place left that has this scarce element. With the help of the Eager Young Space Cadet, Dodgers manages to fly there, but he has to face Marvin the Martian who has also arrived on the planet. Another cartoon to use Daffy as the bumbling "hero" showing off and Porky as his smart sidekick who does all the actual work. But this is easily the most influential of such cartoons – while the Duck Dodgers persona wouldn't make another appearance in the classic era, he proved influential to the extent that Jones and writer Michael Maltese finally created a sequel almost three decades later, and an entire TV series was made in the 2000s. And this unusual success is perfectly understandable – the cartoon is a standout with its imaginative gags and sharp portrayals of the characters, as well as the futuristic space theme that appeals even today.
10

Bully for Bugs
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Bugs tries to dig his way to the Coachella Valley for the carrot festival, but he ends up in the middle of a bullfight instead. After getting attacked by the bull, he becomes a bullfighter, using ingenious methods to defeat it. Inspired by producer Edward Selzer's insistence that bullfights weren't funny. Jones definitely proved him wrong – this short has some of the best personality animation in the series (especially the bull), excellently timed gags, amusing lines from Bugs... An undeniable classic.
10

Plop Goes the Weasel!
Directed by Robert McKimson
The Barnyard Dawg is guarding the chickens, and Foghorn decides to annoy him by letting some little chicks go under the fence and making him catch them. Soon a weasel shows up and tries to snatch them, and the dog keeps kicking him out, while Foghorn comes up with more schemes. Another very entertaining Foghorn cartoon – the plot is somewhat similar to the Henery Hawk cartoons (including Foghorn and the dog trying to make the weasel chase the other one), but with a new weasel character who would show up in a couple more cartoons after this. He's a funny character with his voice ("Yeah, yeah, yeah") and design – with his mannerisms, I think he could be considered a predecessor of another McKimson character that would debut the following year... This may not be a groundbreaking effort, but a very well done one anyway!
9.5

Cat-Tails for Two
Directed by Robert McKimson
Two cats, Benny and George, go on a Mexican ship to find some food, namely Mexican mice. But the mouse they find proves to be difficult to catch. "Speedy" Gonzalez, the fastest mouse in all Mexico, is too fast and clever to fall for their traps, with the cats instead suffering various misfortunes. The cat duo is a funny one, especially the dumb Benny who had debuted in "Hoppy-Go-Lucky" the previous year. But of course this short's historical importance lies in the third character. This was the first appearance of Speedy Gonzales, as his name would be spelled in his later cartoons. The mouse already had his familiar voice and Spanglish here, though his design would be altered significantly for the later shorts (I think this early one is also very cute), and his personality is a bit more of the trickster variety here. The gags are great, making this a worthy debut for one of the biggest later WB cartoon stars.
9.5

A Street Cat Named Sylvester
Directed by I. Freleng
It's winter, and Tweety is out in the cold. He knocks on the door of a house and is taken in by Sylvester who plans to eat him – but the cat has to prevent Granny from finding out he has brought the bird in. Hector the bulldog tries to protect Tweety despite having his leg in a cast. Unusually, Sylvester is portrayed as Granny's pet here but Tweety isn't. Some cute dialogue, such as Sylvester paraphrasing Tweety's catchphrase and funny fighting between the cat and the dog, with Granny getting involved with some awful-tasting medicine. Maybe not my favorite in the series, but a solid entry anyway.
9

Zipping Along
Directed by Charles M. Jones
The Road Runner (Velocitus tremenjus) is again chased by Wile E. Coyote (Road-runnerus digestus). The coyote's attempts include a hand grenade, mousetraps and hypnotism. While following the successful formula from the first three cartoons, there are a few changes. Here, the two characters start having different Latin names in every short, after the earlier shorts had kept reusing the same ones (just with slight differences in spelling). The end gag of the Road Runner driving or riding on a vehicle is also gone – it would indeed have got old pretty soon if they had kept using it. Another strong entry with the usual expressive animation, this time with the Road Runner slightly more active in foiling the coyote's plans.
9.5

Lumber Jack-Rabbit
Directed by Charles M. Jones
Bugs wanders into Paul Bunyan's country and is delighted to find giant carrots there. However, the lumberjack sends his likewise giant dog Smidgen to guard the vegetable garden. The dog starts chasing Bugs. Apart from some nice visuals and Bugs' likable performance of "Jimmy Crack Corn", I don't find this a particularly memorable entry in the Bugs Bunny filmography – nice to watch, but that's about it. It does have a significant place in WB cartoon history, though. It was their only classic cartoon to be produced in 3D – a rather short-lived craze in the film industry. Sadly, only a 2D version is available to watch nowadays, but there are several parts that I can imagine looked quite impressive in 3D.
8

Duck! Rabbit, Duck!
Directed by Charles M. Jones
It's duck season, but Daffy has changed all the duck season signs to rabbit season ones. Elmer is again out hunting, but Bugs keeps showing various signs to make him repeatedly shoot Daffy instead. The third entry of the Hunting Trilogy, which takes place in winter unlike its predecessors, is a worthy conclusion. Bugs showing signs about what season it is in reaction to Daffy's statements ("I'm a dirty skunk!") is a great running gag, and the ending here challenges "Rabbit Fire" for my favorite in the trilogy. The animation and vocal performances give the characters a lot of personality, all the gags are amazing – one of the best cartoons of its time.
10

Easy Peckin's
Directed by Robert McKimson
A fox tries to steal chickens from the J.C. Henny Poultry Farm, but George, a strong rooster, is guarding the hens and constantly thwarts the fox's attempts. Though the theme is nothing new, the cartoon is quite clever with the comedic personalities and imaginative gags. This is all accompanied by a great soundtrack by Carl Stalling, including a fun arrangement of the William Tell Overture. An impressive one-shot cartoon.
9.5

Catty Cornered
Directed by I. Freleng
A group of gangsters led by Rocky has kidnapped Tweety, holding him for ransom. The bird's attempts to escape constantly fail. Sylvester is also nearby, trying to eat Tweety. Another interesting take on the Sylvester and Tweety series – Rocky from "Golden Yeggs" is a surprising foil for the duo, but it's entertaining to watch, with essentially everyone in the cartoon pitted against one another at some point. The story also gets a nice conclusion, even if it's not quite what one of the characters might have wanted...
9

Of Rice and Hen
Directed by Robert McKimson
Prissy is jealous of how all the other chickens have children, so she decides to go find a husband. She sets her sights on Foghorn Leghorn, but the rooster shows no interest in her. But the Barnyard Dawg, in his eternal rivalry with Foghorn, comes up with a plan... This second Foghorn and Prissy cartoon is another very good one, with an entertaining portrayal of the hen... and the entire cast, really: Foghorn has some amusing lines yet again and the dog's scheme is a fun one. And I must mention it: the title is one of the cleverest we've had!
9.5

Cats A-weigh!
Directed by Robert McKimson
Sylvester and his son are going around looking for food. Sylvester Jr. is tired of being an alley cat, and the two cats soon find a solution. The crew on a ship is looking for a cat to catch all the mice on board, and Sylvester applies for the job. While Junior was supposed to help his father, he ends up doing all the work while the father lazes around, until a "giant mouse" (Hippety Hopper) appears. One of my favorites in the Hippety Hopper series – Sylvester Jr. and the kangaroo are both adorable, and Sylvester Sr. has a very funny portrayal here with some great lines and reactions. I also like the turn the story takes near the end!
9.5

Robot Rabbit
Directed by I. Freleng
Bugs is eating carrots in Elmer Fudd's carrot patch, and the hunter tries to shoot him. But after getting outsmarted once again, Elmer gets a robot to get rid of the rabbit once and for all. But the machine proves to be no match for Bugs either! For the first time in several years, Freleng uses Elmer in a Bugs Bunny cartoon (he generally preferred to use Yosemite Sam as Bugs' foil). It's an excellent one, showing Friz should maybe have done more with the hunter. Bugs is a lovable trickster defeating both man and machine, there's some appealing character singing (Bugs and Elmer's duet of "In a Little Red Barn" is sheer fun), great gags... And a special mention to the "robotic" off-key arrangement of "What's Up Doc?" over the opening titles!
10

Punch Trunk
Directed by Charles M. Jones
A five-inch elephant (later named Teeny by a little girl) comes to America on the S.S. Michael Maltese. Various people encounter the elephant with comedic consequences. A memorable one-shot where the people's hilarious reactions to Teeny provide for some great gags – we get some very funny lines and brilliant animation. This is essentially a bunch of variations on the same gag rather than a progressing story – quite an unusual cartoon for the series, but an extremely enjoyable one at that!
10

The Looney Tunes characters also started appearing in theatrical compilations of earlier cartoons. This year, the first of these was released: "Bugs Bunny's All-Star Cartoon Revue". The cartoon studio also created a short trailer to advertise this compilation – little new animation was created for it, but besides clips from the featured cartoons, it contained some nice new illustrations of the characters.

This year was another strong one, though maybe one whose real significance would only be realized later – Speedy Gonzales would become very popular after a redesign, and "Duck Amuck" and "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century" have become two of the most acclaimed WB cartoons in later decades. Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog probably made the most immediate impact of this year's debuts, becoming recurring characters.