The 50 Greatest Cartoons



An official list of The 50 Greatest Cartoons, compiled in 1994 by animation historian Jerry Beck of Cartoon Brew, along with many others in the animation field. The criterion was that each short be under 30 minutes long and cel animated (with Gertie the Dinosaur as the exception, predating cels). Tellingly, 43 of the shorts are from The Golden Age of Animation and 17 of them are from from the Warner Bros studio (a full 1/5 of the list having been directed by Chuck Jones).

Also tellingly, all of them are North American and a supermajority are from Hollywood studios.

Compare to The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes list.

The Main List:

 * 1) "What's Opera, Doc?" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1957
 * 2) "Duck Amuck" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1953
 * 3) "The Band Concert" -- Wilfred Jackson, Disney, 1935
 * 4) "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1953
 * 5) "One Froggy Evening" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1955
 * 6) "Gertie the Dinosaur" -- Winsor McCay, 1914
 * 7) "Red Hot Riding Hood" -- Tex Avery, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1943
 * 8) "Porky in Wackyland" -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1938
 * 9) "Gerald McBoing-Boing" -- Robert Cannon, UPA (Columbia Pictures), 1951
 * 10) "King Size Canary" -- Tex Avery, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1947
 * 11) "Three Little Pigs" -- Burt Gillett, Disney, 1933
 * 12) "Rabbit of Seville" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1950
 * 13) "Steamboat Willie" -- Ub Iwerks, Disney, 1928
 * 14) "The Old Mill" -- Wilfred Jackson and Graham Heid, Disney, 1937
 * 15) "Bad Luck Blackie" -- Tex Avery, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1949
 * 16) "The Great Piggy Bank Robbery" -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1946
 * 17) "Popeye the Sailor Meets Sindbad the Sailor" -- Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1936
 * 18) "The Skeleton Dance" -- Ub Iwerks, Disney, 1929
 * 19) "Snow White" (The Betty Boop version) -- Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1933
 * 20) "Minnie the Moocher" -- Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1932
 * 21) "Coal Black and De Sebben Dwarfs" -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1943
 * 22) "Der Fuehrers Face" -- Jack Kinney, Disney, 1943
 * 23) "Little Rural Riding Hood" -- Tex Avery, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1949
 * 24) "The Tell-Tale Heart" -- Ted Parmelee, UPA (Columbia Pictures), 1953
 * 25) "The Big Snit" -- Richard Condie, National Film Board of Canada, 1985 (watch it on the NFB website)
 * 26) "Brave Little Tailor" -- Burt Gillett, Disney, 1938
 * 27) "Clock Cleaners" -- Ben Sharpsteen, Disney, 1937
 * 28) "Northwest Hounded Police" -- Tex Avery, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1946
 * 29) "Adventures In Music: Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom" -- Charles Nicholls and Ward Kimball, Disney, 1953
 * 30) "Rabbit Seasoning" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1952
 * 31) "The Scarlet Pumpernickel" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1950
 * 32) "The Cat Came Back" -- Cordell Barker, Richard Condie (National Film Board of Canada), 1988
 * 33) "The Mad Scientist" aka "Superman" -- Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1941
 * 34) "You Ought to Be In Pictures" -- Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1940
 * 35) "Ali Baba Bunny" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1957
 * 36) "Feed the Kitty" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1952
 * 37) "Bimbo's Initiation" -- Dave Fleischer, Fleischer Studios, 1931
 * 38) "Bambi Meets Godzilla" -- Marv Newland, 1969
 * 39) "Little Red Riding Rabbit" -- Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1944
 * 40) "Peace on Earth" -- Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1939
 * 41) "Rooty Toot Toot" -- John Hubley, UPA (Columbia Pictures), 1953
 * 42) "The Cat Concerto" -- William Hanna and Joe Barbera, Metro Goldwyn Mayer, 1946
 * 43) "Woody Woodpecker: The Barber of Seville" -- James "Shamus" Culhane, Walter Lantz, 1944
 * 44) "The Man Who Planted Trees" (L'homme qui plantait des arbres) -- Frédéric Back, 1987
 * 45) "Book Revue" -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1946
 * 46) "Quasi at the Quackadero" -- Sally Cruikshank, 1975
 * 47) "A Corny Concerto" -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1943
 * 48) "The Unicorn in the Garden" -- William T. Hurtz, UPA (Columbia Pictures), 1953
 * 49) "The Dover Boys at Pimento University or the Rivals of Roquefort Hall" -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1942
 * 50) "Felix in Hollywood" -- Otto Messmer, 1923

The Runners-Up
Besides the main list, the book also included a list of 57 runner up cartoons that almost made it to the list, but ultimately didn't get enough votes. Not surprisingly, 45 of these shorts are also from The Golden Age of Animation. For convienience, they are posted below:


 * Allegreto (1981)
 * Balloon Land -- Ub Iwerks, Celebrity Pictures, 1935
 * Baseball Bugs (1946)
 * The Big Snooze -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946
 * Blitz Wolf -- Tex Avery, MGM, 1942
 * The Box (1967)
 * Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1942
 * Bugs Bunny And The Three Bears -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1944
 * Crac (1981)
 * Woody Woodpecker, AKA "The Cracked Nut" --Walter Lantz, Universal, 1941)
 * The Crunch Bird (1971)
 * Education for Death -- Clyde Geronimi, Walt Disney Pictures, 1943
 * Ersatz (1961)
 * Fast And Furry-ous -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1949
 * Ferdinand The Bull -- Dick Rickard, Walt Disney Pictures 1938
 * Flebus (1957)
 * Flowers and Trees -- Burt Gillett, Walt Disney Pictures, 1932
 * Frank Film (1973)
 * The Furies (1976)
 * Gorilla My Dreams --Robert McKimson, Warner Bros 1948
 * Hair-Raising Hare -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros., 1946
 * I Love to Singa -- "Fred" Avery, Warner Bros., 1936
 * Kitty Kornered -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros., 1946
 * Koko's Earth Control -- Max Fleischer, 1928
 * Little Nemo -- Winsor McCay, 1911
 * Lonesome Ghosts -- Burt Gillett, Walt Disney Pictures, 1937
 * Lupo the Butcher (1987)
 * The Mechanical Monsters -- Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1941
 * Mickey's Service Station -- Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1935
 * Mickey's Trailer --Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1938
 * Moonbird (1959)
 * Mother Goose Goes Hollywood -- Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney Pictures, 1938
 * Mouse Cleaning -- Bill Hanna And Joe Barbera, MGM, 1948
 * Moving Day -- Ben Sharpsteen, Walt Disney Pictures, 1936
 * Music Land -- Wilfred Jackson, Walt Disney Pictures, 1935
 * The Old Grey Hare --Bob Clampett, Walt Disney Pictures, 1944
 * The Old Man of the Mountain -- Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1933
 * Plane Crazy -- Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney, Walt Disney Pictures, 1928
 * The Pointer -- Gerry "Clyde" Geronimi, Walt Disney Pictures, 1939
 * Poor Cinderella -- Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1934
 * Rabbit Hood --Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1949
 * Rhapsody in Rivets --Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1941
 * Rhapsody Rabbit -- Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1946
 * Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves -- Dave Fleischer, Paramount Pictures, 1937
 * Scaredy Cat -- Chuck Jones, Warner Bros, 1948
 * Screwball Squirrel -- Tex Avery, MGM, 1944
 * Señor Droopy -- Tex Avery, MGM, (1949)
 * The Street (1976)
 * The Sunshine Makers -- Ted Eshbaugh, Van Beuren Studios, 1935
 * Swing Shift Cinderella -- Tex Avery, MGM, 1945
 * A Tale of Two Kitties -- Bob Clampett, Warner Bros, 1942
 * Thru The Mirror -- David Hand, Walt Disney Pictures, 1936
 * Tweety Pie -- Friz Freleng, Warner Bros, 1947
 * When Magoo Flew -- Pete Burness, UPA, 1955
 * Who Killed Cock Robin? -- David Hand, Walt Disney Pictures, 1935
 * A Wild Hare -- Tex Avery, Warner Bros., 1940
 * Your Face (1987)