Category:Zany Cartoon

One of the most widespread of animated cartoon genres and one of the most popular for representing animation in other media. The zany humour of these cartoons date back to the peak of The Golden Age of Animation but actually came to dominance slightly afterward. After the big focus on musical aspects had passed, this style of humour which focused on wild and wacky physical reactions and behaviours from hammy cartoon characters came to the fore. It is filled with Cartoon Physics and highly unnatural situations. This is where walking off the cliff but not falling until you look down or painting a hole in a wall and then having it become a real hole came from.

Several of the first examples came from the Looney Tunes crew and Tex Avery creations. The characters are as important to the genre as the visuals here. The action was surreal and subverted natural laws and the characters were subversive and explosive themselves. Daffy Duck is a mad overreaction that would just be physically impossible and Bugs Bunny's iconic line "What's up, doc?" was a coolness in the face of danger that subverted expectations of the time.

Ren and Stimpy and Warner Bros's output in the 90's are some other good examples of this genre.

Tropes associated with this genre are listed on Zany Cartoon Tropes.