How classic do cartoon titles get? The WB opening with concentric circles and zooming studio logo crossfading to a giant Bugs Bunny head, set to the strains of "Merrily We Roll Along" or "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down", were guaranteed to garner applause in movie houses across America. Whatever the cartoon, you would be guaranteed laughs and entertainment, as the Warner Bros. cartoons were regarded by industry insiders and fans alike as the best in the business. What exactly does all the ephemera on the titles mean? Why are some rings different colors? Why is the shield sometimes blue? What are those funny numbers below the word "Present"? And "where's MY present, son?" (Leghorn Swoggled) What is Vitagraph and where can I get some? What happens when you add up all the funny numbers and divide by pi? Here are some of the answers.

Production Number Formats
Every classic Warner Bros. cartoon bears a production or release number on screen. It is believed the onscreen numbers were a remnant of the old Vitaphone sound-on-disc shorts program, where the number onscreen corresponded to the correct number of disc that should be playing for proper sound sync. Each reel of a feature, featurette or short was assigned a unique number. Yes, sound discs do exist for the early cartoons. (More information on this can be found at The Vitaphone Project, which is an ongoing effort to unearth picture and sound disc elements and restore Vitaphone movies and shorts.)

These production numbers began in the case of the WB Cartoons with 4127, the number assigned to Sinking In The Bathtub. The numbers eventually hit the 9000's and "flipped" to lower numbers in 1941.First appearing on the title card, the number soon moved to the series title and eventually to the WB title card sometime in 1937. The numbers sometimes appear on those 8x10 poster snipes used to publicize each new release.

Internally, the Harman-Ising and Schlesinger cartoon studios identified each cartoon by series title and the episode number for that season. Porky's Duck Hunt, Vitaphone #7749, is Looney Tune No. 8, or LT #8. Where such designations are known, we include them in each filmography entry. This numbering system actually began to be used onscreen in 1943 (at which time WB ceased assigning "Vitaphone numbers" as the entire industry converted successfully to optical sound on film), with a hyphenated number denoting series entry number and the number of season. Porky Pig's Feat was the 11th Looney Tune of the 13th season, so that cartoon's onscreen number is 11-13. But the next year, The Old Grey Hare was also assigned the number 11-13 because it was the 11th Merrie Melodie of the 13th season (remember: Merrie Melodies started a year after Looney Tunes). Clearly a flawed system that eventually saw cartoon numbers prefaced with L and M.

The cartoon studio commenced a new production number system in 1946 that began with 1000 and continued through the end of the studio. Here, every number was used, and short subjects as well as other projects (such as TV shows and commercials, even custom main titles for Saturday cartoon revues) received numbers. Unlike Vitaphone numbers, these numbers were exclusive to the cartoon studio.

Production Numbers And Blue Ribbon Reissues
The Blue Ribbon reissue program began in 1943 with roughly thirteen classic Merrie Melodies being recycled each release season for another go-round. The films featured revised title cards that shorn them of production numbers and screen credits. (There were at least two cases where the title-makers goofed and actually showed the original production number as the Blue Ribbon's MPAA number: Cross Country Detours and Hiawatha's Rabbit Hunt. There are also a few cases where Blue Ribbons got a main title with a 2-13 production number; this is to be considered an artifact.) The Blue Ribbons eventually were assigned production numbers that showed on screen. The numbers ran slightly higher than first-releases of the same season. By 1958, the Blue Ribbons again no longer had production numbers onscreen. One set was released in the 1958-1959 season with blue rings, and then the last few sets were with the orange rings characteristic of all 60's WB cartoons. As more WB cartoons are restored with full original titles, we'll try to track down the original production numbers.

MPAA (MPPDA) Numbers
Otherwise known as the "Hays Office" (made mention of in one early 40's cartoon), the Motion Picture Producers And Distributors Of America issued numbered "approval certificates" for each film submitted to its office beginning in 1934, and complying films could show the MPPDA seal and certificate number. Warner Bros. cartoons, like the rest of the film industry, originally used a "pre-title" which showed a large MPPDA seal in the background and usually contained a statement such as "THIS MOTION PICTURE HAS BEEN APPROVED BY THE MOTION PICTURE PRODUCERS AND DISTRIBUTORS OF AMERICA - CERTIFICATE NO. 95". (The actual MPPDA number for The Girl At The Ironing Board, one of the first WB cartoons to carry the seal.) Eventually proving cumbersome, the H.O. soon allowed producers to incorporate just the seal and certificate number into the titles the film itself. There are but a few WB cartoons whose MPAA (the name was changed in 1945 to Motion Picture Association Of America) numbers do not show on screen such as The Wearing Of The Grin, Hare Lift, Person To Bunny, Hyde And Go Tweet, and Pappy's Puppy. These shorts will be noted and research is ongoing to attempt to unearth the numbers.

Ring Colors And Their Significance
Since 1936, when the concentric circles (called "rings" for convenience) opening was introduced on Merrie Melodies, the first color used was blue because of the advent of blue hues in the new 3-color Technicolor process opened up to Disney's competitors that year. I Wanna Play House was the first Merrie Melodies with rings, while a later film (not known due to Blue Ribbon reissue policy) introduced the zooming WB shield (a device borrowed from WB's live-action films) used on virtually every WB cartoon hence. Black and white Looney Tunes used a variety of different background motifs, but not the rings at first.

From 1936 to 1959, the ring color changed each season. Colors used included yellow, green, orange, a red-white-blue combo (sometimes with clouds in the background), red, and blue with the first inside ring being red. Color Looney Tunes used the same color, but usually with thicker rings. (The 3-D Bugs Bunny short Lumber Jack-Rabbit had its own special set of orange LT rings to create the 3-D effect sought after by masochists who want to collide head on with a zooming WB shield coming straight at them in the opening. Also, one 1954 Looney Tune got out with a set of Merrie Melodies rings. Ken Moore must have been out to lunch that day and shot the titles on the wrong background.) When WB was making color and black-and-white LT's simultaneously, some black-and-white LT's had gray rings (well what other color would they be?).

Below appear all possible ring color combinations for Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes (where applicable), starting with the first use of these titles in 1936. The variations in the colors within a season are due to the differing quality of film prints used to compile this guide.

The very first WB cartoon with the rings, I Wanna Play House.
1936-1937 MM with blue shield. The shield zoomed in by itself and the graphics faded in afterwards. This continued until 1941. Copyright changes to The Vitaphone Corp.	1937-1938 MM	1938-1939 MM During this season the "Vitaphone" was replaced with a "Warner Bros." legend, first on scroll, then in typeface. "Presents" was also changed to "Present"	1939-1940 MM Variant on this title card style has clouds in background
1940-1941 MM Variant has first version of Reclining Bugs who pulls the "Merrie Melodies" title down like a windowshade; first seen on The Heckling Hare (Production #75)	1941-1942 MM Reclining Bugs, 2nd version. Bugs merely chews carrot and then winks; crossfade into "Merrie Melodies" title	1942-1943 MM	1942-1943 LT Color Looney Tunes were introduced this season and they got their own rings. Looney Tunes will always have thicker rings.
1943-1944 MM First year of Blue Ribbon reissues. Due to age, many of these intros are very badly faded, but here's a nice one	1943-1944 LT	1944-1945 MM with Bugs Head - during this season the "Produced by Leon Schlesinger" changed to "Produced By Warner Bros. Cartoons Inc." and eventually to "A Warner Bros. Cartoon" Bugs also regained his position atop the shield as well... still the second version	1944-1945 LT
1945-1946 MM "Pictures Inc" added to "Warner Bros." legend	1945-1946 LT Some Looney Tunes from this season used the Merrie Melodies rings for the opening title. This season reintroduced Reclining Bugs, who looks a little angry when he pulls the shade down.	1946-1947 MM	1946-1947 LT
1947-1948 MM And some were GREEN this season...	1947-1948 LT And some were GREEN this season.	1948-1949 MM Blue Ribbon reissue title (1174-1187) Bugs Head resumed use this season	1948-1949 LT Some cartoons from this period featured graphics fade-in after shield zoom (mostly Bugs Bunny cartoons)
1949-1950 MM No Blue Ribbons issued with these rings. See the 48-49 MM for the same flat-bottomed # box on a Blue Ribbon	1949-1950 LT	1950-1951 MM Blue Ribbon reissue title #1221-1236	1950-1951 LT with Bugs Head
1951-1952 MM Blue Ribbon #1251-1263	1951-1952 LT	1952-1953 MM Blue Ribbon #1307-1319 featured "THE END" closing title	1952-1953 LT
1953-1954 LT 3D Used only on Lumber Jack-Rabbit (See cartoon entry for more frames from the special opening)
1953-1954 MM Blue Ribbon #1351-1363 used old style orange rings	1953-1954 LT	1954-1955 MM Blue Ribbon #1364-1376	1954-1955 LT
1955-1956 MM Blue Ribbon #1401-1413	1955-1956 LT	1956-1957 MM with Bugs head Blue Ribbon #1450-1462	1956-1957 LT
1957-1959 MM For some reason the blue rings were used for two consecutive release seasons. There are two groupings of Blue Ribbons with these rings; one has production numbers (1501-1513 and 1516-1517), the other doesn't	1957-1959 LT	1959-1964 MM After 1960, cartoons were copyright by Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., and closing titles bore the additional legend "A Vitaphone Release". There are quite a few Blue Ribbons with these rings showing no production numbers	1959-1964 LT After 1960, cartoons were copyright by Warner Bros. Pictures Inc., and closing titles bore the additional legend "A Vitagraph Release"
New Style Graphic Opening - WB Version (Now Hear This, Bartholomew Versus The Wheel and Senorella And The Glass Huarache as well as all DePatie-Freleng and Bill Hendricks titles until the W7 era)	New Style Graphic Opening - W7 Version The 1968 Looney Tunes open was also used on early 1970's hand-traced Porky Pig cartoons. Beginning with 1969 copyright dates, the copyright notice moved to the title card	"1967" Reissue Title for Colorized Looney Tunes - Production Number 1400 indicates title card is originally from Deduce, You Say. These replaced the old W7 titles sometime in the 1980's.	Aah, what the hell. Here's the famous THE END title card from the 1300-series Blue Ribbons! Dig that wacky 50's Lydian lettering! Definitely a lot more appealing than a script "That's All Folks!"?... I didn't think so.

Obligatory Legal Stuff: LOONEY TUNES characters, names, and all related indicia are trademarks of Warner Bros. © 2004. This site is neither sponsored nor authorized by Warner Bros.

Visit the Termite Terrace Trading Post, a great message board about classic WB and other classic animation!

Animation
www.davemackey.com