User:QuestJ65/Color rings

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The color rings are a term used to refer to the concentric circles used in various title cards in the Looney Tunes franchise. They are prominently featured at the start of shorts in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical series, and differ in color and sizes through its various uses. Their earliest appearance was in the 1936 Merrie Melodies short I Wanna Play House.

List of variations

Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies

• 1935-1936 (blue-purple rings; black background)
  • The titles are thought to have originated in the 1935 cartoon Flowers for Madame, due to Warner Bros. gaining access to the three-strip technicolor process, although it is unknown if the short either had the previous titles used from 1934-35 (which involve a curtain design and a jester in the ending card) or these cards. However, the earliest short in which they are still intact was I Wanna Play House. The last shorts to use these are Toy Town Hall and Boulevadier from the Bronx, for the opening and closing titles, respectively.

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• 1936-1937 (blue rings, black background)
  • These titles first appeared in the 1936 short Boulevardier from the Bronx, sporting a mostly blue color palette. It was last used in The Lyin' Mouse. The titles remain mostly the same in the shorts they appear in, although in Boulevadier, the background is dark blue and the Merrie Melodies lacks a curve.

• File:Color rings (1936-37, MM).png
• File:MM 1936-37 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1936-37, MM).png

• 1937-1938 (orange-yellow rings, black background)
  • The first short to use these cards is Little Red Walking Hood, which revamped the titles to have an orange-yellow gradient. It is notable for having a new version of the Merrie Melodies logo, which is distinguished by a curvier font. The first variation of them was used from this cartoon to The Isle of Pingo Pongo, while a second variation was used from Katnip Kollege to Johnny Smith and Poker-Huntas. The ending card in the first half had a version of the previous Merrie Melodies logo with a drop shadow, while the second half had the new logo. Additionally, the "That's all Folks!" text has a capital F in ending card, resembling more of the one used in Looney Tunes from that season.

• File:Color rings (1936-37, MM).png
• File:MM 1936-37 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1936-37, MM ver 1).png
• File:That's all folks! (1936-37, MM ver 2).png

• 1938-1939 (green-yellow rings, black background)
  • The first short to use these cards is You're in Education, with the rings having a green-yellow gradient this time. The last short that used these rings was Sioux Me.

• File:Color rings (1938-39, MM).png
• File:MM 1938-39 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1938-39, MM).png

• 1939-1940 (red, white and blue rings, cloudy sky background)
  • The first short to use these cards is Land of the Midnight Fun. This time, the titles are distinguished by rings with colors evoking the United States flag and a background of a cloudy sky. The last short to use these cards was Tom Thumb in Trouble.

• File:Color rings (1939-40, MM).png
• File:MM 1939-40 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1939-40, MM).png

• 1940 (red, white and blue rings, black background)
  • The first short to use these cards is Confederate Honey. The titles resemble those from the previous production season, but with a solid black background. These cards are short lived, as the last short to use them was Ceiling Hero.

• File:Color rings (1940, MM).png
• File:MM 1940 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1940, MM).png

• 1940-1941 (orange rings, black background)
  • The first short to use these cards is Malibu Beach Party, resembling that of the titles from the 1937-1938 season, but with a subtler gradient. In The Heckling Hare, a variation of these cards appear where Bugs Bunny lays on top of the WB shield while munching a carrot, before pulling down the Merrie Melodies card down like a shade. It was last used in Sport Chumpions.

• File:Color rings (1940-41, MM).png
• File:MM 1940-41 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1940-41, MM).png

• 1941-1942 (dark blue-purple rings, black background)
  • Snowtime for Comedy was the first cartoon to use these cards, featuring a dark blue-purple gradient for the rings. A Bugs Bunny variant of the cards was used in this season, although in here, he munches on a carrot with an annoyed face instead of pulling the Merrie Melodies card down; this only appears in Bugs Bunny cartoons, with the exception of Hold the Lion, Please. Starting with Aloha Hooey from January 1942. The last cartoon to use this design was Fox Pop.

• File:Color rings (1941-42, MM).png
• File:MM 1940-42 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1941-42, MM).png

• 1942-1944 (red rings, black background)
  • The first cartoon to use these cards was The Dover Boys at Pimento University; or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall. These rings also made their debut in Looney Tunes, beginning with The Hep Cat, the first one in the series to be produced in color. A black-and-white variant was used starting with The Daffy Duckaroo, for cartoons produced under the Ray Katz-managed unit. For both versions of the Looney Tunes titles, a new series title card was introduced with Porky Pig and Daffy Duck plastered in the centre.

• File:Color rings (1942-44, MM).png
• File:MM 1942-44 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1942-44, MM).png

• 1943-1945 (blue rings, red background)
  • These rings made their debut in the Blue Ribbon reissue of A Feud There Was on September 1943, and continued with all subsequent reissues until Cross Country Detours. The first new cartoon to use these cards is Meatless Flyday, and continued through various shorts until the end of the 1945 production cycle. Porky and Daffy would be split on their appearances on the Looney Tunes rings, with Porky's variant debuting in Brother Brat, and Daffy debuting in Plane Daffy. Starting with Hare Ribbin', a new Bugs Bunny variant was introduced with a headshot of his face, though only in his cartoons.

• File:Color rings (1943-45, MM).png
• File:MM 1943-45 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1943-45, MM).png

• 1944-1946 (orange rings, red background)
  • These rings only appeared in the openings of Blue Ribbon reissues, starting with the rerelease of of Let It Be Me (1936).

• File:Color rings (1944-46, MM).png
• File:MM 1944-46 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1944-46, MM).png

• 1945-1946 (red rings, black background)
  • These rings debuted in the short Herr Meets Hare, and continued to appear in cartoons until Hush My Mouse. These titles resemble the ones used in the 1942-43 season. In Hare Conditioned and Hare Tonic, the only Looney Tunes shorts to use these rings, a new Bugs Bunny title variant was introduced, which is essentially a reanimated version of the Heckling Hare variant.

• File:Color rings (1945-46, MM).png
• File:MM 1945-46 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1945-46, MM).png

• 1946-1947 (blue-red rings, red background)
  • Hair-Raising Hare was the first short to use these rings. By 1946, the drum ending was retired from the Looney Tunes series and was replaced with the "That's all Folks!" end card. The final new short to use these rings is Hobo Bobo. while the last reissue with these is Now That Summer is Gone (1938); however, the ending rings would be used with the opening rings from the 1947-1948 season. The last cartoon to use these rings was the 1949 reissue of Horton Hatches the Egg.

• File:Color rings (1946-47, MM).png
• File:MM 1946-47 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1946-47, MM).png

• 1947-1950 (red rings, blue background)
  • The first short to use these rings is Along Came Daffy. These were also the first rings to be used for cartoons produced in Cinecolor, beginning with Doggone Cats. The last short to use them was The Pest that Came to Dinner.

• File:Color rings (1947-50, MM).png
• File:MM 1947-50 title card.png
• File:That's all folks! (1947-50, MM).png