Merrie Melodies
Merry Melodies isname ofseriescartoons produced by Warner BrosIn 1931, producer Leon Schlesinger had already produced one cartoon inLooney Tunes series,its success prompted himtrysellsister seriesWarner Bros. His selling point was thatnew cartoons would feature music fromsoundtracksWarner Bros. filmswould thus serve as advertisementsWarner Bros. recordings. The studio agreed,Schlesinger dubbedseries Merrie Melodies.
Walt Disney Studios had already scoredtheir Silly Symphonies. Since cartoon production usually began withsoundtrack, animatingpiecemusic madeeasierdevise plot elementseven characters.
The Merrie Melodies series was taken on by Rudy Ising, one oftwo animators who had worked onoriginal Looney Tunes short. Ising attemptedintroduce new charactershis Merrie Melodies films, such as Piggy, Foxy,Goopy Geer, but Foxy was so derivativeMickey Mouse that he was dropped, possibly at Disney's urging. The Merrie Melodies shorts became largely plotless musicals or romances without any recurring characterscontinuedthis vein even after Ising leftstudio1933.
In 1934, Schlesinger produced his first color cartoons,Merrie Melodies shorts "Honeymoon Hotel""Beauty andBeast" which were producedCinecolor (Disney had exclusive rights toricher Technicolor). Their success convinced Schlesingerproduce all future Merrie Melodies shortscolor as well. Looney Tunes continuedblackwhite until 1943.
Contractually, Merrie Melodies cartoons were obligatedinclude at least one full chorus fromWarner Bros. song. Warner Bros. requested that these songs be performed by name bands whenever possible, but this lasted only throughfirst few shorts. The policy annoyedanimatorsMerrie Melodies, sincesongs often interruptedcartoons' momentumpacing.
Inlate 1930s,animators were released from this obligation, andMerrie Melodies shorts cameresemble more closelyblack-and-white Looney Tunes series. In 1943, Schlesinger began producing Looney Tunescolor as well, andtwo series became virtually indistinguishable except by their theme musicopening titles.
Warner Bros. continued their fondnesspaying themselvesmusic performance rights, however, as shown byfrequent repetition"The Merrie Go Round Broke Down""Singing inBathtub", andmusicCarl StallingRaymond Scott, particularly "Powerhouse".
