The 50 Greatest Cartoons

The Chuck Jones' 1957 short What's Opera, Doc? was ranked No. 1 in a list of the 50 greatest cartoons of all time by 1000 members of the animation industry in 1994. Two other Jones shorts (Duck Amuck and One Froggy Evening, ranked No. 2 and No. 5 on the aforementioned list respectively).

It consists of articles about 50 highly regarded animated short films made in North America and other notable cartoons, which are ranked according to a poll of 1,000 people working in the animation industry.[1]

Each cartoon is under 30 minutes long and cel animated (with the exception of Gertie the Dinosaur). Seventeen of the selected films were produced for Warner Bros.'s Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, ten of which were directed by Chuck Jones (including the #1 cartoon on the list, What's Opera, Doc?). All of the selected cartoons were created and released before 1960, except for the 1985 short The Big Snit (No. 25), the 1988 short The Cat Came Back (No. 32), the 1969 short Bambi Meets Godzilla (No. 38), the 1987 short The Man Who Planted Trees (No. 44), and the 1975 short Quasi at the Quackadero (No. 46).[2]

The book's front and rear cover art shows a variety of famous cartoon stars seated in a nightclub.[3]

The following cartoons received a substantial number of mentions on voter ballots but were ultimately not nominated:

• Academy Award for Animated Short Film
• Submissions for Best Animated Short Academy Award
• Jerry Beck

• Beck, Jerry (ed.) (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals. Atlanta: Turner Publishing. ISBN 1-878685-49-X.
• The 50 Greatest Cartoons + Other Great Cartoons on Letterboxd
• Beck, edited by Jerry (1994). The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected By 1,000 Animation Professionals (1st ed.). Atlanta: Turner Pub. ISBN 1-878685-49-X.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)