Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series by a year, and was Warner Bros.' first animated theatrical series. The series features some of the most well-known and popular cartoon characters in history, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Tweety Bird and many others. The name Looney Tunes is a variation on Silly Symphonies, the name of Walt Disney's concurrent series of music-based cartoon shorts. From 1942 until 1969, Looney Tunes was the most popular short cartoon series in theaters, exceeding Disney and other popular competitors.