Annotated reference list/ Bibliography

For a lot of my primary research, I watched several Looney Tunes cartoons as well as behind the scenes features on the 'Looney Tunes: Golden Collection volumes 1-6'. These DVD's were an invaluable source of research information as all the information was straight from the mouths of those who worked closely on the production of the films including the great Friz Freleng. There was also a lot of information from those who were closely related to the production team - including Mel Blanc (voice artists) son and Bob Clampett's daughter. Not only did they provide an insight into the production values but were also able to give their opinions on the animated content as fans of the show. I was able to learn about the back story behind certain characters like Porky Pig as well as the ideas behind the narrative. It was fascinating to watch and an incredible research source.

Many of my on line sources came from Wikipedia. Although Wikipedia has a huge breadth of interesting knowledge, it isn't the most reliable of sources. As Wikipedia is user generated (information is uploaded by the users), not all the information can be treated as fact. However I used the website to source information (on the history of Warner Bros as well as the early Bosko Looney Tunes cartoons) as a starting off point for further research. In doing this, I was able to get a huge amount of background information whilst checking my sources compared to other Internet sources making it a very helpful source.

One of the best sources of information I used was http://toonopedia.com/warner.htm. This website has an extensive piece of research on all things animated created by Donald D. Markstien. Markstien is a Disney comic creator and is someone with a real passion for animation. He has been collecting research for more than half a century which makes him a very reliable source of information. The source wasn't only reliable but also very useful. It told me everything I needed to know about the Looney Tunes past. From the creation of new characters to their comparison with rival Disney, this source was very helpful in filling in the blanks from sources such as Wikipedia.

Another great source was http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=17874931, an on line article written by award winning journalist JJ Sutherland. Looking at his past experience (covering events such as the conflict in Iraq), it makes him a good source of information despite it being quite opinionated. Sometimes it is better to have some opinionated sources rather than all straight facts. It helped me understand just how popular Looney Tunes was with its viewers and how adored the characters were with various generations of fans.

The most unreliable of my Internet sources were websites including http://artbyblas.com/writing/abriefhistoryofwarnerbroscartoons.html and http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue09/reviews/bosko/text.htm. Although these featured useful and interesting information on Warner's history and Early characters, it is basically a fan written blog therefore making it quite an unreliable source. Although it may be the most unreliable, it was one of the most useful sources I used throughout my research; http://artbyblas.com/writing/abriefhistoryofwarnerbroscartoons.html in particular had the most in-depth knowledge into the history of Warner Bros development. http://www.imagesjournal.com/issue09/reviews/bosko/text.htm was also the best source of information on that rare Looney Tune Bosko. Without these 2 sources, my research would not have been the same and I would not have been as knowledgeable as I now am.

Although not all my sources are 100% reliable, they were all useful. Fan made websites and personal blogs gave me a more personal insight into Warner Bros fan whereas the fact based websites provided me with hard facts to evidence my research points. YouTube was an invaluable source for on line content - allowing me to provide visual evidence to the points I raised.