Looney Tunes is an American media franchise produced and distributed by Warner Bros. The franchise began as a series of animated short films that originally ran from 1930 to 1969, alongside its spin-off series Merrie Melodies, during the golden age of American animation. Following a revival in the late 1970s, new shorts were released as recently as 2014. The two series introduced a large cast of characters, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester the Cat, Tweety Bird and Elmer Fudd. The term Looney Tunes has since been expanded to also refer to the characters themselves.