
Looney Tunes
Taz
Taz appeared in five theatrical shorts in the classic era and then became one of the largest merchandising properties Warner Bros. has ever had, which is a ratio no other cartoon character comes close to.
- First appearance
- Devil May Hare (1954), Warner Bros. Cartoons
- Created by
- Robert McKimson, Sid Marcus
- Also known as
- The Tasmanian Devil
- Universe
- Looney Tunes
- Appears in
- animation, television, film
Who is Taz?
Taz appeared in five theatrical shorts in the classic era and then became one of the largest merchandising properties Warner Bros. has ever had, which is a ratio no other cartoon character comes close to. Robert McKimson built him out of a single idea — an appetite with a tornado attached — and Mel Blanc performed him as growls, snorts and a spinning whirr rather than words, which meant almost no writing was required. The character was reportedly close to being dropped after the first short and was kept on the strength of audience mail. What made him enormous was the 1980s and 1990s licensing boom: the spinning tornado is a shape rather than a face, it reads at any size, and it looked like attitude at exactly the moment attitude sold, which put him on more shirts than most of the Looney Tunes leads combined.
Taz: the details
- First appearance
- Devil May Hare, June 1954
- Created by
- Robert McKimson, with story by Sid Marcus
- Only five classic shorts
- A tiny filmography for one of the studio's biggest licensing properties
- Voiced by
- Mel Blanc, in growls and vocal effects rather than dialogue
- Kept by audience demand
- The character was reportedly close to being dropped after his debut
- The tornado is the licence
- A shape rather than a face, which is why it prints at any scale
- His own series
- Taz-Mania ran from 1991
Why Taz endures
Five shorts and four decades of merchandising — the clearest case in animation of a character whose commercial life dwarfs his filmography.
What Taz looks like on a shirt
Signature motif: Brown devil with an enormous jaw, or the spinning brown tornado
The tornado is the better design, because it is a shape and not a portrait — it survives being printed large across a chest, small on a sleeve, or embroidered, and it carries the character without needing a face at all.
The tornado shape outperforms the character portrait at every size. Brown and black on white, or red on black for the nineties treatments. Adult sizing carries this licence more than youth does.
Taz T-shirts
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Buying from outside the United States? Prices shown are amazon.com in US dollars. Links redirect international readers to their local Amazon, where pricing, sizing and availability are shown in local terms.
Price and availability are taken from Amazon at the time shown and can change. The price on Amazon at the time of purchase applies.
Sizes: kids to adult
Taz shirts are produced across the full US size range. These links run a live Amazon search filtered to each band, so they show what is genuinely in stock rather than a cached list.
| Band | Ages | US sizes | Search |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toddler | 2–4 years | 2T, 3T, 4T | Search toddler sizes |
| Kids | 4–7 years | XS (4/5), S (6/7) | Search kids sizes |
| Youth | 8–14 years | M (8), L (10/12), XL (14/16) | Search youth sizes |
| Adult | 15+ | S–3XL | Search adult sizes |
US sizing shown. Cut and measurement vary between brands — see the size guide before ordering, especially for youth sizes. Base search: Taz t-shirt.
Who has played Taz
| Performer | Production | Year | Type |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mel Blanc | Devil May Hare | 1954 | Voice |
More cartoons & animation
All cartoons & animation →Taz T-shirts: common questions
Who created Taz?
Taz was created by Robert McKimson and Sid Marcus, first appearing in Devil May Hare in 1954 (Warner Bros. Cartoons).
What does a Taz T-shirt usually look like?
Brown devil with an enormous jaw, or the spinning brown tornado. The tornado shape outperforms the character portrait at every size. Brown and black on white, or red on black for the nineties treatments. Adult sizing carries this licence more than youth does.
Are Taz T-shirts made for children?
Yes — Taz appears on our kids pages, and shirts are commonly made from US toddler 2T up through youth XL.
Who has played Taz?
Taz has been voiced by Mel Blanc (Devil May Hare, 1954).
How much does a Taz T-shirt cost?
Taz shirts we currently track start from around $17.99 on amazon.com. Every price on this page is dated, because they move.
This profile was compiled from published reference material about Taz — first appearance, creator credits and production history — and is a secondary source rather than a substitute for the original publication. Where a detail could not be corroborated it has been left out. We do not physically test garments; see how we work for what that means and what it does not.
Reference. This profile was compiled from published sources. For the character's full publication history see Wikipedia (Wikidata Q887525). Our method and limitations are stated in full.
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