Warner Bros. Cartoons
Parent Warner Bros. (1944–1963) | |
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was an American
Warner Bros. Cartoons was founded in 1933 by Leon Schlesinger as Leon Schlesinger Productions. Schlesinger sold the studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, after which the Warner Bros. Cartoons name was adopted. The studio closed in 1963, and Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were subsequently subcontracted to Freleng's DePatie–Freleng Enterprises studio from 1964 to 1967. Warner Bros. Cartoons re-opened that year, under Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, before closing again in 1969. It was succeeded by Warner Bros. Animation, which was established in 1980.
History
1930–1933: Harman-Ising Productions
1933–1944: Leon Schlesinger Productions
The Schlesinger studio got off to a slow start, continuing their one-shot Merrie Melodies and introducing a Bosko replacement named Buddy into the Looney Tunes. Disney animator Tom Palmer was the studio's first senior director, but after the three cartoons he made were deemed to be of unacceptable quality and rejected by the studio, former Harman-Ising animator/musical composer Isadore "Friz" Freleng was called in to replace Palmer and rework his cartoons where every cartoon Freleng directed from 1933 to 1963 was created/directed by Freleng's musical compositions and methods.[5] [6] The studio then formed the three-unit structure that it would retain throughout most of its history, with one of the units headed by Ben "Bugs" Hardaway, and the other by Earl Duvall, who was replaced by Jack King a year later.
In 1935, Freleng helmed the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat, which introduced the character Porky Pig.[7] Hardaway and King departed, and a new arrival at Schlesinger's, Fred "Tex" Avery, took Freleng's creation and ran with it. Avery directed a string of cartoons starring Porky Pig that established the character as the studio's first bona fide star.[7] Schlesinger also gradually moved the Merrie Melodies cartoons from black and white, to two-strip Technicolor in 1934, and finally to full three-strip Technicolor in 1935. The Looney Tunes series would be produced in black-and-white for much longer, until 1943.[8]
Because of the limited spacing conditions in the Schlesinger building at 1351 N. Van Ness on the Warner Sunset lot, Avery and his unit – including animators
From 1936 until 1944,
By 1942, the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Productions as the most successful producer of animated shorts in the United States.
1944–1963: Warner Bros. Cartoons
On July 1, 1944, Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. for $700,000, which renamed the company Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., and Edward Selzer (who by Jones' and Freleng's accounts had no sense of humor or admiration of cartoons), was appointed by Warner Bros. as the new head of the cartoon studio after Schlesinger retired. In September 1944 Frank Tashlin left, and in May 1946 , Bob Clampett left. Tashlin's unit was initially taken over by Robert McKimson who later took over Clampett's unit.[12][13] The remaining animators of the initial McKimson unit were assigned to Arthur Davis. Although inheriting most of their staff, these units have been the least known among the four, apart from having lower budgets than Jones and Freleng. In 1948, the studio moved to a larger building on the Sunset Boulevard lot. Davis' separate unit was dissolved in November 1947, and he became an animator for Freleng.[14]
The four units became noted by their respective styles, mostly influenced by their budgets: Jones' cartoons (having the largest budgets) featured a more visual and sophisticated art style, and focused more on unique story telling and characterization over traditional gags, Freleng's cartoons (having a smaller budget then Jones) developed a conservative directorial style which uses sharp timing, jokes and use of music for comedic effect[15] McKimson's cartoons (also with a smaller budget) kept up the traditional screwball antics-based direction into the 50s, while trying to maintain a fully-animated style,[16] and Davis' cartoons (having the smallest budget of the four units) prioritizes its animation and jokes over the stories, as Davis was said to had an insecurity with his story men.[17]
Among the Warner Bros. cartoon stars who were created after Schlesinger's departure include
After the verdict of the United States v. Paramount Pictures, Inc. anti-trust case in 1948 ended the practice of "block booking", Warner Bros. could no longer force theaters into buying their features and shorts together as packages; shorts had to be sold separately. Theater owners were only willing to pay so much for cartoon shorts, and as a result, by the late-1950s the budgets at Warner Bros. Cartoons became tighter. Selzer forced a stringent five-week production schedule on each cartoon (at least one director, Chuck Jones, cheated the system by spending more time on special cartoons such as What's Opera, Doc?, less time on simpler productions such as Road Runner entries, and had his crew forge their time cards). With less money for full animation, the Warner Bros. story men — Michael Maltese, Tedd Pierce, and Warren Foster — began to focus more of their cartoons on dialogue. While story artists were assigned to directors at random during the 1930s and 1940s, by the 1950s each story man worked almost exclusively with one director: Maltese with Jones, Foster with Freleng, and Pierce with McKimson.
With the advent of the
Also on February 19, 1955, Warner Bros. sold its library of black and white Looney Tunes to Guild Films. The package consisted of 191 cartoons which began showing on television that year.[19]
By 1958, Selzer had retired, and veteran Warner Cartoons production manager John Burton took his place.[20] Warner Bros. also lost its trio of staff storymen at this time. Foster and Maltese found work at Hanna-Barbera Productions, while Pierce worked on a freelance basis with writing partner Bill Danch. John Dunn and Dave Detiege, both former Disney men, were hired to replace them.
During Burton's tenure, Warner Bros. Cartoons branched out into television. In the fall of 1960, ABC TV premiered The Bugs Bunny Show, which was a package program featuring three theatrical Warner Bros. cartoons, with newly produced wraparounds to introduce each short. The program remained on the air under various names and on all three major networks for four decades from 1960 to 2000. All versions of The Bugs Bunny Show featured Warner Bros. cartoons released after July 31, 1948, as all of the Technicolor cartoons released before that date were sold to Associated Artists Productions on June 11, 1956.[21]
In late 1962, at the height of television popularity and decline in moviegoing, DePatie was sent to a board meeting in New York, and he was informed that the cartoon studio was going to be shut down. DePatie completed the task by 1963.[23] The final project at the studio was making the animated sequences, directed by McKimson, for the 1964 Warner Bros. feature The Incredible Mr. Limpet.[22][24] With the studio closed, Hal Seeger Productions in New York had to be contracted to produce the opening and closing credits for The Porky Pig Show, which debuted on ABC on September 20, 1964.[25] This marked one of the first times that the Looney Tunes characters were animated outside of the Los Angeles area.
1964–1967: DePatie–Freleng Enterprises and Format Productions
David H. DePatie and Friz Freleng started DePatie–Freleng Enterprises in 1963, and leased the old Warner Bros. Cartoons studio as their headquarters. In 1964, Warner Bros. contracted DePatie–Freleng to produce more Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, an arrangement that lasted until 1967. The vast majority of these paired off Daffy Duck against Speedy Gonzales, and after a few initial cartoons directed by Freleng, Robert McKimson was hired to direct most of the remaining DePatie–Freleng Looney Tunes.
In addition to DePatie–Freleng's cartoons, a series of new shorts featuring The Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote was commissioned from an independent animation studio, Herbert Klynn's Format Productions. Veteran Warner animator Rudy Larriva, who had worked for years under Road Runner creator Chuck Jones, assumed directorial duties for these films, and a few other former associates of Jones (Bob Bransford, Ernie Nordli) came aboard. Even with the Jones connections, Larriva's Road Runner shorts were considered to be inferior and witless compared to Jones' by critics. McKimson also directed an additional two Road Runner shorts with the main DePatie–Freleng team, which are more highly regarded than Larriva's efforts.
After three years of outsourced cartoons, Warner Bros. decided to bring production back in-house. DePatie–Freleng had their contract terminated (they subsequently moved to new studios in the San Fernando Valley), and Format was commissioned to produce three "buffer" cartoons with Daffy and Speedy (again, directed by Rudy Larriva) to fill the gap until Warner Bros.'s own studio was up and running again.
1967–1969: Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation
Robert Givens Laverne Harding Lin Larsen Bob Abrams Bob Inman Bob McIntosh | |
Products | Cool Cat Speedy Gonzales Daffy Duck |
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The new cartoon studio was to be founded and headed by studio executive William L. Hendricks, and after an unsuccessful attempt at luring Bob Clampett out of retirement, former Walter Lantz Productions and Hanna-Barbera animator Alex Lovy was appointed director at the new studio. He brought his longtime collaborator, Laverne Harding to be the new studio's chief animator, and brought in Disney animator Volus Jones and Ed Solomon who also started at Disney as an assistant, which contributed to make cartoons from this era of the studio stylistically quite different from the studio's "Golden Age". Lovy also brought in animator Ted Bonnicksen and layout artist Bob Givens, both veterans of the original studio. Shortly after the studio opened, Warner Bros. was bought out by Seven Arts Associates, and the studio renamed Warner Bros.-Seven Arts.
Initially, Lovy's new team produced more Daffy and Speedy cartoons, but soon moved to create new characters such as Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse, and even occasional experimental works such as Norman Normal (1968), the only cartoon not to be in either series. Lovy's cartoons were not well received, and many enthusiasts regard them (particularly his Daffy and Speedy efforts) as the worst cartoons ever produced by the studio.
After a year, Alex Lovy left and returned to Hanna-Barbera, and Robert McKimson was brought back to the studio. He focused on using the characters that Lovy had created (and two of his own creation:
Warner Bros. Cartoons staff, 1933–1969
Studio heads
Lead Producers
- Leon Schlesinger (1933–1944)[27]
- Edward Selzer (1944–1958)
- John W. Burton (1958–1961)
- David H. DePatie (1961–1967)[28]
- Friz Freleng (1964-1967)
- William L. Hendricks (1967–1969)
Assistant Producers
- Henry Binder (1938-1942)
- Ray Katz (1933-1944)
- John W. Burton (production manager, 1944–1958)
Directors
- Tex Avery (1935–1942) (credited as Fred Avery)[29]
- Ted Bonnicksen (1963)
- Bernard B. Brown (1934)
- Gerry Chiniquy (1964)
- Bob Clampett (1937–1946) (credited as Robert Clampett)[30]
- Cal Dalton (1938–1940)
- Arthur Davis (1946–1949, 1962)
- Earl Duvall (1933–1934)
- Friz Freleng (1934–1938, 1940–1965) (credited (until late 1936) as Isadore Freleng and (until late 1955) as I. Freleng)
- Ben Hardaway (1934–1935, 1938–1940)
- Ken Harris (1959)
- Rudy Larriva (1965-1967)
- Cal Howard (1938)
- Ub Iwerks (1937)
- Chuck Jones (1938–1964) (credited (until late 1940) as Charles Jones and (until late 1955) as Charles M. Jones)[31]
- Jack King (1934–1936)
- Abe Levitow (1959–1962)
- Alex Lovy (1967–1968)
- Norman McCabe (1940–1943)
- Robert McKimson (1946–1969)
- Phil Monroe (1963–1964)
- Maurice Noble (1961–1964)
- Tom Palmer (1933)
- Hawley Pratt (1961–1964)
- Frank Tashlin (1936–1938, 1943–1946)[32]
- Richard Thompson (1963)
- Bill Tytla (1964)
- Irv Spector (1965)
Storyboard artists/writers
- Howard Baldwin
- Nick Bennion
- Arthur Davis
- David Detiege
- John Dunn
- Warren Foster
- Friz Freleng
- Ben Hardaway
- George Hill
- Cal Howard
- Rich Hogan
- Chuck Jones
- Bob Clampett
- Lew Landsman
- Lou Lilly
- Sid Marcus
- Michael Maltese
- George Manuell
- Robert McKimson
- Melvin "Tubby" Millar
- Jack Miller
- Dave Monahan
- Fred Neiman
- Tedd Pierce
- Michael Sasanoff
- Bill Scott
- Dr. Seuss
- Lloyd Turner
Layout/Background artists/designers
- Pete Alvarado
- Philip DeGuard
- Gene Fleury
- Nic Gibson
- Robert Givens
- Robert Gribbroek
- Gene Hazelton
- Dorcy Howard
- Alex Ignatiev
- John Didrik Johnsen
- Willie Ito
- Paul Julian
- Earl Klein
- Carlos Manriquez
- John McGrew
- Tom McKimson
- Maurice Noble
- Ernie Nordli
- Tom O'Loughlin
- Hawley Pratt
- David Rose
- Micheal Sasanoff
- Don Smith
- William Butler
- Richard H. Thomas
- Cornett Wood
- Irv Wyner
Animators
- Fred Abranz
- Art Babbitt
- Warren Batchelder
- Robert Bentley
- Richard Bickenbach
- Norm Blackburn
- Ted Bonnicksen
- Jack Bradbury
- Bob Bransford
- Pete Burness
- George Cannata
- Robert "Bobe" Cannon
- John Carey
- Jack Carr
- Ken Champin
- Gerry Chiniquy
- Robert Clampett
- Ben Clopton
- Herman Cohen
- Shamus Culhane
- Cal Dalton
- Keith Darling
- Basil Davidovich
- Arthur Davis
- Jim Davis
- Phil DeLara
- Jaime Diaz
- Joe D'Igalo
- Russ Dyson
- Robert Edmunds
- Izzy Ellis
- Paul Fennell[33]
- John Freeman
- Ed Friedman
- Ace "A.C." Gamer (Effects Animator)[34]
- John Gibbs
- George Grandpre
- Manny Gould
- Lee Halpern
- Rollin Hamilton
- Laverne Harding
- Ken Harris
- Emery Hawkins
- Alex Ignatiev
- Chuck Jones
- Fred Jones
- Volus Jones
- Jack King
- Anatole Kirsanoff
- Rudy Larriva
- Art Leonardi
- Abe Levitow
- Harry Love (Effects Animator)
- Bob Matz
- Max Maxwell
- Norman McCabe
- Tom McDonald
- John McGrew
- Charles McKimson
- Robert McKimson
- Thomas McKimson
- Bill Melendez
- Phil Monroe
- Al Pabian
- Jim Pabian
- Ray Patin
- Manuel Perez
- Tom Ray
- Bob Richardson
- Vive Risto
- Phil Roman
- Virgil Ross
- Rod Scribner
- Larry Silverman
- Hank Smith
- Paul Smith
- Ed Solomon
- Irven Spence
- Robert Stokes
- Cecil Surry
- Sid Sutherland
- Bob Taylor
- Richard Thompson
- Riley Thomson
- Frank Tipper
- Gil Turner
- Lloyd Vaughan
- Sandy Walker
- Elmer Wait
- Ben Washam
- Volney White
- Bob Wickersham
- Don Williams
Voices
- Mel Blanc
- Tex Avery
- Dave Barry
- Dick Beals
- Bea Benaderet
- Julie Bennett
- Sara Berner
- Billy Bletcher
- Lucille Bliss
- Billy Booth
- Robert C. Bruce
- Arthur Q. Bryan
- Daws Butler
- Pinto Colvig
- Joe Dougherty
- June Foray
- Stan Freberg
- Joan Gerber
- Frank Graham
- Bernice Hansen
- Margaret Hill-Talbot
- Trust Howard
- Paul Julian
- Abe Lyman
- Tedd Pierce
- Alan Reed
- Marian Richman
- Kent Rogers
- Hal Smith
- John T. Smith
- Larry Storch
- Bill Thompson
- Danny Webb
- Nancy Wible
Music
Musical Directors
- Bernard B. Brown (1933–1936)
- Norman Spencer (1933–1936)
- Carl W. Stalling (1936–1958) (credited (until late 1946) as Carl W. Stalling)[35]
- Eugene Poddany (1951)
- Milt Franklyn (1954–1962)
- John Seely (1958)[36]
- William Lava (1962–1969) (credited (until 1967) as Bill Lava)
- Walter Greene (1966–1967)
- Frank Perkins (1967)
Orchestrations
- Milt Franklyn (1936–1962)
Film (Sound effects) editors
- Treg Brown
- Irvin Jay
- Lee Gunther
- Hal Geer
Filmography
See also
- Harman and Ising
- The Golden Age of American animation
- Looney Tunes
- Merrie Melodies
- Warner Bros. Animation
- List of animation studios owned by Warner Bros. Discovery
Notes
- ^ Barrier (1999); p. 324
- ^ Warner Club News (1963)
- ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 323.
- ^ "Irreverent Imagination: The Golden Age of Looney Tunes - video dailymotion". Dailymotion.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 324–8.
- ^ a b Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 329–33.
- ^ "Looney Tunes 1942-43: Hello, Technicolor! |".
- ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
- ^ "Warner Bros. Studio biography". AnimationUSA.com. Retrieved June 17, 2007.
- ^ Coons, Robbin (February 15, 1944). "Private Snafu Army Favorite". Prescott Evening Courier. Retrieved July 5, 2011.
- ISBN 9781854102904.
- ^ Barrier (1999); pg. 467
- ^ "Animator Profiles: ARTHUR DAVIS |".
- ^ "Friz Freleng". lambiek.net. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ "Bob McKimson". lambiek.net. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ "Animator Profiles: ARTHUR DAVIS |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved January 16, 2024.
- ^ Sperling, Millner, and Warner (1998), p. 187–8.
- ^ "Billboard". February 19, 1955.
{{cite journal}}
: Cite journal requires|journal=
(help) - ^ "The Life and Death of Looney Tunes Producers: Schlesinger and Selzer |". cartoonresearch.com.
- ^ a b The Warner Bros. cartoon in the Associated Artists Productions package with the latest release date was Haredevil Hare, released on July 24, 1948.
- ^ a b Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 562–3.
- ^ Maltin (1980); p. 271
- ^ "Kevin Lima to direct the Incredible Mr. Limpet | Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation". Archived from the original on February 2, 2010. Retrieved June 14, 2009.
- ^ Mackey, Dave "The Porky Pig Show Archived February 4, 2015, at the Wayback Machine".
- ISBN 9780900610271. Retrieved January 2, 2020.
- ^ Barrier (1999) pg. 324
- DePatie-Freleng Enterprises with Friz Freleng.
- ^ Barrier (1999) pg. 328-329;435
- ^ "In His Own Words: Bob Clampett at Warners |".
- ^ Barrier (1999) pg. 352
- ^ Barrier (1999) pp. 334-335;435
- ^ "A Chat with Paul Fennell |".
- ^ "A.C. Gamer: Captain (Or Lieutenant) of the Clouds |".
- ^ Barrier (1999) pg.338
- ^ During a musicians strike in 1958, John Seely was brought in to supply stock music from Capitol Records for 5 cartoons.
References
- Maltin, Leonard (1987) [1980]. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. New York: Plume. ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
- Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
- Jones, Chuck (1989). Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12348-9.
- Beck, Jerry (1989). Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Bros. Cartoons. New York: Holt Paperbacks. ISBN 0-8050-0894-2.