I can't believe I missed it. I'm one whole day late in celebrating the birthday of the man who inspired me to persue animation in the first place, the great Chuck Jones. He would have been 94 yesterday had he survived that bit with pneumonia a few years ago.
Yes, I do indeed wish that all the denizens of the original Termite Terrace had been cast under a magic spell of some kind that would prevent them from dying so that they could contribute their artistic expertise unto many many generations. Chuck Jones himself could incorporate more artistry in one facial expression of Wile E. Coyote than most animators put into their entire filmography (or, more accurately, Wile E. contains more artistry than most animators are allowed to put into their filmographies. Executives don't like expressiveness for some reason).
Anyway, Mr. Jones, thank you for being great and providing the animation industry with a legacy that inspires us all to do better.
Ooh, I forgot about Chuck's birthday being in September, but considering that he's dead, I just celebrate the day he died (which is in February as of 2002).
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that Chuck Jones is the name that's synonomous with Warner Brothers cartoons from the 1930's to around the early 1960's...and in some ways, it's true. But now that I know there were other directors besides Jones (Tex Avery, Frank Tashlin, Bob Clampett, etc), I think it's time some of these hardcore fans just embrace all of the directors as best as they can and stop the feuding over who's better (I'm talking to you, John K.)
I certainly agree, Lauri. That's why I also have birthday tributes to Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Tex Avery. Robert McKImson's birthday is coming up October 11. I have something planned for that day as well. Although I already have a post dedicated to him right here.
ReplyDelete[QUOTE]Robert McKImson's birthday is coming up October 11.[/QUOTE]
ReplyDeleteNow, is that the day he was born or the day he died. Wasn't he the first to die or am I thinking of someone else?
And yes, I do think it sucks that the upcoming Looney Tunes DVD collection (volume 4) still doesn't have a Foghorn Leghorn-themed disc, but I have tapes of some Foghorn Leghorn cartoons I remember from when I was a kid, so it's not like I'm totally deprived of them. However, at least the disc is giving props to Frank Tashlin and airing ten cartoons that I thought would never be on the same disc, let alone one from the first five sets. The ten cartoons are:
Kiss Me Cat
8 Ball Bunny
Forward March Hare
Plane Daffy
Mexican Boarders
Pied Piper of Guadalupe
Tobasco Road
Rabbit Hood
Hurdy Gurdy Hare
Operation: Rabbit
...which means that yes, forgotten GAC member Lauri Doublevie is, in fact, yours truly posting this blog (but I'm not going to tell whether or not I was Miss Marnie. If you already knew, then good. If not, then my lips are sealed, I ain't talkin', I'm taking that one to my grave).
Oh, and FYI: because of low feedback on my For Human Consumption blog (thanks for commenting about the cheerleader one. That was real sweet), I shut off the ability for others to comment on my blog. If you want to e-mail me with comments or questions, use my e-mail address, marnieyeager@hotmail.com (has nothing to do with Miss Marnie, so don't ask).
You should visit my blog sometime in the future (around mid-October or so), I'm going to be doing commentary that's classic cartoon related. Even though you can't respond directly on the site, you should read it and e-mail me what you think.
--C.L.
Actually, , I'm mistaken. McKimson was born and died on September 27. Which means I completely missed it. Oh well, I'll save this big McKimson project of mine for some other day.
ReplyDeleteOh, and by the way, the first of the big LT directors to die was Frank Tashlin I do believe.
[QUOTE]Oh, and by the way, the first of the big LT directors to die was Frank Tashlin I do believe. [/QUOTE]
ReplyDeleteI knew it was Tashlin first, but something told me McKimson kicked off. Unless one of us looks it up, we'll never be too sure.
All I know is that Tex Avery died in 1980, then Clampett in 1984, then Freleng in 1995, then Jones in 2002, then Norm MacCabe in 2005, I think. I know Norm MacCabe wasn't that popular, but he is now known for creating "Tokio Jokio", the cartoon that was not only blatantly racist, but also the cartoon that 90% of classic cartoon fans wish was never made, even if it was made during a time when that kind of racist humor was okay to do. I know it was made during that time, and while it did have some corny humor, it wasn't that bad (and I am used to seeing corny humor; I'm a Saturday Night Live fan after all and I like late night talk shows like Letterman, Leno, and Conan O'Brian).