Chuck Jones
Encyclopedia
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator
, cartoon artist, screenwriter
, producer
, and director
of animated
films, most memorably of Looney Tunes
and Merrie Melodies
shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons
studio. He directed many of the classic short animated cartoon
s starring Bugs Bunny
, Daffy Duck
, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
, Sylvester
, Pepé Le Pew
and a slew of other Warner characters. Three of these shorts (Duck Amuck
, One Froggy Evening
and What's Opera, Doc?
) were later inducted into the National Film Registry
. Chief among Jones' other works was the famous "Hunting Trilogy" of Rabbit Fire
, Rabbit Seasoning
, and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1951–1953).
After his extraordinary career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started Sib Tower 12 Productions
and began producing memorable cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
, including a new series of Tom and Jerry shorts
and the television adaptation of Dr. Seuss
' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Productions, which created several one-shot specials, and periodically worked on Looney Tunes related works.
on September 21, 1912. He later moved with his parents and three siblings to the Los Angeles, California
area.
In his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. His father, Jones recounts, would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. Armed with an endless supply of high-quality paper and pencils, the children drew constantly. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers.
After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute
, Jones held a number of low-ranking jobs in the animation industry, including washing cels at the Ub Iwerks
studio and assistant animator at the Walter Lantz
studio. While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who would later become his first wife.
and Merrie Melodies
for Warner Bros.
, in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935, he was promoted to animator, and assigned to work with new Schlesinger director Tex Avery
. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators Bob Clampett
, Virgil Ross, and Sid Sutherland were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit was briefly assigned to work with Jones' old employer, Ub Iwerks
, when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when Frank Tashlin
left the studio. Jones' first cartoon was The Night Watchman
, which featured a cute kitten who would later evolve into Sniffles
the mouse.
Many of Jones' cartoons of the 1930s and early 1940s were lavishly animated, but audiences and fellow Schlesinger staff members found them lacking in genuine humor. Often slow-moving and overbearing with "cuteness", Jones' early cartoons were an attempt to follow in the footsteps of Walt Disney
's shorts (especially with such cartoons as Tom Thumb in Trouble and the Sniffles cartoons). Jones finally left traditional animation conventions with the cartoon The Dover Boys
in 1942. Jones credits this cartoon as the film where he "learned how to be funny." The Dover Boys is also one of the first uses of stylized animation
in American film, breaking away from the more realistic animation styles influenced by the Disney Studio
. This was also the period where Jones created many of his lesser-known characters, including Charlie Dog, Hubie and Bertie
, and The Three Bears. Jones' shorts from this period starring these characters represent some of his earliest classics that was strictly intended to be funny.
During the World War II
years, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss
, to create the Private Snafu
series of Army educational cartoons. Private Snafu comically educated soldiers on topics like spies
and laziness in a more risque way than general audiences would have been used to at the time. Jones would later collaborate with Seuss on a number of adaptations of Seuss' books to animated form, most importantly How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
in 1966.
Also, during World War II, Jones directed such shorts as The Weakly Reporter
, a 1944 short that related to shortages and rationing on the home front. During the same year, he directed Hell-Bent for Election
, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt
.
Not widely known, he also directed Angel Puss
in this period which contains portrayals of African-Americans
that are now considered offensive; it is no longer available in any type of authorized release and is among the group of controversial cartoons known to animation buffs as the Censored Eleven
.
Jones hit his stride in the late 1940s, and continued to make his best-regarded works through the 1950s. Jones-created characters from this period includes Claude Cat, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot
, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog
, and his three most popular creations, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. The Road Runner cartoons, in addition to the cartoons that are considered his masterpieces (all written and conceived by Michael Maltese
), Duck Amuck
, One Froggy Evening
, and What's Opera, Doc?
are today hailed by critics as some of the best cartoons ever made.
The staff of the Jones' Unit A were as important to the success of these cartoons as Jones himself. Key members included writer Maltese, layout artist/background designer/co-director Maurice Noble
, animator and co-director Abe Levitow
, and animators Ken Harris
and Ben Washam
.
In 1950, Jones and Maltese began working on Rabbit Fire, a short that changed Daffy Duck's personality forever. They decided to make him a totally different character; instead of the wacky, comic relief
character he had been, they turned Daffy into a vain, egomaniacal prima donna wanting to steal the spotlight from Bugs Bunny. Of his versions of Bugs and Daffy, Chuck Jones has said, "Bugs is who we want to be. Daffy is who we are."
Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Pictures
, where he teamed with Ward Kimball
for a four month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty
(1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired and reunited with most of his unit.
In the early-1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay
for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee
. The finished film would feature the voices of Judy Garland
, Robert Goulet
and Red Buttons as cat
s in Paris, France. The feature was produced by UPA
, and directed by his former Warner collaborator, Abe Levitow. Jones moonlighted to work on the film, since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him. Jones' former animation unit was laid off after completing the final cartoon in their pipeline, The Iceman Ducketh
, and the rest of the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio was closed in early 1963. (Jones frequently claimed, including in the aforementioned autobiography, that this happened because Warner finally learned they weren't making Mickey Mouse
cartoons).
cartoons as well as a Television adaptation of all Tom and Jerry theatricals produced to that date. This included major editing, including writing out the African-American maid, Mammy Two-Shoes, and replacing her with one of Irish descent. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed MGM Animation/Visual Arts
. Jones' animated short film The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
won the 1965 Oscar for Best Animated Short. Jones also directed the classic animated short The Bear That Wasn't
. Many consider Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoons inferior to the original Hanna & Barbera series.
As the Tom and Jerry series wound down (it would be discontinued in 1967), Jones produced more for television. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas
!, featuring the voice and facial features of Boris Karloff
. Jones continued to work on other TV specials such as Horton Hears a Who!
(1970), but his main focus during this time was producing the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth
, which did lukewarm business when MGM
released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's The Pogo Special Birthday Special, based on the Walt Kelly
comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab. It was at this point that he decided to start 'ST Incorporated'.
MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Productions. He produced a Saturday morning children's TV series for the American Broadcasting Company
called The Curiosity Shop
in 1971. In 1973, he produced an animated version of the George Selden book The Cricket in Times Square, and would go on to produce two sequels. His most notable work during this period was three animated TV adaptations of short stories from Rudyard Kipling
's The Jungle Book
: Mowgli
's Brothers, The White Seal and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
, and a famous commercial for Kia-Ora
which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LvLn9PWln8. Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of The Carnival of the Animals
with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced the 1979 film The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
which was a compilation of Jones' best theatrical shorts; Jones produced new Road Runner shorts for The Electric Company
series and Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979), and even newer shorts were made for Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980).
From 1977-1978, Jones wrote and drew the syndicated comic strip Crawford (also known as Crawford & Morgan) for the Chicago Tribune-NY News Syndicate. IDW will collect Jones' classic comic strip in 2011 as part of their Library of American Comic Strips.
In 1978, Jones' wife Dorothy died; three years later, he married Marian Dern, the writer of the comic strip Rick O'Shay
.
aired The Chuck Jones Show which features shorts directed by him. The show won the Annie Award
for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project.
animated specials and the first Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas special "A Chipmunk Christmas
". He was also creating new cartoons for the Internet
based on his new character, Thomas Timberwolf. He made a cameo appearance in the 1984 film Gremlins
and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend Gremlins 2: The New Batch
(1990). Jones also directed animated sequences various features such as a lengthy sequence in the 1992 film Stay Tuned and a shorter one seen at the start of the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire
. Jones was not a fan of much contemporary animation, terming most of it, especially television
cartoons such as those of Hanna-Barbera
, "illustrated radio".
In 1988, Jones contributed to the creation of London's Museum of the Moving Image by spending several days working high on scaffolding creating a chase sequence directly onto the high walls of the museum.
Jones was a historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. He received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University
in 1993.
In his later years, Jones became the most vocal alumnus of the Termite Terrace studio, frequently giving lectures, seminars, and working to educate newcomers in the animation field. Many of his principles, therefore, found their way back into the mainstream animation consciousness, and can be seen in films such as The Emperor's New Groove
and Lilo & Stitch
.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
at 7011 Hollywood Blvd.
Jones, whose work had been nominated eight times over his career for an Oscar (winning thrice: For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little
, and The Dot and the Line), received an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
, for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century." At that year's awards show, Robin Williams
, a self-confessed "Jones-aholic," presented the Honorary award to Jones, calling him "The Orson Welles
of cartoons."
Jones' final Looney Tunes cartoon was From Hare to Eternity
in 1996, which starred Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam
, with Greg Burson
voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to Friz Freleng
, who had passed on in 1995. Jones did produce a few more Looney Tunes-based and non-related cartoons, a noticeable one being Chariots of Fur
, his final Road Runner cartoon, in 1994.
Jones, the second to last surviving animation director from the "Termite Terrace" days of the WB cartoons, died of heart failure in 2002. He was cremated
and his ashes were scattered at sea. Cartoon Network
aired a 20-second segment with black dots tracing Jones' portrait
with the words "We'll miss you - Cartoon Network" fading in on the right-hand side, which aired during a four-hour installment of The Looney Tunes Show that featured nothing but Chuck Jones' most memorable cartoon shorts. Unlike the tribute the network aired after William Hanna's
passing, Jones' tribute didn't show his birth or death years.
After his death, the Looney Tunes cartoon Daffy Duck for President
, based on the book
that Jones had written and using Jones' style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000, was released in 2004 as part of disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2
DVD set.
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
, cartoon artist, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
, producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
, and director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
of animated
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
films, most memorably of Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
and Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
shorts for the Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical...
studio. He directed many of the classic short animated cartoon
Animated cartoon
An animated cartoon is a short, hand-drawn film for the cinema, television or computer screen, featuring some kind of story or plot...
s starring Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny
Bugs Bunny is a animated character created in 1938 at Leon Schlesinger Productions, later Warner Bros. Cartoons. Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray rabbit and is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality and his portrayal as a trickster. He has primarily appeared in animated cartoons, most...
, Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck
Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, often running the gamut between being the best friend and sometimes arch-rival of Bugs Bunny...
, the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote
Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner
Wile E. Coyote and The Road Runner are a duo of cartoon characters from a series of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros., while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese...
, Sylvester
Sylvester (Looney Tunes)
Sylvester J. Pussycat, Sr., Sylvester the Cat or simply Sylvester, is a fictional character, a three-time Academy Award-winning anthropomorphic Tuxedo cat in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies repertory, often chasing Tweety Bird, Speedy Gonzales, or Hippety Hopper...
, Pepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew
Pepé Le Pew is a fictional character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, first introduced in 1945. A French skunk that always strolls around in Paris in the springtime, when everyone's thoughts are of "love", Pepé is constantly seeking "l'amour" of his own...
and a slew of other Warner characters. Three of these shorts (Duck Amuck
Duck Amuck
Duck Amuck is a surreal animated cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The short was released in early 1953 by The Vitaphone Corporation, the short subject division of Warner Bros. Pictures, as part of the Merrie Melodies series...
, One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn.The short makes the debut of Michigan J...
and What's Opera, Doc?
What's Opera, Doc?
What's Opera, Doc? is a 1957 American animated cartoon short in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. Cartoons. The Michael Maltese story features Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny through a parody of 19th century classical composer Richard Wagner's operas, particularly...
) were later inducted into the National Film Registry
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry is the United States National Film Preservation Board's selection of films for preservation in the Library of Congress. The Board, established by the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, was reauthorized by acts of Congress in 1992, 1996, 2005, and again in October 2008...
. Chief among Jones' other works was the famous "Hunting Trilogy" of Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Fire
Rabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, The short is notable for being the first film in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!. It is also...
, Rabbit Seasoning
Rabbit Seasoning
Rabbit Seasoning is a 1952 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunting trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese...
, and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1951–1953).
After his extraordinary career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started Sib Tower 12 Productions
MGM Animation/Visual Arts
MGM Animation/Visual Arts was an animation studio established in 1962 by animation director/producer Chuck Jones and producer Les Goldman as Sib Tower 12 Productions...
and began producing memorable cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
, including a new series of Tom and Jerry shorts
Tom and Jerry, The Chuck Jones Collection
Tom and Jerry: The Chuck Jones Collection is a two-disc DVD collection of animated short cartoons starring Tom and Jerry, directed by Chuck Jones, released in 2009. These are the same 34 cartoons that appear on European DVD collection in PAL format, Tom and Jerry - The Classic Collection, Vol...
and the television adaptation of Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!. He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Productions, which created several one-shot specials, and periodically worked on Looney Tunes related works.
Early life
Jones was born in Spokane, WashingtonSpokane, Washington
Spokane is a city located in the Northwestern United States in the state of Washington. It is the largest city of Spokane County of which it is also the county seat, and the metropolitan center of the Inland Northwest region...
on September 21, 1912. He later moved with his parents and three siblings to the Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
area.
In his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. His father, Jones recounts, would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. Armed with an endless supply of high-quality paper and pencils, the children drew constantly. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers.
After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute
Chouinard Art Institute
The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 in Los Angeles, California, by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard .-Founder:...
, Jones held a number of low-ranking jobs in the animation industry, including washing cels at the Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks, A.S.C. was a two-time Academy Award winning American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, creator of Mickey Mouse, and special effects technician, who was famous for his work for Walt Disney....
studio and assistant animator at the Walter Lantz
Walter Lantz
Walter Benjamin Lantz was an American cartoonist, animator, film producer, and director, best known for founding Walter Lantz Productions and creating Woody Woodpecker.-Early years and start in animation:...
studio. While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who would later become his first wife.
Warner Bros.
Chuck Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, the independent studio that produced Looney TunesLooney Tunes
Looney Tunes is a Warner Bros. animated cartoon series. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and was Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. Since its first official release, 1930's Sinkin' in the Bathtub, the series has become a worldwide media franchise, spawning several television...
and Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies
Merrie Melodies is the name of a series of animated cartoons distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures between 1931 and 1969.Originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures, Merrie Melodies were produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions from 1933 to 1944. Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944,...
for Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
, in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935, he was promoted to animator, and assigned to work with new Schlesinger director Tex Avery
Tex Avery
Frederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators Bob Clampett
Bob Clampett
Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil...
, Virgil Ross, and Sid Sutherland were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit was briefly assigned to work with Jones' old employer, Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks
Ub Iwerks, A.S.C. was a two-time Academy Award winning American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, creator of Mickey Mouse, and special effects technician, who was famous for his work for Walt Disney....
, when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin
Frank Tashlin, born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, also known as Tish Tash or Frank Tash was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director.-Animator:...
left the studio. Jones' first cartoon was The Night Watchman
The Night Watchman
The Night Watchman is a Merrie Melodies cartoon released to theaters on November 19, 1938. This short was the very first film directed by a then-credited Charles Jones after he was promoted from an animator .For the so called "dubbed version" created by Turner, recreated Blue Ribbon title cards...
, which featured a cute kitten who would later evolve into Sniffles
Sniffles
Sniffles is an animated cartoon and comic-book character in the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and comics.-Character biography:...
the mouse.
Many of Jones' cartoons of the 1930s and early 1940s were lavishly animated, but audiences and fellow Schlesinger staff members found them lacking in genuine humor. Often slow-moving and overbearing with "cuteness", Jones' early cartoons were an attempt to follow in the footsteps of Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
's shorts (especially with such cartoons as Tom Thumb in Trouble and the Sniffles cartoons). Jones finally left traditional animation conventions with the cartoon The Dover Boys
The Dover Boys
"The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 19, 1942...
in 1942. Jones credits this cartoon as the film where he "learned how to be funny." The Dover Boys is also one of the first uses of stylized animation
Limited animation
Limited animation is a process of making animated cartoons that does not redraw entire frames but variably reuses common parts between frames. One of its major trademarks is the stylized design in all forms and shapes, which in the early days was referred to as modern design...
in American film, breaking away from the more realistic animation styles influenced by the Disney Studio
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
. This was also the period where Jones created many of his lesser-known characters, including Charlie Dog, Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie
Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon mouse characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. Though largely forgotten today, Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones' earliest work that was intended to be funny rather than cute.-First film:Jones...
, and The Three Bears. Jones' shorts from this period starring these characters represent some of his earliest classics that was strictly intended to be funny.
During the World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
years, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss
Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, poet, and cartoonist most widely known for his children's books written under the pen names Dr. Seuss, Theo LeSieg and, in one case, Rosetta Stone....
, to create the Private Snafu
Private Snafu
Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional cartoon shorts produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The character was created by director Frank Capra, chairman of the U.S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit, and most were written by...
series of Army educational cartoons. Private Snafu comically educated soldiers on topics like spies
Espionage
Espionage or spying involves an individual obtaining information that is considered secret or confidential without the permission of the holder of the information. Espionage is inherently clandestine, lest the legitimate holder of the information change plans or take other countermeasures once it...
and laziness in a more risque way than general audiences would have been used to at the time. Jones would later collaborate with Seuss on a number of adaptations of Seuss' books to animated form, most importantly How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a children's story by Dr. Seuss written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It was published as a book by Random House in 1957, and at approximately the same time in an issue of Redbook...
in 1966.
Also, during World War II, Jones directed such shorts as The Weakly Reporter
The Weakly Reporter
The Weakly Reporter is a Warner Bros. cartoon released on March 25, 1944. Directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and with music directed by Carl Stalling, this cartoon is a spoof of sacrifices made by those on the homefront during World War II....
, a 1944 short that related to shortages and rationing on the home front. During the same year, he directed Hell-Bent for Election
Hell-Bent for Election
Hell-Bent For Election was a 1944 two-reel animated cartoon short subject. The short was one of the first major films from United Productions of America , which would go on to become the most influential animation studio of the 1950s...
, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Franklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
.
Not widely known, he also directed Angel Puss
Angel Puss
Angel Puss is a 1944 short animated cartoon written by Lou Lilly, animated by Ken Harris, and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released on June 3, 1944, by Warner Brothers as part of its Looney Tunes series.-Synopsis:...
in this period which contains portrayals of African-Americans
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
that are now considered offensive; it is no longer available in any type of authorized release and is among the group of controversial cartoons known to animation buffs as the Censored Eleven
Censored Eleven
The Censored Eleven is a group of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons that were withheld from syndication by United Artists in 1968...
.
Marc Antony and Pussyfoot
Marc Antony and Pussyfoot are animated characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons...
, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog
Michigan J. Frog
Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character who debuted in the Looney Tunes cartoon One Froggy Evening , written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones...
, and his three most popular creations, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. The Road Runner cartoons, in addition to the cartoons that are considered his masterpieces (all written and conceived by Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
), Duck Amuck
Duck Amuck
Duck Amuck is a surreal animated cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The short was released in early 1953 by The Vitaphone Corporation, the short subject division of Warner Bros. Pictures, as part of the Merrie Melodies series...
, One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening
One Froggy Evening is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn.The short makes the debut of Michigan J...
, and What's Opera, Doc?
What's Opera, Doc?
What's Opera, Doc? is a 1957 American animated cartoon short in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. Cartoons. The Michael Maltese story features Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny through a parody of 19th century classical composer Richard Wagner's operas, particularly...
are today hailed by critics as some of the best cartoons ever made.
The staff of the Jones' Unit A were as important to the success of these cartoons as Jones himself. Key members included writer Maltese, layout artist/background designer/co-director Maurice Noble
Maurice Noble
Maurice Noble was an American animation background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate of animation director Chuck Jones, most notably at Warner Bros. in the 1950s...
, animator and co-director Abe Levitow
Abe Levitow
Abraham "Abe" Levitow was an American animator who worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons, UPA and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ....
, and animators Ken Harris
Ken Harris
Ken Harris was an American animator who worked for several film studios. He is widely considered as one of the master animators of his time....
and Ben Washam
Ben Washam
Benjamin Alfred Washam was an American animator who is best known for working under director Chuck Jones for nearly 30 years. Washam worked at Warner Bros. Cartoons from 1941 until 1962, mainly under the direction of Chuck Jones. He also worked on made-for-television cartoons in the early 1960s...
.
In 1950, Jones and Maltese began working on Rabbit Fire, a short that changed Daffy Duck's personality forever. They decided to make him a totally different character; instead of the wacky, comic relief
Comic relief
Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension.-Definition:...
character he had been, they turned Daffy into a vain, egomaniacal prima donna wanting to steal the spotlight from Bugs Bunny. Of his versions of Bugs and Daffy, Chuck Jones has said, "Bugs is who we want to be. Daffy is who we are."
Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
, where he teamed with Ward Kimball
Ward Kimball
Ward Walrath Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men.-Career:...
for a four month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty
Sleeping Beauty (1959 film)
Sleeping Beauty is a 1959 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and based on the fairy tale "La Belle au bois dormant" by Charles Perrault...
(1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired and reunited with most of his unit.
In the early-1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee
Gay Purr-ee
Gay Purr-ee is an animated film musical produced by United Productions of America and released by Warner Bros. in 1962. It features the voice talent of Judy Garland in her only animated-film role.- Plot:...
. The finished film would feature the voices of Judy Garland
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Robert Goulet
Robert Goulet
Robert Gerard Goulet was a Canadian American entertainer as a singer and actor. He played the role of Lancelot in the Broadway musical Camelot of 1960.-Early life:...
and Red Buttons as cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
s in Paris, France. The feature was produced by UPA
United Productions of America
United Productions of America, better known as UPA, was an American animation studio of the 1940s through present day, beginning with industrial films and World War II training films. In the late 1940s, UPA produced theatrical shorts for Columbia Pictures, most notably the Mr. Magoo series. In...
, and directed by his former Warner collaborator, Abe Levitow. Jones moonlighted to work on the film, since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him. Jones' former animation unit was laid off after completing the final cartoon in their pipeline, The Iceman Ducketh
The Iceman Ducketh
The Iceman Ducketh is a 1964 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. This cartoon short is directed by Phil Monroe and co-directed by Maurice Noble, with a story by John Dunn. This was the last Warner Bros...
, and the rest of the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio was closed in early 1963. (Jones frequently claimed, including in the aforementioned autobiography, that this happened because Warner finally learned they weren't making Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse is a cartoon character created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks at The Walt Disney Studio. Mickey is an anthropomorphic black mouse and typically wears red shorts, large yellow shoes, and white gloves...
cartoons).
Jones on his own
With business partner Les Goldman, Jones started an independent animation studio Sib Tower 12 Productions, bringing on most of his unit from Warner Bros., including Maurice Noble and Michael Maltese. In 1963, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted with Sib Tower 12 to have Jones and his staff produce new Tom and JerryTom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
cartoons as well as a Television adaptation of all Tom and Jerry theatricals produced to that date. This included major editing, including writing out the African-American maid, Mammy Two-Shoes, and replacing her with one of Irish descent. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed MGM Animation/Visual Arts
MGM Animation/Visual Arts
MGM Animation/Visual Arts was an animation studio established in 1962 by animation director/producer Chuck Jones and producer Les Goldman as Sib Tower 12 Productions...
. Jones' animated short film The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics
The Dot and the Line
The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics is a book written and illustrated by Norton Juster, first published by Random House in 1963. The story was inspired by Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions...
won the 1965 Oscar for Best Animated Short. Jones also directed the classic animated short The Bear That Wasn't
The Bear that Wasn't
The Bear That Wasn't is a 1946 children's book by film director and Looney Tunes alumnus Frank Tashlin. In 1967, Tashlin's former Termite Terrace colleague Chuck Jones directed an animated short film based upon the book for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
. Many consider Jones' Tom and Jerry cartoons inferior to the original Hanna & Barbera series.
As the Tom and Jerry series wound down (it would be discontinued in 1967), Jones produced more for television. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the homonymous children's book by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway...
!, featuring the voice and facial features of Boris Karloff
Boris Karloff
William Henry Pratt , better known by his stage name Boris Karloff, was an English actor.Karloff is best remembered for his roles in horror films and his portrayal of Frankenstein's monster in Frankenstein , Bride of Frankenstein , and Son of Frankenstein...
. Jones continued to work on other TV specials such as Horton Hears a Who!
Horton Hears a Who! (TV special)
Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 television half-hour long special based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who!. It was produced and directed by Chuck Jones - who previously produced the Seuss special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - for MGM Television...
(1970), but his main focus during this time was producing the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth
The Phantom Tollbooth (film)
The Phantom Tollbooth is a 1970 American live-action/animated film based on Norton Juster's 1961 children's book The Phantom Tollbooth. This film was produced by Chuck Jones at MGM Animation/Visual Arts. Jones also directed the film, save for the live action bookends directed by fellow Warner Bros....
, which did lukewarm business when MGM
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's The Pogo Special Birthday Special, based on the Walt Kelly
Walt Kelly
Walter Crawford Kelly, Jr. , or Walt Kelly, was an American animator and cartoonist, best known for the comic strip, Pogo. He began his animation career in 1936 at Walt Disney Studios, contributing to Pinocchio and Fantasia. Kelly resigned in 1941 at the age of 28 to work at Post-Hall Syndicate,...
comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab. It was at this point that he decided to start 'ST Incorporated'.
MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Productions. He produced a Saturday morning children's TV series for the American Broadcasting Company
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
called The Curiosity Shop
Curiosity Shop
Curiosity Shop was an American children's educational television program produced by ABC-TV in 1971, capitalizing on the success of Sesame Street....
in 1971. In 1973, he produced an animated version of the George Selden book The Cricket in Times Square, and would go on to produce two sequels. His most notable work during this period was three animated TV adaptations of short stories from Rudyard Kipling
Rudyard Kipling
Joseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
's The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book is a collection of stories by British Nobel laureate Rudyard Kipling. The stories were first published in magazines in 1893–4. The original publications contain illustrations, some by Rudyard's father, John Lockwood Kipling. Kipling was born in India and spent the first six...
: Mowgli
Mowgli
Mowgli is a fictional character from India who originally appeared in Rudyard Kipling's short story "In the Rukh" and then went on to become the most prominent and memorable character in his fantasies, The Jungle Book and The Second Jungle Book , which also featured stories about other...
's Brothers, The White Seal and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi is a short story in The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling about the adventures of a valiant young mongoose.The story is notable for its frightening and serious tone. It has often been anthologised and has also been published more than once as a short book in its own right...
, and a famous commercial for Kia-Ora
Kia-Ora
Kia-Ora is a concentrated fruit soft drink brand, owned by Atlantic Industries and licensed for manufacturing in the UK by Coca-Cola Enterprises Ltd.-History:...
which can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LvLn9PWln8. Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of The Carnival of the Animals
Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals
Bugs and Daffy's Carnival of the Animals is a combination animation/live action television special, starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, and directed by Chuck Jones. Premiering on CBS on November 22, 1976, and consisting entirely of new animation, this prime time TV special represented Bugs Bunny...
with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced the 1979 film The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie
The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie is a 1979 Looney Tunes film with a compilation of classic Warner Bros. cartoon shorts and animated bridging sequences, hosted by Bugs Bunny...
which was a compilation of Jones' best theatrical shorts; Jones produced new Road Runner shorts for The Electric Company
The Electric Company
The Electric Company is an educational American children's television series that was produced by the Children's Television Workshop for PBS in the United States. PBS broadcast 780 episodes over the course of its six seasons from October 25, 1971 to April 15, 1977...
series and Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979), and even newer shorts were made for Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980).
From 1977-1978, Jones wrote and drew the syndicated comic strip Crawford (also known as Crawford & Morgan) for the Chicago Tribune-NY News Syndicate. IDW will collect Jones' classic comic strip in 2011 as part of their Library of American Comic Strips.
In 1978, Jones' wife Dorothy died; three years later, he married Marian Dern, the writer of the comic strip Rick O'Shay
Rick O'Shay
Rick O'Shay is a Western comic strip created by Stan Lynde in 1958. It was distributed worldwide through the Chicago Tribune Syndicate until publication ended in 1981.-Characters and story:...
.
The Chuck Jones Show
From 2001 - 2002 Cartoon NetworkCartoon Network
Cartoon Network is a name of television channels worldwide created by Turner Broadcasting which used to primarily show animated programming. The channel began broadcasting on October 1, 1992 in the United States....
aired The Chuck Jones Show which features shorts directed by him. The show won the Annie Award
Annie Award
The Annie Awards have been presented by the Los Angeles, California branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood since 1972...
for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project.
Later years
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Jones was painting cartoon and parody art, sold through animation galleries by his daughter's company, Linda Jones Enterprises. Jones was the creative consultant and character designer for two Raggedy AnnRaggedy Ann
Raggedy Ann is a fictional character created by American writer Johnny Gruelle in a series of books he wrote and illustrated for young children. Raggedy Ann is a rag doll with red yarn for hair and has a triangle nose...
animated specials and the first Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas special "A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas
A Chipmunk Christmas is an animated christmas television special based on characters from Alvin and the Chipmunks. It aired on the NBC television network in 1981, nine years after the death of Alvin and the Chipmunks creator Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. . This was the first time that Alvin, Simon and...
". He was also creating new cartoons for the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
based on his new character, Thomas Timberwolf. He made a cameo appearance in the 1984 film Gremlins
Gremlins
Gremlins is a 1984 American horror comedy film directed by Joe Dante, released by Warner Bros. The film is about a young man who receives a strange creature—called a Mogwai—as a pet, which then spawns other creatures who transform into small, destructive, evil monsters. It was followed by a sequel,...
and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch
Gremlins 2: The New Batch is a 1990 American horror comedy film, and the sequel to Gremlins . It was directed by Joe Dante and written by Charles S. Haas, with creature designs by Rick Baker...
(1990). Jones also directed animated sequences various features such as a lengthy sequence in the 1992 film Stay Tuned and a shorter one seen at the start of the 1993 film Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire
Mrs. Doubtfire is a 1993 American comedy film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field and based on the novel Madame Doubtfire by Anne Fine. It was directed by Chris Columbus and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup...
. Jones was not a fan of much contemporary animation, terming most of it, especially television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
cartoons such as those of Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera
Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. was an American animation studio that dominated North American television animation during the second half of the 20th century...
, "illustrated radio".
In 1988, Jones contributed to the creation of London's Museum of the Moving Image by spending several days working high on scaffolding creating a chase sequence directly onto the high walls of the museum.
Jones was a historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. He received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University
Oglethorpe University is a private liberal arts college in Brookhaven, Georgia, an inner suburb of Atlanta. It was chartered in 1835 and named after James Edward Oglethorpe, the state's founder.-History:...
in 1993.
In his later years, Jones became the most vocal alumnus of the Termite Terrace studio, frequently giving lectures, seminars, and working to educate newcomers in the animation field. Many of his principles, therefore, found their way back into the mainstream animation consciousness, and can be seen in films such as The Emperor's New Groove
The Emperor's New Groove
The Emperor's New Groove is a 2000 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures through Buena Vista Distribution on December 15, 2000. It is the 40th animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics...
and Lilo & Stitch
Lilo & Stitch
This article is about the movie. For the television series, see Lilo & Stitch: The Series.Lilo & Stitch is a 2002 American animated feature produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released on June 21, 2002...
.
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
Hollywood Walk of Fame
The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 7011 Hollywood Blvd.
Jones, whose work had been nominated eight times over his career for an Oscar (winning thrice: For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little
So Much for So Little
So Much for So Little is a 1949 short documentary film directed by Chuck Jones. It won an Academy Award in 1950 for Documentary Short Subject, tying with A Chance to Live. As a work of the United States Government, the film is in the public domain.-Plot:...
, and The Dot and the Line), received an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a professional honorary organization dedicated to the advancement of the arts and sciences of motion pictures...
, for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century." At that year's awards show, Robin Williams
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams is an American actor and comedian. Rising to fame with his role as the alien Mork in the TV series Mork and Mindy, and later stand-up comedy work, Williams has performed in many feature films since 1980. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance...
, a self-confessed "Jones-aholic," presented the Honorary award to Jones, calling him "The Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
of cartoons."
Jones' final Looney Tunes cartoon was From Hare to Eternity
From Hare To Eternity
From Hare to Eternity is a 1996 Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones. Since this cartoon was produced after the death of legendary Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs is supplied by Greg Burson and the voice of Yosemite Sam is...
in 1996, which starred Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam
Yosemite Sam is an American animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons produced by Warner Bros. Animation. The name is somewhat alliterative and is inspired by Yosemite National Park...
, with Greg Burson
Greg Burson
-Biography:Greg Burson was given the responsibility of voicing Bugs Bunny in the 1995 Carrotblanca, a well-received 8-minute Looney Tunes cartoon originally shown in cinemas alongside The Amazing Panda Adventure and The Pebble and the Penguin...
voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to Friz Freleng
Friz Freleng
Isadore "Friz" Freleng was an animator, cartoonist, director, and producer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros....
, who had passed on in 1995. Jones did produce a few more Looney Tunes-based and non-related cartoons, a noticeable one being Chariots of Fur
Chariots of Fur
Chariots of Fur is a seven-minute Looney Tunes short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who created the pair in 1948. As in other shorts of the Road Runner series, Wile E. tries to catch his potential prey through use of...
, his final Road Runner cartoon, in 1994.
Jones, the second to last surviving animation director from the "Termite Terrace" days of the WB cartoons, died of heart failure in 2002. He was cremated
Cremation
Cremation is the process of reducing bodies to basic chemical compounds such as gasses and bone fragments. This is accomplished through high-temperature burning, vaporization and oxidation....
and his ashes were scattered at sea. Cartoon Network
Cartoon Network (United States)
Cartoon Network is an American cable television network owned by Turner Broadcasting which primarily airs animated programming. The channel was launched on October 1, 1992 after Turner purchased the animation studio Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1991...
aired a 20-second segment with black dots tracing Jones' portrait
Portrait
thumb|250px|right|Portrait of [[Thomas Jefferson]] by [[Rembrandt Peale]], 1805. [[New-York Historical Society]].A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness,...
with the words "We'll miss you - Cartoon Network" fading in on the right-hand side, which aired during a four-hour installment of The Looney Tunes Show that featured nothing but Chuck Jones' most memorable cartoon shorts. Unlike the tribute the network aired after William Hanna's
William Hanna
William Denby Hanna was an American animator, director, producer, and cartoon artist, whose film and television cartoon characters entertained millions of people for much of the 20th century. When he was a young child, Hanna's family moved frequently, but they settled in Compton, California, by...
passing, Jones' tribute didn't show his birth or death years.
After his death, the Looney Tunes cartoon Daffy Duck for President
Daffy Duck for President
Daffy Duck for President is a children's book, published by Warner Bros. and the United States Postal Service in 1997 to coincide with the release of the first Bugs Bunny U.S. postage stamp. The book was written and illustrated by Chuck Jones, edited by Charles Carney, and art directed by Allen...
, based on the book
Daffy Duck for President
Daffy Duck for President is a children's book, published by Warner Bros. and the United States Postal Service in 1997 to coincide with the release of the first Bugs Bunny U.S. postage stamp. The book was written and illustrated by Chuck Jones, edited by Charles Carney, and art directed by Allen...
that Jones had written and using Jones' style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000, was released in 2004 as part of disc 3 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 is a DVD box set that was released by Warner Home Video on November 2, 2004. It contains 60 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons and numerous supplements.-Related releases:...
DVD set.
Partial list of animated films or short subjects (as director)
- The Night WatchmanThe Night WatchmanThe Night Watchman is a Merrie Melodies cartoon released to theaters on November 19, 1938. This short was the very first film directed by a then-credited Charles Jones after he was promoted from an animator .For the so called "dubbed version" created by Turner, recreated Blue Ribbon title cards...
(1938, his first) - Dog Gone Modern (1939)
- Robin Hood Makes GoodRobin Hood Makes GoodRobin Hood Makes Good is a Merrie Melodies color cartoon short, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Dave Monahan, and released by Warner Bros. on February 11, 1939.-Plot:...
(1939) - Daffy Duck and the DinosaurDaffy Duck and the DinosaurDaffy Duck and the Dinosaur is a 1939 Merrie Melodies animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions for Warner Bros. Pictures. The cartoon is notable as being the first Daffy Duck cartoon directed by Jones...
(1939) - Naughty But MiceNaughty But MiceNaughty but Mice is a 1939 Warner Bros. cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and starring Sniffles in his cartoon debut. In the cartoon, Sniffles has a cold and is looking for a cold remedy....
(1939, debuts SnifflesSnifflesSniffles is an animated cartoon and comic-book character in the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and comics.-Character biography:...
, first Jones-created series character) - Elmer's Candid CameraElmer's Candid CameraElmer's Candid Camera is a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, and first released on March 2, 1940 by Warner Bros.. It marks the first appearance of Elmer Fudd Elmer's Candid Camera is a 1940 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones, and first released on March 2, 1940 by...
(1940) - Joe Glow, the Firefly (1941)
- The Draft HorseThe Draft HorseThe Draft Horse is a Warner Bros. cartoon released in 1942, directed by Chuck Jones. Mel Blanc provided the voices. Robert Cannon is the animator, Tedd Pierce is the screenwriter and the music of this cartoon was done by Carl Stalling....
(1942) - The Dover Boys At Pimento University, or The Rivals Of Roquefort HallThe Dover Boys"The Dover Boys at Pimento University" or "The Rivals of Roquefort Hall" is a 1942 Merrie Melodies cartoon produced by Leon Schlesinger Productions and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released by Warner Bros. on September 19, 1942...
(1942) - Fin N' Catty (1943)
- The Weakly ReporterThe Weakly ReporterThe Weakly Reporter is a Warner Bros. cartoon released on March 25, 1944. Directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and with music directed by Carl Stalling, this cartoon is a spoof of sacrifices made by those on the homefront during World War II....
(1944) - Angel PussAngel PussAngel Puss is a 1944 short animated cartoon written by Lou Lilly, animated by Ken Harris, and directed by Chuck Jones. It was released on June 3, 1944, by Warner Brothers as part of its Looney Tunes series.-Synopsis:...
(1944) - Hell-Bent for ElectionHell-Bent for ElectionHell-Bent For Election was a 1944 two-reel animated cartoon short subject. The short was one of the first major films from United Productions of America , which would go on to become the most influential animation studio of the 1950s...
(Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
campaign film, 1944) - Fresh Airedale (1945)
- Fair and Worm-erFair and Worm-erFair and Worm-er is a 1946 cartoon short created by Warner Brothers. The cartoon was directed by Chuck Jones and featured what might be a brief cameo by Pepe Le Pew. The cartoon is considered one of Warner Brothers' greatest chase sequence shorts, done largely in silent slapstick Only a few of the...
(1946) - A Pest in the HouseA Pest in the HouseA Pest in the House is a 1947 animated short film directed by Chuck Jones starring the characters of Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. The title is an appropriate play on "a guest in the house." Voices are performed by Mel Blanc...
(1947) - Scaredy CatScaredy CatScaredy Cat is a 1948 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones and produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was the first of three Jones cartoons which placed Porky Pig and Sylvester the cat in a spooky setting where only Sylvester was aware of the danger - the other two films...
(1948) - Long-Haired HareLong-Haired HareLong-Haired Hare is a 1948 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. In addition to including the homophones "hair" and "hare", the title is also a pun on "longhairs", a characterization of classical music lovers...
(1949) - For Scent-imental ReasonsFor Scent-imental ReasonsFor Scent-imental Reasons is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short released in 1949. It was directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and featured the characters Pepe Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat . It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film...
(1949) - Fast and Furry-ousFast and Furry-ousFast and Furry-ous is a 1949 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon, released on September 17, 1949, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese...
(1949) - So Much for So LittleSo Much for So LittleSo Much for So Little is a 1949 short documentary film directed by Chuck Jones. It won an Academy Award in 1950 for Documentary Short Subject, tying with A Chance to Live. As a work of the United States Government, the film is in the public domain.-Plot:...
(1949, made for Federal Security AgencyFederal Security AgencyThe Federal Security Agency was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the "Reorganization Act of 1939"...
's Public Health Service) - Rabbit of SevilleRabbit of SevilleRabbit of Seville is a 1949 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in 1950. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese....
(1950) - The "Hunting Trilogy": Rabbit FireRabbit FireRabbit Fire is a 1951 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd. Directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, The short is notable for being the first film in Jones' "hunting trilogy"—the other two films being Rabbit Seasoning and Duck! Rabbit, Duck!. It is also...
(1951), Rabbit SeasoningRabbit SeasoningRabbit Seasoning is a 1952 Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, and starring Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. It is the sequel to Rabbit Fire, and the second entry in the "Hunting trilogy" directed by Jones and written by Michael Maltese...
(1952), and Duck! Rabbit, Duck! (1953) - Feed the KittyFeed the KittyFeed the Kitty is a Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese, in which bulldog Marc Antony adopts a small cat, Pussyfoot , and tries to hide it from his owner...
(1952) - Duck AmuckDuck AmuckDuck Amuck is a surreal animated cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons. The short was released in early 1953 by The Vitaphone Corporation, the short subject division of Warner Bros. Pictures, as part of the Merrie Melodies series...
(1953) - Duck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck Dodgers in the 24½th CenturyDuck Dodgers in the 24½th Century is a Merrie Melodies cartoon created in 1952 and released on July 25, 1953, starring Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodgers, Porky Pig as his assistant, and Marvin the Martian as his opponent...
(1953) - Bully for BugsBully For BugsBully for Bugs is a 1952 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical cartoon short released in August 1953. It was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese.- Synopsis :...
(1953) - Punch TrunkPunch TrunkPunch Trunk is a 1953 Looney Tunes cartoon written by Mike Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. It is a one-shot cartoon about a miniature elephant who inadvertently terrorizes a city.-Summary:The short begins with a narrator who introduces a 5 inch tall elephant...
(1953) - Feline Frame-UpFeline Frame-UpFeline Frame-Up is an animated short film in the Looney Tunes series produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc and released on February 13, 1954....
(1954) - Sheep AhoySheep AhoySheep Ahoy is a 1954 American Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and released by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog...
(1954) - One Froggy EveningOne Froggy EveningOne Froggy Evening is an approximately seven-minute long Technicolor animated short film written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones, with musical direction by Milt Franklyn.The short makes the debut of Michigan J...
(1955) - Double or MuttonDouble or MuttonDouble or Mutton is a 1955 Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and released by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog. Mel Blanc provided for the voices of all the characters in this cartoon, however, like all Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf shorts, this short is mostly...
(1955) - Heaven Scent (1955)
- Rocket-bye BabyRocket-bye BabyRocket-Bye Baby is a 1956 animated cartoon short in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. Cartoons. The Michael Maltese story follows the adventures of a baby from Mars who ended up on Earth after the planets passed close to each other...
(1956) - What's Opera, Doc?What's Opera, Doc?What's Opera, Doc? is a 1957 American animated cartoon short in the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones for Warner Bros. Cartoons. The Michael Maltese story features Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny through a parody of 19th century classical composer Richard Wagner's operas, particularly...
(1957) - Scrambled AchesScrambled AchesScrambled Aches is a 1957 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner . The title is a pun on the food scrambled eggs.-Plot:...
(1957) - Robin Hood DaffyRobin Hood DaffyRobin Hood Daffy is a 1958 Warner Brothers theatrical cartoon short, part of the Merrie Melodies series, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese...
(1958) - Hook, Line and StinkerHook, Line and StinkerHook, Line and Stinker is a 1958 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Production number 1487.-Plot:...
(1958) - Hip Hip-Hurry!Hip Hip-Hurry!Hip- Hip- Hurry! is a 1958 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner .-Plot:...
(1958) - Hot-Rod and Reel! (1959)
- Wild About HurryWild About HurryWild About Hurry is a 1959 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner .-Plot:...
(1959) - Fastest with the MostestFastest with the MostestFastest with the Mostest is a 1960 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. It was released on January 9, 1960, making it the first Warner Bros. cartoon of the 1960s.-Plot:Introduction: Wile E...
(1960) - Hopalong CasualtyHopalong CasualtyHopalong Casualty is a 1960 Warner Brothers Looney Tunes theatrical animated short, featuring the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote. Chuck Jones directed.-Summary:...
(1960) - High NoteHigh Note (Looney Tunes)High Note is an Academy-Award nominated Warner Bros. Looney Tunes animated short directed by Chuck Jones. It was originally released on December 3rd, 1960 and is performed without dialog, relying solely on the animation and music to carry the plot....
(1960) - Ready, Woolen and AbleReady, Woolen and AbleReady, Woolen and Able is a 1960 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and released by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog...
(1960) - Compressed HareCompressed Hare"Compressed Hare" is a Bugs Bunny cartoon. It stars Wile E. Coyote and Bugs Bunny , and was released on July 29, 1961. That was the final time in a first-run Golden Age short in which Wile E. Coyote speaks.- Plot :...
(1961) - Zip 'N SnortZip 'N SnortZip 'n' Snort is a 1961 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Merrie Melodies series featuring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner .-Plot:...
(1961) - Lickety-SplatLickety-SplatLickety-Splat! is a 1961 Warner Bros.Looney Tunes theatrical animated short. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was made under the supervision of Chuck Jones.-Plot:...
(1961) - Beep PreparedBeep PreparedBeep Prepared is a Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short released in 1961. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Chuck Jones directed from a story by John Dunn.- Plot :...
(1961) - Now Hear ThisNow Hear This (film)Now Hear This is a 1963 animated short film in the Looney Tunes series produced by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. It was directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble, and written by Jones and John Dunn. The title comes from a phrase used aboard American naval ships as an instruction to cease activity and...
(1962) - Zoom at the TopZoom at the TopZoom at the Top is a Merrie Melodies Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner cartoon.- Plot :Introduction: The Road Runner zooms to the end of a cliff and watches as Wile E. Coyote takes steps back on a different cliff, attempting to jump to the other side, and the end falls off when he steps on it, and...
(1962) - A Sheep in the DeepA Sheep in the DeepA Sheep in the Deep is a 1962 Merrie Melodies cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble and released by Warner Bros. Pictures featuring Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog...
(1962) - Hare-Breadth HurryHare-Breadth HurryHare-Breadth Hurry is a 1963 Looney Tunes cartoon starring Bugs Bunny in his fifth and final pairing with Wile E. Coyote. Unlike the previous four pairings, this cartoon follows the Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner formula . As such, Wile E. Coyote is silent, although Bugs does speak...
(1963) - Mad as a Mars HareMad as a Mars HareMad as a Mars Hare is a 1963 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon featuring Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian. The cartoon's title is a play-on-words of the famous phrase to be "mad as a March hare", the origins of which are disputed.-Plot:...
(1963) - To Beep or Not to BeepTo Beep or Not to BeepTo Beep or Not to Beep is a Merrie Melodies animated short starring Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Released December 28, 1963, the cartoon was written by Chuck Jones and John Dunn, and directed by Jones ....
(1963) - War and PiecesWar and PiecesWar and Pieces is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes theatrical animated short which was made in 1963 and released in 1964. It was directed by Chuck Jones, and features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner.-Summary:...
(1964) - Tom and JerryTom and JerryTom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
(cartoon shorts, 1964–1967) - The Dot and the LineThe Dot and the LineThe Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics is a book written and illustrated by Norton Juster, first published by Random House in 1963. The story was inspired by Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions...
(1965) - The Bear That Wasn'tThe Bear that Wasn'tThe Bear That Wasn't is a 1946 children's book by film director and Looney Tunes alumnus Frank Tashlin. In 1967, Tashlin's former Termite Terrace colleague Chuck Jones directed an animated short film based upon the book for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
(1967) - How The Grinch Stole Christmas!How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (TV special)How the Grinch Stole Christmas! is a 1966 American animated television special directed by Chuck Jones. It is based on the homonymous children's book by Dr. Seuss, the story of The Grinch trying to take away Christmas from the townsfolk of Whoville below his mountain hideaway...
(TV special, 1966) - Sesame StreetSesame StreetSesame Street has undergone significant changes in its history. According to writer Michael Davis, by the mid-1970s the show had become "an American institution". The cast and crew expanded during this time, including the hiring of women in the crew and additional minorities in the cast. The...
(various cartoon segments, 1969) - The Electric Company (1971)
- Horton Hears a Who!Horton Hears a Who! (TV special)Horton Hears a Who! is a 1970 television half-hour long special based on the Dr. Seuss book of the same name, Horton Hears a Who!. It was produced and directed by Chuck Jones - who previously produced the Seuss special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! - for MGM Television...
(TV special, 1970) - The Phantom TollboothThe Phantom Tollbooth (film)The Phantom Tollbooth is a 1970 American live-action/animated film based on Norton Juster's 1961 children's book The Phantom Tollbooth. This film was produced by Chuck Jones at MGM Animation/Visual Arts. Jones also directed the film, save for the live action bookends directed by fellow Warner Bros....
(feature film, 1970) - Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (TV special, 1975)
- Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus CaperRaggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus CaperRaggedy Ann and Andy in The Great Santa Claus Caper, a.k.a. simply The Great Santa Claus Caper, is a 1978 animated television special featuring Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy.-Synopsis:...
(TV special, 1978) - Raggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t SmileRaggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Couldn’t SmileRaggedy Ann and Andy in The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile, a.k.a. simply The Pumpkin Who Couldn't Smile, is a 1979 animated television special featuring Raggedy Ann and Raggedy Andy. It later aired on the Disney Channel every year around the time of Halloween along with Casper's Halloween Special, The...
(TV special, 1979) - Soup or SonicSoup or SonicSoup or Sonic is an animated cartoon distributed in the Merrie Melodies series, starring Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. It was first aired on May 21, 1980 as a part of the television special Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over and was one of four new cartoons released...
(1980) - Chariots of FurChariots of FurChariots of Fur is a seven-minute Looney Tunes short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who created the pair in 1948. As in other shorts of the Road Runner series, Wile E. tries to catch his potential prey through use of...
(1994) - Another Froggy EveningAnother Froggy EveningAnother Froggy Evening is a 1995 cartoon by Chuck Jones and a sequel to his 1955 cartoon One Froggy Evening.The short features Michigan J. Frog and Marvin the Martian who reveals that Michigan's croaking noise is actually Martian for "Would you like to hear me sing?" This sequel is actually a...
(1995) - Superior DuckSuperior DuckSuperior Duck was a 1996 cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. A Looney Tunes theatrical short, it featured Daffy Duck as a caped crusader with super powers and featured cameos by Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety Pie, Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, Marvin the Martian, Porky Pig, The Tasmanian Devil and...
(1996) - From Hare to EternityFrom Hare To EternityFrom Hare to Eternity is a 1996 Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones. Since this cartoon was produced after the death of legendary Looney Tunes voice actor Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs is supplied by Greg Burson and the voice of Yosemite Sam is...
(1997)
Sources
- 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.
- Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks : Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51893-X.
External links
- Chuck Jones web site
- Animation of Chuck Jones at Keyframe - the Animation Resource
- Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database
- Good Chuck Jones tribute
- "Chuck Jones" by John Canemaker from Cartoonist PROfiles #45 (March 1980)
- Chuck Jones: Three Cartoons (1953-1957) - Roger EbertRoger EbertRoger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
discusses Jones' three films in the United States Library of CongressLibrary of CongressThe Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
National Film Registry. - Biography of Chuck Jones by Daniel Briney at ToxicUniverse.com.
- Chuck Jones at Find-A-Grave
- Art Directors Club biography, portrait and images of work
- Chuck Jones Archive of American Television Interview