Tedd Pierce
Encyclopedia
Tedd Pierce was an American
animated cartoon
writer
, animator
and artist
. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros.
"Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones
and Michael Maltese
. Pierce also worked as a writer at Fleischer Studios
from 1939 to 1941. Jones credited Pierce in his 1989 autobiography Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist as being the inspiration for the character Pepé Le Pew
, the haplessly romantic French
skunk
due to Pierce's self-proclamation that he was a ladies' man http://dmgermain.blogspot.com/2009/06/pepe-le-pew.html.
In early credits he was shown as "Ted Pierce". He was said to have added an extra "d" to his name as a way of lampooning puppeteer Bil Baird
when he dropped one of the Ls from his first name.
He contributed (with Bill Danch) the story of the 1962 Tom and Jerry
cartoon Tall in the Trap
, directed by Gene Deitch
. Originally the cartoon would have starred Sylvester
the cat
and Speedy Gonzales
and would have been directed by Robert McKimson
. However, McKimson disapproved of the storyline, and decided not to use it. Instead, Pierce sold it to Danch and Deitch, who were desperately looking for suitable storylines for Tom and Jerry.
In his Warners career, Pierce worked with three of the three best-known Warner animation directors (Jones, McKimson and Friz Freleng
). He contributed many notable storylines for all three of them, including Freleng's Hare Do
(1949), Bad Ol' Putty Tat
(1949), Bunker Hill Bunny
(1950) and Big House Bunny
(1950); Jones' Hare Tonic
(1945, an early success for both of them) and Broom-Stick Bunny
(1956); and McKimson's Hillbilly Hare
(1950), Lovelorn Leghorn (1951) and Cat-Tails for Two
(1953), the last of which was Speedy Gonzales' first appearance. However, because much of Pierce's Termite Terrace career was spent with McKimson's unit (McKimson considered the least-known Warners animation director), it would follow that Pierce was generally overshadowed by his contemporaries as story writers at Warners, Warren Foster
and Maltese.
Pierce also got occasional voice work in the cartoons. He imitated Bud Abbott
in three Warner cartoons casting Abbott and Costello
as alley cats Babbit and Catstello. Pierce also voiced the "tall, thin" character in Wackiki Wabbit
(1943, which he wrote for Jones), and the French
chef François in French Rarebit
(1951, which he wrote for McKimson). In addition, in a few cartoons containing Jones' Hubie and Bertie
, Bertie's voice was Pierce; Hubie was voiced by Mike Maltese. Thereafter they were voiced by the principal voice actor, Mel Blanc
, and Stan Freberg
, who had also voiced secondary Looney Tunes
/Merrie Melodies
duos such as the Goofy Gophers
and Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier.
Tedd Pierce's own, undisguised voice (a pleasant tenor) was heard in coming-attractions trailers for Universal Pictures
. Pierce enthusiastically narrated these previews of Universal Pictures' 1940s features starring Abbott and Costello
, The Ritz Brothers. Maria Montez
, Gloria Jean
, and Donald O'Connor
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
, animator
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...
and artist
Artist
An artist is a person engaged in one or more of any of a broad spectrum of activities related to creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art. The common usage in both everyday speech and academic discourse is a practitioner in the visual arts only...
. Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the 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,...
"Termite Terrace" animation studio, working alongside fellow luminaries such as Chuck Jones
Chuck Jones
Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones 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...
and Michael Maltese
Michael Maltese
Michael "Mike" Maltese was a long-time storyboard artist and screenwriter for classic animated cartoon shorts.-Career:...
. Pierce also worked as a writer at Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios
Fleischer Studios, Inc., was an American corporation which originated as an Animation studio located at 1600 Broadway, New York City, New York...
from 1939 to 1941. Jones credited Pierce in his 1989 autobiography Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist as being the inspiration for the character 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...
, the haplessly romantic French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
skunk
Skunk
Skunks are mammals best known for their ability to secrete a liquid with a strong, foul odor. General appearance varies from species to species, from black-and-white to brown or cream colored. Skunks belong to the family Mephitidae and to the order Carnivora...
due to Pierce's self-proclamation that he was a ladies' man http://dmgermain.blogspot.com/2009/06/pepe-le-pew.html.
In early credits he was shown as "Ted Pierce". He was said to have added an extra "d" to his name as a way of lampooning puppeteer Bil Baird
Bil Baird
William Britton Baird , professional name Bil Baird, but often referred to as Bill Baird, was an American puppeteer of the mid- and late 20th century.One of his better known creations was Charlemane the lion...
when he dropped one of the Ls from his first name.
He contributed (with Bill Danch) the story of the 1962 Tom and Jerry
Tom 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...
cartoon Tall in the Trap
Tall in the Trap
Tall in the Trap is a 1962 Czechoslovakian-produced American animated short film. It was originally released as part of the Tom and Jerry series on September 1, 1962. The film was directed by Gene Deitch, was produced by William L. Snyder, and written by Deitch, Bill Danch, Tedd Pierce. The musical...
, directed by Gene Deitch
Gene Deitch
Eugene Merril "Gene" Deitch is an American illustrator, animator and film director. He has been based in Prague, capital of Czechoslovakia and the present-day Czech Republic, since 1959. Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston...
. Originally the cartoon would have starred 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...
the 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...
and Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales
Speedy Gonzales is an animated caricature of a mouse in the Warner Brothers Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. He is portrayed as "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" with his major traits being the ability to run extremely fast and speaking with an exaggerated Mexican accent...
and would have been directed by Robert McKimson
Robert McKimson
Robert "Bob" Porter McKimson, Sr. was an American animator, illustrator, and director best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros., and later DePatie-Freleng Enterprises...
. However, McKimson disapproved of the storyline, and decided not to use it. Instead, Pierce sold it to Danch and Deitch, who were desperately looking for suitable storylines for Tom and Jerry.
In his Warners career, Pierce worked with three of the three best-known Warner animation directors (Jones, McKimson and 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....
). He contributed many notable storylines for all three of them, including Freleng's Hare Do
Hare Do
Hare Do is a 1948 Merrie Melodies Cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd which was released in 1949. It is one of the few Bugs Bunny/ Elmer Fudd pairings directed by Friz Freleng that was released after Hare Trigger, the debut of Yosemite Sam...
(1949), Bad Ol' Putty Tat
Bad Ol' Putty Tat
Bad Ol' Putty Tat is a 1948 animated cartoon released by Warner Bros. starring Tweety Bird and directed by Friz Freleng. Tweety must evade the titular "puddy tat," Sylvester the Cat, who is once again in hot pursuit of Tweety, just so that he can eat him for his own personal snack...
(1949), Bunker Hill Bunny
Bunker Hill Bunny
Bunker Hill Bunny is a 1949 Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short, released in 1950 and starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam as a Hessian Mercenary in the American Revolution.-Crew:...
(1950) and Big House Bunny
Big House Bunny
Big House Bunny is a 1948 Looney Tunes Bugs Bunny cartoon, released in 1950 and directed by Friz Freleng.-Plot:Needing to get away from hunters, Bugs digs a tunnel and accidentally winds up in Sing Song Prison...
(1950); Jones' Hare Tonic
Hare Tonic
Hare Tonic is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, directed by Chuck Jones and written by Tedd Pierce. It stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd making this the second cartoon directed by Jones to co-star the two . Voice characterizations are by Mel Blanc and Arthur Q...
(1945, an early success for both of them) and Broom-Stick Bunny
Broom-Stick Bunny
Broom-Stick Bunny is a Warner Brothers Looney Tunes short released in 1956 and directed by Chuck Jones.-Plot:As the short opens, it shows a plaque which states that Witch Hazel is a member of the Malevolent Order of Witches, an "A. F...
(1956); and McKimson's Hillbilly Hare
Hillbilly Hare
Hillbilly Hare is a 1950 Merrie Melodies cartoon starring Bugs Bunny, produced and released by Warner Bros. Pictures. It was directed by Robert McKimson, with a story by Tedd Pierce and musical direction by Carl Stalling. Bugs as usual is voiced by Mel Blanc, as is Curt Martin; an uncredited Stan...
(1950), Lovelorn Leghorn (1951) and Cat-Tails for Two
Cat-Tails for Two
Cat-Tails for Two is a 1953 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, directed by Robert McKimson and written by Tedd Pierce starring Bennie the fat cat and George. It was animated in 1952. Voices by Mel Blanc and music by Carl Stalling. It was the first appearance of Speedy Gonzales, in a prototype...
(1953), the last of which was Speedy Gonzales' first appearance. However, because much of Pierce's Termite Terrace career was spent with McKimson's unit (McKimson considered the least-known Warners animation director), it would follow that Pierce was generally overshadowed by his contemporaries as story writers at Warners, Warren Foster
Warren Foster
Warren Foster , was a writer, cartoonist and composer for the animation division of Warner Brothers and later with Hanna-Barbera....
and Maltese.
Pierce also got occasional voice work in the cartoons. He imitated Bud Abbott
Bud Abbott
William Alexander "Bud" Abbott was an American actor, producer and comedian. He is best remembered as the straight man of the comedy team of Abbott and Costello, with Lou Costello.-Early life:...
in three Warner cartoons casting Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
as alley cats Babbit and Catstello. Pierce also voiced the "tall, thin" character in Wackiki Wabbit
Wackiki Wabbit
Wackiki Wabbit is a 1943 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon, starring Bugs Bunny. It was written by Tedd Pierce and directed by Chuck Jones. Voices were provided by Mel Blanc , Tedd Pierce , and Michael Maltese...
(1943, which he wrote for Jones), and the French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
chef François in French Rarebit
French Rarebit
French Rarebit is a 1951 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short, directed by Robert McKimson and written by Tedd Pierce. The title is a takeoff on "Welsh rarebit", which is also known as "Welsh rabbit".- Synopsis :...
(1951, which he wrote for McKimson). In addition, in a few cartoons containing Jones' 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...
, Bertie's voice was Pierce; Hubie was voiced by Mike Maltese. Thereafter they were voiced by the principal voice actor, Mel Blanc
Mel Blanc
Melvin Jerome "Mel" Blanc was an American voice actor and comedian. Although he began his nearly six-decade-long career performing in radio commercials, Blanc is best remembered for his work with Warner Bros...
, and Stan Freberg
Stan Freberg
Stanley Victor "Stan" Freberg is an American author, recording artist, animation voice actor, comedian, radio personality, puppeteer, and advertising creative director whose career began in 1944...
, who had also voiced secondary 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...
/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,...
duos such as the Goofy Gophers
Goofy Gophers
The Goofy Gophers are animated cartoon characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The gophers, named Mac and Tosh, are small and brown with tan bellies and buck teeth...
and Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier.
Tedd Pierce's own, undisguised voice (a pleasant tenor) was heard in coming-attractions trailers for Universal Pictures
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
. Pierce enthusiastically narrated these previews of Universal Pictures' 1940s features starring Abbott and Costello
Abbott and Costello
William "Bud" Abbott and Lou Costello performed together as Abbott and Costello, an American comedy duo whose work on stage, radio, film and television made them the most popular comedy team during the 1940s and 1950s...
, The Ritz Brothers. Maria Montez
María Montez
María Montez was a Dominican-born motion picture actress who gained fame and popularity in the 1940s as an exotic beauty starring in a series of filmed-in-Technicolor costume adventure films. Her screen image was that of a hot-blooded Latin seductress, dressed in fanciful costumes and sparkling...
, Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean
Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...
, and Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
.