One of my creative mentors is Chuck Jones, one of the best directors to work with Bugs Bunny. I met him first through Saturday morning cartoons, then later as part of the animation program we were running at the children’s museum in DC.
Above my desk is a drawing of the coyote and road runner that he drew as part of a class at the museum. I can still remember him drawing it, explaining each line as he went along. It reminds me of him, and of the types of conversations he liked having. He was extremely well-read and drew from a lifetime of paying attention to little details.
This video is a short interview with him discussing how he got going at art school, how art got going with cave paintings, and more. If you like this sort of thing, search out more of Chuck Jones on the internet. He’s fun to listen to, and usually quite inspiring for beginners and experts alike.
“A 35,000 year old man”
Most of my life I ignored TV, and especially animation and cartoons in favor of a “book.” I even had a slight aversion to what I considered to be a frivolous entertainment.
It wasn’t until I viewed your “The Happy Birthday Animation Project” and viewing this video of Chuck Jones that a truer understanding of animation has finally sunk in.
a fun art
You’d like more Chuck Jones interviews, for sure. He loved books and knew them inside out. Many of his cartoons have literary humor weaved in.
Some of my favorite stories of his involved goofing with his boss at Warner Bros. The animators were in their own building on the lot. When they saw boss Schlesinger coming, they’d alert everyone and they’d all stop working. Every time the boss dropped by, they’d be doing nothing. As soon as he’d leave they’d get back to work.
Their boss once came storming in and told them “Bullfights aren’t funny! Don’t do bullfights,” and left. Chuck said they had obviously overlooked something and started in on a cartoon about a bull fight (Bully for Bugs).
Chuck once said that Warner Bros. stopped making cartoons when Schlesinger realized they hadn’t been making the cartoons with Mickey Mouse.
…
One of the things I love about animation is how new an art form it is. Painting, theater, etc. have been around since the dawn of time. Animation is under 200 years old.
It’s also rather magical what the persistence of vision can do. Show a series of images at the right speed and they appear to move. The brain wants to put them together, even though they are distinct.
Movies use this principle, too, but animation uses it surgically. Every frame is critical. There’s a saying that animation isn’t what’s in the images, but what happened between them. That would mean about half of the viewing experience is nothing at all… and it is the most important part. : )
I also like that animation can be used with just about any art style or technique, in just about any medium.
Animation 101
I’m old and sick, so it’s really neat to see animation and cartoons in a whole different light. Kinda wish I’d had this kind of exposure when I was younger.
Chuck Jones 101
Here are a few must see CJ-directed pieces:
The Scarlet Pumpernickel – has Daffy take on Dumas
Rabbit of Seville – an operatic battle between Bugs and Elmer
Feed the Kitty – just adorable
Rabbit Seasoning – Bugs and Daffy at their best. Pronoun trouble!
Duck Amuck – Daffy is confounded by a naughty animator
Bully for Bugs – that bullfighting cartoon I mentioned above
One Froggy Evening – get rich quick goes wrong
What’s Opera, Doc? – The Rings cycle told in 6 minutes. (Chuck said the one thing he’d do differently with this one is slow down the water drops at the end.)
High Note – musical notation comes to live.
The Dot and the Line – Oscar-nominated love story
I’d also highly recommend his two books, Chuck Amuck and Chuck Redux. He talks a lot about character development, stories, rules, observations, and so on.