A Brief History of Warner Bros. Animation--Starring Chuck Jones

Part Three

• Bowing to the pressure of television and reduced budgets for animated films, Warner Bros. closed their longtime animation studio in 1963.  Friz Freleng went on to help create and direct the Pink Panther cartoons.  McKimson stayed at Warner Bros. and Chuck Jones went to MGM where he directed several short cartoons for theatrical release starring Hanna-Barbera's characters Tom & Jerry.

• Warner Bros. briefly resuscitated their animation department between 1967-1969 introducing Merlin the Magic Mouse and Cool Cat alongside old favorites like Speedy Gonzales and Daffy Duck.

• In 1985 the Museum of Modern Art, New York, hosted a film retrospective of Warner Bros. short animated films directed by Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng.  During the 4 month long exhibition, more people visited the museum than had in the previous year!

• During the 1970s and 1980s Chuck Jones worked on eight television specials for Warner Bros.  Utilizing previously created cartoons, these specials were created by developing a story line that tied the cartoons together.

• After nearly 60 years in the film industry Chuck Jones was given a lifetime contract with Warner Bros.  Forming Chuck Jones Film Productions in 1994, along with his daughter, Linda Jones, as his producer, he began with a group of young animators creating in the next 3 years 6 new Warner Bros. cartoons.  The first to be released, Chariots of Fur, debuted in 1994 with the WB theatrical film, "Richie Rich".  Although the movie it was paired with didn't fare too well the reviews for the animated film were resoundingly positive.

• Chariots of Fur paired the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote in their first theatrical film together in over 30 years.  5 other short films were produced at Chuck Jones Film Productions in the next 3 years, they were: Superior Duck starring Daffy Duck and a host of other WB characters; One Froggy Evening the prequel/sequel to the 1955 film One Froggy Evening; a tribute to Friz Freleng, From Hare to Eternity starring Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam; Pullet Surprise with Foghorn Leghorn and Pete Puma (who was voiced by the original voice actor of Pete Puma, Stan Freberg) and Father of the Bird starring Sylvester and a new character, a sweet little bird named Cornbread.

• With the closing of CJFP, Chuck Jones moved on to a more relaxed life.    Mr. Jones divided his time between gallery exhibitions, film retrospectives, a inveterate love of travel, his beautiful wife, Marian and of course, painting, drawing and creating limited editions of the characters we've all grown to love and admire. 

Comments

[Larry Levine]

Last but not least, while Chuck was busy working on new Bugs Bunny TV specials, he also wrote & drew the comic strip "Crawford" (1977-78). At age 65, Chuck was busier than ever.

[Air Jordan]

What a great blog! It is a pity that I can not find RRS address. If RRS offers a subscription service, I can easily follow your blog!

[Robert Patrick]

Hi,
To subscribe to the blog, go to the left side column & scroll down to the box that says "enter your email address", do so, & click on 'subscribe' & FeedBurner will automatically notify you of new posts.

Let me know if that works for you, and thank you for the nice compliment! Robert