Chuck Redux

Image of the Day: Anatomy

When lecturing about art and animation, Chuck Jones would show this drawing that compares the relatively similar bone structures of the legs of four quadrapeds (horse, dog, cat, cow) with that of the arm of one biped (man.) 

Image courtesy Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

 

Chuck Jones’ letters to his daughter, Linda

 

Post # 39

 

Monday, March 2^nd, 1953

 

Hello, you ghastly little slob;

 

I am told you have passed from one semester into another.  I have no way of knowing that this is true as we have received no notice from the school, from [the Headmaster], from the Board of Education, from the Parole Board, from the Hog Caller’s Protective Association or any other accredited group.  I presume you are not hanging in mid-air in a sort of suspended education.  I suppose that you are continuing with what we laughingly call your studies so as old J. Caesar used to say, “Cadit quaestic.”  Let us know when you know anything, hm?  Not that I care of course, yet…

 

In the foregoing sentence I was interrupted by the telephone and when I turned to resume I found that my last phrase was “Hog Caller’s Protective Ass-” An interesting idea, isn’t it?  DON’T BE HALF SAFE—INVEST IN THE LITTLE GIANT HOG CALLER’S PROTECTIVE ASS.  GUARANTEED TO PROTECT YOU FROM ANY ATTACKS FROM THE REAR!  Be popular!  AMUSE YOUR FRIENDS and FRUSTRATE YOUR ENEMIES! WEAR A HOG CALLER’S PROTECTIVE ASS!!

 

Dottie has returned from the wild abysmal banalities of Oregon* in remarkably good spirits.  In fact her conduct during this whole episode was such as to warm your old heart.  She did all the tings necessary up there, every t’ing that is, swept up all the old cobwebby odds and ends, disposed of reams of ancient paper work, did everything necessary with a minimum of pother and returned home glowing like a dollar watch.  A remarkable exhibition.

 

Yes, dammit I mean “pother”.

 

“I” before E except after C, hey?  What about “ancient”?

 

Mr. Jones, the carpenter has been busy on the [Manhattan Beach] beach house this last week, replacing windows, putting in new stairs, replacing boards, and fixing the garage doors.  After he finishes we shall have the olde girl painted (the house, not Nana [his mother]) and no one will recognize it, but will gasp, “What, oh what is this magnificent new edifice rising from the ashes of the old…Lo, a veritable Phoenix!!”

 

Our social life continues apace:  Last week mainly movies at the Academy: “Moulin Rouge”, “The Bad and the Beautiful”, “High Noon” again, “Member of the Wedding”, “Greatest Show on Earth” and last night a whole mess of so called documentaries and I use the term “mess” advisedly.  What a slobby bunch of cruddy pictures.  I rise to a point of odor.  Pew!

 

“Moulin Rouge” and oh, yes, “Come Back, Little Sheba” are superior pictures.  Shirley Booth’s performance is truly a masterpiece.  If she doesn’t win ‘twill be the injustice of the century.

 

By some wierd non-parental alchemy, I love you very much.

 

I before E except after C, eh?  What about weird?

 

 

 

s/thine Sire

 

*[She was in Oregon taking care of the final arrangements after the death of her father.]

Vote Today for the Chuck Jones Gallery!

Dear Friends,

We are pleased to announce that the Chuck Jones Gallery in San Diego has been nominated as one of the best new businesses in the historic Gaslamp Quarter.  Balloting for the award ends tomorrow, so we ask you to take a moment and vote for the gallery at this website, Gaslamp.org.  Thank you for taking the time, we appreciate you! 

Linda Jones Interviewed in Orange Coast Magazine

Writer Vance Durgin of Orange Coast Magazine spent an afternoon with Linda Jones Clough recently and discovered that it takes true vision and plenty of hard work to create a market for animation that doesn't move.  Read the article by clicking here. (Photo by Don Whitlow)   

Show Your Memories Contest: We Get Letters

 Dear Mr. Kausen,

I grew up on a farm in Ontario, Canada just outside of Windsor.  I didn't have friends around so when I watched Looney Tunes (I loved all the characters...still do!) to me they were real but someplace special.  It was the best time of my life looking back.

Then when I was 11 years old my parents decided to move back to Florida.  That was very, very hard on me changing schools, leaving all my cousin and extended family behind--I cried a lot.  Again, I still had my friends Bugs, Daffy, Tweety...all of them.

When Brickfish notified members about "Show your memories with your favorite Chuck Jones characters" this was a very special entry for me.  I hope your grandfather really knew how much joy, love he gave to all of us.

P.S.  I really love your film clip with you and the flippers :)

Sincerely,
Colleen Hayes

(Colleen's entry is currently rated the #1 entry in the contest.) 

Show Your Memories with Your Favorite Chuck Jones Characters Sponsored by Chuck Jones Galleries

Chuck Jones’ letters to his daughter, Linda

 

Post # 38

 

Monday, Feb. 23

 

Dearest Linda:

 

This must be a short note on account of it is nearly five o’clock and I’ve got [art] class tonight, but I did want to bring you up to date and also get a check to you.  If the check is not enclosed I will have forgotten to do even that.  This has been a very crowded day: story session this morning having to do with the man who invented the portable hole, just buy a package of these convenient holes and if you want a hole, just glue one on the object and reach in:  very convenient for getting babies out of safes, for sneaking home at night without opening the front door, an excellent part of a dog’s equipment: no need to dig any more.  A very nice story idea, wish it was mine.

 

No word from Dottie since I talked to you Saturday.   I am so pleased and happy and in love with her.  All of her adult life she has grown and developed and striven to become a more adult and intelligent person and the beauty of it is that she has become a real zany, too.  I am very grateful for her and I hope you are, too.  Look around at many of the other women of her age [45] and you soon realize what an absolutely fine person she is.  Right?

 

As always, I‘ve enjoyed being a bachelor for a little while.  It is fun being mothered by our friends.  I spent the weekend with nana [his mother], which pleased us both.  She, too, is a swell gal with a nice straight back and good straight mind.  Very active and fun to be with and to talk to.

 

Well, off I go…I love you, too, and you jolly well know what kind of a person I think you are.  You little slob.

A Great Blog to Peruse If You're Visiting Santa Fe (Or Live There!)

Partly because they featured the Daffy Duck bench outside the front door of our Santa Fe Chuck Jones Gallery (135 W. Palace Avenue) and partly because they have the niftiest photo blog we've encountered in some time, Santa Fe Daily Photo, we'd like to thank Randy for the great work and his beautiful blog.  Please visit it if you're a resident of Santa Fe "the dancing ground of the sun" or if you're planning a trip there--he really has a great eye (we're partial, we admit it) for seeing the beauty that is around us. 

Caught in the Act! Show Your Memories Contest Reveals Carrot Thief!

Okay, he did show remorse, so we're letting him off the hook!

Show Your Memories with Your Favorite Chuck Jones Characters Sponsored by Chuck Jones Galleries

Image of the Day: Chuck Jones Sketchbook -- Conveyances

Chuck Jones quotes one of his Chouinard instructors, "You birds have a 100,000 bad drawings in you, start getting rid of them now." (The quote is oft-repeated in interviews with any Chouinard or CalArts graduate.)  He drew everyday, almost constantly; not only his beloved Warner Bros. characters, but also anything that caught his fancy or was of passing interest: planes, trains, automobiles, ocean liners, dogs, cats, ants, women, men, children, fanciful contraptions and so forth.  Image courtesy Chuck Jones Center for Creativity.

Show Your Memories With Your Favorite Chuck Jones Characters

Show Your Memories with Your Favorite Chuck Jones Characters Sponsored by Chuck Jones Galleries