Chuck Redux

Chuck Jones Center for Creativity Expresses Gratitude

Tempe Center for the Arts: "Chuck Amuck: A Legacy of Laughter" exhibit

Late in his life, Chuck Jones began to receive long overdue accolades for his prolific body of work.  These included a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of the Moving Image, London (for which he created, on-site, a multi-story mural of his much-loved Warner Bros. characters,) and an interactive art exhibition at the Capitol Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C.   And of course, there have been multiple film festival tributes world-wide honoring the man who brought you such classic animated fare as “What’s Opera, Doc?” and “The Dot and the Line.” 

But, for the first time, his art (drawings, paintings, writings) and his life (photos and ephemera) along with his film work have been the focus of an exciting triple-site retrospective, lovingly constructed and executed by the amazing curatorial staffs of the Tempe Center for the Arts (Chuck Amuck:  A Legacy of Laughter), Tempe Public Libraries (The Books of Chuck Jones:  Black and White and Read All Over), and Sky Harbor Airport Museum, Phoenix (Chuck Jones:  An Animated Life).  Their obvious love for Jones’ work, along with their creative energy and professionalism, has made these exhibitions a must-see event for Chuck Jones fans around the globe.

 

Sky Harbor Airport Museum: "Chuck Jones: An Animated Life" exhibit

The Board of Trustees of Chuck Jones Center for Creativity would like to particularly thank,

Michelle Dock: Gallery Coordinator of Tempe Center for the Arts;

Lennée Eller: Museum Program Manager of Sky Harbor Airport

These two made these three exhibits exciting, exuberant and exceptional.  Thank you.

Tempe Public Library, "The Books of Chuck Jones:  Black and White and Read All Over" exhibit

The Center for Creativity would like to thank the Tempe Center for the Arts, Tempe Cultural Services/Community Services, Tempe Public Library, and Tempe Parks and Recreations for their assistance in bringing Chuck Amuck, A Legacy of Laughter to the valley of the sun.  Of course, there were so many people involved at all three locations: art handlers, registrars, graphic designers, and docents; each and everyone an important facet of the final product.   Here is a list of those who worked so hard to make these exhibitions so beautiful and so successful.

Adrienne Richwine, Cultural Services Deputy Manager

Don Fassinger, Facility Manager, TCA

Mary Fowler, PR/Management Assistant

Kathleen Dooner, Production Coordinator

Sally Garrsion, Front of House Coordinator

Kara Osburn, Box Office Manager

Marilyn Gliddon, Facility Maintenance

Cameo Wall, Administrative Assistant

Suzanne Durkin-Bighorn, Business Development Coordinator

Gail Fisher, Mel Kessler, Diane Cripe: Friends of TCA

Sherry Warren, Tempe Public Library

Clay Workman, Tempe Public Library

Marco Albarran, Gallery

Laura Hukill, Gallery

James Sulak, Gallery

Carrie Meyer, Gallery

Donna Smith, Gallery

Jennifer Campbell, Gallery

Chris Vialpando, Gallery

Sam Carrera, Gallery

Karen Drazek, Intern, Gallery

Christy Brown, Gallery

David Uhley, ASU volunteer

Mary Erickson, ASU/Curriculum Consultant

Kathy David, Tempe High School/Curriculum Consultant

TCA Docent Volunteers

TCA Front of House staff and volunteers

TCA Production Crew

And, yes--all three exhibitions are still open to the public!

Who Will Win an Academy Award? Enter Our Contest and You May Be a Winner!

 
Enter the Oscar Season Contest
and You May Win
Chuck Jones' Oscar Season!
(a $175.00 value!)

It's as easy as 1, 2, 3!  Just click on Oscar Season and fill out the survey with your answers to the question: who will win an Academy Award?  We will notify the winner (or winners in the event of a tie) by email on Wednesday, March 10th.   
 

Not a member of the Chuck Jones Character Club? 

Not a problem, click here and join today!

Stroke of Genius: A Collection of Paintings & Musings on Life, Love and Art by Chuck Jones

This coffee-table art book is 'Chuck-ful' of delightful paintings and pithy quotes from America's master of animation.  With insightful forewords by his wife Marian and daughter Linda (accompanied by his portraits of each) "Stroke of Genius" delivers a refreshing take on the Mark Twain of cartoons.  With over 50 oil paintings depicting the characters Jones created or developed with the other animators at Warner Bros., the book gives you the opportunity to witness his off-camera style and sensibility.  Although the quotes were chosen for their content and then paired with a painting, many deliver a one-two punch of appropriateness -- for instance, an oil painting depicting Daffy cavorting in a sea of gold and jewels is accompanied by a quote "Be yourself is about the worst advice you can give some people."  Repeated viewings of "Stroke of Genius" do not dim the delight one receives from Jones' astute commentary and masterful painting style.  This book is a must have for the art connoisseur, the avid cinephile and those who remember the Warner Bros. cartoons as some of the happiest moments of their lives. A bonus feature is the flip book design element that travels up and down the outside edge of the pages—a truly innovative touch that firmly grounds the book in the fine art of animation. 

Image of the Day: Canyon Crier

In the late 1950s and into the 1980s Chuck Jones kept a home in the Hollywood Hills on Tareco Drive.  In the '50s he contributed drawings to the local paper "Canyon Crier" and occasional writings as well as designing the image for the masthead.  The image below appeared in the March 7, 1957 issue. 

 

 

Chuck Jones in his home on Tareco Drive, Los Angeles (Hollywood Hills) circa early 1960s.  

Image of the Day: Gee Whiz-z-z-z -- Road Runner

"Here are the rules we obeyed in the Coyote--Road Runner series:

"RULE 1.  THE ROAD RUNNER CANNOT HARM THE COYOTE EXCEPT BY GOING "BEEP BEEP!"

"RULE 2.  NO OUTSIDE FORCE CAN HARM THE COYOTE--ONLY HIS OWN INEPTITUDE OR THE FAILURE OF THE ACME PRODUCTS.

"RULE 3.  THE COYOTE COULD STOP ANYTIME--IF HE WERE NOT A FANATIC.  (REPEAT: "A FANATIC IS ONE WHO REDOUBLES HIS EFFORT WHEN HE HAS FORGOTTEN HIS AIM."--GEORGE SANTAYANA)

"RULE 4.  NO DIALOGUE EVER, EXCEPT "BEEP-BEEP!"

"RULE 5.  THE ROAD RUNNER MUST STAY ON THE ROAD--OTHERWISE, LOGICALLY, HE WOULD NOT BE CALLED ROAD RUNNER.

"RULE 6.  ALL ACTION MUST BE CONFINED TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT OF THE TWO CHARACTERS--THE SOUTHWEST AMERICAN DESERT.

"RULE 7.  ALL MATERIALS, TOOLS, WEAPONS, OR MECHANICAL CONVENIENCES MUST BE OBTAINED FROM THE ACME CORPORATION.

"RULE 8.  WHENEVER POSSIBLE, MAKE GRAVITY THE COYOTE'S GREATEST ENEMY.

"RULE 9.  THE COYOTE IS ALWAYS MORE HUMILIATED THAN HARMED BY HIS FAILURES."

--Chuck Jones, writing in Chuck Amuck

Image of the Day: Horton the Elephant

A Brief History of Chuck Jones and Ted Geisel:

• Chuck Jones and Ted Geisel (Dr. Seuss) met in 1943.  Dr. Seuss was then Captain Geisel, in charge of the animation and documentary arm of the first motion picture unit, commanded by Colonel Frank Capra and quartered in the old Fox Studio on Sunset Blvd. and Western Ave.
• There they designed and created the Private SNAFU Armed Services training films featuring the trials, tribulations and trepidations of the worst soldier in the Army, Private Snafu.
• After the war, Major Geisel retired to his home in La Jolla, hoping to escape Hollywood chicanery: he was robbed of writing credits on an Academy Award-winning documentary (as many others have been) and was denied proper recognition for writing the Oscar-winning UPS animated cartoon Gerald McBoing-Boing.  He was given a very meager credit, no share in the film's glory, and $500.00, which was all the payment he received.  Even this $500.00 must ahve appeared generous in comparison to the $50.00 that Leon Schlesinger paid him for the rights to Horton Hatches the Egg.
• Not surprisingly, Geisel was not eager to have more of his books made into film, but Chuck Jones persuaded him to allow Jones to direct and produce Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (released December 18, 1966.)
• Shortly thereafter, they began collaboration on Horton Hears a Who!, which finally premiered on March 19, 1970 after several years in production.
• Dr. Seuss, quoted in the Memphis Press-Scimitar on Friday, March 13, 1970: "I'd foresworn Hollywood until Chuck [Jones] did the Grinch.  I can't really draw--that is, I can't make a representational drawing and that rather hampers an animator.  I was never happy with my work in animation before Chuck."
• Dr. Seuss, quoted in the San Francisco Examiner & Chronicle on Sunday, March 15, 1970: "Horton Hears a Who! is one of the few Seuss books with a sociological theme.  I got to worrying about whether big countries were listening to little countries."  (Horton, a soft-hearted elephant, hears the Who cry from Whoville, which is so small its world is a speck of dust.)
• Originally conceived as a one-hour special as reported in the Chicago Tribune on Wednesday, September 20, 1967 for color airing in 1968.  Eventually the film was a half-hour special and aired in March of 1970.
• The script was finalized in August of 1969 (two years after the beginning of pre-production!)  The story begins:

On the fifteenth of May/In the jungle of Nool,/In the heat of the day,/In the cool of the pool,/He was splashing.../Enjoying the jungle's great joys.../When Horton the Elephant heard a small noise.

• Dr. Seuss pronounced Seuss like 'sauce' and said that he chose his nom de plume because he felt children's authors didn't get enough respect.
• Chuck Jones voiced the character of Junyer Kangaroo, "Me, too!"

Image of the Day: Two Sizes Too Small

"...The Grinch hated Christmas, the whole Christmas season.  Please don't ask why, no one quite knows the reason.

"It could be perhaps his shoes were too tight.

"It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.

"But I think the most likely reason of all may have been that his heart was two sizes too small.

"But whatever the reason, his heart or his shoes..."

Imagine it's December 18, 1966.  You, your brothers and sisters, your Mom and Dad, are gathered around the brand new color television console in the den, ready to watch an animated Christmas special based on one of your favorite books, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  And just one-half hour later a new family tradition has been begun.  And every year thereafter, for the next forty-three years, it just isn't Christmas until you've watched the "Grinch."

Two Sizes Too Small, a hand-painted cel art edition of just 135 examples, was created from original art used in the production of the Chuck Jones directed 1966 television special, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Image of the Day: The Old Sew and Sew (A Moment in Time)

A Moment in Time is a limited edition cel set-up incorporating one or more original production cels.  (The meaning of the word 'moment' is said to have been that amount of time between heartbeats.)

In the case of The Old Sew and Sew, the one production cel was a moving part of a multiple cel set-up that was under camera for the 1966 production of Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas.  This scene series is limited by the number of original production cels (61) and each set-up is numbered in sequence 1 through 61.  The other four cels in the set-up, most of which were 'held cels,' have been re-created from the film by expert ingkers and painters to complete the scene image.  ('Held cels' are production cels that are held under the camera for more than one frame and therefore the images do not appear to move.) 

Image of the Day: The Strength of 10 Grinches + 2

"The Grinch's body is a sort of huge, sagging, pear-shaped structure, with arms, legs, elbows, and bony knees not unlike those of the Coyote.  In fact, Dr. Seuss felt that my Grinch looked more like me than like his Grinch.  Like all fully animated characters, the Grinch has an implied skeletal structure and muscles; once decided, his skeleton had to be respected, to avoid rubbery inconsistency and unbelievability.

"The Grinch's dog, Max, has a much bigger role in the film than in the book, because we needed a character to be both victim and observer.  Max was directly inspired by a sad little fox terrier my father once tried--and failed--to train.

"To some extent we are all Grinches about Christmas--all that noise, all those unwanted presents, all those thank-you notes to write.

"Whenever I rented a car around the time [Dr. Seuss'] How the Grinch Stole Christmas! first appeared on television, it was invariably Grinch-green, which was a popular color for cars at the time.  I didn't like it, and frequently had to upgrade to a more congenial color.  The Grinch himself changes color slightly, turning a friendlier green when he has his change of heart."

--Chuck Jones, Chuck Reducks, Drawing From the Fun Side of Life

The Art of Chuck Jones: Splitting Hares

Splitting Hares merges two great moments from the Chuck Jones directed 1952 film, Water, Water, Every Hare (to learn more about the title's literary allusion to Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, click here.) While Bugs Bunny engages Gossamer in conversation, "...eh, what's up, Doc?" the mad scientist descends the castle keep, ax poised, ready to split the hare's cranium in his futile attempt to use Bugs' brains for his mechanical monster.

The second of Jones' films to star the big, orange, lump-headed monster Gossamer, Water, Water, Every Hare (the first was Hair-Raising Hare, 1946) combines the slapstick antics of many of Jones' earlier cartoons with a dreamy, surreal quality that underscores the wit and vitality of the director.

Flooding into theaters on April 19, 1952 Water, Water, Every Hare was directed by Charles M. Jones with story by Michael Maltese and animation by Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Phil Monroe and Lloyd Vaughn.  Scenic layouts were by Robert Gribbroek and the backgrounds were painted by Philip DeGuard.  The effects animation was created by Harry Love and the voice actor was Mel Blanc.  Carl W. Stalling provided the musical direction.