Chucked out

Through the early-1960s, Chuck and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay for the animated feature "Gay Purr-ee". The production and publication of the finished film would later pay a large price on Jones' career. As he moonlighted to work on the film, he violated the exclusive contract he had with Warner Bros. When UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962, soon after it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered Jones' involvement in the film, they terminated him, And Jones' former animation unit was laid off after completing the final cartoon in their pipeline, "The Iceman Ducketh", and the rest of the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio was closed in early 1963.

"Rabbit Fire" 1951

Big Changes

During the 1950, Jones and Maltese began work on a short that would alter the personality of Daffy Duck forever, the was called "Rabbit Fire". Changing him from the wacky comic relief character, to an egomaniacal vain prima donna aiming for spotlight of Bugs Bunny. Chuck commented on his versions of Bugs and Daffy, saying "Bugs is who we want to be, Daffy is who were are."

There was also a time when Mr Jones became a temporary Disney man, working with Ward Kimball on "Sleeping Beauty"(1959). Mind you this all happened within a four month period whilst Warner Bros. closed their animation studio during 1953.

What's Opera, Doc?

A Clip from "What's Opera, Doc" One of the most famous pieces that Chuck Jones made.

Jones' Unit A

Shortly after Jones assembled a team to aid him in his "animational endeavours" that team consisted of writer Michael Maltese, layout artist/background designer/co-director Maurice Noble, animator and co-director Abe Levitow, and animators Ben Washum and Ken Harris.

Road Runner and Wile E Coyote

Marvin The Martian

Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot

Claude Cat

All good things come to an end

Unfortunately he only worked in the "dream team" until the early forties when Bom Clampett and Tex Avery left Warner Brothers studio. From there he worked in parallel with Friz Freleng and Robert McKimson. However  it was then that Chuck began to hit his stride as an artist, and this streak continued through the fifties which holds some of his best regarded works, as well as a bevy of well known characters.

Way up in the Big Leagues in Termite Terrace

1933 now, hired by Friz Freleng as an assistant animator and Chuck was part of Leon Schlesinger Studio, which left a lasting impression on Jones, he admired and revered Freleng for the rest of his life.
"No one except Tex Avery had as perfect a sense of timing as did Friz Freleng"
The promotion to full fledged animator came in 1935, which saw him being transferred to work with a new director Tex Avery. Given the small working space in Schlesinger's studio, Tex Avery took his new found team made up of Bob Clampett, Virgil Ross, Sid Sutherland, Mr Avery and of course Chuck Jones to a close by building which they entitled "Termite Terrace".

Some of Chuck Jones' earlier work

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Hitting the Ground Running

By 1932, Chuck had already graduated from Chouinard Art Institute, and was in the animation industry drawing pencil portraits for a dollar piece on Olvera Street, which led to work as a cel washer for Ubbe Iwerks and assistant animator at the Walter Lantz Studio. It was under the employment of Iwerks he met his first wife Dorothy Webster - who was another cel washer at the time.

Let's call him Chuck

Now, upon hearing the name Chuck Jones, most would right associate; Warner Brothers, Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny and for the connoisseurs of animation information Tex Avery. However Chuck Jones didn't just appear as one of the superpowers within Warner Brothers, he started off as anyone else would.
He was born in Washington September 1912, and he later moved to California with his family. As he grew up in Hollywood, a wealth of talent such as Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin surrounded him, and was introduced into child acting as an occasional extra in Mac Sennet Comedies.

Who and What

Greetings.

For those who are unaware, this is a research blog set to focus on an individual animator, collective or a company. In my case, I chose an animator, who has more or less raised me, in terms of childhood television influence - that man is Mr Charles Martin Jones.

let us begin