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1930: Birth of Warner’s cartoonsWarner's cartoon unit began modestly in 1930 as a free-standing company owned by Leon Schlesinger. From 1930 to 1933, Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising produced a series of musical cartoons for Schlesinger. They introduced Bosko in the first Looney Tunes cartoon. In 1931, Harman and Ising introduced a new series of cartoon entitled: Merrie Melodies. Both of these series featured jazz soundtracks (recorded by such popular artists as Abe Lyman) with pre-code humor. Harman and Ising left Schlesinger's company in 1933 due to a contractual dispute. As a result, animators such as Jack King, and Friz Freleng were hired to produce a series of tame cartoons starring Buddy. The Merrie Melodies series also suffered and cartoons produced during these years are quite bland. However, with the arrival of Tex Avery and the creation of Termite Terrace, the unit developed a fast-paced, irreverently insane style that made them immensely popular world-wide. Warner bought Schlesinger's cartoon unit in 1944, and in subsequent decades characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck became central to the company's image
Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Animation is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes characters, some of whom - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig - are among the most famous and recognizable characters in the world.
The Warner animation division was founded in 1933 as Leon Schlesinger Productions, an independent company which produced the popular Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies animated short subjects for release by Warner Bros. Pictures. Schlesinger sold the studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, who continued to operate it as Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. until 1963. The classic Warner Bros. animation studio is sometimes referred to as "Termite Terrace", a name given to the temporary headquarters Tex Avery and his animators were assigned to during Avery's first year as a Looney Tunes director.
Although it briefly re-opened from 1967 to 1969, the Warner animation studio remained inactive throughout the 1970s, re-launching in 1980 under its current name to produce Looney Tunes related works. Since 1990, Warner Bros. Animation has primarily focused upon the production of television and feature animation of other properties, notably including those related to Time Warner's DC Comics publications.
History
Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising originated the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series in 1930 and 1931, respectively. Both cartoon series were produced for Leon Schlesigner at the Harman-Ising Studio on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, with Warner Bros. Pictures releasing the films to theaters. The first Looney Tunes star was the Harman-Ising creation Bosko, The Talk-ink Kid. In 1933, Harman and Ising parted company with Schlesigner over financial disputes, [1] and Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. lot on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. [2]
The Schlesinger studio got off to a slow-start, continuing their one-shot Merrie Melodies and introducing a Bosko replacement named Buddy. Disney veteran Jack King was the studio's first head director; the other early Warners directors included Earl Duvall, Bernard Brown (who also doubled as musical director), and Harman-Ising alumnus Isadore "Friz" Freleng.[3] In 1935, Freleng helmed the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Haven't Got a Hat, which introduced Porky Pig. [4] Duvall departed, and a new arrival at Sclesinger's, Fred "Tex" Avery, took Freleng's creation and ran with it, directing a string of cartoons staring Porky Pig which established him as the studio's first bonafide star. [4]
Because of the limited spacing conditions in the Schlesinger building, Avery and his unit - including animators Robert Clampett and Chuck Jones - were moved into a small building elsewhere on the Sunset lot, which Avery and his team affectionately dubbed "Termite Terrace" [5] Although the Avery unit moved out of the building after a year, "Termite Terrace" later became a metonym for the classic Warner Bros. animation department in general, even for years after the building was abandoned, condemned, and torn down.
From 1936 until 1944, famous animation directors and animators such as Tex Avery, Arthur Davis, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, and Chuck Jones worked their magic. In 1944, Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros., who renamed the company Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. – By 1946, Avery, Tashlin, and Clampett had all departed, and the remaining directors - Jones, Freleng, McKimson, and Art Davis - carried on the Warner Bros. cartoon legacy until 1963, when Warners closed down the studio. Friz Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie started DePatie-Freleng Enterprises the same year, which Warners contracted to produce more Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies from 1964 until 1967. The studio briefly re-opened in 1967, before shutting down for good in 1969, when Warners ceased production on all its short subjects.
Warner Bros. Animation re-opened its doors in 1980 to produce compilation films and television specials starring the Looney Tunes characters. Beginning with Tiny Toon Adventures in 1990, Warner Bros. moved into regular television animation production. With Quest for Camelot in 1998, they moved into feature animation as well. Known for popular modern works such as the TV series Batman: The Animated Series, Animaniacs, and Superman: The Animated Series, Warner Bros. Animation currently produces many of the shows airing on the Kids' WB! Saturday morning programming block of The CW. The studio is located on Ventura Blvd. in Sherman Oaks, California.
The "Termite Terrace" Hall of Fame
Studio heads
- Leon Schlesinger (1931-1945)
- Eddie Selzer (1945-1956)
- John Burton (1957-1961)
- David DePatie (1961-1963)
- William L. Hendricks (1967-1969)
Directors
- Tex Avery
- Bob Clampett
- Cal Dalton
- Arthur Davis
- Friz Freleng
- Ben "Bugs" Hardaway
- Hugh Harman
- Rudolf Ising
- Chuck Jones
- Norm McCabe
- Robert McKimson
- Frank Tashlin
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Storyboard artists/writers
- Warren Foster
- Tedd Pierce
- Michael Maltese
- John W. Dunn
Layout artists/designers
- Robert Givens
- Robert Gribbroek
- Maurice Noble
- Hawley Pratt
Animators
- Ken Harris
- Robert Cannon
- Rod Scribner
- Richard Thompson
- Ben Washam
- Lloyd Vaughn
- Gerry Chiniquy
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Voices
- Bea Benaderet
- Mel Blanc
- Billy Bletcher
- Arthur Q. Bryan
- Daws Butler
- Joe Dougherty
- June Foray
- Stan Freberg
- Margaret Hill
- Kent Rogers
Music
- Milt Franklyn
- William Lava
- Eugene Poddany
- Carl Stalling
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Filmography
Short subjects
- Further information: Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies filmography
Feature-length films
Theatrical films
- The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie (1981)
- Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales (1982)
- Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island (1983)
- Daffy Duck's Quackbusters (1988)
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
- Space Jam (1996)
- Quest for Camelot (1998)
- The Iron Giant (1999)
- Osmosis Jones (2001)
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003)
- TMNT (2007)
Direct-to-video
Scooby-Doo
- Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island (1998)
- Scooby-Doo and the Witch's Ghost (1999)
- Scooby-Doo and the Alien Invaders (2000)
- Scooby-Doo and the Cyber Chase (2001)
- Scooby-Doo and the Legend of the Vampire (2003)
- Scooby-Doo and the Monster of Mexico (2003)
- Scooby-Doo and the Loch Ness Monster (2004)
- Scooby-Doo! in Where's My Mummy? (2005) (released theatrically in select cities part of Kidtoon Films)
- Scooby-Doo! Pirates Ahoy! (2006)
Tom and Jerry
- Tom and Jerry: The Magic Ring (2002)
- Tom and Jerry Blast Off to Mars (2005)
- Tom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry (2005) (released theatrically in select cities part of Kidtoon Films)
- Tom and Jerry: Shiver Me Whiskers (2006)
DC Comics
- Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero (1998)
- Batman Beyond: The Movie (1999)
- Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
- Superman: Brainiac Attacks (2006)
- Teen Titans: Trouble in Tokyo (2007)
- Teen Titans: The Judas Contract (2007/2008)
- Justice League: New Frontier (2007)
- Superman: Doomsday (2007)
Others
- Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation (1992)
- Wakko's Wish (1999)
- Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (2000)
- ¡Mucha Lucha!: The Return of El Maléfico (2004)
- Kangaroo Jack: G'Day U.S.A.! (2004)
- Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas (2006)
TV series
- Ace Ventura: Pet Detective
- Animaniacs
- Baby Looney Tunes
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Batman Beyond
- The Batman
- Beetlejuice
- The Cat&Birdy Warneroonie PinkyBrainy Big Cartoonie Show
- Coconut Fred's Fruit Salad Island
- Firehouse Tales
- Freakazoid!
- Free Willy
- Histeria!
- Johnny Test
- Justice League
- Justice League Unlimited
- Krypto the Superdog
- Legion of Super Heroes
- Loonatics Unleashed
- ¡Mucha Lucha!
- The New Batman Adventures
- The New Batman/Superman Adventures
- Ozzy & Drix
- Pinky and the Brain
- Road Rovers
- Shaggy & Scooby-Doo Get a Clue!
- Static Shock
- Superman: The Animated Series
- The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries
- Taz-Mania
- Teen Titans
- Tiny Toon Adventures
- Tom and Jerry Tales
- Waynehead
- What's New, Scooby-Doo?
- Xiaolin Showdown
- The Zeta Project
References
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons. New York: Oxford University Press. Pg. 164. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 323.
- ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 324-328.
- ^ a b Barrier, Michael (1999). Pg. 329-333.
- ^ Maltin, Leonard (1980, rev. 1987). Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books. Pg.s. 229-230 ISBN 0-452-25993-2.
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