As much as I acknowledge the contributions of Chuck Jones, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that in my opinion, he was also the one responsible for the decline and deterioration of my favourite characters. By the time he was in full control the characters had taken on this distorted Chuck Jones style, and the storylines feel less than inspired. The transition is almost evidenced by the change in name from Charles M. Jones to Chuck Jones. The Chuck Jones Warner Bros. of the late 50s, early 60s, was my least favourite era. I am in more of the I. (Friz) Freleng/Robert McKimson camp.
This is not to say that Chuck wasn’t at the helm of some of Bugs and company’s finest moments. But Chuck did not invent Bugs Bunny. He alone did not make Warner Bros. cartoons great. Though he was there from early on, Chuck was given control of an already winning combination. Many great talents went into making those cartoons and characters great. Names like Tex Avery and Robert Clampett as well as the Freleng and McKimson had as much, if not more to do with the shaping of these characters. While Mel Blanc was one of a kind, and Warner Bros. cartoons would not have been the same without him, I can’t say the same about Chuck Jones.
I encourage you to start here and see who worked on your favourite cartoons. Then check out this Salon article. Then go watch some cartoons and laugh your ass off.
1 response so far ↓
1 brandy // Feb 26, 2002 at 1:52 pm
oh, very well said. death is always sad, and i understand that people need to mourn Chuck Jones’ passing by memorializing him, but i think it’s gone too far by saying he invented Bugs and made Warner Bros what it is, etc. there is nothing better than a Freleng cartoon.
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