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{{Short description|American animator and filmmaker (1912–2002)}}
{{otherpeople|Charles Jones}}
{{Similar names|Charles Jones (disambiguation){{!}}Charles Jones}}
{{Infobox Actor
{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2023}}
| name = Chuck Jones
{{Infobox person
| image = Chuck Jones.jpg
| name = Chuck Jones
| birthname = Charles Martin Jones
| image = Chuck Jones2 (cropped).jpg
| birthdate = {{birth date|1912|9|21}}
| caption = Jones in 1978
| location = ]
| birth_name = Charles Martin Jones
| deathdate = {{death date and age|2002|2|22|1912|9|21}}
| birth_date = {{birth date|mf=yes|1912|9|21}}
| deathplace = ]
| birth_place = ], U.S.
| spouse = Dorothy Webster (1935-1978) <br> Marian J. Dern (1981-2002)
| death_date = {{death date and age|mf=yes|2002|2|22|1912|9|21}}
| children = ]
| death_place = {{nowrap|], U.S.}}
| academyawards = ''']'''<br>1965 '']'' <br> ''']'''<br>1996 Lifetime Achievement
| children = 1
| other_names = {{cslist|M. Charl Jones}}
| alma_mater = ]
| occupation = {{cslist|Animator|painter|screenwriter|director|producer|voice actor}}
| years_active = 1931–2001<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/|title=Chuck Jones|website=Academy of Achievement|access-date=December 20, 2020|archive-date=January 19, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210119053722/https://achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/|url-status=live}}</ref>
| employer = {{ubl|] (1931–1933)|] (1933)|] (1933)<ref>{{cite web |title=In His Own Words: Chuck Jones on Warner Bros. {{!}} |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/in-his-own-words-chuck-jones-on-warner-brothers/ |website=cartoonresearch.com |access-date=July 21, 2022}}</ref>|] (1933–1962)||] (1953)|] (1962–1970)|] (1970-1997)|] (1976–1997)}}
| spouse = {{ubl|{{marriage|Dorothy Webster|1935|1978|end=died}}|{{marriage|Marian Dern|1981}}}}
| website = {{URL|chuckjones.com}}
| notable_works = {{cslist|'']''|'']''|'']''|'']''}}
}} }}
'''Charles Martin Jones''' (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American ], painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with ] on the '']'' and '']'' series of shorts. He wrote, produced, and/or directed many classic ] shorts starring ], ], ], ], ], and ], among others.


Jones started his career in 1933 alongside ], ], ], and ] at the ] Production's ] studio, the studio that made ] cartoons, where they created and developed the Looney Tunes characters. During the ], Jones directed many of the '']'' (1943–1946) shorts which were shown to members of the ]. After his career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started ] and began producing cartoons for ], including a new series of ] (1963–1967) as well as the television adaptations of ]'s '']'' (1966) and '']'' (1970). He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises, where he directed and produced the film adaptation of ]'s '']'' (1970).
'''Charles Martin "Chuck" Jones''' (], ] &ndash; ], ]) was an ] ], ], ], ], and ] of ] films, most memorably of '']'' and '']'' shorts for the ] studio. He directed many of the classic short ]s starring ], ], the ], ] and the other Warners characters, including '']'', '']'' and '']'' (all three of which were later inducted into the ]) and Jones' famous "Hunting Trilogy" of '']'', '']'', and '']'' (1951–1953).


Jones's work along with the other animators was showcased in the documentary, '']'' (1975). Jones directed the first feature-length animated ''Looney Tunes'' compilation film, '']'' (1979). In 1990 he wrote his memoir, ''Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist'', which was made into a documentary film, '']'' (1991). He was also profiled in the ] documentary '']'' (2000) which aired on ].
After his career at Warners ended in 1962, Jones started ] and began producing cartoons for ], including a new series of '']'' shorts and the television adaptation of ]' '']''. He later started his own studio, '''Chuck Jones Productions''', which created several one-shot specials, and periodically worked on ''Looney Tunes'' related works.


Jones won three ]. The cartoons which he directed, '']'', '']'', and '']'', won the ]. ] presented Jones with an ] in 1996 for his work in the animation industry. Film historian ] has praised Jones's work at Warner Bros., MGM and Chuck Jones Enterprises. In ]'s '']'', a group of animation professionals ranked '']'' (1957) as the greatest cartoon of all time, with ten of the entries being directed by Jones including '']'' (1953), '']'' (1953), '']'' (1955), '']'' (1950), and '']'' (1952).<ref>{{cite web|url= https://mubi.com/lists/the-50-greatest-cartoons-as-selected-by-1000-animation-professionals|title= THE 50 GREATEST CARTOONS — AS SELECTED BY 1,000 ANIMATION PROFESSIONALS|website= ]|access-date= July 5, 2021|archive-date= February 12, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210212024102/https://mubi.com/lists/the-50-greatest-cartoons-as-selected-by-1000-animation-professionals|url-status= live}}</ref>
==Biography==
===Early life===
Jones was born in ], and later moved with his parents and three siblings to the ] area. In his autobiography, ''Chuck Amuck'', Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. His father, Jones recounts, would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. Armed with an endless supply of high-quality paper and pencils, the children drew constantly. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers. After graduating from ], Jones held a number of low-ranking jobs in the animation industry, including washing cels at the ] studio and assistant animator at the ] studio. While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who would later become his wife.


===Warner Bros.=== == Early life ==
Charles Martin Jones was born on September 21, 1912, in ], to Mabel McQuiddy (née Martin) (1882–1971) and Charles Adams Jones (1883–?).<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bZIv8NKfNKwC&q=%22Mabel+McQuiddy+Martin%22&pg=PA22|title=Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings|author1=Hugh Kenner|author2=Chuck Jones|page=22|access-date=May 4, 2017|isbn=9780520087972|date=January 1, 1994|publisher=University of California Press }}</ref> When he was six months old, he moved with his parents and three siblings to ].<ref name=obit/>
Chuck Jones joined ], the independent studio that produced '']'' and '']'' for ], in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935, he was promoted to animator, and assigned to work with new Schlesinger director ]. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators ], ], and ] were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit were briefly assigned to work with Jones' old employer, Ub Iwerks, when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when ] left the studio. Jones' first cartoon was '']'', which featured a cute kitten who would later evolve into ] the mouse.


In his autobiography, ''Chuck Amuck'', Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. He recounted that his father would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. The children drew frequently, owing to the abundance of high-quality paper and pencils. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers.<ref>Jones, Chuck (1989). ''Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist'', New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux; {{ISBN|0-374-12348-9}}</ref><ref>Jones, Chuck (1996). ''Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life''. New York: Warner Books; {{ISBN|0-446-51893-X}}</ref>
Many of Jones' cartoons of the 1930s and early 1940s were lavishly animated, but audiences and fellow Schlesinger staff members found them lacking in genuine humor. Often slow-moving and overbearing with "cuteness", Jones' early cartoons were an attempt to follow in the footsteps of ]'s shorts (especially with such cartoons as '']'' and the Sniffles cartoons). Jones finally broke away from traditional animation conventions with the cartoon '']'' in 1942. Jones credits this cartoon as the film where he "learned how to be funny." ''The Dover Boys'' is also one of the first uses of ] in American film, breaking away from the more realistic animation styles influenced by the ]. This was also the period where Jones created many of his lesser-known characters, including ], ], and ]. Despite their relative obscurity today, the shorts starring these characters represent some of Jones' earliest work that was strictly intended to be ''funny''.


During his artistic education, he worked part-time as a janitor. After graduating from ], Jones got a phone call from a friend named Fred Kopietz, who had been hired by the ] studio and offered him a job. He worked his way up in the animation industry, starting as a cel washer; "then I moved up to become a painter in black and white, some color. Then I went on to take animator's drawings and traced them onto the celluloid. Then I became what they call an in-betweener, which is the guy that does the drawing between the drawings the animator makes".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://achievement.org/autodoc/page/jon1int-3|title=Chuck Jones Interview – page 3 / 5 – Academy of Achievement|access-date=July 21, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140727215042/http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/jon1int-3 |archive-date=July 27, 2014}}</ref> While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who later became his first wife.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Williams|first=Jasmin|date=May 7, 2009|title=Chuck Jones – Master Animator|journal=New York Post|page=34|via=Business Insights: Global}}</ref>
During the ] years, Jones worked closely with ] (also known as Dr. Seuss) to create the '']'' series of Army educational cartoons. Private Snafu comically educated soldiers on topics like ] and laziness in a more risque way than general audiences would have been used to at the time. Jones would later collaborate with Seuss on a number of adaptations of Seuss' books to animated form, most importantly '']'' in 1966.


== Career ==
]''.]]
=== Warner Bros. ===
Jones hit his stride in the late 1940s, and continued to make his best-regarded works through the 1950s. Jones-created characters from this period includes ], ], ], ], and his three most popular creations, ], the ]. Jones based the Coyote on ]'s ''Roughing It'', {{Fact|date=February 2008}} in which Twain describes the coyote as "a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking ]" that is "a living, breathing ] of Want. He is always hungry". The Road Runner cartoons, in addition to the cartoons that are considered his masterpieces (all written and conceived by ]), '']'', '']'', and '']'' are today hailed by critics as some of the best cartoons ever made.
{{See also|Chuck Jones filmography}}
Jones joined ], the independent studio that produced '']'' and '']'' for ], in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935 he was promoted to animator and assigned to work with a new Schlesinger director, ]. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators ], ], and ] were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit was briefly assigned to work with Jones's old employer, ], when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when ] left the studio. The following year Jones created his first major character, ], a cute Disney-style mouse, who went on to star in twelve Warner Bros. cartoons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.chuckjonescenter.org/characters/sniffles|title=Sniffles|website=Chuck Jones Center|access-date=December 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171216201311/http://chuckjonescenter.org/characters/sniffles|archive-date=December 16, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>


Jones initially struggled in terms of his directorial style. Unlike the other directors in the studio, Jones wanted to make cartoons that would rival the quality and design to that of ones made by ].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chuck Jones {{!}} American animator {{!}} Britannica|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chuck-Jones|access-date=December 25, 2021|website=www.britannica.com|language=en}}</ref> As a result, his cartoons suffered from sluggish pacing and a lack of clever gags, with Jones himself later admitting that his early conception of timing and dialog was "formed by watching the action in the ]".<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jones|first=Chuck|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NJzAdheaSc0C&dq=Not+only+Bugs+suffered+at+my+hands,+but+difficult+as+it+is+to+make+an+unassertive+character+like+Elmer+Fudd+into+a+flat,+complete+schmuck,+I+managed.&pg=PA197|title=Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist|date=1999|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0-374-52620-7|language=en}}</ref> Schlesinger and the studio heads were unsatisfied with his work and demanded that he make cartoons that were more funny.<ref>Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-betweens - A Life in Animation (PBS 2000)</ref> He responded by creating the 1942 short '']''. The cartoon that was generally considered his turning point was ]. Released the same year, it noticeably featured quickly-timed gags and extensive use of ]. Despite this, Schlesinger and the studios heads were still dissatisfied and begun the process to fire him, but they were unable to find a replacement due to a labor shortage stemming from ], so Jones kept his position.
The staff of the Jones' Unit A were as important to the success of these cartoons as Jones himself. Key members included writer Maltese, layout artist/background designer/co-director ], animator and co-director ], and animators ] and ].


He was actively involved in efforts to unionize the staff of ]. He was responsible for recruiting animators, layout men, and background people. Almost all animators joined, in reaction to salary cuts imposed by ]. The ] had already signed a union contract, encouraging their counterparts under Schlesinger.<ref name="Sigall">Sigall (2005), pp. 59–61</ref> In a meeting with his staff, Schlesinger talked for a few minutes, then turned over the meeting to his attorney. His insulting manner had a unifying effect on the staff. Jones gave a pep talk at the union headquarters. As negotiations broke down, the staff decided to go on strike. Schlesinger locked them out of the studio for a few days, before agreeing to sign the contract.<ref name="Sigall"/> A Labor-Management Committee was formed and Jones served as a moderator. Because of his role as a supervisor in the studio, he could not himself join the union.<ref name="Sigall"/> Jones created many of his lesser-known characters during this period, including ], ], and ].{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
In 1950, Jones and Maltese began working on '']'', a short that changed ] personality forever. They decided to make him a totally different character; instead of the wacky, ] character he had been, they turned Daffy into a vain, ]maniacal prima donna wanting to steal the spotlight from ]. Of his versions of Bugs and Daffy, Chuck Jones has said, "Bugs is who we want to be. Daffy is who we are."


]
Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at ], where he teamed with ] for a four month period of uncredited work on '']'' (1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired & reunited with most of his unit.
During ], Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, better known as ], to create the '']'' series of Army educational cartoons (the character was created by director ]). Jones later collaborated with Seuss on animated adaptations of Seuss' books, including '']'' in 1966. Jones directed such shorts as '']'', a 1944 short that related to shortages and rationing on the home front. During the same year, he directed '']'', a campaign film for ].<ref name="imdb">{{IMDb name|0005062|Chuck Jones}}</ref>


Jones created characters through the late 1930s, late 1940s, and the 1950s, which include his collaborative help in co-creating ] and also included creating ], ], ], ], ], and his four most popular creations, ], ], ]. Jones and writer ] collaborated on the Road Runner cartoons, '']'', '']'', and '']''. Other staff at Unit A whom Jones collaborated with include layout artist, background designer, and co-director ]; animator and co-director ]; and animators ] and ].
In the early-1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the ] for the animated feature '']''. The finished film would feature the voices of ], ] and ] as ]s in ]. The feature was produced by ], and directed by his former Warner collaborator, ]. Jones moonlit to work on the film, since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. ] completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they fired him.<ref></ref> Not long after, ] closed the studio's animation shop (Jones frequently claimed, including in the aforementioned autobiography, that this happened because Warner finally learned '''they''' weren't making ] cartoons).


Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at ], where he teamed with ] for a four-month period of uncredited work on '']'' (1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired and reunited with most of his unit.{{citation needed|date=June 2015}}
===Jones on his own===
With business partner ], Jones started an independent animation studio ], bringing on most of his unit from Warner Bros., including ] and ]. In 1963, ] contracted with Sib Tower 12 to have Jones and his staff produce new '']'' cartoons. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed ]. Jones' animated short film '']'' won the 1965 ] for Best Animated Short. Jones also directed the classic animated short "]".


In the early 1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay for the animated feature '']''. The finished film featured the voices of ], ] and ] as cats in Paris, France. The feature was produced by ] and directed by his former Warner Bros. collaborator, Abe Levitow.
As the ''Tom and Jerry'' series wound down (it would be discontinued in 1967), Jones moved on to television. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special '']'', featuring the voice and facial features of ]. Jones continued to work on TV specials such as '']'' (1970), but his main focus during this time was the feature film '']'', which did lukewarm business when ] released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's ''The Pogo Special Birthday Special'', based on the ] comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab.


Jones moonlighted to work on the film since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner Bros. discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him.<ref name="endofstudio">Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons''. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 562–563; {{ISBN|0-19-516729-5}}</ref> Jones's former animation unit was laid off after completing the final cartoon in their pipeline, '']'', and the rest of the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio was closed in early 1963.<ref name="endofstudio"/>
MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Productions. He produced a children's TV series for the ] called '']'' in 1971. His most notable work during this period was three animated TV adaptations of short stories from ]'s '']'': '']'s Brothers'', '']'' and '']''. Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of '']'' with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced the 1979 movie '']'' which was a compilation of Jones' best theatrical shorts; Jones produced new Road Runner shorts for '']'' series and ''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' (1979), and even newer shorts were made for ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' (1980).


=== MGM Animation/Visual Arts ===
From 1977-1978 Jones wrote & drew the syndicated comic strip '']'' (also known as '']'') for the ].
With business partner Les Goldman, Jones started an independent animation studio, Sib Tower 12 Productions, and brought on most of his unit from Warner Bros., including Maurice Noble and Michael Maltese. In 1963, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted with Sib Tower 12 to have Jones and his staff produce new '']'' cartoons as well as a television adaptation of all ''Tom and Jerry'' theatricals produced to that date. This included major editing, including writing out the African-American maid, ], and replacing her with one of Irish descent voiced by ]. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed ]. His animated short film, '']'', won the 1965 ]. Jones directed the classic animated short '']''.<ref name="imdb"/>


As the ''Tom and Jerry'' series wound down (it was discontinued in 1967), Jones produced more for television.{{citation needed|date=January 2024}} In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special '']!'', featuring narration by ].<ref name="j502">{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Brian Jay | title=How Dr. Seuss Stole Christmas | website=The Saturday Evening Post | date=December 12, 2019 | url=https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/2019/12/how-doctor-seuss-stole-christmas/ | access-date=May 22, 2024}}</ref>
In 1978, Jones' wife Dorothy died; three years later, he married ], the writer of the comic strip '']''.


Jones continued to work on other TV specials such as '']'' (1970), but his main focus during this time was producing the feature film '']'', which did lukewarm business when ] released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's '']'', based on the ] comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab. It was at this point that he decided to start ST Incorporated.<ref name="imdb"/>
===Later years===
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Jones was painting cartoon and parody art, sold through animation galleries by his daughter's company, Linda Jones Enterprises. He was also creating new cartoons for the ] based on his new character, ]. He made a cameo appearance in the 1984 film '']'' and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend '']'' (1990). Jones also directed animated sequences various features such as a lengthy sequence in the 1992 film '']'' and a shorter one seen at the start of the 1993 film '']''. Jones was not a fan of much contemporary animation, terming most of it, especially ] cartoons such as those of ], "]".


=== Chuck Jones Enterprises ===
In 1988, Jones contributed to the creation of ]'s ] by spending several days working high on scaffolding creating a chase sequence directly onto the high walls of the museum.
MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises. He produced a Saturday morning children's TV series for the ] called '']'' in 1971. In 1973, he produced an animated version of the ] book '']'' and subsequently produced two sequels.<ref name="imdb"/>


Three of his works during this period were animated TV adaptations of short stories from ]'s '']'': '']'', '']'' and '']''. During this period, Jones began to experiment with more realistically designed characters, most of which had larger eyes, leaner bodies, and altered proportions, such as those of the ''Looney Tunes'' characters.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mark Twain inspired Chuck Jones to create this Looney Tunes character |url=https://www.metv.com/stories/mark-twain-inspired-chuck-jones-to-create-this-looney-tunes-character |access-date=March 4, 2022 |website=Me-TV Network |language=en}}</ref>
Jones was an historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. He received an honorary degree from ] in 1993.
]


=== Return to Warner Bros. ===
In his later years, Jones became the most vocal alumnus of the Termite Terrace studio, frequently giving lectures, seminars, and working to educate newcomers in the animation field. Many of his principles, therefore, found their way back into the mainstream animation consciousness, and can be seen in films such as '']'', '']'', '']'' and '']''.
Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of '']'' with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced '']'' (1979), which was a compilation of Jones's best theatrical shorts, new Road Runner shorts for '']'' series and ''Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales'' (1979). New shorts were made for ''Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over'' (1980).<ref name="imdb"/>


From 1977 to 1978, Jones wrote and drew the newspaper comic strip ''Crawford'' (also known as ''Crawford & Morgan'') for the ]. In 2011 ] collected Jones's strip as part of their Library of American Comic Strips.<ref name="lambiek.net">{{cite web |url=https://www.lambiek.net/artists/j/jones_chuck.htm |title=Chuck Jones &#124; Lambiek Comiclopedia |access-date=August 8, 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160821162408/https://www.lambiek.net/artists/j/jones_chuck.htm |archive-date=August 21, 2016 }}</ref>
For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the ] at 7011 Hollywood Blvd.


In 1978, Jones's wife Dorothy died. He married Marian Dern, the writer of the comic strip '']'' in 1981.<ref name="lambiek.net"/>
Jones, whose work had been nominated eight times over his career for an ] (winning thrice, for '']'', '']'', and '']''), received an ] in 1996 by the Board of Governors of the ], for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century."


== Jones–Avery letter ==
Jones' final Looney Tunes cartoon was '']'' in 1996/1997, which starred Bugs Bunny and ], with ] voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to ], who had passed on in 1995. Jones did produce a few more Looney Tunes-based and non-related cartoons, a noticeable one being '']'', his final Road Runner cartoon, in 1994.
On December 11, 1975,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://lettersofnote.com/2009/10/21/unadulterated-hogwash/ |title=Unadulterated Hogwash |publisher=Letters of Note |date=October 21, 2009 |access-date=May 4, 2017 |archive-date=September 25, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925141504/https://lettersofnote.com/2009/10/21/unadulterated-hogwash/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> shortly after the release of '']'', which prominently featured ], Jones wrote a letter to ], accusing Clampett of taking credit for ideas that were not his, and for characters created by other directors (notably Jones's Sniffles and ]'s ]). Their correspondence was never published in the media. It was forwarded to ], who conducted the interview with Clampett and was distributed by Jones to multiple people concerned with animation over the years.


== Later years ==
Jones, the last surviving animation director from the "Termite Terrace" days of the WB cartoons, died of ] in 2002. He was ] after the funeral service and his ashes were scattered at sea. ] aired a 30-second segment with black dots tracing Jones' ] with the words "We'll miss you - Cartoon Network." fading in on the right-hand side.
Through the 1980s and 1990s, Jones was painting cartoon and parody art, sold through animation galleries by his daughter's company, Linda Jones Enterprises.<ref name=obit>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-23-me-jones23-story.html|title=Chuck Jones, 89; Animation Pioneer|last=Martin|first=Hugo|work=]|date=February 23, 2002|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224055535/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-23-me-jones23-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Jones was the creative consultant and character designer for two ] animated specials and the first '']'' Christmas special '']''. He made a cameo appearance in the film '']'' (1984)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/gremlins-blu-ray-review|title=Gremlins Blu-ray Review|last=Shaffer|first=R. L.|work=]|date=May 21, 2012|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=February 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210217135219/https://www.ign.com/articles/2012/05/21/gremlins-blu-ray-review|url-status=live}}</ref> and he wrote and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend its sequel '']'' (1990).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/gremlins2thenewbatchpg13hinson_a0a978.htm|title=Gremlins 2: The New Batch|last=Hinson|first=Hal|newspaper=]|date=June 15, 1990|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=December 2, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171202035405/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/gremlins2thenewbatchpg13hinson_a0a978.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Jones directed animated sequences for various features such as a lengthy sequence in the film '']'' (1992)<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1992-08-15-0000113682-story.html|title=No Need To 'Stay Tuned' To This One|last=Johnson|first=Malcolm|work=]|date=August 15, 1992|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=October 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201009231423/https://www.courant.com/news/connecticut/hc-xpm-1992-08-15-0000113682-story.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> and a shorter one seen at the start of the ] vehicle '']'' (1993).<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/28/AR2008022801310.html|title=Go Behind The Seams of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'|last=Fields|first=Curt|newspaper=]|date=February 29, 2008|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=July 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170731194548/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/28/AR2008022801310.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Also during the 1980s and 1990s, Jones served on the advisory board of the ].<ref>{{cite book|title=National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival|date=June 10, 1994|location=The Directors Guild Theatre|pages=10–11|ref=Program}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival|date=June 7, 1991|location=The Directors Guild Theatre|page=3|ref=Program}}</ref>


Jones's final Looney Tunes cartoon was '']'' (1997), which starred Bugs Bunny and ], with ] voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to ], who had died in 1995. Jones's final animation project was a series of 13 shorts starring a timber wolf character he had designed in the 1960s named Thomas Timber Wolf. The series was released online by Warner Bros. in 2000.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-17-ca-5778-story.html|title=Chuck Jones's Latest Creation Will Prowl the Web|last=Botwin|first=Michele|work=]|date=August 17, 2000|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224035828/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-aug-17-ca-5778-story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> From 2001 until 2004, ] aired ''The Chuck Jones Show'' which features shorts directed by him. The show won the ] for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://annieawards.org/29th-annie-awards|title=29th Annual Annies Winners(2001)|work=]|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=January 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130102052242/http://annieawards.org/29th-annie-awards|url-status=live}}</ref>
After his death, the Looney Tunes cartoon '']'', based on a book that Jones had written and using Jones' style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000, was released in 2004.


In 1997, Jones was awarded the ].<ref>{{cite web |title=MacDowell Medal winners 1960–2011 |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8447621/MacDowell-Medal-winners-1960-2011.html |website=] |date=April 13, 2011 |access-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-date=December 6, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206223846/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8447621/MacDowell-Medal-winners-1960-2011.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Notable animated films or short subjects directed by Chuck Jones==
*'']'' (1939)
*'']'' (1942)
*'']'' (] campaign film, 1944)
*'']'' (1948)
*'']'' (1949)
*'']'' (1949)
*'']'' (1949)
*'']'' (1949, made for ]'s Public Health Service)
*'']'' (1950)
*The "Hunting Trilogy": '']'' (1951), '']'' (1952), and '']'' (1953)
*'']'' (1952)
*'']'' (1953)
*'']'' (1953)
*'']'' (1953)
*'']'' (1955)
*'']'' (1957)
*'']'' (1958)
*'']'' (1962)
*'']'' (1965)
*'']'' (1967)
*'']'' (TV special, 1966)
*'']'' (various cartoon segments, 1969)
*'']'' (1971)
*'']'' (TV special, 1970)
*'']'' (feature film, 1970)
*'']'' (TV special, 1975)


In 1999, he founded the non-profit Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, in Costa Mesa, California, an art education "gymnasium for the brain" dedicated to teaching creative skills, primarily to children and seniors, which is still in operation.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.chuckjonescenter.org/|title=Chuck Jones Center for Creativity|website=Chuck Jones Center for Creativity|access-date=May 27, 2019|archive-date=May 25, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190525010038/https://www.chuckjonescenter.org/|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Quotes==
{{cquote|I am still astonished that somebody would offer me a job and pay me to do what I wanted to do.}}


In his later years, he recovered from skin cancer and received hip and ankle replacements.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mayersoncreative.com/articles/falling_behind_with_the_joneses.html|access-date=April 18, 2020|quote=...&nbsp;He has persevered through skin cancer, a pacemaker, and hip and ankle replacements. This is a lot to have experienced&nbsp;...|title=Falling Behind with the Joneses|archive-date=November 25, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125013402/https://mayersoncreative.com/articles/falling_behind_with_the_joneses.html|url-status=live}}</ref>
{{cquote|Everyone has 200,000 bad drawings in them, the sooner you get them out the better.}}


=== Death ===
{{cquote|Every time you draw a caricature you lose a friend.}}
Jones died of ] on February 22, 2002, at his home in ] at the age of 89. He was ] and his ashes were scattered at sea.<ref name=obit/> After his death, ] aired a 20-second segment tracing Jones's portrait with the words "We'll miss you". Also, the Looney Tunes cartoon ''Daffy Duck for President'', based on ] that Jones had written and using Jones's style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000,<ref>{{cite web|title=Bugs on Video – The 1960s|url=http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/1960s.htm#president|work=The Bugs Bunny Video Guide|access-date=April 27, 2013|archive-date=May 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140511001006/http://www.dohtem.com/bugs/1960s.htm#president|url-status=live}}</ref> was released in 2004 as part of disc three of the '']'' DVD set.


== Legacy ==
{{cquote|I could dream about being Bugs Bunny but when I woke up, I was still Daffy Duck.}}
]'', the 1949 Academy Award-winning short directed by Jones]]


==See also== === Academy Awards ===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!|Year
!|Award
!|Work
! Result
!| Ref.
|-
|rowspan=2|] || rowspan=3|] || '']'' || {{nom}} || rowspan=4|<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005062/awards?ref_=nm_awd|title= Chuck Jones – Awards|website= ]|access-date= March 14, 2020|archive-date= March 8, 2021|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210308133530/https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005062/awards?ref_=nm_awd|url-status= live}}</ref>


|-
]
|'']'' || {{nom}}
|-
|] || '']'' || {{won}}
|-
|] || ] || Lifetime achievement || {{Won}}
|-
|}
Jones received an ] in 1996 by the board of governors of the ], for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century." At that year's awards show, ], a self-confessed "Jones-aholic", presented the honorary award to Jones, calling him "The ] of cartoons", and the audience gave Jones a ] as he walked onto the stage. For himself, a flattered Jones wryly remarked in his acceptance speech, "Well, what can I say in the face of such humiliating evidence? I stand guilty before the world of directing over three hundred cartoons in the last fifty or sixty years. Hopefully, this means you've forgiven me."<ref>{{cite web|last=Jones|first=Chuck|title=Honorary Award: Acceptance Speech|url=http://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/068-26|publisher=Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences|access-date=February 21, 2013|archive-date=September 29, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130929091343/http://aaspeechesdb.oscars.org/link/068-26/|url-status=live}}</ref> He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film – ] in 1988.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://animafest.hr/en/1988/home |title=Animafest Zagreb |website=Animafest.hr |date=June 3, 1988 |access-date=May 4, 2017 |archive-date=August 6, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160806044908/http://animafest.hr/en/1988/home |url-status=live }}</ref>


=== Honors ===
]
Jones was a historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. In 1990, Jones received the Golden Plate Award of the ].<ref>{{cite web|title=Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement|website=www.achievement.org|publisher=]|url=https://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=December 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171212193048/http://www.achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/|url-status=live}}</ref> He received an honorary degree from ] in 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |title=Honorary Degrees Awarded by Oglethorpe University |work=] |access-date=April 22, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319104000/http://www.oglethorpe.edu/about_us/history/honorary_degrees.asp |archive-date=March 19, 2015 }}</ref> For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the ] at 7011 ].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/chuck-jones/|title=Chuck Jones|last=Martin|first=Hugo|work=]|date=February 23, 2002|access-date=April 22, 2014|archive-date=March 7, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140307085020/http://projects.latimes.com/hollywood/star-walk/chuck-jones/|url-status=live}}</ref> He was awarded the ] in 1974.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot|title=Inkpot Award|date=December 6, 2012|website=Comic-Con International: San Diego|access-date=September 12, 2020|archive-date=January 29, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129155249/http://www.comic-con.org/awards/inkpot|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1996, Jones received an Honorary Oscar at the 68th Academy Awards.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ1xZsv5t6A | title=Chuck Jones receiving an Honorary Oscar | website=] }}</ref>


Three short films directed by Jones have been inducted into the ] by the United States ]: ''What's Opera, Doc?'', inducted in 1992; ''Duck Amuck,'' inducted in 1999; and ''],'' inducted in 2003.
==References==
===Notes===
{{Refimprove|date=June 2008}}
<references/>


===Sources=== === Art exhibit ===
Jones's life and legacy were celebrated on January 12, 2012, with the official grand opening of ''The Chuck Jones Experience'' at ]. Many of Jones's family welcomed celebrities, animation aficionados and visitors to the new attraction when they opened the attraction in an appropriate and unconventional way. Among those in attendance were Jones's widow, Marian Jones; daughter Linda Clough; and grandchildren Craig, Todd and Valerie Kausen.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://blog.bcdb.com/the-chuck-jones-experience-opens-las-vegas-3631-2671|title="The Chuck Jones Experience" opens in Las Vegas|first=Paul|last=Anderson|newspaper=Big Cartoon News|date=January 13, 2011|access-date=June 18, 2015}}{{dead link|date=January 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>
* Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-516729-5.
* Jones, Chuck (1989). Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux. ISBN 0-374-12348-9.
* Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks : Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-51893-X.


== Publications ==
==External links==
* {{cite book| author1 = Chuck Jones | author2= Steven Spielberg |title= Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist | date = February 19, 1990 | publisher = Simon & Schuster Ltd | isbn= 978-0671710248}}
*
* Jones, Chuck (1996). ''Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life''. New York: Warner Books. {{ISBN|0-446-51893-X}}.
* at ]
* {{cite book| author = Chuck Jones | title= Daffy Duck for President | date = July 1997 | publisher = Warner Bros. | isbn= 978-1890371005}}
*
* {{cite book | author1 = Stefan Kanfer | author2 = Chuck Jones | title = Serious Business: The Art and Commerce of Animation in America from Betty Boop to Toy Story | date = May 1, 2000 | publisher = Da Capo | isbn = 978-0306809187 | url-access = registration | url = https://archive.org/details/seriousbusinessa00kanf }}
* {{imdb name|id=0005062|name= Chuck Jones}}
* {{cite book| author = Chuck Jones | title= Chuck Jones: The Dream that Never Was | date = December 27, 2011 | publisher = ] & ] | isbn= 978-1613770306}}
*
* - ] discusses Jones' three films in the United States ] ].
* by Daniel Briney at ToxicUniverse.com.
*
*


== See also ==
<!-- Metadata: see ] -->
* ]
* ]
*]


== References ==
{{Persondata
{{Reflist|30em}}
|NAME= Jones, Chuck

|ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Jones, Charles Martin
== Sources ==
|SHORT DESCRIPTION=Animator
* {{Cite book|last=Sigall|first=Martha|title=Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation|chapter=The Boys of Termite Terrace| year=2005|publisher=]|isbn=9781578067497|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=diKnDBs0wrIC&pg=PA49 }}
|DATE OF BIRTH= 1912-9-21
* Barrier, Michael (1999). ''Hollywood Cartoons: American Animation in Its Golden Age''. Oxford: Oxford University Press; {{ISBN|0-19-516729-5}}.
|PLACE OF BIRTH= ]

|DATE OF DEATH= 2002-2-22
== Further reading ==
|PLACE OF DEATH= ]
*
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525145041/http://www.cartoonbrew.com/classic/chuck-jones-article-by-john-canemaker.html |date=May 25, 2012 }} from ''Cartoonist PROfiles'' #45 (March 1980)
* – ] discusses Jones's three films in the United States ] National Film Registry.
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127112052/http://www.adcglobal.org/archive/hof/1998/?id=316 |date=November 27, 2013 }}
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925141504/https://lettersofnote.com/2009/10/21/unadulterated-hogwash/ |date=September 25, 2020 }}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource author}}
*{{official website|https://www.chuckjones.com}}
*
* {{IMDb name|id=nm0005062}}
*
* {{emmytvlegends name|chuck-jones}}
* {{cite web|title= Chuck Jones Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=]|url=https://www.achievement.org/achiever/chuck-jones/#interview}}
*

{{Chuck Jones}}
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{{Academy Honorary Award}}
{{Inkpot Award 1970s}}
{{Winsor McCay Award 1970s}}
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{{Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies}}
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Latest revision as of 00:54, 26 December 2024

American animator and filmmaker (1912–2002) For other people with similar names, see Charles Jones.

Chuck Jones
Jones in 1978
BornCharles Martin Jones
(1912-09-21)September 21, 1912
Spokane, Washington, U.S.
DiedFebruary 22, 2002(2002-02-22) (aged 89)
Newport Beach, California, U.S.
Other names
  • M. Charl Jones
Alma materChouinard Art Institute
Occupations
  • Animator
  • painter
  • screenwriter
  • director
  • producer
  • voice actor
Years active1931–2001
Employers
Notable work
Spouses
  • Dorothy Webster ​ ​(m. 1935; died 1978)
  • Marian Dern ​(m. 1981)
Children1
Websitechuckjones.com

Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of shorts. He wrote, produced, and/or directed many classic animated cartoon shorts starring Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, and Porky Pig, among others.

Jones started his career in 1933 alongside Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett, and Robert McKimson at the Leon Schlesinger Production's Termite Terrace studio, the studio that made Warner Brothers cartoons, where they created and developed the Looney Tunes characters. During the Second World War, Jones directed many of the Private Snafu (1943–1946) shorts which were shown to members of the United States military. After his career at Warner Bros. ended in 1962, Jones started Sib Tower 12 Productions and began producing cartoons for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, including a new series of Tom and Jerry shorts (1963–1967) as well as the television adaptations of Dr. Seuss's How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966) and Horton Hears a Who! (1970). He later started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises, where he directed and produced the film adaptation of Norton Juster's The Phantom Tollbooth (1970).

Jones's work along with the other animators was showcased in the documentary, Bugs Bunny: Superstar (1975). Jones directed the first feature-length animated Looney Tunes compilation film, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979). In 1990 he wrote his memoir, Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, which was made into a documentary film, Chuck Amuck (1991). He was also profiled in the American Masters documentary Chuck Jones: Extremes & Inbetweens – A Life in Animation (2000) which aired on PBS.

Jones won three Academy Awards. The cartoons which he directed, For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and the Line, won the Best Animated Short. Robin Williams presented Jones with an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 for his work in the animation industry. Film historian Leonard Maltin has praised Jones's work at Warner Bros., MGM and Chuck Jones Enterprises. In Jerry Beck's The 50 Greatest Cartoons, a group of animation professionals ranked What's Opera, Doc? (1957) as the greatest cartoon of all time, with ten of the entries being directed by Jones including Duck Amuck (1953), Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953), One Froggy Evening (1955), Rabbit of Seville (1950), and Rabbit Seasoning (1952).

Early life

Charles Martin Jones was born on September 21, 1912, in Spokane, Washington, to Mabel McQuiddy (née Martin) (1882–1971) and Charles Adams Jones (1883–?). When he was six months old, he moved with his parents and three siblings to Los Angeles, California.

In his autobiography, Chuck Amuck, Jones credits his artistic bent to circumstances surrounding his father, who was an unsuccessful businessman in California in the 1920s. He recounted that his father would start every new business venture by purchasing new stationery and new pencils with the company name on them. When the business failed, his father would quietly turn the huge stacks of useless stationery and pencils over to his children, requiring them to use up all the material as fast as possible. The children drew frequently, owing to the abundance of high-quality paper and pencils. Later, in one art school class, the professor gravely informed the students that they each had 100,000 bad drawings in them that they must first get past before they could possibly draw anything worthwhile. Jones recounted years later that this pronouncement came as a great relief to him, as he was well past the 200,000 mark, having used up all that stationery. Jones and several of his siblings went on to artistic careers.

During his artistic education, he worked part-time as a janitor. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute, Jones got a phone call from a friend named Fred Kopietz, who had been hired by the Ub Iwerks studio and offered him a job. He worked his way up in the animation industry, starting as a cel washer; "then I moved up to become a painter in black and white, some color. Then I went on to take animator's drawings and traced them onto the celluloid. Then I became what they call an in-betweener, which is the guy that does the drawing between the drawings the animator makes". While at Iwerks, he met a cel painter named Dorothy Webster, who later became his first wife.

Career

Warner Bros.

See also: Chuck Jones filmography

Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions, the independent studio that produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros., in 1933 as an assistant animator. In 1935 he was promoted to animator and assigned to work with a new Schlesinger director, Tex Avery. There was no room for the new Avery unit in Schlesinger's small studio, so Avery, Jones, and fellow animators Bob Clampett, Virgil Ross, and Sid Sutherland were moved into a small adjacent building they dubbed "Termite Terrace". When Clampett was promoted to director in 1937, Jones was assigned to his unit; the Clampett unit was briefly assigned to work with Jones's old employer, Ub Iwerks, when Iwerks subcontracted four cartoons to Schlesinger in 1937. Jones became a director (or "supervisor", the original title for an animation director in the studio) himself in 1938 when Frank Tashlin left the studio. The following year Jones created his first major character, Sniffles, a cute Disney-style mouse, who went on to star in twelve Warner Bros. cartoons.

Jones initially struggled in terms of his directorial style. Unlike the other directors in the studio, Jones wanted to make cartoons that would rival the quality and design to that of ones made by Walt Disney Production. As a result, his cartoons suffered from sluggish pacing and a lack of clever gags, with Jones himself later admitting that his early conception of timing and dialog was "formed by watching the action in the La Brea Tar Pits". Schlesinger and the studio heads were unsatisfied with his work and demanded that he make cartoons that were more funny. He responded by creating the 1942 short The Draft Horse. The cartoon that was generally considered his turning point was The Dover Boys. Released the same year, it noticeably featured quickly-timed gags and extensive use of limited animation. Despite this, Schlesinger and the studios heads were still dissatisfied and begun the process to fire him, but they were unable to find a replacement due to a labor shortage stemming from World War II, so Jones kept his position.

He was actively involved in efforts to unionize the staff of Leon Schlesinger Studios. He was responsible for recruiting animators, layout men, and background people. Almost all animators joined, in reaction to salary cuts imposed by Leon Schlesinger. The Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio had already signed a union contract, encouraging their counterparts under Schlesinger. In a meeting with his staff, Schlesinger talked for a few minutes, then turned over the meeting to his attorney. His insulting manner had a unifying effect on the staff. Jones gave a pep talk at the union headquarters. As negotiations broke down, the staff decided to go on strike. Schlesinger locked them out of the studio for a few days, before agreeing to sign the contract. A Labor-Management Committee was formed and Jones served as a moderator. Because of his role as a supervisor in the studio, he could not himself join the union. Jones created many of his lesser-known characters during this period, including Charlie Dog, Hubie and Bertie, and The Three Bears.

Outpost, a Private Snafu cartoon directed by Chuck Jones in 1944

During World War II, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss, to create the Private Snafu series of Army educational cartoons (the character was created by director Frank Capra). Jones later collaborated with Seuss on animated adaptations of Seuss' books, including How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1966. Jones directed such shorts as The Weakly Reporter, a 1944 short that related to shortages and rationing on the home front. During the same year, he directed Hell-Bent for Election, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Jones created characters through the late 1930s, late 1940s, and the 1950s, which include his collaborative help in co-creating Bugs Bunny and also included creating Claude Cat, Marc Antony and Pussyfoot, Charlie Dog, Michigan J. Frog, Gossamer, and his four most popular creations, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner. Jones and writer Michael Maltese collaborated on the Road Runner cartoons, Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc?. Other staff at Unit A whom Jones collaborated with include layout artist, background designer, and co-director Maurice Noble; animator and co-director Abe Levitow; and animators Ken Harris and Ben Washam.

Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Productions, where he teamed with Ward Kimball for a four-month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty (1959). Upon the reopening of the Warner animation department, Jones was rehired and reunited with most of his unit.

In the early 1960s, Jones and his wife Dorothy wrote the screenplay for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee. The finished film featured the voices of Judy Garland, Robert Goulet and Red Buttons as cats in Paris, France. The feature was produced by UPA and directed by his former Warner Bros. collaborator, Abe Levitow.

Jones moonlighted to work on the film since he had an exclusive contract with Warner Bros. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner Bros. discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him. Jones's 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.

MGM Animation/Visual Arts

With business partner Les Goldman, Jones started an independent animation studio, Sib Tower 12 Productions, and brought on most of his unit from Warner Bros., including Maurice Noble and Michael Maltese. In 1963, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer contracted with Sib Tower 12 to have Jones and his staff produce new Tom and Jerry cartoons as well as a television adaptation of all Tom and Jerry theatricals produced to that date. This included major editing, including writing out the African-American maid, Mammy Two-Shoes, and replacing her with one of Irish descent voiced by June Foray. In 1964, Sib Tower 12 was absorbed by MGM and was renamed MGM Animation/Visual Arts. His animated short film, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, won the 1965 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. Jones directed the classic animated short The Bear That Wasn't.

As the Tom and Jerry series wound down (it was discontinued in 1967), Jones produced more for television. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, featuring narration by Boris Karloff.

Jones continued to work on other TV specials such as Horton Hears a Who! (1970), but his main focus during this time was producing the feature film The Phantom Tollbooth, which did lukewarm business when MGM released it in 1970. Jones co-directed 1969's The Pogo Special Birthday Special, based on the Walt Kelly comic strip, and voiced the characters of Porky Pine and Bun Rab. It was at this point that he decided to start ST Incorporated.

Chuck Jones Enterprises

MGM closed the animation division in 1970, and Jones once again started his own studio, Chuck Jones Enterprises. He produced a Saturday morning children's TV series for the American Broadcasting Company called The Curiosity Shop in 1971. In 1973, he produced an animated version of the George Selden book The Cricket in Times Square and subsequently produced two sequels.

Three of his works during this period were animated TV adaptations of short stories from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book: Mowgli's Brothers, The White Seal and Rikki-Tikki-Tavi. During this period, Jones began to experiment with more realistically designed characters, most of which had larger eyes, leaner bodies, and altered proportions, such as those of the Looney Tunes characters.

Jones in 1978

Return to Warner Bros.

Jones resumed working with Warner Bros. in 1976 with the animated TV adaptation of The Carnival of the Animals with Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. Jones also produced The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (1979), which was a compilation of Jones's best theatrical shorts, new Road Runner shorts for The Electric Company series and Bugs Bunny's Looney Christmas Tales (1979). New shorts were made for Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over (1980).

From 1977 to 1978, Jones wrote and drew the newspaper comic strip Crawford (also known as Crawford & Morgan) for the Chicago Tribune-NY News Syndicate. In 2011 IDW Publishing collected Jones's strip as part of their Library of American Comic Strips.

In 1978, Jones's wife Dorothy died. He married Marian Dern, the writer of the comic strip Rick O'Shay in 1981.

Jones–Avery letter

On December 11, 1975, shortly after the release of Bugs Bunny: Superstar, which prominently featured Bob Clampett, Jones wrote a letter to Tex Avery, accusing Clampett of taking credit for ideas that were not his, and for characters created by other directors (notably Jones's Sniffles and Friz Freleng's Yosemite Sam). Their correspondence was never published in the media. It was forwarded to Michael Barrier, who conducted the interview with Clampett and was distributed by Jones to multiple people concerned with animation over the years.

Later years

Through the 1980s and 1990s, Jones was painting cartoon and parody art, sold through animation galleries by his daughter's company, Linda Jones Enterprises. Jones was the creative consultant and character designer for two Raggedy Ann animated specials and the first Alvin and the Chipmunks Christmas special A Chipmunk Christmas. He made a cameo appearance in the film Gremlins (1984) and he wrote and directed the Bugs Bunny/Daffy Duck animated sequences that bookend its sequel Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990). Jones directed animated sequences for various features such as a lengthy sequence in the film Stay Tuned (1992) and a shorter one seen at the start of the Robin Williams vehicle Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). Also during the 1980s and 1990s, Jones served on the advisory board of the National Student Film Institute.

Jones's final Looney Tunes cartoon was From Hare to Eternity (1997), which starred Bugs Bunny and Yosemite Sam, with Greg Burson voicing Bugs. The cartoon was dedicated to Friz Freleng, who had died in 1995. Jones's final animation project was a series of 13 shorts starring a timber wolf character he had designed in the 1960s named Thomas Timber Wolf. The series was released online by Warner Bros. in 2000. From 2001 until 2004, Cartoon Network aired The Chuck Jones Show which features shorts directed by him. The show won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project.

In 1997, Jones was awarded the Edward MacDowell Medal.

In 1999, he founded the non-profit Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, in Costa Mesa, California, an art education "gymnasium for the brain" dedicated to teaching creative skills, primarily to children and seniors, which is still in operation.

In his later years, he recovered from skin cancer and received hip and ankle replacements.

Death

Jones died of congestive heart failure on February 22, 2002, at his home in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach at the age of 89. He was cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea. After his death, Cartoon Network aired a 20-second segment tracing Jones's portrait with the words "We'll miss you". Also, the Looney Tunes cartoon Daffy Duck for President, based on the book that Jones had written and using Jones's style for the characters, originally scheduled to be released in 2000, was released in 2004 as part of disc three of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 2 DVD set.

Legacy

So Much for So Little, the 1949 Academy Award-winning short directed by Jones

Academy Awards

Year Award Work Result Ref.
1962 Best Animated Short Film Beep Prepared Nominated
Nelly's Folly Nominated
1966 The Dot and the Line Won
1996 Honorary Academy Award Lifetime achievement Won

Jones received an Honorary Academy Award in 1996 by the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters whose animated lives have brought joy to our real ones for more than half a century." At that year's awards show, Robin Williams, a self-confessed "Jones-aholic", presented the honorary award to Jones, calling him "The Orson Welles of cartoons", and the audience gave Jones a standing ovation as he walked onto the stage. For himself, a flattered Jones wryly remarked in his acceptance speech, "Well, what can I say in the face of such humiliating evidence? I stand guilty before the world of directing over three hundred cartoons in the last fifty or sixty years. Hopefully, this means you've forgiven me." He received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the World Festival of Animated Film – Animafest Zagreb in 1988.

Honors

Jones was a historical authority as well as a major contributor to the development of animation throughout the 20th century. In 1990, Jones received the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement. He received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University in 1993. For his contribution to the motion picture industry, Jones has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7011 Hollywood Blvd. He was awarded the Inkpot Award in 1974. In 1996, Jones received an Honorary Oscar at the 68th Academy Awards.

Three short films directed by Jones have been inducted into the National Film Registry by the United States Film Preservation Board: What's Opera, Doc?, inducted in 1992; Duck Amuck, inducted in 1999; and One Froggy Evening, inducted in 2003.

Art exhibit

Jones's life and legacy were celebrated on January 12, 2012, with the official grand opening of The Chuck Jones Experience at Circus Circus Las Vegas. Many of Jones's family welcomed celebrities, animation aficionados and visitors to the new attraction when they opened the attraction in an appropriate and unconventional way. Among those in attendance were Jones's widow, Marian Jones; daughter Linda Clough; and grandchildren Craig, Todd and Valerie Kausen.

Publications

See also

References

  1. "Chuck Jones". Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on January 19, 2021. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  2. "In His Own Words: Chuck Jones on Warner Bros. |". cartoonresearch.com. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
  3. "THE 50 GREATEST CARTOONS — AS SELECTED BY 1,000 ANIMATION PROFESSIONALS". Mubi. Archived from the original on February 12, 2021. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  4. Hugh Kenner; Chuck Jones (January 1, 1994). Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings. University of California Press. p. 22. ISBN 9780520087972. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  5. ^ Martin, Hugo (February 23, 2002). "Chuck Jones, 89; Animation Pioneer". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  6. Jones, Chuck (1989). Chuck Amuck : The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist, New York: Farrar Straus & Giroux; ISBN 0-374-12348-9
  7. Jones, Chuck (1996). Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life. New York: Warner Books; ISBN 0-446-51893-X
  8. "Chuck Jones Interview – page 3 / 5 – Academy of Achievement". Archived from the original on July 27, 2014. Retrieved July 21, 2014.
  9. Williams, Jasmin (May 7, 2009). "Chuck Jones – Master Animator". New York Post: 34 – via Business Insights: Global.
  10. "Sniffles". Chuck Jones Center. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  11. "Chuck Jones | American animator | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved December 25, 2021.
  12. Jones, Chuck (1999). Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist. Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-374-52620-7.
  13. Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-betweens - A Life in Animation (PBS 2000)
  14. ^ Sigall (2005), pp. 59–61
  15. ^ Chuck Jones at IMDb
  16. ^ Barrier, Michael (1999). Hollywood Cartoons. New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 562–563; ISBN 0-19-516729-5
  17. Jones, Brian Jay (December 12, 2019). "How Dr. Seuss Stole Christmas". The Saturday Evening Post. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
  18. "Mark Twain inspired Chuck Jones to create this Looney Tunes character". Me-TV Network. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  19. ^ "Chuck Jones | Lambiek Comiclopedia". Archived from the original on August 21, 2016. Retrieved August 8, 2016.
  20. "Unadulterated Hogwash". Letters of Note. October 21, 2009. Archived from the original on September 25, 2020. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  21. Shaffer, R. L. (May 21, 2012). "Gremlins Blu-ray Review". IGN. Archived from the original on February 17, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  22. Hinson, Hal (June 15, 1990). "Gremlins 2: The New Batch". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on December 2, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  23. Johnson, Malcolm (August 15, 1992). "No Need To 'Stay Tuned' To This One". Hartford Courant. Archived from the original on October 9, 2020. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  24. Fields, Curt (February 29, 2008). "Go Behind The Seams of 'Mrs. Doubtfire'". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on July 31, 2017. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  25. National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 10, 1994. pp. 10–11.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival. The Directors Guild Theatre. June 7, 1991. p. 3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  27. Botwin, Michele (August 17, 2000). "Chuck Jones's Latest Creation Will Prowl the Web". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2021. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  28. "29th Annual Annies Winners(2001)". Annie Award. Archived from the original on January 2, 2013. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  29. "MacDowell Medal winners 1960–2011". The Telegraph. April 13, 2011. Archived from the original on December 6, 2019. Retrieved December 6, 2019.
  30. "Chuck Jones Center for Creativity". Chuck Jones Center for Creativity. Archived from the original on May 25, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  31. "Falling Behind with the Joneses". Archived from the original on November 25, 2020. Retrieved April 18, 2020. ... He has persevered through skin cancer, a pacemaker, and hip and ankle replacements. This is a lot to have experienced ...
  32. "Bugs on Video – The 1960s". The Bugs Bunny Video Guide. Archived from the original on May 11, 2014. Retrieved April 27, 2013.
  33. "Chuck Jones – Awards". IMDb. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved March 14, 2020.
  34. Jones, Chuck. "Honorary Award: Acceptance Speech". Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences. Archived from the original on September 29, 2013. Retrieved February 21, 2013.
  35. "Animafest Zagreb". Animafest.hr. June 3, 1988. Archived from the original on August 6, 2016. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
  36. "Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement". www.achievement.org. American Academy of Achievement. Archived from the original on December 12, 2017. Retrieved April 24, 2019.
  37. "Honorary Degrees Awarded by Oglethorpe University". Oglethorpe University. Archived from the original on March 19, 2015. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  38. Martin, Hugo (February 23, 2002). "Chuck Jones". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on March 7, 2014. Retrieved April 22, 2014.
  39. "Inkpot Award". Comic-Con International: San Diego. December 6, 2012. Archived from the original on January 29, 2017. Retrieved September 12, 2020.
  40. "Chuck Jones receiving an Honorary Oscar". YouTube.
  41. Anderson, Paul (January 13, 2011). ""The Chuck Jones Experience" opens in Las Vegas". Big Cartoon News. Retrieved June 18, 2015.

Sources

Further reading

External links

Chuck Jones
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See also: Hanna-Barbera Tom and Jerry shorts (1940–1958; 2001; 2005) and Gene Deitch Tom and Jerry shorts (1961–1962)
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