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Spokane, Washington
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Spokane is a city in the state of Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is the seat of Spokane County, and the economic and cultural center of the Spokane Metropolitan Area, the Greater Spokane Area, the city, along with the whole Inland Northwest, is served by Spokane International Airport,5 miles west of downtown Spokane. According to the 2010 Census, Spokane had a population of 208,916, making it the second largest city in Washington and the 102nd largest city in the United States. The first humans to live in the area, the Spokane people, known as the birthplace of Fathers Day, Spokane is officially nicknamed the Lilac City. David Thompson explored the area with the expansion and establishment of the North West Companys Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington, completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought settlers to the Spokane area, and that same year it was officially incorporated as a city with the name of Spokan Falls. In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest, the local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until the 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed Worlds Fair at Expo 74, many of the older Romanesque Revival-style buildings in the downtown area were designed by architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter after the Great Fire of 1889. The city also features Riverfront and Manito parks, the Smithsonian-affiliated Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Davenport Hotel, and the Fox and Bing Crosby theaters. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist represents the Anglican community. Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by the Jesuits, and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University opened three years later in north Spokane, in sports, the Gonzaga Bulldogs collegiate basketball team competes at the Division I level. Professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball, Spokane Empire in arena football, as of 2010, Spokanes only major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, has a daily circulation of over 76,000. The first humans to live in the Spokane area arrived between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago and were hunter-gatherer societies that lived off plentiful game. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named, are believed to be either their direct descendants, when asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from up North. Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur. These were the first white men met by the Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, the explorer-geographer David Thompson, working as head of the North West Companys Columbia Department, became the first European to explore the Inland Empire. Crossing what is now the Canada–US border from British Columbia, Thompson wanted to expand the North West Company further south in search of furs, after establishing the Kullyspell House and Saleesh House trading posts in what are now Idaho and Montana, Thompson then attempted to expand further west. He sent out two trappers, Jacques Raphael Finlay and Finan McDonald, to construct a fur trading post on the Spokane River in Washington and trade with the local Indians
2.
Newport Beach, California
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Newport Beach is a seaside city in Orange County, California, United States. Its population was 85,287 at the 2010 census, Newport Beach is also home to Newport Harbor. The citys median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings, the Upper Bay of Newport is a canyon, which was carved by a stream in the Pleistocene period. The lower bay of Newport was formed later by sand that was brought along by ocean currents. Before settlers reached the coasts of California, the Newport area, Indian shells and relics can still be found today scattered throughout the area. Though, throughout the 1800s, settlers began to settle the area due to the availability of land, the State of California sold acre-plots of land for $1 a piece in the Newport area. James Irvine, after hearing the news, quickly traveled from his home in San Francisco to the San Joaquin Ranch. In 1905 city development increased when Pacific Electric Railway established a southern terminus in Newport connecting the beach with downtown Los Angeles, in 1906, the scattered settlements were incorporated as the City of Newport Beach. Settlements filled in on the Peninsula, West Newport, Newport Island, Balboa Island, in 1923 Corona del Mar was annexed and in 2002 Newport Coast, East Santa Ana Heights and San Joaquin Hills, were annexed. In 2008, after a battle with the city of Costa Mesa. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of 53.0 square miles. 23.8 square miles of it is land and 29.2 square miles of it is water. Areas of Newport Beach include Corona del Mar, Balboa Island, Balboa Peninsula, Lido Peninsula, Newport Coast, San Joaquin Hills, and Santa Ana Heights, Newport Harbor is a semi-artificial harbor that was formed by dredging Newport Bay estuary during the early 1900s. Newport Harbor once supported maritime industries such as boatbuilding, shipbuilding, and commercial fishing and its shores are occupied mostly by private homes and private docks. With approximately 9,000 boats, Newport Harbor is one of the largest recreational boat harbors on the U. S. west coast and its a popular destination for all boating activities, including sailing, fishing, rowing, canoeing, kayaking, and paddleboarding. Newport Bay is divided by the Pacific Coast Highway bridge, which is too low for most sailboats, North of the bridge is referred to as Upper Newport Bay, or the Back Bay. South of the bridge is commonly called Lower Newport Bay, or Newport Harbor, however the Back Bay also has harbor facilities, especially the marina and launch ramp at The Dunes. The north end of the Newport Harbor channels around Lido Island have a number of business centers and were at one time used by the fishing fleets as their home
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Cartoonist
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A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in drawing cartoons. This work is created for entertainment, political commentary, or advertising. The English satirist and editorial cartoonist William Hogarth, who emerged In the 18th century, has credited with pioneering Western sequential art. His work ranged from realistic portraiture to comic series of pictures called modern moral subjects. Much of his work poked fun at politics and customs. Gillray explored the use of the medium for lampooning and caricature, calling the king, prime ministers and generals to account, while never a professional cartoonist, Benjamin Franklin is credited with having the first cartoon published in an American newspaper. In the 19th century, professional cartoonists such as Thomas Nast introduced other familiar American political symbols, during the 20th century, numerous magazines carried single-panel gag cartoons by such freelance cartoonists as Charles Addams, Irwin Caplan, Chon Day, Clyde Lamb, and John Norment. These were almost always published in black and white, although Colliers often carried cartoons in color, the debut of Playboy introduced full-page color cartoons by Jack Cole, Eldon Dedini, and others. Single-panel cartoonists syndicated to newspapers included Dave Breger, Hank Ketcham, George Lichty, Fred Neher, Irving Phillips, comic strips received widespread distribution to mainstream newspapers by syndicates such as the Universal Press Syndicate, United Media, or King Features. Sunday strips go to a company such as American Color before they are published. Some comic strip creators publish in the press or on the Internet. Comic strip artists may also work in book-length form, creating graphic novels. Both vintage and current strips receive reprints in book collections, the major comic book publishers utilize teams of cartoonists to produce the art. When a consistent artistic style is wanted among different cartoonists, character model sheets may be used as reference, animated cartooning is created for short films, advertising, feature films and television. It is also used in live-action films for dream sequences or opening titles. An animation artist is referred to as an animator rather than a cartoonist. They create motion pictures as well, Animation studios such as DreamWorks Animation, Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, and Blue Sky Studios create CGI or computer-animated films that are more three-dimensional. There are many books of cartoons in both paperback and hardcover, such as the collections of cartoons from The New Yorker, prior to the 1960s, cartoons were mostly ignored by museums and art galleries
4.
Warner Bros. Cartoons
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Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the Golden Age of American animation, one of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies theatrical cartoon short subjects, in 1944, Schlesinger sold the studio to Warner Bros. who continued to operate it as Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were briefly subcontracted to Frelengs DePatie-Freleng Enterprises studio from 1964 until 1967, Cartoons studio briefly re-opened in 1967 before shutting its doors for good two years later. That company continues to produce Looney Tunes-related works, in addition to television shows, hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising originated the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short subjects in 1930 and 1931, respectively. Both cartoon series were produced for Leon Schlesinger at the Harman-Ising Studio on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California, pictures releasing the films to theaters. The first Looney Tunes character was the Harman-Ising creation Bosko, The Talk-ink Kid, despite the fact that Bosko was popular among theater audiences, he could never match the popularity of Walt Disneys Mickey Mouse, or even Max Fleischers Betty Boop. In 1933, Harman and Ising parted company with Schlesinger over financial disputes, as a result, Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. lot on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The Schlesinger studio got off to a start, continuing their one-shot Merrie Melodies. In 1935, Freleng helmed the Merrie Melodies cartoon I Havent Got a Hat, hardaway and King departed, and a new arrival at Schlesingers, Fred Tex Avery, took Frelengs creation and ran with it. Avery directed a string of cartoons starring Porky Pig that established the character as the studios first bona fide star, Schlesinger also gradually moved the Merrie Melodies cartoons from black and white, to two-strip Technicolor in 1934, and finally to full three-strip Technicolor in 1936. The Looney Tunes series would be produced in black-and-white for much longer, because of the limited spacing conditions in the Schlesinger building at 1351 N. From 1936 until 1944, animation directors and animators such as Freleng, Avery, Clampett, Jones, Arthur Davis, Robert McKimson, and Frank Tashlin worked at the studio. During this period, these creators introduced several of the most popular characters to date, including Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Bugs Bunny. A few months earlier he banished all unionized employees in what became known in retrospective as the Looney Tune Lockout, by 1942, the Schlesinger studio had surpassed Walt Disney Productions as the most successful producer of animated shorts in the United States. Between 1942 and 1945, the Schelsinger studio produced a number of films for the United States military in support of its efforts in World War II, in 1944, Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. which renamed the company Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. and Edward Selzer, was appointed by Warner Bros. as the new head of the studio after Schlesinger retired. In September 1944 Frank Tashlin left, and in October 1946, tashlins unit was initially taken over by Robert McKimson who later took over Clampetts unit
5.
Looney Tunes
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Looney Tunes is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. from 1930 to 1969 during the golden age of American animation, alongside its sister series Merrie Melodies. Coyote and the Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and many others and these characters themselves are commonly referred to as the Looney Tunes. From 1942 to 1964, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were the most popular animated shorts in movie theaters, many of the characters have made and continue to make cameo appearances in various other television shows, movies and advertisements. The most popular Looney Tunes character, Bugs Bunny, is regarded as an icon and has his own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Several Looney Tunes films are regarded as some of the greatest animated cartoons of all time, in the beginning, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies drew their storylines from Warners vast music library. From 1934 to 1943, Merrie Melodies were produced in color and Looney Tunes in black, after 1943, both series were produced in color and became virtually indistinguishable, varying only in their opening theme music and titles. Both series made use of the various Warner Bros. cartoon characters, in 1929, to compete against Walt Disneys Mickey Mouse short cartoons, WB became interested in developing a series of animated shorts to promote their music. They had recently acquired Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US $28 million and were eager to promote this material for the sales of sheet music, Warner made a deal with Leon Schlesinger to produce cartoons for them. Schlesinger hired Rudolf Ising and Hugh Harman to produce the first series of cartoons, Schlesinger was impressed by Harmans and Isings 1929 pilot cartoon, Bosko, The Talk-Ink Kid. The first Looney Tunes short was Sinkin in the Bathtub starring Bosko, when Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933 over a budget dispute with Schlesinger, they took with them all the rights of the characters and cartoons they had created. In 1935 they debuted the first major Looney Tunes star, Porky Pig, Beans was the star of the next Porky/Beans cartoon Golddiggers of 49, but it was Porky who emerged as the star instead of Beans. The ensemble characters of I Havent Got a Hat, such as Oliver Owl, and twin dogs Ham and Ex, were given a sampling of shorts. Beans was later phased out when his popularity declined, leaving Porky as the star of the Schlesinger studio. The debuts of other memorable Looney Tunes stars followed, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Bugs initially starred in the color Merrie Melodies shorts and formally joined the Looney Tunes series with the release of Buckaroo Bugs in 1944. Schlesinger began to phase in the production of color Looney Tunes with the 1942 cartoon The Hep Cat, the final black-and-white Looney Tunes short was Puss n Booty in 1943 directed by Frank Tashlin. The inspiration for the changeover was Warners decision to only the color cartoons in the Blue Ribbon Classics series of Merrie Melodies. Schlesinger sold his interest in the studio in 1944 to Warner Bros. and went into retirement. During the mid-late 1960s, the shorts were produced by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, the change in the introductory title cards was possibly to reflect the switch in the animation style of the shorts themselves
6.
Merrie Melodies
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Merrie Melodies is an American animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. between 1931 and 1969, during the golden age of American animation. As with its parent series, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies featured some of the most famous cartoon characters ever created, including Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and Elmer Fudd. Merrie Melodies was originally produced by Harman-Ising Pictures from 1931 to 1933, Schlesinger sold his studio to Warner Bros. in 1944, and the newly renamed Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies was outsourced to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Format Films from 1964 to 1967, cartoons resumed production for the series final two years. Three of the Merrie Melodies films won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, in 2013, TV Guide ranked the Warner Bros. Cartoons the third Greatest Cartoon of All Time, producer Leon Schlesinger had already produced one cartoon in the Looney Tunes series, based on music, and its success prompted him to try to sell a sister series to Warner Bros. His selling point was that the new cartoons would feature music from the soundtracks of Warner Bros. films and would serve as advertisements for Warner Bros. recordings. The studio agreed, and Schlesinger dubbed the series Merrie Melodies, walt Disney Productions had already scored with their Silly Symphonies. Since cartoon production usually began with a soundtrack, animating a piece of music made it easier to plot elements. The origins of the Merrie Melodies series begin with the failure of an action series of musical shorts called Spooney Melodies. These shorts were basically a type of music video that included segments with a popular artist singing along with appropriate background sequences. Warner Bros. wanted to promote this music because they had acquired the ownership of Brunswick Records along with four music publishers for US $28 million. Because of the success of their Looney Tunes series, Warner Bros. decided to develop a new series of animated shorts called Merrie Melodies. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising led the development and it was meant to be a series of musical cartoons that featured hit songs of the day, especially those then owned by Warner Bros. and featured in their musical films. In 1931, many of the featured the orchestra of Abe Lyman. The first cartoon of the new Merrie Melodies series was Lady, Ising attempted to introduce several characters in his Merrie Melodies films, such as Piggy, Foxy, and Goopy Geer. Eventually however, the series continued without any recurring characters, the shorts proved to be enormously popular with the public. In 1932, a Merrie Melodies cartoon, entitled Its Got Me Again. was nominated for the first Academy Award to be given for animation, when Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. in 1933, they took with them all rights to the characters they had created
7.
Animated cartoon
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Animated cartoons are still created for commercial, educational, and personal purposes to this day. The first animated projection was created in France, by Charles-Émile Reynaud, Reynaud created the Praxinoscope in 1877 and the Théâtre Optique in December 1888. On 28 October 1892, he projected the first animation in public, Pauvre Pierrot and this film is also notable as the first known instance of film perforations being used. His films were not photographed, but drawn directly onto the transparent strip, in 1900, more than 500,000 people had attended these screenings. The first animated projection was Humorous Phases of Funny Faces by newspaper cartoonist J. Stuart Blackton, in the movie, a cartoonists line drawings of two faces were animated on a blackboard. The two faces smiled and winked, and the man blew smoke in the ladys face, also. The first animated projection in the sense was Fantasmagorie by the French director Émile Cohl in 1908. This was followed by two films, Le Cauchemar du fantoche and Un Drame chez les fantoches, all completed in 1908. One of the very first successful animated cartoons was Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay and it is considered the first example of true character animation. At first, animated cartoons were black-and-white and silent, felix the Cat and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit are notable examples. From the 1920s to 1960s, theatrical cartoons were produced in huge numbers, MGM, and UPA were the largest studios producing these 5- to 10-minute shorts. Other studios included Walter Lantz, DePatie-Freleng, Charles Mintz Studios, Famous Studios, the first cartoon to use a soundtrack was in 1926 with Max Fleischers My Old Kentucky Home. However the Fleischers used a De Forest sound system and the sound was not completely synchronized with the film, walt Disneys 1928 cartoon Steamboat Willie starring Mickey Mouse was the first to use a click track during the recording session, which produced better synchronism. Mickey Mousing became a term for any action that was perfectly synchronized with music. The music used is original most of the time, but musical quotation is often employed, animated characters usually performed the action in loops, i. e. drawings were repeated over and over. Although other producers had made films earlier using 2-strip color, Disney produced the first cartoon in 3-strip Technicolor, Flowers and Trees, technicians at the Fleischer studio invented rotoscoping, in which animators trace live action in order to make animation look more realistic. However, rotoscoping made the animation look stiff and the technique was used more for studying human and animal movement. Today, traditional animation uses traditional methods, but is aided by computers in certain areas and this gives the animator new tools not available that could not be achieved using old techniques
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Bugs Bunny
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Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character, created in 1940 by Leon Schlesinger Productions and voiced originally by the legendary vocal artist, Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his roles in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of animated short films. His popularity during this era led to his becoming an American cultural icon, Bugs is an anthropomorphic gray hare or rabbit who is famous for his flippant, insouciant personality, a Brooklyn accent, his portrayal as a trickster, and his catch phrase Eh. Whats up, doc. usually spoken while chewing a carrot, since his debut, Bugs has appeared in various short films, feature films, compilations, TV series, music records, comic books, video games, award shows, amusement park rides, and commercials. He has also appeared in more films than any other character, is the ninth most-portrayed film personality in the world. In those days, the stories were often the work of a group who suggested various gags, bounced them around and finalized them in a joint story conference. A rabbit with some of the personality of Bugs, though looking very different, was featured in the film Porkys Hare Hunt. It was co-directed by Ben Bugs Hardaway and an uncredited Cal Dalton and this cartoon has an almost identical plot to Averys Porkys Duck Hunt, which had introduced Daffy Duck. Porky Pig is again cast as a hunter tracking a silly prey who is interested in driving his pursuer insane. Hare Hunt replaces the black duck with a small white rabbit. The rabbit introduces himself with the odd expression Jiggers, fellers, Hare Hunt also gives its rabbit the famous Groucho Marx line, Of course you realize, this means war. The rabbit character was popular enough with audiences that the Termite Terrace staff decided to use it again, according to Friz Freleng, Hardaway and Dalton had decided to dress the duck in a rabbit suit. The white rabbit had a head and a shapeless body. In characterization, he was a rural buffoon and he was loud, zany with a goofy, guttural laugh. Blanc provided him with a hayseed voice, the rabbit comes back in Prest-O Change-O, directed by Chuck Jones, where he is the pet rabbit of unseen character Sham-Fu the Magician. Two dogs, fleeing the local dogcatcher, enter his absent masters house, the rabbit harasses them but is ultimately bested by the bigger of the two dogs. This version of the rabbit was cool, graceful, and controlled and he retained the guttural laugh but was otherwise silent. The rabbits third appearance comes in Hare-um Scare-um, directed again by Dalton and this cartoon—the first in which he is depicted as a gray bunny instead of a white one—is also notable as the rabbits first singing role
9.
Daffy Duck
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Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character produced by Warner Bros. Daffy was number 14 on TV Guides list of top 50 best cartoon characters and was featured on one of the four covers as Duck Dodgers with Porky Pig. Daffy first appeared in Porkys Duck Hunt, released on April 17,1937, the cartoon was directed by Tex Avery and animated by Bob Clampett. Clampett later recalled, At that time, audiences werent accustomed to seeing a cartoon character do these things, and so, when it hit the theaters it was an explosion. People would leave the theaters talking about this daffy duck and this early Daffy is less anthropomorphic and resembles a normal black duck. In fact, the aspects of the character that have remained consistent through the years are his voice characterization by Mel Blanc. Blancs characterization of Daffy holds the record for the longest characterization of one animated character by his or her original actor,52 years. The origin of Daffys voice is a matter of some debate, One often-repeated official story is that it was modeled after producer Leon Schlesingers tendency to lisp. However, in Mel Blancs autobiography, Thats Not All Folks and he contradicts that conventional belief, writing, It seemed to me that such an extended mandible would hinder his speech, particularly on words containing an s sound. Daffys slobbery, exaggerated lisp was developed over time, and it is noticeable in the early cartoons. In Daffy Duck & Egghead, Daffy does not lisp at all except in the separately drawn set-piece of Daffy singing The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down in which just a slight lisp can be heard. In The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Daffy has a name, Dumas as the writer of a swashbuckling script. Also, in the Baby Looney Tunes episode The Tattletale, Granny addresses Daffy as Daffy Horatio Tiberius Duck, in The Looney Tunes Show, the joke middle names Armando and Sheldon are used. Virtually every Warner Bros. cartoon director put his own spin on the Daffy Duck character – he may be a vigilante in one short. Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones both made use of these two very different versions of the character. Tex Avery and Bob Clampett created the version of Daffy in 1937. Daffy established his status by jumping into the water, hopping around, animator Bob Clampett immediately seized upon the Daffy Duck character and cast him in a series of cartoons in the 1930s and 1940s. The early Daffy is a wild and zany screwball, perpetually bouncing around the screen with cries of Hoo-hoo, Clampett physically redesigned the character, making him taller and lankier and rounding out his feet and bill
10.
Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner
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Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner are a duo of characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. In the cartoons, the Coyote repeatedly attempts to catch and subsequently eat the Road Runner, a ground bird. The characters were created by animation director Chuck Jones in 1948 for Warner Bros. while the template for their adventures was the work of writer Michael Maltese, the characters star in a long-running series of theatrical cartoon shorts and occasional made-for-television cartoons. It was originally meant to parody chase cartoons like Tom and Jerry, the Coyote appears separately as an occasional antagonist of Bugs Bunny in five shorts from 1952 to 1963, Operation, Rabbit, To Hare Is Human, Rabbits Feat, Compressed Hare, and Hare-Breadth Hurry. The Road Runner vocalizes only with a sound, Beep, Beep, recorded by Paul Julian. To date,48 cartoons have been made featuring these characters, TV Guide included Wile E. Coyote in its 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. Jones based the Coyote on Mark Twains book Roughing It, in which Twain described the coyote as a long, slim, sick and sorry-looking skeleton that is a living, breathing allegory of Want. Jones said he created the Coyote-Road Runner cartoons as a parody of traditional cat and mouse such as MGMs Tom and Jerry. Jones modelled the Coyotes appearance on fellow animator Ken Harris, the Coyotes name of Wile E. is a pun of the word wily. The E stands for Ethelbert in one issue of a Looney Tunes comic book, the Coyotes surname is routinely pronounced with a long e, but in one cartoon short, To Hare Is Human, Wile E. is heard pronouncing it with a diphthong. Early model sheets for the prior to his initial appearance identified him as Don Coyote. The series consists of,48 shorts, mostly about 6 to 7 minutes long, one feature-length film that combines live action and animation. Flash in the Pain was shown at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival on June 10,2014. 4Actual Latin name of the greater roadrunner, Wile E. follows the instructions in a manual titled How to Build a Burmese Tiger Trap. In Soup or Sonic, the beep, beep of the Road Runner is also given the pseudo-Latin name beepus-beepus. It might also be noted that in this cartoon, Wile E. finally catches the Road Runner, however, recovering from the shock, he then turns to the viewer and holds up a sign reading, Okay wise guys, you always wanted me to catch him. The desert scenery in the first two Road Runner cartoons, Fast and Furry-ous and Beep, Beep, was designed by Robert Gribbroek and was quite realistic, in most later cartoons the scenery was designed by Maurice Noble and was far more abstract. In The Wild Chase, featuring a race between the Road Runner and Speedy Gonzales, it is stated that the Road Runner is from Texas and that suggests that most of the Road Runner and Coyote cartoons could take place in Texas. Gosh. through Guided Muscle the scenery was semi-realistic with an offwhite sky, gravity-defying rock formations appeared in Ready, Set, Zoom
11.
Porky Pig
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Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and he was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his star power, and the animators created many critically acclaimed shorts using the fat little pig. Even after he was supplanted by later characters, Porky continued to be popular with moviegoers and, more importantly, the Warners directors and he is known for his signature line at the end of each short, Th-th-th-thats all folks. The slogan had also used by both Bosko and Buddy and even Beans at the end of every Looney Tunes cartoon. In contrast, the Merrie Melodies series used the slogan, So Long and he is the oldest continuing Looney Tunes character. Porkys most distinctive trait is a stutter, for which he sometimes compensates by replacing his words, for example. In the ending of many Looney Tunes cartoons, Porky Pig bursts through a drum head. Porky Pig would appear in 153 cartoons in the Golden Age of American animation, the character was introduced in the short I Havent Got a Hat, directed by Friz Freleng. Studio head Leon Schlesinger suggested that Freleng do a version of the popular Our Gang films. Porky only has a role in the film, but the fat little stuttering pig quickly became popular. Porkys name came from two brothers who were classmates of Freleng, nicknamed Porky and Piggy. Since Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising had left the studio in 1933, taking the studios star character Bosko with them, Porkys introduction ushered Buddy out the door and pointed to things to come. Tex Avery was hired to the studio in 1935, and his film Gold Diggers of 49 reused much of the cast from I Havent Got a Hat, Porky transitioned from a shy little boy to an immensely fat adult. Though he was still in a role, Porky got most of the laughs. The directors realized they had a star on their hands, Porky shared his stutter with the voice actor who originally played him, Joe Dougherty, who actually did have a stuttering problem. Because Dougherty could not control his stutter, however, production became too high as his recording sessions took hours. The versatile Mel Blanc replaced Dougherty in 1937, Blanc continued the stutter, however, it was harnessed for a more precise comedic effect. This is parodied in A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthurs Court, where Bugs Bunny struggles to pronounce the word porcupine, Porkys Duck Hunt was released in 1937, and Blanc officially became the permanent voice of Porky until his death in 1989
12.
Michigan J. Frog
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Michigan J. Frog is an animated cartoon character who debuted in the Merrie Melodies cartoon One Froggy Evening, written by Michael Maltese and directed by Chuck Jones. He appeared in a cartoon titled Another Froggy Evening which was released on October 6,1995. The frogs earliest name was Enrico, as given in The Bugs Bunny Show, the characters later, enduring name comes from the song The Michigan Rag, which he sings in the cartoon. Information in the Internet Movie Database confirms what the DVD covered, in Another Froggy Evening, his voice was provided by Jeff McCarthy. Michigan J. Frog made a appearance in the Wabbit episode Misjudgement Day voiced by Jeff Bergman. He appears at the end of the episode as the one who sent one of his robots to destroy Bugs Bunny, Michigan J. Frog, again voiced by McCarthy, was the official mascot of The WB Television Network from its inception in 1995 until 2005. The networks first night of programming on January 11,1995 began with Bugs Bunny, the camera then panned over to Chuck Jones drawing Michigan on an easel, when Jones finished, Michigan leapt from the drawing to formally launch The WB. Michigan also would appear before the opening of shows, informing the viewer of the TV rating. In later shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, the announcer will present a TV-PG disclaimer though the frog still appears as a neon sign. On July 22,2005, Michigans death was announced by WB Network Chairman Garth Ancier at a fall season preview with the terse statement The frog is dead and buried. The head of programming for the WB Network, David Janollari, thats not the image we want to put out to our audience. Various humorous obituaries for the mascot were published with details on Michigans life and his dates were given as December 31,1955 - July 22,2005. Also, WMJF, a small television station at Towson University just outside Baltimore, Maryland. A neon likeness of Michigan J. Frog also adorns the facade of former WB affiliate WBNX-TVs studio complex in Cuyahoga Falls, ma Baby Im Just Wild About Harry The Michigan Rag Come Back to Éireann Throw Him Down McCloskey Won’t You Come Over to My House
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
14.
Dr. Seuss
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Theodor Seuss Geisel was an American writer, cartoonist, animator, book publisher, and artist best known for authoring childrens books under the pen name Dr. Seuss. His work includes several of the most popular books of all time, selling over 600 million copies. Geisel adopted his Dr. Seuss pen name during his university studies at Dartmouth College and he left Oxford in 1927 to begin his career as an illustrator and cartoonist for Vanity Fair, Life, and various other publications. He also worked as an illustrator for advertising campaigns, most notably for Flit and Standard Oil and he published his first childrens book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street in 1937. After the war, Geisel focused on books, writing classics such as If I Ran the Zoo. If I Ran the Circus, The Cat in the Hat and he published over 60 books during his career, which have spawned numerous adaptations, including 11 television specials, four feature films, a Broadway musical, and four television series. He won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958 for Horton Hatches the Egg, Geisels birthday, March 2, has been adopted as the annual date for National Read Across America Day, an initiative on reading created by the National Education Association. Geisel was born and raised in Springfield, Massachusetts, the son of Henrietta, all four of his grandparents were German immigrants. His father managed the brewery and was later appointed to supervise Springfields public park system by Mayor John A. Denison after the brewery closed because of Prohibition. Mulberry Street in Springfield, made famous in Dr. Seuss first childrens book And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street, is less than a mile southwest of his home on Fairfield Street. He enrolled at Springfield Central High School in 1917 and graduated in 1921 and he took an art class as a freshman and later became manager of the school soccer team. Geisel attended Dartmouth College, graduating in 1925, at Dartmouth, he joined the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity and the humor magazine Dartmouth Jack-O-Lantern, eventually rising to the rank of editor-in-chief. While at Dartmouth, he was caught drinking gin with nine friends in his room, at the time, the possession and consumption of alcohol was illegal under Prohibition laws, which remained in place between 1920 and 1933. As a result of this infraction, Dean Craven Laycock insisted that Geisel resign from all extracurricular activities, to continue work on the Jack-O-Lantern without the administrations knowledge, Geisel began signing his work with the pen name Seuss. He was encouraged in his writing by professor of rhetoric W. Benfield Pressey, upon graduating from Dartmouth, he entered Lincoln College, Oxford intending to earn a PhD in English literature. At Oxford, he met Helen Palmer, who encouraged him to give up becoming an English teacher in favor of pursuing drawing as a career. Making use of his time in Europe, he pitched a series of cartoons called Eminent Europeans to Life magazine and his first nationally published cartoon appeared in the July 16,1927 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. This single $25 sale encouraged Geisel to move from Springfield to New York City, later that year, Geisel accepted a job as writer and illustrator at the humor magazine Judge, and he felt financially stable enough to marry Helen
15.
Academy Awards
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The various category winners are awarded a copy of a golden statuette, officially called the Academy Award of Merit, which has become commonly known by its nickname Oscar. The awards, first presented in 1929 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, are overseen by AMPAS, the awards ceremony was first broadcast on radio in 1930 and televised for the first time in 1953. It is now live in more than 200 countries and can be streamed live online. The Academy Awards ceremony is the oldest worldwide entertainment awards ceremony and its equivalents – the Emmy Awards for television, the Tony Awards for theater, and the Grammy Awards for music and recording – are modeled after the Academy Awards. The 89th Academy Awards ceremony, honoring the best films of 2016, were held on February 26,2017, at the Dolby Theatre, in Los Angeles, the ceremony was hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and was broadcast on ABC. A total of 3,048 Oscars have been awarded from the inception of the award through the 88th, the first Academy Awards presentation was held on May 16,1929, at a private dinner function at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel with an audience of about 270 people. The post-awards party was held at the Mayfair Hotel, the cost of guest tickets for that nights ceremony was $5. Fifteen statuettes were awarded, honoring artists, directors and other participants in the industry of the time. The ceremony ran for 15 minutes, winners were announced to media three months earlier, however, that was changed for the second ceremony in 1930. Since then, for the rest of the first decade, the results were given to newspapers for publication at 11,00 pm on the night of the awards. The first Best Actor awarded was Emil Jannings, for his performances in The Last Command and he had to return to Europe before the ceremony, so the Academy agreed to give him the prize earlier, this made him the first Academy Award winner in history. With the fourth ceremony, however, the system changed, for the first six ceremonies, the eligibility period spanned two calendar years. At the 29th ceremony, held on March 27,1957, until then, foreign-language films had been honored with the Special Achievement Award. The 74th Academy Awards, held in 2002, presented the first Academy Award for Best Animated Feature, since 1973, all Academy Awards ceremonies always end with the Academy Award for Best Picture. The Academy also awards Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, see also § Awards of Merit categories The best known award is the Academy Award of Merit, more popularly known as the Oscar statuette. The five spokes represent the branches of the Academy, Actors, Writers, Directors, Producers. The model for the statuette is said to be Mexican actor Emilio El Indio Fernández, sculptor George Stanley sculpted Cedric Gibbons design. The statuettes presented at the ceremonies were gold-plated solid bronze
16.
For Scent-imental Reasons
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For Scent-imental Reasons is a Warner Bros. Looney Tunes short released in 1949 and it was directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and featured the characters Pepé Le Pew and Penelope Pussycat. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and it was the first Chuck Jones directed cartoon to win this award. The owner of a shop in Paris is horrified to find a skunk, Pepé Le Pew. A strong and powerful gendarme, also repelled by the odor, is of no help, the perfumer notices a black female cat, and with rage flings her into the store and demands her to Remove that skunk, that polecat pole from the premises. The cat slides into the shop, hitting a bureau and causing a bottle of white dye to spill and run down her back, Pepé Le Pew sees her and immediately mistakes her for a skunk. The cat smells Pepés odor and immediately tries to run away, as she attempts to wiggle free from Pepés embrace, he makes comments like, it is love at sight first, no. and we will make beautiful music together. She breaks free and attempts to wash the stripe and the smell off but is unsuccessful and she runs to a window and tries to open it, but it is stuck. She finally takes refuge inside a glass cabinet, much to Pepés chagrin. Pepé first tries to lure her out sweetly, then demands that she out of the cabinet. She refuses, indicating that it is due to his odor, Pepé Le Pew becomes saddened, pulls out a gun, walks out of sight and fires the weapon, presumably killing himself. Panicked, the cat out to save him, only to run directly into Pepés arms. He tells her, I missed, fortunately for you, the chase continues until Pepé finds the cat on the windowsill. He believes that she is trying to prove her love for him by committing suicide, Pepé grabs for her, but she slips through his arms. Pepé then calls out, Vive lamour, we die together, the cat falls into a barrel of water under a rain-spout, while Pepé lands in a can of blue paint. The water washes the white stripe off the cat, and also gives her a cold, when Pepé climbs out he is blue. He sees the ragged-looking, sneezing wet cat but does not recognize her and he wanders off to find the beautiful young lady skunk. The soaked black cat watches his blue form walking away and she falls for him, when Pepé goes back into the perfume shop to look for the female skunk, he hears the door shut and the lock click behind him
17.
The Dot and the Line
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The Dot and the Line, A Romance in Lower Mathematics is a book written and illustrated by Norton Juster, first published by Random House in 1963. The story was inspired by Flatland, A Romance of Many Dimensions, in which the protagonist visits a universe called Lineland. The Dot and the Line won the 1965 Academy Award for Animated Short Film and it was entered into the Short Film Palme dOr competition at the 1966 Cannes Film Festival. The cartoon was released as a feature on The Glass Bottom Boat DVD in 2005. In 2005, Robert Xavier Rodriguez made a setting of the book for narrator and chamber ensemble with projected images. The story details a straight line who is hopelessly in love with a dot, the dot, finding the line to be stiff, dull, and conventional, turns her affections toward a wild and unkempt squiggle. The squiggle then takes advantage of the lines stiffness by reminding him hes a lot more fun for the dot. The lines friends try to get him to settle down with another female line and he tries to dream of greatness until he finally understands what the squiggle meant and decides that he needs to be more unconventional. Willing to do whatever it takes to win the dots affection and he works to refine this new ability, creating shapes so complex that he has to label his sides and angles in order to keep his place. When competing again, the claims that the line still has nothing to show for the dot. He proves his rival wrong and is able to show the dot what shes really worth with him and she realizes that she has made a mistake after seeing what the line was really offering her. The dot wondered what she had thought she saw in the squiggle to be freedom and joy was nothing more than chaos, the squiggle tries to reclaim her love, but finds himself out of shape. Fed up, the dot tells him off how she feels about him. She leaves with the line, having realized that he has more to offer. The Dot and the Line served as the inspiration for a collection of jewelry by designer Jane A. Gordon. The short film also inspired The Dot and Line, a blog that publishes essays about cartoons and interviews with actors and creators like Fred Seibert, Natalie Palamides. This was one of only two non-Tom and Jerry animated short subjects to be released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer post-1958, the other one is The Bear That Wasnt, released in 1967 as the last-ever MGM animated short. The Dot and the Line won the award for an animated short for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
18.
Leonard Maltin
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Leonard Michael Maltin is an American film critic and historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is known as a critic for the major studios, for writing the shortest review in the U. S. Maltin was born in New York City, son of singer Jacqueline, and Aaron Isaac Maltin and he is married to researcher and producer Alice Tlusty. He has one daughter, Jessica Bennett Maltin, born in 1986, Maltin grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, and graduated from Teaneck High School in 1968. He described his relationship with film critic Roger Ebert as friendly. Maltin began his career at age fifteen, writing for Classic Images and editing and publishing his own fanzine, Film Fan Monthly. After earning a degree at New York University, Maltin went on to publish articles in a variety of film journals, newspapers. In the 1970s Maltin also reviewed recordings in the jazz magazine, starting May 29,1982, Maltin for 30 years was the movie reviewer on the syndicated television series Entertainment Tonight. He also appears on the Starz cable network, and hosted his own syndicated program, Leonard Maltin on Video. Maltin currently hosts a show called Secrets Out on ReelzChannel movie network. He also spearheaded the creation of the Walt Disney Treasures collectible DVD line in 2001, Maltin appeared on Pyramid twice as a celebrity player, in 1987 on the CBS $25,000 version, and in 1991 on the John Davidson version. He also appeared on Super Password as a celebrity guest in 1988, in the mid-1990s, Maltin became the president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and is on the Advisory Board of the Hollywood Entertainment Museum. For nearly a decade, Maltin was also on the faculty of the New School for Social Research in New York City and he currently teaches in the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. The statement had appeared in print in Maltins annual movie guide for nearly 25 years before Maltin publicly apologized for the error, Maltin currently hosts The Maltin Minute for DirecTV customers. He also wrote the introduction for The Complete Peanuts, 1983–1984, in 1990, he took a look at the MGM years of The Three Stooges in a film called The Lost Stooges, available on a made-to-order DVD through the Warner Archive Collection. He was the host of Treasures From the Disney Vault on Turner Classic Movies and his own gigantic form was reminiscent of Ultraman with his initials on his chest. He also appeared as himself in Gremlins 2, The New Batch and this was spoofed in the Mad magazine parody of Gremlins 2. He also made an appearance on the cartoon show Freakazoid, where he voiced himself, only to be abducted by monsters
19.
Bob Clampett
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Clampett was born and raised not far from Hollywood, and early on expressed an interest in animation and puppetry. Among Clampetts most acclaimed films are Porky in Wackyland, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, Cartoons in 1946 and turned his attention to television, creating the famous puppet show Time for Beany in 1949. A later animated version of the series, titled Beany and Cecil, well-loved by millions, the animated series carried the byline a Bob Clampett Cartoon. In his later years, Clampett toured college campuses and animation festivals as a lecturer on the history of animation and his Warner cartoons have seen renewed praise in decades since for their surrealistic qualities, energetic and outrageous animation, and irreverent humor. Animation historian Jerry Beck lauded Clampett for putting the word looney in Looney Tunes, Robert Emerson Clampett was born in San Diego, California on May 8,1913. Clampett was displaying extraordinary art skills by the age of five, while living in Hollywood as a young boy, Clampett and his mother Joan lived next door to Charlie Chaplin and his brother Syd. Clampett also recalled watching his father play handball at the Los Angeles Athletic Club with another of the great silent comedians, from his early teens Clampett showed an interest in animation and puppetry. In high school, Clampett drew a comic about the nocturnal adventures of a pussycat. King Features took note and offered Clampett a cartoonists contract to begin a seventy-five dollars a week after high school, King Features allowed Clampett to work in their Los Angeles art department on Saturdays and vacations during high school. On occasion, King Features would print one of Clampetts cartoons for encouragement, in addition, they paid his way through Otis Art Institute, where Clampett learned to paint with oils and to sculpt. Clampett attended both Glendale High School and Hoover High School in Glendale, California but left Hoover a few months short of graduating in 1931, afterwards, Clampett found a job working at a doll factory owned by his aunt, Charlotte Clark. Clark was looking for an item to sell and Clampett suggested Mickey Mouse due to growing popularity. Unable to find a drawing of the character anywhere, Clampett took his sketchpad to the movies, Clark was concerned with the copyright, so the two drove to the Disney studio. Walt and Roy Disney were delighted and they set up a business not far from the Disney studio, I helped him load the dolls in the car. One time his car, loaded with Mickeys, wouldnt start, and I pushed while Walt steered, until it caught, and he took off. Clampett was, in his words, so enchanted by the new medium of cartoons that he instead joined Harman-Ising Studios in 1931 for ten dollars a week. Schlesinger viewed one of Clampetts 16mm films and was impressed, offering him an assistant position at the studio and his first job was animating secondary characters in the first Merrie Melodie, Lady, Play Your Mandolin. The same year, Clampett began attending story meetings after submitting an idea used for Smile, Darn Ya
20.
Ub Iwerks
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Ubbe Eert Ub Iwerks, A. S. C. was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician, who created Oswald the Lucky Rabbit and Mickey Mouse with Walt Disney. The works Iwerks produced alongside Disney went on to win numerous awards and he was born in Kansas City, Missouri. His father, Eert Ubbe Iwerks, immigrated to the U. S. in 1869 from the village of Uttum in East Frisia, Ubs full name can be seen on early Alice shorts that he signed. Several years later he simplified his name to Ub Iwerks, sometimes written as U. B and he is the father of Disney Legend Don Iwerks and grandfather to documentary film producer Leslie Iwerks. Iwerks was considered by many to be Walt Disneys oldest friend, the two met in 1919 while working for the Pesmen-Rubin Art Studio in Kansas City, and would eventually start their own commercial art business together. Disney and Iwerks then found work as illustrators for the Kansas City Slide Newspaper Company, while working for the Kansas City Film Ad Company, Disney decided to take up work in animation, and Iwerks soon joined him. He was responsible for the style of the earliest Disney animated cartoons. In 1922, when Disney began his Laugh-O-Gram cartoon series, Iwerks joined him as chief animator, after the end of this series, Disney asked Iwerks to come up with a new character. The first Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was animated entirely by Iwerks, following the first cartoon, Oswald was redesigned on the insistence of Universal, who agreed to distribute the new series of cartoons in 1927. In spring 1928, Disney lost control of the Oswald character and he promised never to work with a character he did not own ever again. Disney asked Iwerks, who stayed on, to start drawing up new character ideas, Iwerks tried sketches of frogs, dogs, and cats, but none of these appealed to Disney. A female cow and male horse were created at this time by Iwerks and they would later turn up as Clarabelle Cow and Horace Horsecollar. Ub Iwerks eventually got inspiration from an old drawing, in 1925, Hugh Harman drew some sketches of mice around a photograph of Walt Disney. Then, on a ride back from a failed business meeting. Afterwards, Disney took the sketch to Iwerks, in turn, he drew a more clean cut and refined version of Mickey, but one that still followed the original sketch. The first few Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies cartoons were animated almost entirely by Iwerks, including Steamboat Willie, the Iwerks Studio opened in 1930. Financial backers led by Pat Powers suspected that Iwerks was responsible for much of Disneys early success, however, while animation for a time suffered at Disney from Iwerks departure, it soon rebounded as Disney brought in talented new young animators. The Flip and Willie cartoons were distributed on the home-movie market by Official Films in the 1940s
21.
Leon Schlesinger
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Leon Schlesinger was an American film producer, remembered for founding Leon Schlesinger Studios, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation and he was also a distant relative of the Warner Brothers. Schlesinger was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, after working at a theater as an usher, songbook agent, actor, and manager, he founded Pacific Title & Art Studio in 1919, where most of his business was producing title cards for silent films. As talking pictures replaced them in 1929 and 1930, Schlesinger looked for ways to capitalize on the new technology, some film historians claim that he helped finance the Warner Brothers first talkie, The Jazz Singer. Schlesinger was a businessman with a keen eye for talent. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. with Bosko in 1934, sunset Boulevard lot at the corner of Van Ness and Fernwood. He wooed animators away from other studios, including some of those who had departed with Harman, one of these was Friz Freleng, whom Schlesinger promoted to oversee production of Looney Tunes and to develop the sister series, Merrie Melodies. Frelengs talent quickly shone through, and Schlesingers hiring of Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and he later added Carl Stalling and Mel Blanc, and collectively these men created such famous characters as Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny. Schlesinger largely took a hands off approach to the animation unit, Schlesinger sold Pacific Title & Art Studio in 1935 to concentrate on his animation studio. Schlesingers hard-nosed business practices cannot be overstated and his animators worked in a dilapidated studio, and Schlesinger briefly shut down the studio in mid-1941 when unionized employees demanded a pay raise. On another occasion, he boycotted the Academy Awards for what he claimed was preferential treatment for the Walt Disney and he also farmed some of the Looney Tunes out to his brother-in-law, Ray Katz, for tax breaks. Schlesinger was also known for his lisp, one oft-repeated official story states that Mel Blanc patterned the voices of both Daffy Duck and Sylvester the cat on Schlesinger. However, in Mel Blancs autobiography, Thats Not All Folks and he contradicts that conventional belief, writing It seemed to me that such an extended mandible would hinder his speech, particularly on words containing an s sound. Daffys slobbery, exaggerated lisp was developed over time, animators who worked with Schlesinger also found him conceited and somewhat foppish, wearing too much cologne and dressing like a dandy. Leon Schlesinger appeared as himself in Frelengs short You Ought to Be in Pictures, in this short, Mel Blanc voices Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and all other characters, except Schlesinger who dubbed his voice because the studio did not have a sound camera. As with other Warner cartoon staffers, Schlesinger appeared in form in such cartoons as Hollywood Steps Out, Russian Rhapsody. Schlesinger remained head of the studio until 1944 when he sold his assets to Warner Bros. He continued to market the characters and headed Warners Theater Services unit until his death from an infection on Christmas Day,1949 at the age of 65
22.
Warner Bros.
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Entertainment Inc. – colloquially known as Warner Bros. or Warner Bros. It is one of the Big Six major American film studios, Warner Bros. is a member of the Motion Picture Association of America. The companys name originated from the four founding Warner brothers, Harry, Albert, Sam, Jack, the youngest, was born in London, Ontario. The three elder brothers began in the theater business, having acquired a movie projector with which they showed films in the mining towns of Pennsylvania. In the beginning, Sam and Albert Warner invested $150 to present Life of an American Fireman and they opened their first theater, the Cascade, in New Castle, Pennsylvania, in 1903. When the original building was in danger of being demolished, the modern Warner Bros. called the current building owners, the owners noted people across the country had asked them to protect it for its historical significance. In 1904, the Warners founded the Pittsburgh-based Duquesne Amusement & Supply Company, in 1912, Harry Warner hired an auditor named Paul Ashley Chase. By the time of World War I they had begun producing films, in 1918 they opened the first Warner Bros. studio on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. Sam and Jack produced the pictures, while Harry and Albert, along with their auditor and now controller Chase, handled finance and distribution in New York City. During World War I their first nationally syndicated film, My Four Years in Germany, on April 4,1923, with help from money loaned to Harry by his banker Motley Flint, they formally incorporated as Warner Brothers Pictures, Incorporated. The first important deal was the acquisition of the rights to Avery Hopwoods 1919 Broadway play, The Gold Diggers, however, Rin Tin Tin, a dog brought from France after World War I by an American soldier, established their reputation. Rin Tin Tin debuted in the feature Where the North Begins, the movie was so successful that Jack signed the dog to star in more films for $1,000 per week. Rin Tin Tin became the top star. Jack nicknamed him The Mortgage Lifter and the success boosted Darryl F. Zanucks career, Zanuck eventually became a top producer and between 1928 and 1933 served as Jacks right-hand man and executive producer, with responsibilities including day-to-day film production. More success came after Ernst Lubitsch was hired as head director, lubitschs film The Marriage Circle was the studios most successful film of 1924, and was on The New York Times best list for that year. Despite the success of Rin Tin Tin and Lubitsch, Warners remained a lesser studio, Sam and Jack decided to offer Broadway actor John Barrymore the lead role in Beau Brummel. The film was so successful that Harry signed Barrymore to a contract, like The Marriage Circle. By the end of 1924, Warner Bros. was arguably Hollywoods most successful independent studio, as the studio prospered, it gained backing from Wall Street, and in 1924 Goldman Sachs arranged a major loan
23.
Tex Avery
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Frederick Bean Tex Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, and director, known for producing animated cartoons during the golden age of American animation. His most significant work was for the Warner Bros, disneys cute and cuddly creatures, under Averys guidance, were transformed into unflappable wits like Bugs Bunny, endearing buffoons like Porky Pig, or dazzling crazies like Daffy Duck. Even the classic tale, a market that Disney had cornered, was appropriated by Avery. Averys style of directing encouraged animators to stretch the boundaries of the medium to do things in a cartoon that could not be done in the world of live-action film, an often-quoted line about Averys cartoons was, In a cartoon you can do anything. He also performed a great deal of work in his cartoons, usually throwaway bits. Avery was born to George Walton Avery and Mary Augusta Jessie in Taylor and his father was born in Alabama and his mother was born in Chickasaw County, Mississippi. His paternal grandparents were Needham Avery and his wife, Lucinda C and his maternal grandparents were Frederick Mumford Bean and his wife Minnie Edgar. His paternal great-grandparents were John Walton Avery and wife Elizabeth Brannon Avery, Avery, nicknamed Tex, Fred, and Texas, was born and raised in Taylor, Texas. Taylor was a town in the vicinity of Austin. Avery graduated in 1926 from North Dallas High School, a popular catchphrase at his school was Whats up, doc. which he would later utilize for Bugs Bunny in the 1940s. On January 1,1928, Avery arrived in Los Angeles and he spent the following months working in menial jobs. According to animation historian Michael Barrier, these jobs included working in a warehouse, working on the docks at night, loading fruits and vegetables and he began his animation career when hired by the short-lived Winkler studio. He was only an inker, inking cels for animated films in the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series. Avery then moved to a new studio, Universal S tudio Cartoons (later known as Walter Lantz Productions and he was again employed as an inker, but moved rapidly up the studios hierarchy. By 1930, Avery had been promoted to the position of animator, Avery at the start of his animation career continued being employed by the Walter Lantz Studio in the early 1930s. He worked on the majority of the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit cartoons from 1931 to 1935 and he is shown as animator on the original title card credits on the Oswald cartoons. He later claimed to have directed two cartoons during this time, during some office horseplay at the Lantz studio, a thumbtack flew into Averys left eye and caused him to lose his sight in that eye. Some speculate it was his lack of perception that gave him his unique look at animation
24.
Frank Tashlin
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Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, better known by his stage name Frank Tashlin, was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director. He was also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, Tashlin drifted from job to job after dropping out of high school in New Jersey at age 13. Tashlin joined Leon Schlesingers cartoon studio at Warner Bros. as an animator in 1933 and he used his free time to start his own comic strip in 1934 called Van Boring, inspired by former boss Van Beuren, which ran for three years. He signed his comic strip Tish Tash, and used the name for his cartoon credits. Tashlin was fired from the studio when he refused to give Schlesinger a cut of his comic strip revenues and he joined the Ub Iwerks studio in 1934. He moved to Hal Roachs studio in 1935 as a writer and he directed 16 or 17 shorts from 1936 to 1938. He was making 150 dollars a week, at one point he had an argument with studio manager Henry Binder and resigned. In 1938, he worked for Disney in the story department and he only made 50 dollars a week. Afterward, he served as manager at Columbia Pictures Screen Gems animation studio in 1941. He effectively ran the studio and hired many former Disney staffers who had left as a result of the Disney animators strike and he launched The Fox and the Crow series, one of the better products of the studio. He was fired over an argument with the executives of Columbia, Tashlin rejoined the Warner directors of Termite Terrace in 1943. One of his efforts was Porky Pigs Feat. He stayed with the studio during World War II and worked on numerous wartime shorts, shortly after he left Warner Bros. in September 1946, he directed some stop-motion puppet films for John Sutherland. Robert McKimson took over his Warners unit and his only Bugs Bunny shorts were The Unruly Hare and Hare Remover. The latter was also his last credit at Warner Bros, Martha Sigall described him as Here today, gone tomorrow. Now you see him, now you dont and that was Frank Tashlin, who would be working at Leon Schlesingers one day, and, suddenly, gone the next day. Tashlin moved on from animation in 1946 to become a gag writer for the Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball, and others and his live-action films still echo elements of his animation background, Tashlin peppered them with unlikely sight gags, breakneck pacing, and unexpected plot twists. Many of these have attained cult status, moreover, in the 1950s Tashlin came to the approving attention of French film magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, in reviews that the director dismissed as all this philosophical double-talk
25.
Sniffles
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Sniffles is an animated cartoon and comic-book character in the Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies series of cartoons and comics, director Chuck Jones created Sniffles as a potential new star for the studio in 1939. The character was designed by Disney veteran Charles Thorson, an old hand at designing cute characters for Disneys Silly Symphonies, thorsons design was highly derivative of a character he had designed for Disney in 1936, the country mouse from the Oscar-winning short The Country Cousin. Both the country mouse and Sniffles are, in a word, Sniffles head is almost as large as his body, which allows his infant-like face to dominate his look. He has large, baby-like eyes, a small bewhiskered nose, and his ears grow from the sides of his head, placed so as to hearken more to a human infant than to Disneys top star, Mickey Mouse. The character wears a sailor cap, a red shirt, blue pants, a yellow scarf. His fur is brown with markings on the face. Jones debuted the character in the 1939 short Naughty but Mice though he has nearly identical traits to the kitten in the 1938 short The Night Watchman. In Naughty but Mice, Sniffles has a cold and is searching for a remedy and he eventually stumbles upon an alcoholic cold medicine, drinks it, and becomes intoxicated. He then pals around with an electric shaver, which saves him from a hungry cat. Sniffles was played by voice actresses Gay Seabrook, Bernice Hansen, Jones went on to direct 12 cartoons featuring Sniffles, most of which showcase the naïveté of Sniffles by placing him in a dangerous world. For example, in Sniffles Takes a Trip, a drive into the country turns into a nightmare as Sniffles is constantly frightened and awed by his surroundings. Some of Sniffles films pair him with a character who accompanies the mouse into a sort of fantasyland where books and toys come to life. Others simply focus on the sweetness of the character. In Bedtime for Sniffles, for example, he struggles to stay awake into the wee hours on Christmas Eve in order to glimpse Santa Claus and this scene is a showcase for Jones facility of realizing character through facial expression. By the end of the series, Jones transformed Sniffles into an incessant chatterbox who serves more as a nuisance than a cute protagonist, for example, in The Unbearable Bear, Sniffles foils a robbery attempt by perpetually pestering the perpetrator. The mouses final cartoon was Hush My Mouse in 1946, Sniffles quickly faded into obscurity in the animation arena. However, he would find new life in the Looney Tunes, by now Sniffles had lost most of his animated film personality and was just a companion to Mary Jane as she explored something found in a garden or entered a sort of magical toyland
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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer cartoon studio
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Prior to forming its own cartoon studio, MGM released the work of independent animation producer Ub Iwerks, and later the Happy Harmonies series from Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising. The MGM cartoon studio was founded to replace Harman and Ising, after a slow start, the studio began to take off in 1940 after its short The Milky Way became the first non-Disney cartoon to win the Academy Award for Best Short Subjects, Cartoons. The studios roster of talent benefited from an exodus of animators from the Schlesinger and Disney studios, originally established and run by executive Fred Quimby, in 1955 William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the writer-directors of the Tom and Jerry cartoons, became the heads of the studio. The cartoon studio was closed on May 15,1957, at which time Hanna and Barbera took much of the staff to form their own company, Hanna-Barbera Productions. During the late 1920s, Walt Disney Productions had achieved huge popular, several other studios, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer among them, took note of Disneys success and began to look for ways to get Disney or compete. MGMs first foray into animation was the Flip the Frog cartoon series, the series was produced independently for Celebrity Pictures by Ub Iwerks, formerly the head animator at the Disney studio. Celebrity Pictures Pat Powers had hired Iwerks away from Disney with the promise of giving Iwerks his own studio, the first Flip the Frog cartoon, Fiddlesticks, was released in August 1930, and over two-dozen other Flip cartoons followed during the next three years. In 1933, the Flip character was dropped in favor of Willie Whopper, Willie Whopper failed to catch on, and MGM terminated its distribution deal with Iwerks and Powers, who had already begun distributing their Comi-Color cartoons on their own. Also following Harman and Ising from Schlesinger was Bosko, a character the duo had created for the Warner cartoons. The first entry in MGMs new Happy Harmonies cartoon series, The Discontented Canary, was completed in June 1934, the series continued for three years, moving from two-strip to three-strip Technicolor in 1935. The Happy Harmonies canon included a handful of entries starring Bosko, the directors worked separately on their own films, although both strived to create intricate films that would compete with Disneys award-winning Silly Symphonies. MGM retaliated in February 1937 by deciding to open their own cartoon studio, the movie also contained a sequence with Jimmy Durante interacting with an animated Mickey Mouse. In March 1937, MGM hired film sales executive Fred Quimby, among the holdovers from the Harman-Ising regime, William Hanna and Bob Allen were appointed as directors, and Carmen Maxwell became production manager. After spending some time headquartered in a house, the new MGM cartoon studio at Overland Ave. On October 14, the announced the hiring of 31 key men. Although it boasted a brand-new facility and good directors, the MGM cartoon studios first series was a failure, the Captain and the Kids, adapted from Rudolph Dirks Katzenjammer Kids characters, was licensed by MGM without input from its then-forming creative staff. Freleng, Hanna, and Allen, assigned to direct the Captain and the Kids cartoons, were unable to translate the Katzenjammer humor into animation, and the series folded after fifteen episodes. Only two of the Captain and the Kids shorts were produced in Technicolor, the thirteen were produced in black-and-white
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Hubie and Bertie
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Hubie and Bertie are animated cartoon mouse characters in the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons, Hubie and Bertie represent some of animator Chuck Jones earliest work that was intended to be funny rather than cute. All of their cartoons were given Blue Ribbon reissues, Jones introduced Hubie and Bertie in the short The Aristo-Cat, first released on June 19,1943. The plot of the cartoon would serve as the template for most future Hubie/Bertie outings and they tell the hungry cat that he is a lion and a bulldog his prey, leading to several painful encounters for the cat. Hubie and Bertie as designed by Jones are nearly identical mice with long snouts, large ears, the two are anthropomorphic, walking on their stubby hind legs and using their forelimbs as arms. They are primarily distinguished by their color, one is brown with a belly and face. Bertie has large teeth, and a habit of responding to Hubie with Yeah-yeah. Or snickering Riot. if Hubie has just proposed some scheme with comic potential, while historians differ on who voiced Bertie in the initial cartoon, Stan Freberg voiced him subsequently. Bertie made a cameo in Odor-able Kitty, Trap Happy Porky was their second appearance. Nameless, indistinguishable except for color, they appear only in the first act and they are silent except for a single Im only three and a half years old, and retreat when a cat shows up. Jones would repeat the theme of several more times in his Hubie and Bertie shorts, as in their third cartoon. This time, Jones has the mice exploit a cats stupidity by convincing him hes a lion and a dog is a moose he wants to eat. By the shorts end, the cat thinks hes a lion, the dog believes hes a pelican, the mice are here voiced by Mel Blanc and Stan Freberg. The short was followed by House Hunting Mice on September 6,1947, in the next cartoon, Mouse Wreckers, and for the remainder of the series, Blanc and Freberg would handle the voices of Hubie and Bertie, respectively. Jones introduced a permanent antagonist of sorts for the mice in Mouse Wreckers, the short was released in 1949 and was the first in which they are officially called Hubie and Bertie. In the cartoon, the duo moves into a new home, only to discover that it is protected by champion mouser Claude Cat, the mice torment the cat both physically and mentally. The short was nominated for an Academy Award, Hubie and Bertie have made several cameos in Warner Bros. productions. They play the public address announcers in the 1996 movie Space Jam and they have also appeared in Tiny Toon Adventures, The Sylvester and Tweety Mysteries, Tweetys High-Flying Adventure and Duck Dodgers
28.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
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Private Snafu
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Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional cartoon shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to service personnel about security, proper sanitation habits, booby traps and other military subjects. The series was directed by Chuck Jones and other prominent Hollywood animators, and the voice of Private Snafu was performed by Mel Blanc. The character was created by director Frank Capra, chairman of the U. S. Army Air Force First Motion Picture Unit, and most were written by Theodor Dr. Seuss Geisel, Philip D. Eastman, and Munro Leaf. Although the United States Army gave Walt Disney the first crack at creating the cartoons, Leon Schlesinger of the Warner Bros. animation studio underbid Disney by two-thirds, Disney had also demanded exclusive ownership of the character, and merchandising rights. The cartoons thus represented a multi-talent collaboration by some of Americas best in their respective fields, the goal was to help enlisted men with weak literacy skills learn through animated cartoons. They featured simple language, racy illustrations, mild profanity, Private Snafu did everything wrong, so that his negative example taught basic lessons about secrecy, disease prevention, and proper military protocols. Private Snafu cartoons were a military secret—for the armed forces only, surveys to ascertain the soldiers film favorites showed that the Snafu cartoons usually rated highest or second highest. Each cartoon was produced in six weeks, the shorts were classified government documents. Martha Sigall, employed at the ink and paint department, recalled the government security measures imposed on the working on them. They had to be fingerprinted and given FBI security clearances and they also had to wear identification badges at work. Workers at the ink and paint department were given only ten cels at a time in an effort to prevent them from figuring out the story content. The name Private Snafu comes from the military acronym SNAFU, with the opening narrator in the first cartoon merely hinting at its usual meaning as Situation Normal. The shorts did not have to be submitted for approval at the Production Code Administration, through his irresponsible behavior, Snafu demonstrates to soldiers what not to do while at war. In Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike, for example, Snafu neglects to take his malaria medications or to use his repellent, allowing a suave mosquito to get him in the end—literally. In Spies, Snafu leaks classified information a little at a time until the Axis enemies piece it together, ambush his transport ship, and literally blow him to hell. Six of Snafus shorts actually end with him being killed due to his stupidity, Spies, Booby Traps, The Goldbrick, A Lecture on Camouflage, Private Snafu vs. Malaria Mike, nine of the Snafu shorts feature a character named Technical Fairy, First Class. The Technical Fairy is a crass, unshaven, cigar-smoking miniature G. I. whose fairy wings bear the insignia of a sergeant, and who wears only socks, shorts
30.
Frank Capra
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Frank Russell Capra was an Italian-American film director, producer and writer who became the creative force behind some of the major award-winning films of the 1930s and 1940s. Born in Italy and raised in Los Angeles from the age of five, during World War II, Capra served in the U. S. Army Signal Corps and produced propaganda films, such as the Why We Fight series. After World War II, Capras career declined as his films such as Its a Wonderful Life. In succeeding decades, however, these films have been favorably reassessed, outside of directing, Capra was active in the film industry, engaging in various political and social issues. He served as President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, worked alongside the Screenwriters Guild, Capra was born Francesco Rosario Capra in Bisacquino, Sicily, a village near Palermo. He was the youngest of seven children of Salvatore Capra, a grower. The name Capra, notes Capras biographer Joseph McBride, represents his familys closeness to the land, and means goat. For Capra, the journey, which took 13 days, remained in his mind for the rest of his life as one of his worst experiences, very few people have trunks or anything that takes up space. They have just what they can carry in their hands or in a bag, theres no ventilation, and it stinks like hell. Its the most degrading place you could ever be, Capra remembers the ships arrival in New York Harbor, where he saw a statue of a great lady, taller than a church steeple, holding a torch above the land we were about to enter. He recalls his fathers exclamation at the sight, Ciccio, look, thats the greatest light since the star of Bethlehem. The family settled in Los Angeless East Side which Capra described in his autobiography as an Italian ghetto, Capras father worked as a fruit picker and young Capra sold newspapers after school for 10 years, until he graduated from high school. Instead of working after graduating, as his parents wanted, he enrolled in college and he studied chemical engineering and graduated in the spring of 1918. Capra later wrote that his education had changed his whole viewpoint on life from the viewpoint of an alley rat to the viewpoint of a cultured person. Soon after graduating college, Capra was commissioned in the US Army as a second lieutenant, in the Army, he taught mathematics to artillerymen at Fort Point, San Francisco. His father died during the war in an accident, in the Army, Capra contracted Spanish flu and was medically discharged to return home to live with his mother. He became a naturalized U. S. citizen in 1920, living at home with his siblings and mother, Capra was the only family member with a college education, yet he was the only one who remained chronically unemployed. After recovering at home, Capra moved out and spent the few years living in flophouses in San Francisco and hopping freight trains
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How the Grinch Stole Christmas!
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Is a childrens story by Theodor Dr. Seuss Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who attempts to put an end to Christmas by stealing Christmas-themed items from the homes of the nearby town Whoville on Christmas Eve. Despite his efforts, Whovilles inhabitants still celebrate the holiday, so the Grinch returns everything that he stole and is the guest of honor at the Whos Christmas dinner. The story was published as a book by Random House in 1957, the book criticizes the commercialization of Christmas. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association named it one of its Teachers Top 100 Books for Children. In 2012 it was ranked number 61 among the Top 100 Picture Books in a survey published by School Library Journal – the fourth of five Dr. Seuss books on the list. There will also be a film adaptation, starring Benedict Cumberbatch scheduled for release on November 9,2018. His only companion is his unloved, but loyal dog, Max, from his cave, the Grinch can hear the noisy Christmas festivities that take place in Whoville. Annoyed, he decides to stop Christmas from coming by stealing their presents, trees and he crudely disguises himself as Santa Claus, and forces Max, disguised as a reindeer, to drag a sleigh to Whoville. Once there, the Grinch slides down the chimney and steals all of the Whos Christmas presents, the Christmas tree, and he is briefly interrupted in his burglary by Cindy Lou, a little Who girl, but concocts a crafty lie to effect his escape from her home. The Grinch then takes his sleigh to the top of Mount Crumpit, as dawn breaks, he expects to hear the Whos bitter and sorrowful cries, but is confused to hear them singing a joyous Christmas song instead. He puzzles for a moment until it dawns on him that maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a bit more than just presents. The Grinchs shrunken heart suddenly grows three sizes, the reformed Grinch returns all of the Whos presents and trimmings and is warmly invited to the Whos feast, where he has the honor of carving the Roast Beast. The Grinch first appeared in a 32-line illustrated poem by Dr. Seuss called The Hoobub and the Grinch, Dr. Seuss began work on How the Grinch Stole Christmas. A couple years later, around the beginning of 1957 and he had recently completed The Cat in the Hat and was in the midst of founding Beginner Books with Phyllis and Bennett Cerf and his wife, Helen Palmer Geisel. Helen, who had ongoing medical problems and had suffered a stroke in April 1957, nevertheless acted as an unofficial editor. Dr. Seuss wrote the book quickly and was finished with it within a few weeks. Biographers Judith and Neil Morgan wrote, It was the easiest book of his career to write, according to Dr. Seuss, I got hung up getting the Grinch out of the mess
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The Weakly Reporter
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The Weakly Reporter is a Warner Bros. cartoon released on March 25,1944. Directed by Chuck Jones, written by Michael Maltese, and with directed by Carl Stalling. Its opening sequence is set to My Country, Tis Of Thee and shows the Statue of Liberty, the second sequence, to the tune of California, Here I Come, states that Florida loves California for the duration. Several scenes following, set to the tune of In My Merry Oldsmobile, one of those scenes shows a policeman chasing someone only to zoom out to show a foot chase. The policeman makes a reference to race car driver Barney Oldfield. To the tune of Memories, a shows a trio of armored car guards carrying a pound of butter. The butcher replies, We certainly have, lady and allows the lady to sniff the beef, then charges her $1.19 for the privilege of sniffing. The cartoon then switches to a man tossing and turning in bed and, to the tune of A Cup Of Coffee, A Sandwich And You, discusses the rationing of coffee, both before and after rationing. The sequence after that deals with hoarding, and to the tune of Yankee Doodle, says about war bonds, an armed robbery of a jeweler nets an alarm clock. Following sequences deal with feminine intrigue as well as joining the Army. One feminine intrigue scene shows a woman with an accent being affectionate to an American man in front of what appears to be a German castle, saying, as the camera zooms out, the castle is actually on a calendar advertising meat in a butcher shop. The butcher says, Oh, very well, Here, that will be fifty cents as he wraps two ham steaks up for the woman. The closing scene shows a formally dressed man standing with a woman at an empty dry dock, the woman asks the man, But, wheres the boat. The man replies, Just start swinging, lady, as she swings the bottle of champagne, the ship rises out of nowhere, gets struck by the bottle and launches to the tune of Columbia, the Gem of the Ocean. This cartoon can be found uncut, uncensored, and digitally remastered on Disc 2 of the Looney Tunes Golden Collection and it was also included on the 1989 MGM Home Video release, Bugs and Daffy, The Wartime Cartoons. The Weakly Reporter at the Internet Movie Database
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Hell-Bent for Election
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Hell-Bent For Election is a 1944 two-reel animated cartoon short subject now in the public domain. The short was one of the first major films from United Productions of America, among the moonlighters was Chuck Jones, who directed the film. The film is a campaign film, designed to inspire viewers to register. The conflict in the film centers on Joe, a switch operator who represents the American voting public. He is warned by the master, Sam, not to fall asleep at the switch as he did in November 1942. At one point, the phantasmagoric saboteur briefly metamorphosizes into Adolf Hitler whilst trying to beguile Joe into neglecting his duties. After a notable sequence, in which Joe fights his way through sales taxes, frozen wages. Hell-Bent for Election is a far more literal film than later UPA productions such as Gerald McBoing Boing, nevertheless, its strong symbolism, non-literal design styles, and unusual camera angles made the short stand out among its peers. The film was sponsored by United Auto Workers, and features a song, Were Going to Win the War, written by Earl Robinson, harburg, the latter famous for writing the lyrics for The Wizard of Oz. Hell-Bent for Election was UPAs first major success, and paved the way for its achievements, including nine nominations. The short focuses on contrasting attitudes toward World War II, with the contest between the Win the War Special and the Defeatist Ltd, the argument between Joe and The Wrecker refers to the War and attitudes toward it. Joe argues that we are out to win the war, while The Wrecker snarls that this is Roosevelts war, as he says that, the Wrecker transforms into a caricature of Adolf Hitler. Joes dream features a billboard depicting Adolf Hitler, Benito Mussolini, joes awakening results in him sending the munitions-laden Special on its run toward victory. The Post War Observation Car displays veterans benefits and full employment as post-war goals, shull, Michael S. Wilt, David E
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Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
Media related to Chuck Jones at Wikimedia Commons
