Commercial Animation Directors

Commercial animation directors from the Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s tended to be male and to have drifted into this new form of expression by accident. Some were trained in art and may even have worked as commercial artists or newspaper cartoonists before becoming animators, and even those who had worked in some kind of art before learned on the job because this was a new art form and had it sown methods and its own rules. Charles M. "Chuck" Jones became one of the best-known of the directors fro Warner Bros. in the thirties and forties and was identified with a number of the major characters from that animation company. His background suggests a source for much of his humor and for his attitude toward the material he would produce in the form of a favored uncle who told stories and helped nurture a love for the bizarre image in the boy.

Jones was born on September 21, 1912. He grew up in Ocean Park, California. Jones himself lists his Uncle Lynn as a major influence in his life and remembers many instances in which that man taught him lessons about how to view life. He cites the uncle when he is asked why cartoon characters are so often animals and why this or that gag works, and he remembers that uncle as a major force in his young life. The uncle had the ability that would stand Jones himself in good stead in his career--he could out himself in other people's shoes, and even in the skins of animals:

Dogs and boys loved and trusted him. He thought like a

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s 36-37). This was not always the case with other directors who made Bugs Bunny films, for they might find Bugs in an illogical place like a concert hall or even an office. For Jones, though, there is a formula which works because it is logical and because it began with the commonplace and then shifted as some outside force would enter and challenge Bugs in some way. Bugs was a particular favorite because he was successful and was what Jones wanted to be--"debonair, quick-witted, very fast on comeback" (Jones 38. Jones entered the fledgling animation industry in 1932 as a cel washer at Ubbe Iwerks Studio after he had graduated from the Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts.) He then joined the Leon Schlesinger Studio, which was later sold to Warner Bros., as an animator in 1936. Jones was assigned to Tex Avery's animation unit, and in 1938, at the age of 25, he directed his first animated film--"The Night Watchman." Jones remained at Warner Bros. Animation until it closed in 1962, except for a brief period with Disney Studios in 1955 during a hiatus at Warner Bros. ("Chuck Jones" www.chuckjones.com). Jones also believes that a degree of acting ability is necessary for an animator, and he says thi

Category: Film - C