The Decline and Fall of Warner Bros. Cartoons | THE MERRIE HISTORY OF LOONEY TUNES
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- Опубліковано 28 чер 2024
- EPISODE 6
Television rules a nation as Termite Terrace tries to play nice with the emerging medium. But try as they might to keep their heads above water, the studio will soon be pulled under thanks to a combination of ill-timed departures, broken contracts and Chuck Jones becoming too artsy for his own good.
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KB is his name and talking about old animation is his game! If you want deep analysis and history on the realm of retro anime and old animation, then you've come to the right place. Be warned though. Being a possum means he loves consuming trash, media-based or otherwise. - Фільми й анімація
When Mel Blanc had his accident in 61, Warner Bros asked Stan Freberg to do Bugs while Mel was in recovery, but Stan refused and said “No, just wait til Mel gets better” cause he thought Mel would’ve appreciated it if no one else did his characters while he was hurt
Also, Daws Butler temporarily voiced Barney Rubble while Mel was in the hospital.
@@Launchpad05 yeah that’s right
@@Launchpad05 Blanc allegedly, according to himself but embellishes stuff for story's sake, refused to do a direct impression of Art Careny (from the Honeymooners) when he did the voice of Barney, prooving that Barney is somewhat of a rip-off of a Art Careny.
@@jstevinik3261 Barney doesn’t have the “voo-voo-voo-voom” thing going around, though; smart move on Mel’s case.
Shows the level of respect Stan had for Mel
My dad wrote the Martian came to earth short, and the original ending was he ended up in Greenwich Village with the beatniks where he fit in, but Chuck changed it to the “stick to your own kind” ending. My dad and Chuck hated each other. They had entirely different life views.
Oh I definitely got that sentiment when reading his interviews with Michael Barrier.
Did writing shorts become a tradition? Honestly that's fantastic, I would've preferred your old man's ending personally, but it is what it is!
@@BBWahoo my dad mostly wrote Coyote and Roadrunner shorts with the regular writers, since they were all sight gags/slapstick no dialogue, it was found that animators were good at thinking of new ways to make the Coyote go boom. I wasn’t even born and only know the stories from reminiscing.
That’s awesome, mad props to your Dad.
Your dads ending was way better and much cooler
A channel that primarily does anime reviews has taught me more about the Looney Tunes than the literal Looney Tunes Critic.
He's done a better job than most official documentaries about 'Looney Tunes'.
@@Launchpad05 Trever Thompson is okay but he does shorts at a time. Even then, he has been transitioning away because his commentaries are mlre dry while his vids on Space Jam, the Pepe LePew, and the Porky 101 DVD are amusing due to better at integrating his humour.
Trevor is great. He helped me get back into Looney Tunes and I learned alot. Although sometimes he can be a bit of a grump. "All new cartoons are bad. " (eye roll)
@@icecreamhero2375 He is grump in comments by acting like he is busy yet a max of 30 comments does take time to go through when most of hem are not feedback.
@@icecreamhero2375 Yeah, when he talked about how he'd never review 'Lunatics Unleashed', he briefly mentions 'Swat Kats', and how he thought it was crap. I kindly responded that it's actually not that bad, and definitely the best thing The Tremblay Brothers ever created.
"The Looney Tunes were not going out quietly, and they certainly weren't going out with dignity."
I already know what's coming up, and just like you, I'm full of dread for what's coming up.
For a long time, I wasn't aware of the late '60s seven arts era outside of hearing about a few shorts pairing up Daffy and Speedy. From the few I've watched, I was like "I don't know how you can make such a potentially awesome dynamic boring, but they succeeded."
I saw more creativity and variety in the Gene Deitch Tom & Jerry shorts to be blunt. I mean, yikes!
@@fictionalmediabully9830 Same here. Where I live, Cartoon Network and Boomerang were merciful enough to never show any of the Warner-Seven Arts cartoons, so I merely heard of the Daffy and Speedy pairings on Wikipedia when I was younger.
In hindsight, it was all for the best Cartoon Network and Boomerang actively avoided showing those.
Yes, when is Episode 7 coming?
@@fictionalmediabully9830 I liked the Daffy and Speedy ones, the rest not so much.
@@jacksonteller3973
I recently checked out more. I got a couple of chuckles out of the Bunny and Claude ones, and there are a few good shorts, but otherwise the only good part is the abstract intro and outro. I wouldn't say they're terrible, just really substandard cartoons.
You know KaiserBeamz, you've kinda made me ultimately realise that this is a retrospective of not only the Warner Bros animation studio, but a history of early 20th century western cinema. We started off post World War 1, and as we got on, we kinda saw how animation was honed and perfected.... And then watched it fall away and be unable to hit the same heights from the same people who were getting older and tired. In a lot of bizarre ways, the 60s is really what solidified limited animation and it being done overseas like at TMS and it's prevalence to this day. And just like the old creators you can still make something amazing even when you're limited with what you have. So yes, thank you for just making me appreciate all this stuff moreso and just managing to make something genuinely amazing.
It just proves that you can learn from everything.
Yeah Osamu Tezuka took a ton from UPA, his early theatrical shorts are very much in that style leading to it being cheapened mixed with a comic book look and applied to TV via Astro Boy. His studio Mushi Productions would allow for the rise of other studios like TMS in its wake. So yes, there is a direct line.
Here's one of his UPA style shorts as an example: ua-cam.com/video/u2vDgtsaWOw/v-deo.html
Does that mean the Pink Panther is going to be involved? That’s a Friz Freleng character commissioned by Blake Edwards.
@@robbiewalker2831 Pink Panther is definitely limited animation. But it's more UPA-esque, not Hanna Barbera-styled (well... until the mid-70s, but it was slightly).
“If you haven’t caught on by now, Jack Warner was a notorious asshole.” Might be the greatest line in this whooole retrospective. Thank you for this series it is so incredible to have the most comprehensive look on Looney Tunes and earlier animation!
The sad irony of reuniting the Warner Bros. library in the 90s when Time Warner bought out Ted Turner is that they had to split up the MGM library to do it. Even under Turner, MGM could still release its own movies under its own video label. They even managed to release the original DVDs of some of their all-time classics before the rights went to Warner Bros..
I could have done without the bit where he says that the 1950s were a prosperous time for Americans - "well, at least white Americans."
@@williamshaw9047 Well, looking at America and its history of sanctioning racism and segregation public and private, he's not wrong.
@@GreatMewtwo Funny thing is, not all white Americans prospered. War brides from overseas faced hostility in some areas (making life challenging for their husbands), and some groups (like Catholics) were still hated by a number of people, though luckily that WAS changing. The South was INCREDIBLY messed up, and not just toward blacks. On the plus side though, the 1950s DID have significant steps forward in civil rights, Hollywood increasingly stood against racism and religious tolerance became more of a thing (also, 27 women actually served in Congress during the decade, among several other impressive marks for the time).
A bit of an understatement if you ask me.
Chuck Jones once shared a story (I think it was in his memoir) about how he and Friz Freeling apparently didn't even meet the Warner brothers until after Eddie Seltzer took over Schlesinger's studio, 15 years after WB had hired them in the first place. When they were introduced, Jack Warner said, and I quote, "I don't know what the fuck you guys do. You make Mickey Mouse, right?" Before Chuck could say anything, Friz just said "Yes, yes we do." Later, in private, he told Chuck something to the effect of "Look, if he's happy, we're happy. Let him believe whatever he wants."
Great on Freleng to keeping his cool but WOOOOW it must have been hard.
Reminds me of when New World Pictures acquired Marvel Comics in the 80's and the CEO declared "Boys, we just bought Superman!"
Sounds like he was trolling. He couldn't have been that clueless!
@@jackbrown6788 I don't think this guy was clever enough to be a troll.
You cannot overestimate the perniciousness of Saturday morning cartoons. Executives discovered you could put “Clutch Cargo” on and kids would watch it, why actually create well animated/designed shorts. My dad, Corny Cole, was on Chuck Jones’ team from the mid 50s til WB closed down Termite Terrace.
That’s pretty interesting.
It’s amazing what history can show us.
Your father was Corny Cole?
@@matthwe3468 yes he was.
@@Sammyandbobsdad Wow! He's on some of the featurettes in the DVDs even though I feel he was underused. Seems like a fascinating man. Hope he enjoyed his time at WB
Friz Freleng made a similar statement along those lines, comparing it to a 'image of a bouncing ball'.
As a boomer who grew up in the late '50s and early '60s watching Looney Tunes on TV, I appreciate all this backstory. Sadly, it was obvious even to me as a child that the 1960s cartoons weren't nearly as good as those from the '40s and early '50s. I'm disappointed at the absence of mention of Tex Avery, who created Bugs Bunny in the first place, until halfway through this video.
Since you were there, can you tell me what it was like watching the first popular television cartoons? I personally don't see the appeal in them, especially when they forced in laugh tracks from sitcoms, but I wasn't there so I want to ask different perspectives to better respect what you people had back then.
@@ultrairrelevantnobody1862 It was Hanna-Barbera that premiered prime-time cartoon series. "The Flintstones", "Top Cat", "Magilla Gorilla" and "The Jetsons" leap to mind. To be honest, as a little kid at the time, I was never a big fan. I much preferred the WB and MGM shorts that were originally made for theaters.
Sight gags like those pioneered by Tex Avery and Chuck Jones translate well to kids. I found HB cartoons stiff-looking and the 1/2-hour series were very talky. They were aimed as much at parents as kids, written as '50s sitcoms. The HB shorts like Yogi Bear and Huckleberry Hound were much funnier to me because they focused on funny action.
It might make you feel better that Tex Avery was discussed at length in previous videos in the series! This is part 6/8 in a chronological history series, so Tex was mostly in the videos discussing the periods of time when he worked with the studio.
He did talk about Tax Avery in the previous episodes
Once again, Robert McKimson's work gets unfairly criticized and underappreciated. His 50s Foghorn Leghorns are just as fresh and funny as the work of Freleng & Jones. The TV parodies are devastating. I wish McKimson had written parodies for Mad Magazine.
I appreciate Jones' "artsyiness" for it reflects the man's willingness to keep exploring the Animation medium. After all, he worked at UPA when the company was first established, so naturally he wasn't afraid to experiment. His UPA-styled Ralph Phillips series, one-shots like High Note & outstanding Bugs Bunny entries like What's Opera, Doc? display a clever, balanced mixture of humor and aesthetics.
yeah I think there are plenty of good LT shorts in the late 50s and early 60s, I never noticed the drop-off in animation quality myself.
@@jacksonteller3973 Even later 60s are good IMO like Assault and Peppered, Rushing Roulette, Skyscraper Caper, and Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too
@@JustinCoasters agreed
@@JustinCoasters
Yeah. If anything, those feel closest to the 50s-early 60s shorts
The decline started when the Animation changed to a cheap and more cost efficient level seen in the late 50s and early 60s. The final death blow came when the productions were no longer geared towards adults (which they were originally intended for ) and more towards children laced with humorless storylines and a substantial reduction in what they considered violent situations.
In hated the animation that looked like Chuck Jones face.
Some good cartoons still came out of the 60s and 70s, mostly HB cartoons like Scooby Doo and the Flintstones, but yeah they were inarguably cheaper looking.
@@ricogomez4020 Chuck Jones HATED limited animation. He thought it was an insult to the art. So when he did the Grinch for TV he used full animation. However Jones did work briefly in limited animation when he coproduced The 1971 adaptation of The Cat In The Hat for DePatie-Freleng
Gay Purr-ee as a movie is admittedly kind of dull (as was true of Jones' later creative work) but the backstory to its creation and the production are nothing short of fascinating. UPA poured themselves into designing the backgrounds for this film, and it shows in almost every scene.
Also, this was not only Judy Garland's only time helming a voice role in an animated movie, but it was Robert Goulet's first credited movie role period, voice acting or not. Oh right, and Judy had brought in the composer and songwriter from her most famous movie Wizard of Oz to write the music for Gay Purr-ee. Those are probably the best moments in the movie, when she's singing.
I think
that Gay Purr-ee is perfectly fine as is. A solid 7.3/10.
This is a wonderful monument you're creating to great works of animation.
I feel like Disney is so often looked to first - that when people think of the history of animation, they think of Mickey Mouse, of Snow White.
But there was so much more than that. Thank you so much for not only providing great entertainment with your dry humor and weaving of this story, but your decision to bring this story to light in the first place.
Even as a kid, I realized that while Disney was the first thing you think of in regards to animation, he wasn't the only one. Especially during the golden age.
@@Launchpad05 Indeed. I recommend Michael Barrier's book Golden of Age of Hollywood Cartoons, which I got as a Christmas in which Beamz and everyone on the subject cited at least once.
History wise - DIsney was a player, not the entire game.
Modern times - Disney is Thanos. Whatever offends China gets erased from existence.
Don't forget Tom and Jerry either! They were originally created by MGM if I remember correctly.
@@thunderbird1921 Yep! They're a great piece of animation history in their own right.
Knighty Knight Bugs had what I consider to be the best line in Warner Brothers cartoon history, and that alone makes is Oscar worthy..
The line "Dragons is so stupid" deserves an Academy award all by itself!
Mad respect for anyone who loves both anime & Looney Tunes in a same breath.
Those two plus classic Disney, Fleischer, MGM... the more I list, the more I think of.
Walter Lantz, maybe... Terrytoons, no.
@@tskmaster3837 Why? What wrong with Terrytioons?
@@OmarGuardadoOWEOriginals When I think of Terrytoons, I think of Mighty Mouse but the only thing I think is Here I Come to Save the Day.
I love animation period.
I know, right??? I really don't know why people can't love both
One of the best retrospective series on UA-cam. So glad to have been along for the ride ever since the first video was uploaded!
Check out DefunctTV's series on Jim Henson, it's on the same level
@@nuffinman8876 the intro gives off the same vibes as defunctlands Jim Henson retrospective intro
@@CrashFan03 I Beamz admitted that he was inspired by Defunctland, who did a cool video on the Dianey staff party after the release of Snow White.
Yakko!?! What're YOU doing here!?! 😲😲
I love these Looney Tunes videos... See, I can sympathise with McKimson, Jones and Freleng. I don't know the first thing about animation, but even if television didn't become a thing, they had been in this business for close to 30 years at that point, so good luck at maintaining originality for that long. Add in a revolutionary new trend, in this case, televised entertainment in your own home, if you want that paycheck, you and your colleagues in the theatrical animation business are gonna have to find a way for your business to remain trendy and relevant.
Also, I remember seeing those clips of The Bugs Bunny Show on the "Best Of Bugs Bunny" DVDs, still some of the best DVDs I own, and I remember the kid in me being super pissed that the actual shorts weren't included with the original television clips. I was 10 years old, and I was obsessed with cartoons at that point, so my extreme disappointment felt rational to me.
Peanuts kept the quality high all the way through.
@@icecreamhero2375 Yeah, not remotely the same thing. You're coming apples to artichokes. Peanuts was born out of minimalist UPA style tv animation... cheap to produce, it maintained the same style as the comic strip, and was directed by one director the entire time, Bill Melendez. Looney Tunes was born out of the golden age of animation when the budgets were high and had a team of several directors that were highly experimental.
@@DanJackson1977 Actually I was talking about the comic strip more than the specials. The comic strip was firing on all cylinders all the way through. The strips are almost always funny.
Here's some information i want to add about the early-late '58 season of animation
There was a musician's strike shortly after Stalling retired, and Mylt Franklin was unable to work due to the strike.
From "Weasel While You Work" until "Hip Hip Hurry", the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were not scored by anyone, instead, Warner Bros. used stock music from the Capital Records' "Hi-Q" stock music library.
You mean Captiol
@@looneyanimatorstudio - Er . . . that's *Capitol.*
@@wmbrown6 sorry about my grammar tho it was a year old comment
Well the credit for those cartoons went to John Seely
Lava is clearly a great musician but he was trying to squeeze blood out of stone during his tenure at WB Cartoons. Was it him who did that extremely weird Merry-Go-Round Broke Down version they used in the 60s?
Yup
@@KaiserBeamz Not shocking, yet as Thad Komoroski would joke, that 60s opening theme is a sign that you are in for some crap (even when Thad was a kid).
@@jstevinik3261 yeah I always got bad vibes from that theme
@@CrashFan03 Even when Beamz uses a second of it in his intros is the least pleasurable. I have been lovong this. As a someone who read most of Michael Barrier's book on The Golden Age of Hollywood Cartoons and Thad Komoroski's and Bob Jaques' podcast Cartoon Logic, whom Beamz cited almost obviously, I am still beyond impressed by his research and the time that goes into them.
I agree that Bill Lava's musical composition felt more 'assemble line' in that eerie 60 kind of way , and lacked the orchestral charm of Carl Stalling, and Milt Franklin. I would consider Richard Stone to be a more worthy successor to Stalling than Bill Lava from where I sit.
HELL YEAH, WE'RE ALMOST TO EVERYONE'S FAVORITE LOONEY TUNES CHARACTER: COOL CAT
Who's only lasting legacy is him being a background character on 'The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries'.
Sometimes I feel that I'm the only one who unironically likes him. I don't know what I find so appealing about him, I just remember that whenever they showed them on the Nickelodeon Looney Tunes episodes I really enjoyed them and I still find them amusing even as an adult. He's definitely the odd one out amongst the other Looney Tunes, and yet I will always consider him one of them even if he's amongst the lesser ones.
Can't stand for this Bunny and Clyde erasure.
Warner Bros, was just about the last man standing in theatrical animation. What is interesting is watching how many studios died when they tried to "go Disney" (that is, make a movie). Feischer Bros (Grasshopper and Ant), UPA (killed by several flicks, including "Purr-ee", and an overdose of Magoo). It's also amazing how short-lived some of the big stuff from this era was (Johnny Quest had ONE season, Beanie and Cecil less than 3).
Friz and Jones still have notable work ahead of them, we get to see Cool Cat.. I feel like I'm in "Early to Bet".. "No, not Cool Cat! NOT COOL CAT!!!!"
I bet Buddy or Meriln the Magic Mouse is much blander then Cool Cat. But hey, at least, Cool Cat making "interested" cameos in the spin-off show The Sylvester and Tweety's Mysterious, Tweety's High-Flying Adventure (along with Colonel Rimfire), or Looney Tunes Cartoons, Right?
Merlin and Cool Cat had more of a personality compared to Buddy.
@@waggsmith5889 You can also argue for United Artists via DePatie Freleng until 1977 when they ended production on the shorts or 1980 when the last Pink Panther short was released. Though those between 1978 and 80 were originally television shorts. Or under rare occasions Disney has been releasing shorts eventhough they don't do it full time.
@@stephenholloway6893 that’s probably why they bit the bullet and did television cartoons: to fill the gap left by the end of theatrical shorts.
@@OmarGuardadoOWEOriginals The Pink Panther feels more like a well-developed version of Cool Cat; just with an English Aristocrat vibe.
That familiar jingle at the "To Be Continued" screen just gave me the heebee jeebees
Can’t wait for the next episode where will be focusing on 1964 through 1969.
Fist comment!
Anyways, KB, I’m glad you made this. You are one of the most original, non-biased, cartoon historians I have ever seen.
The Looney Tunes franchise have had its ups and downs, but the original era will always be the greatest of its kind.
The late 60's WB 7 Arts cartoons were the absolute bottom of the barrel.
You realized that "Buddy In Africa" is worse then WB 7 Arts cartoons (expect "Skyscraper Caper", "The Door" and "Rabbit Stew and Rabbits Too!", which they are highest-rated Looney Tunes cartoon of the Seven Arts-era).
IMO, the stuff Chuck Jones did with Bug's in the late 70's early 80's were mediocre at best, you could really tell at that point in time Jones forgot what made the Looney Tunes so successful to begin with. It also didn't help that he directed most of the specials and newer shorts when animation legends like Bob Clampett & Tex Avery either retired or died.
@@sr.alligator7569 Do you mean that Late 70's to Early 80's shorts made by DePatie-Freleng Enterprises?
@@OmarGuardadoOWEOriginals I was referring to the ones that Chuck Jones had directed & produced, 1978's A Connecticut Rabbit in King Arthur's Court & 1980's Bugs Bunny's Bustin' Out All Over.
@@sr.alligator7569 oh.
Do you find some "good" WB 7 Arts cartoons?
Honestly, Now Hear This gets overlooked a lot and I think that’s only because there's almost no humour. That's the point. It doesn't need humour or clever gags. It's an experiment. Not some wacky short with anthropomorphic animals. The main drawing point comes from the sound effects (which show off Treg Brown's amazing sound design) and the abstract art style it uses. The short has to be one of my favourites from Chuck. It makes you feel spaced out just looking at it.
It has jokes, for sure, but it's more amusing than hilarious. But you can get away with that in a 5 minute short.
I Think "Now Here This" Was A Masterpiece.
Also he didn't mention the it was the last short to get an Oscar nomination. Ironically Jones and Freleng didn't get recognition til after the Warners shutdown. Freleng won the first Pink Panther short The Pink Phink in '65 and Jones for The Dot and the Line a year later. The Oscar seem to have little respect for the creators unless you have full control.
I just remember the late 40s and 50s cartoons (Looney Toons, Tom and Jerry, Tex Avery) being the funniest and best. After that, the animation style and how funny they were, for the most part, dropped considerably - although some interactions between characters, especially when Daffy was involved, were pretty good.
I've been keeping up with this series, and without a doubt, this one is the most wild in terms of the story, from Jack Warner being an Asshole to Chuck Jones basically being kicked out for helping in Gay Purr-ee, it's amazing how you didn't go nuts finding out some of this for the first time.
Also, it helped teach me to check out some Underrated shorts, especially High Note and Nelly's Folly
"Nelly's Folly" goes good back-to-back with Disney's "Willie the Operatic Whale."
These videos are great!
I interviewed David H. DePatie (RIP) a couple of times. He was diplomatic about it, but I did get the feeling he and Chuck Jones didn't get along (I mean, he was the one who fired him over the "Gay Pur-ee" thing, for starters).
WOW, you got to interview David DePatie! That's cool.
@@Launchpad05 Exactly. Usually semi-public figure critics/historians like Jerry Beck, Michael Barrier, Thad Komorosi, etc., would be the ones who are able to approach the likes of DePattie.
That explains why Chuck Jones didn’t get to work on any of the post-Grinch Dr. Seuss cartoons.
@@Attmay What about Horton Hears A Who [1970]?
Oh, wow!
He *did* pass away last year!
Besides Larry Storch, is anybody who was involved in the series still among us?
Loving this retrospective but man Gay Purr-ee is always a kick in the nostalgia. Like does anybody remember that airing on Cartoon Network's Cartoon Theater years ago?
I remember it airing on CN back in the day, but had no idea about it's production history.
I actually knew about that one LONG before CN aired it: my mom got a video of it from one of her old bosses and, for the longest time, it was up there with Yellow Submarine as one of those movies I didn't think anyone but me and my parents had ever heard of.
'Gay-Purr-ee', 'Mr. Magoo', and that weird 'Dick Tracy' cartoon were probably be the only UPA cartoons I was exposed to growing up, but they weren't in as heavy rotation as 'Looney Tunes', or 'Tom & Jerry'. Hell, I've had very limited exposure to Disney cartoons before I got Disney Channel in 1984.
“Gay Purr-ee” was the very first full length animated feature for WB, and it was the only full length animated feature when it was co-produced with UPA. WB has not done an animated feature back then, because Disney has done animated features in the past like “Snow White”, “Bambi”, “Cinderella”, “Pinocchio”, “Dumbo”, “The Three Caballeros”, “Saludos Amigos”, “Peter Pan”, “Make Mine Music”, “Melody Time”, “Fantasia”, “The Adventures of Ichabod & Mr. Toad”, “Alice In Wonderland”, “Lady and the Tramp”, “Sleeping Beauty”, “101 Dalmatians”, and “Sword in the Stone”. Those were big hits at Disney, Paramount had two animated features “Gulliver’s Travels” in 1939, and “Mr. Bug Goes To Town” in 1941, both made by the Flesicher’s. Both were okay, but “Gulliver’s Travels” was a critical success, and is in the Public Domain, and “Mr. Bug Goes To Town” was a box office bomb, because of WW2 which cause their own studio to shut down and renamed to Famous Studios the following year. But WB never got into animated feature production until 1962.
@@Musicradio77Network Would 'My Dream Is Yours', and 'Two Guys From Texas' count?
One great factor to KNIGHTY KNIGHT BUGS that I've always appreciated was the fact that a new generation of animators and writers loved the short so much that it's real world Oscar win became the inspiration for an entire episode of TINY TOONS ADVENTURES! The episode essentially paid homage to WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? Hell, even the Terrytoons' elephant was parodied with a losing elephant voiced by the late, great Milton Berle. I get the whole WB self-referential formula in play with TINY TOONS ADVENTURES. Yet the history of their animated shorts was enough to have my generation not only grow up on the originals, but tributes alike. The same company that gave me LOONEY TUNES also gave me BATMAN: THE ANIMATED SERIES, ANIMANIACS, TAZ-MANIA.... you get the idea.
And that’s why the reboot of *Animaniacs* feels like it isn’t living up to its potential. There haven’t been as many reruns of the OG Warner Bros. cartoons since then. All those years of reruns made it possible for these new shows to happen and to be able to draw on the history of what came before it.
@@Attmay Well said, fellow fan. The unfortunate truth is that 2 factors helped to lead us into our current animated rut.
1) The splintering of Fandom due to new mediums of technology. Be it the days of DVDs through UA-cam and online streaming services. Despite keeping the classics alive, it also allowed for a modern disconnect in which newer generations didn't have to wait for TV viewings like we did. Instant entertainment at your disposal.
2) The misbegotten social movements that have forced genuinely talented artists to fear their own thoughts. We now live in a society that asks us to hate ourselves for growing up on past entertainment. Hell, even the ANIMANIACS series you mentioned took the time to acknowledge this growing movement. Funny is funny. And yes, it can get complicated. But don't tell us to abide by censorship. Allow for constant skewering of our idols. The reboots are literally afraid of their prior iterations due to cancel culture and BS woke movements. Never mind that the originals thrived on questioning such movements.
....Please forgive my long-winded explanation. Just goes to show, when you become passionate about something, more often or not, it will hurt you in the end.
@@JoseMorales-lw5nt And it is only recently that they have started to show reruns of such classic cartoons on network television again, thanks to the advent of MeTV.
I never understood why Bugs and Daffy were such enemies. They danced so well together.
Sometimes dancing partners need therapy.
They’re like good coworkers. They enjoy each other enough, but only at work.
I think it's a jealousy thing. Daffy was the original wise cracking heckler, then Bugs stole his thunder. Daffy went from the winner who always made the villain of the cartoon look stupid, to becoming the loser that always looked stupid. I felt a bit bad for Daffy, and always preferred his earlier wacky personality over his later greedy jealous personality. But the fact that he has this multi-faceted personality is kind of what makes him such an interesting character, and my favorite Looney Tune. Bugs was always a more one dimensional and rarely was played the heel, or sore loser. But the ones where he did were always my favorite bugs cartoons, IE the tortoise and the hare send-ups. Bugs made for such a hilarious sore loser because he was so used to winning and being in control.
That ominous outro, taunting us with horrors to come...
And I saw, and behold a Cool Cat: and he had a bowtie; and a beret was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.
This is one of the most important series on YT today.
Wow, a new Looney Tunes History episode! 2022 just got better.
It would be amazing that after this series you make another with the other classic animation studios, like UPA, MGM, WalterLantz and even Disney. This series has been absolutely wonderful.
I’m interested in MGM and Paramount.
Going through rough times and your series has helped me get through a lot. Thank you! ✌️❤️
I think Banty Raids is kind of an underrated short, had WB never closed up shop, the Banty Rooster could've been a great character to have been used, as he basically merged the romance of Pepe Le Pew, the chillness of the real-life Elvis and the rivalry of Henery Hawk into one character.
Maybe in those new looney tunes shorts or the upcoming Tiny Toons reboot.
@@daelen.cclark Yeah, although he's unlikely.
I was pumped when I saw this was forthcoming. Every entry in this series has been fantastic so far, and while not the strongest ending to their story I’m glad this largely meh) era is getting their due.
Weirdly the beginings of Looney Tunes on tv might be the most important development of the studio in the 60’s (even if the AAP deal seems like outright theft)
This has been a roller coaster of fun and exciting information. Growing up with Merrie Melodies and Looney Tunes never would expected sooooo many things that went on behind the scenes. I've read and watched LOTS of videos of how everything has came to be but never this insight of it. I'm learning lots of newer stuff that I didn't know. I want to say Thanks for all your work as well as everyone else who has worked on this series. Can't wait to see more to come.
Mel Blanc’s car accident also affected his role on the Flintstones. You’ll notice that for a few episodes in 1962, Barney Rubble sounded a lot like Yogi Bear (because Daws Butler was filling in for him).
That explains a lot. I always thought that was his voice at first and then it slowly changed to what it became.
OMG, thank you! I love your videos and am always stoked to see the next part of the saga. This is on par with a lot of TV documentary series in its meticulousness. Your videos are a perfect introduction to learning more about the history of animation and how it's evolved over time into the art form it is today. I know it often takes you months to create a new episode, but I always click them the moment I see them. Keep up the good work!
15:37 "He was irreplaceble... luckly he had a replacement lined up" i found this unnintentionally funny
Well Mel Black is irreplaceable yet he has had replacements.
This series is one of the best on UA-cam so well researched and really engaging. I didn’t think I’d be this interested in the history of Looney Tunes
I love Looney Tunes, ever since I started watching them at my Grandparent's place as a kid. I had no idea of all the turmoil that went on behind the scenes... and of course it's the kind of business shenanigans that makes me distrust big businesses...
Really love this retrospective, incredibly informative! I really hope that after this series ends, you end up doing another long series
Heh, with 8:06, I remember there being numerous occasions where after I'd see the A.A.P. logo play on TV, the Merrie Melodies intro coming on afterward would play an earlier arrangement of "Merrily We Roll Along" (pre-1941), and it was a neat comparison. And I also remember a bunch of times where it would be a Looney Tunes short with a 1941-48 arrangement of "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down."
As for John Dunn and Gerry Chiniquy, they did much better jobs writing and directing (respectively) at DePatie-Freleng than they did at Warner Bros. Animation in the early 60s.
Nice touch using the Big Ben closing soundtrack from "Now Hear This" during the "To be continued" screen!
The AAP logo would also appeared on the “Popeye” cartoons where they eliminated the Paramount opening and closing logos with just AAP at the end of every “Popeye” cartoon. For the B&W “Popeye’s”, the AAP logo was different than the other ones, and it was shown in the Flesicher and Famous “Popeye” cartoons right up until 1943.
@@Musicradio77Network, yep, I remember that, and I also remember being surprised when Cartoon Network began showing the "Popeye" cartoons with the original Paramount logos intact. (They also used to show the 80s redrawn-colorized "Popeye" cartoons, and I think those were only colorized with the A.A.P. logos due to the prints they got.)
Thanks for the high quality documentaries! You’re keeping the lt goldenage historians/fans alive
Hope we won’t have to wait too long for Part 7, where things get REALLY juicy.
The DePatie-Freleng Enterprises era.
Friz and Dave leased the former Warner facilities, and signed an agreement with the studio to produce new cartoons for them, beginning in 1964. And that was the beginning..... of the end.
Honestly DePatie-Freleng Enterprises were at their best when they did there own stuff and not Looney Tunes.
Part 8 will be seven arts era
@@avremirine8986 Agreed. I especially love the Dr. Seuss cartoon specials they made in the 1970s. Not many people know those existed, let alone any of the other Seuss Specials made by other studios (not even the original Animated Grinch (handled by Chuck Jones respectively) and that was a Christmas Classic that sadly nowadays is overshadowed by the so called "definitive" live action version from 2000)
This was great. As a kid I knew that the shorts with the simpler backgrounds were weaker and as an adult learned it had to do with the budget and firings, but you did a great job of explaining the specifics. Thank you
I never notice that sort of thing as a kid.
Wonderful piece of work. I really admire you for not stopping the series due to deminishing viewership of each chapter. Thank you!
Thank you for another masterpiece that I will watch in looping again, I already can't wait for the next one! ❤
After the 1960s, there were only four places one could find the aggressive push for more fluid and more detailed animation: Walt Disney Studios, Richard Williams Studio, Sullivan-Bluth Studios, and Studio Ghibli. Both of the first studios would release excellent, underrated, and often overlooked films the same year in 1977, The Rescuers, and Raggedy Ann & Andy: A Musical Adventure. Studio Ghibli would really take off in the late 1980s, but they were late onto the scene. And then for a brief while, Don Bluth and his team would give Disney a run for their money, although they would be forced to quit due to the bankrupcy of Sullivan-Bluth Studios and the financial disaster for 20th Century Fox Animation that was Titan A.E.
We would get a one off film here or there by passionate auteurs, like Katsuhiro Otomo's Akira or Turner Feature Animation's Cats Don't Dance, but by the mid-2000s, Disney would be pushed by its executives to abandon cel-animation, and with the death of Richard Williams in 2019, the last serious animator and studio dedicated to fluid cel animation in the West was gone.
There was also Bill Melendez doing the Peanuts and Charlie Brown projects with Charles Schultz and Ralph Bakshi. Those were the other 2 independent studios along with Richard Williams that were producing top projects with film and television. Williams had a lot of top animators like Ken Harris, Art Babbitt, Grim Natwick and Milt Kahl. Williams had big film projects through the time with his big passion project The Thief and the Cobbler. They also did the 1971 special The Christmas Carol, the Raggedy Ann movie and later with Williams being hired by Disney as the animation director for Who Framed Roger Rabbit
Rest In Peace 2D celluloid animation.
1910s-2019.
Disney stopped doing cel animation for movies after little mermaid, and I believe they stopped with cel for tv animation/direct to video stuff in either the late 90s or the very early 2000s
Also, Don Bluth's Dragons Lair 2D animated movie got scraped in favor of a live action thing by Netflix. Not sure if that's still in the works, but that's the nail in the coffin for me.
Hand drawn animation needs to make a come back. It can still exist, and with help of modern tech, can go places it's never gone before.
I just discovered this channel and it is truly a jewel. Thanks.
This is brilliant. Simply brilliant. I actually sat and watched this from beginning to end. And you've convinced me to support Patreon.
This episode focused on the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. The reason for that is, rock & roll took over, Elvis Presley was still “The King of Rock & Roll”, and made hit after hit after hit, and when the studio shut down in 1964 during the last of the WB cartoons to featured classic characters, the Beatles came to the US and performed on Ed Sullivan, and it was the start of the British Invasion. By 1958, while WB was making cartoons, they formed their own record label, and it featured many great artists including the Everly Brothers, Connie Stevens, Peter, Paul & Mary, Bill Cosby, Petula Clark, and dozen more to the label, and it has gone strong into the 70’s and 80’s.
By the early 50’s after the 3D experiment died out with “Lumberjack Rabbit”, CinemaScope was launched and other studios like 20th Century Fox, MGM and Disney started their widescreen format to have a much better screening, Paramount also got into widescreen called VistaVision with “White Christmas” in 1953, and then MGM, Disney, and Terrytoons also did put out a chuck full of cartoons in widescreen CinemaScope in the mid to late 1950’s. WB did not go into widescreen for all of the cartoons, because the studio had to stick with the standard format while WB focused on live action movies in widescreen in a format called WarnerVision.
It is a shame there isn't one completely 3-D cartoon from WB. With a few of them out of copyright, it wouldn't be all that difficult to make one using a computer and posting it on UA-cam as a double-screen.
I still crack up at Sam "I'm a comin over that wall" and then the brick....Still greatness.
What a hidden gem of a channel, I will be sharing this. Keep up the great work!
This video/retrospective was quite informative. I used to notice the change in animation (and occasional audio quality) style in the Merrie Melodies/Looney Tunes shorts and wondered why that was. Thank you for this video.
Man, this series keeps me glued. Such an interesting retrospective.
Can't wait for the next installment! Anyone got an update when that should be released?
No Clue About When The Next Installment Is Going To Be Released So Far It's Just Kyoto Videos Here And There
Apparently, it's supposed to be out at the end of the month (but we'll see for sure) and then Part 8 (The final chapter in the Looney Tunes History Saga) will be out early next year (again, we'll see for sure)
I dunno what I thought of Chuck Jones more abstract animations as a kid, but I like em a lot more as an adult.
One of my favorite mini series on UA-cam. Thanks.
2022 is gonna be alright after all
Yes
Yeah, about that...
Another great installment--all the vids out so far have reminded me of a multi-part Ken Burns documentary series, minus the voiceovers for various bits of correspondence.
Aside from loving the cartoon history, I can't believe what great jazz you put on these videos! KoKo, Take 5, Maiden Voyage, Goodbye Pork Pie Hat, So What?! It's been a real pleasure to listen to :)
Very well thought-out and intresting. I loved the clips you picked, as well. Some of these shorts I hadn't seen in years or am seeing for the first time. -- A.T.
So I'm guessing WB firing Chuck Jones for his involvement with 'Gay Purr-ee' over at UPA resulted in him doing 'Tom & Jerry' shorts for MGM.
Yup
@@KaiserBeamz Also, I know Friz worked on 'The Pink Panther & Sons' for Hanna-Barbera, but I'd love to know what else he did for them while also doing the classic 'Pink Panther' shorts for MGM during the 60's.
United Artists actually. MGM had nothing to do with The Pink Panther til 1981. When they bought UA. Though by the time Friz was at Hanna Barbera for Pink Panther and Sons, DePatie Freleng Enterprise was already sold to Marvel Comics and it became Marvel Productions Limited.
Yeah Chuck took over Tom and Jerry and got to do another huge trademark of his career is reuniting with Dr Seuss to produce How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton Hears A Who and produce more one off shorts like The Dot and the Line and The Bear That Wasn’t (based on a book written by Chuck’s former Warner colleague Frank Tashlin)
@@brockpifer9929 Jones did some Kippling adaptations, like Riki-Tiki Tavi, whcih I saw in school and assumed it was by directed Jones based on the layouts alone (I was kinda a bored and was not into reading credits at the time).
I've been looking forward to this video for a while! The Bugs Bunny TV show and the eventual decline in the animation quality at Termite Terrace.
Very nicely done sir! After seeing everything presented here, I actually have a few new shorts to go and search out! 😁
thank you KaiserBeamz for being my favorite content creator
Thanks for the video. Now we see their descent from the Golden Age.
For what it's worth to Chuck Jones, when I was a kid I noticed the surface level similarities to Gay Purr-ee and The Aristocats. Even as a kid I was not very fond of The Aristocats, especially when compared to other Disney films at that time after Disney's death, and I honestly felt Gay Purr-ee was the better film, even if it didn't have the Disney lavish, for lack of a better term. It goes to show that even in animation, sometimes simplicity is best, and in the case of Gay Purr-ee, Chuck Jones did that well.
I recently discovered your channel through some random recommendations youtube was giving me and I sat through all the 6 parts that were out. It has been cool, learning about things I never knew about and feeling pity for the young, hard working but creative animators who worked so hard to get their names out there only to have a tragic end due to Warner Bros being well Warner Bros and considering what happens next in the history... welp.
Keep up the great work. 👌
Its always a treat to see new videos. Keep up the good work.🙂
NEXT UP, DePatie-Freleng Enterprises, Format Films and Seven-Arts era. "Hold your seats, folks, here we go again!"
Also, Please have some respect for poor William "Bill" Lava, as well as anybody else such as Rudy Larriva and especially, Alex Lovy and PLEASE have some respect for the DePatie-Freleng Enterprises company.
Beamz was respectful to Tom Palmer.
And of course, the worst of them all, the redrawn color versions of the original “Looney Tunes” from 1936 through 1943 by the late Fred Ladd.
@@Musicradio77Network Ladd, jokingly, has a special place in hell for that, though his dubbing of early anime are fine.
I would love a part 2 where the DePatie/Freling studios productions are talked about as well as where Chuck Jones ended up after being fired from Warner Bros. Additionally, it would be interesting to talk about the utter kung fu like grip Hanna Barbara had on the tv animation world for around the next 2-3 decades ending with their association with the early days of Cartoon Network. Thanks for these videos. They are so fascinating and the most complete history I have ever seen of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies separate of documentaries watched about Mel Blanc and Chuck Jones respectively.
I love the variety of music you used in the background of these videos! From Cuphead to Miles Davis! Love it!
I binged this series last night. Very well done and facinating! Can't wait to see the next one!
I love when the dress Yosemite Sam up in other costumes.
Oh man THIS is the stuff I wanted to hear about! Once again thankyou for this series. As with many people my experience with the Looney Tunes was just a jumbled mess of whatever I saw on TV and indeed I was quite intrigued after years of seeing the same old Looney Tunes shorts when Cartoon Network started airing some of the "lesser" Looney Tunes shorts from this particular era. I never quite got why they were "bad" because I lacked context and history. Still love a lot of them. But more than that WOW do I remember people complaining about the Daffy VS Speedy shorts and I have a feeling that's where we're headed next!
That and looking through old Looney Tunes marketing to see Porky had a son at some point as well as of course the awkward existence of Honey Bunny. Curious if we'll ever discuss any of that. Whatever, you do you and keep up the good work because these are GRIPPING.
Very informative and engaging featurette on the WB cartoon history and its creators. I never knew about all the background problems. Thanks for putting this together.
Man I've been waiting so excitedly for this video. I am beyond curious to see what's in here!!!
Had no idea about A.A.P. nor its why they were in so many cartoons in my youth for the longest time til now! Thank you for another great look at this and many other great facts behind the Warner Studio!
Not only that, AAP acquired the rights to the theatrical “Popeye” cartoons from Flesicher & Famous Studios made by Paramount. Originally, TV distributors like UM&M and NTA was planned to acquired the “Popeye” cartoons, but that rejected the offer, and the “Popeye” would go to AAP since NTA and UM&M didn’t want it, and NTA still had the TV rights to the pre-1950 Paramount cartoons including “Color Classics”, “Little Lulu”, “Noveltoons”, and “Screen Songs”.
@@Musicradio77Network The idea that anyone would prefer Little Lulu to Popeye is staggering...
Narration error: It was not General Mills cereal that was pushed but General Foods - Post cereals, notably Alpha Bits and Sugar Crisps.
And characters like the Postman and Sugar Bear from “Linus the Lionhearted”, a 1960’s tv cartoon series, were shown in the cereal box artwork.
This is so weird.
I was born in 1961 and for some reason had assumed that most of my favorite cartoons shown here were made in the 60's.
My father, who was born in 1921, was a consummate animation fan. When the art shifted to the modern style, he deemed it "semi animation" and scoffed at all of it.
Almost everything here that I loved was actually made in the 50's.
My dad loved some of the animation of the 60's given its cerebral content forgiving its light animation. Fractured Fairy Tales, Pink Panther, Bullwinkle ect...
Glad to see another vid. Keep it up.
Can't wait for the next one about the Warner Brothers Animation under the Pink Panther...
I mean De-Patie and Freleng's studio until the Seven Arts takeover that killed the classic Looney Tunes for the very last time...
if i told a public 20 years ago that chuck jones was an objective duck, i’d be burnt to the stake
also what was bugs called before “zombie bugs” again? “elvis?”
"Fat Elvis Bugs", a reference to Elvis' last years before his death where he was overweight and just going through the motions in his performances.
@@KaiserBeamz 'Zombie Bugs' would be similar to how we refer to current day 'Simpsons' as 'Zombie Simpsons'.
This was a excellent video! I love this series so much
Great job on the video and sound quality. Great narration. "Preeeettttyyy good" - Larry David.
Great work!!!
Man i just binged the whole series in two days, episode 7 cant come soon enough!
This was really well done! Thanks for deep diving into things I had wondered about as the shorts got awful in the 60s
Hey, I just want to say, thanks for all the editorializing
I just wanna say after Chuck got fired from Warners and probably gonna jump the gun of the next video on this one, but Chuck was still doing amazing work when he started his own studio and did work for MGM when he took over Tom and Jerry and did The Dot and the Line and worked with Dr Seuss on How The Grinch Stole Christmas and Horton Hears A Who. I feel like after MGM shut down Chuck’s studio, it was really the end of Chuck’s career. Except when Chuck made The Bugs Bunny Roadrunner Movie and made a couple of the 90s shorts. Friz still also did top projects when he formed DePatie Freleng. He got to do Pink Panther movies and shorts and also Dr Seuss specials until his studio got brought by Marvel and became Marvel Productions. McKimson didn’t do much as he was employed by DePatie Freleng and did everything they did
Though McKimson did briefly return to Warner Bros til it closed the animation studio for the last time in the Golden age.
@@stephenholloway6893 yeah but that wasn’t really a good time since the 7 Arts era barely did any top quality work like what Chuck and Friz were doing with their projects throughout the mid to late 60s with their own studios
@@brockpifer9929 I didn't say that era was good mind you just that aside of his time at DFE that's what he mostly did.
@@stephenholloway6893 oh yeah. I was just also talking about the good things the 3 of them still got to accomplish after the shutdown of Termite Terrace
It's always baffled me that Marvel Productions entire existence only resulted in three shows, and one pilot based on their comic book properties. ('Spider-Man 81', 'Spider-Man & His Amazing Friends', 'The Incredible Hulk', and the pilot, 'Pryde Of The X-Men') Everything else was based off of licensed properties. So it's kinda weird seeing something not based on a Marvel property have the Marvel Productions logo with Spider-Man onto of it.
That old bugs bunny show intro is show nostalgic, I grew up as a kid watching that at my grandparents camp on Teletoon Retro.
Loved this video. Great work.
As a kid growing up in the 1980s, I had no idea that many of favorite Looney Tunes cartoons were produced way back in the 1940s, mostly because I assumed anything that old would have been in black and white.
Something to note here that you got wrong is that Warner Bros. kept the original negatives of the shorts, and they made 16mm duplicates for AAP to use, hence why they all degraded over the years. They only sold the copyrights and distribution rights to AAP, but did not give them access to the original negatives.
AAP was acquired by United Artists in 1958 after filing for bankruptcy. In 1981, MGM bought UA after they filed for bankruptcy. In 1986, Turner Broadcasting System bought MGM, then sold the studio a few months later. His company, however, kept most of MGM's pre-1986 library as well as most of the pre-1950 Warner Bros library (including the pre-1948 WB cartoons). In 1996, Time Warner bought Turner, and now the cartoons as well as the rest of WB's pre-1950 library acquired by Turner 10 years back was under their belt again. While now defunct as of 2019, Turner still retains the copyrights to these properties, while Warner handles their distribution.
In 1995, Turner, in an effort to make the cartoons look better, created new copies of the WB cartoons. These copies while derived from the unrestored AAP prints, did have some benefits. Many of them had a wider picture frame vs the AAP prints which used pan and scan. The soundtrack was also remastered, as many of the restored prints of the cartoons use the Turner "dubbed" soundtrack as the source. While Turner did change the ending cards for most of the shorts, there was never any altering of the opening titles, which you could not say for when AAP altered the opening and ending titles of many of the shorts in the past. Turner also created new copies of the Popeye and MGM cartoons, though they did not have any alterations and instead kept their original ending cards as well.
Turner and Warner Bros. continue to hold the ban on the censored 11 cartoons in the United States from airing on TV. They also banned Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips in the 1990s. As such, it has effectively been given the censored 11 treatment.