A celebration of the talent and legacy of animation.
Since the 1930s, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies have delighted audiences the world over and have earned the reputation as the funniest, animated cartoons ever made! Most importantly, the studio created an attitude in animated films. From the late 1930’s onward, there was only one kind of Warner Bros. cartoons - funny ones. Disney may have had the beauty and polish, but Warners had the laughs. A sense of humour in writing, and drawing, even in the music and sound effects was the bottom line goal. More often than not, that was the result.
Sadly, the cartoons produced by this studio between 1940 and 1960 represent a situation, which may never occur again: a group of artists given total freedom to make funny cartoons, and invent funny characters - with complete access to the talents and facilities of a major motion picture studio.
This is the story of that studio, its origins and of the many brilliant directors that brought made us laugh with, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.
Image Credit: © Warner Archives. All Rights Reserved.
SPEAKERS
Jerry Beck
Animation Historian // Independent
Jerry Beck is an animation historian and cartoon producer. His fifteen books on the subject include "The Animated Movie Guide," "Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide," and "The 50 Greatest Cartoons." He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer for Warner Archives. Beck has programmed animation retrospectives and animator tributes for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has taught animation history at NYU, SVA, the AFI and UCLA.
Beck started his career in film distribution, working at MGM/UA, Orion Classics, Cannon Films and Expanded Entertainment (Tournee of Animation), before starting his own company, Streamline Pictures in 1989, the first U.S. distributor to import anime features such as Otomo’s Akira and Miyazaki’s Castle In The Sky.
Beck was instrumental in launching Animation Magazine, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has also created, written and produced animated films for various clients. His most recent animation project, Hornswiggle, aired on Nickelodeon. Beck co-created Cartoon Brew and co-wrote the blog for nine years. Today he edits two blogs, Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research.
Willie Ito
Animator
Sitting in front of a big screen at a neighbourhood theatre, a 5-year-old Willie Ito saw for the first time what cemented his lifetime career in the field of animated cartooning. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs in living colour made such an impression, he drew constantly.
During his wartime incarceration, which was ordered for 120,000 Japanese Americans, he spent many hours just drawing and animating on margins of Sears catalogues to create his own flipbook. After 3 years in the camp, he and his family returned home to San Francisco. He continued to hone his drawing skills in High School and college. His professor in college encouraged him to attend Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.
Willie's career started there at Disney as Iwo’s assistant where his first assignment was the iconic spaghetti kissing scene from Lady & the Tramp.
He later went on to Warner Bros. starting at the infamous ‘Termite Terrace’ with directors Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. Some of the classics that he was involved with were What’s Opera Doc, One Froggy Evening, Pepe Le Pew, Daffy Duck and the ever favourite Coyote Roadrunner series.
Willie also did layouts and stories for Dr. Frank Baxter’s Science series. Friz Freleng borrowed him from Chuck Jones to lay out a short under Hawley Pratt’s mentorship. Willie received his first-ever screen credit as a layout artist on Prince Violence, later retitled Prince Varmit directed by Friz Freleng.
Bob Clampett who was starting production on his Time for Beany show invited Willie to join his studio. Willie converted his puppet characters into animation and the Beany and Cecil show went into production. Next followed a 14-year employment with Hanna-Barbera working on classic shows like The Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo.
Amongst his many career accomplishments, Willie did many comic books, comic strips, children's books and cartoon illustrations. In a career that spanned over 50 years, Willie Ito is still active at the drawing board producing his animated version of his book Hello Maggie. The award-winning book was illustrated and published after his retirement from Walt Disney Studio as Director of Character Art International where he traveled to countries that had Walt Disney Production offices, overseeing and mentoring Disney artists from their respective countries.
MODERATOR
Keith Blackmore
Sr. Lecturer // Vancouver Film School
As an animation historian, Keith Blackmore has been a passionate cheerleader and a voice for all-things animated in the Vancouver area for almost 30 years. As one of the producers of the SPARK ANIMATION Festival and an active member of the local SIGGRAPH chapter, Keith has presented, interviewed and moderated at many festivals, local and national.
Since 1995, Blackmore has educated, entertained and inspired students in the history of animation and media studies at the Vancouver Film School. When he’s not reading, teaching or talking about animation, he’s watching it.
A celebration of the talent and legacy of animation.
Since the 1930s, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies have delighted audiences the world over and have earned the reputation as the funniest, animated cartoons ever made! Most importantly, the studio created an attitude in animated films. From the late 1930’s onward, there was only one kind of Warner Bros. cartoons - funny ones. Disney may have had the beauty and polish, but Warners had the laughs. A sense of humour in writing, and drawing, even in the music and sound effects was the bottom line goal. More often than not, that was the result.
Sadly, the cartoons produced by this studio between 1940 and 1960 represent a situation, which may never occur again: a group of artists given total freedom to make funny cartoons, and invent funny characters - with complete access to the talents and facilities of a major motion picture studio.
This is the story of that studio, its origins and of the many brilliant directors that brought made us laugh with, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.
Image Credit: © Warner Archives. All Rights Reserved.
SPEAKERS
Jerry Beck
Animation Historian // Independent
Jerry Beck is an animation historian and cartoon producer. His fifteen books on the subject include "The Animated Movie Guide," "Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide," and "The 50 Greatest Cartoons." He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer for Warner Archives. Beck has programmed animation retrospectives and animator tributes for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has taught animation history at NYU, SVA, the AFI and UCLA.
Beck started his career in film distribution, working at MGM/UA, Orion Classics, Cannon Films and Expanded Entertainment (Tournee of Animation), before starting his own company, Streamline Pictures in 1989, the first U.S. distributor to import anime features such as Otomo’s Akira and Miyazaki’s Castle In The Sky.
Beck was instrumental in launching Animation Magazine, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has also created, written and produced animated films for various clients. His most recent animation project, Hornswiggle, aired on Nickelodeon. Beck co-created Cartoon Brew and co-wrote the blog for nine years. Today he edits two blogs, Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research.
Willie Ito
Animator
Sitting in front of a big screen at a neighbourhood theatre, a 5-year-old Willie Ito saw for the first time what cemented his lifetime career in the field of animated cartooning. Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs in living colour made such an impression, he drew constantly.
During his wartime incarceration, which was ordered for 120,000 Japanese Americans, he spent many hours just drawing and animating on margins of Sears catalogues to create his own flipbook. After 3 years in the camp, he and his family returned home to San Francisco. He continued to hone his drawing skills in High School and college. His professor in college encouraged him to attend Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles.
Willie's career started there at Disney as Iwo’s assistant where his first assignment was the iconic spaghetti kissing scene from Lady & the Tramp.
He later went on to Warner Bros. starting at the infamous ‘Termite Terrace’ with directors Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. Some of the classics that he was involved with were What’s Opera Doc, One Froggy Evening, Pepe Le Pew, Daffy Duck and the ever favourite Coyote Roadrunner series.
Willie also did layouts and stories for Dr. Frank Baxter’s Science series. Friz Freleng borrowed him from Chuck Jones to lay out a short under Hawley Pratt’s mentorship. Willie received his first-ever screen credit as a layout artist on Prince Violence, later retitled Prince Varmit directed by Friz Freleng.
Bob Clampett who was starting production on his Time for Beany show invited Willie to join his studio. Willie converted his puppet characters into animation and the Beany and Cecil show went into production. Next followed a 14-year employment with Hanna-Barbera working on classic shows like The Flintstones, Jetsons, Yogi Bear and Scooby-Doo.
Amongst his many career accomplishments, Willie did many comic books, comic strips, children's books and cartoon illustrations. In a career that spanned over 50 years, Willie Ito is still active at the drawing board producing his animated version of his book Hello Maggie. The award-winning book was illustrated and published after his retirement from Walt Disney Studio as Director of Character Art International where he traveled to countries that had Walt Disney Production offices, overseeing and mentoring Disney artists from their respective countries.
MODERATOR
Keith Blackmore
Sr. Lecturer // Vancouver Film School
As an animation historian, Keith Blackmore has been a passionate cheerleader and a voice for all-things animated in the Vancouver area for almost 30 years. As one of the producers of the SPARK ANIMATION Festival and an active member of the local SIGGRAPH chapter, Keith has presented, interviewed and moderated at many festivals, local and national.
Since 1995, Blackmore has educated, entertained and inspired students in the history of animation and media studies at the Vancouver Film School. When he’s not reading, teaching or talking about animation, he’s watching it.
