Chuck Jones
We proudly include Chuck Jones
as part of the Sci-Fi Station - Sci-Fi
Masters Series.
-Arnold Leibovit, Director Sci-Fi Station
"A small child once said
to me. 'You don't draw Bugs Bunny, you draw pictures of Bugs Bunny.'That's a very profound observation because it means that he thinks the characters are alive, which, as far as I am concerned, is true," recalls animation director Chuck Jones. Mr. Jones helped bring to life many characters during the Golden Age of animation including some of Warner Bros.' most famous Looney Tunes characters--
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and Porky Pig. The list of characters that Chuck Jones created himself goes on-- Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Marvin Martian, Pepe Le Pew, Gossamer and many others.
Chuck
Jones entered the fledgling animation industry in 1932 as a cel
washer at Ub Iwerks Studio after graduating from the Chouinard
Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts.) Chuck Jones
joined the Leon Schlesinger Studio, later sold to 
Warner
Bros., as an animator in 1936. There, Chuck Jones was assigned
to Tex Avery's animation unit. In 1938, at the age of 25, he directed
his first animated film "The Night Watchman." Mr. Jones
remained at Warner Bros. Animation until it closed in 1962, though
he had a brief stint with Disney Studios in 1955 during a hiatus
at Warner Bros working on Sleeping Beauty.
In
1966, while heading up the animation division at MGM Studios,
Mr. Jones directed one of the most memorable holiday television
specials ever produced -- "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole
Christmas." First aired on Sunday, December 18, 1966, Chuck
Jones' production of the half-hour special was met with glowing
reviews from newspapers across the country and has since become
one of the most beloved holiday programs on television.
Mr. Jones has become
a true icon of creativity by directing such mini-epics as "What's
Opera, Doc?" (1957) which featured a Wagnerian 
Elmer
Fudd invoking the great elements against a cunning Bugs Bunny.
On Dec. 4, 1992, "What's Opera, Doc?" 
became
the first-ever animated film to be inducted into the National
Film Registry-- an honor bestowed on only 100 films to date --
for being "among the most culturally, historically or aesthetically
significant films of our time." Chuck Jones has also been
honored at the Academy Awards for his lifetime achievement in
animation.
At
the age of 83, Mr. Jones has enjoyed more than 60 years in animation
and is still hard at work, having recently signed a new contract
with Warner Bros.to create animated short subjects for theatrical
release using many of the classic Warner Bros. characters under
the title of his production company, Chuck Jones Film Productions.
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