That's All Folks: Chuck Jones RIP

Whamo writes: "Legendary animator, Chuck Jones, creator of classic cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Road Runner, & Pepe Le Pew has died (cnn) aged 89 years. When you were a kid was there ever a better baby-sitter than several hours of Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies? Thank you, Mr. Jones for all the great memories and, respectfully, That's All Folks...." CT: I just wanted to mention that Chuck actually read Slashdot. We had a poll once where he was an option, and he was flattered that he was winning it.

Comments

What makes a good cartoon

[rosewood]

I spent 4-5 hours the other night talking about what makes a good cartoon and Chuck Jones was the name we brought up the most. Good slapstick fun that entertains the young ones. More advanced humor for those out of gradeschool, but yet still have the slapstick appealing. Then, working your cartoon with the music directors, etc.

Genuis, no doubt

If anything, his death should prompt cartoon network to run a lot of chuck jones - the silver lining my friends

Re:What makes a good cartoon

[Forge]

It's good to see someone can find a silver lineing, even in the death of one of the greatest shapers of human behavior in the modern world.

Chuck Jones defined the "cartoon Cartoon" as oposed to the

kids cartoon; Which is designed to not warp a child too much [Magic SchoolBus]

or the movie cartoon; like a live action feature but alowing special efects which would be deficult in live action. [Prince of Egypt]

or even the superhero cartoon. [transformers].

Nope a cartoon cartoon is one that's not good for your VCR because you keap rewinding to see just how stupid an expresion the character has when he realises he has been walking on air for some time and must now obay gravity.

And the copyrights last forever

[digiZen]

Sadly, after his death, a mega corporation continues to profit from his works, and with copyrights getting perpetually extended, control will never be relinquished. Would he had wanted the public to have access to his works after he passed away? Personally, I would like everything that I create to eventually find the greatest possible use after I'm gone. After all you can't take it with you. There's no better way than for the work to end up in the public domain. Yet, our laws and a few greedy individuals are going to prevent this from occurring. Something has to get done.

Re:Duck Amuck: I remember that!

[ashitaka]

This is what is so great about Chuck's work.

I am twice your age. I loved his cartoons.

My kids are half your age. They love his cartoons.

And you probably haven't seen a quarter of his work.

A sad, sad day

[Martin Blank]

There used to be a Warner Brothers store near me, and they had hanging on one wall a large image of a number of classic characters standing in the shadows, the spotlight on a microphone with nobody there to use it. It was a memorial to Mel Blanc, and even now when I think of it, I get a little misty-eyed. In an odd way, I look forward to the tribute that will be paid to Chuck Jones.

What I find saddest, though, is a conversation I recently had with a friend's kids. They're 8 and 6, and they know who the Rugrats and Spongebob Squarepants (that one scares me) are, but they barely know who Bugs Bunny is, thought they knew Daffy and Elmer, recognized Yosemite Sam, but had no clue who the Tazmanian Devil, Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote, the Road Runner, or Sylvester are. (Oddly enough, the younger of the two knew of Marvin's dog, and described him enough to convince me. Weird.) Even the youngest are being pulled so far into the "NEW NEW NEW" mentality pervading media culture that they have no clue what led to the current generation. Some of them don't even know about Mickey and Minnie, but they know everything about the Little Mermaid or the Lion King.

My children will know the classics. Oh, yes. They will know.

Best Music Video Ever: Rabbit of Seville

[ewhac]

Chuck Jones took the overture to Rossini's Barber of Seville and, with Carl Stalling's virtuoso arrangement, created an absolute cinematic masterwork.

Music videos today are just a jumble of images assembled nearly at random. Chuck Jones rose to the challenge and gave Rabbit of Seville an actual plot, while still remaining almost perfectly true to Rossini's original score. Not only that, but Stalling's spirited orchestration makes you want to go out and track down Rossini's other works. (The overtures to Semiramide and The Thieving Magpie are just begging for cartoons of their own.)

It's a damn shame it doesn't get broadcast much anymore.

Schwab

Chuck Jones RIP

[Devlin-du-GEnie]

How appropriate . . . finding out early on a Saturday morning.

My parents always hated how I would cheerfully get up at 6:45 a.m. on a Sataurday to watch Bugs & Daffy, but had to be dragged out of bed kicking and screaming on school days.

I miss the explosive (sometimes literally) creativity of those early years of studio animation. Chuck Jones was at the heart of it.

They say you're old when your childhood icons begin to die. This morning, I feel a lot older.

Have fun rescripting the afterlife, Mr. Jones. I'm sure heaven will never be =quite= the same.

A time for celebration, not mourning

[MtViewGuy]

Folks,

I think with the passing of Chuck Jones it is not a time for mourning, but a time for celebration. The fact he even lived to a ripe old age of 89 meant he lived a truly full life, to say the least.

It is time for a celebration of an output of animation that is arguably unmatched. From his work in the early Tom & Jerry cartoons at MGM to the amazing opera parodies he did in the 1950's to everything else he did, he was probably the best embodiment of the zenith of cartoon short subject films during their heyday.

I will say "Thank you, and Godspeed," to truly one of the true giants in the entertainment industry.