Summary of The New Stars and Management of Warner Bros. Cartoons | THE MERRIE HISTORY OF LOONEY TUNES

00:00:00 - 00:40:00

The video discusses the history of Warner Bros. cartoons, focusing on the work of directors Leon Schlesinger and Bob McKimson. By the end of the 1940s, Warner Bros. animation had come to an end, as several key architects left the studio. The 1950s saw a new era for the studio, as only one of the directors of Warner Bros. cartoons during the decade, Eddie Selzer, managed to make his own work.

• 00:00:00 In 1944, Warner Brothers released the short "Birdie and the Beast," directed by Bob Clampett, which starred the studio's newest animated star, a cute talking fledgling named Tweety. The short was a success, and helped give Tweety the much sought-after transition from one-off character to reoccurring LOONEY TUNES player. However, one of the short's most memorable features was that it was the last MERRY MELODY short to ever bear producer's credits. Leon Schlesinger, the studio's owner and creator of Tweety, sold the studio to Warner Brothers in 1944. Despite his mixed qualities as an owner, Leon was fondly remembered by his employees for hissense of humor.
• 00:05:00 Frank Tashlin directed many Warner Bros. cartoons, including Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In 1944, he left to direct live-action films. This departure caused a production limit on his shorts, which were only released the following year with no credit given to him. Tashlin later transitioned to screenwriter and director for live-action films.
• 00:10:00 The new stars and management of Warner Bros. cartoons in the 1940s was Robert McKimson, Chuck Jones, and Frizz Freeling. Frizz Freeling, the longest tenured director, focused on tighter character animation and helped Bugs Bunny become fluffier and better suited for the goofy comedy in his shorts.
• 00:15:00 In 1945, Yosemite Sam made his debut in "Hair Trigger", a short film about a train robbery that quickly became popular. The short was based off of Ed Friedlin, who created the character. Friedlin's original idea for the character was a cat named Tweety Pie, but when MGM released a similar short called "The Cat Concerto" the same year, Warner Brothers accused each other of plagiarism. The short became a huge success, and the character of Sylvester became a reoccurring character. In 1947, Ed Seltzer created the character of Tweety Pie, and the success of the short led to the creation of the Warner Brothers cartoon studio.
• 00:20:00 The New Stars and Management of Warner Bros. Cartoons | THE MERRIE HISTORY OF LOONEY TUNES discusses how the new stars of Looney Tunes came about, including the contributions of directors Chuck Jones and Friz Freleng. It also covers the work of Michael Maltese, who was a former in-betweener at Fleischer Studios and later worked at Schlesinger's.
• 00:25:00 In 1945, Warner Brothers released "adorable kitty." This was the debut of an amorous, narcissistic French skunk by the name of Pepe le Pew Jones. The character was based off of the writer of said shorts, Tedd Pierce, who had a reputation for being a wannabe Casanova who constantly struck out with women. "Adorable kitty" is a weird short to go back to, and there are many tropes associated with a Pepe cartoon, such as a cat getting painted up like a skunk and a plot setup. However, the shorts' refinement occurs in 1947 with the short "Pepé Le Pew's Dog Disguise" written solely by Maltese. This short defines who Pepe's character is so well that Jones considers Mike Maltese to be his co-creator. In the short, Pepe has set up residence in a French perfume shop and the proprietor sends in a non-speaking cat to go after him. In the process of being flung into the store, the cat retroactively named Penelope Pussycats gets a stripe of white dye spilled down her back. Pepe mistakes her for a female skunk and pursues her relentlessly for the rest of the cartoon, including a darkly humorous scene where he tries
• 00:30:00 The video discusses the career of Bob Klampe, who directed some of the best animation at Warner Bros. Cartoons in the 1940s. His sudden departure in 1945 is one of the biggest mysteries in animation history. Some believe that he was fired, while others believe that he left on his own terms. Regardless of the reason, by the end of his tenure, his unit had incentive to go all out and produce some of the best work they had ever done. Arthur Davis, who took over Klampe's unit, had a similar style of animation and was able to keep the studio going while Klampe was gone.
• 00:35:00 Art Davis was one of the most successful and influential directors in Warner Bros. Cartoons during the late 1940s and early 1950s. He was a natural choice to take over as director of Klampus from Bob Clampett, and his cartoons exhibited wonderful timing and active animation. However, his stint at Warner Bros. was not without its challenges. He was constantly butting heads with the more inexperienced animators, and his cartoons were not well-received by the studio brass. In 1948, his unit was shut down, marking the end of his long and successful career at Warner Bros.
• 00:40:00 This video discusses the history of Warner Bros. cartoons, focusing on the work of directors Leon Schlesinger and Bob McKimson. By the end of the 1940s, Warner Bros. animation had come to an end, as several key architects left the studio. The 1950s saw a new era for the studio, as only one of the directors of Warner Bros. cartoons during the decade, Eddie Selzer, managed to make his own work.