That's all folks!: The art of Warner Bros. animation

by Steven Jay Schneider

For three generations of fans comes the first book to celebrate the unique achievements and beloved menagerie created by the inimitable Warner Borthers animation studio. Not even Walt Disney has produced a more popular and brilliantly witty oeuvre of cartoon shorts (as was written in Newsweek recently, "Disney cartoons may have been more beautiful; Warner's cartoons were always more interesting."). 100 line drawings, 255 full-color illustrations.

Genres: Art, Film, Nonfiction, Cartoon, History, Comic Strips, Humor

Hardcover

First published October 1, 1988

About the author

Steven Jay Schneider is a film critic, scholar, and producer with M.A. degrees in Philosophy from Harvard University and in Cinema Studies from New York University. He is the author and editor of numerous books on world cinema, most notably in the horror genre. They include Eurohorror, The Cinema of Wes Craven: An Auteur on Elm Street, Designing Fear: An Aesthetics of Cinematic Horror, Killing in Style: Artistic Murder in the Movies, Understanding Film Genres, and Traditions in World Cinema. He is also a consultant for film, television, and home video/DVD production companies, a curator for world horror film programs, and a staff member in development for Paramount Pictures. Among his recent titles are 501 Movie Stars and 501 Movie Directors, both available in North America from Barron's. Two additional titles from Barron's are scheduled for publication in Spring 09. They are 101 Horror Movies You Must See Before You Die and 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die.

Reviews

[Rick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of great information, character sketches etc. I think it is a must read for anyone who grew up watching the classic Looney Tunes shorts on TV or even in the theater.

[Tonk82 · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Leido en inglés)

A pesar de tener en el título "The Art of Warner Bros. Animation", este no es estrcitamente un libro de arte. Si, buena parte de las páginas están repletas de concept arts, fondos y capturas de los cortos animados de la Warner (que resultarán apasionantes para los fans de la animación, como yo), pero a la vez contiene una cantidad de texto muy respetable, dividida en 3 partes:

-Un prólogo de Ray Bradbury, seguido de la historia del estudio. Casi medio libro es la historia de los estudios de animación, con pequeñas fichas de los directores mas importante. Es un recorrido con un detalle bastante decente y da una visión de conjunto francamente buena.
-Los personajes: Cada personaje icónico del estudio tiene una sección, con su historia, diseños y una selección de "mejores cortos".
-Un listado de todos los cortos del estudio ordenados cronologicamente.

Es un libro de 1988, y como tal, acaba bastante antes de lo que a uno le gustaría. Parece estar muy bien documentado, aunque siendo de ese año muy posiblemente tenga algunas cosillas erróneas aqui y allá.

Pero en general, un libro excelente si interesa el mundillo de la animación.

[Justin Decloux · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ultimate bible to Warnes Brothers Animation. It's got a great historical breakdown, bios of the major players, and tons of behind the scenes sketches and layouts. The second half is broken down by 'Character' which made me a little weary at first, but it's actually comprehensive creative histories of how the characters came to be and where they ended up.

Criminally out of print.

[Brook · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5-4 stars.

This is truly about Warner Bro's animation. Not the studio heads, not the line artists, not the animators, not anything contemporary (save tie-ins with WWII). The book is both a reference and enjoyable for someone who loved and lived those heyday WB cartoons of the 1940s and 1950s.

For someone who has the Looney Tunes "Golden Collection" and has watched all of them, this was clearly informative. This is a 100- or 200-level college course, basically on the history of the studio and its characters. You learn where Porky, Daffy and Bugs come from, and who drew them.

Readers will also - even if they think they've seen everything - discover something in the book that they had no idea existed. In some cases, it is because the reels were lost; in others, Warner Bros. or the current rights-holder has kept them off the airwaves. "Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarves" was the big one for me and yes, it is exactly what it sounds like.

The book does a great job of explaining not just the history, but the technical aspects and improvements, as well as the lengths to which animators went to research, layout, and animate a story. The aforementioned "Coal Black" involved visiting actual jazz clubs of the era and getting performers on board. We are all aware of some of the treatments of "classical" music (Bugs dressed as Brunhilde, Bugs conducting the orchestra until the whole thing collapses, etc), but may not realize just how much work was in there.

The big takeaway for me was that these sort of cartoons as weekly Saturday morning fare will never happen again, as they were originally "mini movies" shown with feature films in theaters, and carried appropriate budgets. With the exception of big-named back projects like "The Animaniacs" (which was written after this book was published), children's television animation may never see something as robust and well-written as those classic WB cartoons of the 40s-60s.

Pick up the book and discover a cartoon you never knew. Have the Internet handy, as you will want to look all of these cartoons up!

[Tim Kadlec · Rating 4 out of 5]

While you'll find more detailed information elsewhere, the author does a pretty good job of providing some context and historical insight into the evolution of the Looney Tunes, the creation of the major characters, and the personalities behind the scenes. Where this book really shines, though, is in the many beautiful and hard-to-find sketches and animation artwork prominently on display. It's a gorgeous book!