What do you think?
Rate this book
Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life
The timeless masterpieces of animation director Chuck Jones have kept audiences laughing all over the globe for more than sixty years. The cartoon characters he has shaped and brought to life - Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner, the Grinch, and a memorable menagerie of others - have, like their creator, become indelible icons of American culture.
Packed with entertaining anecdotes - encounters with Charlie Chaplin and Walt Disney, life with such legends as Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Mel Blanc, and Carl Stalling in the bedlam conditions of Termite Terrace (the Warner Bros. Animation studio), and collaborations with the genial Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) - Chuck Reducks is an unforgettable tour inside the endlessly creative mind of one of America's greatest comedy directors. There are character-by-character portraits of Chuck's animated stars, with enough priceless gems to satisfy even Daffy's Why Bugs Bunny's face had something in common with ice skater Sonja Henie's; Why there is something very peculiar about Marvin Martian's mouth and Witch Hazel's hairline; How inept management inspired Pepe le Pew; and did Michigan J. Frog (1957) inspire Steven Spielberg to name a certain adventure hero after a state and an admired animation director?
Chuck Reducks also includes informative chronologies, illustrations detailing how characters are drawn and given movement, in-depth looks at such masterpieces as What's Opera, Doc? and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and practical tips for tomorrow's animators.
Packed with entertaining anecdotes - encounters with Charlie Chaplin and Walt Disney, life with such legends as Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Mel Blanc, and Carl Stalling in the bedlam conditions of Termite Terrace (the Warner Bros. Animation studio), and collaborations with the genial Theodor Geisel (a.k.a. Dr. Seuss) - Chuck Reducks is an unforgettable tour inside the endlessly creative mind of one of America's greatest comedy directors. There are character-by-character portraits of Chuck's animated stars, with enough priceless gems to satisfy even Daffy's Why Bugs Bunny's face had something in common with ice skater Sonja Henie's; Why there is something very peculiar about Marvin Martian's mouth and Witch Hazel's hairline; How inept management inspired Pepe le Pew; and did Michigan J. Frog (1957) inspire Steven Spielberg to name a certain adventure hero after a state and an admired animation director?
Chuck Reducks also includes informative chronologies, illustrations detailing how characters are drawn and given movement, in-depth looks at such masterpieces as What's Opera, Doc? and Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and practical tips for tomorrow's animators.
286 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1996
4 people are currently reading
133 people want to read
About the author
Chuck Jones
35 books21 followersCharles Martin "Chuck" Jones was an American animator, cartoon artist, screenwriter, producer, and director of animated films, most notably of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts for the Warner Bros Cartoons studio.
Jones was born in Spokane, Washington and later moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. His father encouraged his drawing from an early age.
Jones graduated from Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts) in 1932 and married Dorothy Webster. He received his first job as a cel washer from former Disney animator, Ubbe Iwerks at Iwekrs Productions.
In 1933, Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions that produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros. and was promoted to animator in 1935. Jones became a director in 1938. His first cartoon was The Night Watchman. In 1942, he used stylized animation for the cartoon, The Dover Boys.
During World War II, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, to create the Private Snafu series of Army educational cartoons. He would later collaborate with Geisel on a number of adaptations of his books to animated form, most importantly How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1966.
Also during World War II, Jones directed shorts regarding shortages and rationing, including The Weakly Reporter in 1944. In 1944, he also directed Hell-Bent for Election, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In the 1950s, Jones created characters such as Claude Cat, Marc Antony, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. His Road Runner cartoons, Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc? are today hailed by critics as some of the best cartoons ever made.
Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Pictures, where he teamed with Ward Kimball for a four month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty (1959).
In the early 1960s, Jones and his wife, Dorothy, wrote the screenplay for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him.
He and his business partner, Les Goldman, created Sib Tower 12 Productions, an animation studio which was contracted in 1963 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mary for the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Their studio was merged with MGM and renamed MG Animation/Visual Arts.
In 1965, Jones' animated film, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Phantom Tollbooth, produced by Jones, was released in 1970.
In 1970, MGM closed the animation studio and Jones created Chuck Jones Productions. Most notably, this studio produced The Curiosity Shop and three short films based on The Jungle Book.
Jones moved onto writing and drawing the comic strip, Crawford, in 1977. In 1978, his wife died and he remarried Marian Dern in 1981.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, Jones painted and sold cartoons and parody art and directed several animation sequences.
In 1993, he received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University and later won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project for the 2001-2002 Chuck Jones Show. Jones also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and won an Honorary Academy Award in 1996.
His work has been nominated eight times for an Oscar and has won three times with For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and The Line.
Jones died of heart failure in 2002. After his death, the Looney Tunes cartoon, Daffy Duck for President, based on the book that Jones had written and using Jones' style for the characters, was released in 2004.
Jones was born in Spokane, Washington and later moved with his family to Los Angeles, California. His father encouraged his drawing from an early age.
Jones graduated from Chouinard Art Institute (now the California Institute of the Arts) in 1932 and married Dorothy Webster. He received his first job as a cel washer from former Disney animator, Ubbe Iwerks at Iwekrs Productions.
In 1933, Jones joined Leon Schlesinger Productions that produced Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Bros. and was promoted to animator in 1935. Jones became a director in 1938. His first cartoon was The Night Watchman. In 1942, he used stylized animation for the cartoon, The Dover Boys.
During World War II, Jones worked closely with Theodor Geisel, to create the Private Snafu series of Army educational cartoons. He would later collaborate with Geisel on a number of adaptations of his books to animated form, most importantly How the Grinch Stole Christmas! in 1966.
Also during World War II, Jones directed shorts regarding shortages and rationing, including The Weakly Reporter in 1944. In 1944, he also directed Hell-Bent for Election, a campaign film for Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In the 1950s, Jones created characters such as Claude Cat, Marc Antony, Pepe LePew, the Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote. His Road Runner cartoons, Duck Amuck, One Froggy Evening, and What's Opera, Doc? are today hailed by critics as some of the best cartoons ever made.
Jones remained at Warner Bros. throughout the 1950s, except for a brief period in 1953 when Warner closed the animation studio. During this interim, Jones found employment at Walt Disney Pictures, where he teamed with Ward Kimball for a four month period of uncredited work on Sleeping Beauty (1959).
In the early 1960s, Jones and his wife, Dorothy, wrote the screenplay for the animated feature Gay Purr-ee. UPA completed the film and made it available for distribution in 1962; it was picked up by Warner Bros. When Warner discovered that Jones had violated his exclusive contract with them, they terminated him.
He and his business partner, Les Goldman, created Sib Tower 12 Productions, an animation studio which was contracted in 1963 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mary for the Tom and Jerry cartoons. Their studio was merged with MGM and renamed MG Animation/Visual Arts.
In 1965, Jones' animated film, The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics, won the Oscar for Best Animated Short. In 1966, he produced and directed the TV special How the Grinch Stole Christmas. The Phantom Tollbooth, produced by Jones, was released in 1970.
In 1970, MGM closed the animation studio and Jones created Chuck Jones Productions. Most notably, this studio produced The Curiosity Shop and three short films based on The Jungle Book.
Jones moved onto writing and drawing the comic strip, Crawford, in 1977. In 1978, his wife died and he remarried Marian Dern in 1981.
In the 1980s and the 1990s, Jones painted and sold cartoons and parody art and directed several animation sequences.
In 1993, he received an honorary degree from Oglethorpe University and later won the Annie Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Animated Special Project for the 2001-2002 Chuck Jones Show. Jones also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and won an Honorary Academy Award in 1996.
His work has been nominated eight times for an Oscar and has won three times with For Scent-imental Reasons, So Much for So Little, and The Dot and The Line.
Jones died of heart failure in 2002. After his death, the Looney Tunes cartoon, Daffy Duck for President, based on the book that Jones had written and using Jones' style for the characters, was released in 2004.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 18, 2021
Chuck ReDucks is about the life and time of My hero, biggest influence, and the greatest cartoonist and director of all time. Charles Martin Jones. You might now him by Chuck Jones. Chuck tells us about his time at the greatest cartoon studio of all time, Termite Terrace. Termite Terrace was a little building that housed the Warner Brothers team of animators. The Looney Tunes staff. Chuck was a very revolutionary director. Creating limited animation with 1942’s classic The Dover Boys at Pimento University or The Rivals of Roquefort Hall (voted the 49th greatest cartoon in 1994 by 1,000 animated professionals). That cartoon paved the way for companies like UPA ( United Productions of America) and HannaBarbera. Chuck also tells us about how he came up with a lot of the stories he made into cartoons and how he made some of the characters such as Wile E. Coyote. Jones tells also tells us about his childhood and some of his biggest influences on his cartoons. As a die hard Looney Tunes fan and die hard Chuck Jones fan, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves both of them. I gave it a 5 because what more could you ask for. Learning about the greatest animation studio of all time and our favorite cartoons? I don’t think there’s anything better than that.
“Full animation is at the heart of Warner Bros. cartoons” (Jones 81).
“Full animation is at the heart of Warner Bros. cartoons” (Jones 81).
May 17, 2010
I adore this book! Part autobiography, part history of Warner Bros., and part learning tool on the creative process. Chuck Jones delivers insightful behind-the-scenes tour of the to-the-left-of-cute studio.
My favorite parts were of course his explanation of the creative process and the fact he would redraw one scene 50 times just to get it right. He delves into the personality of beloved characters that, as time has gone on, become icons of animated cinema -- Michigan J. Frog, Marc Anthony, Bugs and Elmer's Wagner opera.
My favorite parts were of course his explanation of the creative process and the fact he would redraw one scene 50 times just to get it right. He delves into the personality of beloved characters that, as time has gone on, become icons of animated cinema -- Michigan J. Frog, Marc Anthony, Bugs and Elmer's Wagner opera.
June 8, 2016
While Chuck Reducks won't be quite as fresh for those who have read Chuck Amuck, it is still a joy to read and step into Chuck Jones's thought and company for a while. He further examines his own life, theory of character writing, and discusses works he barely touched on in Chuck Amuck, such as How the Grinch Stole Christmas!.
October 18, 2024
Chuck Jones ,American animator, voice actor and filmmaker had a career spanning over 60 very happy, very productive years.
Acquainted with his work?
Remember Bugs,Daffy, Wylie,Road Runner, Pepe Le Pew ?
How about Yosemite Sam, Porky, Tweety,Sylvester, Elmer Fudd ?
Or maybe Horton Hears a Who ?
The Grinch and Max ?
With a childhood well spent observing people and animals, a love of drawing and a few years of art school, he went on to a long,not always profitable career .
His specialty was as a director of animation helping create characters worthy of their own short features on the big screen. Each feature (cartoon) of 6 minutes required thousands of sketches and a week or more of studio time and a staff of dozens at Warner Brothers. His later work with tv features (Grinch) required a 24 minute long product that would also draw sponsors.
The book CHUCK JONES -CHUCK REDUCKS was written when the author was in his 80’s. It is a memoir as well as a tribute to his friends and coworkers. It is also a how-to book for budding cartoonists and animators. Lavishly illustrated with sketches, paintings, rough design sheets and photos on every page, the coffee table book format lends itself to both a complete read-through or a pick up and sample experience.
Jones’ style of writing is joyous, informative, self deprecating.
It is a work by a mature hard working man who reminds us more than once,
“No great children’s book,film or fable was ever written for children…..
if it can be read with pleasure by adults, it is probably a very good,possibly a
great, children’s book.”
Acquainted with his work?
Remember Bugs,Daffy, Wylie,Road Runner, Pepe Le Pew ?
How about Yosemite Sam, Porky, Tweety,Sylvester, Elmer Fudd ?
Or maybe Horton Hears a Who ?
The Grinch and Max ?
With a childhood well spent observing people and animals, a love of drawing and a few years of art school, he went on to a long,not always profitable career .
His specialty was as a director of animation helping create characters worthy of their own short features on the big screen. Each feature (cartoon) of 6 minutes required thousands of sketches and a week or more of studio time and a staff of dozens at Warner Brothers. His later work with tv features (Grinch) required a 24 minute long product that would also draw sponsors.
The book CHUCK JONES -CHUCK REDUCKS was written when the author was in his 80’s. It is a memoir as well as a tribute to his friends and coworkers. It is also a how-to book for budding cartoonists and animators. Lavishly illustrated with sketches, paintings, rough design sheets and photos on every page, the coffee table book format lends itself to both a complete read-through or a pick up and sample experience.
Jones’ style of writing is joyous, informative, self deprecating.
It is a work by a mature hard working man who reminds us more than once,
“No great children’s book,film or fable was ever written for children…..
if it can be read with pleasure by adults, it is probably a very good,possibly a
great, children’s book.”
May 6, 2017
Not QUITE as good as the previous volume, but then that is one of my favourite books. Less auto-biographical stuff, more little bits about different characters and films, which were nice, but I want to hear more about working for Warner Bros in the 30s/40s/50s, y'know? Chuck is such a good writer, and this is still an excellent, excellent book, but it felt like more of an Odds and Ends job, collecting all the scraps that weren't used in the first book. I still love hearing about his Uncle Lynn, who sounds like a 20th Century Socrates.
December 18, 2018
A great tribute to someone who had a hand in the childhoods of millions of people. Also filled with a ton of sketches, which always interest me; what is the process? And he was a comic genius, supported by many other talented people, and I thought this book was a great exploration of his life, with a nod to his legacy.
March 7, 2023
Chuck Jones was my favourite Looney Tunes director. This book is a bit haphazard — it’s like a stream of consciousness that moves between tips on animation, autobiography, Warner Bros history, and character studies of some of the most popular Tunes. The lack of organization is maybe a good reflection of the comic genius that was Chuck Jones.
October 26, 2021
Brilliant book. Brilliant man.
January 23, 2013
I rather enjoyed this book, which was part memoir and part insight into Chuck Jones' approach to animation, and many Looney Tunes and other characters specifically. I enjoyed the humor and voice he was able to impart, which made the animation details just as much of a story and entertaining as the anecdotes he presented.
While it isn't as technical as other books on animation, or as detailed as other animation history books, I think this would be a good book to at least read through once for Jones' voice and wit, as well as the technical information. There are numerous illustrations, from sketches by Jones himself and others, as well as photos. I enjoyed studying many of the sketches to learn more about his quirks and stylings, which would be helpful if you're a fan of his work.
All in all, I enjoyed it.
While it isn't as technical as other books on animation, or as detailed as other animation history books, I think this would be a good book to at least read through once for Jones' voice and wit, as well as the technical information. There are numerous illustrations, from sketches by Jones himself and others, as well as photos. I enjoyed studying many of the sketches to learn more about his quirks and stylings, which would be helpful if you're a fan of his work.
All in all, I enjoyed it.
August 3, 2011
The autobiography of the animator and director who gave us such classic characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Elmer Fudd [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Jones]. Well written, very funny and with plenty of insight into the creation of these animated films. Mr. Jones' work is easily available in YouTube and is still the basis of periodic films by the Warner Corporation. But the new creations don't have the spark of those great works from the sixties and seventies. We certainly miss you, Chuck Jones.
October 13, 2010
Really fun read. I thought Chuck Jones wrote well. Strangely, I found the first part of the book, the more autobiographical section, more interesting. Once he gets into how the famous Loony Tunes characters were designed and created, it drops off a bit.
January 21, 2011
A companion piece to Chuck Amuck that dives a little more deeply into the early years, life at Termite Terrace, and being an Oscar-winning animator. Interesting close character studies of his most famous characters, and those to whom he gave his personal slant, including Bugs and Daffy.
October 19, 2015
Wow. Even better than Chuck Amuck! Much more substantial. In addition to more life stories, Jones details every major character and several specific films.
Excellent.
Excellent.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews