Biography
A cel washer for
Ub Iwerks at Celebrity Pictures, Chuck Jones joined the Warner Bros. animation unit in 1933, and after writing and animating numerous cartoons, became a director of the Merrie Melodies series in 1938 with
The Night Watchman. Over the next two decades he established himself as perhaps America's greatest maker of cartoons -- a master at creating slapstick comedy who also had a special fondness for sudden moments of sophisticated repartee or subtle character expression.
Working regularly with writer Michael Maltese, Jones brought new heights to Warners' greatest characters, particularly Daffy Duck (
The Scarlet Pumpernickel, Duck Dodgers In The 24-1/2 Century,
Duck Amuck) and Bugs Bunny (
Hair-Raising Hare, Rabbit Fire, What's Opera, Doc?); he also created such beloved figures as the Road Runner and the Coyote (
Fast and Furry-ous), Pepe Le Pew (
For Scent-Imental Reasons), and the Three Bears (
A Bear for Punishment). Jones further distinguished himself with numerous outstanding one-shot cartoons, including
The Dover Boys,
Feed the Kitty, and his classic, the singing-frog morality tale
One Froggy Evening. In the mid-1960s he made several Tom & Jerry cartoons at MGM. More impressive was his work in the animated feature
The Phantom Tollbooth (1969), co-directed by Abe Levitow; and his television adaptations of Rudyard Kipling's (
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975)) and Dr. Seuss' (
How The Grinch Stole Christmas (1965)). In 1979 Jones created linking animation scenes for a feature-length reissue anthology of his Warners cartoons, The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie (aka The Great American Chase). Through the 1990s, he provided animated sequences for Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990) and Mrs. Doubtfire (1993). ~ All Movie Guide