That’s not my first credit in a cartoon-related publication, nor is it the first time my name has been seen next to David Gerstein’s. But it warms the cockles of my heart to see it anyway. I ghostwrote a fair amount of the synopses in The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons edited by Jerry Beck. While it’s not a must-have, it’s at least an interesting read, and definitely worth the $16.47 price at Amazon, with its glossy and compact full-color content.
Whenever I see my writing published, it always disappoints, usually because I only see my mistakes. It’s been almost a year since I worked on this thing, and I actually had to go back to my notes to remember which cartoons I wrote on. (I forgot they were mostly Bob Clampett’s.) Some of my writing was definitely sanitized, and in my eyes weakened, so I’m just glad you will never know exactly which ones I wrote about.
A forewarning: there’s some atrocious copyediting in this book that seems to have resulted from copying and pasting templates, so roughly a fifth of the cartoons have incorrect release dates and series assignations. (So now The Stupid Cupid is a 1957 cartoon. Sorry, that’s when Tashlin was turning Jerry Lewis into Daffy Duck, not vice-versa.)
The lion’s share (roughly a third) is of course Chuck Jones cartoons, but even the biggest Jones detractors will have to admit that he’s the most popular of all the directors, so it’s only logical that the most votes would go to his cartoons. (Wisely, the list is presented in alphabetical order, rather than by voting rank. Once you get past the top ten or twenty, only the biggest OCD cases of Looney Tunes fans would find it worthwhile to dissect ranking order.)
The book also shows how times have changed. Tied for second place on the list are Bob Clampett and Friz Freleng, each represented by twenty-one titles. Passionate buffs might try to convince you it’s impossible to love Friz’s cartoons as much as Bob’s, but here’s proof you can have it both ways. Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery, Bob McKimson, and even Art Davis are represented by their best work for the studio too. We really have the advent of cable television and luscious DVD selections to thank for the studio’s talent being fairly recognized today.
Jerry also graciously invited fans of all kinds to vote on Cartoon Brew, and even more graciously credited them, so it’s not just from the usual team of experts. Titles that might have been discriminated against (most likely McKimson’s) are happily present.
There’s some head scratchers for sure. I don’t see what makes Guided Muscle a better Road Runner cartoon than the others, nor what makes Walky Talky Hawky the best Foghorn. Honey’s Money rather than the original His Bitter Half, really? Coal Black, fine, but Tin Pan Alley Cats too? At least one low-rent Speedy Gonzales short made the cut, but nothing with the vastly wittier Pepe Le Pew? But, hey, it’s not my list. And unlike the typical disgraceful lists from AFI, at least 2/3 of this list would be identical to my own, a percentage I’m more than okay with.
No revelations, just fun reading, and another firm reminder of why these staples of cinematic comedy* need to be preserved. I’m sure a general list of just The 100 Greatest Cartoons would reveal as much too. It’ll help keep your mind off this excrement too.
(* No, really. Have you actually tried watching live-action ‘comedy’ of the 1940s? As far as laughs go, other than a couple Stooges and a Sturges flick or two, that decade’s got zip. The cartoons were truly the kings of comedy in that era of film.)
Why the FUCK do we need more WB cartoon books? Grow up.
The release date errors really piss me off because all of them are entirely printing and layout slip-ups. Thanks Thad, for your help with the plot synopsis writing you did on this book. I think you did almost (but not quite) half of them. You didn’t receive enough credit for your input in this project. You wrote them to deadline in a throughly professional manner. Again, Thanks!
Interesting, Thad. I might check this book out somehow just to see your articulate writing style come into play, but the incorrect dates on this book and other copyediting errors are going to make me take this with a grain of salt.
Too bad the Looney Tunes are virtually nonexistent from cable television once again, especially when just eight years ago or so, I was glued to the TV watching programs like The Bugs and Daffy Show and the Acme Hour. I was about 6 or 7 then, and I still have vivid, wonderful memories of these programs airing on the once-great Cartoon Network (which is now simply a disaster zone consisting of cheap, cheesy reality programs and obnoxious, poorly drawn Canadian cartoons). Could you believe there are actually people, especially kids my age (I’m still 15), who don’t even know who Elmer Fudd is anymore? Eddie Fitzgerald thought that was scary when I told him about it on his blog, and I concur with his sentiment. Seems like all my generation wants to do is waste their money on atrocities like Twilight and Taylor Swift instead of learning about true comedic geniuses like Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
Anyways, sorry for the long diatribe, but I wanted to spill my thoughts out. I just wanted to congratulate you for keeping the Looney Tunes and their spirit alive with your commentaries and writings. These cartoons deserve more recognition then they usually get. Hopefully that “excrement” you linked to will somehow convince Cartoon Network that these cartoons should be shown again for all to see. I know you won’t like it at all, but it’s a start.
Hey Tom, how goes explaining them inky oldies to the Bushwick cool? – an uphill battle I reckon.
Remember when Ernie on My Three Sons grew into a lanky adolescent and started using terms like “Groovy” and “Cool it.” Sounds about right.
I’m on the fence about the book. Looks cool but I’m not sure if it’s something I really need right now.
Can’t believe there are people supporting that new Looney Tunes show though. Like Thad said: excrement.
Didn’t someone (preferably Jerry, seeing he is the author) get a copy of the galleys to proof? It’s unbelievable there could be that kind of sloppiness.
I’ll have to leaf through this to see if I want to buy if. I can go on internet forums if I want to read fans’ opinions of cartoons. It’ll boil down to the kind of insight they provide.
The WB book I would really like to see written would be one by Bob Givens.
I don’t think the new designs are all that bad. All the characters except Bugs look spot on, and Bugs just looks weird because his colors are off.
The only AFI list I somewhat agree with is the Heroes and Villians list but even then it still has selections that are mind boggling stupid.
“The lion’s share (roughly a third) is of course Chuck Jones cartoons, but even the biggest Jones detractors will have to admit that he’s the most popular of all the directors”
I always felt Jones’ best work is underrated, particularly everything he did early 40’s when he was really going for the laughs at rapid-fire pace. Also the best characters he created also a deserve a higher place above his other more popular creations. Hubie and Bertie, Claude Cat, and Three Bears are mutiple times the personality and charisma of Pepe Lew Pew or the formulaic Road Runner shorts.
As for that last mention of the retarted step-children you linked with, it’s going sink as usual. You paint corpses all you like, they’ll still stink.
re: 40’s live action comedies.
in general you’re right. examples- the 40’s has the weakest of the Laurel and Hardy features, the MGM little rascals, the poor attempt at a Harold Lloyd comeback vehicle, Sin of Harold Diddlebock, & Buster Keaton’s columbia shorts;
but it also holds a huge chunk of the abbott and costello oeuvre, chaplin’s The Great Dictator, W.C. fields’ My Little chickadee and the Bank Dick, a load of Bob Hope gems, including the first 5 Road pictures, & a number of fun Red Skelton features.
still, even counting these, the cartoons of the 40’s kicked live action’s butt.
Hey gang, go watch The Coconuts and Animal Crackers of Marx Brothers fame, and ask yourselves if Warner humor would exist without them.
Jah, I completely agree Kirk. But I was talking about strictly 40s films.
Sadly there are two types of books publishers and editors never take seriously:
Books about animation, and books about serial killers. There will always be glaring errors, wrong dates, and misspellings galore.
I keep laughing at the Nasty Quacks poster, because Daffy does NOT wear gloves!
“Could you believe there are actually people, especially kids my age (I’m still 15), who don’t even know who Elmer Fudd is anymore?”
That is simply criminal. I’m trying to do my part to help this next generation. I’ve showed my younger cousins the wonders of Popeye, and have given them one of the recent DVDs. This next generation needs to grow up right.
Anyway Thad, wonderful job. I can’t wait to get this book. Two thumbs up.
“Coal Black, fine, but Tin Pan Alley Cats too?”
Sorry, Thad but I voted for Tin Pan Alley Cats. I might not have if I had known at the time that most of the animation was taken from a Friz Freleng cartoon.
‘roughly a fifth of the cartoons have incorrect release dates and series assignations. ‘
– well THAT sucks. I know you guys are thorough, someone just effed it up for you.
Any chance of a corrected reprint?
PS – your ‘recommended by Thad’ list over there reminded me that I don’t have the Tom & Jerry spotlight collection, and I just bought the whack of ’em. My wife’s gonna love that!
I only make her have my children so as to indulge my cartoon cravings for a few more years without lookin like a wierdo… :P
Here are the shorts they should’ve token out and had instead;
What they should’ve had;
-Horton Hatches the Egg
-What Makes Daffy Duck?
-Rabbit Hood
-Rebel Rabbit
-Daffy Doodles
-The Foghorn Leghorn
-For Scent-Imental Reasons
-Bugs Bunny Rides Again
-Gee Whizzzzz
-Cheese Chasers
What They Should’ve Token Out (I like these shorts, but there are far better cartoons that could’ve been in there than these);
-The Stupor Salesman
-Dog Gone South
-The Aristo-Cat
-Deduce, You Say
-Scrap Happy Daffy
-Mexicali Shmoes
-Buccaneer Bunny
-Honey’s Money
-Bunny Hugged
-Guided Muscle