Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny Animator, Dies at 89

[Dave Monroe]

"Chuck Jones, Bugs Bunny Animator, Dies at 89," New
York Times, Saturday, February 23rd, 2002 ...

NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (AP) -- Academy Award-winning
animator Chuck Jones, who drew such beloved cartoon
characters as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and
Porky Pig, died at his home Friday. He was 89.

Jones worked on more than 300 animated films in a
career that spanned more than 60 years. Three of his
films won Academy Awards and he was awarded an
honorary Oscar in 1996 for lifetime achievement. He
also received an honorary life membership from the
Directors Guild of America.

Jones died of congestive heart failure at his home in
the coastal community of Corona del Mar, according to
a statement released by his daughter's company, Linda
Jones Enterprises.

Working at Warner Bros., Jones helped bring to life
some of the studio's most recognizable characters. In
addition to Bugs and Daffy, he worked on the
fast-moving, beep-beeping Road Runner and his hapless
pursuer, Wile E. Coyote. He also drew Pepe le Pew, the
romantic-minded skunk with a French accent.

Jones also produced, directed and wrote the screenplay
for the animated television classic ``Dr. Seuss' How
the Grinch Stole Christmas.''

[...]

One of Jones' most popular films, ``What's Opera,
Doc?'' was inducted into the National Film Registry in
1992 for being ``among the most culturally,
historically and aesthetically significant films of
our time.''

[...]

He landed his first job washing animation cels in
1932, working for legendary Disney animator Ub Iwerks.

A few years later, he became an animator at the Leon
Schlesinger Studio, which was later sold to Warner
Bros. He headed up his own unit at the Warner Bros.
Animation Dept. until it closed in 1962.

He also worked for MGM Studios, creating episodes for
the ``Tom and Jerry'' cartoon series.

Jones opened his own company, Chuck Jones Enterprises,
in 1962, producing nine 30-minute animated films.

His autobiography, ``Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times
of an Animated Cartoonist,'' was published in 1989,
followed two years later by a second book, ``Chuck
Reducks.''

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/obituaries/AP-Obit-Jones.html

And see as well ...

Kenner, Hugh.  Chuck Jones: A Flurry of Drawings.
   Berkeley: U of California P, 1994.

http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/6500.html

And speaking of ducks ...

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