Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist
by Chuck Jones
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Book Summary Information
Author: Chuck JonesPreface: Matt Groening
Foreword: Steven Speilberg
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999-12-03
ISBN: 0374526206
Number of pages: 303
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Book Reviews of Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist
Book Review: a serious artist
Summary: 5 Stars
That Chuck Jones is a genuinely serious artist is quite evident even taking a cursory look at his body of work. One hopes that this book, very light and very readable at the same time, will convince the more standoffish of art critics to take a second look at the man and his art.
Jones was one of the best, along with his fellow Warner cartoon makers Bob Clampett, Friz Freleng, Bob McKimson, Art Davis, Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery and others. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
One minor quibble: the book would have benefited by eliminating the inane introductions, particularly the one by Matt Groening. Considering the latter's spectacular lack of talent and creativity it is hardly an endorsement to have him contribute to any book on the art of animation.
Summary of Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist
The illustrated classic, complete with a new preface by Matt Groening.Winner of three Academy Awards and numerous other prizes for his animated films, Chuck Jones is the director of scores of famous Warner Bros. cartoons and the creator of such memorable characters as the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pep? Le Pew, and Marvin Martian. In this beguiling memoir, Chuck Jones evokes the golden years of life at "Termite Terrace," the Warner Bros. studio in which he and his now-famous fellow animators conceived the cartoons that delighted millions of moviegoers throughout the world and entertain new generations of fans on television. Not a mere history, Chuck Amuck captures the antic spirit that created classic cartoons-such as Duck Dodgers in the 241/2 Century, One Froggy Evening, Duck Amuck, and What's Opera, Doc?-with some of the wittiest insights into the art of comedy since Mark Twain.
Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist is a sort of autobiography of Chuck Jones, the brilliant Warner Brothers animator who created such enduring characters as Wile E. Coyote and Marvin the Martian. Like his best cartoons, Jones skips around to the fun parts, giving a bit of childhood here, a few words of drawing advice there, and a good yarn wherever one fits. Jones also manages to work in a detailed yet somehow never boring description of the long and silly process of making a cartoon. Jones is refreshingly generous about spreading credit around to others. He fondly remembers art teachers, tips his hat to fellow directors and mentors Friz Freleng and Tex Avery, and gives the reader a new appreciation of the layout men who create the backgrounds for animated features. Most engaging are Jones's accounts of office life at Warner Brothers, which sounds like just as much fun as you hope it would be. Jones recounts stories of drawing tables wired to wake up sleeping animators when the boss approached and Cal Howard, a gag writer who ran an illegal commissary out of his metal-lined desk. The book is filled with sketches and color plates of much-loved moments from Warner Brothers cartoons and even includes a quick Road Runner and Coyote scene that comes to life when the pages are flipped. Highly recommended for kids who like to draw and adults who have not lost their appreciation for Looney Toons. --Ali Davis
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