I became aware of a book recently that was published in 1975 titled "Creators of life: a history of animation" authored by Donald Heraldson. I've yet to read the whole book but the excerpt I have read from page 77 goes like this, "Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Chuck Jones have been credited with Bugs' design, but a more probable explanation is from Robert Mckimson who states that the rabbit was designed by and named for a Warner animator called "Bugs" Hardaway working as an assistant to animator Chuck Thorsen.
This statement from Mckimson not only reinforces the contribution by Hardaway that I've proposed but illuminates the significance of the "Hi'ya Chuck" on the artwork.
The excerpt can be read here, http://books.google.com/books?ei=9He0TOzfD4u4sAPm5Ii3CA&ct=result&id=JA3WAAAAMAAJ&dq=creators+of+life%3A+a+history+of+animation&q=hardaway .
The documented memories of the first person witnesses to the creation of the character's personality (Virgil Ross, Mel Blanc, and Robert Mckimson) are in direct opposition to the opinions that have been offered by authors Michael Barrier, Steve Schneider and Jerry Beck some 50 years after the fact. In my opinion, these authors are not just misinformed, they have purposefully attempted to eliminate the contributions of Hardaway. This concerted effort is evident in the deletion of Hardaway's contribution in Beck's book (although he is listed in the index), in the miss-characterization of Mckimson's memories in Schneider's book, in the unreferenced and erroneous story of the characters naming offered by Barrier, and the list goes on...
Showing posts with label Robert McKimson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Robert McKimson. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Friday, April 24, 2009
"That's Not All Folks"
I found a book recently that I'd heard of but never seen. It's titled, "That's Not All Folks" and was published by Warner Books in November of 1989. It was written by Mel Blanc and Philip Bashe.
The book offers a first person account of the evolution of the character Bugs Bunny, as witnessed and told by Blanc. Mel Blanc's testimony is particularly pertinent as a result of his involvement from the very beginning of the Warner Brothers/Schlessinger rabbit. As the sound was recorded after the story was written, but before the animation was created, there can be no denying that Blanc was an involved witness to the genesis of the character's personality.
I'd found several interviews, published in magazines and newspapers, wherein Blanc described both Hardaway's style of speech and the fact that he was the artist who "drew the first picture"। The description Blanc offers in "That's not All Folks" is the strongest endorsement of Hardaway's contribution thus far.
Pages 84 through 89 describe the evolution and creation of the personality of the character.
"Happy Rabbit?" I exclaimed, nearly gagging while reading the script for Porky's Hare Hunt. "That's terrible," I said to Leon Schlessinger. "I Hate it."
"What would you suggest then, Mel?"
"Why not call him Bugs, after Ben Hardaway?" Hardaway had drawn him so it only seemed fair
...."Settling on a definitive characterization was a lot more difficult than selecting a name...
He goes on; "By the time A Wild Hare (1940), which is considered Bugs Bunny's debut, he'd obviously had some work done: His posture had improved, he'd shed some weight, and his overbite wasn't as pronounced. The most significant change, however, was in his facial expression. No longer just goofy, he was a sly-looking rascal. ""A tough little stinker, ain't he?" Hardaway remarked while admiring his portrait of the new Bugs.
"And the boisterous laugh I'd originally given him no longer fit. It was redeposited in my memory bank, to be withdrawn several years later for another Ben Hardaway creation: Woody Woodpecker"
Blanc's description of Hardaway's involvement coincides with the first person account of the history offered by Virgil Ross in the interview posted on this blog. The statements of three contemporaries of Hardaway (Virgil Ross, Mel Blanc, Robert McKimson) are also significant because they're crediting someone other than themselves. Such credit was very unusual within the culture of the animation industry at the time, as most directors and artists seemed to overstate their own contributions while diminishing the contributions of others.
The book offers a first person account of the evolution of the character Bugs Bunny, as witnessed and told by Blanc. Mel Blanc's testimony is particularly pertinent as a result of his involvement from the very beginning of the Warner Brothers/Schlessinger rabbit. As the sound was recorded after the story was written, but before the animation was created, there can be no denying that Blanc was an involved witness to the genesis of the character's personality.
I'd found several interviews, published in magazines and newspapers, wherein Blanc described both Hardaway's style of speech and the fact that he was the artist who "drew the first picture"। The description Blanc offers in "That's not All Folks" is the strongest endorsement of Hardaway's contribution thus far.
Pages 84 through 89 describe the evolution and creation of the personality of the character.
"Happy Rabbit?" I exclaimed, nearly gagging while reading the script for Porky's Hare Hunt. "That's terrible," I said to Leon Schlessinger. "I Hate it."
"What would you suggest then, Mel?"
"Why not call him Bugs, after Ben Hardaway?" Hardaway had drawn him so it only seemed fair
...."Settling on a definitive characterization was a lot more difficult than selecting a name...
He goes on; "By the time A Wild Hare (1940), which is considered Bugs Bunny's debut, he'd obviously had some work done: His posture had improved, he'd shed some weight, and his overbite wasn't as pronounced. The most significant change, however, was in his facial expression. No longer just goofy, he was a sly-looking rascal. ""A tough little stinker, ain't he?" Hardaway remarked while admiring his portrait of the new Bugs.
"And the boisterous laugh I'd originally given him no longer fit. It was redeposited in my memory bank, to be withdrawn several years later for another Ben Hardaway creation: Woody Woodpecker"
Blanc's description of Hardaway's involvement coincides with the first person account of the history offered by Virgil Ross in the interview posted on this blog. The statements of three contemporaries of Hardaway (Virgil Ross, Mel Blanc, Robert McKimson) are also significant because they're crediting someone other than themselves. Such credit was very unusual within the culture of the animation industry at the time, as most directors and artists seemed to overstate their own contributions while diminishing the contributions of others.
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