One of the most honored animation directors in the history of film, Chuck Jones has made more than 250 cartoons in a career spanning over 60 years. Best known for his work with a stellar line-up of Warner Bros. characters, Jones created many of the most memorable and highly acclaimed films to ever appear in theaters and television.
Director / Animator
Deceased (1912-2002)
Born in Spokane, Washington in 1912, Jones grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles, he began his career in animation s a cel washer under former Disney animator Ub Iwerks. In 1933, Jones went to work as an animator for the Leon Schlesinger studios, later sold to Warner Bros., where he worked for Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, and other Warner Bros. animators in a back-lot building affectionately known as "Termite Terrace." It was here that the personalities and characters
of the "Loony Tunes" and "Merrie Melodies" were created. Jones was instrumental in the development of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, and many others, in addition to creating the characters of Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, Sniffles, Henry Hawk, Charlie Dog, and many others.
Jones began his directorial career at Warner Bros. in 1938, and while working with the studio he was honored with Academy Awards for two short films, one theatrical and one documentary, in 1949, "For Scent-Imental Reasons," and "So Much For So Little." He was also nominated for five additional shorts.. Some of the classic cartoons directed by Jones during this period were "The Rabbit of Seville" (1950), "Duck Amuck” (1953), "One Froggy Evening" (1953), and "What's Opera, Doc?" (1957).
Jones” work on Dr. Suess specials "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" and "Horton Hears a Who" won Peabody Awards for television program excellence. Jones also served as an executive producer of the Richard Williams TV special, "A Christmas Carol," which won an Oscar in 1972. In addition, Jones was Vice-President of Children's Programming at ABC,
produced critically acclaimed animated feature "The Phantom Tollbooth," plus several television specials, children's’ series and independent films.
In 1979, Jones produced and directed "The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie," a feature length film composed of classic Jones’ cartoons along with new animated sequences. In 1980-81, Jones produced, directed and wrote two Bugs Bunny specials for CBS, "Bugs Bunny's Bustin’ Out All Over," and"Daffy Duck’s Thanks-For-Giving Special."
Jones has been honored with retrospectives at the British Film Institute, the Kennedy Film Center, the American Film Institute, and The New York Museum of Modern Art, The Museum of the Moving Image in London, and many other cultural centers worldwide. Also, in a recent visit to Washington, D.C., he was received by President Bill Clinton in the Oval Office.