Warner Bros. Cartoons
Warner Bros. Cartoons, Inc., previously known as Leon Schlesinger Productions, was an American animation studio founded in 1933 by producer Leon Schlesinger, and served as an in-house cartoon division for Warner Bros. during the Golden Age of American Animation. They were primarily responsible for creating the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of theatrical shorts, which included widely recognizable characters such as Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig among others. Many of the creative staff members at the studio, including directors and animators such as Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Robert Clampett, Arthur Davis, and Frank Tashlin, are considered major figures in the art and history of traditional animation.
Initially an independent studio until 1944, Schlesinger sold the studio to Warner Bros. that year, after which the Warner Bros. Cartoons name was adopted. The studio closed in 1963, and Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were subsequently subcontracted to Freleng's DePatie–Freleng Enterprises studio from 1964 to 1967. Under Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, the studio was re-opened as Warner Bros.-Seven Arts Animation before closing again in 1969. It was succeeded by Warner Bros. Animation, which was established in 1980.
History
Staff
Studio heads
- Leon Schlesinger (1933–1944)
- Eddie Selzer (1944–1958)
- John Burton (1958–1961)
- David H. DePatie (1961–1963)
- William L. Hendricks (1967–1969)
Directors
- Tex Avery (1935–1942) (credited as Fred Avery)
- Ted Bonnicksen (1963)
- Bernard B. Brown (1934)
- Gerry Chiniquy (1964)
- Bob Clampett (1937–1946) (credited as Robert Clampett)
- Cal Dalton (1938–1940)
- Arthur Davis (1946–1949, 1962)
- Earl Duvall (1933–1934)
- Friz Freleng (1934–1938, 1940–1965) (credited until late 1936 as Isadore Freleng and until late 1955 as I. Freleng)
- Ben Hardaway (1934–1935, 1938–1940)
- Ken Harris (1959)
- Rudy Larriva (1965-1967)
- Cal Howard (1938)
- Ub Iwerks (1937)
- Chuck Jones (1938–1964) (credited until late 1940 as Charles Jones, and until late 1955 as Charles M. Jones)
- Jack King (1934–1936)
- Abe Levitow (1959–1962)
- Alex Lovy (1967–1968)
- Norman McCabe (1940–1943)
- Robert McKimson (1946–1969)
- Phil Monroe (1963–1964)
- Maurice Noble (1961–1964)
- Tom Palmer (1933)
- Hawley Pratt (1961–1964)
- Frank Tashlin (1936–1938, 1943–1946)
- Richard Thompson (1963)
- Bill Tytla (1964)
- Irv Spector (1965)
Storyboard artists/writers
- Howard Baldwin
- Nick Bennion
- David Detiege
- John Dunn
- Warren Foster
- Friz Freleng
- Ben Hardaway
- George Hill
- Cal Howard
- Rich Hogan
- Chuck Jones
- Bob Clampett
- Lew Landsman
- Lou Lilly
- Sid Marcus
- Michael Maltese
- George Manuell
- Robert McKimson
- Melvin "Tubby" Millar
- Jack Miller
- Dave Monahan
- Fred Neiman
- Tedd Pierce
- Bill Scott
- Dr. Seuss
- Lloyd Turner
Layout/Background artists/designers
- Pete Alvarado
- Philip DeGuard
- Gene Fleury
- Nic Gibson
- Robert Givens
- Robert Gribbroek
- Alex Ignatiev
- John Didrik Johnsen
- Willie Ito
- Paul Julian
- Earl Klein
- John McGrew
- Tom McKimson
- Maurice Noble
- Ernie Nordli
- Tom O'Loughlin
- Hawley Pratt
- David Rose
- Micheal Sasanoff
- Don Smith
- William Butler
- Richard H. Thomas
- Cornett Wood
- Irv Wyner
Animators
- Fred Abranz
- Art Babbitt
- Warren Batchelder
- Robert Bentley
- Richard Bickenbach
- Norm Blackburn
- Ted Bonnicksen
- Jack Bradbury
- Bob Bransford
- Pete Burness
- George Cannata
- Robert "Bobe" Cannon
- John Carey
- Jack Carr
- Ken Champin
- Gerry Chiniquy
- Robert Clampett
- Ben Clopton
- Herman Cohen
- Shamus Culhane
- Cal Dalton
- Keith Darling
- Basil Davidovich
- Arthur Davis
- Jim Davis
- Phil DeLara
- Jaime Diaz
- Joe D'Igalo
- Russ Dyson
- Robert Edmunds
- Izzy Ellis
- Paul Fennell
- John Freeman
- Ace "A.C." Gamer (Effects Animator)
- John Gibbs
- George Grandpre
- Manny Gould
- Lee Halpern
- Rollin Hamilton
- Laverne Harding
- Ken Harris
- Emery Hawkins
- Alex Ignatiev
- Chuck Jones
- Fred Jones
- Volus Jones
- Jack King
- Anatolle Kirsanoff
- Rudy Larriva
- Art Leonardi
- Abe Levitow
- Harry Love (Effects Animator)
- Bob Matz
- Max Maxwell
- Norman McCabe
- John McGrew
- Charles McKimson
- Robert McKimson
- Thomas McKimson
- Bill Melendez
- Phil Monroe
- Al Pabian
- Jim Pabian
- Ray Patin
- Manuel Perez
- Tom Ray
- Bob Richardson
- Vive Risto
- Phil Roman
- Virgil Ross
- Rod Scribner
- Larry Silverman
- Hank Smith
- Paul Smith
- Ed Solomon
- Irven Spence
- Robert Stokes
- Cecil Surry
- Sid Sutherland
- Bob Taylor
- Richard Thompson
- Riley Thomson
- Frank Tipper
- Gil Turner
- Lloyd Vaughan
- Sandy Walker
- Elmer Wait
- Ben Washam
- Volney White
- Bob Wickersham
- Don Williams
Voices
- Mel Blanc
- Tex Avery
- Dave Barry
- Dick Beals
- Bea Benaderet
- Julie Bennett
- Sara Berner
- Billy Bletcher
- Lucille Bliss
- Billy Booth
- Robert C. Bruce
- Arthur Q. Bryan
- Daws Butler
- Pinto Colvig
- Joe Dougherty
- June Foray
- Stan Freberg
- Joan Gerber
- Frank Graham
- Bernice Hansen
- Margaret Hill-Talbot
- Trust Howard
- Paul Julian
- Abe Lyman
- Tedd Pierce
- Alan Reed
- Marian Richman
- Kent Rogers
- Hal Smith
- John T. Smith
- Larry Storch
- Bill Thompson
- Danny Webb
- Nancy Wible
Music
Musical Directors
- Bernard B. Brown (1933–1936)
- Norman Spencer (1933–1936)
- Carl W. Stalling (1936–1958) (credited [until late 1946] as Carl W. Stalling)
- Eugene Poddany (1951)
- Milt Franklyn (1954–1962)
- John Seely (1958)
- William Lava (1962–1969) (credited [until 1967] as Bill Lava)
- Walter Greene (1966–1967)
- Frank Perkins (1967)
Orchestrations
- Milt Franklyn (1936–1962)
Film (Sound effects) editors
- Treg Brown
- Irvin Jay
- Lee Gunther
- Hal Geer
