There are many great books written about the directors of the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes – Michael Barrier’s Hollywood Cartoons and Leonard Maltin’s Of Mice and Magic jump immediately to mind.
There are even director-specific biographies and memoirs like Chuck Jones’ Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist and Chuck Reducks: Drawing from the Fun Side of Life, Friz Freleng and David Weber’s Animation: The Art of Friz Freleng, John Canemaker’s Tex Avery: The MGM Years, 1942-1955 and Joe Adamson’s Tex Avery: King of Cartoons – just to name only a few. But there has been one man’s story who hasn’t been explored as much as the aforementioned, whose creative hand had a sizable influence on the development of the cast of the Looney Tunes from nearly the beginning of their run and helped define children’s entertainment at the dawn of television. Thanks to his daughter, Ruth Clampett, and with able assistance from animator and animation historian Darrell Van Citters, Welcome to Wackyland: The Wonderful World of Bob Clampett celebrates the life and work of the father of Bugs, Daffy, Tweety, Beanie, and Cecil.
The book encompasses the entirety of Clampett’s career beginning with Bob’s life and exploration of his upbringing by his Mother. Ruth explores key moments of his childhood that would define his later life like exposure to films like Willis O’Brien’s The Lost World (1925) and animated films like Felix the Cat. Clampett grew up during The Depression and found himself living with family friends, like art director Frank Barrier, whose home was always busy with various creative types, exposing the young Bob to a myriad of creative possibilities. Ruth then guides us from his formative years, punctuated with fortuitous encounters, to Bob’s various phases of artistic development and impact at Warner Bros. We find Bob landing in front of producer Leon Schlesinger, who first places Bob under directors Harman and Ising where he would aid in developing Porky Pig. After a financial disagreement, Harman and Ising would leave Warner Bros. and Clampett would be assigned to Tex Avery. After learning, developing and creating a series of notable cartoons and characters like Daffy Duck, Clampett would take over Avery’s unit when Tex moved to MGM and create the seminal Porky in Wackyland (1938). Clampett would only leave Warner Bros. when Schlesinger, himself, retired from the company in 1945, which he then pursued various independent projects until finding success with the extremely popular Beany and Cecil.
Ruth does a great job exploring various important films and giving historical context to various projects, including the unproduced John Carter of Mars, the controversial attribution to the creation of Bugs Bunny, and even difficulties between the Looney Tunes directors late in their lives. While responsible for the stewardship of her father’s legacy, Ruth also highlights that many individuals that helped create these films and mentions many of her fathers collaborators including George Lichtenstein, Robert McKimson, Virgil Ross, Michael Sasanoff, Norm McCabe, Manny Gould, Bill Melendez, and Rod Scribner amongst others.
The portrait of Bob Clampett, the man, reflects a deep fascination with artistic expression and entertainment, a loyal institutionalist who found creative freedom through a new medium, a bold entrepreneur who changed industries when the writing was on the wall, and never stopped chasing artistic inspiration. His first 17 years alone would constitute a fulfilling life, but would go on to make animated shorts that are still relevant, funny, and referenced today. There’s something about Bob’s dogged pursuit of creative fulfillment that is quite infectious combined Ruth’s magnanimous descriptions of her father that creates this loving tribute to the person Bob was.
It is hard to overstate how fantastic the accompanying pictures are throughout this roughly 240 page hardcover. Throughout the book Ruth repeatedly points out Bob’s passion for collecting artwork from the artists at the studios he worked and the results of this meticulous archive are spectacular – rare pictures of staff and crews, rough drafts of stories, layouts, merchandise, letters, awards and prizes – there are so many historically relevant and interesting pieces of art and memorabilia covering both Bob’s life and Ruth’s career serving as VP of Design for Warner Bros Studio Stores and founding the Clampett Studio Collections. There is a beautiful symmetry in the ways Ruth’s life would echo her father’s work and interests.
Welcome to Wackyland: The Wonderful World of Bob Clampett is written by Ruth Clampett with Darrell Van CItters, with an introduction penned by Jerry Beck. It is independently published and available from Stuart Ng. Until next time, please dive in and enjoy the complete Animation History Bibliography section of this Cartoon Research website. See you next month with another round up of animation book news and reviews!
As a little bonus this month, here’s The Man From Wackyland documentary (from the 2004 Looney Tunes Golden Collection Vol. 2 DVD set):
Orrin Scott is an animation researcher. His research focus has been on how society interacts with animation as a form of communication, commerce, art, and entertainment. He is the administrator of the 
In my teens and young adulthood, I met a few animators who had worked for Disney, UPA, Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, etc. and one thing they had in common was that they did not want to discuss their work in animation, although they acknowledged it, so from these sources I never got much inside info about the Golden Age.
Bob Clampett, on the other hand, although he was someone I never met in person, was very open to interviews. I noticed him on a number of talk shows, discussing his various contributions to the world of animation. He was especially noteworthy in his participation in the documentary feature “Bugs Bunny Superstar”. I also enjoyed reading his autobiography.
There was a time when Beany and Cecil were everywhere–lunch boxes, story books, coloring books, and so forth. I remember the delight I took in the show when I was a child. Recently, I have rewatched some episodes and discovered that there was a whole other level to these cartoons which was aimed at adults, including some very adult word play (i.e. “No Bikini Atoll”). It’s truly amazing how it plays one way when one is a small child and another way when one is an adult. Bob was clearly mindful that some parents and older siblings were watching along with the kids. Today, Beany seems to have dropped off the cultural radar, which is a shame because there is so much cleverness and richness in the series.
This book looks like another great addition to the animation historian’s library. Can’t wait to see it!
does the book mention a certain clampett lover that he tried to emulate the style which influenced everyone for better or worse? A smalll mention at least?
A person fitting that description, with the initials J.K., is mentioned in the book once – in connection to the ill-fated revival of Beany & Cecil by DiC for ABC in 1989.
Ooh, I’m really excited for this!
I just got the book from Stuart Ng, it was the first thing I’ve ever purchased there. (I picked up the “unsigned” version.) They did a fantastic job packing it, I’d recommend them to anyone looking to buy this. Now I just need to find some time after work to actually look through the book!
Clampett’s work at warners is perfectly represented by a lot of his work. Specifically the black and white Porky in Wackyland, the renewed Dough for the do-do, and two of my favorites Baby Borttleneck and especially The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. All you guys know all the rest of his work, each of which stands alone as a testament to his creativity.
“We find Bob landing in front of producer Leon Schlesinger, who first places Bob under directors Harman and Ising where he would aid in developing Porky Pig.”
Porky was about two years after Harman and Ising, in a cartoon directed by Friz Freleng.
This book is LONG overdue. I am thrilled to finally see a book dedicated to such a remarkable talent. As Jerry Beck said, Clampett put the Looney in Looney Tunes.