The newspaper shot in DOG TALES. That’s Elsa on the left.
The most interesting tid-bit to be gleaned here its that Elsa Hubbell points out her pic from the Warner Club News is used in McKimson’s Dog Tales. Now we know!
Also included here is the usual round up of vacation plans – Hawley Pratt visits New York, Friz goes to Phoenix Arizona, Art Davis hangs out in Studio City, etc.
AUGUST 1958
More vacation doings among the staffers – and a wild luau tiki party at Bob Bransford’s place.
SEPTEMBER 1958
OCTOBER 1958
This one has a nice concise bio of Friz Freleng – and mentions some of the commercials he’s worked on, including “Mrs. Baird’s Bread”. There is also a likewise bio for Robert McKimson here. Mentions that McK created Foghorn Leghorn and Speedy Gonzales – but no mention of The Tasmanian Devil. Little did they know how popular that character would become in decades to come. The latest cartoon releases are screened for the staff – the John Seely scored films, Hook Line and Stinker, Pre-Hysterical Hare, A Bird In A Bonnet – Hoo-boy!
Apparently the studio created commercials that aired as part of the World Series telecasts. I wonder if they mean regular sponsored spots – or some special interstitials??
NOVEMBER 1958
The staff attends a screening of GATEWAYS TO THE MIND, the Bell Science film… and the bowling team meets at the new bowling alley on Ventura. I wonder if that’s the one still there, attached to Jerry’s Deli, near Coldwater Canyon?
DECEMBER 1958
I’m afraid the Bugs Bunny Lari-Loop Larriette was no hula-hoop or coon-skin cap… but nice try!
NEXT WEEK: 1959 Part 1
Jerry Beck is a writer, animation producer, college professor and author of more than 15 books on animation history. He is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon Movies and Disney, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. He has curated cartoons for DVD and blu-ray compilations and has lent his expertise to dozens of bonus documentaries and audio commentaries on such. Beck is currently on the faculty of Cal Arts in Valencia, UCLA in Westwood and Woodbury University in Burbank – teaching animation history. More about Jerry Beck [
I’d love to see a post on the John Seely shorts (if one hasn’t been done already). They are actually pretty decent, Bird in a Bonnet especially, but it goes to show how important the scores were to the success of these cartoons.
Me too – and a run down of the actual composers (Phil Green dominating those, David Rose, Bill Loos, Seely, George Hormel, Harry Bluestone, etc.) who, at the time, were behind the sound of Hanna-Barbera’s beloved Yogi, Huck, Jinks and the meeces. This was the music of the emerging new TV cartoons – used on Ruff and Reddy and others – not to mention hundreds of other productions to come… 🙂 )
Since you mention it, Steve, Don Yowp has dedicated an article on that subject . You can see it here:
http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com/2009/12/capitol-hi-q-cartoon-music-for-huck-and.html?m=1
“PRE-HYSTERICAL HARE” is a strange cartoon. I don’t think I’d ever seen this short, even on one of the incarnations of “THE BUGS BUNNY SHOW” or “THE BUGS AND TWEETY SHOW”. They aren’t what I’d pick as prime LOONEY TUNES viewing, but I suppose they are important when you want to connect the DePatie/Freleng cartoons to the LOONEY TUNES filmography. They’re worth at least a glance and, as always, I wish I could appreciate these old articles.
I saw it on The Bugs Bunny / Roadrunner Hour all throughout the Seventies, and , yes, it perplexed me to no end.
I saw it on The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show on CBS in the early 80’s too. It’s certain stood out with it’s stock library music and someone else doing Elmer’s voice I wasn’t aware of.
Was Carl Stalling’s retirement mentioned in these newsletters?
We don’t seem to be getting arrivals any more, either, though there’s endless chatter about children. I see O.B. Barkley’s name for the first time in the Dec. issue; he had been an assistant at MGM when it shut down. I wonder whose unit he was in and who he replaced.
I wondered that too. Elsa mentions that the last cartoon Stalling worked on, TO ITCH HIS OWN, was playing in theaters – he must have been gone for a few months by that time. Maybe he retired before Selzer did.
In “Pre-Hysterical Hare,” did Daws Butler pinch-hit for Arthur Q. Bryan in doing Elmer’s voice?
No, it was Dave Berry (“Why’d you hit me with a coconut custard pie with whipped cream?”). Personally, I think the cartoon would’ve been decent without either Berry doing Elmer or the John Seely score (bet it was very difficult to time the short with that canned music).
I’m sure it was, let alone having to look for a replacement for Elmer like that. It was just not a good time.
The Bugs Bunny Lari-Loop Larriette. You know,for kids.
Still in those days, that was something kids wanted without question. It was the era of cowboys and westerns and all that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQ-h1idHuKA
I’m guessing safety reasons are also why there hasn’t been any Wonder Woman Lasso of Truth toys.
Dog Tales. Now THERE”S a real “hoo-boy” for you.
Mrs. Baird’s is a regional producer of baked goods here in Texas. I’d be very interested in knowing the details of how the Warners studio became involved, and a description of the ad(s), if those materials still exist.
This might be a year too early for Fritz’s involvement:
https://youtu.be/QmnKeCx5taA
I’d sure like to see his take on advertising this regional favorite!
I love reading these. Excellent post!
I watched the first eight Bell Science shows so many times in school on 16mm and later VHS and must admit that GATEWAYS TO THE MIND has always been my personal favorite. As wonderful as the UPA and Shamus Culhane animation was in the first four produced by Frank Capra, they do show their age more with their peculiar mix of religious scripture with science and a little too much optimism in human technology. Although THE STRANGE CASE OF THE COSMIC RAYS was pretty “secular” and the use of pre-SOUND OF MUSIC Baird marionettes are a delight, that is probably the one I most often fall asleep during.
Yet once Warner Brothers took over in 1958, the remaining four (with Disney adding a ninth later) are really polished productions that do everything possible to make the material entertaining. Surprisingly there is less animation in these later ones, but it is still there and is still quite good. Chuck Jones’ department did particularly impressive work here. The use of the Burbank WB studio as a backdrop adds much to the atmosphere, comparing a movie camera lens to the human eye, demonstrating hearing with audio machines on the set, etc. It would have been fun to see the over-sized sets for the next film, THE ALPHABET CONSPIRACY (involving Friz Freleng’s unit in the animation).