Jones began his career
in the early 1930's as a cel washer at Ub Iwerks studio.
Advancing to animator at Warner Bros., under the
direction of Tex Avery, Jones worked on the earliest
Porky Pig cartoons. Promoted to Director in 1938, Jones
was instrumental in developing Bugs Bunny,
Elmer Fudd, and Daffy Duck as well as setting the
fast-paced tone of Warner Bros. cartoons in general.
Academy Award-winning animator Chuck Jones animated and
directed such beloved cartoon characters in hundreds of
animated films. He worked on more than 300 animated films in a career
that spanned more than 60 years. Three of his films won
Academy Awards and he was awarded an honorary Oscar in
1996 for lifetime achievement. He also received an honorary
life membership from the Directors Guild of America.
Working at Warner Bros., Jones helped bring to life some
of the studio's most recognizable characters. In addition
to Bugs and Daffy, he worked on the fast-moving,
beep-beeping Road Runner and his hapless pursuer,
Wile E. Coyote. He also drew Pepe le Pew, the
romantic-minded skunk with a French accent.
The animator's work won him admirers throughout the
entertainment business. "Chuck Jones' originality, his
humor and his pacing still have no peer today," director
Steven Spielberg once said. Speilberg called Jones’ “One
Froggy Evening” the ‘Citizen Kane’ of animated film when
interviewd by PBS for an hour-long special on the life of
Jones called “Extremes & Inbetweens: A Life In Animation”.
Three of Jones' films won Academy Awards: "Frigid Hare,"
"So Much, So Little" and "The Dot and the Line," for which
Jones also received a directing Oscar.
One of Jones' most popular films, "What's Opera, Doc?"
was inducted into the National Film Registry in 1992 for
being "among the most culturally, historically and
aesthetically significant films of our time." In the
book “The World’s Fifty Greatest Cartoons”, Jones’ “What’s
Opera, Doc?” was voted number one by filmmakers, historians
and critics.
Born in 1912 in Spokane, Wash., Jones moved to Hollywood
with his family, finding work there as a child extra in
Mac Sennett comedies. After graduating from Chouinard Art
Institute (now the California Institute of Arts), he began
making a living drawing pencil portraits on Olvera Street,
a historic Los Angeles marketplace.
He landed his first job washing animation cels in 1932,
working for legendary Disney animator Ub Iwerks. A few
years later, he became an animator at the Leon Schlesinger
Studio, which was later sold to Warner Bros. He headed up
his own unit at the Warner Bros. Animation Dept. until it
closed in 1962.
He also worked for MGM Studios, creating episodes for the
"Tom and Jerry" cartoon series. Jones also opened his own
company, Chuck Jones Enterprises, in 1962, producing
nine 30-minute animated films.
While working at MGM, he also produced, directed and wrote
the screenplay for the animated television classic "Dr.
Seuss'
How the
Grinch Stole Christmas, one of America's most beloved
films.
His autobiography, "Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of
an Animated Cartoonist," was published in 1989, followed
two years later by a second book, "Chuck Reducks."
![[Jones]](/Picts/jonesbiopic.jpg)