The legendary cartoon and radio voice man offers a behind-the-scenes chronicl of his many-voiced career, detailing his creation of world-famous voices and his work with the best-loved cartoon characters and radio personalities.
For the first time ever, here is the ultimate biography, encompassing Noel Blanc's unpublished biography, with an introduction by Bugs Bunny, plus a complete (and huge) credit list and discography.
Meet young Melvin—the future Mel Blanc of Looney Tunes fame—as he drives everyone a little nuts with the noisy soundtrack to his day-to-day life Melvin is an imaginative and noisy little boy who grows up to be Mel Blanc, Looney Tunes cartoon character pioneer and the voice behind Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Woody Woodpecker, the Tasmanian Devil, and so many more familiar personalities. Readers are treated to a typical day for young Melvin, when ordinary tasks like getting ready for school, riding the bus, and completing his chores are charged with sound effects and accompanied by his own personal soundtrack. His knack for making funny noises and using the versatility of his voice was like no other—much to the relief of his teachers. Penned by Blanc's daughter-in-law, this first-person fiction-based-in-reality story is a fun romp and is sure to inspire young readers to turn trouble into triumph! “Reading this book aloud will guarantee a boisterous romp of a story time in a library or classroom setting.” —School Library Journal
Celebrate the best of Looney Tunes cartoons, just in time for Bugs Bunny’s 80th birthday! In a world of rascally rabbits, megalomaniacal ducks, and stuttering pigs, what defines greatness? This question was posed to thousands of cartoon fans, historians, and animators to create The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons, the definitive Looney Tunes collection. Jerry Beck and the Cartoon Brew team of animation experts reveal the amusing anecdotes and secret origins behind such classics as “What’s Opera, Doc?,” “One Froggy Evening,” and “Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century.” Featuring more than 300 pieces of original art from private collectors and the Warner Bros. archives, The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons settles the debate on the best of the best, and poses a new question: Is your favorite one of the greatest?
The year was 1896, the woman was Alice Guy-Blaché, and the film was The Cabbage Fairy. It was less than a minute long. Guy-Blaché, the first female director, made hundreds of movies during her career. Thousands of women with passion and commitment to storytelling followed in her footsteps. Working in all aspects of the movie industry, they collaborated with others to create memorable images on the screen. This book pays tribute to the spirit, ambition, grit and talent of these filmmakers and artists. With more than 1200 women featured in the book, you will find names that everyone knows and loves—the movie legends. But you will also discover hundreds and hundreds of women whose names are unknown to you: actresses, directors, stuntwomen, screenwriters, composers, animators, editors, producers, cinematographers and on and on. Stunning photographs capture and document the women who worked their magic in the movie business. Perfect for anyone who enjoys the movies, this photo-treasury of women and film is not to be missed.
In Hollywood Cartoons, Michael Barrier takes us on a glorious guided tour of American animation in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s, to meet the legendary artists and entrepreneurs who created Bugs Bunny, Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse, Wile E. Coyote, Donald Duck, Tom and Jerry, and many other cartoon favorites. Beginning with black-and-white silent cartoons, Barrier offers an insightful account, taking us inside early New York studios and such Hollywood giants as Disney, Warner Bros., and MGM. Barrier excels at illuminating the creative side of animation--revealing how stories are put together, how animators develop a character, how technical innovations enhance the "realism" of cartoons. Here too are colorful portraits of the giants of the field, from Walt and Roy Disney and their animators, to Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. Based on hundreds of interviews with veteran animators, Hollywood Cartoons gives us the definitive inside look at this colorful era and at the creative process behind these marvelous cartoons.
Showcases some of the greatest cartoons of all time, including characters from Disney, Warner Brothers, Fleischer Studio, Walter Lantz, MGM, and others.
Looney Tunes cartoons, writes celebrated television critic Jaime Weinman, are the high-water mark of American filmed comedy. Surreal, irreverent, philosophical, and riotously funny, they have maintained their power over audiences for generations and inspired such giants of the cinema as Mel Brooks, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas. Here, finally, Weinman gives Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Tweety, Sylvester, and the whole cast of animated icons their long-awaited due. With meticulous research, he takes us inside the Warners' studio to unlock the mystery of how an unlikely band of directors and artists working in the shadow of Walt Disney created a wild, visually stunning and oh-so-violent brand of comedy that has never been matched for sheer volume of laughs. The result is an unexpected and fascinating story that matches the Looney Tunes themselves for energy, humor, and ingenuity.