tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post1750515944535802856..comments2023-11-03T11:37:13.579-04:00Comments on Something Old, Nothing New: Bob vs. ChuckJaime J. Weinmanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15128500411119962998noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-41648025542026592422008-02-26T00:30:00.000-05:002008-02-26T00:30:00.000-05:00Good point, J.Lee, in your first commentary about ...Good point, J.Lee, in your first commentary about the timing ("the other part...Politically correct (who) saw no redeeming"..and the comments on Clampett and Jones in the 1960s.<BR/><BR/>----Steve Carras<BR/>gcarras@aol.com<BR/>(posting as anonymous due to trouble signing in)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-43479876157256247202008-02-22T13:53:00.000-05:002008-02-22T13:53:00.000-05:00Thanks for posting these links. The Bob Clampett ...Thanks for posting these links. The Bob Clampett interview is downright amazing to read. I've still got a third of it left to go.<BR/><BR/>What gets me about it is that he comes across as a very sweet guy. He talks very fondly about the old days with Chuck Jones. I don't know if that changed over the last few years of his life, but just reading this, you wouldn't think there was any kind of problem involving the two gentlemen.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-19668235973144352672008-02-22T03:20:00.000-05:002008-02-22T03:20:00.000-05:00Perfectly stated thoughts. I wish I'd written thi...Perfectly stated thoughts. I wish I'd written this myself and I can't think of a thing to gainsay any of your take. <BR/><BR/>Where's that "much more" of the story? While there's always a gazillion additional details of the interpersonal dealings of onetime friends and colleagues, seems to me that this posting covers all the main points of the basic setup.Jenny Lerewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06668171465801333811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-500075586220851302008-02-21T14:26:00.000-05:002008-02-21T14:26:00.000-05:00An interesting analysis but there's much more to t...An interesting analysis but there's much more to the story. I'll write about this on my own blog in a few days.Eddie Fitzgeraldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07729949238666234774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-79109992494683313672008-02-20T22:32:00.000-05:002008-02-20T22:32:00.000-05:00My perspective: I received a copy of Chuck's infam...My perspective: I received a copy of Chuck's infamous letter while studying animation with Howard Beckerman in the late '70's. Not having seen the Funnyworld interview, Chuck sure made it sound as if Bob was embellishing mightily. I beleived for years that Clampett was an outrageous braggart. Cut to a couple of years ago: I finally get to read the Clampett interview online, and see that in context, Bob's claims could hardly be considered over-the-top. Chuck only could see the statements or parts of statements that would rub him the wrong way. Two amazing talents, a sad, sad chapter in animation history.<BR/>ChrisboAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-71879149164502366892008-02-18T17:24:00.000-05:002008-02-18T17:24:00.000-05:00Welcome to the front page of Barrier's site again,...Welcome to the front page of Barrier's site again, Jaime. Boy, it's losing its flattery, huh? ;-)<BR/><BR/>He brought up an interesting point... Many Clampett partisans will see a steaming pile of shit as a priceless gem if his name is on it.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-43850741524545285972008-02-18T16:14:00.000-05:002008-02-18T16:14:00.000-05:00Excellent and well balanced post, Jaime.Excellent and well balanced post, Jaime.J. J. Hunseckerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04067327948394872768noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-51824763594236680432008-02-18T14:39:00.000-05:002008-02-18T14:39:00.000-05:00I am stating for the record I love the work of bot...I am stating for the record I love the work of both Chuck Jones & Bob Clampett and I have no sides to take on the feud issue or who took credit for what.<BR/><BR/>But, I do wish to point out that Milt Gray has a long habit of not being able to point out how 'rilly rilly' great Clampett is without knocking Chuck Jones, which I think is getting pretty old & tired.<BR/><BR/>Recently on John K's blog Milt couldn't even praise a Clampett/Bugs screen cap without stating how artistically superior it was to a Jones screen cap from "Rabbit of Seville", which is odd considering most consider this among Chuck's finest work.<BR/><BR/>Chuck & Bob were actually good friends in their very early Termite Terrace days and there is <BR/>no point in rehashing what caused the rift. They are both gone but their body of work is still with us to enjoy, there is no need for Milt to continually fan the flames on a feud that is long passed.Larry Levinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02796712092304761340noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-7553326263608470262008-02-17T21:47:00.000-05:002008-02-17T21:47:00.000-05:00Back in 1975, I dragged a reluctant pal to see BUG...Back in 1975, I dragged a reluctant pal to see BUGS BUNNY SUPERSTAR, and he loved it; it was clear he'd never really looked at the pre-'48 Warner cartoons before. Afterwards, he was raving about the shorts and I vividly recall him saying, "That Clampett guy was amazing -- creating all those characters, making all those cartoons... a genius." <BR/><BR/>I'm not sure that it was the intent of the SUPERSTAR compilers to make it seem that Clampett was the big auteur of Termite Terrace, but to some degree the film did just that. [It didn't help that most of the versions of the shorts included in the compilation were Blue Ribbon reissues, and lacked specific creative credits.] Though the movie included a bit of interview footage with Freleng and Avery, Clampett was the star of the show. A friend later joked, "I kept waiting for him to tell how he came up with the idea of using cels."<BR/><BR/>I wouldn't minimize Clampett's importance, or his genius, and I love his Porky cartoons almost beyond reason. But I found his re-framing of the history of the Warner cartoon annoying back in 1975, and I still do.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-61464971301071761042008-02-17T15:48:00.000-05:002008-02-17T15:48:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-42986156758847484132008-02-17T15:40:00.000-05:002008-02-17T15:40:00.000-05:00This comment has been removed by the author.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-732630974122147482008-02-17T14:28:00.000-05:002008-02-17T14:28:00.000-05:00Excellent post, Jaime.The thing that bothers me mo...Excellent post, Jaime.<BR/><BR/>The thing that bothers me most, as I've written to others, is that when Gray, Kricfalusi, and others write about Clampett, they're not writing about him as students or critics of film. They're writing about him as his friends, and as a hero who could do no wrong. THAT'S the key difference that is overlooked between Clampett partisans and Jones partisans.Thadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04443425643665474645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6956070.post-12773109977635407742008-02-17T14:16:00.000-05:002008-02-17T14:16:00.000-05:00The other part of the problem in the late 50s thro...The other part of the problem in the late 50s through the mid-70s was the types of people who had attitudes that would eventually evolve into the term "Politically Correct" saw no redeeming social value in the vast majority of Hollywood theatrical cartoons. Anything this side of Bob Canon's tamest works at UPA were derided as mindless chase-and-violence stories and the characters were considered an impediment to the proper education of the nation's youth (when Jones' "Grinch" came out Chuck did receive a lot of favorable press around its debut on CBS, but the tone was odd, in that his career was treated as if he had done a lot of things that were interesting, but not really that important, until teaming up with Dr. Seuss for this Christmas special).<BR/><BR/>With attitudes like that pervasive among those who were the arbiters of what was and wasn't acceptable popular culture of the day, it's no wonder those in the business didn't put a big stake in the works they created. Animation was on the fringes, and only a few people were high profile enough to warrant any attention, like Mel Blanc (due in large part to his Jack Benny Show appearances) or Walter Lantz (who could claim by the 1960s he created Woody Woodpecker in 1941 while on honeymoon with Grace Stafford because Ben Hardaway had been dead since 1957). They felt free to invent fanciful stories about how some of the characters came into being without fear of being challenged, because nobody cared who created the characters.<BR/><BR/> Clampett was just following in their footsteps, but had the misfortune to do so at a time when a new generation of film historians who grew up with those cartoons on TV actually wanted to know the true history of their creations, and -- unlike Lantz -- took credit in the 1970s for characters created by people who were still alive, and could vocally question those claims. Had Bob said in 1959 what he did to Michael Barrier a decade later, it might have caused a momentary stir within the industry, but had little effect in the general public fan base, because there were no film historians who cared about anything other than Walt Disney and his studio's history, so everything else was up for grabs.J Leehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15175515543694122729noreply@blogger.com