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To The Side-splitting Scribes
Published: 2013-02-15 22:45:46 +0000 UTC; Views: 8653; Favourites: 35; Downloads: 10
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Description A lot of cartoon fans talk on and on about the directors , so I say it is time the writers get their due too . Yeah , I know it ain't the first time I did it but hey ,practice makes perfect doggone you ! Now, the directors are vital for the success of a cartoon , but the scripts are just necessary for a good cartoon .
There have been many writers , but let's focus on the caids of Termite Terrace (From what I've read about them , they must have been fun to hang out with... XD )

MICHAEL MALTESE
(February 6, 1908 — February 22, 1981)

In 1941,Mr Maltese was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions. He first worked for Freleng (even acting in You oughta be in pictures ) for which he will create until 1945. Of his collaboration to Friz's cartoons , he'd say that Friz was rather traditionalistic, which made it harder to put his weirder ideas on film. After that he worked mostly for Chuck Jones, contributing stories to other directors at times. And let us say that they just struck Gold !

Anyone who is a Jones fan mostly knows who we are talking about. Maltese had a tremendous range as a writer! He simply had the most ideas, and didn't reuse gags anywhere near as often as his colleagues. He created the Road Runner and Pepe LePew along with Jones's direction and deepened the personalities of some of their stars like Bugs as a karmic yet "introvert" trickster and made Daffy the god of all anti-heroes ( more on that later...). Mike's work can be silly , filled with puns and at
his best when his humor is at his darkest or ironic !



WARREN FOSTER
(October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971)

Mr Foster is a bit of mystery to me . I could not find any interview with him so this is one of the very few caricatures of him online ... But he was described by Lloyd Turner as such "...but Warren was a tough monkey, he really was. A real city kid—a gutter kid... " ".. Warren always had a strategy. Nothing escaped him; he was very sharp, and he really had a strong sense of survival. He suspected a booby trap behind every door; and there usually was one."

Foster's best work was done with directors that have an anarchic style: Clampett (let's be honest: Bob's absolute best , with ONE exception, was scripted by Warren Foster), Tashlin, and McKimson (mostly because McKimson's stuff was straightforward and violent , so he did fit in perfectly !).While his later work with Friz had a lot of gems, it did feel somewhat more formulaic especially with "Sylvester and Tweety" or " Bugs VS Sam" .
Most of his stories favor the following settings : fairy tales, gangster-filled cities, and suburban houses. All in all, great writer and I'd say the most direct and "logical" of the bunch.


TEDD PIERCE
(August 12, 1906 — February 19, 1972)

Pierce spent the majority of his career as a writer for the Warner Bros. "Termite Terrace" animation studio, working along Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. Pierce also worked as a writer at Fleischer Studios from 1939 to 1941.
Then he exclusively worked for Friz Freleng and finally McKimson after Friz traded him for Foster.
Pierce was described by Lloyd Turner (allahi yarhmou) as "the least creative" of the studio's three main writers, and had problems with la bouteille . BUt Corny Cole (allahi yarhmou) also had this to say about Tedd : " Tedd Pierce to me was the best writer of all. Though he was a drunk, I thought he was by far the best writer of the three. He'd always base his things off of actual experience. He was a terrible drunk, but he was funny as hell."
Despite all these problems , Tedd is still one of the greats: His best stuff may focus on ONE gag only , but it is one gag he can find a lot of variations to in a single story. And he did inspire the creation of Pepe LePew . How ? Well he mostly LIVED as Pepe !
Also he was THE party-man ! (which is not always a bad thing...)



Before concluding , I would like to salute all the other writers I didn't salute or draw (because I am lazy ...or impatient , you choose !) :
John W. Dunn , Dave Monahan, Ben Hardaway, Lew Landsman,George Manuell, Melvin Miller, Byron Gay,Fred Neiman, Jack Miller,Rich Hogan,Robert Givens,Grace Hoffman, Dr. Seuss, Russell Anderson, Dave Mawn, Lou Lilly, George Hill, Loyd Turner and Bill Scott.

Some useful links ;) (Wink) [link] [link]
Until then I am reworking on the old directors tributes and I have ONE way to get MORE fucking comments on them ! Posting my top 20 or 30 of their stuff (comics or cartoons ...) ! It will take time , but it will be fucking worth it !

P.S. : How come none of them got a friggin' Behind the Tunes documentary ? Huh ! Answer me that, Warner ! ANSWER ME !
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