Bob Clampett was an enthusiastic ambassador for the great Warner Bros. cartoons. He travelled hither and thither, showing prints of the shorts and telling funny stories about the studio. He died in Detroit on one of his road trips.
He was also an enthusiastic ambassador for Bob Clampett.
Until animation historians came along and started doing forensic investigations into the who-what-when of the old cartoons, anyone could make any claims they wanted about them without fear of contradiction. After all, they were
there. They should
know.
Actually, Clampett knew a great deal about the history behind the cartoons. He loved them. But, for a while anyway, he puffed up his own involvement to levels that, with the knowledge we have today, seem as outlandish as a Bugs Bunny take by Rod Scribner. He created Fritz the Cat? What?!?! Has someone told Robert Crumb? And Yosemite Sam? Mike Maltese and Friz Freleng might have something to say about that.
From what I understand, Clampett dialed back some of his claims in later years and was extremely helpful to anyone who wanted to fill in the blanks about Warner Bros. cartoon history. I only spoke to him once on the phone and he treated me like an old friend (his death, unfortunately, got in the way of our planned interview).
Here’s Clampett speaking to the University of Illinois newspaper in a story published on February 7, 1975. In it, the oddest claim is he chewed Mel Blanc’s carrots. Mel was known for his own stretching of the truth (he was
not allergic to carrots, as he claimed for years), but he never mentioned anything about Clampett’s proxy munching.
What’s up, Doc ?
Cartoon creator Bob Clampett discusses animation of his characters
by Sher Watts
staff writer
The man who fashioned Tweety Bird after his own baby picture said he feels toward cartoons the same way parents feel toward their kids.
Bob Clampett, the creator of such cartoon greats as Bugs Bunny, Sylvester, Yosemite Sam, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Beany and Cecil and Fritz the Cat, said he got ideas for his cartoons and cartoon characters from the “screwball comedies” of the ‘30s and ‘40s.
Speaking on “The History of Animation in the United States,” to an audience of over 200 Wednesday night at the Illinii Union, Clampett said, “I tried to fashion my characters after people who looked normal, but did crazy things. Bugs, for example, looked like a normal rabbit, but he was always acting crazy.”
Clampett specialized in crazy characters, from his famous ones to those he created in his beginning days at Warner Brothers. “Leon Schlesinger (who used to produce Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies for Warner Brothers) let us do what we wanted when it came to ideas and characters,” Clampett said. “Now, networks tell cartoonists what they want for characters. ‘Hot rods are big now—let’s have a series on hot rods,’ the networks tell their cartoonists. They don’t have a chance to think up new characters.”
Clampett said modern cartoon characters are nothing but “walkie-talkies. They walk and they talk—they have no personality.” Modern animation is a prostitution of a wonderful medium, according to Clampett, and has set [the] cartoon back 40 years.
He fashioned many of his cartoon figures after ideas from movies and radio. “I used a lot of radio voices because they were so distinctive,” he said.
Many old Warner Brothers stars became characters in Clampett’s cartoons. “We were like one big, happy family then,” he said. “The stars would come in and stick their heads in the window to say hello, and we would draw characterizations of them. Then, they’d be developed into a cartoon character.
The old movie influence is obvious in many of the characters. Bugs Bunny has some similarities to Groucho Marx. In one of the early Bugs cartoons, called “Porky’s Hare Hunt ,” the rabbit did a phoney dying act and used the Groucho Marx line, “Of course, you know this means war.”
Bugs, who became the number one box office attraction in the cartoon world, had other Groucho characteristics. The famous carrot-munching was similar to Groucho’s cigar-chewing, and Bugs asides to the audience were taken straight from Groucho, Clampett said.
Using an old movie star influence in cartoon characterization sometimes created problems, however, Clampett said. After he made cartoon characters out of the Marx Brothers, the brothers threatened to sue, saying that no one would want to see them live if a person could see them in animation.
Clampett had plenty of stories to tell about old days at Warner Brothers. Mel Blanc, who did voices for many characters, was allergic to carrots. As a result, Clampett and Blanc would stand by a microphone during taping, and Clampett would chew a carrot while Blanc would give the famous line, “What’s up, Doc?” After the chomping sound effect was no longer needed, Clampett would spit out the half-chewed carrot into a tub next to the microphone.
“After a day of taping, we’d have plenty of messy carrots in that tub,” Clampett recalled.
Clampett has worked with many cartoon greats. Throughout his years at Warner Brothers and now in his own studio, Clampett worked with Walt and Roy Disney, Tex Avery, Walter Lanz [sic] and many others.
Clampett said he aimed for a wide theater audience when thinking up ideas. The theatre audiences were mostly adults. The cartoons started for children, and were rather la-de-da, but got more sophisticated as time went on, he said.
No subject seemed taboo for Clampett. But he had trouble getting past the censors many times, he said. When Tweety was first drawn, he was pink and bare. “After the censors saw the first few films, they said, ‘That bird looks naked!’ So I had to add some yellow feathers,” Clampett said.
Clampett also got his inspirations from other sources. He made cartoons out of political figures, such as President Harry Truman or Sen. Joseph McCarthy. He also made a cartoon called “Porky in Wackyland” which used art ideas from Salvador Dali and Pablo Picasso.
Clampett also had his years as a puppet man. Before “Beany and Cecil” became an animated television show, it ran as a puppet show for many years. Clampett admitted that Cecil the Seasick Sea Serpent was the favorite of all his creations. He made the puppet when he was young, he said, and carries it to talks he gives in its own carrying case.
“Beany and Cecil” ran for seven years on television, and won three Emmy awards for the best children’s show.
Although Clampett is not doing any animation for modern television shows, he makes animated commercials for businesses such as Ford Motor Co. and Maybelline, and is now developing some cartoon specials.
Clampett said he sees a definite future in the area of animation, especially in the area of Synthavision. Synthavision is a computer animation process in which computer programs produce animation without human drawings.
Clampett encouraged young talent to join the cartoon field. He said the average age of animators is 50, and many companies are looking for new students for animation.
