The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons
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"The 100 Greatest Looney Tunes Cartoons" by Jerry Beck, introduction by Leonard Maltin: 256 pages. This comprehseive book selects 100 of the best classic Warner Bros. cartoons "on their comedic brilliance, innovative animation, historical significance, and creative merit" and reveals the "amusing anecdotes and secret origins" behind them. Featuring such classics as "What's Opera, Doc?", "One Froggy Evening", and "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century", it includes "more than 300 pieces of original art from private collectors and the Warner Bros. archives."
Read GAC's Q&A with author Jerry Beck
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Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare
Book - Out-of-print.
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"Bugs Bunny: Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare" by Joe Adamson: 192 pages. A look at the creation and development of Bugs Bunny. Contains more than 400 illustrations.
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Chuck Jones: Conversations
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"Chuck Jones: Conversations" by Maureen Furniss: 223 pages. A collection of interviews between Chuck Jones and noted animation scholar Maureen Furniss "illustrate the development of Jones's career, including shifts that came after the Warner Bros. animation unit closed in the early 1960s-from the uncertain years of American animation during that decade and the 1970s through the "rediscovery" of Jones and Hollywood studio animation during the 1980s and 1990s. Jones candidly discusses his aesthetic sensibilities, providing tips for aspiring animators and describing Warner Bros. animation in its heyday."
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Chuck Amuck
Book - Out-of-print.
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"Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist" by Chuck Jones: 302 pages. Chuck Jones recounts various details of his life that led him to cartooning, and what it was like making the cartoons (including a humorous account of their cartoon producer in the 1950s, Eddie Selzer), and contains dialogue scripts and several full-color photo pages. Black-and-white illustrations and photos throughout the book, filmographies for what characters he worked on, what cartoons he directed (including his Tom and Jerry's), and what cartoons he worked on when he was an animator in the 1930s.
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Chuck Reducks
Book - Out-of-print.
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"Chuck Reducks: Drawing From the Fun Side of Life" by Chuck Jones, foreward by Robin Williams: 286 pages. Chuck Jones gives advice on how to draw animals. Also includes various analyses of different minor Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters and lists of unused titles for various animated shorts.
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"I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat": Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety
Book - Out-of-print.
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"'I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat': Fifty Years of Sylvester and Tweety" by Jerry Beck: 155 pages. Meow! Animation scholar Jerry Beck brings us "this gloriously illustrated" book, commemorating Tweety and Sylvester's 50th anniversary.
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Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation
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"Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation" by Martha Sigall, foreward by Jerry Beck: 245 pages. The memoirs of ink-and-paint artist Martha Sigall who "recounts her wild and wonderful experiences with the Warner Bros. cartoon crew, working and laughing all day with the animators, partying all night with the Looney Tunes gang on the bowling and baseball teams, and participating in weekend scavenger hunts." A unique look at life at Termite Terrace, "this is a rarely told story of what it was like to be a part of a team of artists who were creating masterpieces of animation."
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Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies
Book - Out-of-print.
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"Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the Warner Brothers Cartoons" by Jerry Beck and Will Friedwald: 385 pages. A guide to every Warner Brothers animated short. Every cartoon has a description and credits are presented when available. Since this book was written in 1989, most of the material isn't out-of-date, but there are a few cartoons missing from the guide (these were discovered after the book was written). None of these are actual Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, but obscure animation such as promotional spots for "Lad: A Dog" and a series of cartoons made for the Navy during the second World War ("Mr. Hook"). The book has 225 black-and-white illustrations and photos. This comprehensive guide is highy recommended.
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Looney Tunes: Ultimate Visual Guide
Book - Out-of-print.
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"Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide" by Jerry Beck: 144 pages. A full-color book full of illustrations and light on text: includes lobby cards, screen captures, photos, and various other illustrations. Includes pages on major and minor characters, the art of "What's Opera, Doc?" gets a few pages devoted to it, and there are pages dedicated to the recent "Duck Dodgers" television show and the 2003 feature film "Looney Tunes: Back in Action".
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Reading the Rabbit
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"Reading the Rabbit" by Kevin S. Sandler: 271 pages. A collection essays on the subject of classic Warner Bros. animation.
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Stepping into the Picture: Cartoon Designer Maurice Noble
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"Stepping into the Picture: Cartoon Designer Maurice Noble" by Robert J. McKinnon: 177 pages. This fascinating book "reveals the extraordinary personal journey" of Maurice Noble whose "best known and most highly regarded work took place at the Warner Bros. Studio." This work extensively covers Noble's "long and fruitful" collaboration with "legendary director Chuck Jones."
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Tex Avery: King of Cartoons
Book - Out-of-print
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"Tex Avery: King of Cartoons" by Joe Adamson: 237 pages. A look at Tex Avery's work at Termite Terrace which includes interviews with Michael Maltese, Heck Allen, and Tex Avery himself.
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That's All Folks
Book - Out-of-print.
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"That's All Folks: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation" by Steve Schneider: 250 pages; divided into two sections. "The Studio" chronicles the growth of the animation studio at Warner Brothers from the 1930s to 1960s, while "The Stars" looks at the major characters of the cartoons. Includes extensive information on the directors and artists and various animation drawings, color cels, layout sketches, and background art.
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That's Not All Folks!
Book - Out-of-print.
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"That's Not All Folks!" by Mel Blanc: 275 pages. The memoirs of versatile voice artist Mel Blanc, best known as the voice of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Sylvester, Tweety, and a host of others.
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Warner Bros. Animation Art
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"Warner Bros. Animation Art: The Characters, the Creators, the Limited Editions" by Will Friedwald and Jerry Beck: 245 pages. This book takes a look at the collectible animation art that has been released by Warner Brothers over the past four decades, with background history and a complete showcase listing all of the cels: almost are pictured, and all have their release year and original price documented.
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