Animation &Animation Artifacts 17 May 2006 07:52 am
Cats
- One of my favorite Chuck Jones characters is Claude Cat, the second tier character he slowly developed in the 40′s.
Debatebly, Claude made his debut in The Aristo-Cat in 1943 (one of my all-time favorite WB shorts). He looked quite different, but the germ of the character was there. By 1949, the cat had been fully developed and made his fully blossomed appearance in Mouse Wreckers with his frequent co-stars, Hubie & Bertie, two annoying mice.
Two of these Jones cartoons have been posted on You Tube. See Terrier Stricken or Two’s A Crowd. There’s also a posting by Jaime Weinman, who placed these two cartoons on You Tube and writes about them on his own blog.
I got my own cat when a friend adopted him and found that she couldn’t keep him. When she was immediately scratched and the kitten hid under her bed, I helped get him out, with the help of a ribbon. My friend had dubbed him “Claude” after she had been scratched, and I thought it appropriate to keep that name. Now he’s a husky 18 years old and still going strong. He’s sepia, not yellow.
- Speaking of cats, there’s a wonderful page over at Inspiration Grab Bag today. It’s an analysis of several Jim Tyer scenes from a Terrytoons short, A Cat’s Tale. These images are supposed to be animation analysis, but the Tyer drawings are just pure comedy. Thanks to Clarke Snyde for posting them and giving me something to laugh about this morning.
