Notes from Chuck Jones – Extremes and Inbetweens

A fun portrait ([Netflix](http://www.netflix.com/Movie/Chuck_Jones_Extremes_and_in_Betweens_a_Life_in_Animation/60024809) ) of the famed Warner Bros. director Chuck Jones, creator of Road Runner & Coyote, Pepe le Peu, and more.

“Smear drawings” – using “smeared” frames to transition from one view to another view; a form of “limited animation”, e.g. not drawing every single frame realistically – 14:45

Don’t give up:

> I got fired a number of times, but they didn’t seem to take…I didn’t know I was fired, so I just stuck around. – 15:30

Bugs Bunny as “the anti-Mickey Mouse” – Leonard Maltin, 17:50

Daffy as Bugs’ foil:

> If Bugs were there, he’d be triumphant; but if Daffy’s there, you know he’s going to screw it up. – 21:00

Pick a cliche and work _within_ it to help you focus on character:

> The genre parodies give you a big leg up. You can just focus on the content–the form is all set…because the audience knows the reference points, he can move much faster and just concentrate on what he does best, which is being funny. – Lorne Michaels, 26:00

Music (usually classical) often provided the constraints for him to design something great. Jones is famous for using famous classical and opera pieces in cartoons.

> If you’re dealing with a hunk of music–notes–you have to be honest with yourself, and them. And the more you narrow it, the better it gets. – 59:30

Ah, the true goal of animation:

> I don’t want something that’s realistic–I want something that’s believable – 1:09:40

### Notes from the tutorial in the extras

Anticipation drawing: when a character *prepares* to do a movement. – 2:15

Primary and secondary actions: the main movement, and the “extra” movements that give character.

Overlapping action: where one part of a character’s body moves before/after another.

Cartoon exaggeration: “Carrying absurdity to a point, and then adding to that point…What nature couldn’t supply, I supplied.” – 6:30

“It’s much easier to humanize animals than to humanize humans…which is why I stuck with animals” – 11:00