#michael maltese

[skullislandproductions]

Happy Birthday to the Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote, who began their great chase 75 years ago, when “Fast and Furry-ous” was released into theaters September 17th, 1949. This short was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Mike Maltese, who would go on to create many more adventures for the pair.

[thebarroomortheboy]

Along with producer Leon Schlesinger, other members of the Warner Bros. animation studio played the live-action roles: writer Michael Maltese was the security guard, animator Gerry Chiniquy was the live-action director, and manager Henry Binder was the stagehand who tosses Porky out of the soundstage. With the exception of Schlesinger, all voices were dubbed over by Mel Blanc.

YOU OUGHT TO BE IN PICTURES (1940) | dir. Fritz Freleng

[acmeoop]

Follow That Bird “Fast And Furry-ous” (1949)

[seethesound]

Racketeer Rabbit 1946

[aardwolfpack]

Jumpin' Jupiter (1955)

[stone-cold-groove]

Animation sequence from Warner Bros. Cartoons’ Duck Amuck - 1953.

[nine-frames]

Deduce, You Say!, 1956.

Dir. Chuck Jones | Writ. Michael Maltese

[roskirambles]

(Archive) Animated short film of the day: Duck Amuck (1953)

There's something decidedly self indulgent but nevertheless interesting about using entertainment to discuss entertainment itself: Deconstructions, parodies, and in this case, getting meta; one of the most cerebral and fascinating… if done right. When used poorly it becomes a hand wave or a cynical tool to divert attention away of a work's flaws or be patronising to the audience. When used properly though? It can give us an insight on why we love a medium so much. Which is why this short is a landmark for commercial western animation.

While not the first to make use of the concept of an animator directly interacting with the cartoon character, as Disney's Saludos Amigos (1942) already had some of this, it pushed everything about this gag to the limit. The story(loosely using the term) is pretty much just Daffy getting messed with by whoever is animating(take a guess who that turns out to be) to such an extreme at various different points nothing that is identifiable about Daffy stays: The voice? The character design? Both get played with to nigh unrecognizable points to see how much you can take away while still keeping the audience engaged. And engaged it should be, as not only is the work hilarious but also a small but delicious insight of how animation is made.

Well…was.

It's a short made in the 50's, so some of the gags that may have been a little more obvious then would require some clarification for modern viewers. The core of it, though, remains as appealing as it ever was. Looney Toons shorts can be hit and miss in some areas(some having aged horrendously for a plethora of reasons) but when they hit the mark, they're absolute guaranteed classics and this is one of the best for being so bold on it's approach.

[emmakittykat]

This is peak Chuck Jones and Michael Maltese. My favorite short from them. When I watched it the first time, the more it evolved in hilarity, the harder I started laughing.

Duck Amuck | Director: Chuck Jones | Studio: Warner Bros. | USA, 1953

[skullislandproductions]

“Duck Dodgers” pitch art from a rough drawing by Tony Cervone, from early 1998. This poster is from the first attempt at selling the show, and features a bunch of Looney Tunes villains in their sci-fi form. Five years later in 2003, some of these foes would finally get their chance to go toe to toe with Dodgers.

[imjustheretoseetheprivateblogs]

[acmeoop]

Hold On Thar! “The Quick Draw McGraw Show” 1959

[rapidkirby3000]

😍

Pepé: Cold champagne to warm you, Cherie?

[starfruitsomething]

The latest page in my sketch book!

(the worlds are lyrics to the song 'As the world caves in' by Matt Maltese, and the song reminds me so much of Good omens!!)

[willstafford]

Winter Warmer

TWELFTH NIGHT Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon, Thursday 19th December 2024 Prasanna Puwanarajah’s new production of Shakespeare’s melancholy rom-com adopts the increasingly common approach of swapping the first scene with the second, so, instead of Orsino’s famous opening line, “If music be the food of love,” we see Viola scrambling ashore, having survived the shipwreck in which…

[balu8]

Mike Kaluta: Corto Maltese and Dragon Lady