May 29th 1-2-3: Chuck Jones And The Disciplines Of Looney toons
Here is an entry about a favorite of mine, Chuck Jones. He is best known for his work on The Looney Toons.
Here is a story behind the story.
1: The Disciplines of Looney Toons ( 4 minute read )
In the 40s and 50s during the rise of Warner Bros. Animations, there were plenty of gag filled cartoons that were wacky and exaggerated slapstick comedy in cartoon form.
Animators like Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, and Friz Freleng were pumping out cartoons of this nature, and though they were impressive for the time, they were heavily reliant on the ‘gag’ of the short. Thus, the characters were constantly breaking the rules of their own character traits.
With these cartoon characters feeling like they had no,.. well,.. character, a man named Chuck Jones took it into his hands to fix this problem.
The Dawn of New Age Cartoons
Chuck Jones had noticed that these characters were almost just devices being used to create these wacky visuals that, though exciting to watch, had no consistency to create impact.
Now being that Jones had studied at Chouinard Art Institute (a precursor to CalArts), and that he had trained under the Mickey Mouse co-creator Ub Iwerks, he had plenty of experience to take a stab at fixing this problem he had noticed with the cartoons of this time.
He decided that the characters needed to have some sort of DNA that could be predicted, or some sort of list of rules they follow to give them the personality required to make them feel alive.
So while he and writer Micheal Maltese were laying down the first bricks for a new cartoon, they decided that it would first be a parody of nature documentaries, and secondly that they would write a formal list of rules for these characters.
The characters in this cartoon would later be known as ‘Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote’, and their rules were as follows.
The Road Runner cannot harm the Coyote
No outside forces can help—-only the Coyote’s own devices
Gravity is always the Coyote’s greatest enemy
The cartoon must be set in a desert
All tools must come from the fictional ACME Corporation
The humor must arise from character, not slapstick violence
These weren’t treated simply as guidelines, or rules for some sort of writing exercise, they were treated as a creative discipline.
They were rules the laid the path for a creative philosophy that shaped these characters and the wild wacky world they lived in.
It validated a creative approach that was later used on all Looney Toons characters.
The Legacy after the Philosophy
With the Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote cartoon resonating with viewers, Chuck saw that the characters felt real to the viewers. People could predict outcomes, which allowed him to build up moments and play on expectations to make the jokes hit harder.
Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote proved this method worked, and so chuck began applying creative disciplines to become the backbone of the DNA within each Looney Toon, and ultimately, all of the Warner Bros. Cartoons.
For instance,
Bugs never starts a fight—but he will respond to one
He is cool under pressure, never panics
He wins with wit, not brute force
Chuck once said “Bugs is who we wish we were.”
Daffy is always insecure and ego-driven
He is reactive, emotional, and self-sabotaging
Chuck said that in contrast to bugs, daffy is “Who we fear we are”
Pepe Le Pew never knows he smells bad
These are just to name a few.
The Takeaway
When you break down this whole concept of ‘creating disciplines’ for them to almost become the DNA of the characters you write, you will inevitably begin to realize that this concept can be extrapolated and applied into things other than just your characters.
This is all along the lines of what I mentioned in the last entry I wrote on the “Early Decisions” in my process. It’s all built off of this concept from Chuck Jones, I’ve just spent a lot of time thinking about where else this could be applied.
Lord knows this concept is a priceless tool you absolutely should begin to apply into your works.
Create rules for your characters, your world, and learn how to adhere to them as well as how to break them.
Now go create something uniquely YOU!
2: Creative Prompts From Us (ex. Write a short story, a poem, a song, or draw a quick illustration of these! Let your imagination run free.)
I. Create a list of characters that are some of your favorites from whatever movie, book, or video game they are from.
II. Start deconstructing, or reverse engineering what their rules are. Understand what you love more deeply, and apply it to your own works.
3: Inspirational Quotes From Others
I. “We all have a Duck season/Rabbit season in us. Daffy is who we are. Bugs is who we want to be.”
-Chuck Jones, Animator and Director
II. "“I don’t want characters who are just devices to advance the plot. I want characters who feel like they’re real.”
-George R.R. Martin, Author
III. “The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”
-Orson Welles, Filmmaker and Writer
Thank you so much for reading!