Chuck Jones: Drawing on Imagination 100 Years of an Animated ArtistCartoon Art Museum Exhibition: February 9 – May 5, 2013

San Francisco: The Cartoon Art Museum has announced a centennial retrospective of the art of legendary animation director and creator Chuck Jones, on display from February 9 through May 5, 2013. The exhibition, comprising 100 works of art from the late 1930s through the late 1990s, is entitled Chuck Jones: Drawing on Imagination—100 Years of an Animated Artist. Artwork for the exhibit is provided by the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity in Costa Mesa, CA.

Chuck Jones, a graduate of the Chouinard Art Institute (now CalArts in Valencia), drew $1.00 portraits on Olvera Street in downtown Los Angeles before he began his career in animation as a cel washer at Ubbe Iwerks Studio in 1932. He directed his first cartoon, “The Night Watchman,” for Leon Schlesinger Productions in 1938 and went to helm such classic Warner Brothers shorts as "What's Opera, Doc?" and "One Froggy Evening." Winner of three animation Oscars and an honorary Lifetime Achievement Oscar for "the creation of classic cartoons and cartoon characters," Jones is today considered synonymous with the "Golden Age" of studio animation and has inspired many of today’s most significant film directors, artists, and animators.

“I have been a fan of the Cartoon Art Museum for many years and to finally have such an extensive exhibition presented here is like a dream come true. My grandfather loved San Francisco and its denizens. This exhibition, with many never-before-exhibited works, is a masterpiece to celebrate Chuck’s Centennial Celebration,” said Craig Kausen, Chairman of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity and Chuck’s grandson.

“We’re thrilled with the opportunity to partner with the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, and to bring our patrons 100 pieces of classic and rarely seen artwork from one of the greatest and most influential cartoonists in American history,” said Cartoon Art Museum curator Andrew Farago. “Chuck received the Cartoon Art Museum’s Sparky Award for lifetime achievement in 1998, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to further celebrate his extraordinary career and talent.”

About The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity

The Chuck Jones Center for Creativity is a non-profit 501(c)3 charity located in Costa Mesa, California. Founded in 1999 by four-time Academy Award recipient and legendary animation creator, Chuck Jones, the Center’s vision is to inspire the innate creative genius within each person that leads to a more joyous, passionate, and harmonious life and world.

The Center is dedicated to re-invigorating the creative spirit and they are doing it through art classes, exhibitions, lectures, and film festivals, all of which spring from the material in the Chuck Jones archive. Jones was a determined saver and his writings, art, and other ephemera from a nine-decade life along with his philosophy of guiding and nurturing instruction form the basis of their programs.

About the Cartoon Art Museum

Founded in 1984, the Cartoon Art Museum is the only museum in the western United States dedicated to cartoons and comics. The museum was started by a group of cartoonists and collectors who wanted to share their appreciation of this unique art form with the rest of the world. The museum is dedicated to the collection, preservation, study and exhibition of original cartoon art in all forms to benefit historians, cartoonists, journalists, artists, collectors and the general public.

On Friday, September 21st at 8 PM at the Alex Theatre in Glendale, CA the Chuck Jones Centennial Celebration Film Festival will be an evening devoted to honoring the artist who brought to life such famous cartoon characters as Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, Pepé le Pew, Marvin Martian, and Marc Anthony. Hosted by the family of Chuck Jones, the evening will include reminiscences from noted artists* whose careers and lives have been impacted by Chuck Jones and the work he created. The Alex Theatre is located at 216 Brand Boulevard, Glendale, CA 91203. The phone number is 818-243-ALEX (2539.) Tickets from $10.00 to $50.00, benefiting the programs of the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity are available at the Alex Theatre Box Office or online at www.AlexTheatre.org. Of course, there will be cartoons, many of them from Jones’ personal 35mm collection. Chuck Jones, whose credits include four Academy Award-winning short films, directed over 300 films in his lifetime, with such memorable titles as “Rabbit Seasoning?”, “Robin Hood Daffy”, and “Feed the Kitty”. In 1992 his “What’s Opera, Doc?” was the first short animated film to be inducted into the Library of Congress' National Film Registry, subsequently two others have been added, “One Froggy Evening” and “Duck Amuck”. Jones, an honorary lifetime member of the Director’s Guild, is considered to be one of the pioneers of the animated film, feted and honored at dozens of International Film Festivals from Annecy to Zagreb. In 1985 Jones was the subject of a film retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. In 1999, Jones founded the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, a non-profit public charity whose vision is to inspire the innate creative genius within each person that leads to a more joyous, passionate, and harmonious life and world.

Presenters this evening will include:

*Carl Bell, animator and clean-up artist, will be one of the presenters. A Governor of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Bell worked with Jones in the late 1960s and early 1970s at MGM. His career includes work with Clampett Productions early in his career and most recently with Disney Studios.

*Eric Goldberg: Eric Goldberg joined Disney Studios in 1990 as the supervising animator responsible for the movements, personality and soul of the Genie in Aladdin. Goldberg’s strong background in animation next earned him his directorial debut on Pocahontas, which he followed up as the supervising animator on Phil, the salty satyr and trainer of heroes in Hercules. Goldberg also directed the “Carnival of the Animals” and “Rhapsody in Blue” segments of Fantasia 2000, the continuation of Walt Disney’s 1940 masterpiece.

Goldberg not only served as the director of animation for Warner Bros.’ 2003 live-action and animation hybrid feature “Looney Tunes: Back in Action,” but he also provided the voices of the cartoon characters Marvin Martian, Tweety and Speedy Gonzalez. Working with Bob Kurtz of Kurtz + Friends, he animated the title sequence of MGM’s 2006 remake of “The Pink Panther”. His relationship with Chuck Jones began in the early 1990s and continued until Jones’ passing in 2002.

*Jerry Beck is an animation historian, author, blogger, animation producer and industry consultant to Warner Bros. Studios and has been an executive with Nickelodeon and Disney.