Norman Hildreth McCabe^[2] (February 10, 1911 – January 17, 2006) was a British-American animator who enjoyed a long career that lasted into the 1990s.

McCabe was born inEngland and raised in theUnited States. He worked inTacoma, Washington, as atheater lobby artist. During theGreat Depression, he moved toLos Angeles to look for work at lobbies, but to no avail.^[3] In the 1930s, he joinedLeon Schlesinger Productions (which produced cartoons forWarner Bros.) as a animator inFrank Tashlin's unit. He moved over toBob Clampett's unit in 1938 where he animated and/or co-directed several classic black and whiteLooney Tunes. WhenTex Avery left Schlesinger in 1941, Clampett took over Avery's unit and McCabe took over Clampett's old unit. In 1943, McCabe was drafted into the Army and was assigned to the Army Air Corps Training Film Unit (Tashlin took over McCabe's unit after McCabe's final cartoon). In his final Warner cartoon before he left (a black-and-white propaganda cartoon calledTokio Jokio), he was billed as "Cpl. Norman McCabe".^[4]

He served in theFirst Motion Picture Unit, headquartered at theHal Roach Studios. His commanding officer was majorRudolf Ising.^[4]

After the war, McCabe worked on commercial illustrations for such works as theBozo the Clown children's storybook records^[5][6] and educational films.

In the 1950s, McCabe found himself working for various television commercial studios such as Swift-Chaplin Productions, Five Star Productions,FilmFair, andTeleMation Inc. He worked as an animation director for All Scope Pictures, Inc., a commercial film division for20th Century Fox from 1958 until the early 1960s.^[7][3]

He returned to animation in 1963, joiningDePatie–Freleng Enterprises, where he worked on the titles for the feature filmThe Pink Panther. McCabe animated at DePatie–Freleng, working onPink Panther cartoons as well as Warner Bros. cartoons. He also directed made for TV cartoons at DePatie–Freleng. During that time, he was usually credited as "Norm McCabe".

McCabe moved to theFilmation animation studio in 1967 working on severalSaturday-morning cartoon series. He returned to theatrical animation with the adult animated feature filmFritz the Cat in 1972 before returning to DePatie-Freleng where he animated until the end of the 1970s. An in-joke at the studio had the name of a villain inThe Houndcats as being "McCabe".

Other studios McCabe worked for includeFilm Roman (Bobby's World),Hanna-Barbera,Henson Associates (Muppet Babies),Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (Teenage Muntant Ninja Turtles),Pacific Title & Art Studio, Pantomime Pictures (Skyhawks), Playhouse Pictures,Ruby-Spears,Sunbow Productions, andUniversal Animation Studios.

In the 1980s, McCabe returned toWarner Bros. where he worked on new animation for Warner cartoon feature film anthologies. He also trained a new generation of animators in working with the classic Warner cartoon characters. His last job was as a sheet timer on the seriesTiny Toon Adventures,Taz-Mania,Animaniacs,Freakazoid!, andThe Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries.

McCabe died in January 2006, a month before his 95th birthday and he was the last surviving director from the golden age ofWarner Bros. Cartoons to die.^[3][7]

McCabe's work is obscure today, because he never made color cartoons during his (relatively brief) directorial tenure at the Schlesinger studio, and several of his cartoons would now be considered offensive due to heavy racial stereotyping (particularly true in his World War II propaganda cartoons, such asThe Ducktators,Confusions of a Nutzy Spy, andTokio Jokio, which satirizeAdolf Hitler,Benito Mussolini and/orHideki Tojo, alongside broadly caricatured versions of Japanese soldiers). During a screening of his cartoons atASIFA-Hollywood, he spoke highly of Clampett, but was outright embarrassed by his old black-and-white cartoons.^[3] However, he won recognition and accolades from those in the animation business.^[8]

• Sigall, Martha (2005)."The Boys of Termite Terrace".Living Life Inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation.University Press of Mississippi.ISBN 9781578067497.

• Lambiek Comiclopedia article.
• Norman McCabe tribute
• Norman McCabe atIMDb

• 1911 births
• 2006 deaths
• Artists from Newcastle upon Tyne
• English animators
• United States Army personnel of World War II
• British animated film directors
• American animated film directors
• British comedy film directors
• American comedy film directors
• British emigrants to the United States
• First Motion Picture Unit personnel
• United States Army Air Forces soldiers
• Filmation people
• Warner Bros. Cartoons people
• Universal Animation Studios people
• British satirists
• Satirical animators
• British political artists
• American political artists
• American propaganda film directors
• British propaganda film directors
• British satirical film directors
• American satirical film directors

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