Michael Maltese | |
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 Maltese in 1940 | |
| Born | (1908-02-06)February 6, 1908 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | February 22, 1981(1981-02-22) (aged 73) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1935–1981 |
| Employers |
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| Spouse | Florence Sass |
Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classicanimated cartoonshorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series ofMerrie Melodies cartoons with directorChuck Jones. This collaboration produced many highly acclaimed animated shorts, including 4 of the top 5 "greatest cartoons" as judged by 1000 animation professionals;What's Opera, Doc? tops this list as the best animated short of all time.[1][2]
The son of Italian immigrants, Maltese graduated from theNational Academy of Design.[3] He married Florence Sass in April 1936; writerWarren Foster served as best man.[4]
Michael Maltese began his career in animation as a cel painter atFleischer Studios in 1935. A year later, he was fired for quickly moving himself up position after being promoted to an assistant animator.[5]
After a brief stint at the Jam Handy Organization, Maltese was hired byLeon Schlesinger Productions in April 1937 as an in-betweener, and later a storyman due to everyone laughing at his jokes.[4][5][6] Maltese would first appear on camera in the 1940Porky Pig cartoonYou Ought to Be in Pictures as a live-action guard at the Warner Bros. entrance gate, who winds up chasing the animated Porky around the Warners lot.[7] The first cartoon he was credited for Warner's wasThe Haunted Mouse (1941) byTex Avery, although he wrote rejected gags forThe Timid Toreador. Maltese, typically in collaboration withTedd Pierce, would provide most of the stories for directorsFriz Freleng andChuck Jones from 1943 to 1946, following which he dissolved his partnership with Pierce and mainly worked with Jones.[8] He and Jones collaborated on cartoons like theAcademy Award–winningFor Scent-imental Reasons (1949), featuring the characterPepé Le Pew, and the animated public health documentary,So Much for So Little (1949) which won that same year for "Best Documentary Short Subject".[9] Maltese was also the voice of theLou Costello-esque character inWackiki Wabbit (1943) and theBenito Mussolini duck inThe Ducktators (1942).[10]
Some of his earlier works includeThe Wabbit Who Came to Supper andFresh Hare,Hare Trigger (which introducedYosemite Sam) andBaseball Bugs for Freleng[5] andBear Feat,Rabbit of Seville,A Pest in the House, andRabbit Fire for Jones. Some of his best-known cartoons areFeed the Kitty,Beep, Beep,Rabbit Seasoning,Don't Give Up the Sheep,Duck Amuck,Bully for Bugs,Bewitched Bunny,From A to Z-Z-Z-Z, andBeanstalk Bunny, all of which were directed by Jones. He also wroteOne Froggy Evening, the first appearance of future Warner Brothers mascotMichigan J. Frog.[11][12]
Some of his later Warner cartoons includedAli Baba Bunny,Robin Hood Daffy, the seminalWhat's Opera, Doc? andDuck Dodgers in the 24½th Century for Jones,[13][14]Rabbit Romeo andFox-Terror forRobert McKimson andPerson to Bunny (the final occasionArthur Q. Bryan voicedElmer Fudd) andHere Today, Gone Tamale (the onlySpeedy Gonzales cartoon he ever wrote) for Freleng. Following the shuttering of Jones's unit in 1953 (at the height of the 3-D craze), Maltese was hired byWalter Lantz Productions as writer of someWoody Woodpecker cartoons:Helter Shelter,Witch Crafty (co-written withHomer Brightman),Real Gone Woody,Square Shootin' Square andBedtime Bedlam. He also is the writer ofChilly Willy'sAcademy Award-nominated theatrical shortThe Legend of Rockabye Point, directed by fellow Warner alumnusTex Avery.[15] Jones's unit would be resurrected early in 1954, with Maltese departing Lantz to rejoin his longtime collaborator several months afterwards; Maltese's first post-shutdown Warner credits by release would be onRocket-Bye Baby andGee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z, a Road Runner short.
Maltese departed Jones's unit for the second and final time in 1958, with his final credit appearing on 1961'sThe Mouse on 57th Street. From 1958[16] until 1972, he worked atHanna-Barbera Productions on television cartoons such asThe Yogi Bear Show,The Quick Draw McGraw Show,The Flintstones, andWacky Races. He wrote for a total of 200 storyboards for Hanna-Barbera. He briefly worked with Jones at Sib-Tower 12 Productions on writingTom and Jerry shorts from 1963 to 1965.[4][17]
Maltese also wrotecomic books published byWestern Publishing, including for many of the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera characters whose animated exploits he scripted.
Maltese died on February 22, 1981, at Los Angeles'sGood Samaritan Hospital after a six-month bout with cancer, aged 73.[18] His last work was inDuck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century, released in 1980.
