Robert McKimson | |
|---|---|
 Robert McKimson, early 1930s | |
| Born | Robert Porter McKimson (1910-10-13)October 13, 1910 Denver, Colorado, U.S. |
| Died | September 29, 1977(1977-09-29) (aged 66) Burbank, California, U.S. |
| Other names | Bob McKimson Buck McKimson |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1929–1977 |
| Employer(s) | Walt Disney Productions (1929–1930) Romer Grey Studio (1930) Harman and Ising (1930–1933) Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons (1933–1963) Cascade Studios (1953) DePatie-Freleng Enterprises (1963–1968; 1969–1977) Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1968–1969) |
| Spouse | Viola McKimson (d. 1963) |
| Children | 2 |
Robert Porter McKimson Sr. (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an Americananimator andillustrator, best known for his work on theLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies series of cartoons fromWarner Bros. Cartoons and laterDePatie–Freleng Enterprises. He wrote and directed many animated cartoon shorts starringBugs Bunny,Daffy Duck,Porky Pig,Foghorn Leghorn,Hippety Hopper,Speedy Gonzales, and theTasmanian Devil, among other characters. He alsodeveloped Bugs Bunny's design in the 1943 shortTortoise Wins by a Hare.
After he was born inDenver,Colorado, on October 13, 1910, McKimson's family variously lived inWray, Colorado, Los Angeles, andCanadian, Texas, before settling in Los Angeles in 1926.[1][2] From 1927 to 1928, McKimson and his brotherTom illustrated a prospective children's book written by their mother titledMouse Tales, the characters of which were notably similar to those ofWalt Disney cartoons (e.g.Mickey Mouse). These drawings entered storage in the 1930s, resurfacing six decades later.[3]
In mid-1929, Robert was offered a job atWalt Disney Studio as an assistant animator toDick Lundy, while Tom apprenticed underNorm Ferguson.[1] According to Tom, Disney animators attendingOtis Art Institute with him recommended him, while Robert said they were hired after an aunt from Denver met Disney at a party.[4] According to Robert, the studio included less than 30 people, comprising nine animators, each with one assistant. After three months, the brothers received a raise from $18 to $25.[4] Despite little extant evidence, Lundy corroborated that the McKimsons worked for Disney.[1]
In 1930, the brothers were offered a higher salary at anAltadena studio planned byRomer Grey, the oldest son of Western authorZane Grey.[1] The Romer Grey Studio produced several cartoons, four featuring Binko the Bear Cub, developed by the McKimsons and bearing strong similarities to Mickey Mouse.[5] Due to theGreat Depression, Grey's studio was unable to close a distribution deal. No shorts were released, with only a handful completed (and only one known to survive).[6][7]
At the same time he began working for Grey, McKimson was hired byHugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, first doing ink-and-paint duties for the firstLooney Tunes, then becoming anin-betweener before becoming an animator by 1931, when the Romer Grey Studio shut down. At that time he had an accident that gave him a concussion. As a result, he was able to visualize better,[6] thus increasing his production and animation. He was the head animator and go-to guy in the late 1930s at the studio, which overwhelmed him. Eventually he worked exclusively withBob Clampett.[6][8] He was offered a directorial position byLeon Schlesinger in 1938, but declined, allowing the position to go to animatorChuck Jones.[8] He eventually accepted his own directorial position in late 1944, whenFrank Tashlin left Warner Bros. to direct live-action films.[9]
McKimson's first Warner Bros. cartoon that he finished,The Return of Mr. Hook, was released in 1945 exclusively for theU.S. Navy. His first theatrical short,Daffy Doodles, was released in early April 1946. His third theatrical short entitledAcrobatty Bunny would be the firstBugs Bunny short McKimson directed. It was released in June 1946. His better-known efforts includeHillbilly Hare,A-Lad-In His Lamp,Stupor Duck,The Windblown Hare,Walky Talky Hawky, andBig Top Bunny.
McKimson created characters likeFoghorn Leghorn and theTasmanian Devil, as well as directing everyHippety Hopper/Sylvester pairing. He also createdSpeedy Gonzales for the 1953 shortCat-Tails for Two and directed many others periodically (along withFriz Freleng and other directors) for the remainder of his theatrical career.[6][10]
In June 1953, the Warner Bros. cartoon studio was shut down for a period of six months due to the 3-D fad at the time, which Jack Warner found to be too costly a process to use for animated cartoons. McKimson's unit however was disbanded entirely two months before the shutdown.[11] He would make anOldsmobile commercial at Cascade Studios around this time.
After the studiore-opened, Freleng and Jones quicklyre-assembled their respective units, but there was no indication if McKimson and his unit would be brought back. McKimson was able to convince Warner Bros. to reopening his unit, at the cost of working with less resources and lesser money. Apart from writerTedd Pierce, background painter Richard H. Thomas and animator Keith Darling (who worked uncredited for McKimson prior to the 1953 closure), he was unable to hire back most of his animators, includingRod Scribner and his own brotherCharles. At the start of this period, McKimson animated on four of his own shorts,The Hole Idea (in fact, he was the sole animator credited on that film),Dime to Retire,Too Hop to Handle (along with uncredited work from Jones' animatorBen Washam), andWeasel Stop (where McKimson had no animation credit).[12] Soon, McKimson assembled a new team of artists, including layout man/background painterRobert Gribbroek (formerly of Jones's unit) plus animatorsWarren Batchelder, Ted Bonnicksen, George Grandpré andTom Ray. Russ Dyson briefly worked with McKimson in 1956 until Dyson's death that year.
McKimson's office in Warner Bros.'s "Termite Terrace" studio was on the second floor.[13]
McKimson continued working at Warner's Cartoon Studio as it began to lose staff (including such key personnel as Jones) in the early 1960s. According to an interview with his son, he generally did not like how things were going at the studio and missed full animation, as well as disliking the new characters in the new shorts.[13] Over this time, he directed his share of shorts and worked on the featureThe Incredible Mr. Limpet withHawley Pratt, taking over the role of director fromBill Tytla due to his illness.[14][15]
After the studio closed, he joinedDePatie–Freleng Enterprises,co-owned by his old associate Friz Freleng andDavid H. DePatie, who had been a producer at the Warners studio. At DePatie–Freleng, McKimson briefly worked in Freleng's unit directing severalThe Inspector shorts and working on some of theLooney Tunes andMerrie Melodies contracted out to DePatie–Freleng by Warner Bros.
In 1967, Warner opened its animation studio again, with all cartoons directed byAlex Lovy. After Lovy left, McKimson re-joined the studio, in 1968. According to his son Robert McKimson, Jr., McKimson "hated" the cartoons he directed at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, which suffered from restricted budgets, and he was forbidden from using Bugs Bunny in his cartoons.[16] The studio was shut down again in 1969.
McKimson's last Warner Bros. cartoon wasInjun Trouble withCool Cat. It was shortlisted for anAcademy Award, but wasn't nominated.[7][17]Injun Trouble was also the last of the originalLooney Tunes orMerrie Melodies cartoon to be produced before the Warner Bros. cartoon studio was closed. McKimson was the one person to be at the studio from the start of the Looney Tunes series through its finish in 1969, first as an animator and then as a director.
After a sabbatical, he went back to DePatie–Freleng in 1972 to directThe Pink Panther Show shorts, among their other series.
On the morning of September 27, 1977, McKimson's doctor declared him in good health for a 66-year-old (despite having a case ofemphysema after years of smoking), and, according to Freleng, McKimson then referred to his family history of living past 90 and bragged, "I'm going to be around after you guys are gone!" On September 29, McKimson suffered a suddenheart attack and died, at age 66. At the time of his death, he had recently completed directingMisterjaw and had begun work onBaggy Pants and the Nitwits.[18][19][7]
McKimson was buried atForest Lawn Cemetery inGlendale, California.
McKimson's wife, Viola, died in 1963.[8] In addition to being an animator, McKimson was a skilled horseman and polo player, a dedicated bowler, and a MasterMason. He played polo from 1932 until after the outbreak of war in 1942.[13] In addition to his brothers Tom and Charles, their two sisters, Anabel and Aylce McKimson, also worked as animators.[8][20][13] Charles was frequently part of McKimson's unit at Warner Bros.
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