Arthur "Art" Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | Arthur Davis June 14, 1905 Yonkers, New York U.S. |
| Died | May 9, 2000 (aged 94) Sunnyvale, California U.S. |
| Other names | Arthur Davis, Art Davis |
| Occupation | Animator, Director |
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Arthur "Art" Davis (June 14, 1905 – May 9, 2000) was an American animator and a director for Warner Brothers' Termite Terrace cartoon studio.
Career[]
Davis got his start at a young age at the New York studio of Max Fleischer, and is reputed to have been the first in-betweener in the animation industry. Another of his distinctions was that he tapped out the famous "bouncing ball" of the "Follow the Bouncing Ball" cartoons of the 1920s. While one of the Fleischer brothers played the ukulele, Davis would keep time with a wooden stick with a white thumbtack on the end, which was photographed and incorporated into the films as the actual moving ball. Later he was an animator for the Charles Mintz studio. While there, he helped create and develop Toby the Pup and Scrappy with fellow animators Dick Huemer and Sid Marcus. Davis would eventually be promoted to director and remained at the studio even after it became Screen Gems in 1940.
In 1942, Davis left Screen Gems along with Frank Tashlin for Warner Bros. Davis worked as an animator for Tashlin's department until 1946 when it was assumed by Robert McKimson. Later that same year, when Bob Clampett left to start his own studio, Davis took over Clampett's unit. Davis finished a few of Clampett's planned cartoons, including "The Goofy Gophers" and "Bacall to Arms".
Davis directed a number of Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts, with a tone somewhere between those of Clampett and McKimson. He had a distinctive characteristic visual style, which can be seen as far back as Davis' Columbia shorts, in which the characters move from the foreground to the background, as well as from side to side, using all axes of the animation field. His department was shut down only three years later in 1949 when Warners was having a budget problem. Davis was then taken into Friz Freleng's unit, and served as one of Freleng's key animators for many years.
In 1962, thirteen years after his unit had been shut down, Davis directed a cartoon for Warners again using Freleng's unit. (There were several shorts released around this time, from not only Freleng's unit but Chuck Jones' as well, where the direction was credited to varying subordinates.) This cartoon, "Quackodile Tears", was also his last Warner Brothers short. After the studio closed in 1963, Davis went to Walter Lantz Productions as an animator. He left Lantz in 1965 to work briefly for Hanna-Barbera Productions, before moving over to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises to direct Pink Panther shorts and other cartoon series.
Outliving most of his peers, Davis died on May 9, 2000, aged 94 in Sunnyvale, California.[1][2]
References[]
- ↑ Lenburg, Jeff (2006). Who's who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film & Television's Award-winning and Legendary Animators. Hal Leonard Corporation. pp. 60. ISBN 155783671X.
- ↑ DeMott, Rick. "Warner Bros. Director Arthur Davis Passes". Retrieved 5 December 2018.
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External links[]
| Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies | ||
|---|---|---|
| Studios | Harman-Ising Productions (1930–1933) • Leon Schlesinger Productions (1933–1944) • Warner Bros. Cartoons (1944–1964) • DePatie–Freleng Enterprises (1964–1967, 1979–1980) • Format Films (1965–1967) • Warner Bros.-Seven Arts (1967–1969) • Chuck Jones Enterprises (1976–1980, 1994–1997) • Warner Bros. Animation (1980–present) | |
| People | Tex Avery • Bea Benaderet • Mel Blanc • Bernard B. Brown • Arthur Q. Bryan
• John Burton • Daws Butler • Bob Clampett • Cal Dalton • Arthur Davis • David H. DePatie • Earl Duvall • Milt Franklyn • Stan Freberg • Friz Freleng • June Foray • Ben Hardaway • Hugh Harman • Ken Harris • William L. Hendricks • Cal Howard • Rudolf Ising • Chuck Jones • Jack King • William Lava • Abe Levitow • Michael Maltese • Frank Marsales • Norman McCabe • Robert McKimson • Tom Palmer • Hawley Pratt • Virgil Ross • Leon Schlesinger • Rod Scribner •Edward Selzer • Norman Spencer • Carl Stalling • Frank Tashlin • Ben Washam | |
| Characters | Major characters | Bugs Bunny • Daffy Duck • Elmer Fudd • Foghorn Leghorn • Granny • Lola Bunny • Marvin the Martian • Pepé Le Pew • Porky Pig • Speedy Gonzales • Sylvester the Cat • Taz • Tweety • Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner • Yosemite Sam |
| Recurring characters | Babbit and Catstello • Barnyard Dawg • Beaky Buzzard • Beans • Bosko • Buddy • Cecil Turtle • Charlie Dog • Claude Cat • Clyde Bunny • Colonel Shuffle • Conrad the Cat • Cool Cat • Egghead Jr. • Foxy • Goofy Gophers • Goopy Geer • Gossamer • Hector the Bulldog • Henery Hawk • Hippety Hopper • Hubie and Bertie • Hugo the Abominable Snowman • Inki • Marc Antony and Pussyfoot • Merlin the Magic Mouse • Michigan J. Frog • Miss Prissy • Nasty Canasta • Penelope Pussycat • Petunia Pig • Piggy • Playboy Penguin • Ralph Wolf and Sam Sheepdog • Slowpoke Rodriguez • Sniffles • Spike the Bulldog and Chester the Terrier • Sylvester Jr. • The Three Bears • Willoughby • Witch Hazel | |
| Shorts | 1929–1939 • 1940–1949 • 1950–1959 • 1960–1969 • 1970–present • Featuring Bugs Bunny • Featuring Daffy Duck • Featuring Sylvester • Featuring Porky Pig • Blue Ribbon reissues • Censored Eleven | |
| Television | Compilations | The Bugs Bunny Show • The Porky Pig Show • The Road Runner Show • The Merrie Melodies Show • Merrie Melodies Starring Bugs Bunny & Friends • Bugs 'n' Daffy |
| Originals | Tiny Toon Adventures • Taz-Mania • The Plucky Duck Show • The Sylvester & Tweety Mysteries • Baby Looney Tunes • Duck Dodgers • Loonatics Unleashed • The Looney Tunes Show • Wabbit/New Looney Tunes • Looney Tunes Cartoons • Tooned Out • Specials | |
| Feature films |
Compilations | The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie • The Looney Looney Looney Bugs Bunny Movie • Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales • Daffy Duck's Fantastic Island • Daffy Duck's Quackbusters • The Looney Tunes Hall of Fame |
| Live-action/ animation |
Who Framed Roger Rabbit • Space Jam • Looney Tunes: Back in Action • Space Jam: A New Legacy | |
| Made for video | Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation • Tweety's High-Flying Adventure • Baby Looney Tunes' Eggs-traordinary Adventure • Bah, Humduck! A Looney Tunes Christmas • Looney Tunes: Rabbits Run • Teen Titans Go! See Space Jam • King Tweety | |
| Documentaries | Bugs Bunny: Superstar • Bugs & Daffy: The Wartime Cartoons • Chuck Amuck: The Movie | |
| Music/Songs | "Camptown Races" • "Dance of the Comedians" • "The Gold Diggers' Song (We're in the Money)" • "Merrily We Roll Along" • "The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down" • "Powerhouse" | |
| Other | Video games | |