The most popular cartoon characters in the United States—and the recipients of a four-month tribute at New York’s Museum of Modern Art—are the subject of an art exhibition now available.The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons is an overview of Warner Bros. Cartoons, the Hollywood animation studio that gave birth to characters who have become part of American folklore. As the New York Times noted in its review of the exhibition’s catalogue: “Life in these United States would be inconceivable without the shared referent of” the great Warner characters: Bugs Bunny, Tweety and Sylvester, the Road Runner and the Coyote, the Tasmanian Devil, Daffy Duck, Marvin the Martian, Yosemite Sam, and many others.
The exhibition consists of over 160 original artworks—drawings, cels, paintings and related artifacts—used in making “Looney Toons” and “Merrie Melodies” cartoons from the classic era, the 1930s through the early 1960s. Also available are finished videos, for viewing the completed cartoons on-site.
Warner Bros. Cartoons have earned both critical and popular acclaim as the finest and funniest animated shorts to come from Hollywood’s Golden Age. Evidence of this came when Warner Bros. became the first cartoon-makers of any kind to be given a full-scale retrospective at MoMA. The current exhibition is a much-expanded version of the MoMA show; it traces the development of all of Warner’s cartoon stars and explores the techniques through which traditional cel animation is made. Works by all of Warner Bros.’ major directors: Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, and Bob Clampett—now considered the giants of American animated filmmakers—are richly represented.
Cost is negotiable.