The Looney Tunes Animators from S to Z

One of the all-time greatest animators who ever lived, period. Scribner’s animation was absolutely unmatched in terms of hilarity. He animated for Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton in the late 1930’s, Tex Avery from 1940 to 1941, Bob Clampett from 1941 to 1946, and briefly for Robert McKimson in 1947. In the latter year, Scribner took a three-year hiatus due to being diagnosed with tuberculosis. Upon returning in 1950, Scribner animated solely for McKimson up until he left in 1955. Style: Very, very wild. I always tend to think of Scribner when listening to Tchaikovsky’s awesome “1812 Overture” as it fits his wild animation very nicely.

No birth or death info found of him, but Hank Smith animated on all of the cartoons directed by Rudy Larriva, including his 11 Roadrunner entries and his 3 Daffy and Speedy cartoons. Style: Draws Wile E.’s ears a lot shorter, and is also good at perspective motion.

Paul Smith was an animator for Friz Freleng in the 1930’s and also for Tex Avery from 1937 to 1940. Smith later became a director at Walter Lantz from the 1950’s up until its closure in 1972. Style: draws bigger pupils than the other animators.

No photos or birth and death info found of him, but Ed Solomon animated on all of the cartoons from the Seven Arts era. Style: Very abstract.

Irven Spence was an animator for Tex Avery in 1937 and 1938, but had much greater fame at MGM as one of the four main animators on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, along with Ed Barge, Ken Muse, and Ray Patterson. Style: Very loose and wild.

Surry was briefly an animator for Tex Avery in 1936. Style: Very scruffy and rough.

Animated on all of Avery’s Warner cartoons and briefly for Clampett from 1941 to 1943. Style: often known as one of the more harder animators to identify, and has only been identified through either animator drafts or eagle-eyed fans.

Better known for his work at Disney, Thomson was an animator on a few Warner cartoons from 1935 and 1936. Again, like with several animators only at the studio in the 1930’s, his style is hard to identify.

Richard Thompson was one of Chuck Jones’ core animators in the mid-1950’s and the 1960’s. Having animated on most of the Roadrunner cartoons, Thompson once said this about them: “Roadrunner films rank among the most austerely pared-down works of modern art”. Style: Very light in movement, and gives the characters bigger eyes.

Animated at several studios and spent a brief stint at Warner Bros. in 1934. Style is once again undetermined.

Turner animated on all of the Hardaway and Dalton cartoons, then animated for Freleng from 1940 to 1944, and briefly for Clampett in 1944 before leaving the same year. Style: Very off-model in a good way, making him particularly easy to spot.

Another one of Jones’ principal animators, Vaughan was at the studio from late 1944 to 1955. Style: Very cartoony and often makes usage of the “smear” technique.

No photos or death info found of him but Sandy Walker (born February 22, 1897) was another animator who was solely at Warner Bros. in the 1930’s and had an indistinguishable style.

No photos found of him either, but Elmer Wait (September 11, 1913-July 20, 1937) was an animator on a few Avery cartoons and Jones once described him as “a fine animator who died too young”. Elmer Fudd was named in honor of Wait.

The second most prolific animator for Jones, following Ken Harris and unquestionably one of Warner Bros’ greatest animators. Having grown up in rural Arkansas, Washam was known for his weird outbursts when upset, saying something like “Thunder Foot Over Possum Bridge!”. He was also the inspiration for the line, “Thanks for the sour persimmons, cousin!” in one of the greatest cartoons ever made, “Duck Amuck” (1953). Washam also animated the iconic Grinch smile in the 1966 version of “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (as it was directed by Jones and animated by his unit while they were at MGM). Style: Personality and gesturing are key factors in Washam’s animation, making him the easiest Jones animator to identify. He also draws Bugs’ ears to a tapered point.

A red-haired animator, Volney White animated for Frank Tashlin in the 1930’s. Style: often draws the characters cuter, with the “pie-cut” eyes. Modern day animator Mark Kausler has been able to identify a few of White’s scenes in his commentaries for the Looney Tunes Golden Collection DVD sets.

Known more for his work at other studios such as Columbia/Screen Gems, Wickersham was credited on two McKimson cartoons from the early 1950’s: “Big Top Bunny” (1951) and “Thumb Fun” (1952), with his scenes being verified by the animator drafts for both respective cartoons.

By far one of the easiest animators to identify, Williams worked at almost every major studio during the Golden Age. At Warner Bros., he animated briefly for McKimson and then for all of Arthur Davis’ cartoons throughout his directorial stint in the late 1940’s. Williams later became the head animator at DePatie-Freleng, and he therefore animated on most of the Looney Tunes from the DePatie-Freleng era. Style: excessive drybrush and has the characters leave behind trails of multiple eyes when they move from pose to pose.