The Looney Tunes Directors from A to Z

The fifth essential Looney Tunes director (ranked in order of significance), it is Tex Avery who we have to thank for originating the humor of the Warner Bros. cartoons. Whatever Avery thought was funny, he would put it into his cartoons. While he would gain much greater fame directing all of the funniest non-Tom and Jerry cartoons from MGM from 1942 to 1955, Avery’s Warner period also saw plenty of great cartoons. During his Warner stint, Avery directed a total of 61 from 1935 to 1942 and also created Daffy Duck and Bugs Bunny.

He was the studio’s second composer along with fellow musician Norman Spencer and also directed two Merrie Melodies both released in 1934: “Pettin’ in the Park” and “Those Were Wonderful Days”.

One of the principal animators in Friz Freleng’s unit for many years, Chiniquy directed two cartoons with Freleng’s unit both released in 1964: “Dumb Patrol” and “Hawaiian Aye Aye”.

The fourth essential Looney Tunes director, Clampett was very influential during his nine-year stint at Warner Bros. He was the primary director of the black and white Porky Pig cartoons in his early years while starting in 1942, he unleashed a very wild sense of humor and directed some of the absolute funniest cartoons of the mid to late 1940’s. Clampett directed a total of 80 Warner cartoons from 1937 to 1946 and also created Tweety.

Dalton was a key animator at the studio for several years, but had a brief stint as a director when he was teamed with storyman Cal Howard for 3 cartoons released in 1938 and then with storyman Ben Hardaway for 13 cartoons released from 1938 to 1940.

The seventh and last essential Looney Tunes director, Davis took over from Bob Clampett when he left the studio in the late 1940’s and directed 21 absolutely fantastic cartoons from 1946 to 1949. At the end of the 1940’s, Warner Bros. decided to cut their four units (the other three were Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, and Robert McKimson) down to three. Since he had the least seniority as a director, Davis’ unit was disbanded. He stayed at the studio for a long time afterwards as an animator for Friz Freleng and directed one final cartoon for the studio with Freleng’s unit in 1962, “Quackodile Tears”.

One of the first directors at the studio after the departure of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising, Duvall directed only a total of five Warner cartoons released from 1933 to 1934, with his most notable being “Honeymoon Hotel” (1934), the studio’s first color cartoon.

The second essential Looney Tunes director, Freleng directed the most out of anyone with a whopping total of 249 from 1934 to 1965 (he briefly left for MGM from 1938-1940 but he had the longest directorial stint by far). He was excellent at timing and with gags set to music and also created several iconic characters such as Porky Pig, Sylvester, and Yosemite Sam.

Hardaway was first a director from 1934 to 1935, with a total of eight cartoons. He later returned directing one more cartoon solo in 1938: “Porky’s Hare Hunt” before teaming with animator Cal Dalton from 1938 to 1940 to direct a total of thirteen cartoons. Hardway’s nickname was also “Bugs”, which would later serve as the inspiration for Bugs Bunny’s name.

One of the two men to start Looney Tunes along with Rudolf Ising, Harman directed all of the Looney Tunes (which had starred the series’ first character, Bosko) from 1930 until his and Ising’s departure in 1933.

The top animator in Chuck Jones’ unit throughout his entire directorial stint, Harris directed only one cartoon which was made by Jones’ unit: “Hare-abian Nights” (1959).

A storyman at Warner Bros., Howard was the original co-director to animator Cal Dalton in 1938 for three cartoons, “Porky’s Phoney Express”, “Katnip Kollege”, and “A Lad in Bagdad” before he was shortly replaced by Ben Hardaway.

The other man to start off Looney Tunes, Ising directed all of the Merrie Melodies from 1931 until his and Hugh Harman’s departure in 1933.

Most famous for being one of the principal creators of Mickey Mouse, Iwerks later directed two Warner cartoons from 1937: “Porky and Gabby” and “Porky’s Super Service”, both of which had animation from future directors Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones.

The most iconic and easily the best Looney Tunes director, Jones directed a total of 208 Warner cartoons from 1938 to 1964. Starting out with cartoons that were slower paced and more Disney-like, Jones eventually started producing consistently strong and truly funny cartoons from 1942 onwards. He also created several iconic characters such as Elmer Fudd, Pepe Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Wile E. Coyote, and the Roadrunner. Interestingly, in December 2017, there was a book published from the “Who HQ” series that was dedicated entirely to Jones, with it being titled “Who Was Chuck Jones?”, meaning he has earned a spot of fame in the world in the days of celebrities like Taylor Swift and LeBron James.

More well known for directing Donald Duck cartoons in the 1940’s, King had a brief stint at Warner Bros. from 1934 to 1936, directing a total of 20 cartoons.

Formerly an animator for Jones from 1938 to 1943, Larriva was later contracted to direct a total of 11 Roadrunner cartoons from 1965 to 1966 as well as three Daffy and Speedy cartoons from 1967: “Quacker Tracker”, “The Music Mice-Tro”, and “The Spy Swatter”.

Levitow (the man on the right) was another one of Chuck Jones’ principal animators and he directed three cartoons released in 1959 that were made by Jones’ unit: “Really Scent”, “A Witch’s Tangled Hare”, and “Unnatural History”.

More famous for his involvements with Walter Lantz and Hanna-Barbera, Lovy (the man on the right) was the director of the Warner cartoons from mid-1967 to 1968 (he directed a total of 16) and created two of the last new characters from the studio, Cool Cat and Merlin the Magic Mouse.

One of the main animators for Bob Clampett in his early days, McCabe took over Clampett’s old unit after Clampett took over Tex Avery’s unit when the latter left for MGM. McCabe directed a total of 11 cartoons from 1941 to 1943. Interestingly, he would become involved with the Looney Tunes again in the mid-1960’s when DePatie-Freleng was producing new cartoons for them.

The third essential Looney Tunes director, McKimson was for many years, the studio’s head animator. As a director, he was just as strong and directed a total of 175 from 1946 to 1969. His cartoons were very slapstick heavy and almost always hilarious. McKimson was also the creator of Foghorn Leghorn, Speedy Gonzales, and Taz.

Another top-tier animator, Monroe was one of Jones’ core animators in the late 1940’s and early 1950’s. He also directed two cartoons from Jones’ unit: “Woolen Under Where” (1963) and “The Iceman Ducketh” (1964).

I couldn’t find any photos or birth and death history of him, but former Disney animator Tom Palmer had directed the first two Warner cartoons released after the departure of Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising in 1933: “Buddy’s Day Out” and “I’ve Got to Sing a Torch Song”.

Hawley Pratt (no relation to Chris) was Friz Freleng’s layout artist from 1945 to 1964. He directed the last cartoon released from the original studio (but not the last overall), “Senorella and the Glass Huarache” (1964).

A screenwriter for other studios, the only ever cartoon Spector directed was 1965’s “Corn on the Cop” during the DePatie-Freleng years of Looney Tunes.

The sixth essential Looney Tunes director, Tashlin’s cartoons were very innovative in that he used very unique film angles and body shapes. He also had two separate stints at Warner Bros. one from 1936 to 1938 and another from 1943 to 1946. In total, he directed 35 Warner Bros. cartoons. After leaving cartoons, Tashlin became a live-action director, directing such films as “The Girl Can’t Help It” (1956) and several with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.