Oh How the Mighty Have Fallen
To save face and not suffer the wrath of Eddie Selzer, Bob Clampett took to the streets and was looking for work at the other Hollywood cartoon studios after the Spring of 1945. He was given the pathetic position of “creative consultant” at Screen Gems by his old pals Ray Katz and Henry Binder (who probably didn’t trust him as a director at such a small studio, given his reputation for going overbudget under Schlesinger). This is one Clampett claimed to have written, which is pretty much a cartoon for Daffy Duck with a pigeon instead (that has two different voices), complete with a Peter Lorre (”Mr. Sidney”) caricature.
This is one of the ‘missing’ cartoons from Columbia’s vaults (it’s probably there in an unlabeled can), and the only copy going around is from a black-and-white 16mm print (though David Gerstein says a splicey color print survives in Europe). I’d love to see it in color as there are some interesting backgrounds in this one. Ask Jerry Beck if you’d like a copy on DVD.
Thanks for posting these rare cartoons!! A question: why did Clampett leave Warner’s? You allude to something at the start of this post, but I’m not sure what. Just curious!
Well, that was a weird cartoon. Note that I didn’t say it was particularly funny….. just weird!!!
There are also reports circulating that credit Tedd Pierce and Mike Maltese as the writers behind the story of this cartoon (and also Columbia’s “Swiss Tease” released later that same year). If Pierce and Maltese were the uncredited of this short (and “Swiss Tease”), is it possible Clampett temporarily hired them as moonlighters for Columbia to help him out as “creative consultant” at the studio (being fellow Warner colleagues he knew at WB and all)?
BTW, did Morey Reden animate on this short? I understand he was temporarily animating at Columbia at this time (away from NYC) and some of the scenes in this film look distinctly Famous Studios-esque to me.
The walls were closing in on him apparently. Selzer didn’t renew his contract, so Clampett probably decided to save face and leave the studio.
Yep, that’s a messed-up cartoon! Weird concept, odd and unlikable characters, awkward pacing…in other words, it’s a Columbia cartoon through and through!
These always have a cool comedic idea or two, lost amidst the debris of failure that surrounds them.
It feels more like a Tedd Pierce-scripted Freleng cartoon, to me, than a Bob Clampett enterprise.
Clampett’s freeze-out at Warners must rank as one of the great tragedies of classic cartoondom. The man should have continued making theatricals for many more years. If only MGM or Lantz had hired him…
A cel set-up from this cartoon, with a background from a different scene, can be seen in Maltin’s OF MICE AND MAGIC. I believe Maltin mis-identifies the nameless “homeless homing pigeon” as Willoughby Wren, who, IIRC, was a human character from the Hubley era of Screen Gems.
These Columbias continue to fascinate me. If Ed Wood had directed mainstream Hollywood cartoons, they might have turned out something like your average late-’40s Color Rhapsody…
This isn’t really a bad cartoon - personally I think it suffers from a bit of mis-direction, that’s all. Perhaps if Sid Marcus (who directed “Swiss Tease”, one of the better Katz/Binder-produced toons) helmed this one, it would have been funnier than it turned out…
This short was also one of the last Screen Gems toons scored by Eddie Kilfeather - he would be replaced with Darrell Calker who scored the Universal/Lantz cartoons.
From the few Columbia-Screen Gems cartoons I’ve seen, they definitely have that Warner-Bros feel to them. They were probably one of those “shadow” studios; recognized only by who they imitated.
“Selzer didn’t renew his contract, so Clampett probably decided to save face and leave the studio.”
Then Selzer was an idiot. What a waste . Clampett was hitting his stride in ‘45 . If he had been allowed to stay at Warner’s I think they would have made even better cartoons than they did (which were great ) .
Just because “certain people” idolize Clampett all out of proportion doesn’t mean we have to go to the opposite extreme and try to knock him down a few pegs so we won’t be confused with the cultic fan-boys.
Clampett was notoriously over-budget and late with his cartoons under Schlesinger according to his animators. That probably was what really did him in regardless of the amazing quality. I don’t think stating the facts and making a posthumous cult figure out to be a human being is exactly ‘bashing’.
I think it’s safe to say that the Avery/Clampett kind of cartoon was coming to a close at around ‘47 anyway, all over the place, with the Tom & Jerry ‘two-character’ bug kicking in. Avery’s own are still great, but a lot of them are a little too loud.
There are a lot of conflicting stories as to why Clampett left Warner Bros. Clampett himself claimed he left of his own accord — he stated that the atmosphere at Warners became more rigid after Selzer took over; the esprit de corp was lacking after Schlesinger sold out to Warners. (Clampett once said of the change in producers that it was like going from FDR to Truman.) He also stated that he wanted to produce his own cartoons (he did make one theatrical cartoon for Republic on his own) and go into television (which he eventually did with the “Time For Beany” puppet show).
Chuck Jones contradicted this and hinted that Clampett didn’t leave on his own accord. According to Milt Grey, Jones told him and Mike Barrier that Clampett was fired from Warners because the producers didn’t like Clampett’s cartoons, but he also made the contradictory statement that Clampett faked a heart attack in order to get out of his contract. (Jones himself was fired from Warners in 1962 for writing “Gay Puree” for a rival studio.) There were also rumors that Schlesinger shielded Clampett after the latters bad behavior angered his coworkers, and once Schlesinger left Clampett felt he no longer had that protection. He supposedly felt his days were number and left.
All of this is hearsay, and it’s impossible to know what really happened since most of the people who could have shed light on the subject, like Schlesinger and Selzer, died before the animation historians could interview them in the late ’60’s. Not much of the documentation from Warners exists, so we only have the word of certain individuals to rely on.
I think it’s safe to say that the Avery/Clampett kind of cartoon was coming to a close at around ‘47 anyway, all over the place, with the Tom & Jerry ‘two-character’ bug kicking in. Avery’s own are still great, but a lot of them are a little too loud.
I think Clampett would have continued to direct some great cartoon in the late forties. Look at the animation in Art Davis’s late 40’s WB cartoons, and one can see that the full, funny animation prevalent in Clampett’s cartoons was still in use. After 1949, I would agree that he would have had trouble making the type of cartoon he enjoyed.
Thad, you mentioned the backgrounds. I don’t know anything about Al Boggs and Clark Watson. Were they ex-Disney types?
What exactly do you mean by the “two character” bug and Tex Avery’s cartoons being a “little too loud”? Sorry if I sound ignorant, but I’m just interested.
J.J.-
Check your email. I think Clampett would have made some fine cartoons too, but they would have receded from the high quality he once had.
Jim-
I don’t know anything about those guys, sorry.
Nick-
The “two character bug” I refer to is when all of the cartoons start focusing on a two character formula regularly.
J. J. Hunsecker:
I think Bill Melendez was still there around the time Clampett left.
The color print is at Filmmuseum Amsterdam.
Actually, I don’t think this is such a bad cartoon; it’s simply ruined by the pigeon’s (IMHO) awful voice, which makes him exceedingly hard to listen to. Imagine Daffy having such a voice; even if his first few cartoons had been successful, I doubt he’d have lasted as long or been suited for such varied roles and stories.
“I think Bill Melendez was still there around the time Clampett left”
Bill Melendez was indeed there. After Clampett left, Bill became part of the Arthur Davis unit & later the McKimson unit–much to his displeasure.
Bill told me Clampett was a zany guy & fun boss who encouraged his unit to drive Chuck Jones’ unit crazy (which was directly below them) by dropping heavy items on the floor.
It’s interesting that the one McKimson cartoon that Clampett claimed to have started work on before leaving Warner’s was “Birth of a Notion”, which featured a Peter Lorre characture. Bob may have taken the idea of using the Lorre characture with him when he went to Columbia, and substituted the pigeon for Daffy, but the results here were way below what Bob and his crew turned out.
“I think it’s safe to say that the Avery/Clampett kind of cartoon was coming to a close at around ‘47 anyway, all over the place, with the Tom & Jerry ‘two-character’ bug kicking in. Avery’s own are still great, but a lot of them are a little too loud.”
IMO, I believe that happened beacause Clampett was let go from the studio in the first place. As for Avery, “too loud” ? Hmm, never felt that way. I am glad he stayed on the top his game even until his last cartoon at Lantz.
What stood out to me was the absent of a music track. It wouldn’t have helped the humor in this cartoon but it may have given it more life.