Monday, January 16, 2006
Who is Michael Maltese and why don`t you know?
Working with Michael Maltese, the writer of all three of the National Registry cartoons, . . .
Jerry Beck, Cartoon Brew points us to a January 15th article by Roger Ebert on the career and cartoons of Chuck Jones Suntimes
As much as I love the work of Chuck Jones and respect him as an artist and person, he did not do it all alone. One of the things I really respected about Chuck was that he would be the first to tell you this. Unlike so many others in the field, Chuck always gave credit where it was due. (With the possible exception of Leon Schlesinger, who never forgave Chuck for leading the strike and made his life a living hell so I can completely understand why Chuck always belittled Leon`s importance in public)
Then why is Mike Maltese so overlooked? Roger Ebert only mentioned Maltese once in passing (see the first sentence that tops this article). But if you have eyes to see you will note that all 3 of the Chuck Jones (sic) cartoons in the National Film Registry are written by Mike Maltese and he also wrote the first Road Runner cartoon Fast and Furry-ous (1949).
What does that word wrote really mean? It seems to say that Mr. Maltese worked with words, typed out scripts. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mike Maltese was an artist, a great artist, what is known in the business as a story artist. He thought up the idea, he drew it all up in storyboard form, and then he worked hand in hand with the director to bring it to the screen. True teamwork.
That means that when the first time Road Runner was drawn he was drawn by Mike Maltese and the same is true about Michigan J. Frog. But Chuck gets all the credit for creating both even when he tries to place that credit where it belongs.
Chuck Jones, being the man he was, always, always made a point of telling this to people. You can see this for yourself in any number of video taped interviews. But no one ever seemed to listen to Chuck and Mike Maltese never seemed to made a big deal about it. That is just the way it is.
I feel it is about time to set the record straight; Chuck Jones and Mike Maltese were a team, a great team. Chuck and Mike could stand alone and they did on a number of very fine projects but together they made real magic, magic which the press and the public has laid solely at the feet of only one of the members of this great team.
Mike Maltese, you are up at the top of my list even if no one else seems to know who and what you were. ¶ 11:00 AM
Working with Michael Maltese, the writer of all three of the National Registry cartoons, . . .
Jerry Beck, Cartoon Brew points us to a January 15th article by Roger Ebert on the career and cartoons of Chuck Jones Suntimes
As much as I love the work of Chuck Jones and respect him as an artist and person, he did not do it all alone. One of the things I really respected about Chuck was that he would be the first to tell you this. Unlike so many others in the field, Chuck always gave credit where it was due. (With the possible exception of Leon Schlesinger, who never forgave Chuck for leading the strike and made his life a living hell so I can completely understand why Chuck always belittled Leon`s importance in public)
Then why is Mike Maltese so overlooked? Roger Ebert only mentioned Maltese once in passing (see the first sentence that tops this article). But if you have eyes to see you will note that all 3 of the Chuck Jones (sic) cartoons in the National Film Registry are written by Mike Maltese and he also wrote the first Road Runner cartoon Fast and Furry-ous (1949).
What does that word wrote really mean? It seems to say that Mr. Maltese worked with words, typed out scripts. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mike Maltese was an artist, a great artist, what is known in the business as a story artist. He thought up the idea, he drew it all up in storyboard form, and then he worked hand in hand with the director to bring it to the screen. True teamwork.
That means that when the first time Road Runner was drawn he was drawn by Mike Maltese and the same is true about Michigan J. Frog. But Chuck gets all the credit for creating both even when he tries to place that credit where it belongs.
Chuck Jones, being the man he was, always, always made a point of telling this to people. You can see this for yourself in any number of video taped interviews. But no one ever seemed to listen to Chuck and Mike Maltese never seemed to made a big deal about it. That is just the way it is.
I feel it is about time to set the record straight; Chuck Jones and Mike Maltese were a team, a great team. Chuck and Mike could stand alone and they did on a number of very fine projects but together they made real magic, magic which the press and the public has laid solely at the feet of only one of the members of this great team.
Mike Maltese, you are up at the top of my list even if no one else seems to know who and what you were. ¶ 11:00 AM
