Norman McCabe (February 10, 1911— January 17, 2006) was an American animator who enjoyed a long career which lasted into the 1990s.
McCabe was born in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and raised in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In the mid-1930s, he joined
Leon Schlesinger ProductionsWarner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the golden age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies...
(which produced cartoons for
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
) as an animator in Frank TashlinFrank Tashlin was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director. He was 6'2" tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds....
's unit. He moved over to Bob ClampettRobert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. and the television shows Time for Beany, and Beany and Cecil.-Early career:Clampett showed an interest in animation and...
's unit in 1938 where he animated and/or co-directed several classic black and white Looney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theaters from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. The regular Warner Bros...
. When Tex AveryFrederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
left Schlesinger in 1941, Clampett took over Avery's unit and McCabe took over Clampett's old unit.
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Norman McCabe (February 10, 1911— January 17, 2006) was an American animator who enjoyed a long career which lasted into the 1990s.
McCabe was born in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and raised in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. In the mid-1930s, he joined
Leon Schlesinger ProductionsWarner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the golden age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies...
(which produced cartoons for
Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc. (also known as Warner Bros. Pictures, or simply Warner Bros.—the shortened form of the former official, sometimes still used, formal corporate name: Warner Brothers
) as an animator in Frank TashlinFrank Tashlin was an American animator, screenwriter, and film director. He was 6'2" tall and weighed nearly 300 pounds....
's unit. He moved over to Bob ClampettRobert Emerson "Bob" Clampett was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes series of cartoons from Warner Bros. and the television shows Time for Beany, and Beany and Cecil.-Early career:Clampett showed an interest in animation and...
's unit in 1938 where he animated and/or co-directed several classic black and white Looney TunesLooney Tunes is a Warner Brothers animated cartoon series which ran in many movie theaters from 1930 to 1969. It preceded the Merrie Melodies series and is Warner Bros.'s first animated theatrical series. The regular Warner Bros...
. When Tex AveryFrederick Bean "Fred/Tex" Avery was an American animator, cartoonist, voice actor and director, famous for producing animated cartoons during The Golden Age of Hollywood animation. He did his most significant work for the Warner Bros...
left Schlesinger in 1941, Clampett took over Avery's unit and McCabe took over Clampett's old unit. In 1943, McCabe was drafted into the Army and was assigned to the Army Air Corps Training Film Unit. In his final Warner cartoon before he left (a black and white WWII-era cartoon called Tokio JokioTokio Jokio is a 1943 Looney Tunes short directed by Norman McCabe . It is a propaganda film made during World War II mocking Japan in the style of a supposed Japanese film journal broadcast...
), he was billed as "Cpl. Norman McCabe."
After the war, McCabe worked on commercial illustrations for such works as the Bozo the ClownBozo the Clown was a clown character very popular in the United States in the 1950s, as a result of widespread franchising in early television.-History:Bozo was created as a character in 1946 by Alan W...
children's storybook recordshttp://clownflower.com/blog/2007/10/bozo_and_his_rocket_ship.html and educational films. He returned to animation in 1963 joining DePatie-Freleng where he worked on the titles for the feature film The Pink PantherThe Pink Panther is the title of two films:*The Pink Panther , starring David Niven and Peter Sellers.*The Pink Panther , starring Steve Martin, and Kevin Kline....
. McCabe animated at DePatie-Freleng working on Pink PantherThe Pink Panther is a series of comedy films featuring the bumbling French police detective Jacques Clouseau that began in 1963 with the release of the film of the same name. The role was originated by, and is most closely associated with, Peter Sellers...
cartoons as well as Warner Bros. cartoons. He also directed made for TV cartoons at DePatie-Freleng. McCabe moved to the FilmationFilmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live action programming for television during the latter half of the 20th century. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1963...
animation studio in 1967 working on several Saturday Morning cartoon series. He returned to theatrical animation with the adult animated feature film Fritz the CatFritz the Cat is a 1972 animated film written and directed by Ralph Bakshi as his feature film debut. Based on the comic strip of the same name by Robert Crumb, the film was the first animated feature film to receive an X rating in the United States...
in 1972 before returning to DePatie-Freleng where he animated until the end of the 1970s. In the 1980s, McCabe returned to Warner Bros.Warner Bros. Animation is the animation division of Warner Bros., a subsidiary of Time Warner. The studio is closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies characters, among others.The studio is the successor to Warner Bros...
where he worked on new animation for Warner cartoon feature film anthologies. He also trained a new generation of animators in working with the classic Warner cartoon characters. In 2006, McCabe died, being the last surviving director from the golden age of Warner Bros. CartoonsWarner Bros. Cartoons, Inc. was the in-house animation division of Warner Bros. Pictures during the golden age of American animation. One of the most successful animation studios in American media history, Warner Bros. Cartoons was primarily responsible for the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies...
.
Even though McCabe's work was largely forgotten because he never made color cartoons during the golden age of Warner Bros. cartoons and created several cartoons that would not be considered "politically correct" due to heavy racial stereotyping (particularly true in his World War II-based cartoons, such as The DucktatorsThe Ducktators is a Looney Tunes cartoon that was released in 1942 by Norman McCabe. The cartoon satirizes various events of World War II. The title is a pun on dictator.-Story:...
, Confusions of a Nutzy Spy, and Tokio JokioTokio Jokio is a 1943 Looney Tunes short directed by Norman McCabe . It is a propaganda film made during World War II mocking Japan in the style of a supposed Japanese film journal broadcast...
), he won recognition and accolades from those in the animation business.
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