Fans frequently ask, "What happened to Clampett after he left Warner Bros?" Here's an article by Milt Gray that attempts to answer that. Be sure to click to enlarge.
At first glance, it's hard to imagine why Bob left Warners. In his last year there he directed an almost unbroken string of masterpieces, including: "Piggy Bank Robbery," "Book Review," and "Kitty Kornered." He had an ideal situation there, with Scribner and McKimson animating for him, Warren Foster writing, Mel Blanc doing voices, and the services of Carl Stalling and the Warner Brothers house orchestra...the same orchestra used by Steiner, Waxman and Korngold. So what happened? Why did he leave?
It's my belief that Jones and Freleng convinced the studio that Clampett's flamboyant approach to films was incompatible with the new, more sedate and formulaic studio style that these directors favored. Leon Schlesinger had recently left, and without a protector, Bob was left to face the wolves alone. This is pure and utter speculation on my part, without a shred of evidence, but it gels with my understanding of big studio politics.
I talked to Milt about this and he underscored what was in his article, namely that Bob left because he was hot to start his own cartoon studio the way Lantz and Disney had, and that he was anxious to get in on the ground floor of the new medium, television. Bob had witnessed the birth of radio which had a decade of extreme creativity before executives moved in and put a wet blanket on it, and we can guess that he thought TV would experience a similar creative spurt.
Actually TV had only a brief creative life at the start because it inherited an already existing executive infrastructure from radio. Poor Bob collided with these people early and was forced to make extensive changes in the animated Beany and Cecil at his own expense.
So who's right? Milt or me? Milt knows more about all this than I do, and had a much longer personal association with Bob. My own belief is that we're both right, but my version of the story rests on assumptions and I won't blame anyone who remains skeptical.
Two years after Bob left Warners he got an offer from Republic to take charge of their cartoon division, and make cartoons there. He was promised creative freedom but that never really materialized, and Republic...for reasons having nothing to do with Bob...decided to stop making theatrical cartoons. The closest thing to a finished cartoon in his own style was "Grand Old Nag (above)," which was so compromised and unClampett-like that he declined to use his real name in the direction credit. You can see this film on YouTube, and a version with commentary on Cartoon Brew.
Clampett's next endeavor was Beany and Cecil, and that's mostly what Milt writes about below. The article first appeared in Apatoons magazine.
That's it for the article, but there's more to say. The long awaited "Beany and Cecil Special Edition Volume 2" DVD should be in the stores on September 8th!
But why wait for the stores when you can buy Volume 2 right now from the Beany and Cecil web site? Actually, you can also get Volume 1 there. Rob Clampett says he found a limited supply of Volume 1 unopened in the family warehouse. He's offering to sell one per customer to anyone who buys a copy of Volume 2. Volume 2 sells for $24.95 + Shipping. Volumes 1 & 2 (purchased together) sell for $54.95 + Shipping. Wow! What a deal! Volume 1 is long out of print and gets high prices on ebay. Here's a chance to get it for 25 bucks!
Info on the contents can be had from the new Beany and Cecil web site: www.beanyandcecil.com
Volume 1 was worth twice the price for the special features alone, and Volume 2 promises to be a similar bargain. I've heard the audio history on Volume two, and it's riveting!
So that explains why Clampett was in Detroit when he died. A shame that he didn't live long enough to see the revival B&C series just two years later.
ReplyDeleteCollaberating with Clampett must have been the happiest time of John K's life. It would be cool to hear more anecdotes about that
ReplyDeleteI became very friendly with Bob the last few years of his life. We're pupeteers here, and we rekindled his love for puppets. Bob & I talked for hours about remaking Time For Beany with new Flexitoon Puppet versions of his classic characters. One time we were shooting a puppet commercial when the director said on the speaker "Craig, Bob Clampett is on the phone." I hung up the marionette, slid down the bridge as quickly as I could and went to an office. Bob chirped "Hey! Listen to this" and I heard construction in the background. He said "I'm rebuilding the puppet studio for when you guys come out here to shoot the show!" We were so stoked.
ReplyDeleteIn a few weeks he was coming to NYC to promote the Beany & Cecil VHS tapes; we were scheduled to get together when (his wife) Sody called and said Bob doesn't feel well. A few weeks later, he passed away.
I always loved Bob's cartoons the best, and was so looking forward to puppetizing for him.
I see your name mentioned here, Eddie. Hee Hee
ReplyDeleteHe forgot to mention that before ABC came in some of the early "Beany and Cecil" shorts got theatrical release through United Artists. UA never released it domestically, however, but rather thru foreign markets (Canada and most of Europe, specifically)
United Artists, of course, eventually signed in with another LT director, Friz Freleng.
I'm curious to see what those changes Bob was forced to make were. Do any notes survive?
You John K and Mike F should really write a book about Clampett
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed Beany and Cecil for it's weird nature and corny acting but the liberal use of puns did get on my nerves.
ReplyDeleteIt kind of sucks that most great animation directos who left top studios in their prime like Tytla, Avery, and Clampett weren't able to top their best work
ReplyDeleteAnon:
ReplyDeleteDo you mean when Tex left Warners ? He sure as hell topped it at MGM with a stint lasting 13 years.
Don't know about that, Thad. Tex eventually did cave in and work for Hanna-Barbera after years of working exclusively on commercials. He eventually created a show called "Kwicky Koala", which was horrid.
ReplyDeleteIt didn't help that Avery died when it was still in production (the show began one year after he died).
Thad: Order and contact info is on the site. Thanks a million for correcting what I said about the direction credit. I went back and changed the sentense to conform to what you said.
ReplyDeleteCraig: Holy Cow! What a great experience that would have been! I have a feeling you two would have gotten along fabulously!
Brubaker: Work prints of some of the original versions survive, but they're in extremely bad shape. Maybe one the special features on Vol.2 will touch on this.
It says on imdb that you wrote scripts for animaniacs that weren't produced. What happened? Too many original gags and not enough hacky baywatch references?
ReplyDeleteWow! I didn't know they were coming out with vol.2!!! I was always hoping they eventually would! I've had vol.1 for a long time, and it's one of my favorite DVD's....so many great extras too!
ReplyDeleteOf course I love the Beany & Cecil cartoons as they are...but I always imagine how cool it would be to see how Beany & Cecil would look if they were ever fully-animated by Bob's old crew at Warners. Imagine Beany & Cecil animated in 1942 by Scribner! My eyes would probably explode!
Warner Bros. had Right of First Refusal on all of Bob's (and probably other directors) ideas. He had pitched Beany & Cecil to Leon, who turned it down. Bob told me he was later so glad, because then he would never have had his "second career" as a Puppet producer and subsequently, master purveyor of fine animated product.
ReplyDeleteGood for the Clampett's in selling this thing directly to and for the fans! Clampett's reputation has been unfairly beaten around by idiots who weren't there for YEARS, and the abuse continues to this day. It's unforgivable that a man who devoted his life to advancing the art form of animation has had his name dragged through the mud by the very people who benefited from his innovations. Clampett was the greatest animation director who ever lived.
ReplyDeleteI own the first DVD, but it got scratched and skips badly, so I'll be buying both DVDs from that site. I love Beany & Cecil.
They should make a new Beany & Cecil show and call it "The New New Adventures of Beany & Cecil," you could actually do flash animation that looks more polished and full than the classic series, but still get that classic thick inking style across. Adult Swim did a flash parody of "Jonny Quest" that looked exactly like the old series, with the comic book inking. That technique'd be perfect for Beany.
You could do it in half puppet style, too.
That deal is a god send. The lowest that Amazon has it is for $62.94. Now if I only had money...
ReplyDeleteThe trick is you really have to love what you do. And it looks like the people who work the hardest get screwed the hardest.
ReplyDeleteLike Mel Blanc said about radio, "you work really hard at it for years and years and years and eventually, they let you do it for nothing".
My only question is, crew credits aside, who would want director credit for the 'Kilroy' cartoon? I remember the first time watching this thinking 'How come I've never seen any other cartoons by this studio?' Now I know!
Thanks for scanning this article for us, Eddie!
- trevor.
I wouldn't hold Tex Avery accountable for "Kwicki Koala". He was already not well when they sold the show. I think Hanna & Barbera worked it just to help out. It was typical of those guys to do stuff like that & they deserve to be remembered for it.
ReplyDeleteTex only showed up once at the studio, as far as I know. It was the only time I got to meet him & he didn't look good.
Is that young Will Finn between Bob & Ollie?
Hi Eddie, I agree with some of the other posters on here; you've got such a great beginning, why not write THE book on Bob Clampett? You've got the inside track, you knew the man and have been feverishly collecting personal stories for decades now. Your baby doll story is outrageous! John's being invited to join Bob in a parade--both waving from a convertible while Bob had his arm in a Cecil puppet, then later admitting to John that they crashed the parade! Don't let Amid or Jerry Beck scoop you! You've got the anarchy eye and personal and professional insight on this one!!
ReplyDeleteI second everyone in the comments. You and John should team up and write a book about Bob Clampett. Both of you have the inside track, so your perspective would be more personal than some third party who has to do a lot of research. Plus, you two can get Sody's endorsement easier than some unknown.
ReplyDeleteYou probably could get a good publishing firm to publish and promote the book. A good bit of people in the mainstream (read: who are not involved in the animation world) know who Bob Clampett is. If you want to go for the big time, you'll have to get a literary agent. The agents usually want a huge commission.
Thanks to technology, you can self-publish the book, sell it through Amazon (or Scribd or other avenues), use the blogs to promote it, and get someone to get you radio and TV interviews to shill the book.
Richard, Jennifer: I'd love to write a book on Clampett but I'd need Warners' permission to print pictures from their cartoons, and I'm not likely to get it. Thanks for the kind words, though!
ReplyDeleteWhy wouldn't you be able to get permission? Do you have an acrimonious relationship with them?
ReplyDeleteCouldn't you get permission from Bills Family? I see film books all the time that use stills from classic movies, how would this be any different?
ReplyDeleteThere really needs to be a counterpoint to "The Illusion of Life"
ReplyDeleteIt's led to a kneejerk anti-cartooniness and uncritical worship of Disneys stylized realism among every animator my age I've encountered. They literally treat the book like the bible
Thanks Eddie.
ReplyDeleteGreat post. I miss the times i had to hang at Bob's and talk. He and Tex really helped shape me and ready me for my job is crazy industry.
Looking forward to getting volume Two also.
"It's led to a kneejerk anti-cartooniness and uncritical worship of Disneys stylized realism among every animator my age I've encountered. They literally treat the book like the bible."
ReplyDeleteI agree. I don't know why that Disney Propaganda book is so highly regarded for animation instruction.
BTW, can't you freely publish images of cartoons in a book if they are from public domain cartoons ?
ReplyDeleteFantastic article by Milt Gray. I also love this post. I think it was a mixture of the two reasons you presented that caused Clampett to leave Warners when he did.
ReplyDeleteI also want to get the Beany and Cecil DVDs. I'm not a big fan of the puns, but I love the characters and the overrall design of the show. it's so pleasing to look at.