ROCKY THE MOUNTAIN LION PRODUCTION CEL WARNER BROS. STUDIOS GOUACHE ON CEL, 1961. Original hand painted and hand inked production animation cel of Rocky the Mountain Lion from “What’s My Lion, ” 1961; Warner Bros. Studios; Numbered 58 in ink lower right; Set on a lithographic background; Unframed. During the golden age of American animation, the “Merrie Melodies” were a series of comedy short films produced by the Warner Bros. As with its parent series “Looney Tunes, ” “Merrie Melodies” featured some of the most famous cartoon characters ever created including: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and Elmer Fudd. In 1944, and the newly renamed Warner Bros. Cartoons continued production until 1963. “Merrie Melodies” was outsourced to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises and Format Films from 1964 to 1967, and Warner Bros. Cartoons resumed production for the final two years. Three of the “Merrie Melodies” films (Tweetie Pie , Speedy Gonzales , and Birds Anonymous) won the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film and another three Duck Amuck , One Froggy Evening, and What’s Opera, Doc? Have been inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress. Melvin Jerome “Mel” Blanc (May 30, 1908 July 10, 1989) was an American voice actor, actor, radio comedian, and recording artist. He began his 60-plus-year career performing in radio, but he is best remembered for his work in animation as the voices of Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, Pepé Le Pew, Speedy Gonzales, Wile E. Coyote, Road Runner, the Tasmanian Devil, and many of the other characters from the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons during the Golden Age of American animation. He was the voice for all of the major male Warner Bros. Cartoon characters except for Elmer Fudd, whose voice was provided by fellow radio actor Arthur Q. Bryan (although Blanc later voiced Fudd, after Bryan’s death). Mel Blanc earned the nickname “The Man of a Thousand Voices, ” and is regarded as one of the most influential people in the voice-acting industry. Virgil Walter Ross (August 8, 1907 May 15, 1996) was an American artist, cartoonist, and animator best known for his work on the Warner Bros. He first worked in animation for Walter Lantz, but then in 1935, he moved on to work for Leon Schlesinger at Warner Bros. Where he spent about 30 years. He was first under Tex Avery’s supervision, until 1942, then for Bob Clampett, and finally worked with Friz Freleng. Virgil Ross stated, I always had an eye for movement, and I think this kept me in the business a lot longer than a lot of guys, despite the fact that I really wasn’t very good at drawing. When I started out in animation, you didn’t have to be a good artist. I just had a little natural talent, and it’s mostly just timing anyway. Ross animated many characters including Daffy Duck, Yosemite Sam, Tweety, Road Runner, and Wile E. Coyote; but he is most closely associated with Bugs Bunny. We received orders from the story department that they needed a drawing of a bunny. We all did drawings and tacked them on the wall, and the storymen voted on them. We had one writer named Bugs Hardaway, and for some reason, this one drawing became known as Bugs’ Bunny. Leon Schlesinger liked the sound of the name and told them to keep it, and that’s how Bugs Bunny got his name. Years later, before he died, Hardaway tried to get some credit for making the character, which he probably deserved. But Warner Bros owned the rights to everything we created. Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons. The nickname “Friz” came from his friend, Hugh Harman, who nicknamed him “Congressman Frizby” after a fictional senator who appeared in satirical pieces in the Los Angeles Examiner newspaper. Over time, the name was shortened to simply “Friz”. Friz Freleng created and/or developed several of the biggest animated character stars, including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat, Yosemite Sam, and Speedy Gonzales. Freleng directed 256 cartoons, and is the most honored of the Warner Bros. Directors; having won five Academy Awards and three Emmy Awards. After the Warner Bros. Studios shut down the animation studio in 1963, Freleng and business partner David H. DePatie founded DePatie-Freleng Enterprises. The newly formed animation studio would go on to produce many successful cartoons including The Pink Panther Show , feature film title sequences, and many Saturday-morning cartoons through the early 1980s. Measurements: Size – Rocky the Mountain: 4 1/4 x 4 1/2″, Image 9 x 12 1/2″. Condition: See pictures below of the actual cel which is in excellent overall condition, as shown by the pictures above! All items we sell are from a smoke-free/mold-free home/workplace and are in excellent condition, unless otherwise noted. I own every work pictured for sale and I stand behind every item. Please follow/bookmark me as a favorite and keep and keep checking back for more items for sale in the coming weeks. For now, please check out my other Animation Drawings and Cels and other original modern and contemporary artwork for sale! The item “1961 RARE WARNER BROS ROCKY LION ELMER FUDD ORIGINAL PRODUCTION ANIMATION CEL” is in sale since Monday, March 4, 2019. This item is in the category “Collectibles\Animation Art & Characters\Animation Art\Production Art”. The seller is “shadowline” and is located in Durham, North Carolina. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Artwork Type: Production Cel
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- Age: Pre-1970
- Original/Reproduction: Original Production Art
- Studio/Show: Warner Bros