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| Special Features: |
A Chuck Jones Tutorial: Tricks of the Cartoon Trade
Bones Jones Cartoons: Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century and Feed the Kitty
The Grinch Pencil Test
Mississippi Hare Pencil Test. |
| Video Format: |
Matted Widescreen
[SS-DL]
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| Languages: |
English (Dolby Digital Stereo 2.0)
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| Subtitles: |
English, Francais, Espanol
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| Captions: |
Yes
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| Casing: |
1-Disc Snap Case
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Greg Ford and Margaret Selby’s fascinating documentary about the late great pioneer animator Chuck Jones is not just a celebration of one of the most influential people in animation history, but is also a celebration of the great art form itself. Best known as one of Warner Bros.’ great stable of legendary animators, Jones redefined comic timing in animation, bringing about such unforgettable characters as Bugs Bunny, Marvin the Martial, Daffy Duck, the Road Runner and that stinky
playa Pepe Le Pew.
Running at a brisk 85 minutes, “Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens” rifles quickly through Jones’s early career as a portrait artist (making $1 portraits out in San Francisco), his early attempts at cutesy “Disneyesque” animation, then to his great days at Warner (where he directed his award winning “Duck Amuck” and “One Froggy Evening), and finally his more experimental work in such classics as “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” and the Oscar-winning “The Dot and the Line.”
Ford and Selby cleverly intercut many of Jones’s animation clips with intimate interviews with Jones, and many of his more prominent admirers, including Spielberg, animation aficionado Leonard Maltin, other animation directors like John Lasseter of “Toy Story” and Matt Groenig of “The Simpsons,” and celebrities including Robin Williams and Whoopie Goldberg. It’s short, sweet and funny, much like the animation he bestowed upon countless fans around the world.
As an art student studying traditional animation, I must say that there isn’t a more influential animator in history than the great Chuck Jones. Crafting his art at a time when animation was still a relatively new art form (and quite frankly, it still is), the principles he discovered are still the key to all facets of animation, from stop-motion, traditional to even computer. After winning three Oscars, the Academy in 1996 finally gave Jones their Lifetime Achievement Award. When receiving the award, Jones said simply this: “I stand guilty before the world, of directing over 300 cartoons in the last 60 years. Hopefully, this means you’ve forgiven me.” And that, in and of itself, summarizes the great humility of a man who never quite believed how touching and influential a mark he’s left on generations of children.
While lacking a huge amount of extra features, what Warner Bros. has included in the DVD is absolutely perfect. The Chuck Jones tutorial featurette is informative, while the two bonus cartoons and two pencil tests add to the rewatchable nature of the disc. As for the picture quality, the matted widescreen transfer is top notch.
Picture Quality: 9/10
The visual quality of the DVD is superb, with Warner Bros. presenting the film in a "matted" widescreen format. retaining the television aspect ratio his cartoons showed in. Most impressive are the digital transfers for the two bonus cartoons, "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century" and "Feed the Kitty." The image has been cleaned up very nicely for cartoons nearly five decades old, with the color saturation seemingly in check. There is slight grain, as would be expected, but it has also been cleaned up significantly. Excellent transfer.
Sound Quality: 8/10
Nothing special, but nothing out of synch in this Dolby Digital stereo audio track. Solid work.
Menu: 8/10
Nice, clean menu system.
No Easter Eggs found during review
Extra Features: 8/10
A perfect set of features for a documentary covering the life of the late Chuck Jones. For students of animation, or people curious of the techniques in creating animation, two pencil tests are included: The Grinch and Mississippi Hare. These are essentially the first step in the animation pipeline. They are pencil-only animations (usually done in lead or blue pencil), usually done without much clean-up, meaning many of the drawing lines appear scribbly and kinetic. Animators do pencil tests to figure out the timing of the characters, before they "clean up" their drawings, and hand them to "tweeners" and the color folks for final rendering.
The two bonus cartoons: "Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2th Century" and "Feed the Kitty" are two of his lesser known but classic pieces ("Dodgers" was made in 1956, "Kitty" 1952). Older fans of Jones should be happy with these additions. Finally, the "Chuck Jones Tutorial" goes into some of the general tricks and techniques Jones used to maximize the comic punchline in his animations, such as "the anticipation."
The Final Word:
"Chuck Jones: Extremes and Inbetweens" unfortunately fell quietly by the wayside in 2000. In this great DVD release, audiences finally get a chance to see the documentary the way it should be seen. Nice price ($14.98 list), great picture transfer and a good set of extra features makes this disc worth keeping for animation fans. A great addition to the DVD library!
Stephen Wong
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