Tish for Tash

Of the seven main directors of the Looney Tunes, Frank Tashlin was the last one I learned about, in high school, way after the others. That’s not really surprising. Jones, Clampett, and Avery got shows devoted to their work, which is how I became familiar with them. Meanwhile, Toonheads, the program that started my interest in cartoon history back in elementary school, pointed out to me Freleng, McKimson, and Davis, but not once Tashlin. Plus, while I probably saw a few of the man’s cartoons, most of them I suspect where in their blue ribbon re-release form (when Warner Bros. re-released their old cartoon ) which put a generic title (remember the one with the blue ribbon and the Oscar like statue) that removed the credits. As a final slam to the man, he died before the rest of them did in 1972.
And yet Tish Tash (as was his nickname) had probably one of the more interesting careers. After a few years on the east coast, he was brought in to the Schlesinger studio as an animator in 1933. As a side job, he worked on a short-lived cartoon strip “Van Boring” (named after his old boss in New York, Amedee Van Beuren) and when Schlesinger wanted a cut of it, he (in his own words) said, “go to hell.” Fired from that job in ‘34, he went to work at the Iwerks studio, till Schlesinger rehired him as a director in ’36. He stayed at that spot till ’38, where he left for Disney as a gag writer after getting into a fight with one of Schlesinger’s assistants. After a mostly inconsequential time there, he left in ’41 after his request for a raise was denied. Then Columbia made him the head of their new Screen Gems studio, a job he held until 1942. He returned, for the final time, to the Schlesinger studio, in the story department until be promoted back to director and then left again in ’44. After some time at the John Sutherland studio, he became a writer of live-action films, before finally becoming a film director. His movies include, the last two films featuring Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin as a team, as well as a number of solo vehicles for Lewis. I can’t talk about them, because the only two I’ve seen was parts of “Artist and Models”, including a kid that has been corrupted by comic books as if he was possessed by some demon (this being the 50’s), the final number on an artist’s palette, and Lewis in a mouse costume where his shoes separate from their soles when he’s kissed, and Son of Paleface, the scene where Bob Hope is shooting like crazy in a barber’s chair, both as a child.

From Left to Right: Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery (directors), Henry Binder (assistant to Leon), Leon Schlesinger (studio head), Ray Katz (assistant to Leon), Friz Freleng (director)

His animation career I can easily talk about. Compared to the rest of the directors, Tashlin used a lot more live action like techniques. Montages, rather uncommon in animation, were used extensively in his films, as was his rapid cutting, and odd camera angles. Such techniques are noticeable in the earlier cartoons as the later ones, but not always to the best of use. I think this ultimately shows where Tashlin differed from his colleagues at Warners in that he never really seemed to embrace animation for animation’s sake. The live action elements often don’t damage his cartoons, but when they do the results are noticeable. “The Stupid Cupid” starts off rather well, but once Daffy starts chasing the hen (after getting struck), the cutting between scenes always leaves me feeling that I was missing something (such as a background that shows the barn door was barricaded to keep the hen from escaping, when we really never saw Daffy places that many objects in front). Although, Daffy remains consistent as a character, I’m feeling that more of the cartoon could have been about Daffy (given that quite a few scenes at the beginning are about cupid shooting other animals, there might be some truth). To put it another way, I never feel that Tashlin is using his characters to the fullest potential in ways that Jones or Clampett would nor do I really think about the drawing or animation in the cartoons (which is good in the later ones, no questions asked, but not extraordinary). In some cases, he actual had contempt for them (speaking about when he returned for the second time as a director, he said he “had lost [his] seniority “ and got “stuck with the damned pig” that takes “so long to talk” while the others were working on Bugs). Still, he did understand film, and his best cartoons still hold. He was probably the best director at the Schlesinger during the 30s, and his 40s work are worth watching. And when not problematic, Tashlin’s techniques are successful. The montage that appears in “Wholly Smoke” successfully captures the terror of Porky’s hallucination.

So, here it is my post to celebrate the 100th birthday of Frank Tashlin, and below some cartoons from his early days at Warners, his time as head at Columba’s Screen Gems, and his return to Warners in the 40s.

The Case of the Stuttering Pig – 1937 – Schlesinger – Tashlin
Deriving its title from the Perry Mason movie, this black and white cartoon is a bit of a parody of the horror and mystery movies of the time. I say “a bit” because sometimes it does go into real terror-tory (it was one of the few that scared me as a kid). That doesn’t mean there isn’t a shortage of gags, (such as the heavy insulting the guy in the third row) but this cartoon does contain some frightening bits (I’ve seen an old 1930’s article about the censoring that goes on in cartoons, and there is a picture of the villain only with warts and hair on his arms, whether or not they were forced to redesign it or this was a created just for the article as an example, I don’t know). Here you can see Tashlin’s use of the camera such as when Porky runs and up and down the stairs from the bad guy, and his other techniques. It reminds me of Disney’s earlier “The Mad Doctor,” however this one is funnier and with an anti-climatic ending that doesn’t leave me down.
Just to tell you, this video loaded slowly for me.

Wolf Chases Pigs – 1942 – Columbia – Wickersham

Tashlin didn’t direct this, but because it does involve him as producer, and I wanted to show a little more of his career, I’m including it. Basically, the wolf (voiced by Billy Bletcher who also did both Pete and Disney’s own wolf, amongst other big heavy characters such as Spike the Bulldog) joins the army to go after the three pigs (who are indifferentiable as far as design and personality). However, the pigs are now sergeants and they don’t intend to make things easy on the wolf.

Nasty Quacks– 1945- Warners – Tashlin

You won’t see Tashlin’s name on the credits because he left before its release and as was custom at the time, once you were gone, they removed your name. Here, beloved house pet Daffy grows up to become an annoyance for the father. The man of the house then tries to get rid of Daffy in numerous ways possible. Featuring funny lines (“I’ll make a big duck out of him; one my size, then I’ll kill him”) and funny visual gags (the father’s face during Daffy’s speech is a real killer), this is an almost impossible cartoon to dislike.
By the way, I apologize for the horribly edited in parts at the beginning (seen that made me cringe) and rather low quality. But there were no other working copies of this cartoon that had the sound synced up properly.

The Major Lied till Dawn – 1938 – Schlesinger – Tashlin - Warning

This is probably my favorite of the 30’s Looney Tunes, a group of cartoons that on average were weaker than their counterparts in the 40s and by the Disney cartoons at the time. Yet this one does display a good set of gags, including one where the major decides to take a leaf from the sailor man’s book.
I admit though this won’t work for everyone. Not only is a slow at times, but there are a few racial stereotypes of Africans (including some very cringe inducing ones such as a Stepin Fetchit lookalike and a joke is made about his mind).

Plane Daffy – 1944 – Schlesinger – Tashlin

Normally, I wouldn’t post a cartoon I’ve posted before, but this is to my favorite Tashlin cartoon and I think it’s worth a revisit. It’s funny, fast-moving, and has one of my favorite endings in a cartoon. The only complaint I have is that for a Daffy Duck cartoon, there’s not much of the character because he doesn’t show up till about halfway. This does leave me to believe that Tashlin didn’t always care about characters in the same way Jones did. I'm not sure why it bothers me here and not some of Bob Clampett's cartoons, but in any case, this is still a wondeful cartoon.

And there’s more by the man, so here’s to Frank Tashlin.

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