January 28, 2009

Crocker and Looney Tunes

In December and January, the Crocker Art Museum hosted an exhibit of the artwork and technology that went into creation of the old Warner Brothers cartoons: Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Foghorn Leghorn, and Roadrunner, et al. Marty and I went to see it a couple of Sundays ago, and were as much entertained by the smiles beaming from the faces of old and young as by the cels and backgrounds on display.

I was a little disappointed when I saw how small the artwork is. The cels and backgrounds were 8 1/2" x 11"! Storyboards and model sheets showed the stable of artists how each character should look from different angles. Two DVD players in different rooms played a series of 'toons and attracted kids to grandparents. It was obvious that some of the kids had never seen these cartoons before, and it was interesting to see that their humor and lessons are still as fresh as when they were first produced.

So what's our connection? Marty is a diehard fan of Warner Brothers! In fact, on our honeymoon on Kauai, he found a video store, rented a player and VHS tapes, and we watched Daffy, Sylvester and Tweety and company for 3 days! (And did other things, too, like scuba diving off Barking Sands and the Na Pali coast.)

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