Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation

Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation

Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation

Living Life inside the Lines: Tales from the Golden Age of Animation

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Overview

Martha Sigall worked with all the classic cartoon characters-Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tom & Jerry, Droopy Dawg, Beany & Cecil, Tweety, and Porky Pig-and the madcap artists who created them-Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, Bob Clampett, Frank Tashlin, Friz Freleng, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, Bill Melendez, and Ben (Bugs) Hardaway.

As a teenager Sigall became an apprentice painter working in the Golden Age of Hollywood at the Leon Schlesinger studio, making $12.75 per week coloring animation cels that would introduce Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd to the world. She recounts her wild and wonderful experiences with the Warner Bros. cartoon crew, working and laughing all day with the animators, partying all night with the Looney Tunes gang on the bowling and baseball teams, and participating in weekend scavenger hunts. She was president of the in-house "Looney Tunes Club," co-wrote the company gossip column, and performed in the company's theatrical troupe.

After World War II, Martha joined MGM Animation (Tom & Jerry, Tex Avery) in Culver City as an assistant in the camera room and later freelanced her ink and paint services, creating art for many classic features, shorts, commercials, and TV series-including Garfield, Peanuts, and The Pink Panther.

Written with warmth, humor, and a touch of nostalgia, this is a rarely told story of what it was like to be a part of a team of artists who were creating masterpieces of animation. Martha recalls her lifelong friendships with writer Michael Maltese, animators Ben Washam, Ken Harris, Herman Cohen, Paul Smith, Bob Matz, and many others. She writes of her experiences of being a woman in a male-dominated industry, particularly during the war years when she was one of the first women camera operators in the industry.

Recipient of numerous awards for her artistry, Martha Sigall, Culver City, California, worked in animation production from 1936 to 1989.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781578067497
Publisher: University Press of Mississippi
Publication date: 03/21/2005
Pages: 245
Sales rank: 1,018,664
Product dimensions: 6.50(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)

About the Author

Martha Sigall (1917-2014) worked in animation production from 1936 to 1989 and won numerous awards for her artistry.

Table of Contents

Forewordix
Acknowledgmentsxiii
Introductionxv
Chapter 1The Beginning, 19323
Chapter 2My First Day in Animation12
Chapter 3The Techniques of Ink and Paint19
Chapter 4The Cast of Characters23
Chapter 5Production Terminology42
Chapter 6The Boys of Termite Terrace46
Chapter 7Tales from Termite Terrace94
Chapter 8The Ink and Paint Department106
Chapter 9The Ink and Paint Gals110
Chapter 10Working Conditions116
Chapter 11Studio Romances119
Chapter 12Strikes140
Chapter 13World War II144
Chapter 14Departing Schlesinger's148
Chapter 15Graphic Films, Here I Come151
Chapter 16MGM Cartoons161
Chapter 17Celine Miles Ink and Paint184
Chapter 18World Events of the 1950s and 1960s187
Chapter 19Lisberger Productions189
Chapter 20Kurtz and Friends192
Chapter 21Film Fair195
Chapter 22Bill Melendez Productions197
Chapter 23Censorship and the Black List200
Chapter 24Other Happenings205
Index233
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