The hidden world of LOONEY TUNES background art

When I stumbled on your site, I was sort of stunned to all of the content on Maurice Noble. You see, I am a distant relative of Maurice’s (Mother’s Cousin’s…?). When I was little my siblings and I would always wait until the end of the cartoon and if he was in the credits, we’d all yell, “Maurice!! “ Over the years I met him a handful of times at family gatherings. I remember him as very natty dresser (stylish, int the old days) & wore a beret. cocked to one side. He was very cool. I had no idea the breadth & level of his work! I was amazed! Fantasia? Snow White? The Opera? Are you kidding me?! He had always be Cousin Maurice who worked on cartoons to me. Wow!! Did you open my eyes! It was kind of gift to know more about him. Thank you for your site and spotlighting his talent. I’m happy he is still touching lives all these years later. BTW, I still watch cartoons and i still yell “Maurice”. If i see his name.

I'm a retired animator and ended up working as one because of Looney Tunes. Was my favorite show growing up the 60s, and yes, loved the backgrounds even back then. Plus, with my mum being an artist and my dad a cinematographer, it was probably inevitable. Anyway, was always in awe of my coworkers in the background department, much respect. Great vid thanks for doing this 👍

Maurice Noble lived a few houses down from my grandparents in California. Every summer when I would visit them, I would visit him as well. He was a very kind man who always took time to tell me stories about his work with Looney Tunes and Disney, and teach me about drawing. It created a lifelong love. Thank you for putting out this video. It brought back a lot of wonderful memories.

I think the artwork is one of the reasons I love the older cartoons so much!

As a retired professional Illustrator and current fine artist for 60 years, these cartoons are indeed art and eye candy. It's what captivates us, draws us in. Though fleeting to the observer you're looking at many hours of deliberate decisions. They reflect our culture. Lastly I must mention the other often unsung hero... the orchestrated music. It's equally thought out and presented in coordinated fashion. True Americana.

Great to see Maurice Noble get some of the recognition he deserved. I've always loved his work, especially stuff like "Bewitched Bunny" (1954).

It's not just the backgrounds. The story lines often incorporate references to classical art, literature, history, and opera. Everyone focuses on the violence, which is so ridiculous that it can't be taken seriously, and glosses over the fact that these cartoons taught a lot about culture while they were entertaining.

The animation they did in these days was so well done that it blows away even the new animation nowadays in a lot of places.

I'm close to 50 years old, and I still catch myself singing "Kill the wabbit"! These works of art have clearly made a strong imprint on my psyche.

A great cartoon that explores this idea is Daffy Duck's "A Duck Amuck." The cartoon starts off with Daffy playing as a Musketeer on an appropriate background. However, Daffy soon finds himself on a blank, white page causing the confused duck to hide offscreen while addressing the unseen artist to add the missing scenery. The anonymous artist obliges, but instead of appropriate Musketeer scenery, the artist adds a farmland background which compels Daffy to switch to being a farmer. The background is then gradually changed again to a snowscape forcing another change by Daffy. This general scenario continues throughout the short with some alterations to how the background is seen and utilized and how Daffy changes along with the background. It's one of my favorite Looney Tunes shorts.

As a kid in the 70s I always loved the backgrounds, especially the Roadrunner and Bugs Bunny ones. They were always so weird and cool especially when Bugs went up against Marvin the Martian.

This video was today’s hidden gem. You’ve opened my eyes to cartoons I grew up with and didn’t see them for what they are. Thank you 🙏

Thank goodness I found this video. I was born in 1967, and grew up watching these cartoons., always admiring the beautiful backgrounds. In HS I was heavy into art, and I remember having this discussion with my art teacher and he totally tried to squash my love of cartoon scenery. He said ' repeating images are not art, they are a tool '. Turns out he was the tool😅

2:17 if anyone's wondering why there are cacti in the final version but not in the layout drawing, that's because they're not part of the background. :) They were animated, because the force of the Road Runner whizzing past them causes them to fly out of their roots and follow along behind him.

Fantastic video. Makes me want some of this art on the wall in my house!

Even as a child I was fascinated by the art work in these cartoons. They all need to be preserved, warts and all, for their significance.

ABSOLUTELY LOVE the analysis. The background artists deserve more attention and closer look into their works. Keep it up sir, can't wait for more quality content like such!

"The cartoons need the background art, but the background art does not need the cartoon." That is a great perspective. I never really thought about the background of these iconic animations, but now totally agree with what you are saying. So much style in those animations. Some of the stills you showed I would hang on my walls.

I've always admired the art in these cartoons and mourned their passing when cartoons shifted. Looney Toons was so much about art appreciation: the music, the visual art, the history.

I am a realist artist, but I have the absolute greatest respect for old school cartoonists! They did not use computers, and it was laborious and time consuming! In fact, much respect to the entire artist community, no matter what your style or medium! I think we all can be inspired by each other. I always tell friends, real artists only compete with themselves.