Main

 
Volume 13 -- MacArthur, Gen. Douglas to Myrt

MacArthur, Gen. Douglas

Supreme Allied commander in the Pacific during World War II. MacArthur is remembered for many things, but perhaps most famously for his vow in 1942, after leaving Baatan in the Philippines, that, quote, I shall return, endquote. This was a promise that he would redeem in spectacular fashion two years later; the photo of the general wading ashore on Leyte is one of the most famous of World War II.

MacArthur is briefly seen in a picture Daffy Duck salutes during his patriotic burst in Draftee Daffy (Clampett, 1945). The famous I Shall Return vow is referenced in Bugs Bonnets (Jones, 1956) by Elmer Fudd, right after he surfaces under a version of the famous MacArthur crushed cap (and manages to find a copy of the famous MacArthur pipe, too). Fudd wades in the water in a manner not unlike the famous photo referred to above. In From A to Z-z-z-z-z (Jones, 1954) Ralph Phillips closes out his Walter Mitty/Calvin like escapade with a MacArthur impersonation.

McCabe, Norman (Norm) (1911 - fl. 1997)

British-born but American-raised denizen of WB, McCabe probably has one of the more hard-luck stories of Termite Terrace. Starting in the mid-1930s, McCabe had become one of the leading animators at the studio, and had even co-directed some cartoons with Bob Clampett (such as The Timid Toreador , 1940). His big break seemingly came in the studio shakeup after Tex Avery left WB in 1941. Bob Clampett inherited AveryÕs former unit, and McCabe stepped up to take ClampettÕs unit.

The McCabe tenure suffered under some handicaps. One was the nature of his unit. McCabe is unique among the post-1936 directors in that he made not one color cartoon; like Clampett before Goofy Groceries in 1941, he had to make do with much smaller budgets. Beck and Friedwald, in discussing the first McCabe cartoon Robinson Crusoe, Jr. state that most of his films had good art and animation, but weak gags. This, the fact that some of his cartoons are terribly dated (most notably The Ducktators and the infamous Tokio Jokio ), and the fact that the black and white WB cartoons, even in the terrible colorized versions produced in the 1960s, get very little airtime today, all mean that McCabe gets the least attention of any WB director, even less than Arthur Davis, who had a tenure that was not much longer than that of McCabe, in the late 1940s. McCabe deserved better: some of the sharper-written McCabe entries, such as Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (another rather dated entry) hint at what he could have accomplished had he been given better material.

McCabe left WB to join the armed forces in 1943, and did not return to WB after the war, going into other commercial work. He did, however, eventually return to WB when the animation studio reopened in the late 1980s; he is given credit on some shows for producing timing sheets. Ironically, by passing on his expertise at this late date, he may be leaving a greater legacy today than he did as a director.

Credited for Tokio Jokio as Cpl. Norm McCabe.

McCarthy, Charlie

Ventriloquist dummy creation of Edgar Bergen, and a very popular character on the Chase and Sanborn radio show for NBC in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. (It was the show on opposite the infamous War of the Worlds broadcast by Orson Welles in 1938.)

McCarthy makes a brief appearance (walking by himself) in A Star is Hatched (Freleng, 1938) with his long-time feuding partner, W.C. Fields, and Egghead, knocked dizzy in a boxing match with Biff Stew in Count Me Out (Hardaway/Dalton, 1938), appears on his knee, doing a Charlie-like voice. The use most consistent with his radio appearances was in Cracked Ice (Tashlin, 1938), where an off-screen McCarthy heckles the on-screen pig character W.C. Squeals.

McKimson, Charles

One of the three McKimson brothers (along with Bob and Tom) to work at WB in the 30s and 40s. Unlike his brother Tom, and like Bob, he seems to have concentrated mainly on animation, with some story work.

McKimson, along with Sid Marcus, received story credit for the Robert McKimson cartoons Feather Dusted, Dime to Retire, and All Fowled Up (all 1955).

McKimson, Robert Porter (Sr.) (Bob) (1911-1977)

His relatively early death robbed Bob McKimson of some of the fame and glory that he probably deserved. No figure at WB, not Avery, not Clampett, not Jones, not even Freleng, racked up the kind of service that Bob McKimson did. He joined the studio in 1930, and his first on-screen credit is for Boskos Store in 1932; he would be in the credits continuously until the close of the studio in 1963.

McKimson had two extremely rare talents that made him a formidable animator; he was both stylish and extremely fast. First the Avery, and later the Jones unit, took advantage of his superior draftsmanship, which had few rivals at WB (or indeed, anywhere outside of Disney). It was, however, in the Clampett unit, to which he moved around 1942, that McKimson reached his heights as an animator. It is no coincidence that Clampett, at this point, started being able to achieve his manic vision, when he had such a talented top animator. It was McKimson who made the key model sheets for Bugs Bunny in October, 1942 and in 1943 that played a pivotal role in shaping the definitive Bugs; he also drew the famous publicity pose of Bugs with a carrot, leaning on a tree (originally done for an Easter display at a Los Angeles department store).

McKimson was thus the logical successor to Frank Tashlin when the latter left in 1944 to pursue a career in live action. His early work seemed to fulfill great promise; cartoons like Walky Talky Hawky (the 1946 debut of Foghorn Leghorn and one of the two Oscar-nominated cartoons McKimson would direct), A-Lad-In His Lamp , (1948) and two spectacularly funny cartoons, A Ham in a Role (1949, with the Goofy Gophers) and the classic Bugs outing Hillbilly Hare from 1950; see the entry for this cartoon for the complete text of the square dance sequence, a highlight of his directorial career.

Alas, his unit would suffer more than any other unit from the changes in the 1950s that took place at WB. The biggest change, and one that would have dire effects, would be the loss of Warren Foster to the Freleng unit and his replacement by Tedd Pierce , which would usher in an age of formulaic cartoons in his unit. Gone was the anarchic spark that made his late 40s Bugs Bunny cartoons so much fun. In came a group of Foghorn Leghorn, Hippety Hopper and Speedy Gonzales cartoons that had little to distinguish themselves, either from each other or from any other WB cartoon. His spoofs of various television programs, while interesting as period pieces, have not held up as well as contemporary work by other WB directors. Not even the advantage, for example, of having Jack Benny and his supporting cast play rodent versions of themselves can help The Mouse That Jack Built (1958) achieve anything more than whimsy. Both Maltin and the Beck/Friedwald team largely agree; McKimson had settled down to a squarer style that left him behind the other directors.

After the close of the studio in 1963, McKimson continued to work with the DePatie-Freleng organization, on the inferior WB cartoons produced in the late 1960s, and on the various Pink Panther cartoons made in the 1970s. (McKimson directed the various cartoons starring Cool Cat, a character that has an inexplicable level of popularity today, which WB produced in the late 1960s.)

If McKimson should be remembered for anything, it should be for his work in laying the foundations of the greatness of the WB studio in his supporting roles in the 30s and 40s. As Beck and Friedwald say with respect to his last real masterpiece, The Hole Idea , which he both directed and animated in 1955, it is no insult to observe that he was a better animator than director.

McKimson received story credit for Banty Raids (1963), which he directed.

McKimson is listed in the Library of Congress copyright records as having contributed to Walt Disneys Pinocchio Coloring Book , No. A126787, dated January 15, 1954. This is roughly contemporaneous with the temporary closure of the WB cartoon studio in the summer and fall of 1953.

McKimson, Thomas

Brother of both Charles and Bob McKimson, Tom eventually evolved into the principal model-sheet maker for the Clampett unit.

McKimson is probably referred to with the brief appearance of a taxicab labeled Toms Taxi in The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (Clampett, 1946).

MacMurray, Fred (1908-1991)

Actor who played a wide variety of roles, from broadly comic (1963s The Absent-Minded Professor ) to mildly comic (as the father on My Three Sons ), to sinister (as Lt. Keefer in 1954s The Caine Mutiny and, most memorably, opposite Barbara Stanwyck in 1944s Double Indemnity ).

MacMurray is caricatured as Fred MacFurry in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).

MacRory

The name of the irascible Scotsman who plays golf against Bugs in My Bunny Lies Over the Sea (Jones, 1948).

The Major/Major Bowes

Major Edward Bowes was the impresario of the famous Capitol Theater in New York, and was well known in the 1930s for the amateur talent shows held at the Capitol, which were broadcast on CBS (opera star Beverly Sills was one child star featured on his program). Some of those who participated in his shows went around the country performing. (Like the Major Bowes Unit #73 that is looking for Cleveland, but ends up signing on the moon in Believe It Or Else (Avery, 1939).)

Daffy, after discovering his hidden talent in making eggs disappear in The Henpecked Duck (Clampett, 1941), wishes that The Major were there to see him do it.

Maltese, Michael (Mike) (1908-1981)

Along with Warren Foster and Tedd Pierce, one of the three mainstays of the writing staff at WB from the 1930s until the 1960s.

A native of the Lower East Side of New York City, Maltese began his career in animation in the early 1930s, with the Terrytoons studio, as an in-betweener. Maltese later moved on to the Fleischer studio and, in 1937, made his move to the Schlesinger studio, where he continued to be an in-betweener.

Maltese was transferred to the story department in August of 1939 (rather against his will, judging from the way Maltese describes the move in the Adamson book on Tex Avery), joining Jack Miller, Bugs Hardaway, Tubby Millar, Dave Monohan, Rich Hogan, Cal Howard, and Tedd Pierce in the story department. Some of his earliest credited work was with Avery, including The Heckling Hare (1941), featuring a risque ending whose deletion eventually triggered the departure of Avery from WB in July of 1941. (Maltese got his first credited story in The Haunted Mouse (Avery, 1941).) Maltese also did work for Friz Freleng in this period, including The Trial of Mr. Wolf and Hiawathas Rabbit Hunt (1941).

While Maltese evidently had some contacts with MGM (where Avery ended up) during this period, Maltese generally stayed with WB for the next twenty years. (MGM cartoon producer Fred Quimby reportedly told Maltese (in an oft-quoted phrase): If youre going to work with Avery, have this understood -- we will not stand for any of that Warner Brothers rowdyism in our cartoons!

Which is precisely what Maltese was responsible for. Maltese worked often for Freleng during the war period (e.g. Daffy - The Commando (Freleng, 1943), Little Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng, 1944) and Herr Meets Hare (Freleng, 1945), and after the war, teamed up with Tedd Pierce for a number of notable Freleng entries, including Rhapsody Rabbit (1946), A Hare Grows in Manhattan (1947), and Bugs Bunny Rides Again (1948).

However, Maltese is best remembered for the remarkable string of cartoons he made with Jones, starting in the late 1940s. One could easily name numerous cartoons, though standouts would have to include For Scent-imental Reasons (1949), Bully for Bugs (1953), The Rabbit of Seville (1950), the three cartoons in the Hunters Trilogy, Long Haired Hare (1949), Duck Dodgers in the 24th1/2 Century (1953), One Froggy Evening (1955), and probably the most famous Jones-Maltese effort, Whats Opera, Doc (1957), for which Maltese also received credit for the lyrics to Return My Love (his spoof of the Pilgrims Chorus from Tannhauser). Maltese reused and improved the Brunhilde scene that he wrote for Herr Meets Hare in this cartoon. Maltese is also often given (deserved) credit as the co-creator of the Roadrunner/Coyote series of cartoons, as well as for the fractured Franglais of Pepe le Pew.

Maltese, along with Foster, left WB in the early 1960s for the Hanna-Barbera studio, where he worked on such series at Snagglepuss and the Flintstones. Maltese would work again with Chuck Jones, in the mid-1960s for the Jones Tom and Jerry shorts, and again shortly before his death, for some made-for-TV shorts (though it does not appear that Jones took his suggestions for the sequel to Duck Dodgers . Maltese also worked on a part-time basis for Screen Gems in the 1940s, and with Tex Avery at the Lantz studio c. 1954-5.

Maltese plays the live-action studio cop in You Ought to Be in Pictures (Freleng, 1940), though his voice is dubbed by Mel Blanc. Maltese did do his own voice, to go with his caricature (opposite the voice and caricature of Tedd Pierce) in Wackiki Wabbit (Jones, 1943). A ship called the S.S. Michael Maltese is the starting point of Punch Trunk (Jones, 1953). His name also shows up on the poster, along with Eduardo Selzeri (Eddie Selzer) and Carlo Jonzi (Chuck Jones) in Rabbit of Seville (Jones, 1950).

Manuel, George

Story writer for WB in the late 1930s. Credits include: Wholly Smoke (Tashlin, 1938), Porkys Spring Planting (Tashlin, 1938), The Isle of Pingo-Pongo (Avery, 1938), Jungle Jitters (Freleng, 1938), and Porkys Double Trouble (Tashlin,1937).

Prior to his work at WB, Manuel worked at the Ub Iwerks studio, along with Carl Stalling and Ben Hardaway. Manuel also worked for the Fleischer studio after his tenure at WB.

Marc Antony

Bulldog in Chuck Jones cartoons (as opposed to the ones typically seen in Freleng cartoons) with a soft spot for Pussyfoot (best exemplified by his expression of tragedy when he thinks Pussyfoot has been turned into kitty cookies in Feed the Kitty ). Woe unto the creature that attempts to hurt Pussyfoot while this muscular hound is around.

Filmography (All Jones):

  • Feed the Kitty (1952)
  • Kiss Me Cat (1953)
  • Feline Frame-Up (1954)
  • Cat Feud (1958)

Marcus, Sid

Story writer at WB in the 1940s and 1950s. Credits: Bye, Bye Bluebeard (Davis, 1949), A Ham In A Role (McKimson, 1949), No Parking Hare, Devil May Hare, The Oily American (all McKimson, 1954), Gone Batty (with Ben Washam for McKimson, 1954), Feather Dusted, Dime to Retire, and All Fowled Up (with Charles McKimson for Robert McKimson, 1955), and Lighthouse Mouse (McKimson, 1955).

Marcus had tours of duty with the Fleischer and Van Beuren (RKO) cartoon studios in the 1930s, though most of his pre-WB work was done for the Mintz and Screen Gems studios, which did work for Columbia. A photo of the Krazy Kat (Mintz) studio staff in 1928 reproduced in Maltin (pg. 210) shows Marcus, along with Art Davis , Shamus Culhane, Manny Gould, and Harry Love. Marcus was also a director at the Lantz studio in the early 1960s.

Marsales, Frank

Original musical director for the WB shorts during the Harman/Ising period, 1930-1933. Some reports indicate Marsales worked at the Walter Lantz studio in the late 1930s.

Martin, Curt

Martin, Pumpkinhead

The twin brother hillbillies that Bugs bedevils in the classic McKimson short Hillbilly Hare (1950). The Martin clan is feuding with the Coys, and the Martins run under the assumption that the rabbit is a Coy, which Bugs does not dispute, saying his friends think hes very coy.

Marvin the Martian

Testy little extra-terrestrial who has a keen desire to either blow up the Earth or otherwise interfere in its interests, and a player in what is generally a highly memorable series of outings against Bugs Bunny or Daffy Duck.

Like Michigan J. Frog, his current name is an ex post facto moniker; he was never identified as such in any of the cartoons, though he was named Commander X-2 in Hasty Hare (Jones, 1952) in the instructions he reads from his commander, E=McSquared.

In the cases where he wishes to blow up the Earth (with, as he notes in Hare-Way to the Stars (Jones, 1958) without a trace of irony, an Earth-shattering kaboom), he utilizes the Illudium Pew-36 Explosive Space Modulator (spelling taken from the bar sheet for Hare-Way).

As probably seems obvious, Jones and Maltese patterned the character after the god Mars, with the helmet and skirt, though not the sneakers, which both he and his assistant, the greenish mutt K-9, wear.

The 1958 entry in this series, Hare-Way to the Stars is one of the more unusual entries, in that it boasts visionary graphics by Maurice Noble, with cities suspended seemingly in mid space.

Blanc provided the voice for the character, though it is noteworthy that the voice changed noticeably from that used in the debut, to the later, creamier voice used in the later series.

Filmography (all Jones):

  • Haredevil Hare (1948)
  • Hasty Hare (1952)
  • Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century (1953)
  • Hare-way to the Stars (1958)
  • Mad as a Mars Hare (1963)

Marx Brothers

Landmark comedy team comprised of Groucho (ne Julius), Chico (ne Leonard) , and Harpo (ne Adolph, a/k/a Arthur), as well as Zeppo (ne Herbert). Their style of cooly calucated anarchy was a hit in vaudeville, then on Broadway, and then in movies from the earliest days of sound pictures. The team reached its height of lunacy in the classic films Duck Soup and A Night at the Opera. After the team left films in the 1940s, Groucho forged a career on radio and in television as the host of You Bet Your Life, a gameshow less about the questions themselves and more about the wisecracks of Groucho.

The distinctive features of Groucho, namely, his crouching walk, huge eyebrows and mustache (initially painted on -- Groucho would later grow a mustache when he realized no one recognized him without it), and cigar and glasses were tailor-made for cartoons, and were given use in such cartoons as Wideo Wabbit (McKimson, 1956, in a spoof of You Bet Your Life), Hollywood Steps Out (Avery, 1941, as The Lady in Red), and Slick Hare (Freleng, 1947), where he gives his famous line (as he does in Wideo Wabbit about slipping out of wet clothes and into a dry martini. (Groucho was also the author of the line Of course, you realize this means war! , an oft-used WB line). Harpo makes an appearence, in character as a woman-chaser, in The Coo-coo Nut Grove (Freleng, 1936), discovering the woman is none other than Groucho! Elmer Fudd does a turn as Harpo in Slick Hare opposite Bugs/Groucho (Chico being seen in a long shot). Two other Harpo turns can be seen in Flowers for Madame (Freleng, 1935, as played by a dandelion) and The Organ Grinder (Harman/Ising, 1933). The card-cutting scene in Bugs Bunny Rides Again (Freleng, 1948) is a direct lift from Harpo as well.

Masianof, Alex

Story writer for WB some time during the period Chuck Jones was active when Leon Schlesinger owned the studio (c. 1934-1944). Jones provides the only detailed information regarding Masianof that is available, in his autobiography, Chuck Amuck (at pp. 108-9) and in the second volume of his memoirs, which is a record of a post-World War II encounter with this mysterious and intriguing figure; no cartoons are known to carry his name in the credits.

Masianof, a Russian cavalry officer before World War I judging from the Jones account, seems to have had a shaky grasp of either the English language, or the requirements of cartoon writing, or both. Jones cites this example of his prose:

The poosey ring the bell/up jomped the little doggie/Vhere is Mister Hen?/Shes out with the raccoon.

One could only wonder what a Masianof-written cartoon might have looked like.

Mature, Victor (b. 1915)

Star of the 1940s and 1950s billed as a quote beautiful hunk of man, endquote. When the the title character in The Hep Cat (Clampett, 1942) imagines himself as a gorgeous chunk of man, his image dissolves in a mirror, to be replaced by an image of Victor Mature.

Maxwell, Carmen (Max)

Of the principal animators at WB in the early 30s, Maxwell provided the voice for Bosko.

Meat shortage

As is noted in the entry for RATION BOOKS/POINTS, meat was one of the items rationed during World War II, which caused some irritation. The Weakly Reporter (Jones, 1944) has a few gags on meat shortages (including a lady paying to smell a steak), and Behind the Meat Ball (Tashlin, 1945) is largely based on a dog desperate to get some meat. At one point, the dog is throwing a fit, screaming that he wants meat, and interrupts his rant to say with a straight face: Youve had this problem, havent you folks?. A hapless wolf ponders a newspaper headline regarding the fact that there is no meat for wolves, Hollywood or otherwise, in I got Plenty of Mutton (Tashlin, 1944). And, of course, there were Meatless Tuesdays, parodied in Meatless Flyday (Freleng, 1944). Grover Groundhog refers to the meat shortage in One Meat Brawl (1947), though by the time the cartoon was released, the meat shortage had eased a great deal (the cartoon was most likely in production during the closing months of World War II -- it was released in January, 1947).

In reality, if you compared the situation in the United States with England, let alone the occupied countries of Europe, the meat ration here was something out of the Arabian Nights.

Meatless Flyday

1944 cartoon directed by Friz Freleng, featuring a spider bent on noshing on a fly. Hames Ware has suggested that the voice of the Spider is that of character actor Cyrus Kendall, and not Tex Avery, as Beck and Friedwald suggest.

If you look closely at the jar of Kandy Kolor that the spider uses to coat the metal pellets, you will see that the manufacturer is I.G. Farben, of Minneapolis. Ironically, Farben, which was a German company, was at this time one of the major suppliers to the German war machine, and a major utilizer of slave labor.

Meatless Tuesdays were an effort during the war to convince people to reduce meat consumption. The calendar the fly points to reads September 27 - Meatless Tuesday; however, September 27 fell on a Monday in 1943, a Wednesday in 1944 and a Thursday in 1945.

Meet John Doe

1941 film directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper as a tool of a corrupt politician, played by Edward Arnold. The title of the Bob Clampett 1941 cartoon Meet John Doughboy is a play on the title of this film.

Melendez, J.C. (Bill)

Animator in the McKimson unit during the late 1940s. Melendez later went on to prominence as a director and producer in his own right, most notably for some of the Peanuts specials in the 1960s.

Merrily We Roll Along

The theme song chosen by Carl Stalling for the Merrie Melodies series; it was written by Charles Tobias, Murray Mencher and Eddie Cantor. Billboard Frolics (Freleng, 1935) features a Cantor/Rubinoff rendition of the song.

The Merry-Go-Round Broke Down

The theme song chosen by Carl Stalling for the Looney Tunes series; it was written by Cliff Friend and Dave Franklin. Daffy Duck and Egghead (Avery, 1938) features a bravura rendition of the song by Daffy Duck.

Mervyn LeBoy

At the beginning of The Bears Tale (Avery, 1940), a list of credits appears, indicating that Goldilocks appears through the courtesy of The Mervyn LeBoy Productions.

Aside from being a reference to the typical studio practice of the day in loaning stars to other studios, the reference being made here is to Mervyn LeRoy (1900-1987), a long-time figure at Warner Brothers and son in law of Harry Warner. LeRoy directed a number of big films in the early thirties (e.g. Little Caesar, I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang, Gold Diggers of 1933), moving to MGM in 1938, where he produced The Wizard of Oz.

Messerschmits

It is unsurprising that WB cartoonists did not pass up a chance to have Daffy say the name of this German aircraft manufacturing firm in Daffy - The Commando (Freleng, 1944). Messerschmits made the feared Me-109 (a/k/a Bf-109) fighter, the mainstay of the Luftwaffe. Messerschmits are also mentioned by the Gremlins in their song in Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944). Private Snafu in Snafuperman also makes reference to these planes.

Mexican Joyride

1948 Arthur Davis cartoon set in Mexico, where Daffy battles a bull, one of the many bullfighting cartoons done at WB; nearly every director did one at one point. The title is probably a reference to the contemporary Cole Porter musical Mexican Hayride. . See also GOOD NEIGHBOR POLICY.

Michigan J. Frog

This character had only one outing in the classic era, but made it count, for it was in One Froggy Evening that this frog made his indelible appearance. Singing only for a hapless, yet greedy construction worker, he drives said worker to poverty and the madhouse before the unlucky man gets rid of the frog (to be found a century later by yet another greedhead).

In the second volume of his memoirs, Chuck Jones goes into detail as to his creation, noting the use of New Yorker cartoons to model the frog. (And, if you believe Jones, Ed Sullivan, with his stiff-necked manner, was also an influence. Hmmmm, could be...) Jones notes that the character was not given his name in the cartoon; the name comes from the ersatz ragtime song Michigan Rag that he sings.

Today, MJF has become the mascot for The WB, the television network partly owned by Time Warner Inc. Chuck Jones produced another cartoon starring MJF, in 1995 (entitled Another Froggy Evening ), but it does not appear that the cartoon has been put in general release; drawings from the film can be seen in the book.

Milland, Ray (1905-1986)

Actor whose best known role was as the alcoholic writer in The Lost Weekend. His role is parodied in Slick Hare (Freleng, 1947), in which Milland pays for a drink with a typewriter, and receives little typewriters in change.

Millar, Melvin (Mel) (Tubby)

Story writer for WB in the 1930s and 1940s. Credits include: The Case of the Stuttering Pig (Tashlin, 1937), The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937), Love and Curses (Hardaway/Dalton, 1938), Count Me Out (Hardaway/Dalton, 1938), Land of the Midnight Fun (Avery, 1939), A Day At the Zoo (Avery, 1939), Ali-Baba Bound (Clampett, 1940), Whos Who In the Zoo (McCabe, 1942), The Ducktators (McCabe, 1942), Hop And Go (McCabe, 1943), Porky Pigs Feat (Tashlin, 1943), I Got Plenty of Mutton (Tashlin, 1944), Brother Brat (Tashlin, 1944), and The Unruly Hare (Tashlin, 1945).

A caricature of Millar appears in Russian Rhapsody (Clampett, 1944), as the Gremlin with a tack-shaped head attempting to poke Adolf Hitler. One of the pigeons listed on a blackboard in Plane Daffy (Tashlin, 1944) is a Tubby Pigeon.

Miller, Jack

Story writer for WB in the 1930s and 1940s. Credits include: Have You Got Any Castles? (Tashlin, 1938), Cracked Ice (Tashlin, 1938), The Mice Will Play (Avery, 1938), Hamateur Night (Avery, 1939), Detouring America (Avery, 1939), Fresh Fish (Avery, 1939), Busy Bakers (Hardaway/Dalton, 1940), The Hardship of Miles Standish (Freleng, 1940), You Ought To Be In Pictures (Freleng, 1940), Malibu Beach Party (Freleng, 1940), and The Fighting 69 1/2 (Freleng, 1941).

Mills Brothers

African-American singers popular in the 1930s with their smooth harmony. Caricatures, or quasi-caricatures, can be seen in Clean Pastures (Freleng, 1937, and reused in Have You Got Any Castles? (Tashlin, 1938)) and The Isle of Pingo-Pongo (Avery, 1938)

Milton Squirrel

Caricature of Milton Berle in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937).

Milt Towne (Doctor)

Name of the shrink examining Sylvester in Tweet Dreams (Freleng, 1959). The name is a play on Miltown, the commercial name for the tranquilizer neprobamate.

Miss Prissy

Spinster hen who has her eyes set on Foghorn Leghorn in a series of McKimson cartoons: Lovelorn Leghorn (1951), Of Rice and Hen (1953) and Little Boy Boo (1954). Most of the time, her dialogue is limited to a long, drawn out Yeeessss (not in the same way as Frank Nelson).

It is the my conjecture that Miss Prissy could well be the daughter of Emily, the foolish man-chasing chicken in some of the Freleng 1930s cartoons. Like mother, like daughter.

Mister Anthony John J. Anthony, on his 1930s-1940s radio program The Good Will Hour , would pass out advice on every conceivable human difficulty. There are two references in WB cartoons to this figure, one being the puzzled and aggrieved mama gorilla in Baby Bottleneck (Clampett, 1946) who is confronted by the Daffy/Porky baby, and the obnoxious little duck who refuses an offer of assistance from Daffy in Aint That Ducky (Freleng, 1945).

Mr. Motto

Parody of Japanese detective Mr. Moto played by Peter Lorre, in the Porky Pig cartoon Porkys Movie Mystery (Clampett, 1939).

Monck, Terrance

Baritone responsible for the voice of Michigan J. Frog in One Froggy Evening (Jones, 1955). Monck would also supply voices for a few of the Tom and Jerry cartoons Jones made for MGM in the mid-sixties.

Monohan, Dave

Story writer for WB in the 1930s and 1940s. Credits include:

  • Katnip Kollege (Hardaway/Dalton, 1938)
  • Youre An Education (Tashlin, 1938)
  • Daffy Duck in Hollywood (Avery, 1938)
  • Robin Hood Makes Good (Jones, 1939)
  • Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur (Jones, 1939)
  • Believe It Or Else (Avery, 1939)
  • The Good Egg (Jones, 1939)
  • The Mighty Hunters (Jones, 1940)
  • Ghost Wanted (Jones, 1940)
  • Ceiling Hero (Avery, 1940)
  • Porkys Hired Hand (Freleng, 1940)
  • Tortoise Beats Hare (Avery, 1941)
  • Porkys Preview (Avery, 1941)
  • The Wacky Worm (Freleng, 1941)
  • All This and Rabbit Stew (Avery, 1941)
  • Wabbit Twouble (Clampett, 1941)
  • Conrad the Sailor (Jones, 1942)
  • Lights Fantastic (Freleng, 1942)
  • Mexican Joyride (Davis, 1948)
  • Catch As Cats Can (Davis, 1948)
  • The Rattled Rooster (Davis, 1948).

Monohan has his name from the credits read out (and mispronounced) by Bugs Bunny in Tortoise Beats Hare . In a few cartoons (e.g. Lights Fantastic ), Monohan is credited as Sgt. Dave Monohan.

Monohan also worked for the Screen Gems (Colombia) studio in the mid-1940s.

Moore, Grace (1901-1947)

Described in Katz as a vivacious blonde lyrical soprano of Broadway musicals, then the Metropolitan Opera, she starred in two MGM films of the early 30s but was fired when she put on to much weight. She was then hired by Columbia and starred in a string of successful productions, which helped to popularize opera on the screen. Nominated for best actress for her role in One Night of Love (1934).

Moore is caricatured in The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos (Tashlin, 1937) as Grace Moose, attempting to hit a higher note than Lily Swans (Lily Pons).

Moore, Victor (1876-1962)

Longtime character actor in vaudeville, on the stage and in film. Moore originated the role of Vice President Throttlebottom on Broadway in Of Thee I Sing , and appeared in a number of films (e.g. Gold Diggers of 1937 (1937), Swing Time (1936), Ziegfeld Follies (1946), The Seven Year Itch (1955). His entry in The Film Encyclopedia has this to say about him: [s]hort and pudgy, he typically portrayed bumbling, helpless little men. Therefore, little wonder that Friz Freleng used both the voice and caricature of Moore in an Elmer Fudd-like role in 1945s Aint That Ducky .

Maltin, at pg. 256, quotes Freleng: I approached him and wanted to know if hed do it. He said hed love to do it. We did a caricature of him, showed it to him, and he said, I love it, if youd just put more hair on my head. Moore did not charge WB for his work on the cartoon.

Mugsy

Enormous, dumb sidekick to Rocky in a number of Friz Freleng cartoons. Mugsy would often be outwitted by Bugs, usually to his (and Rockys) great disadvantage. Mugsy made an appearance without Rocky as a Napoleonic guard in Napoleon Bunny-part (Freleng, 1956).

Murrow, Edward R.

CBS News correspondent best known for his reporting from London during the 1940 Blitz, and for his See It Now and Person to Person television programs. The latter show is spoofed in Person to Bunny (Freleng, 1960), complete with his speaking style and inevitable cigarette.

Music

Music was the principal reason for being of the WB cartoon series. Then, as now, Warner Bros. (and its various subsidiaries) was a major music publisher, with a catalog that included songs from movie musicals, as well as popular music. The Looney Tunes series was originally conceived as, in effect, a music video; later, the Merrie Melodies series would take over this role, with the provisio that each Merrie Melodie contain a chorus from a WB song. Indeed, a great many of the Merrie Melodies produced until the mid to late 1930s bear titles based on songs, rather than on the plot (such as it was) of the cartoon. While these factors make the cartoons interesting from the standpoint of a music lover, they do tend to stop the cartoon in its tracks, from a plot standpoint. It was only when the cartoons stopped putting in choruses that the cartoons picked up the speed they needed to break free of then-current conventions.

Frank Marsales was the first musical director for WB cartoons, scoring the cartoons throughout the Harman-Ising era, with a few exceptions (principally the first few Merrie Melodies, which utilized the Brunswick Recording Orchestra and Abe Lyman and Gus Arnheim). For the most part, the scoring of a Merrie Melodie relied heavily on whatever song was being plugged, limiting the range of Marsales. Bernard Brown and Norman Spencer, who succeeded Marsales and carried through until the mid 1930s, were similarly limited by the structure of the cartoons; while all three present very nice arrangements of the songs, relatively few demonstrate anything fresh or funny in their choice of music.

All that would radically change with the arrival of Carl Stalling from the Iwerks studio. In the virtually uninterrupted 22 year stint (1936-1958) in which Stalling, already an innovator in cartoon scoring, would set a radically new style in cartoon scoring. Stalling did not scorn the WB music catalog: far from it. Stalling would use WB-owned songs, in snippets mixed and matched with his own original compositions to provide a backdrop that greatly enhanced the humor of the cartoons. Not merely Mickey Mousing the score, Stalling would use musical cues to sharpen gags. While Stalling was given to certain habits (there was a long-standing joke about his use of The Lady in Red), Stalling was able to laugh at his own work, witness Porkys Preview (Avery, 1941), which is best appreciated by hearing the portions presented on The Carl Stalling Project , the first of two recently issued CDs that explores the music of Stalling. Some of the complete tracks on this set, stripped of the voices of Mel Blanc and the sound effects of Treg Brown, are amazing; even though they were never meant to be heard alone and without the input of these masters of their craft, they have a distinct beauty of their own. Listen in particular to the versions of Jumpin Jupiter (Jones, 1955, on the Bugs Bunny on Broadway CD) and Barbary Coast Bunny (Jones, 1956). Stalling, of course, may be best remembered for his liberal use of the unique compositions of Raymond Scott, who has his own entry here, to which reference should be made.

Stalling was fully succeeded in 1958 by Milt Franklyn, his arranger and the sometime conductor of the Warner Bros. Orchestra (as heard on some of the tracks on the CD collections), with whom he had shared musical direction duties in the mid-1950s. Franklyn was the logical successor, and while he may not have had the particular zip and fire of Stalling, his compositions have a weight of their own, particularly Whats Opera, Doc? (Jones, 1957), a masterful Wagnerian pastiche.

Franklyn died in 1962, and his successor, Bill Lava, was much less successful in evoking imagery to support the cartoons. His music tends to be mostly of the Muzak type, with only the occasional hint of Scott to evoke the classic scores of the past. A sad ending to a great tradition of music. Mercifully, Richard Stone, the current musical director for Warner Bros. Television Animation, appears to consider himself a disciple of Carl Stalling, and to the extent allowed by the budgets for television animation, his scores often capture the same spark as those of Stalling. Stone has even used Scott as Stalling never did, in a complete usage of the old warhorse Powerhouse, in an homage to both Stalling and Scott in the Animaniacs short Toy Shop Terror .

What follows is a list of songs utilized in WB cartoons (except Raymond Scott compositions, which are covered by his entry), and some examples of their usage *aside from cartoons where it was the plug tune*. Caveats: I make no claims that this list is in any way complete, or that I have accurately set forth the titles of the various songs. This list is one of those things that is subject to change and addition. With that in mind:

  • A Cup of Coffee, A Sandwich and You (Billy Rose): Nasty Quacks (Tashlin, 1945), while Daffy is holding forth at the breakfast table.
  • Sweet Dreams, Sweetheart (Jerome/Koehler): Whats Brewin Bruin (Jones, 1948) as Mama Bear and Papa Bear battle over whether to keep the window open; Peck Up Your Troubles (Freleng, 1945) as a conscience-struck Sylvester considers the fate of the little woodpecker he thinks he killed.
  • Angel in Disguise: used by the little woodpecker in Peck Up Your Troubles when, naturally, he is disguised as an angel. Sung by Daffy as he mimics a parachute in Yankee Doodle Daffy (Freleng, 1943).
  • Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Who? Franz Liszt? Never hoida him.): a great favorite of Freleng, used in two classic cartoons, Rhapsody in Rivets and Rhapsody Rabbit (1941 and 1946). Sylvester does a version with boots and back door steps in Back Alley Oproar (Freleng, 1948)
  • Hungarian Dances (Brahms). Pigs in a Polka (Freleng, 1943) uses this composition throughout the cartoon, expertly.
  • As Time Goes By (Hupfeld): Hiss and Make Up (Freleng, 1943) as Roscoe and Wellington are foced to play kissy-kiss, and Hare Force (Freleng, 1944), as sung briefly by both Bugs and Sylvester (dog, not cat).
  • Am I Blue? (Clarke/Akst): Brillaint usage in the Private Snafu short Payday (Freleng, 1944), as Snafu loses everything.
  • Forty-Second Street (Warren/Dubin): Used during chases between Porky and Daffy in Daffy Doodles (McKimson, 1946), and in the montage of stops of the Bugs/Elmer team in Whats Up Doc (McKimson, 1950).
  • Shuffle Off to Buffalo (Warren/Dubin): Used in Rebel Rabbit (McKimson, 1949) during the scene in the post office and in the scene where Bugs messes with Niagara Falls. Also used when Bugs poses as a lamp to fool Gossamer in Hair-Raising Hare (Jones, 1946).
  • IÊOnly Have Eyes for You (Warren/Dubin): Used in Jumpin Jupiter (Jones, 1955), during the eye-test gag in Lights Fantastic (Freleng, 1942), and in Punch Trunk (Jones, 1953) in a nifty gag involving a chap who has just bought glasses, and then confronts Teeny.
  • Dont Give Up the Ship (Warren/Dubin): Sung by the Dick Powell caricature (a la Shipmates Forever) in A Star is Hatched (Freleng, 1937) and used very well during the perilous drop of Catstello in A Tale of Two Kitties (Clampett, 1942)
  • About a Quarter to Nine (Warren/Dubin): Used as background music to Bugs in evening dress in Slick Hare (Freleng, 1947).
  • The Lady in Red (Wrubel/Dixon): The classic Stalling musical gag. The use in the credits in LIttle Red Riding Rabbit (Freleng, 1944) and by the Carmen Miranda pooch in Hollywood Canine Canteen (McKimson, 1946) barely scratches the surface of this musical gag.
  • Lullaby of Broadway (Warren/Dubin): Used at the beginning of Lights Fantastic (Freleng, 1942), and by the Jimmy Durante rooster in The Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944).
  • Hooray for Hollywood (Mercer/Whiting): Most notable use may be in Whats Up Doc? (McKimson, 1950), though Count Me Out (Hardaway/Dalton, 1938) makes a notably interesting use, in introducing Biff Stew, the heavyweight champ.
  • September in the Rain (Warren/Dubin): A satricial use in Porkys Preview (Avery, 1941), and a great use by an Al Jolson bird in The Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944).
  • Jeepers Creepers (Warren/Mercer): Sung by the cat in Notes to You (Freleng, 1941), and danced to by Daffy in Show Biz Bugs (Freleng, 1957)
  • You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby (Warren/Mercer): Sung by Elmer Fudd in The Hardship of Miles Standish (Freleng, 1940) -- we are given the lyrics in a shot of a singing telegram, and Elmer helpfully points out the spot where we are to pick up.
  • Im Just Wild About Harry (Sissle/Blake): Sung by Daffy in Yankee Doodle Daffy (Freleng, 1943) and Michigan J. Frog in One Froggy Evening (Jones, 1955).
  • Blues in the Night (Arlen/Mercer): Two great uses in The Swooner Crooner (Tashlin, 1944) by the Cab Calloway rooster and by Daffy in My Favorite Duck (Jones, 1942).
  • Moonlight Bay: The classic drunk song in WB cartoons (e.g. Trap Happy Porky [Jones, 1945]), but also sung by mild-mannered Porky in My Favorite Duck (Jones, 1942).
  • Freddie the Freshman: Classic sports musical gag, a typical use being in The Unruly Hare (Tashlin, 1945), with Bugs using a stick of TNT in an ersatz relay.
  • It Cant Be Wong (Steiner/Gannon): Used by the harp playing mermaid Bugs in Hare Ribbin (Clampett, 1944).
  • Trade Winds: used by the harp-playing mermaid Wacky Worm in Greetings Bait (Freleng, 1943) and sung by Bugs in Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips (Freleng, 1944)
  • Someones Rocking My Dreamboat: sung by Bugs in both The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946) and Gorilla My Dreams (McKimson, 1948)
  • Beautfiul Dreamer: sung by Bugs in The Big Snooze (Clampett, 1946).
  • A Rainy Night in Rio (Schwartz/Robin): Classic version used by Bugs in Long Haired Hare (Jones, 1949).
  • Its Magic (Styne/Cahn): Bugs sings a modified version in Rabbit Every Monday (Freleng, 1951).
  • Secret Love (Fain/Webster): Sung by Bugs in Rabbitson Crusoe (Freleng, 1956).

Mussolini, Benito (d. 1945)

Known as Il Duce, Mussolini was Prime Minister of Italy for over twenty years, bringing Italy to disaster by entering World War II on the side of the Axis. With his balding head and jutting chin, Mussolini was easily caricatured, though he appeared in only a handful of WB wartime cartoons, and in a few other 30s cartoon (such as Ive Got to Sing a Torch Song (Palmer, 1933).

Mussolini appears as one of the geese, along with a Hitler caricature, in The Ducktators (McCabe, 1942). He also appears on the letterhead of the message Uberkompt von Vultur is reading in Daffy- The Commando (Freleng, 1944); his caricature is crossed out, Italy having surrendered to the Allies not long before the cartoon was in production. Mussolini, along with Goering and what appears to have been intended as a Hirohito caricature, appear in the Private Snafu short Spies (Jones, 1943) in the scene where the three are next to a newsstand where Snafu is purchasing magazines to read on his troopship.

Daffy refers to Mussolini being on the scrap heap in Scrap Happy Daffy (Tashlin, 1943). The cartoon was released August 21, 1943. Considering Mussolini was deposed on July 25, 1943, this indicates some very fast work, or good timing, on the part of WB.

Mynah Bird (also spelled Minah Bird)

Silent, inscrutable, mysterious bird that hops to the tune of the Fingals Cave Overture, hopping on every other beat. The bird shows up mostly in the Caveman Inki cartoons of Chuck Jones (which see), but he does make an appearance in Hobo Bobo (McKimson, 1947).

Myrt

The (unseen and unheard) telephone operator on the Fibber McGee and Molly Show. Fibber would often talk to Myrt, relaying to Molly some disaster that had befallen various members of her family.

Occasionally, when a WB cartoon character would talk on the phone, he would talk to Myrt. See Daffy-the Commando (Freleng, 1944, by Uberkomt von Vultur) and The Wabbit Who Came to Supper (Freleng, 1944, by Bugs).

Please click here to return to the main page.