worst director

[cbrubaker]

Just for fun. There are alot of threads about favorite directors, so....

Who is the worst director (in theatrical cartoon field) ever?

I'll pick Paul J. Smith, although his earlier efforts are actually pretty good (e.g. Maw and Paw)

[UncleJunior]

I'll go with Rudy Larriva for his Road Runner work.

[mbaker]

I would pick Gene Deitch simply for his 'Tom & Jerry' work.

[cbrubaker]

I would pick Gene Deitch simply for his 'Tom & Jerry' work.
Deitch may not be a best director, but he did created UPA's trademark animation style, which made the studio (in)famous

[MF TOON]

heh, I like Paul Smith's work.

I'll second a vote for Larriva.

[Pietro]

I would have to say Paul J. Smith. While I enjoy his 1950s Lantz shorts, I can't forgive him for anything he did past 1965.

-Pietro:daffy:

[Larry T]

I think "worst director" is pretty harsh, so I'll say "least favourite director"....

Jack King, mainly because his cartoons are so hit-or-miss, but nowhere in between. Some of his Warner offerings are just plain tedious yet others are great.... same with his Disney stuff.

[frizfrelengfan]

Dan Gordon (Famous Studios)

[Cartman]

This is hard. I might go with Rudy Larriva. His Wile Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons were just subpar to those of Chuck Jones.

[guy incognito]

I wonder...

Paul J. Smith...Alan Smithee...

hmmmm... :D

[David Gerstein]

My choice would be Charles Nichols, who effectively marginalized Mickey Mouse as an active character so he could show us more of Pluto's feuds with small animals.
I don't mean to damn the guy; he's just my least favorite.

[RetroMan]

I'll second the vote for Rudy Larriva too. His RR cartoons are just plain annoying with all that recycled animation and that muzak... sheeesh!

[Nick]

Jack King, mainly because his cartoons are so hit-or-miss, but nowhere in between. Some of his Warner offerings are just plain tedious yet others are great.... same with his Disney stuff. I have to agree with that. I don't really like the majority of his WB work, with "Fish Tales", "Shanghaied Shipates" and "Porky's Pet" being on my worst list. His Disney stuff is a notch better than than his WB work, but they still suffer from weak stories and direction.

For the record, I actually kind of like the works of Paul Smith, Rudy Larviaa and Gene Deitch.:shame:

[MF TOON]

Jack King, mainly because his cartoons are so hit-or-miss, but nowhere in between. Some of his Warner offerings are just plain tedious yet others are great.... same with his Disney stuff.
I personally think he directed some of the most consistent, charming and overall entertaining Donald Duck shorts of the entire studio, but that's just my opinion.

[The G Man]

Dan Gordon (Famous Studios)How come? I think his Popeye cartoons (especially The Hungry Goat) are some of the best shorts that came out of Famous.

[Bartman]

My least favorite directors, and there are only 2:

Jack King - his work for Schlesinger in the 1930s was pretty uninspired. Just see "Boom Boom" or any other Beans cartoons he produced and you'll figure out why Beans had such limited appeal.

Paul Smith - while I enjoy almost all of the Lantz product, his cartoons were kinda dull, IMO. Personally, his cartoons could have been better if it wasn't for Les Kline's stiff and stodgy animation.

[Matt the Y]

I personally think he directed some of the most consistent, charming and overall entertaining Donald Duck shorts of the entire studio, but that's just my opinion.I agree with you, MF. I don't think Jack King was that bad a director. Many of my favorite Donald cartoons were directed by him. In fact, (I hope this doesn't get me in trouble) I actually prefer many of King's Donald Duck cartoons to Hannah's.

As for my choice of worst director, I guess I'd also have to go with Paul J. Smith, again mainly for the atrocious post-1965 Lantz cartoons he directed. In fairness to Smith, though, it probably wasn't entirely his fault that they're terrible. Shorts just weren't paying their way anymore so I think he and a lot of others probably just gave up trying (and Smith was capable of directing a few great cartoons, particularly "Bunco Busters").

[mbaker]

One thing i've noticed about Paul J. Smith's work is that Jack Hannah would do some scenes in each cartoon. When you compare his scenes with the rest of Paul's scenes, it's like the animation quality goes up, and down through out the cartoon.

[Javeman]

I have to go with Rudy Larriva. Paul Smith at least made some good cartoons during the 50s.

[frizfrelengfan]

How come? I think his Popeye cartoons (especially The Hungry Goat) are some of the best shorts that came out of Famous.
G Man,

Instead of just posting his name, I should have posted a question, "What do you think of Dan Gordon of Famous Studios?" I wanted to elicit discussion about a director who, while he may not have been the worst, is in my opinion undistinguished. I didn't care for The Hungry Goat; I think that the best Famous cartoons were directed by Isadore Sparber or Seymour Kneitel, but I think that Famous cartoons are in general uninspired (except for Winston Sharples' brassy music).

As for the other directors mentioned here:

Paul Smith - Haven't seen his work so can't make a comment.

Rudy Larriva - His cartoons aren't great, but I don't think they're that terrible either.

Gene Deitch - Actually I think he's a very good director. He shouldn't be judged by the T&J cartoons, which were made in Czechoslovakia on a very low budget by people who didn't even know who Tom and Jerry were. He was East Coast creative director for UPA, then went to Terrytoons where he created a series of offbeat characters before studio head Bill Weiss fired him. While at Terrytoons he created Tom Terrific for the Captain Kangaroo TV show. After Terrytoons he directed Oscar-winning Munro.

[Nikrowd01]

To make the decision easy, I will choose a director who did not direct a large number of cartoons: Earl Duvall. His cartoons were generally slow-paced and lacked interesting stories.

[AngryBeavers]

Abe Levito. Didn't like Really Scent, too much, and his 60s work aint much.

[Bartman]

One thing i've noticed about Paul J. Smith's work is that Jack Hannah would do some scenes in each cartoon. When you compare his scenes with the rest of Paul's scenes, it's like the animation quality goes up, and down through out the cartoon.Actually, it wasn't Jack Hannah - it was one of the animators he brought with him from the Disney studios, Al Coe. When Hannah left in 1962, Al animated with Smith's unit. Just watch a 1960's Lantz cartoon - you'll be able to tell the difference between Coe's work and that of Les Kline, who also animated for Smith. Big difference!!!

[Thad]

Actually, it wasn't Jack Hannah - it was one of the animators he brought with him from the Disney studios, Al Coe. When Hannah left in 1962, Al animated with Smith's unit. Just watch a 1960's Lantz cartoon - you'll be able to tell the difference between Coe's work and that of Les Kline, who also animated for Smith. Big difference!!!
Les Kline is one of the worst things about Walter Lantz cartunes. His animation is so shoddy looking, it ruins 95% of the scenes he animates! Perfect examples are two Woody Woodpecker cartunes from 1958, "Misguided Missile" and "Jittery Jester"... Woody is about the ugliest thing ever put on film in these things!

http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1950s/jitteryjester05.jpg

Kline's work was even noticeable in the 1940s, particularly Andy Panda's "Crow Crazy". Emery Hawkins and Don Williams do some beautiful animation of Andy, Milo, and the crow for most of the short, but Kline's work sticks out like an sore thumb (instantly because of his trademark 'wonderland syndrome' (when a character(s) become a different size suddenly to suit a gag)). Watch the very end where Milo and Andy are chasing the crow with clubs and you'll see what I mean...


-Thad

[Pietro]

Lester Kline's work goes back way beyond the 1940s. He began working at Lantz circa 1932 as an inbetweener then animator on the Pooch the Pup series (he and Manuel Moreno were the head animators as Tex Avery and Ray Abrams were for Bill Nolan). Kline remained an animator for Lantz throughout the 1930s and his animation in these shorts seems to be more round and smooth than the work Thad is describing.

Kline was also promoted to a director at Lantz briefly during 1938-39 and directed some fine cartoons.

-Pietro:daffy:

[J Lee]

If you're talking about directors with over 100 at-bats, you have to go with Paul J. Smith, whose career took a nose dive after his first 18 months as director for Lantz. But in terms of what director's "badness" had the biggest effect on cartoons, then you've got to put Tom Palmer at the head of the list. As bad as the cartoons by Smith, Larriva or King may have been at times, Tom's the only one whose cartoons were actually rejected by Jack Warner -- a decision by J.L. that turned out to be worth who knows how many billions of dollars to Warner Bros. over the past 71 years, since it was J.L.'s decision that forced Schlesinger to got out and re-hire Friz Freleng, which was Step 1 in turning the studio from another Disney clone into its own unique personality.

And just an aside on Dan Gordon -- he and Izzy Sparber were "directors" in the same way that Dave Fleischer was a "director" in that they were more supervisors for the head animators of their cartoons. So a Gordon cartoon with Jim Tyer as head animator, like "Seein' Red, White & Blue" could look totally out of control, while a Godron cartoon with Joe Oriolo and Al Eugster woking on it like "A Jolly Good Furlough" could look as polished as a Warners' B&W short of the same time period. The same was true for Sparber's shorts, while Kneitel, as a former animator instead of story man, was more involved in the look and triming of his shorts.

So basically, I think Gordon's Famous cartoons are pretty good, but he's a director in a different sense than the other directors we're talking about.

[frizfrelengfan]

Didn't Tom Palmer team with Burt Gillett to make a series of cartoons at Van Beuren? Has anybody seen these? Are they any good?

[Pietro]

Didn't Tom Palmer team with Burt Gillett to make a series of cartoons at Van Beuren? Has anybody seen these? Are they any good?
Not really. While the cartoons themselves boast a fantastic use of colors they lack the spirit of the earlier Van Beuren cartoons and come off as cute and/or bland.

Things weren't much better behind the scenes. Veterans had a hard time adapting and Gillett kept on firing several members of the staff.

-Pietro:daffy:

[David Gerstein]

Kline's work sticks out like an sore thumb (instantly because of his trademark 'wonderland syndrome' (when a character(s) become a different size suddenly to suit a gag).Heh. I always enjoy our discussions of "wonderland syndrome". But are we right to blame it on the animators—even the bad ones?
The decision to have Woody hide inside, say, another character's ears and eyes (which absolutely requires Woody to change size disproportionately) would, I think, have been a decision taken by the story crew, who'd have come up with the gag, and the director (Paul J. Smith), who would then have the power to make the animators draw it even if they object.

"You WILL draw Woody at unlikely, shifting sizes!"
"But Boss, that doesn't make se— OWCH!" >Whip-KRACK!<

[Larry T]

"You WILL draw Woody at unlikely, shifting sizes!"
"But Boss, that doesn't make se— OWCH!" >Whip-KRACK!<Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha- (that's what the animator's job is like on a daily basis :D ... good one, David!)

I guess Paul Smith wasn't the only one with this tendency- Dick Lundy had a case of myopic distortion in "Drooler's Delight" (although "After The Ball" was pretty much one of the worst...)

[Matthew Hunter]

Yeesh...how harsh can ya get? I can't really pick on Rudy Larriva...I just CAN'T, because I like his Roadrunner cartoons too much. I admit it...I just can't hate them no matter how substandard they are. Why pick on the music? Do we think Chuck Jones' "Hook, Line and Stinker" is any less funny just because it uses canned music in the same fashion? I doubt Larriva could help the poor animation either....I'd blame Warner Bros. for the budget restrictions before I'd blame Larriva for the product of it. Those cartoons actually have some very memorable gags, too...don't knock them just because they're rough around the edges (and THAT I can't argue about, they DO look bad at times.) :coyote:

Now, Alex Lovy I can talk trash about all day long. I like the Lantz cartoons I've seen from him, and I like his Merlin and Cool Cat stuff for Warner Bros.. But what that man did to Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales is just unforgiveable all the way around. Granted, he took over a series that had died long before McKimson had finished with it, but he sure didn't seem to have any trouble flushing the toilet again to make sure it was completely down the tubes. Come on? Who wants to watch a fat Speedy Gonzales who doesn't even RUN? :speedy: Crappy, crappy animation too.

-Matthew

[angilbas]

Yeesh...how harsh can ya get? I can't really pick on Rudy Larriva...I just CAN'T, because I like his Roadrunner cartoons too much. I admit it...I just can't hate them no matter how substandard they are. Why pick on the music? Do we think Chuck Jones' "Hook, Line and Stinker" is any less funny just because it uses canned music in the same fashion? I doubt Larriva could help the poor animation either....I'd blame Warner Bros. for the budget restrictions before I'd blame Larriva for the product of it. Those cartoons actually have some very memorable gags, too...don't knock them just because they're rough around the edges (and THAT I can't argue about, they DO look bad at times.) :coyote:

Many of us are aware of the "Beep Beep the Road Runner" comic books, with their many speech balloons. From these, Larriva could have allowed :beepbeep: and :coyote: to be verbose, but he didn't. :)

Now, Alex Lovy I can talk trash about all day long. I like the Lantz cartoons I've seen from him, and I like his Merlin and Cool Cat stuff for Warner Bros.. But what that man did to Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales is just unforgiveable. Who wants to watch a fat Speedy Gonzales who doesn't even RUN? :speedy:

Give Speedy a wand, and you'd think he was Merlin.:rolleyes:


-Tony

[Cartman]

Now, Alex Lovy I can talk trash about all day long. I like the Lantz cartoons I've seen from him, and I like his Merlin and Cool Cat stuff for Warner Bros.. But what that man did to Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales is just unforgiveable all the way around. Granted, he took over a series that had died long before McKimson had finished with it, but he sure didn't seem to have any trouble flushing the toilet again to make sure it was completely down the tubes. Come on? Who wants to watch a fat Speedy Gonzales who doesn't even RUN? :speedy: Crappy, crappy animation too.

-Matthew
Yeah. I remember thos cartoons were played to death on Nickelodeon.:daffy: :speedy:
And Daffy's personality? Well his greediness was fine in the cartoons of the 50's and early 60's, but here he's downright nasty. Quite a change from the screwy little black duck that first appeared on screen with a certain stuttering pig.:ham:

[Nick]

Dick Lundy had a case of myopic distortion in "Drooler's Delight" (although "After The Ball" was pretty much one of the worst...) I agree. Since when is Woody small enough to live inside a bowling ball? Woodpeckers aren't even that small in reality. :woody:

Now, Alex Lovy I can talk trash about all day long. I like the Lantz cartoons I've seen from him, and I like his Merlin and Cool Cat stuff for Warner Bros.. But what that man did to Daffy Duck and Speedy Gonzales is just unforgiveable all the way around. Granted, he took over a series that had died long before McKimson had finished with it, but he sure didn't seem to have any trouble flushing the toilet again to make sure it was completely down the tubes. Come on? Who wants to watch a fat Speedy Gonzales who doesn't even RUN? :speedy: I think the Alex Lovy Daffy and Speedy cartoons are the worst WB cartoons ever made, with "See Ya Later Gladiator" being the absolute bottom of the barrel (but I kinda like "Fiesta Fiasco" which was a little funny, despite the really bad music and animation). I just can't see the point in reviving an already lame series... :daffy: :speedy:

[Larry T]

I agree. Since when is Woody small enough to live inside a bowling ball? Woodpeckers aren't even that small in reality.
Or a cuckoo clock, or in the barrel of a gun. http://members.rogers.com/kitty_face/images/WoodySmilie.gif

[Nick]

Or a cuckoo clock, or in the barrel of a gun. http://members.rogers.com/kitty_face/images/WoodySmilie.gif Woody's also small enough in "Romp In A Swamp" to fit on Gabby's (or rather Ali Gator's) snout.

http://lantz.goldenagecartoons.com/1950s/rompswamp03.jpg

As well as making Woody very small, it seems that Paul J. Smith made some characters ridiculously large. The fat cat in "Tree's A Crowd" is a good example, who can pick up the man in one scene, who was previously looking at Woody with a magnifying glass! Of course, Woody is his normal size when he's with the cat.

[Lee Glover]

IMO, Jack King is one of the worst directors of all time. It's not that his cartoons were bad, but his WB and Disney shorts were neither distinctive nor memorable.

Rudy Larriva's Roadrunner cartoons may not be as good as the originals, but at least the cartoons were far more enjoyable than the abysmal DFE Speedy & Daffy cartoons.

Paul Smith was an uninsipred director, but he still made enjoyable cartoons, especially the Woody cartoons made during the 1950's and early 60's.

[HannaBarberaFan]

This is hard. I might go with Rudy Larriva. His Wile Coyote/Roadrunner cartoons were just subpar to those of Chuck Jones.Ditto.

And y'know the BUGBEAR of the matter here IS: That LARRIVA was an ANIMATOR/DESIGNER under CHUCK JONES HIMSELF!!! Therefore, you'd expect that SOME kind of positive influence rubbed off on him! (As it did JONES artistes BAN WASHAM , ABE LEVITOW, & others in the JONES unit..)