Michael Maltese
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Michael Maltese (February 6, 1908 – February 22, 1981) was an American screenwriter and storyboard artist for classic
animated cartoon Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animati ...
shorts. He is best known for working in the 1950s on a series of '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoons with director
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...
. This collaboration produced many highly acclaimed animated shorts, including 4 of the top 5 "greatest cartoons" as judged by 1000 animation professionals; '' What's Opera, Doc?'' tops this list as the best animated short of all time.


Early life

The son of Italian immigrants, Maltese graduated from the National Academy of Design. He married Florence Sass in April 1936; writer
Warren Foster Warren Foster (October 24, 1904 – December 13, 1971) was an American writer, cartoonist and composer. He was best known for his work at Warner Bros. Cartoons, contributing prominently (mostly stories) towards the Looney Tunes, ''Looney ...
served as best man."Comics by Michael Maltese"
''Cartoon Research'' (January 25, 2017) July 12, 2017


Career

Michael Maltese began his career in animation as a cel painter at Fleischer Studios in 1935. A year later, he was fired for quickly moving himself up position after being promoted to an assistant animator. After a brief stint at the Jam Handy Organization, Maltese was hired by Leon Schlesinger Productions in April 1937 as an in-betweener, and later a storyman due to everyone laughing at his jokes. Maltese would first appear on camera in the 1940
Porky Pig Porky Pig is a cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of cartoons. He was the first character created by the studio to draw audiences based on his celebrity, star power, and the animators created man ...
cartoon '' You Ought to Be in Pictures'' as a live-action guard at the Warner Bros. entrance gate, who winds up chasing the animated Porky around the Warners lot. The first cartoon he was credited for Warner's was '' The Haunted Mouse'' (1941) by
Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...
, although he wrote rejected gags for '' The Timid Toreador''. Maltese, typically in collaboration with Tedd Pierce, would provide most of the stories for directors Friz Freleng and
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, painter, voice actor and filmmaker, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He ...
from 1943 to 1946, following which he dissolved his partnership with Pierce and mainly worked with Jones. He and Jones collaborated on cartoons like the
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
–winning '' For Scent-imental Reasons'' (1949), featuring the character Pepé Le Pew, and the animated public health documentary, '' So Much for So Little'' (1949) which won that same year for "Best Documentary Short Subject". Maltese was also the voice of the Lou Costello-esque character in '' Wackiki Wabbit'' (1943) and the
Benito Mussolini Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini (29 July 188328 April 1945) was an Italian politician and journalist who, upon assuming office as Prime Minister of Italy, Prime Minister, became the dictator of Fascist Italy from the March on Rome in 1922 un ...
duck in '' The Ducktators'' (1942). Some of his earlier works include '' The Wabbit Who Came to Supper'' and '' Fresh Hare'', '' Hare Trigger'' (which introduced Yosemite Sam) and '' Baseball Bugs'' for Freleng and '' Bear Feat'', '' Rabbit of Seville'', '' A Pest in the House'', and '' Rabbit Fire'' for Jones. Some of his best-known cartoons are '' Feed the Kitty'', '' Beep, Beep'', '' Rabbit Seasoning'', '' Don't Give Up the Sheep'', '' Duck Amuck'', '' Bully for Bugs'', '' Bewitched Bunny'', '' From A to Z-Z-Z-Z'', and '' Beanstalk Bunny'', all of which were directed by Jones. He also wrote '' One Froggy Evening'', the first appearance of future Warner Brothers mascot Michigan J. Frog. Some of his later Warner cartoons included '' Ali Baba Bunny'', '' Robin Hood Daffy'', the seminal '' What's Opera, Doc?'' and '' Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century'' for Jones, '' Rabbit Romeo'' and '' Fox-Terror'' for Robert McKimson and '' Person to Bunny'' (the final occasion Arthur Q. Bryan voiced
Elmer Fudd Elmer J. Fudd is an animated cartoon character in the Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes''/''Merrie Melodies'' series and the archenemy of Bugs Bunny. Elmer Fudd's aim is to hunt Bugs, but he usually ends up seriously injuring himself and other antag ...
) and '' Here Today, Gone Tamale'' (the only Speedy Gonzales cartoon he ever wrote) for Freleng. Following the shuttering of Jones's unit in 1953 (at the height of the 3-D craze), Maltese was hired by Walter Lantz Productions as writer of some
Woody Woodpecker Woody Woodpecker is a cartoon character that appeared in theatrical short films produced by the Walter Lantz Productions, Walter Lantz Studio and Universal Animation Studios, Universal Animation Studio and distributed by Universal Pictures sinc ...
cartoons: '' Helter Shelter'', '' Witch Crafty'' (co-written with Homer Brightman), '' Real Gone Woody'', '' Square Shootin' Square'' and '' Bedtime Bedlam''. He also is the writer of Chilly Willy's
Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...
-nominated theatrical short '' The Legend of Rockabye Point'', directed by fellow Warner alumnus
Tex Avery Frederick Bean "Tex" Avery (; February 26, 1908 – August 26, 1980) was an American animator, cartoonist, animation director, director, and voice actor. He was known for directing and producing animated cartoons during the golden age of America ...
. Jones's unit would be resurrected early in 1954, with Maltese departing Lantz to rejoin his longtime collaborator several months afterwards; Maltese's first post-shutdown Warner credits by release would be on '' Rocket-Bye Baby'' and '' Gee Whiz-z-z-z-z-z-z'', a Road Runner short. Maltese departed Jones's unit for the second and final time in 1958, with his final credit appearing on 1961's ''The Mouse on 57th Street''. From 1958 until 1972, he worked at
Hanna-Barbera Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ; formerly known as H-B Enterprises, Hanna-Barbera Productions, Inc. and H-B Production Co.), simply and commonly known as Hanna-Barbera, was an American animation studio and production company, which was acti ...
Productions on television cartoons such as '' The Yogi Bear Show'', '' The Quick Draw McGraw Show'', ''
The Flintstones ''The Flintstones'' is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera, Hanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the R ...
'', and '' Wacky Races''. He wrote for a total of 200 storyboards for Hanna-Barbera. He briefly worked with Jones at Sib-Tower 12 Productions on writing ''
Tom and Jerry ''Tom and Jerry'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated media franchise and series of comedy short films created in 1940 by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. Best known for its 161 theatrical short films by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the series ...
'' shorts from 1963 to 1965. Maltese also wrote
comic books A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...
published by
Western Publishing Western Publishing, also known as Western Printing and Lithographing Company, was an American company founded in 1907 in Racine, Wisconsin, best known for publishing the Little Golden Books. Its Golden Books Family Entertainment division also ...
, including for many of the Warner Brothers and Hanna-Barbera characters whose animated exploits he scripted.


Death

Maltese died on February 22, 1981, at Los Angeles's Good Samaritan Hospital after a six-month bout with cancer, aged 73.Obituary
Reading Eagle, February 23, 1981.
His last work was in '' Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century'', released in 1980.


References

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External links

*
1940 census recordMichael Maltese Papers
at the American Heritage Center
Michael Maltese Papers Document Cartoon History
a
AHC blogs
{{DEFAULTSORT:Maltese, Michael 1908 births 1981 deaths 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American screenwriters American male screenwriters American people of Italian descent American storyboard artists Animation screenwriters Animators from New York (state) Artists from New York City Burials at San Fernando Mission Cemetery Deaths from cancer in California Hanna-Barbera people National Academy of Design alumni Screenwriters from New York (state) Walter Lantz Productions people Warner Bros. Cartoons people Warner Bros. people