View source for Robert McKimson

{{Short description|American animator (1910–1977)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = 
| image              = McKimsonEarly30s.jpg
| caption            = Robert McKimson, early 1930s
| birth_name         = Robert Porter McKimson
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1910|10|13}}
| birth_place        = [[Denver, Colorado]], U.S.
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1977|9|29|1910|10|13}}
| death_place        = [[Burbank, California]], U.S.
| employer           = [[Walt Disney Productions]] (1929–1930)<br>[[Romer Grey]] Studio (1930)<br />[[Harman and Ising]] (1930–1933)<br />Leon Schlesinger Productions/[[Warner Bros. Cartoons]] (1933–1963)<br />Cascade Studios (1953)<br>[[DePatie-Freleng Enterprises]] (1963–1968; 1969–1977)<br>[[Warner Bros.-Seven Arts]] (1968–1969)
| occupation         = Animator, illustrator
| years_active       = 1929–1977
| other_names        = Bob McKimson<br />Buck McKimson
| spouse             = Viola McKimson (d. 1963)
| children           = 2
}}

'''Robert Porter McKimson Sr.''' (October 13, 1910 – September 29, 1977) was an American [[animator]] and [[illustrator]], best known for his work on the ''[[Looney Tunes]]'' and ''[[Merrie Melodies]]'' series of cartoons from [[Warner Bros. Cartoons]] and later [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]]. He wrote and directed many animated cartoon shorts starring [[Bugs Bunny]], [[Daffy Duck]], [[Porky Pig]], [[Foghorn Leghorn]], [[Hippety Hopper]], [[Speedy Gonzales]], and the [[Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)|Tasmanian Devil]], among other characters. He also [[Development of Bugs Bunny|developed Bugs Bunny's design]] in the 1943 short ''[[Tortoise Wins by a Hare]]''.

== Early life==
After he was born in [[Denver]], [[Colorado]], on October 13, 1910, McKimson's family variously lived in [[Wray, Colorado]], Los Angeles, and [[Canadian, Texas]], before settling in Los Angeles in 1926.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Baxter |first=Devon |date=April 13, 2016 |title=Robert McKimson's 'Daffy Doodles' (1946) |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/robert-mckimsons-daffy-doodles-1946/ |access-date=2023-07-14 |website=[[Cartoon Research]]}}</ref>{{sfn|McKimson Jr.|2012|pp=19-20}} From 1927 to 1928, McKimson and his brother [[Thomas McKimson|Tom]] illustrated a prospective children's book written by their mother titled ''Mouse Tales'', the characters of which were notably similar to those of [[Walt Disney]] cartoons (e.g. [[Mickey Mouse]]). These drawings entered storage in the 1930s, resurfacing six decades later.{{sfn|McKimson Jr.|2012|pp=18, 20-21}}

==Career==
In mid-1929, Robert was offered a job at [[Walt Disney Animation Studios|Walt Disney Studio]] as an assistant animator to [[Dick Lundy (animator)|Dick Lundy]], while Tom apprenticed under [[Norm Ferguson (animator)|Norm Ferguson]].<ref name=":0" /> According to Tom, Disney animators attending [[Otis Art Institute]] with him recommended him, while Robert said they were hired after an aunt from Denver met Disney at a party.{{sfn|McKimson Jr.|2012|pp=23-24}} According to Robert, the studio included less than 30 people, comprising nine animators, each with one assistant. After three months, the brothers received a raise from $18 to $25.{{sfn|McKimson Jr.|2012|pp=23-24}} Despite little extant evidence, Lundy corroborated that the McKimsons worked for Disney.<ref name=":0" />

In 1930, the brothers were offered a higher salary at an [[Altadena]] studio planned by [[Romer Grey]], the oldest son of Western author [[Zane Grey]].<ref name=":0" /> The Romer Grey Studio produced several cartoons, four featuring Binko the Bear Cub, developed by the McKimsons and bearing strong similarities to Mickey Mouse.{{sfn|McKimson Jr.|2012|pp=25-27}} Due to the [[Great Depression]], Grey's studio was unable to close a distribution deal. No shorts were released, with only a handful completed (and only one known to survive).<ref name="baxter">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xogics|title=Drawn to Life: The Art of Robert McKimson|date=February 8, 2012 |access-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220122221452/https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xogics|archive-date= January 22, 2022 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="legacy" />

At the same time he began working for Grey, McKimson was hired by [[Harman and Ising|Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising]], first doing ink-and-paint duties for the first ''[[Looney Tunes]]'', then becoming an [[Animator#Inbetweeners and cleanup artists|in-betweener]] before becoming an animator by 1931, when the Romer Grey Studio shut down. At that time he had an accident that gave him a concussion. As a result, he was able to visualize better,<ref name="baxter" /> thus increasing his production and animation. He was the head animator and go-to guy in the late 1930s at the studio, which overwhelmed him. Eventually he worked exclusively with [[Bob Clampett]].<ref name="baxter" /><ref name="Michael Barrier.com-Interviews: Robert McKimson">{{cite web |first=Michael |last=Barrier |author-link=Michael Barrier |url=http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/McKimson/McKimson.html |title=Interviews: Robert McKimson |website=Michael Barrier.com |date=February 24, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616031748/http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/McKimson/McKimson.html|archive-date= June 16, 2013}}</ref> He was offered a directorial position by [[Leon Schlesinger]] in 1938, but declined, allowing the position to go to animator [[Chuck Jones]].<ref name="Michael Barrier.com-Interviews: Robert McKimson" /> He eventually accepted his own directorial position in late 1944, when [[Frank Tashlin]] left Warner Bros. to direct live-action films.<ref name="Michael Barrier.com-Feedback: Frank Tashlin Interview">{{Cite web|url=http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm|title=MichaelBarrier.com -- Interviews: Frank Tashlin|website=www.michaelbarrier.com|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220715224603/http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm|archive-date=July 15, 2022}}</ref>

[[File:Pop im Pop.png|thumb|A still of a scene taken from the 1950 Hippety Hopper/Sylvester short ''[[Pop 'im Pop!]]''  animated by [[Bill Melendez]]. This cartoon also introduced Sylvester's son, Sylvester Junior.]]
McKimson's first Warner Bros. cartoon that he finished, ''The Return of Mr. Hook,'' was released in 1945 exclusively for the [[U.S. Navy]]. His first theatrical short, ''[[Daffy Doodles]]'', was released in early April 1946. His third theatrical short entitled ''[[Acrobatty Bunny]]'' would be the first [[Bugs Bunny]] short McKimson directed. It was released in June 1946. His better-known efforts include ''[[Hillbilly Hare]]'', {{Nowrap|''[[A-Lad-In His Lamp]]''}}, ''[[Stupor Duck]]'', ''[[The Windblown Hare]]'', ''[[Walky Talky Hawky]]'', and ''[[Big Top Bunny]]''.

McKimson created characters like [[Foghorn Leghorn]] and the [[Tasmanian Devil (Looney Tunes)|Tasmanian Devil]], as well as directing every [[Hippety Hopper]]/[[Sylvester the Cat|Sylvester]] pairing. He also created [[Speedy Gonzales]] for the 1953 short ''[[Cat-Tails for Two]]'' and directed many others periodically (along with [[Friz Freleng]] and other directors) for the remainder of his theatrical career.<ref name="baxter" /><ref>{{Cite news |last=McKimson |first=Robert Jr. |date=January 15, 2013 |title=Book Shows Creation Of Beloved Cartoon Foghorn Leghorn (PHOTOS) |work=[[HuffPost]] |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/cartoon-book_b_2124197 |access-date=October 16, 2020}}</ref>

In June 1953, the Warner Bros. cartoon studio was shut down for a period of six months due to the 3-D fad at the time, which Jack Warner found to be too costly a process to use for animated cartoons. McKimson's unit however was disbanded entirely two months before the shutdown.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Yowp |date=2014-09-06 |title=Tralfaz: The Shutdown |url=https://tralfaz.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-shutdown.html |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=Tralfaz}}</ref> He would make an [[Oldsmobile]] commercial at Cascade Studios around this time.

After the studio {{Nowrap|re-opened}}, Freleng and Jones quickly {{Nowrap|re-assembled}} their respective units, but there was no indication if McKimson and his unit would be brought back. McKimson was able to convince Warner Bros. to reopening his unit, at the cost of working with less resources and lesser money. Apart from writer [[Tedd Pierce]], background painter Richard H. Thomas and animator Keith Darling (who worked uncredited for McKimson prior to the 1953 closure), he was unable to hire back most of his animators, including [[Rod Scribner]] and his own brother [[Charles McKimson|Charles]]. At the start of this period, McKimson animated on four of his own shorts, ''[[The Hole Idea]]'' (in fact, he was the sole animator credited on that film), ''[[Dime to Retire]]'', ''[[Too Hop to Handle]]'' (along with uncredited work from Jones' animator [[Ben Washam]]), and ''[[Weasel Stop]]'' (where McKimson had no animation credit).<ref>{{Cite news|title=Hollywood cartoons : American animation in its golden age|last=Barrier|first=Michael|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=1999|pages=537–538|author-link=Michael Barrier}}</ref> Soon, McKimson assembled a new team of artists, including layout man/background painter [[Robert Gribbroek]] (formerly of Jones's unit) plus animators [[Warren Batchelder]], Ted Bonnicksen, George Grandpré and [[Tom Ray]]. Russ Dyson briefly worked with McKimson in 1956 until Dyson's death that year.

McKimson's office in Warner Bros.'s "Termite Terrace" studio was on the second floor.<ref name=research>{{cite web |first=Kamden |last=Spies |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/remembering-the-mckimsons-a-chat-with-robert-mckimson-jr/ |title=Remembering the McKimson's: A Chat with Robert McKimson Jr. |website=Cartoon Research |date=June 29, 2020 }}</ref>

== Later career ==
McKimson continued working at Warner's Cartoon Studio as it began to lose staff (including such key personnel as Jones) in the early 1960s. According to an interview with his son, he generally did not like how things were going at the studio and missed full animation, as well as disliking the new characters in the new shorts.<ref name=research />  Over this time, he directed his share of shorts and worked on the feature ''[[The Incredible Mr. Limpet]]'' with [[Hawley Pratt]], taking over the role of director from [[Bill Tytla]] due to his illness.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Animated Movie Guide |last=Beck |first=Jerry |year=2005 |isbn=9781569762226 |pages=122|publisher=Chicago Review Press }}</ref><ref>[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/the-incredible-mr-limpet-and-another-disney-mermaid-on-records/ “The Incredible Mr. Limpet” – and Another Disney ‘Mermaid’ – on Records]</ref>

After the studio closed, he joined [[DePatie–Freleng Enterprises]], {{Nowrap|co-owned}} by his old associate Friz Freleng and [[David H. DePatie]], who had been a producer at the Warners studio. At DePatie–Freleng, McKimson briefly worked in Freleng's unit directing several ''[[The Inspector]]'' shorts and working on some of the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' contracted out to DePatie–Freleng by Warner Bros.

In 1967, Warner opened its animation studio again, with all cartoons directed by [[Alex Lovy]]. After Lovy left, McKimson re-joined the studio, in 1968. According to his son Robert McKimson, Jr., McKimson "hated" the cartoons he directed at Warner Bros.-Seven Arts, which suffered from restricted budgets, and he was forbidden from using Bugs Bunny in his cartoons.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/remembering-the-mckimsons-a-chat-with-robert-mckimson-jr/ | title=Remembering the McKimson's: A Chat with Robert McKimson Jr. &#124; }}</ref> The studio was shut down again in 1969.

McKimson's last Warner Bros. cartoon was ''[[Injun Trouble (1969 film)|Injun Trouble]]'' with [[Cool Cat (Looney Tunes)|Cool Cat]]. It was shortlisted for an [[Academy Award]], but wasn't nominated.<ref name=legacy/><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1969/ |title=Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1969 |date=2017-09-25 |access-date=2022-06-23 |last=Beck |first=Jerry}}</ref> ''Injun Trouble'' was also the last of the original ''Looney Tunes'' or ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon to be produced before the Warner Bros. cartoon studio was closed. McKimson was the one person to be at the studio from the start of the Looney Tunes series through its finish in 1969, first as an animator and then as a director.

After a sabbatical, he went back to DePatie–Freleng in 1972 to direct ''[[The Pink Panther Show]]'' shorts, among their other series.

== Death ==
On the morning of September 27, 1977, McKimson's doctor declared him in good health for a 66-year-old (despite having a case of [[emphysema]] after years of smoking), and, according to Freleng, McKimson then referred to his family history of living past 90 and bragged, "I'm going to be around after you guys are gone!" On September 29, McKimson suffered a sudden [[myocardial infarction|heart attack]] and died, at age 66. At the time of his death, he had recently completed directing ''[[Misterjaw]]'' and had begun work on ''[[Baggy Pants and the Nitwits]]''.<ref>{{cite web |first=Kevin |last=McCorry |url=http://www.kevinmccorrytv.ca/1999mckimson.html |title=Remembering Robert McKimson |website=Kevin McCorry }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=The Case for Robert McKimson|url=https://www.animationmagazine.net/top-stories/the-case-for-robert-mckimson/|last=Mallory|first=Michael|date=April 12, 2012|access-date=October 16, 2020|work=[[Animation Magazine]]}}</ref><ref name=legacy>{{Cite magazine |title=Robert McKimson's Legacy |date=November 1991 |magazine=Comics Scene |last=Mallory |first=Michael |pages=14–19 |issue=22}}</ref>

McKimson was buried at [[Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)|Forest Lawn Cemetery]] in [[Glendale, California]].

== Personal life ==
McKimson's wife, Viola, died in 1963.<ref name="Michael Barrier.com-Interviews: Robert McKimson" /> In addition to being an animator, McKimson was a skilled horseman and polo player, a dedicated bowler, and a Master [[Freemasonry|Mason]]. He played polo from 1932 until after the outbreak of war in 1942.<ref name=research /> In addition to his brothers Tom and Charles, their two sisters, Anabel and Aylce McKimson, also worked as animators.<ref name="Michael Barrier.com-Interviews: Robert McKimson" /><ref name=relative>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cogenweb.com/yuma/data/newspaper/McKimson.htm|title=Robert McKimson|website=cogenweb.com|access-date=April 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200213093539/http://www.cogenweb.com/yuma/data/newspaper/McKimson.htm|archive-date=February 13, 2020}}</ref><ref name=research /> Charles was frequently part of McKimson's unit at Warner Bros.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

=== Sources ===

* {{Cite book |last=McKimson Jr. |first=Robert |title="I Say, I Say ... Son!": A Tribute to Legendary Animators Bob, Chuck, and Tom McKimson |publisher=Santa Monica Press |year=2012 |isbn=978-1-59580-069-5}}

== External links ==

{{Commons category}}
* [https://www.lambiek.net/artists/m/mckimson_bob.htm Lambiek Comiclopedia article]
* {{IMDb name|id=0571781|name=Robert McKimson}}

{{Robert McKimson}}
{{Winsor McCay Award 1980s}}
{{Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKimson, Robert}}
[[Category:1910 births]]
[[Category:1977 deaths]]
[[Category:Artists from Denver]]
[[Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)]]
[[Category:Walt Disney Animation Studios people]]
[[Category:Warner Bros. Cartoons people]]
[[Category:American Freemasons]]
[[Category:American animated film directors]]
[[Category:American comedy film directors]]
[[Category:Parody film directors]]
[[Category:American parodists]]
[[Category:American character designers]]
[[Category:20th-century American people]]