Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide [Hardcover]

Jerry Beck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003 | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Looney Tunes

Featuring all the favorite Looney Tunes characters, from Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck to Roadrunner and Wile E. Coyote, this is the first visual history of the groundbreaking animated classics. Gathered from the Warner Bros. archives with illustrations by Chuck Jones, Tex Avery, and Mel Blanc, the film stills, sketches, story boards, and more in the Looney Tunes Ultimate Visual Guide are sure to enthrall cartoon fans both young and old.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN; 1st edition (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789497581
• ISBN-13: 978-0789497581
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 10.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #195,333 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jerry Beck is an animation historian and cartoon producer. His over fifteen books on the subject include The Animated Movie Guide, Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide and The 50 Greatest Cartoons. He is also co-founder/co-writer of the popular animation blog, Cartoon Brew.

Beck is a former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney, and is currently a consulting producer to Warner Bros., Universal and Disney for their classic animation dvd compilations. Beck has programmed retrospectives for the Annecy and Ottawa Animation Festivals, The Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. He has taught animation history at NYU, SVA, the AFI and UCLA. He is the host/producer of the annual "Worst Cartoons Ever" screening at the Comic-Con International: San Diego.

Beck started his career in film distribution, working at MGM/UA, Orion Classics, Cannon Films and Expanded Entertainment (Tournee of Animation), before starting his own company, Streamline Pictures in 1989, the first U.S. distributor to import anime features such as Otomo's Akira and Miyazaki's Laputa: Castle In The Sky. Beck was instrumental in launching Animation Magazine, and has written for The Hollywood Reporter and Variety. Beck was also the West Coast Bureau Chief for Kidscreen magazine in 2000. He has also created, written and produced animated films for various clients. His latest animation project, Hornswiggle, recently aired on the Nicktoons Network.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beck comes through!!!, October 4, 2003

By 

J. Smith "JThree" (Williston, North Dakota United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide (Hardcover)

Jerry Beck's Looney Tunes Book for DK Publishing comes through as a real winner. With more "in-jokes" than DK's previous Disney edition, this text is sure to please.

The work shows. From the (every character who appeared in a WB cartoon)painting/picture that appears on the inside cover to the comic book covers chosen, this is a fun read.

One of the best "jokes" and keeping with the personality of the characters, Daffy appears on the last page of the Bugs section, announcing that "this is where the real fun begins."

It's great. Some of the "extras" which include humerous sections on the Road Runner cartoons, and a mentioning of some of the gags used in those animated flicks.

Fun for the kids, and I'm sure Beck must have enjoyed putting this together. These books are great for the youngsters to get an overview of the history of WB, and the same for the Disney edition.

Beck also spends a bit of time on the new Looney Toons film coming up, and the recent Duck Dodgers series. It would have been nice if a few pages could have been spent on Tiny Toons, which did have some ties to the older characters. Two pages on Space Jam would have been nice.

Hmm. DK has done Disney and now Looney Tones, I wonder if DK will do Woody Woodpecker/Universal animation next. Maybe Paramount's Popeye. I'd hate for this one to be the last of these. ...

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect book for Warner Bros. cartoon fans, November 23, 2003

By 

Modrnknght (Hollywood, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide (Hardcover)

I have to admit I had reservations when I saw this at the store. I had not been impressed by the Superman volume or the other editions to come out under this series because so much of it was devoted to modern versions of the main characters. But this book is a visual treat, as well as being very informative about the history of the animated cartoon at Warner Bros. Many model sheets, cels, posters, etc. are here indepth throughout this wonderful volume.

Beck has written extensively about the WB cartoons before, so DK made a great choice in picking him for this book. Even though the targeted audience for this series is kids, the adult, like me, will love this beautifully put-together homage to the best cartoons to come out of Hollywood. I am so glad very little in this book talks about recent efforts; instead, they chose the Golden Age (the 30s, 40s, 50s) and I couldn't be happier.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Buy it for the ACME catalogue alone, August 14, 2004

By 

James N Simpson (Gold Coast, QLD Australia) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Looney Tunes: The Ultimate Visual Guide (Hardcover)

There seem to be numerous visual guides around by these publishers for all kinds of movies and television shows some of which are rather average, but Looney Tunes is a must have. Inside is a substantial amount of information on the major cartoon characters such as Bugs, Daffy, Taz, Sylvester, Yosemite, Wile E as well as minor less known stars such as Torpid Toad, Pete Puma, Cecil Tortoise and Gossamer. Learn that Daffy and Sylvester have the same voice, just that Daffy's is sped up and other interesting facts. The ACME catalogue is a must for any roadrunner chaser and modern movies with the cartoon characters is another interesting section. A must buy for anyone who has ever been a kid and owned a TV.