Frank Tashlin
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Frank Tashlin (born Francis Fredrick von Taschlein, February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972), also known as Tish Tash and Frank Tash, was an American
animator An animator is an artist who creates multiple images, known as frames, which give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, and video gam ...
,
cartoonist A cartoonist is a visual artist who specializes in both drawing and writing cartoons (individual images) or comics (sequential images). Cartoonists differ from comics writers or comic book illustrators in that they produce both the literary and ...
,
children's writer Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...
,
illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...
,
screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...
, and
film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...
. He was best known for his work on the ''
Looney Tunes ''Looney Tunes'' is an American Animated cartoon, animated comedy short film series produced by Warner Bros. starting from 1930 to 1969, concurrently with its partner series ''Merrie Melodies'', during the golden age of American animation.
'' and ''
Merrie Melodies ''Merrie Melodies'' is an American animation, animated series of comedy short films produced by Warner Bros. starting in 1931, during the golden age of American animation, and ending in 1969. Then some new cartoons were produced from the late 197 ...
'' series of animated shorts for
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, as well as his work as a director of live-action
comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
s.


Animator and brief career as cartoonist

Born in
Weehawken, New Jersey Weehawken is a Township (New Jersey), township in the North Hudson, New Jersey, northern part of Hudson County, New Jersey, Hudson County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located largely on the Hudson Palisades overlooking the North River ...
, Tashlin drifted from job to job after dropping out of high school in
New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
at age 13. In 1930, he began working for John Foster as a cartoonist on the ''
Aesop's Fables Aesop's Fables, or the Aesopica, is a collection of fables credited to Aesop, a slave and storyteller believed to have lived in ancient Greece between 620 and 564 BCE. Of diverse origins, the stories associated with his name have descended to ...
'' cartoon series, then worked briefly for Amadee J. Van Beuren, but he was just as much a drifter in his animation career as he had been as a teenager. Tashlin joined
Leon Schlesinger Leon Schlesinger (May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, which later became the Warner Bros. Cartoons studio, during the Golden Age of American animation. He was a distant r ...
's
cartoon studio A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently animated, in an unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved over time, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or series of images ...
at
Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
as an animator in 1933, where he was known as a fast animator. He used his free time to start his own
comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...
in 1934 called ''Van Boring'', inspired by former boss Van Beuren, which ran for three years.Facebook fan page – https://www.facebook.com/pages/Van-Boring-He-Never-Says-a-Word/108739165850755 He signed his comic strip "Tish Tash," and used the same name for his cartoon credits (at the time it was considered extremely unprofessional to use anything except one's birth name among animators, but Tashlin was able to get away with this due to the anti-Germanic feelings of that era). Tashlin was fired from the studio when he refused to give Schlesinger a cut of his comic strip revenues. He joined the
Ub Iwerks Ubbe Ert Iwwerks (March 24, 1901 – July 7, 1971), known as Ub Iwerks ( ), was an American animator, cartoonist, character designer, inventor, and special effects technician. Born in Kansas City, Missouri, Iwerks grew up with a contentiou ...
studio in 1934. He moved to
Hal Roach Harry Eugene "Hal" Roach Sr.Randy Skretvedt, Skretvedt, Randy (2016), ''Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies'', Bonaventure Press. p.608. (January 14, 1892 – November 2, 1992) was an American film and television producer, director, a ...
's studio in 1935 as a writer. He returned to Schlesinger in 1936 as an animation director, where his diverse interest and knowledge of the industry brought a new understanding of camerawork to the Warners directors. "He used all different kinds of camera angles, montages, and pan shots, vertical and horizontal."Sigall (2005), p. 71 He directed 16 or 17 shorts from 1936 to 1938. He was making $150 a week. At one point he had an argument with studio manager Henry Binder and resigned. In 1938, he worked for
Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...
in the story department, where he made 50 dollars a week.Sigall (2005), p. 71 Afterward, he served as production manager at
Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production studio that is a member of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group, a division of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which is one of the Big Five studios and a subsidiary of the mu ...
'
Screen Gems Screen Gems is an American brand name used by Sony Pictures' Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group, a subsidiary of Japanese multinational conglomerate, Sony Group Corporation. It has served several different purposes for its parent ...
animation studio in 1941. He effectively ran the studio and hired many former Disney staffers who had left as a result of the
Disney animators' strike The Disney animators' strike in 1941 reflected anger at inequities of pay and privileges at the non-unionized Walt Disney Productions. Walt Disney responded to the five-week strike by firing many of his animators, but was eventually pressured i ...
. He launched The Fox and the Crow series, one of the better products of the studio. He was fired over an argument with the executives of Columbia. Tashlin rejoined the Warner directors of "Termite Terrace" in 1942.Sigall (2005), pp. 71–72 One of his directorial efforts was ''
Porky Pig's Feat ''Porky Pig's Feat'' is a 1943 Warner Bros. '' Looney Tunes'' animated cartoon directed by Frank Tashlin. It was released on July 17, 1943, and stars Porky Pig and Daffy Duck. Directed by Frank Tashlin with musical direction by Carl Stalling ...
'' (1943). He stayed with the studio during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and worked on numerous wartime shorts, including the ''
Private Snafu Private Snafu is the title character of a series of black-and-white American instructional adult animated shorts, ironic and humorous in tone, that were produced between 1943 and 1945 during World War II. The films were designed to instruct servi ...
'' educational films. Shortly after he left Warner Bros. in late 1944, he directed some stop-motion puppet films for John Sutherland in 1946.http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm
Robert McKimson 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 DePa ...
took over his unit after his departure from the studio. His only
Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring roles in the '' Looney Tunes'' and '' ...
shorts were ''
The Unruly Hare ''The Unruly Hare'' is a 1945 Warner Bros. cartoon in the ''Merrie Melodies'' series directed by Frank Tashlin and written by Melvin Millar. The cartoon was released on February 10, 1945 and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The film was one of on ...
'' and ''
Hare Remover ''Hare Remover'' is a ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon starring Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd, released in 1946. The film was the second Bugs Bunny cartoon to be directed by Frank Tashlin, the first being '' The Unruly Hare'' (1945).Sigall (2005), p. 73 It ...
''. The latter was also his last credit at Warner Bros.Sigall (2005), p. 73
Martha Sigall Martha Goldman Sigall (April 17, 1917 – December 13, 2014) was an American inker and painter who worked in the Hollywood animation industry for 53 years. Sigall moved to California from Buffalo, New York, in 1926 and by chance lived around the ...
described him as "Here today, gone tomorrow. Now you see him, now you don't. That was Frank Tashlin, who would be working at Leon Schlesinger's one day, and, suddenly, gone the next day."Sigall (2005), p. 70


Film director and writer

Tashlin moved on from animation in 1946 to become a gag writer for the
Marx Brothers The Marx Brothers were an American family comedy act that was successful in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in motion pictures from 1905 to 1949. Five of the Marx Brothers' thirteen feature films were selected by the American Film Institute (AFI) ...
,
Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball (August 6, 1911 – April 26, 1989) was an American actress, comedienne and producer. She was nominated for 13 Primetime Emmy Awards, winning five times, and was the recipient of several other accolades, such as the Golden ...
, and others, and as a screenwriter for stars such as
Bob Hope Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was a British-American comedian, vaudevillian, actor, singer and dancer. With a career that spanned nearly 80 years, Hope appeared in more than 70 short and feature films, with 5 ...
and
Red Skelton Richard Red Skelton (July 18, 1913September 17, 1997) was an American entertainer best known for his national radio and television shows between 1937 and 1971, especially as host of the television program ''The Red Skelton Show''. He has stars ...
. His live-action films still echo elements of his animation background; Tashlin peppered them with unlikely
sight gag In comedy, a visual gag or sight gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. The gag may involve a physical impossibility or an unexpected occurrence. The humor is caused by alternative interpretation ...
s, breakneck pacing, and unexpected plot twists. Tashlin began his career directing feature films when he was asked to finish directing the 1951 film ''
The Lemon Drop Kid ''The Lemon Drop Kid'' is a 1951 American comedy film based on the short story of the same name by Damon Runyon, starring Bob Hope and Marilyn Maxwell. Although Sidney Lanfield is credited as the director, Frank Tashlin reportedly was hired, u ...
'' starring Bob Hope. Beginning with the 1956 film ''
The Girl Can't Help It ''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay ...
'', with its satirical look at early rock and roll, Tashlin had a streak of commercial successes with the
Martin and Lewis Martin and Lewis were an American comedy duo, comprising singer Dean Martin and comedian Jerry Lewis. They met in 1945 and debuted at Atlantic City's 500 Club on July 25, 1946; the team lasted ten years to the day. Before they teamed up, Martin w ...
film '' Hollywood or Bust'' in 1956, ''
Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' is a 1957 American satirical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield and Tony Randall, with Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams, Henry Jones, Lili Gentle, and Mickey Hargitay, and with a cameo by Groucho M ...
'' in 1957, which, like 1956's ''
The Girl Can't Help It ''The Girl Can't Help It'' is a 1956 American musical comedy film starring Jayne Mansfield in the titular role, Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Henry Jones, and Julie London. The picture was produced and directed by Frank Tashlin, with a screenplay ...
'', starred actress and ''
Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...
'' model
Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...
, and six of
Jerry Lewis Jerry Lewis (born Joseph Levitch; March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, singer, filmmaker and humanitarian. As his contributions to comedy and charity made him a global figure in popular culture, pop culture ...
' early solo films (''
Rock-A-Bye Baby "Rock-a-bye baby in the tree top" (sometimes "Hush-a-bye baby in the tree top") is a nursery rhyme and lullaby. It has a Roud Folk Song Index number of 2768. Words First publication The rhyme is believed to have first appeared in print in ...
'', ''
The Geisha Boy ''The Geisha Boy'' is a 1958 American comedy film starring Jerry Lewis, distributed by Paramount Pictures. Filmed from June 16 to August 7, 1958, it had its first screening in New York City on December 19, 1958. This motion picture featured th ...
'', ''
Cinderfella ''Cinderfella'' is a 1960 American semi-musical comedy film adaptation of the classic ''Cinderella'' story, with most characters changed in gender from female to male and starring Jerry Lewis as Fella. It was released on November 22, 1960 by P ...
'', ''
It's Only Money ''It's Only Money'' is a 1962 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis and was released by Paramount Pictures. It was the final film of Zachary Scott. Plot Lester March is a 25-year-old orphan who is an electroni ...
'', ''
Who's Minding the Store? ''Who's Minding the Store?'' is a 1963 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Jerry Lewis, Jill St. John, Agnes Moorehead, Ray Walston, Kathleen Freeman, and John McGiver. It was released on November 28, 1963, by Paramou ...
'', and ''
The Disorderly Orderly ''The Disorderly Orderly'' is a 1964 American comedy film released by Paramount Pictures, and starring Jerry Lewis. The film was produced by Paul Jones with a screenplay by director Frank Tashlin, based on a story by Norm Liebermann and Ed Haas ...
''). Moreover, in the 1950s Tashlin came to the approving attention of French film magazine ''
Cahiers du Cinéma ''Cahiers du Cinéma'' (, ) is a French film magazine co-founded in 1951 by André Bazin, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze, and Joseph-Marie Lo Duca.Itzkoff, Dave (9 February 2009''Cahiers Du Cinéma Will Continue to Publish''The New York TimesMacnab, Ge ...
'', in reviews that the director dismissed as "all this philosophical double-talk." Also, the broad, colorful satire of
Madison Avenue Madison Avenue is a north-south avenue in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, United States, that carries northbound one-way traffic. It runs from Madison Square (at 23rd Street) to meet the southbound Harlem River Drive at 142nd Stre ...
advertising in ''Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' earned the film a place on the
National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception i ...
in 2000. In 2014, his stop-motion animation short '' The Way of Peace'' was also added to the Registry. In the 1960s, Tashlin's films lost some of their spark, and his career ended in the latter part of that decade, along with those of most of the stars with whom he had worked. His final film was ''
The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell ''The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell'' is a 1968 American comedy film directed by Frank Tashlin and starring Bob Hope, Phyllis Diller, and Jeffrey Hunter. It was the final film for Tashlin, who died in 1972. Plot Master Sergeant Dan O'Farrell ...
'' starring Bob Hope and
Phyllis Diller Phyllis Ada Diller (née Driver; July 17, 1917 – August 20, 2012) was an American stand-up comedian, actress, author, musician, and visual artist, best known for her eccentric stage persona, self-deprecating humor, wild hair and clothes, and e ...
in 1968.


Author

Tashlin wrote and illustrated three books, '' The Bear That Wasn't'' (1946), ''The Possum That Didn't'' (1950), and ''The World That Isn't'' (1951).Sigall (2005), p. 73 These are often referred to as "children's books" although all contained satirical elements; ''The Bear That Wasn't'' was adapted as an animated cartoon by Tashlin's former Warner Bros. colleague,
Chuck Jones Charles Martin Jones (September 21, 1912 – February 22, 2002) was an American animator, director, and painter, best known for his work with Warner Bros. Cartoons on the ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Melodies'' series of shorts. He wrote, produ ...
, in 1967. Another children's story which Tashlin wrote in 1949 was recorded by
Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader specializing in spoof arrangements of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment were punctuated with gun ...
: ''How the Circus Learned to Smile''. Tashlin also wrote and self-published an instructional booklet entitled ''How to Create Cartoons'' (about cartoon drawing, not animation) in 1952.


Death

Tashlin died at
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...
in Los Angeles after being stricken with a
coronary thrombosis Coronary thrombosis is defined as the formation of a blood clot inside a blood vessel of the heart. This blood clot may then restrict blood flow within the heart, leading to heart tissue damage, or a myocardial infarction, also known as a heart at ...
three days before at his Beverly Hills home. He is buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from ...
.


Filmography


Cartoon shorts


Feature films


Sources

*


References


External links

*
Senses of Cinema: Great Directors Critical Database



"Private SNAFU – The Home Front", 1943 cartoon directed by Tashlin, viewable online


* ttp://www.virtual-history.com/movie/person/4096/frank-tashlin Literature on Frank Tashlin
''How to Create Cartoons''


{{DEFAULTSORT:Tashlin, Frank 1913 births 1972 deaths American animators American children's writers American children's book illustrators American comics artists American male screenwriters Screenwriters from New Jersey Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Film directors from New Jersey People from Weehawken, New Jersey 20th-century American screenwriters Articles containing video clips Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. Cartoons directors Deaths from coronary thrombosis 20th-century American male writers