Maurice James Noble (May 1, 1911 – May 18, 2001) was an American animation production designer, background artist and layout designer whose contributions to the industry spanned more than 60 years. He was a long-time associate and right-hand man of animation director Chuck Jones, especially 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 ...

including Disney, MGM, Walter Lantz and Hanna-Barbera in the 1950s. His work contributed to such cartoon classics as ''

Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century ''Duck Dodgers in the th Century'' (spoken as "twenty-fourth-and-a-half") is a 1953 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on July 25, 1953, and stars Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodgers, ...

'', ''

What's Opera, Doc? ''What's Opera, Doc?'' is a 1957 American Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The story features Elmer cha ...

'' and the Road Runner series.

Early life and Disney years

Maurice Noble was born in Spooner Township, Minnesota. He spent much of his childhood in

New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ke ...

and

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

. In the early 1930s he attended the

Chouinard Art Institute The Chouinard Art Institute was a professional art school founded in 1921 by Nelbert Murphy Chouinard (1879–1969) in the Westlake neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. In 1961, Walt and Roy Disney guided the merger of the Chouinard Art I ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, and while there the Institute displayed his works in its first one-man show of watercolors. Having to leave Chouinard for financial reasons, he ended up doing design work for a department store. A

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 ...

scout recruited him around 1934, and he decided to accept the job since it paid $10 per month more than the department store did. Noble was put to work on backgrounds for the

Silly Symphonies ''Silly Symphony'' is an American animated series of 75 musical short films produced by Walt Disney Productions from 1929 to 1939. As the series name implies, the ''Silly Symphonies'' were originally intended as whimsical accompaniments to pieces ...

cartoon series. At that time the Disney backgrounds were required to be done in transparent

watercolor Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to ...

wash, which was technically difficult because correcting a mistake was usually impossible, requiring a full new attempt. ''

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

'' was the first feature-length film Noble worked on. This was followed by background work on other Disney features, notably the Rite of Spring sequence in '' Fantasia''. Noble also did story development for the Dance of the Hours in that film. For ''

Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...

'', he did color coordination and character design, including work on the pink elephant sequence. Noble joined 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 ...

in 1941; it lasted five weeks and became bitter. When he returned after the strike was settled, his office was moved to an ex-broomcloset and he was left without assignments. Soon he was laid off and his career at Disney was at an end. The outbreak of

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 opposing ...

led Noble to enlist in the Army Signal Corps. He was eventually assigned to a small unit headed by Ted Geisel (better known as

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Fox studios and under Col. Frank Capra. It worked on posters and booklets, and on a cartoon series called

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 ...

. The unit did the writing, storyboards, and background designs; the cartoon production was contracted out. Warner Bros. won the contract for Private Snafu, and the WB animation director Chuck Jones worked on the series. Following the war Noble did freelance work in the industry and then took a position doing art for a filmstrip production company in

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

The Warner Bros. years

Noble remained in St. Louis until 1950 when he was invited to come to

to do cartoon layout for Chuck Jones' group. This was the first time he had done layout, which consists of designing the background environment and, for each shot, the particular viewpoint. The layout drawings and colorations are then used by the background artist (often Philip DeGuard) to paint the final backgrounds (see ''Chuck Amuck'', p. 148 for an example). At Warner Bros., Noble worked with Jones for a decade, over which time the team did over 60 cartoons. Turning away from the realism of Disney backgrounds, Noble grew into styles using shape and color to define the space. The graphic look of his backgrounds could vary widely from film to film; he tried to make the backdrop fit the mood of the film. Noble says: :"I call it stepping into the picture. You look around and say, 'Gee, what's this all about, and does it feel right for this given picture?' And then you go ahead and design from that standpoint." The Jones unit worked with many of Warners characters:

Bugs Bunny Bugs Bunny is an animated cartoon character created in the late 1930s by Warner Bros. Cartoons, Leon Schlesinger Productions (later Warner Bros. Cartoons) and Voice acting, voiced originally by Mel Blanc. Bugs is best known for his starring role ...

Daffy Duck Daffy Duck is an animated cartoon character created for Leon Schlesinger Productions by animators Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Styled as an anthropomorphic black duck, he has appeared in cartoon series such as ''Looney Tunes'' and ''Merrie Mel ...

, Road Runner & Coyote. Noble's wide-open desert landscapes gave the Road Runner cartoons their characteristic spaciousness. The cartoons Noble designed at Warners include ''

'' (1957), a

parody of

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

Ring Cycle (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelun ...

that has been inducted into 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 ...

. Noble's futuristic settings enhance ''

'' (1953). Other cartoons included the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

nominees ''

From A to Z-Z-Z-Z ''From A to Z-Z-Z-Z'' is a 1954 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 16, 1954, and stars Ralph Phillips. Written by Michael Maltese and produced by Edward Selzer, it was a ...

'' (1954), '' High Note'' (1960), '' Beep Prepared'' (1961), ''

Nelly's Folly ''Nelly's Folly'' is a 1961 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon short written and directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on December 30, 1961. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1962. A singing g ...

'' (1961), and '' Now Hear This'' (1962). A break of about a year came during this period, when Noble spent time working on industrial films for John Sutherland's studio in the wake of Warner Bros. shutting down their cartoon unit, and did not return immediately upon the studio re-opening. In this period, Jones had his layouts created first by former Disney artist

Ernie Nordli Ernest Nordli (June 15, 1912 – April 22, 1968) was an American animation designer and layout artist, most notably for Walt Disney Studios. Biography He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah to Norwegian immigrant Hans Magnus Nordli (1884-1975) and ...

, who used an even more abstract (albeit less consistent) style than Noble, and then later by Noble's predecessor, Robert Gribbroek, who largely discarded the styles used by Noble and Nordli, and reverted to the look of Jones' earlier cartoons. Eventually, Jones coaxed Noble into returning to

, and the two men would work together for the next few decades. In the early 1960s, Noble started receiving co-director credit on a number of the Jones-unit productions. This reflected his increased involvement in many phases of the creation process beyond just the layouts, pulling things together and ironing out rough spots.

MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
and
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Chuck Jones was sacked by
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 ...
, Noble left
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 ...
and joined Jones at Tower 12 Productions (also called Sib-Tower 12). This new company had a contract with
MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
, and eventually became the animation unit of MGM. The bread-and-butter work for the first couple of years was producing cartoons starring MGM's
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 c ...
characters, but there were an assortment of other projects. One was ''The Incredible Mr. Limpet'' (1964), a combined live action & animation feature. Noble co-directed '' The Dot and the Line'' (1965) which won the
Oscar Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology) ...
for short subject (cartoon). He also designed the 1970 feature ''
The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a Juvenile fantasy, children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961 in literature, 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who ...
''. Noble started working again with Ted Geisel for the first time since the war, responsible for the designs used in the TV feature ''
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...
'' (1966). He later did design and layout work on a number of other
Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' MGM Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., also known as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures and abbreviated as MGM, is an American film, television production, distribution and media company owned by Amazon through MGM Holdings, founded on April 17, 1924 a ...
(''
Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whovi ...
'' (1970)), and then at the DePatie-Freleng studios (e.g. ''
The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red b ...
'' (1971), '' The Lorax'' (1972), '' Dr. Seuss on the Loose'' (1973)).

Later years
In the late 1970s and most of the 1980s, Noble largely withdrew from work in the animation industry to pursue other interests. These included producing fine art, particularly hand-pulled
silkscreen Screen printing is a printing technique where a mesh is used to transfer ink (or dye) onto a substrate, except in areas made impermeable to the ink by a blocking stencil. A blade or squeegee is moved across the screen to fill the open me ...
prints. In 1987, he received a lifetime achievement Annie Award (from the International Animation Society) for his contributions over the previous 50 years. About 1989, Noble did development work on Steven Spielberg's ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'', and did writing and design for the "Duck Dodgers Jr." in an episode of "The Return of the Acme Acres Zone" (1990). In the mid-1990s, Noble rejoined Jones at Chuck Jones Film Productions, serving as art director on ''
Chariots of Fur ''Chariots of Fur'' is a seven-minute '' Looney Tunes'' short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who introduced the pair in 1949. As in other shorts of the Road Runner ...
'' (1994) and color consultant on several other productions, including '' Pullet Surprise''. While at the Jones studio, Noble began supervising, training, and mentoring young artists just out of (or still in) school. These artists came to be known as the 'Noble boys and girls'. Many of them became involved in "Noble Tales," a planned series of animated shorts based on folk tales. One such film was '' Al Tudi Tuhak'' (1999). Noble continued to be active in a variety of animation projects, including consultation with Disney artists for their first watercolor backgrounds in half a century (for ''
Lilo & Stitch ''Lilo & Stitch'' is a 2002 American animated science fiction comedy-drama film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. The 42nd Disney animated feature film, it was written and directed by Chris Sande ...
''). Noble died on May 18, 2001 at his home in
La Crescenta, California La Crescenta-Montrose () is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The community is bordered by Glendale to the south and west, La Cañada Flintridge to the east, and Angeles National Forest to the north. ...
, 17 days after his 90th birthday.

Selected filmography
''
The Old Mill ''The Old Mill'' is a 1937 ''Silly Symphonies'' cartoon produced by Walt Disney Productions, directed by Wilfred Jackson, scored by Leigh Harline, and released theatrically to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on November 5, 1937. The film depicts ...
'' (1937) (background artist) - Oscar nominee ''
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection ''Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...
'' (1937) (background artist) ''
Pinocchio Pinocchio ( , ) is a fictional character and the protagonist of the children's novel '' The Adventures of Pinocchio'' (1883) by Italian writer Carlo Collodi of Florence, Tuscany. Pinocchio was carved by a woodcarver named Geppetto in a Tuscan ...
'' (1940) (development) '' Fantasia'' (1940) (development) ''
Dumbo ''Dumbo'' is a 1941 American animated fantasy film produced by Walt Disney Productions and released by RKO Radio Pictures. The fourth Disney animated feature film, it is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and Harold Pearl, ...
'' (1941) (character designs) ''
Bambi ''Bambi'' is a 1942 American animated drama film directed by David Hand (supervising a team of sequence directors), produced by Walt Disney and based on the 1923 book ''Bambi, a Life in the Woods'' by Austrian author and hunter Felix Salten ...
'' (1942) (development) '' Rabbit Seasoning'' (1952) (layout artist) '' Duck Amuck'' (1952) (layout artist) - U.S. National Film Registry selection ''
Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century ''Duck Dodgers in the th Century'' (spoken as "twenty-fourth-and-a-half") is a 1953 Warner Bros. '' Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones. The cartoon was released on July 25, 1953, and stars Daffy Duck as space hero Duck Dodgers, ...
'' (1953) (layout artist) ''
From A to Z-Z-Z-Z ''From A to Z-Z-Z-Z'' is a 1954 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' animated cartoon short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on October 16, 1954, and stars Ralph Phillips. Written by Michael Maltese and produced by Edward Selzer, it was a ...
'' (1953) (layout artist) '' Sheep Ahoy'' (1954) (layout artist) '' Two Scent's Worth'' (1955) (layout artist) ''
What's Opera, Doc? ''What's Opera, Doc?'' is a 1957 American Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The story features Elmer cha ...
'' (1957) (layout artist) - U.S. National Film Registry selection ''
Ali Baba Bunny ''Ali Baba Bunny'' is a 1957 Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' short directed by Chuck Jones. The short was released on February 9, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck. In 1994, it was voted #35 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of all time by m ...
'' (1957) (layout artist) ''
Hare-Way to the Stars ''Hare-Way to the Stars'' is a 1958 American animated science fiction comedy short film directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released by Warner Bros. Pictures on March 29, 1958 as part of the ''Looney Tunes'' seri ...
'' (1958) (layout artist) '' Robin Hood Daffy'' (1958) (layout artist) '' Gateways to the Mind'' (1958) (animation designer) '' Hopalong Casualty'' (1960) (layout artist) '' High Note'' (1960) (layout artist) - Oscar nominee '' Beep Prepared'' (1961) (co-director) - Oscar nominee '' Now Hear This'' (1962) (co-director) - Oscar nominee ''
Martian Through Georgia ''Martian Through Georgia'' is a 1962 Warner Bros. ''Looney Tunes'' cartoon, directed by Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble (credited as a co-director), and Abe Levitow. The short was released on December 29, 1962. It is a "one-off" tale about a sad and ...
'' (1962) (co-director) '' A Sheep in the Deep'' (1962) (co-director) '' Transylvania 6-5000'' (1963) (co-director) '' The Iceman Ducketh'' (1964) (co-director) '' War and Pieces'' (1964) (co-director) '' The Incredible Mr. Limpet'' (1964) (production designer) '' The Dot and the Line'' (1965) (co-director) - Oscar winner ''
How the Grinch Stole Christmas! ''How the Grinch Stole Christmas!'' is a Christmas children's story by Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel written in rhymed verse with illustrations by the author. It follows the Grinch, a grouchy, solitary creature who tries to cancel Christmas by st ...
'' (1966) (production designer) '' The Bear That Wasn't'' (1967) (co-director) ''
The Phantom Tollbooth ''The Phantom Tollbooth'' is a Juvenile fantasy, children's fantasy adventure novel written by Norton Juster, with illustrations by Jules Feiffer, first published in 1961 in literature, 1961. The story follows a bored young boy named Milo who ...
'' (1970) (production designer) ''
Horton Hears a Who! ''Horton Hears a Who!'' is a children's book written and illustrated by Theodor Seuss Geisel under the pen name Dr. Seuss. It was published in 1954 by Random House. This book tells the story of Horton the Elephant and his adventures saving Whovi ...
'' (1970) (art director) ''
The Cat in the Hat ''The Cat in the Hat'' is a 1957 children's book written and illustrated by the American author Theodor Geisel, using the pen name Dr. Seuss. The story centers on a tall anthropomorphic cat who wears a red and white-striped top hat and a red b ...
'' (1971) (art director) '' The Lorax'' (1972) (art director) '' Dr. Seuss on the Loose'' (1973) (art director) ''
Tiny Toon Adventures ''Tiny Toon Adventures'' is an American animated comedy television series that was broadcast from September 14, 1990, to December 6, 1992. It was the first collaborative effort of Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television and Warner Bros. Animation ...
'' (1990) (development, writer) ''
Chariots of Fur ''Chariots of Fur'' is a seven-minute '' Looney Tunes'' short released in 1994 by Warner Bros. It features Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner and was directed by Chuck Jones, who introduced the pair in 1949. As in other shorts of the Road Runner ...
'' (1994) (art director) '' Pullet Surprise'' (1997) (color consultant) '' Al Tudi Tuhak'' (1999) (narrator) '' Timber Wolf'' (2001) (co-art director) '' The Pumpkin of Nyefar'' (2004) (co-writer)

Legacy
Several days after his death, Cartoon Network produced a memorial bumper that showed a brief clip of his recent television interview, his contribution to animation, and showing the memorable final scene of ''
What's Opera, Doc? ''What's Opera, Doc?'' is a 1957 American Warner Bros. ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Chuck Jones and written by Michael Maltese. The short was released on July 6, 1957, and stars Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd. The story features Elmer cha ...
''

Notes

References
Adamson, Joe (Jan-Feb 1975). "'Well, for Heaven's sake! Grown men!'" ''Film Comment'' 11 (1), 18-20. Bergan, Ronald (23 July 2001). "Obituary: Maurice Noble: Animation artist filling in the background for cartoon hijinks." ''The Guardian'' (London, England), p20. Jones, Chuck (1994). ''Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of an Animated Cartoonist''. Farrar Straus Giroux. .

Bibliography
* ''Noble Boy'' by
Scott Morse Scott Morse (sometimes known as C. Scott Morse or C. S. Morse) is an American animator, filmmaker, and comic book artist/writer. Much of Morse's published work consists of stand-alone graphic novels, although he is perhaps best known for his 1 ...
(2006); . A graphic board book about Noble and Morse.

External links
*
Interview with Maurice Noble
by Harry McCracken for ''Animato'', 1991
Interview with Maurice Noble
by Karl Cohen for ''Animation World Magazine'', 1998

Retrieved November 2012 {{DEFAULTSORT:Noble, Maurice 1911 births 2001 deaths American animators American animated film directors Background artists Annie Award winners Walt Disney Animation Studios people Warner Bros. Cartoons directors People from La Crescenta-Montrose, California

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