Happy Birthday, Tish Tash!

Exciting day today for animation fans. Today would have been Frank Tashlin’s 107th birthday!

Tashlin’s one of my favorite Looney Tunes directors, the others being Tex Avery and Bob Clampett. Frank Tashlin is EXTREMELY underrated. His sharp eye for cinematography, and later his dynamic drawings... both make such a great combination. I thought I'd conjure up a post in appreciation for all the great work he's done.

He began his cartoonist career in 1930, working for John Foster's Aesop's Fables, then briefly migrating to Van Beuren studios, but he seldom stayed in one place too long. Bob Clampett once likened him to a yo-yo, ink and paint girl Martha Sigall reminiscing “Here today, gone tomorrow. Now you see him, now you don’t.” He joined the Schlesinger gang in 1933 as an animator, even receiving a credit for Earl Duvall's Buddy's Beer Garden as "Tish Tash."

During his first (out of three) stint at Warner Bros., he was running a comic on the side — Van Boring (He Never Says a Word), a play on his former boss Van Beuren. Leon Schlesinger was particularly enamored by the comic, and wanted “a cut of it.” Tash responded warmly, recounting “I said go to hell. So he fired me.”

He moved to Ub Iwerks’ studio in 1934, briefly working as an animator, and later moving to Hal Roach’s studio as a gag man. he returned to Warner Bros. in 1936, this time as a director. Jack King had just returned to Disney, and a spot needed to be filled. Evidently there were no harsh feelings between Schlesinger and Tash, as Tash claimed “He was a man who thought in money terms. He never let personalities interfere too long; his wallet spoke.”

A still from Tashlin's first directorial credit, Porky's Poultry Plant.

His first directed cartoon was Porky’s Poultry Plant in 1936, also noteworthy for being the debut of composer Carl Stalling as well, who would stay at the studio for 22 years. Tashlin started off as just a Looney Tunes director—Tex Avery was splitting the difference between Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies, whereas Friz Freleng was exclusively MM. However, Tash also got to indulge in the Merrie Melodies (a privilege his predecessor Jack King never got to experience), his first being Speaking of the Weather in 1937, a take on the classic “books come to life” genre made popular by the Harman-Ising era. Tashlin himself even said he idolized the duo, and modestly dismissed his own takes as “cribbing their ideas.” During his first directorial stint from 1936-1938, Tash would direct 13 Looney Tunes and 8 Merrie Melodies.

Tashlin departed in 1938 after an argument with studio executive Henry Binder, and sought refuge at Disney. There, he recounts forming a union because of how terrible the pay was (he said that he earned $150 a week at Warner Bros., and at Disney he supposed he “was the first person [in the union] making more than thirty dollars a week.” he wrote Mickey and the Beanstalk and was also involved in very early development of Lady and the Tramp.

A still from the first The Fox and the Crow short, The Fox and the Grapes, which Tashlin himself directed, starring Mel Blanc.

He left Disney after an argument with Mr. Disney himself (“I always pick the wrong people to fight with”) and headed for Columbia Pictures’ Screen Gems in 1941. In fact, he was put in charge of the studio impromptu when a “man” fired everyone but him. He hired a number of picketers during the infamous animator’s strike, making The Fox and the Crow series, one of the studio’s better entries. And, once more, he was fired after a dispute with an executive.

Tashlin finally returned to Warner Bros. in 1943, taking over Norm McCabe’s unit. Not to say that his 1936-1938 works were bad (Quite the opposite. That era brought classics such as Porky’s Romance, The Case of the Stuttering Pig, Wholly Smoke, Cracked Ice… his Merrie Melodies certainly rival Tex Avery’s, who was cranking them out while Friz Freleng briefly worked at MGM), but his period from 1943-1946 reflects his experience and knowledge acquired from his days drifting between studios.

Some stills from Porky Pig's Feat, a fantastic cartoon definitely worthy of a watch.

His first picture from his return was Porky Pig’s Feat, one of my favorite Porky/Daffy cartoons and probably one of the best black and white cartoons made at the studio, if not the best. The plot is simple: Porky and Daffy stay at a fancy hotel, and the bill is ridiculously expensive. Porky assures the manager that Daffy’s cashing in the check, and instead we see Daffy gambling away (and losing) all of their money. The rest of the cartoon consists of Daffy and Porky attempting to save their hides and escape the hotel, but they end up being held prisoner regardless. Bugs Bunny also makes a cameo as another jailbird who tried (and failed) the same shtick they did.

Tashlin lamented about being demoted back to the Porky cartoons again: “Who wants to see the damned pig, and I’m stuck with the damned pig. It takes him so long to talk.” “I hated him, I thought he was a terrible character.” He mentions envying the other directors working with Bugs (only directing 2 Bugs cartoons himself), how the studio worked as a hierarchy of sorts. Having to work your way up to the big leagues. Though his Porky cartoons are fantastic, his distaste is subtly noted. (he claims that “you couldn’t do anything with his body”, which I couldn’t disagree with more) Daffy takes the front seat in Porky Pig’s Feat, Brother Brat is dedicated exclusively to Porky getting abused by a testosterone fueled baby, and Swooner Crooner hardly features Porky to begin with (an iconic cartoon that holds the title as the only Porky cartoon nominated for an academy award.) Nevertheless, his cartoons are stronger than ever, growing only more powerful with his Daffy entries and eventually Bugs entries.

A big contributor to the success of these cartoons lies in Tashin's film-making aspirations. He’d leave Warner Bros. in 1944 (his cartoons running all the way until 1946) to go to the film business. Ever since Porky’s Poultry Plant, his eye for camera angles and cinematography has been evident, and only grown stronger since. Tashlin described how his mindset aligned with his drifter attitude. If he was working on cartoons, he was thinking of film. If he was working in film, he was thinking of plays, etc.

He began as a gag writer for films featuring big names such as the Marx Brothers and Lucille Ball. He directed films all through the 1950s and 1960s, echoing elements he mastered in his animation: elaborate camera angles, fast pace, sight gags, plot twists, etc.

I've run my mouth enough, but he was a great guy who’s criminally underrated. His cartoons are hilarious, artful, clever, and just plain fun. Definitely an important name in the animation business that should be much more important! 

Happy Birthday, Tish Tash!

1936. From left to right: Frank Tashlin, Tex Avery, Henry Binder, Leon Schlesinger, Ray Katz, and Friz Freleng.