This week, I would like to present another idea for a column I have wanted to write for Cartoon Research — individual profiles on different animators. This week’s post profiles Norm McCabe, an overlooked figure who worked in a long, varied career in animation, as you will see here.
Born on February 10, 1911 in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, Norm McCabe’s family moved to Butte, Montana in the United States two years later. In 1917, the family relocated to Tacoma, Washington, where McCabe spent much of his childhood and adolescence. He soon developed an artistic career in Tacoma as a theater lobby artist, painting posters and banners. After he felt the effect of the Depression, he moved to Los Angeles to seek more lobby poster work, which became impractical. Later, he came across Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising’s studio, which released Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies under producer Leon Schlesinger, and was hired as an in-betweener around 1932.
Soon after, McCabe was promoted to full animator in Frank Tashlin’s unit by 1936. He was shifted when Bob Clampett and Chuck Jones assisted Ub Iwerks to complete two Porky Pig cartoons (Porky and Gabby, Porky’s Super Service) at his Beverly Hills studio. When Clampett received his own directorial unit, Leon Schlesinger assigned business manager and brother-in-law Ray Katz as the head of a separate unit to produce the black-and-white Looney Tunes, known as “the Katz unit.” There, McCabe became one of Clampett’s key animators. According to Mark Kausler’s sharp observations, McCabe was usually assigned to dialogue scenes and often tilted characters’ heads in difficult angles while they spoke in the Clampett films.
Around 1940, Clampett took ill and briefly went on sick leave, with two Porky Pig cartoons (The Timid Toreador and Porky’s Snooze Reel) left unfinished. The studio entrusted McCabe to complete the directorial duties—hence the co-director credit under their main titles. McCabe continued to animate at the “Katz unit” in the early 1940s until Tex Avery was suspended from the studio in 1941, and Clampett inherited his animators and directed the color Merrie Melodies. McCabe was given his own unit consisting of Clampett’s former animators (John Carey, Vive Risto, Cal Dalton, Izzy Ellis) and continued production on the black-and-white Looney Tunes. His first solo directorial effort was the Porky Pig short Robinson Crusoe, Jr., released in October 1941. Soon after McCabe became a director, his unit moved into the main Warners building at Fernwood and Van Ness—at the end of 1941 or early 1942—disbanding the “Katz unit” altogether.
McCabe’s filmography also includes the spot-gag film Who’s Who in the Zoo (released February 1942) with Porky; Daffy’s Southern Exposure (released May 1942), arguably his strongest effort; Hobby Horse Laffs (released June 1942), a takeoff on the radio program “Hobby Lobby”; Gopher Goofy (released June 1942); The Ducktators (released August 1942), a burlesquing of the Axis powers; The Impatient Patient (released September 1942), with Daffy Duck; The Daffy Duckaroo (released October 1942); Confusions of a Nutzy Spy (released January 1943) with Porky; Hop and Go (released March 1943), and Tokio Jokio (released May 1943), a propaganda spoof that seems particularly cruel today.
In his cartoons released in late 1942 and early 1943, McCabe’s chief background artist was Dave Hilberman, a former Disney striker who came to the studio after leaving Screen Gems. Hilberman’s backgrounds (The Daffy Duckaroo, The Impatient Patient, Confusions of a Nutzy Spy, Hop and Go) displayed graphic, stylized forms considered experimental in the early 1940s, and which he later implemented as he helped establish the burgeoning UPA studio. McCabe’s story men consisted of Melvin “Tubby” Millar and Don Christensen, who would often team up in the films.
After World War II, by law, servicemen were able to be re-hired at their old jobs upon their return. However, while the Warners animation department made allowance for various animators from the service, the studio had no place to put McCabe. He managed to find illustration work, drawing for Capitol Records’ Bozo and His Rocket Ship, a “Record-Reader” released in 1947. In the 1950s, McCabe found himself working for various television commercial studios such as Swift-Chaplin Productions and Telemation. He worked as an animation director for All Scope Pictures, Inc., a commercial film division for 20th Century Fox from 1958 until the early 1960s.
McCabe went back into theatrical cartoons when he was hired at DePatie-Freleng as an animator and director (Super 6) in the 1960s. A large number of studios producing theatricals and television animation, either working as an animator or various directorial duties soon followed throughout the remainder of his career in the 1960s up to the 1990s—Filmation, Playhouse Pictures, Pantomime Pictures (Sky Hawks), Ralph Bakshi (Fritz the Cat), Ruby-Spears, Sunbow Productions, Henson Associates (Muppet Babies), Murakami-Wolf-Swenson (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Film Roman (Bobby’s World).
My vote for McCabe’s strongest cartoon is CONFUSIONS OF A NUTZY SPY. I see elements of Tashlin and Jones in there, even if not as refined.
For me, it’s a tie between “Daffy’s Southern Exposure” and “The Daffy Duckaroo” as being my favorite McCabe Looney Tune.
I lived at Fernwood and Van Ness for a while- in Louis B. Mayer’s house across the street from the studio. I only just recently figured out that was the home of Termite Terrace. I wish I had known when I was still there!
Sad that not more people know of Norm MacCabe, especially since not everyone is interested in black and white cartoons and the fact that most of MacCabe’s cartoons haven’t aged well (namely, the heavier WWII-based ones like Confusions of a Nutzy Spy, The Ducktators, and every PC person’s worst nightmare — next to the Censored Eleven — Tokio Jokio).
Norm McCabe’s drawing style as a director looked a little different from the in house style at the time, such as the doctor from The Impatient Patient and the characters from Gopher Goofy.
I do agree that Confusions of a Nutsy Spy was one of his best films; the timing and editing is definitely a foreshadow of Tashlin directing the unit. Who’s Who At The Zoo had some great gags; I like how he dives straight into the visual gags during the opening narration, thus wasting no time.
Looking forward to this series. If only WB preserved the animation drafts and other documents so McCabe’s (and other talented animators’) style and contributions could be more thoroughly analyzed.
He was very kind to write a response letter to my dissertation questions.
Hobby Horse Laffs has my all-time favorite Carl Stalling gag, the man who imitates musical instruments (” I was cheatin”).
McCabe did get to do a little color animation on Clampett’s first two Merrie Melodies, before Bob took over Avery’s unit. The ‘Java Jive’ number (with Mel doing his Eddie Anderson voice) was probably the best part of his first cartoon , “”Robinson Crusoe, Jr.”, but overall, Norm and his writers seemed more comfortable working with Daffy and mirroring the Schlesinger house style than with the other efforts (and not having access to the studio’s best writers no doubt hurt here).
It’s too bad that McCabe’s work is marred by WWII propaganda (forget black and white); his WB cartoons are more than on a par with the other directors.
I don’t necessarily think the cartoons are marred by the propaganda considering the world was at war during that time period. If, as a viewer, one happens to know American history or have read about the emotional feelings between the nations during WWII, in addition to keeping things within the context of it’s time period, then seeing war themed cartoons shouldn’t cause any uncomfortable feelings…at least, for me, there’s nothing to be uncomfortable about but everyone’s reactions are different.
The only McCabe cartoon I’ve seen would be “Daffy’s Southern Exposure”, but it’s a great one.
It’s interesting to think what other cartoons we could’ve gotten from McCabe had he not been drafted. He was clearly a talented director. My favorite of his was “Daffy’s Southern Exposure”, which, unlike “Tokio Jokio”, doesn’t feel dated at all and had some memorable set pieces. “Who’s Who in the Zoo” and “The Impatient Patient” are close seconds.
His one TTA short, “Lifeguard Lunacy”, was decent and had some serviceable pool-based gags, but it had the unfortunate luck of being placed after the strong season opener, “It’s All Relatives”. I wonder what the reasoning behind only giving him one short to direct was. Did he request it? Did the TTA staff give it to him as a tribute to his decades in animation? Or were they simply short-staffed and needed someone, anyone, to take command of it?
Does anyone know what scenes he animated in Fritz the Cat?
I love this. This should be a great series.
However, it seemed to me that you left out a paragraph (or two) about his post war activities. You mentioned that before the war his style would help form UPA’s style — but you never exactly say when he worked there or in what capacity.