Visiting The Chuck Jones Gallery - San Diego, CA

An America Icon

For us Gen X kids, the artwork of Chuck Jones is pretty much synonymous with our childhood. I remember waking up before sunrise, well before mom woke up, to make sure I caught the Looney Tunes coming on just as Television came on the air for the day.

I'd quietly slide out of bed, tip-toe into the livingroom, grip the knob on the TV while covering the giant speaker bezel with my butt trying to block the initial sound as the cathode ray tube would spark to life as I pulled the knob to turn it on. Invariably, it would let out a sound and I'd hear my mom rustle around. I'd rapidly turn the volume all the way down and wait for her to settle again.

Usually she'd wake up anyway and yell at me to go back to bed. I would just leave the TV on, go back to bed and wait a few minutes... Then come back. All good!

The point is, I loved my cartoons. Especially Looney Tunes. There was just something about those characters, and the artists/animators understanding of good comedy that made it perfect. Chuck Jones was definitely one of the greats. I remember seeing his name in the credits of all my favorite toons since I was very small.

That's why I was really excited to see that he had a gallery in San Diego in the Gas Lamp District right next to the convention center where we go every year for Comic-Con. The gallery is absolutely full of Chuck's original art, as well as some other great artists' work that they have on display there, such as this one by James C Mulligan:

I love the modern artists as well, but to be honest, I always feel like they are missing something compared to the original stuff. Actually, I generally feel this way when watching modern cartoons full stop. I feel like there are a few animators out there that still kind of get it. A good example would be Spongebob. It cracks me up pretty much every time!

Amanda appreciating some animation cells

I would love to own some of these cells, but I think they were quite expensive. I'm pretty sure that you could get prints, though. I always like this sort of thing, but I never actually buy any. The same thing happens at Comic-Con every year, as well. I am overwhelmed with all the amazing art, but when it comes down to it I get a sort of paralysis and can't buy anything.

It's really cool looking at all of these cells in person. I recognize the scenes from pretty much every one that I looked at. It's like walking around looking at a big chunk of my childhood in this place. While we were there, a clearly wealthy guy was in there buying tons of pieces. Very loudly, I might add. I don't know why some people just have to let everyone know how rich they are. Oh well! Whatever floats your boat.

That's another piece by Mulligan. Clearly not a Looney Tunes character, but it was still in the gallery nonetheless. When I look at these 'old fashioned' characters, it makes me wonder what it must have been like in the early 1900s seeing cartoons for the first time. It must have been like magic!

Coyote and Roadrunner were probably my favorite characters as a kid. I have always felt like they are the perfect metaphor for real life. Satisfaction is always just out of reach, etc. Perhaps this cartoon made me a pessimist? Haha! Who knows, but it was a lot of fun to watch. I suppose I liked Tom and Jerry for the same reasons. The constant unresolved struggle that is life.

Poor Elmer Fudd. I definitely can empathize with him. Although, I don't know if I would still want to kill a rabbit or duck after having a conversation with them. Which begs the question: Would be still eat animals if we could effectively communicate with them? Well that got dark really fast.

Anyway, it has become quite the tradition for us when we go to Comic-Con San Diego to stop by the Chuck Jones gallery at some point on our trip. I'll be looking forward to seeing what new works they have on display next July! Thanks for stopping in.