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Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger (/ˈʃlɛsɪndʒər/ SHLESS-in-jər; May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer and businessman who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, later known as Warner Bros. Cartoons, a prolific producer of animated short films during the Golden Age of American animation.
Schlesinger was a distant relative of the Warner brothers and was closely associated with Warner Bros. Pictures throughout his career. As head of his own studio, Schlesinger produced the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from 1933, when Schlesinger took over production from his subcontractors, Harman and Ising, until 1944, when Warners acquired the studio.
Leon Schlesinger was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 20, 1884. On June 9, 1909, Schlesinger married Bernice K. Schlesinger (née Leona Katz, September 15, 1882 – May 8, 1966).
After Schlesinger worked in theatres as an usher, songbook agent, actor, and manager, including at the Palace Theatre in Buffalo, New York, he founded Pacific Title & Art Studio in 1919, where most of his business was producing title cards for silent films. As talking pictures ("talkies") replaced silents in 1929 and 1930, Schlesinger looked for ways to capitalize on the new technology and stay in business. Some film historians, like Tom Sito, claim that he helped finance Warner Bros.'s first talkie, The Jazz Singer (1927). He then secured a contract with the studio to produce its brand-new Looney Tunes series, and he signed animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising to create these cartoons with their Bosko character as the star.
In 1932 and 1933 Leon Schlesinger produced six B-movie Westerns for Warner Bros. starring John Wayne.
Schlesinger spent under $30,000 each because he did not need elaborate action sequences. Instead, he used silent action footage of cowboy star Ken Maynard and his horse Tarzan.
"I later thought Leon's cartoons were better than the horse operas he put me in," Wayne recalled in later years. "Those westerns I made at Warner Bros. were remakes of old Ken Maynard films, and all the big scenes like cattle herds and Indian attacks were taken straight from the original Maynard films. So I had to dress up to look like Ken Maynard because a lot of the old footage they inserted had shots of Maynard in the distance. I really hated that." A few years later, Warners remade these budget Westerns with singing cowboy Dick Foran.
Schlesinger was a shrewd businessman with a keen eye for talent. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. with the rights to Bosko and Foxy in 1933, Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. Sunset Boulevard lot at the corner of Van Ness and Fernwood. He wooed animators away from other studios, including some of those who had once worked for Harman and Ising. One of these was Friz Freleng, whom Schlesinger promoted to oversee production of Looney Tunes and to develop the sister series, Merrie Melodies. Former Harman-Ising animator Bob Clampett was also hired. Schlesinger's recruiting of Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Frank Tashlin further increased the quality of the studio's output.[citation needed]
Leon Schlesinger
Leon Schlesinger (/ˈʃlɛsɪndʒər/ SHLESS-in-jər; May 20, 1884 – December 25, 1949) was an American film producer and businessman who founded Leon Schlesinger Productions, later known as Warner Bros. Cartoons, a prolific producer of animated short films during the Golden Age of American animation.
Schlesinger was a distant relative of the Warner brothers and was closely associated with Warner Bros. Pictures throughout his career. As head of his own studio, Schlesinger produced the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons from 1933, when Schlesinger took over production from his subcontractors, Harman and Ising, until 1944, when Warners acquired the studio.
Leon Schlesinger was born to a Jewish family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 20, 1884. On June 9, 1909, Schlesinger married Bernice K. Schlesinger (née Leona Katz, September 15, 1882 – May 8, 1966).
After Schlesinger worked in theatres as an usher, songbook agent, actor, and manager, including at the Palace Theatre in Buffalo, New York, he founded Pacific Title & Art Studio in 1919, where most of his business was producing title cards for silent films. As talking pictures ("talkies") replaced silents in 1929 and 1930, Schlesinger looked for ways to capitalize on the new technology and stay in business. Some film historians, like Tom Sito, claim that he helped finance Warner Bros.'s first talkie, The Jazz Singer (1927). He then secured a contract with the studio to produce its brand-new Looney Tunes series, and he signed animators Hugh Harman and Rudy Ising to create these cartoons with their Bosko character as the star.
In 1932 and 1933 Leon Schlesinger produced six B-movie Westerns for Warner Bros. starring John Wayne.
Schlesinger spent under $30,000 each because he did not need elaborate action sequences. Instead, he used silent action footage of cowboy star Ken Maynard and his horse Tarzan.
"I later thought Leon's cartoons were better than the horse operas he put me in," Wayne recalled in later years. "Those westerns I made at Warner Bros. were remakes of old Ken Maynard films, and all the big scenes like cattle herds and Indian attacks were taken straight from the original Maynard films. So I had to dress up to look like Ken Maynard because a lot of the old footage they inserted had shots of Maynard in the distance. I really hated that." A few years later, Warners remade these budget Westerns with singing cowboy Dick Foran.
Schlesinger was a shrewd businessman with a keen eye for talent. When Harman and Ising left Warner Bros. with the rights to Bosko and Foxy in 1933, Schlesinger set up his own studio on the Warner Bros. Sunset Boulevard lot at the corner of Van Ness and Fernwood. He wooed animators away from other studios, including some of those who had once worked for Harman and Ising. One of these was Friz Freleng, whom Schlesinger promoted to oversee production of Looney Tunes and to develop the sister series, Merrie Melodies. Former Harman-Ising animator Bob Clampett was also hired. Schlesinger's recruiting of Robert McKimson, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones, and Frank Tashlin further increased the quality of the studio's output.[citation needed]
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