Rod Scribner


Roderick H. "Rod" Scribner was an American animator best known for his work on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons from Warner Bros. Cartoons. His animation was one of the wildest things ever seen on screen during The Golden Age of American animation.

Career

Rod Scribner started as an animator for Friz Freleng in 1935, then animated for Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton in 1938, and also briefly animated for Chuck Jones the next year. In 1940, he joined Tex Avery's unit and worked with Robert McKimson, Charles McKimson, and Virgil Ross.
In late 1941, after Tex Avery left, he was replaced as the unit director by Bob Clampett. Scribner turned out to be arguably Clampett's best animator. Clampett classics such as A Tale of Two Kitties, Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs, and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery showcase some of his greatest work: his trademark "Lichty style" of animation. Clampett left Warner Bros. in 1945 to pursue a career in puppetry and television. Not much is known about where Scribner was between 1946-1949.
In 1950, Scribner returned to Warner Bros. under Robert McKimson's unit. His animation was tamed down to McKimson's standards, but he still got away with wild scenes, like in Hillbilly Hare, Hoppy Go Lucky and Of Rice and Hen.
He left Warners in 1954 and worked at UPA. In his later years, Scribner worked with former colleague Bill Melendez on various Charlie Brown movies and television specials that worked in Snoopy Come Home, There's No Time for Love, Charlie Brown and It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown, eventually starting a studio called Playhouse Pictures, which produced commercials for over 45 years.

Death

After being arrested and put on suicide watch in a mental hospital, Scribner died there on December 21, 1976 from tuberculosis, which he had contracted during World War II. His last project was Race For Your Life, Charlie Brown, released posthumously in Summer 1977.