In the Gallery - The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons

photo by Shawn Martin

Last night I visited the Art Gallery of Alberta to see the wondrous and much anticipated exhibit of The Art of Warner Brothers.  So fascinating.  I learned of "cel" animation where each frame was drawn by hand.  On one wall of the gallery is an enormous timeline depicting the history of Warner Brothers.  Did you know the first animated character featured in a Warner Brothers cartoon was Bosko created in 1929?  Warner Brothers Studio opened in 1918.  Here's a rough timeline of the magic of Warner cartoons:

1918 - Warner Brothers Studio opens
1929 - Warner Brothers Studio opens its animation division
1937 - Daffy Duck
1940 - Bugs Bunny
1942 - Tweety Bird and Henery Hawk
1945 - Yosemite Sam, Sylvester
1946 - Foghorn Leghorn - rooster (appeared in 28 cartoons)
1948 - Hippety Hopper - baby kangaroo in Hop, Look and Listen with Sylvester Sr and Jr
1949 - Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner
1950 - Pepe Le Pew - skunk in Odor-able Kitty
1953 - Speedy Gonzales (who started as a skinny rat)
1954 - Tasmanian Devil

Interesting tidbit:  Tweety was originally drawn in flesh-tone with large feet, wide eyes and baby-like proportions.  Later, due to censorship issues over the appearance of nudity, Tweety was changed to yellow with feathers.  A Gruesome Twosome (1945) was the last cartoon in which Tweety didn't have feathers.

All this and more folks!  Definitely an exhibit worth visiting.  Take your time while perusing this one.  There's a lot to see including cartoons playing in the lobby and on flat-screen televisions (2 of them) in the actual exhibit.