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Even if you’ve never heard the name, you’re almost certainly familiar with the work of Chuck Jones. Between 1938 and 1962, Jones directed around 200 cartoons for Warner Brothers – including numerous episodes of Looney Tunes – and, in the process, developed some of the most famous animated characters ever created. Part of the US filmmaker Tony Zhou’s Every Frame a Painting series, this video essay dissects how Jones evolved from a promising young artist to an all-time master of visual comedy by closely and ceaselessly studying human behaviour through art and literature.
Director: Tony Zhou
video
Personality
A ‘little thief’ turned career criminal recounts a life on the wrong side of the law
5 minutes
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Art
When East met West in the images of an overlooked, original photographer
9 minutes
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Consciousness and altered states
‘I want me back’ – after a head injury, Nick struggles with his altered reality
7 minutes
video
Earth science and climate
Images carved into film form a haunting elegy for a disappearing slice of Earth
3 minutes
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Biology
Butterflies become unrecognisable landscapes when viewed under electron microscopes
4 minutes
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Nature and landscape
California’s landscapes provide endless inspiration for a woodcut printmaker
10 minutes
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Virtues and vices
Why Bennie tried to disappear, and what happened when he was found decades later
16 minutes
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Stories and literature
Two variants of a Hindu myth come alive in an animated ode to Indian storytelling
14 minutes
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Art
Background music was the radical invention of a trailblazing composer
17 minutes