West Coast Wonders: Benny Washam

Jones' angular animator

• Washam started his career and spent the majority of it at Warner Bros.

• He animated almost exclusively for Chuck Jones between 1936 and 1979.

• His first credit was supposedly on 1941’s Snow Time for Comedy (dir. Chuck Jones), but sadly the original title cards are lost.

• He animated for two UPA productions in 1944 and 1945, Hell-Bent for Election (dir. Chuck Jones) and Brotherhood of Man (dir. Robert Cannon.)

• When Jones was canned from Warners in 1962 for working on Gay Purr-ee, Washam worked at Sib Tower 12 until its closure in 1967.

• Some other commitments in Washam’s career include Jay Ward Productions and Chuck Jones Enterprise.

(The Night Watchman, dir. Chuck Jones)

(Hell-Bent For Election, dir. Chuck Jones)

• Washam’s animation is very angular, and he constructs his characters mainly with triangles (straight AND circular.)

• A great choice for dialogue scenes, Washam adds tiny intricacies to make the acting more believable (head bobs, hand gestures, etc.)

• More traits to look for include flexible poses, fluidity, snappy timing, eye multiples, flurries of dry brush, and an elegant balance of on-model and loose expressions.

• Washam held free animation lessons in his home from 1967 until his death, and many of his students would prove instrumental in the Silver Age of Animation’s development.

(Daffy-Dilly, dir. Chuck Jones)

(For Scent-imental Reasons, dir. Chuck Jones)

(Chow Hound, dir. Chuck Jones)

(Cheerios Kid and Bullwinkle: Rowing, dir. Benny Washam)

Next up: Manny Gould (The bombastic foreshortener)