Line #102 Creator/FrankTashlin


1	[[quoteright:347:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Tashlin_3488.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:347:Tish Tash, working on a scene from the [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons Columbia Cartoon]] "The Tangled Angler".]]
3
4	Francis Fredrick von Taschlein (February 19, 1913 – May 5, 1972) was a prominent animator, writer, and director of both cartoons and live-action films. His most notable work was done for the [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Leon Schlesinger cartoon studio]] during UsefulNotes/TheGoldenAgeOfAnimation, having three separate stints at the place.
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6	Initially, Tashlin cut his teeth working for [[Creator/{{Terrytoons}} Paul Terry]] as an animator on the ''Aesop's Film Fables'' series of cartoons, only to quickly drift off to another animation stint at Creator/VanBeurenStudios, formed by Terry's former colleague Amadee J. Van Beuren. At Van Beuren, Tashlin ultimately made his (uncredited) directorial debut on the ''Tom and Jerry'' (a bumbling duo of humans, not the cat and mouse) short "Hook and Ladder Hookum". Finally, in 1933, he found work at the then-rising WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes and [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] cartoon studio, working as an animator while working on a short-lived comic strip in his spare time called ''Van Boring'', the name being an obvious jab at his previous boss. When Leon tried to swindle Frank into giving him a cut of the comics profits, Frank told him to shove it and promptly lost his job as a result. Once again adrift, he did a brief stint at the Creator/UbIwerks cartoon studio in 1934, only to leave in 1935 for Creator/HalRoachStudios to be a writer on the ''[[Film/TheLittleRascals Our Gang]]'' series, where he learned quite a bit about live-action film-making, including film-camera techniques.
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8	In 1936, Leon managed to lure Tashlin back to his studio, giving him a position as a director there, right during a time when Creator/TexAvery was starting to take the studio away from its Creator/{{Disney}} roots in favor of faster-paced, more cartoony shorts. Frank jumped right in, getting off to a good start with "Porky's Poultry Plant", where he adapted live-action-style fast cutting and dynamic camera angles into his cartoons, giving them a cinematic, energetic feel lacking in Creator/TexAvery and Creator/FrizFreleng's cartoon shorts. Despite this, he wasn't particularly happy due to being stuck working on WesternAnimation/PorkyPig cartoons, who Tashlin later admitted to have found a dull character whom he "hated" working with.
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10	However, he left the studio again, with his crew being handed over to Creator/ChuckJones, while he went to work for Creator/{{Disney}} from 1938 to 1940, where he began story work on Walt's proposed WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse feature, which would later evolve into the "Mickey and the Beanstalk" segment of ''WesternAnimation/FunAndFancyFree''.
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12	Tashlin departed Disney in 1941 and found work at the then-ailing [[Creator/ColumbiaCartoons Screen Gems studio]] (owned by Columbia), where he became the creative producer and directed three short cartoons, one of them being the first of Columbia's star series ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow''--the short in question, the Creator/BusterKeaton-influenced "The Fox and the Grapes" was the first cartoon to use a "blackout gag" format, which director Creator/ChuckJones would cite as an influence on his [[WesternAnimation/WileECoyoteAndTheRoadRunner Road Runner]] cartoons. While Tashlin's tenure would revitalize the lagging studio creatively (alongside restaffing its ranks with a bevy of former Disney artists and storymen, among them eventual key UPA director John Hubley), Columbia's upper management, seeking to exercise greater control over Screen Gems, demoted Tashlin only a year later, leading to his departure months afterwards; he would be replaced by the (similarly briefly-tenured) [[Creator/MaxAndDaveFleischer Dave Fleischer]].
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14	Following his departure from Screen Gems, Tashlin would once again return to Creator/WarnerBros in 1942, initially as a storyman (specifically for the iconic Bob Clampett short ''A Corny Concerto'') and, following the departure of Norm [=McCabe=], as a director. Now an exponentially more experienced filmmaker, Tashlin adopted a more experimental approach in his second directorial tenure, bringing stylized, magazine-like angular designs to his new shorts. Some of these later shorts notably had overt sexual themes, particularly ''WesternAnimation/PlaneDaffy'' (which had a FemmeFataleSpy character named [[UsefulNotes/MataHari Hatta Mari]], whose blond hair and top-heavy hourglass figure recalled real-life sex symbols of the day). It's been said that the difference between Creator/BobClampett's cartoons and Frank Tashlin's cartoons in terms of risqué humor is that Tashlin was more polished and subtle while Clampett was broader, wilder, and more adolescent (though some Tashlin cartoons, such as "I've Got Plenty of Mutton" and "Swooner Crooner" do have their moments of Clampett-esque raunchiness).
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16	Departing Warner's for the final time in 1944 (his final short would be the 1946 WesternAnimation/BugsBunny short ''Hare Remover''), Tashlin went on to direct and write for many live-action films, most famously the Creator/JayneMansfield comedies ''Film/TheGirlCantHelpIt'' and ''Film/WillSuccessSpoilRockHunter'', and numerous Creator/JerryLewis movies. His films are notable for including live-action versions of cartoon gags, such as the near-sexual reactions of every man who sees Jayne Mansfield's character walk by in ''The Girl Can't Help It'' (such as the ice melting in the ice truck and the milkman's bottle of milk popping and spilling over). He also wrote five books: "The Bear That Wasn't" (1941), "How The Circus Learned to Smile" (1949, "The Possum That Didn't" (1950) and "The World That Isn't" (1951) and a self-help cartooning book "How to Create Cartoons" (1952). Retiring in the mid-1960s due to the declining success of his films, Tashlin was nonetheless credited (albeit only nominally) as a producer on the animated adaptation of ''WesternAnimation/TheBearThatWasnt'', an earlier children's books of his, directed by his former colleague Creator/ChuckJones; due to Tashlin's near-nonexistent involvement with the short, its narrative takes numerous liberties from the source material, thus [[DisownedAdaptation leading him to disown it]] in his few surviving interviews.
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18	To get a deeper idea of Tashlin as a person and his history at Warners, an interview of him has been posted by Micheal Barrier [[http://www.michaelbarrier.com/Interviews/Tashlin/tashlin_interview.htm here.]]
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20	-----
21	[[folder:Filmography]]
22
23	!1932
24
25	* Redskin Blues: A Van Beuren Tom & Jerry short he animated for.
26
27	!1933
28
29	* Hook & Ladder Hokum: A Van Beuren Tom & Jerry short. His first directorial effort.
30	* I've Got to Sing a Torch Song: Presumably his first animation stint.
31	* Buddy's Beer Garden: Animator (credited by the nickname "Tish Tash").
32
33	!1934
34
35	* Honeymoon Hotel: Animator.
36
37	!1935
38
39	* Thicker Than Water: A Creator/LaurelAndHardy short he wrote for.
40	* Film/TheFixerUppers: A Creator/LaurelAndHardy short he wrote for.
41	* Film/TitForTat: A Creator/LaurelAndHardy short [[RuleOfThree he wrote for.]]
42
43	!1936
44
45	* WesternAnimation/PorkysPoultryPlant: First credited directorial effort at the studio. Also notable as the first Warner short scored by now-iconic series composer Carl Stalling.
46	* Little Beau Porky
47	* Porky in the Northwoods
48
49	!1937
50
51	* Porky's Road Race
52	* Porky's Romance
53	* WesternAnimation/PorkysBuilding
54	* WesternAnimation/PorkysRailroad
55	* Speaking of the Weather: First [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Merrie Melodies]] short he worked on. This short is the first of the "Tashlin Trio" of things-come-to-life cartoons that managed to singlehandedly destroy the genre due to their immense popularity.
56	* The Case of the Stuttering Pig
57	* Porky's Double Trouble
58	* The Woods Are Full of Cuckoos
59
60	!1938
61
62	* Porky at the Crocadero
63	* Now That Summer Is Gone. The first short produced by a restructured Tashlin unit now including notable animators Bob [=McKimson=] and Ken Harris, commencing a noticeable AnimationBump that would continue for the remainder of Tashlin's first directorship at Warners.
64	* Porky the Fireman
65	* WesternAnimation/HaveYouGotAnyCastles: Second in the "Tashlin Trio".
66	* Porky's Spring Planting
67	* The Mayor Lied Down 'Til Dawn
68	* WesternAnimation/WhollySmoke
69	* Cracked Ice
70	* Little Pancho Vanilla
71	* You're An Education: The final member of the "Tashlin Trio" and the last cartoon he worked on during his second stint at Warner Bros; his unit would subsequently be inherited by an ambitious young animator known as Creator/ChuckJones.
72
73	!1940
74
75	* WesternAnimation/MrDuckStepsOut: A WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck short. He did not direct but wrote the story.
76
77	!1941
78
79	* The Great Cheese Mystery: First Columbia Cartoon he worked on. Did not direct, but wrote the story.
80	* [[WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow The Fox and the Grapes]]
81	* The Tangled Angler
82
83	!1942
84
85	* A Hollywood Detour: Directed it.
86	* Under The Shedding Chestnut Tree: Supervised this and the following Columbia shorts.
87	* Wacky Wigwams
88	* Concerto in B Flat Minor
89	* Dog Meets Dog
90	* Wolf Chases Pigs
91	* A Battle for a Bottle
92	* Cinderella Goes to a Party
93	* Bulldog and the Baby
94	* [[WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow Woodman, Spare That Tree]]
95	* Old Blackout Joe
96	* Song of Victory
97	* Tito's Guitar
98	* Red Riding Hood Rides Again: Was the producer.
99	* [[WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow Toll Bridge Troubles]]
100
101	!1943
102
103	* WesternAnimation/PorkyPigsFeat: First short upon his return to WB, inheriting the lower-budget unit of the recently-drafted Norm [=McCabe=].
104	* WesternAnimation/ScrapHappyDaffy
105	* The Goldbrick: One of WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu shorts he directed.
106	* The Home Front:
107	* Puss N' Booty: Last black & white WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes short. Animator Creator/ShamusCulhane is rumored to have done uncredited work for the short.
108	* WesternAnimation/ACornyConcerto: Directed by Creator/BobClampett, but he wrote the story.
109
110	!1944
111
112	* I Got Plenty of Mutton: A one-shot cartoon that would be the inspiration for three Creator/ChuckJones cartoon series made post-World War II: The Road Runner/Wile E. Coyote series[[note]]as seen in the beginning scenes where the wolf is rail-thin and forced to subsist on scraps of food because of wartime meat shortages[[/note]], The Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf series[[note]]the wolf trying to get sheep, only to encounter an animal hired to be a shepherd[[/note]], and (if you can believe it), the Pepe Le Pew series[[note]]the wolf dressing as a sheep and the ram amorously pursuing the alleged woman, complete with a Charles Boyer-esque French voice[[/note]].
113	* WesternAnimation/SwoonerCrooner: Footage from his cartoon would be recycled for a cartoon sequence of the film "Two Guys From Texas".
114	* The Chow Hound: Private Snafu
115	* Brother Brat
116	* Censored: Private Snafu
117	* WesternAnimation/PlaneDaffy
118	* Booby Hatched
119	* WesternAnimation/TheStupidCupid
120
121	!1945
122
123	* WesternAnimation/TheUnrulyHare: One of two WesternAnimation/BugsBunny shorts he directed (and the only one he was credited for)
124	* Behind the Meat-Ball
125	* Tale of Two Mice
126	* WesternAnimation/NastyQuacks
127
128	!1946
129
130	* Hare Remover: Second of two WesternAnimation/BugsBunny shorts he directed but was uncredited. Last Warner Bros. short Tashlin directed during his third stint at Warner Bros; his second unit would subsequently be inherited by longtime master animator (including, coincidentally, under Tashlin in the late 1930s) Robert [=McKimson=].
131	* The Lady Said No
132	* Choo Choo Amigo
133	* Daffy Ditties: Pepito's Serenade
134
135	!1947
136
137	* WesternAnimation/TheWayOfPeace
138
139	!1951
140
141	* The Lemon Drop Kid: Helped finish directing it.
142
143	!1952
144
145	* The First Time
146	* Son of Paleface
147
148	!1953
149
150	* Marry Me Again
151
152	!1954
153
154	* Susan Slept Here
155	* The Face is Familiar: An episode of G.E. True Theater TV series.
156
157	!1955
158
159	* Film/ArtistsAndModels
160
161	!1956
162
163	* The Lieutenant Wore Skirts
164	* The Honest Man: An episode of G.E. True Theater TV series.
165	* Film/TheGirlCantHelpIt
166	* Hollywood or Bust
167
168	!1957
169
170	* Film/WillSuccessSpoilRockHunter. Arguably Tashlin's most well-known feature effort.
171
172	!1958
173
174	* Rock-A-Bye Baby
175	* The Geisha Boy
176
177	!1959
178
179	* Say One For Me
180
181	!1960
182
183	* Cinderfella
184
185	!1961
186
187	* Film/SnowWhiteAndTheThreeStooges
188
189	!1962
190
191	* Bachelor Flat
192	* It'$ Only Money
193
194	!1963
195
196	* The Man From The Diner's Club
197	* Who's Minding The Store?
198
199	!1964
200
201	* The Disorderly Orderly
202
203	!1965
204
205	* Film/TheAlphabetMurders
206
207	!1966
208
209	* The Glass Bottom Boat
210
211	!1967
212
213	* Caprice
214	* ''WesternAnimation/TheBearThatWasnt'': An animated short based on his book, directed by Creator/ChuckJones. Tashlin receives a producer credit on the final short, although his involvement was allegedly minimal. Later [[DisownedAdaptation disowned by Tashlin]] for its deviations from the source material.
215
216	!1968
217
218	* The Private Navy of Sgt. O'Farrell
219
220	[[/folder]]
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222	----
223
224	!!Tropes Associated With Frank Tashlin:
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226	* ArtDeco: Tashlin really loved this art style and tried to use it often in his animated projects.
227	* AuthorAppeal: Was fond of showing off the female form, especially legs. He had one of the most luscious women in any Warner Bros. cartoon in the Private Snafu short "Censored", and worked pin-up images into other shorts such as ''The Unruly Hare''.
228	* CreatorBacklash:
229	** Was not a fan of the animated adaptation of ''The Bear That Wasn't''.
230	--->'''Frank''': Well, they destroyed the cartoon with one little thing. I saw that, I almost cried. I never talked to Chuck about it, I've never talked to him since. It was a terrible thing. This bear, he goes to sleep under a factory, when he wakes up they try to convince him he's a [man], as you well know, and he keeps insisting he's a bear, and that's the point of it. Up front in the beginning of this thing, when they are telling him he is a man and he is insisting he's a bear, they put a cigarette in his mouth. Now, the picture was destroyed there, because by the acceptance of a cigarette—you never saw where he got it—by putting a cigarette in his mouth, he was already a man. You know what I mean? Psychologically, the picture was ruined. It stopped working from that point on. So that was a terrible experience.
231	** He also hated being made to work on Porky Pig cartoons for the majority of his run on the ''Looney Tunes'' series, finding him an inflexible character.
232	* FanService: His live-action movies are full of this (his Warner Bros cartoons, also, but they weren't at the Tex Avery or Bob Clampett level).
233	** ''Hollywood Or Bust'' features a musical number where Creator/JerryLewis and Creator/DeanMartin drive a car down a country road, and every single person they drive past is a beautiful woman in a skimpy outfit.
234	* GenreBusting: His feature films were radical and innovative comedies. ''Film/TheGirlCantHelpIt'' was a pioneer in the rock musical genre, and gave audiences around the world their first glimpses of favorite rock acts of the '50s.
235	* HotterAndSexier: The WesternAnimation/PrivateSnafu cartoon "Censored", which features Snafu's girlfriend, Sally Lou, who wears garters, pantyhose, panties, high heels, and no top. When Cartoon Network aired the short as part of their ''[=ToonHeads=]'' episode about Private Snafu's cartoons, most of the scenes where Sally Lou is topless (though not much is shown), such as her answering the door to get the mail and leaning over the vanity to decode Snafu's letter to her, was cut (though not the scene of her calling her mom about Snafu's letter or the stylized topless pin-ups in Snafu's sleeping quarters).
236	* JumpCut: Tashlin's cartoons often had very fast timing, with some scenes lasting only a few frames.
237	* TheMentor: Tashlin was this to Creator/JerryLewis, becoming a big influence on Lewis's style as a writer and director.
238	* RecycledPremise: His feature ''Rock-a-Bye Baby'' features a hapless man (Creator/JerryLewis) in comical situations while babysitting, very much like his Porky Pig short ''Brother Brat''.
239	* RenaissanceMan: One of the few animation directors who transitioned to live-action. See Creator/BradBird for a modern equivalent.
240	* TakeThat: The name of ''Van Boring'', a newspaper comic he ran for a few years, was a jab at his old animation boss [[Creator/VanBeurenStudios Amadee Van Beuren.]]
241	* TheVoiceless: His newspaper comic character ''Van Boring'' had no dialogue from the protagonist--the humor was entirely done in pantomime.
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Context Creator / FrankTashlin