Ken Harris

Ken Harris was for 26 years one of the outstanding animators at Warner Brothers. He had no formal art school qualifications -- which effectively precluded him from working for Disney -- having started his career as a sports cartoonist for the "Los Angeles Examiner" and the "Evening Express". His training came courtesy of the genial Robert McKimson at Leon Schlesinger's 'Termite Terrace', where he was first hired as an 'inbetweener' in June 1935. By 1938, Harris had worked his way up from assistant to fully-fledged animator. Assigned to the Chuck Jones unit, he animated the original illustrations of Jones (and, later, those of Maurice Noble), turning out a succession of fast-paced, humorous cartoons, filled with satire, puns and in-jokes. Harris was a master at spacing and timing, of achieving perfect plasticity of movement. He collaborated on many of the classic Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies episodes (often capably assisted by Abe Levitow), including the first instalment of the Coyote/Road Runner series (Fast and Furry-ous (1949)). Other standout contributions must include The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950), Rabbit Fire (1951), Duck Amuck (1953), Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century (1953), One Froggy Evening (1955) and What's Opera, Doc? (1957). Harris remained loyal to Jones and followed him to MGM (1963-66) to animate 'Tom & Jerry' cartoons after the dissolution of the Warner Brothers animation department. In the 70's, Harris resumed working for Warner Brothers on frequent Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck specials. He also became lead animator for the Richard Williams studio in London, notably creating the title sequence of The Return of the Pink Panther (1975). A year before his death in 1982, he was made a recipient of animation's highest accolade, the Winsor McKay Lifetime Achievement Award.