Maurice Noble: Architect of Animation

This post was originally published on Chairs&Buildings

Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck may have been given life by famous director Chuck Jones, but the worlds in which they appeared were the collaborative work of numerous others.
There is now a new monograph out by Chronicle Books devoted to the chief animation designer – Maurice Noble – who designed the background “sets” in which
these and countless other figures acted – from Warner Bros classics such as What Opera, Doc? to MGM’s The Dot and the Line.

“The Noble Approach: Maurice Noble and the Zen of Animation Design” was put together by Noble acolyte Tod Polson based on his mentor’s own notes about his work.  Among the many brilliant images, there are also wonderful lessons by which designers in any medium will be well served, even still, such as: “To be a successful designer, being able to sell a good idea is just as important as coming up with the idea itself.” And when we are reminded of just how innovative so many of Noble’s ideas were, these observations make this an inspiring and instructive tour through a golden age of the moving image.