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Hey, how about we talk about a cartoon Friz himself called one of his favs that he directed?
Before I go, special shoutout to Devon Baxter for breaking down this cartoon almost 14 (!) years ago. His breakdown was important in helping me to ID animators, and I wanted to shout him out.
Starting things off with Gerry Chiniquy animation! Things are established as soon as possible, and the audience knows the conflict right away. Under Friz, Warren Foster always wrote the cartoons in a way where you know exactly the cartoon goes as soon as possible.
Virgil Ross! The conflict deepens, and the resentment grows. What I love about this Daffy is that you sense that at some point, he's probably a great guy to hang out with, but he's someone that needed the spotlight and control. Ergo, Bugs' calm nature is funnier.
After Virgil's scene, the scene everyone remembers, animated by Gerry Chiniquy. In case no one knows, Friz saw Gerry as a dance man, and whenever there was a dance, he tried getting Gerry to animate it. And there's a good reason: his jerkiness makes the dance stands out.
Thanks to Youtube, I have a treat for this thread: Milt and the WB band doing a pre-score version of the music here! Take a listen!
Some more Gerry Chiniquy animation! Wanted to highlight this scene because it's basically a pure Friz Freleng joke: the writing gets to the point, there's set up, and there's a punchline. Friz was a director that wanted structure in his comedy, and, well, look how good it is.
Last Gerry Chiniquy scene for now: in a wonderful paradox, the elements that makes Gerry stand out from other animators actually makes the joke funnier: the stiffness of the animation and how motionless it can be actually enhances the joke. Smart acting casting.
Here's the Pre-Score version of the scene! Notice that it's longer: it's possible Friz wanted the music shorter so the timing was funnier. And as much as I love this version, Friz made the right call.
And now, a possible cut gag: a Pre-Score of a certain song that was never used in the final cartoon. Very possible this was going to be under a gag that's in the cartoon, or that there was an entire gag that was cut. Hard to say. But it gives insight to the creative process.
And now, the funniest animator: Art Davis. A reuse of a gag from CURTAIN RAZOR, but it's funnier here because of various factors: the reaction from Daffy, the music lasting way shorter, and a "punchline" for how terrible the act was. Just great stuff.
More Art Davis! What I love is that Davis is all about the movement. He's not interested in "revealing" character, and Friz knew it: he always gave Art the action scenes, the intently comic scenes. And obviously, Friz had no problems letting Art doing his own thing.
After a brief static scene, Virgil Ross does some brief character acting. And after Ross' scene, it appears to come back to Gerry. Very jerky, very rhythmic. This segment is a good indictment on how Friz casted animators: Virgil got the introspective scenes, Gerry gets actions.
Art Davis time again! Really pay attention to the lip sync and the music. Compared to Gerry, Art wasn't interested in making the notes "accurate", but trying to make the movement of the instrumental funny. Ditto for lip sync: making the mouth movement funny is more important.
And finally, Virgil Ross animates the entire finale! The longest scene, and Virgil gives him his all. Again, all of it is character acting, and Virgil doesn't let budget limitations get in his way: Virgil acts with hand gestures and smooth body movement.
And that's it for Show Biz Bugs! A well-worn cartoon for the public, but for good reason: it really is that funny.
