Robert Emerson "Bob" Clampett (May 8, 1913 – May 2, 1984) was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecil. Clampett was born and raised not far from Hollywood, and early on expressed an interest in animation and puppetry. After leaving high school a few months shy of graduating in 1931, Clampett joined the team at Harman-Ising Productions and began working on the studio's newest short subjects, titled Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies.
Clampett was promoted to a directorial position in 1937 and during his fifteen years at the studio, directed 84 cartoons later deemed classic and also designed some of the studio's most famous characters, including Porky Pig and Tweety Bird. Among Clampett's most acclaimed films are Porky in Wackyland (1938), Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs (1943) and The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (1946). Clampett left Warner Bros. Cartoons in 1946 and turned his attention to television, creating the famous puppet show Time for Beany in 1949. A later animated version of the series, titled Beany and Cecil, ran on ABC for five years beginning in 1962 and ending in 1967.
In his later years, Clampett toured college campuses and animation festivals as a lecturer on the history of animation. Clampett died of a heart attack in Detroit, Michigan on May 2, 1984. After his death, he was criticized by many of his peers at Warner Bros. with accusations of egotism and plagiarism, with many notable figures, including Chuck Jones and Mel Blanc, expressing a general dislike for Clampett. Despite this, his Warner cartoons have seen renewed praise in the decades since for their surrealistic qualities, energetic and outrageous animation, and irreverent humor.
Cartoons directed or co-directed by Bob Clampett
| Warner Bros. | |
|---|---|
| Year | Title |
| 1937 | Porky's Badtime Story |
| Get Rich Quick Porky | |
| Rover's Rival | |
| Porky's Hero Agency | |
| 1938 | Porky's Poppa |
| What Price Porky | |
| Porky's Five and Ten | |
| Injun Trouble | |
| Porky's Party | |
| Porky & Daffy | |
| Porky in Wackyland | |
| Porky's Naughty Nephew | |
| Porky in Egypt | |
| The Daffy Doc | |
| 1939 | The Lone Stranger and Porky |
| Porky's Tire Trouble | |
| Porky's Movie Mystery | |
| Chicken Jitters | |
| Kristopher Kolumbus, Jr. | |
| Polar Pals | |
| Scalp Trouble | |
| Porky's Picnic | |
| Wise Quacks | |
| Jeepers Creepers | |
| Naughty Neighbors | |
| Pied Piper Porky | |
| The Film Fan | |
| 1940 | Porky's Last Stand |
| Africa Squeaks | |
| Ali-Baba Bound | |
| Pilgrim Porky | |
| Slap-Happy Pappy | |
| Porky's Poor Fish | |
| The Chewin' Bruin | |
| Patient Porky | |
| Prehistoric Porky | |
| The Sour Puss | |
| The Timid Toreador (with Norm McCabe) | |
| 1941 | Porky's Snooze Reel (with Norm McCabe) |
| Goofy Groceries | |
| Farm Frolics | |
| A Coy Decoy | |
| Meet John Doughboy | |
| We, the Animals Squeak! | |
| The Henpecked Duck | |
| The Bug Parade (with Tex Avery) | |
| The Cagey Canary (with Tex Avery) | |
| Wabbit Twouble | |
| Porky's Pooch | |
| 1942 | Aloha Hooey (with Tex Avery) |
| Crazy Cruise (with Tex Avery) | |
| Horton Hatches the Egg | |
| The Wacky Wabbit | |
| Nutty News | |
| Bugs Bunny Gets the Boid | |
| Wacky Blackout | |
| Eatin' on the Cuff | |
| The Hep Cat | |
| A Tale of Two Kitties | |
| 1943 | Coal Black and de Sebben Dwarfs |
| Tortoise Wins by a Hare | |
| The Wise Quacking Duck | |
| Tin Pan Alley Cats | |
| A Corny Concerto | |
| Falling Hare | |
| An Itch in Time | |
| 1944 | What's Cookin' Doc? |
| Tick Tock Tuckered | |
| Russian Rhapsody | |
| Hare Ribbin' | |
| Birdy and the Beast | |
| Buckaroo Bugs | |
| The Old Grey Hare | |
| 1945 | Draftee Daffy |
| A Gruesome Twosome | |
| Wagon Heels | |
| Bashful Buzzard | |
| 1946 | Book Revue |
| Baby Bottleneck | |
| Kitty Kornered | |
| The Great Piggy Bank Robbery | |
| Bacall to Arms | |
| The Big Snooze | |
| Republic Pictures | |
| Year | Title |
| 1947 | It's a Grand Old Nag |