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Maurice Noble's Wile E. Coyote

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While watching the cartoon Wile E. Coyote one cannot help but see the world this coyote inhabits. One knows it is this cartoon by the backgrounds where Wile E. Coyote lives in the desert. Maurice Noble created this background and throughout his career he was a production designer, background artist and layout designer. He worked for Disney, Warner Brothers and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and his career spanned 60 years but he did not get the notoriety like the animator Chuck Jones. Since background work is less noticeable compared to the characters, Noble’s work was not as recognized. Noble started out doing design work for a department store but was then hired by Disney to work on the animated movies producing background paintings and concept …show more content…

He had an imaginative approach to animation and game design. Maurice was deeply concerned about the future of up and coming artists. During his lifetime, he committed himself to teaching a new generation of artists a better way of creating short films. He taught that good design could not exist unless the designer knew the whole complete process of filmmaking. They had to understand all the elements of story, budget and film technique and if they did not their designs would fail. Noble taught his students the eight “steps” he used for making his animated cartoons. They were: Getting Started, Story, Breaking Down the Elements, Research and Inspiration, Design, Color, Layout, and Final Film. He encouraged his students to think for themselves and ask questions like, “Why am I designing the way I am?” or “What are the needs of my film?” Noble also emphasized that when a designer finished with their design they should be able to say, “This is the world as I see …show more content…

The Frank Capra movie "Lost Horizon" was a favorite of Noble. From this movie, he drew inspiration for some of his work in What's Opera, Doc? and How the Grinch Stole Christmas and many other films. This is a perfect example of the use of Maurice's visual memory. He wouldn’t look at still frames of the movie, but he would remember distinct scenes and use them in his

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