Maurice Noble frequently makes guest appearances at animation art signings around the country. Photo by Robert McKinnon, courtesy of Maurice Noble.

The Present
Maurice worked at Chuck Jones Productions until the early `90s. He then went onto Cats Don't Dance at Turner Feature Animation, where he was reunited with his former assistant, Don Morgan, who he had worked with 35 years before, on Grinch and Horton at MGM. Noble also received a Winsor McCay Lifetime Achievement Annie Award from ASIFA-Hollywood in 1995.

Noble presently works as a consultant for several Hollywood companies. He is called in to critique a lot of work. He said, "I check it out with the young artists. I try to suggest where they can make improvements. I work with young directors. We talk over story and story points. In other words I'm the old guru."

When asked about the training of young talent today he said, "The Warner Bros. Feature Animation Development Department has a very competent training program. They have classes, not only in animation, but in layout and other basics. They also teach improvisation so the students can spontaneously react to things. A good animator is always a kind of actor. They also hold life drawing classes 3 or 4 times a week. In other words they are improving all their skills. I've talked with the heads of the training department and they say the studio can't find enough experienced help so we are going to develop it ourselves."

One point that he stated several times is, "the studios are cursed with live-action writers. They don't have the visual writers. You say a lot of things in words that you can do in one drawing. They don't realize this. Recent features contain a tremendous amount of unnecessary dialog and situations that don't really present themselves in a graphic way. This is the curse of all the studios."

He blames the controlling interests in the studios for wanting to do blockbuster type films and wanting to make millions of dollars. He feels that creative animation people in Hollywood really want to do something good and their frustration comes from being handed scripts that are verbal, not visual. "They don't explore the graphic potential of animation," he said.

Another problem he talked about is the present fascination with computers. "The way they are using this computerized stuff is the difference between a lathe and a hand carving. The computer is a tool. When they over emphasize it like they did in the Hunchback you feel like you are on a roller coaster ride all the time." Talking about the growing use of computers in animation production, Noble said, "There's a difference between punching a button and drawing. The computer's a wonderful tool, but you can't animate with it." However, Maurice noted that a computer would have been useful in the production of the 1965 Academy Award-winning film, The Dot and the Line, which he worked on with Chuck Jones. "We did that with drawings, reversal film and tinting," he recalled of the complexly simple, geometric film.