The National Cinema Museum presents Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester & Co.The cartoons of Warner Bros.
The National Cinema Museum presents the European premiere of the exhibition BUGS, DAFFY, SYLVESTER & CO.: The cartoons of WARNER BROS, from 23 February to 27 May 2012, a journey to rediscover the enormously popular cartoon characters that Warner Bros. produced between 1930 and 1969. The exhibition, curated by Steve Schneider – an American scholar and collector – has come to Europe for the first time after having toured the biggest museums in the USA, starting with New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
Originally produced to be shown in cinemas, Warner’s cartoons are still broadcast daily on televisions all over the world. More than any other animated short films, they have become intrinsically linked with the social fabric of America and beyond, thanks to the enormous production of over a thousand films, creating more cartoon celebrities than any other film studio and winning no fewer than six Oscars.
The success of these cartoons is perfectly summed up by the words of Michael Maltese, one of Warner’s longest-serving writers: "We wrote cartoons for grown-ups. That was our secret."
The exhibition, which is on display in the Aula del Tempio hall and along the museum’s spiral ramp, offers an enormous range of images: over 150 original materials (subjects, sketches, drawings, documents and cels) from Steve Schneider’s private collection and 48 posters and advertising materials from the National Cinema Museum’s own collections. It is an exhibition featuring many different fascinating aspects, an exhibition that allows us not only to rediscover and share characters who are dear to our hearts but, most of all, helps us understand the various different stages required to produce a cartoon, a complex process that almost always involves several people and that even today, in the digital era, we find fascinating and astounding.
The exhibition will be supported by the publication of a catalogue, published by the National Cinema Museum, which will include the materials on display. Moreover a series of screenings at Cinema Massimo and workshops at the National Cinema Museum designed for young children have been organised, while a special evening packed with surprises will take place on Saturday, 25 February from 6.30 p.m. to 11 p.m. in the Mole Antonelliana building.
STEVE SCHNEIDER
Steve Schneider is a journalist, film historian and exhibition curator. He was a journalist and critic on The New York Times, he has worked for The International Herald Tribune, The Los Angeles Times, The Village Voice and The Christian Science Monitor, he has written documentaries for National Geographic and the History Channel and he has co-written many books. He is the author of That's All, Folks! The Art of Warner Bros. Animation, he has curated exhibitions in Miami, Ottawa, Frankfurt, Baton Rouge, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Annecy, Lucca and in New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA).
SCREENINGS AT CINEMA MASSIMO
CNC – Corti d’Autore (Short Art Films)
2 March 2012, 8.30 p.m.
Our usual Corti d’Autore (Short Art Films) event – organised by the CNC (the national short film centre) and Asifa Italia – presents a selection of Looney Tunes cartoons curated by Emiliano Fasano. During the evening, the best of almost 40 years of Looney Tunes will be shown, starting with the first black-and-white cartoons and ending with the colour series that achieved international success thanks to the advent of television.
Admission: 3 euros.
Screenings for families and young children
The perfect sequel to Corti d’Autore will be our weekend afternoons in March, designed for family audiences and young children. Every Saturday and Sunday at 3 p.m. in Cinema Massimo there will be screenings of Warner Bros. cartoons with the following programme:
Saturday, 3 March The best of Bugs Bunny
Sunday, 4 March The best of Road Runner & Wile E. Coyote
Saturday, 10 March The best of Sylvester and Tweety
Sunday, 11 March All Stars Part I
Saturday, 17 March Golden Collection Part I
Sunday, 18 March Golden Collection Part II
Saturday, 24 March Golden Collection Part III
Sunday, 25 March Golden Collection Part IV
Saturday, 31 March The best of Daffy Duck & Porky Pig
Sunday, 1 April All Stars Part II
Admission: 3 euros, free for the under 14s.
LOONEY TUNES AT THE NATIONAL CINEMA MUSEUM
In conjunction with the screenings held at Cinema Massimo, every Saturday and Sunday in March there will be a discount on tickets to the museum between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; free for children under 14.
All children will be given free balloons and leaflets featuring cartoon characters (while stocks last).
With just 3 euros extra (free for children under 5), there will be an animation workshop at 4.30 p.m. where children will have the chance to produce brief animated sequences using cut-outs and characters from the exhibition.
Booking required by calling 011 8138564/5 (Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.) by 4 p.m. on the Friday before the event. The workshop requires a minimum number of 15 participants.
Should you need to book at the last minute, you can call 339 6362095.
A SPECIAL EVENING
Saturday, 25 February in the Mole Antonelliana building, 6.30 p.m.-11 p.m.
In conjunction with the Bugs, Daffy, Sylvester & Co.: The cartoons of Warner Bros. exhibition, the National Cinema Museum and Abbonamento Musei have organised an evening packed with surprises.
Those who come dressed as Tweety, Sylvester, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Wile E. Coyote, Speedy Gonzales and other Warner cartoon characters can take a photo of themselves in their costume and post it on www.facebook.com/museocinema. The ten most popular photos will win a free exhibition catalogue.
There will also be free guided tours starting at 6.30 p.m. and an impressive cocktail party at the Cabiria Cafè.
Booking required for guided tours and the cocktail party until tickets are sold out: by 23 February at freephone 800 329 329 (booking valid for admissions until 9.30 p.m.)
Prices:
Abbonamento Musei 2012: free admission + cocktail 10.00 euros
For all other visitors: admission 2.00 euros + cocktail 10.00 euros
Looney Tunes characters, names and all associated items are commercial brandnames and copyright © of Warner Bros.