A Web-Only First: Animation Pioneer Chuck Jones To Create His First New Warner Bros. Character In 40 Years For Warner Bros. Online And entertaindom.com

(August 14, 2000, Glendale, CA) - Chuck Jones, the creator of the Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, Marvin the Martian and director of over 200 classic Looney Tunes starring Bugs Bunny (including "What's Opera, Doc?", "The Rabbit of Seville"), Daffy Duck, Porky Pig and many others, chose the Web as the perfect vehicle to launch his first new Warner Bros. character ("Timber Wolf") since he created the otherworldly Marvin in 1953. Jones will join forces with voice-over artists Nancy Cartwright (the woman behind Bart Simpson's voice on "The Simpsons") and Joe Alasky (the current voice of "Marvin the Martian" on Entertaindom's 3D animated webisodes), and writers Philip Vaughn ("Late Night with David Letterman") and executive producer Stephen Fossatti to create the thirteen-episode series about the irrepressible critter, Timber Wolf (whose formal name is "Thomas T. Wolf", with the "T" for "Timber") and his colleague, Earl the Squirrel, hailing from the Four Corners area of Texas. The new online series, in pre-production this week and appearing exclusively online at Entertaindom.com and Warner Bros. Online at the end of the year, will be created by a team of young animators who have worked on animated series for Warner Bros., Disney, Fox and Nickelodeon. "When we created the Looney Tunes," says Jones, "we concentrated on tight scripts, and grabbing the audience's short-attention span. No matter what the medium, it's the humanity, humor and emotion that brings new audiences to these cartoons. We made the Looney Tunes to be played in the movie theater, but they play well on television too and now they're playing beautifully on the Internet at Entertaindom and Warner Bros. Online. So I think the medium is not the message here -- a good story is what will drive the audience every time." "We hope that the Timber Wolf's appeal is universal, just like the original Looney Tunes," says Stephen Fossati, animator, co-writer and executive producer of the project. "In recent times, there hasn't been a major market for six-minute-cartoons -- until now. The Internet allows us to make short cartoons again, and we don't have to reinvent the medium for this format. The on-demand aspect of the Web allows fans to watch Chuck's work as often as they like." "We're thrilled to be working with a creative genius like Chuck Jones," said Kevin Tsujihara, EVP of New Media, Warner Bros. "Jones and his co-producer Steve Fossati have developed an online series which we think will capture the classic sense of fun behind our famous Looney Tunes, combining a modern sensibility and a retro-style that is peferctly suited for Flash animation on the Web. The Timber Wolf series will be a great complement to Chuck's own Looney Tunes shorts which are currently streaming on the Warner Bros. Online network, and will soon be available through other Internet and wireless platforms." About Chuck Jones Chuck Jones was born on September 21, 1912, Jones entered the fledgling animation industry in 1932 as a cel washer at Ubbe Iwerks Studio after graduating from the Chouinard Art Institute (now California Institute of the Arts.) He joined the Leon Schlesinger Studio, later sold to Warner Bros., as an animator in 1936. There, Jones was assigned to Tex Avery's animation unit. In 1938, at the age of 25, he directed his first animated film "The Night Watchman." Jones remained at Warner Bros. Animation until 1962, though he had a brief stint with Disney Studios in 1955 during a hiatus at Warner Bros. In 1966, while heading up the animation division at MGM Studios, Jones directed one of the most memorable holiday television specials ever produced -- "Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas." First aired on Sunday, December 18, 1966, the half-hour special was met with glowing reviews from newspapers across the country and has since become one of the most beloved holiday programs on television. On Dec. 4, 1992, "What's Opera, Doc?"(1957), featuring a Wagnerian Elmer Fudd invoking the great elements against a cunning Bugs Bunny, became the first-ever animated film to be inducted into the National Film Registry. This honor, bestowed on only 200 films to date, recognized "the most culturally, historically or aesthetically significant films of our time." In 1993 he contracted with Warner Bros. to create animated short subjects for theatrical release using many of the classic Warner Bros. Characters. Over the next three years he produced six films, four of which he directed himself, starting with "Chariots of Fur" in 1994. On November 21 of this year, Warner Home Video (WHV) will celebrate Jones' great achievements with the release of the biographical film, “Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens -- A Life in Animation.” This restrospective look at Chuck's career will also air on PBS' Great Performances around Thanksgiving 2000. About Warner Bros. Online and Entertaindom Entertaindom.com and its sister site Warner Bros. Online are among the preeminent original entertainment networks on the Web, embracing short-form entertainment, live concerts, entertainment news, information, services, fan pages, community, and ecommerce relating to branded entertainment, accessible at http://www.entertaindom.com. # # #