Anecdotes

At 85, he signed a long-term contract with Warner Bros. to supervise the animation department. His thoughts on the contract were: "At 85 you can only think ahead for the next 50 years or so".

He has directed three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: Farce au canard (1953), La Légende du ténor grenouille (1955) and Quel opéra, docteur? (1957).

Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 7011 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California on 2/13/95.

Close friends with Theodore Geisel (Dr. Seuss of "The Cat in the Hat" fame).

Had been close friends with Ray Bradbury for more than 50 years.

When he was hired at Leon Schlesinger's studio, he rose from assistant animator to director in only five years.

Died 21 years to the day after longtime collaborator Michael Maltese.

When he worked on Chat c'est Paris! (1962) for UPA, he was in violation of his exclusive contract with Warner Bros. When they picked up the film from UPA for distribution, they discovered his work on the film and fired him, resulting in his departure for MGM.

In an interview, he said that the voice for Daffy Duck was based on Warner Bros. animation department head Leon Schlesinger, especially the lisp (though his wasn't quite as pronounced as Daffy's). Jones said that while he and his animators were putting together the Daffy Duck character, Schlesinger walked up to them and yelled at them for sitting around and not working, then left. Jones turned to voice actor Mel Blanc and asked, "Can you do Leon?". Blanc replied, "Sure", and proceeded to do an almost perfect, if somewhat exaggerated, imitation of Schlesinger's voice, including the lisp. And a star was born.

Father of Linda Jones Clough.

Had three grandchildren; three step-grandchildren and six great-grandchildren, a stepson and stepdaughter.

Interviewed in Peter Bogdanovich's "Who the Devil Made It: Conversations With Robert Aldrich, George Cukor, Allan Dwan, Howard Hawks, Alfred Hitchcock, Chuck Jones, Fritz Lang, Joseph H. Lewis, Sidney Lumet, Leo McCarey, Otto Preminger, Don Siegel, Josef von Sternberg, Frank Tashlin, Edgar G. Ulmer, Raoul Walsh." NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 1997.

Brother of Richard Kent Jones.

Attended Chouinard Art Institute [now known as CalArts].