Chuck Amuck

Film animation, like comedy, is an art of timing, writes Jones, and in this short, unpretentious, amusing memoir, the director of Bugs Bunny cartoons and inventor of Roadrunner, Coyote and romantic skunk Pepe Le Pew discloses secrets of his comedic craft. Part of the team that created Daffy Duck and Porky Pig, Jones spins stories about a favorite uncle, a family cat hooked on grapefruit and why his father detested Warren Harding. He reminisces about attending art school during the Depression, his early years at Warner Brothers, the creative mayhem surrounding the birth of some of his classic cartoons. With gemlike anecdotes, Jones pays tribute to directors, fellow animators, writers, a sound-effects specialist. He cursorily covers his career since leaving Warner, which includes the production of TV specials ( The Cricket in Times Square ) and films ( The Phantom Tollbooth ). Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.)