Termite Terrace - Definition and Overview

Termite Terrace is the nickname for the old building in Sunset Boulevard, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA where Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies were first created. It also became a metonym for the classic Warner Bros. animation department in general, even for years after the building was abandoned, condemned and torn down.

It was here that such famous animators as Tex Avery, Friz Freleng, Robert McKimson, and Chuck Jones worked their magic. Termite Terrace was notorious for practical jokes, eccentricity (even by the standards of the then highly eccentric animated cartoon industry) and the consistent brilliance of their pictures (and for filling the water coolers with vodka). However, the building proper was abandoned in the late 1930s - the most popular "Termite Terrace" star, Bugs Bunny, never actually set foot inside the place.

The Termite Terrace Hall of Fame

Studio Heads

• Leon Schlesinger
• Eddie Selzer

Directors

• Hugh Harman
• Rudolf Ising
• Friz Freleng
• Tex Avery
• Frank Tashlin
• Bob Clampett
• Chuck Jones
• Robert McKimson
• Arthur Davis

Designers and Writers

• Maurice Noble
• Michael Maltese
• Tedd Pierce

Voices

• Mel Blanc
• Bea Benaderet
• Arthur Q. Bryan
• June Foray
• Stan Freberg

Music

• Carl Stalling
• Milt Franklin

Additional Links

• Looney Tunes
• Merrie Melodies
• Hollywood Animation: The Golden Age