Paul Julian

One of the finest background artists employed on creating the Looney Tunes & Merry Melodies cartoons for Warner Brothers began his career as a respected muralist in Southern California. A prodigy as an arts student, Julian graduated from the prestigious Chouinard Art Institute in Pasadena. After winning first prize at the California State Fair he began to exhibit paintings on maritime themes. However, his reputation rested on a series of murals under the Work Projects Administration, funded by the New Deal. In October 1939, Julian landed a job in Los Angeles as layout and background artist at Leon Schlesinger's animation studio, "Termite Terrace". Assigned primarily to Friz Freleng's unit, he became highly regarded for his colourful, modernist city-scape paintings for Sylvester & Tweety cartoons, as well as for Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck shorts. Many of the classic episodes he worked on are instantly familiar: Racketeer Rabbit (1946), I Taw a Putty Tat (1948), Buccaneer Bunny (1948), Bad Ol' Putty Tat (1949) , Golden Yeggs (1950), Bunker Hill Bunny (1950) and Ballot Box Bunny (1951), just to name a few. Carrying bulky paintings through narrow studio passageways or across sound stages, Julian had a habit of warning people to stay out his path by shouting "hmeep-hmeep" (often misheard as "beep-beep"). This characteristic sound was famously adopted by the writer Michael Maltese as the trademark noise made by the Road Runner character and was recorded at various speeds during a single audio session by Julian himself. Since Julian was not affiliated with the Screen Actor's Guild, he did not receive screen credit. In 1951, Julian joined United Productions of America (UPA), where he worked on anything from military training films and educational or commercial projects, to 'Mr. Magoo' cartoons. The following decade saw him at Hanna-Barbera Productions as background painter and graphic designer (notably on The Herculoids (1967)). Right up to the mid-1980's, Julian's artistry continued to enliven regular Bugs Bunny/Road Runner specials. He was also credited as full art director on the classic animated feature Charlotte's Web (1973).