Most people know Chuck Jones from the work he did with Warner Bros. on the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series, but he helped direct and produce some pretty great cartoons outside of Warner Bros. as well.
Jones worked for MGM when he founded his own animation studio in 1962 (Sib Tower 12 Productions, later MGM Animation/Visual Arts) and at that studio he produced some of his best work, such as the short film The Dot and the Line (1965) and the holiday special How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966), but it was during this time that he also helped produce and direct a feature film called The Phantom Tollbooth, based on the 1961 children’s book by Norton Juster, and it deserves to be analyzed and discussed as well.
It received a lukewarm reception at the box office when it was released in 1970 and people have seemed to forget that it even exists. We’ll discuss whether or not this is justified after we watch it over the weekend.
The Phantom Tollbooth is available on:
YouTube – $2.99
Amazon Video – $2.99
Google Play – $2.99
